Star Trek’s Fanatical Receivers: It’s Not Dead, Jim!
Fig. 6. Star Trek's extremely loyal fans grew to such numbers that they helped revive the canceled series, spawning multiple films and spin-off programs. Unknown. New World Record Set at Las Vegas Star Trek Convention. Trek News, 2011. JPEG.
The inclusiveness of Star Trek reflected in the cast is likely a reason for its mass appeal. And Star Trek is probably known just as much for its loyal fans, also known as “Trekkers” or “Trekkies,” as it is for anything else (see fig. 6). They are notoriously described as “[f]orty-year old nerds who still live with their parents,” although the truth is far more diverse (“How Star Trek Became a Global Enterprise”). According to a recent survey conducted by Anthropologist Daryl Frazetti, the demographics of the fans can be quite surprising. In fact, if one were to describe a typical fan based on his study, it would be a woman (57% of respondents), who is either married or in a relationship (54%), between 41 and 50 (34%), and living in the United States (76%) (Frazetti).
Most of us wouldn’t even be aware of Star Trek if it weren’t for the fans. In its original run on NBC between 1966 and 1969, Star Trek wasn’t exactly popular. It could be summed up as a critically unpopular “money-loser that never attracted a large audience” (“How Star Trek Became a Global Enterprise”). After it was canceled, the 79 episodes were put into syndication on American television where it started gaining a large cult following (“How Star Trek Became a Global Enterprise”). Within only three years of the airing of the final first-run episode, fans organized an elaborate convention in the show’s honor in New York City, the first of many to come (“How Star Trek Became a Global Enterprise”). Star Trek’s popularity grew so much, even Paramount and Roddenberry could not ignore the phenomenon it had grown into, and revived the series as a feature film franchise and several television spin-offs (“How Star Trek Became a Global Enterprise”). While Star Trek certainly had a profound impact on its viewing public, the fans managed to return the favor by pulling it back into the mainstream culture.
Since its inception, the fan base has also grown outside of the US thanks in part to syndication and the global reach of Paramount. In fact, the original series as well as many of the spin-offs can be seen in “the US, Canada, most of Northern and Southern Europe, parts of Eastern Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and some areas of South and Central America, South East Asia and Africa” (Harris 113). It is interesting to note that the countries in which Star Trek has gained popularity seem to be those closely aligned with North American or Western values. Conversely, Star Trek has not proven very popular in China, the former Soviet Union, India, and a good portion of the Arab States (Harris 113). One possible explanation provided by researcher Geraldine Harris is that countries like India and China have, “[expressed] fears of the influence of western media on indigenous traditions and values,” which are viewed as a threat of cultural imperialism (Harris 105). Star Trek is known for espousing Western ideals in its stories so this conclusion is, as Mr. Spock might say, “logical.”