There is the one TOS alternative Earth episode where it ends with the presumption that the rebellion was sparked by a Sun-worshiping religious movement, and Uhura corrects the others by saying it wasn’t the Sun, but the Son of God. But your point is correct that for the most part ST has always been atheist/humanist leaning and that is why that ending felt out of place.
ya know, TOS actually has a handful of crypto-christian references in it here and there. nothing really explicit, however, this one example is about as on-the-nose as it gets. It never touches on it like that again.
I remember seeing this a thinking, “WTF‽”
1960’s TV wasn’t ready for a spaceship full of atheists. A Russian and a black lady on the bridge was already pushing the boundaries of tolerance well past what lots of people could handle. Tell the audience that the entire galaxy is, like, over God… yeah, you’re going to get NBC affiliate stations fire-bombed. Shit, that happened to a station in Tennessee when Kirk kissed Uhura….
Yes, it’s absolutely because of the audience of the time, and possibly the writer(s). Maybe they snuck the ending shot in before anyone could realize and it was either spend more money and time to redo or just go with it. That’s exactly how Shatner got the kiss into that other episode, by ruining the rest of the “more accepted” takes.
It’s also why the 80s and 90s movies and shows still have references that we can relate to. A true 23rd/24th century script would not do well even if shown now.
There is the one TOS alternative Earth episode where it ends with the presumption that the rebellion was sparked by a Sun-worshiping religious movement, and Uhura corrects the others by saying it wasn’t the Sun, but the Son of God. But your point is correct that for the most part ST has always been atheist/humanist leaning and that is why that ending felt out of place.
ya know, TOS actually has a handful of crypto-christian references in it here and there. nothing really explicit, however, this one example is about as on-the-nose as it gets. It never touches on it like that again.
I remember seeing this a thinking, “WTF‽”
1960’s TV wasn’t ready for a spaceship full of atheists. A Russian and a black lady on the bridge was already pushing the boundaries of tolerance well past what lots of people could handle. Tell the audience that the entire galaxy is, like, over God… yeah, you’re going to get NBC affiliate stations fire-bombed. Shit, that happened to a station in Tennessee when Kirk kissed Uhura….
Yes, it’s absolutely because of the audience of the time, and possibly the writer(s). Maybe they snuck the ending shot in before anyone could realize and it was either spend more money and time to redo or just go with it. That’s exactly how Shatner got the kiss into that other episode, by ruining the rest of the “more accepted” takes.
It’s also why the 80s and 90s movies and shows still have references that we can relate to. A true 23rd/24th century script would not do well even if shown now.