Speaking of Space.....

Space exploration was a very popular topic when we were in high school at Father Ryan. Not only were we edging ever closer to landing on the moon, but there were several TV shows that took space exploration to the "final frontier."

Today, the most famous TV show of that genre is "Star Trek, created by science fiction writer, the late Gene Roddenberry." The program that ran for three seasons in the late 1960s has given birth to several other TV shows and revivals over the years, as well as 11 full-length feature movies, with the latest set to open at theatres in early May.

But you would never have guessed it based on the fact that the original show struggled to find its audience and was cancelled due to low ratings after just three years. But Star Trek did develop a growing and very strong cult following."Trekies" never gave up their devotion to the show and its characters (now going into multiple generations).

Here courtesy of YouTube is the way the original TV show opened back in its first season in 1966 as the voyages of the Starship Enterprise launched a media empire that continues to grow and to "live long and prosper" over 40 years later.


There was also another late 1960s TV show about space exploration that is still fondly remembered today. If you click on the photo above you can hear the theme song for "Lost In Space" written by composer John Williams.

"Lost in Space" was a take off on the novel "Swiss Family Robinson", also made famous by a Disney movie in the early '60s. It was produced by Irwin Allen, later famous for his many disaster films.

Like "Star Trek" the show lasted only three seasons (83 episodes from September, 1965 to March, 1968).It actually got slightly better ratings than "Star Trek", despite sometimes running in the same time slot against tough opposition like "Batman." But the show never developed a "Trekie" type following. It was also quite expensive to produce.

There was a full-length "Lost In Space" movie done in 1997 and some phrases from the show still live on our lingo today such as "Danger, Will Robinson" and "Oh, the pain, the pain." Ironically those lines come from characters, (the Computer Robot and Dr. Smith) who were not featured in the video below. Courtesy of YouTube, here's how the CBS Network tried to sell the show to its affilates in the summer and fall of 1965 just before its debuted....