My second consecutive 50th anniversary piece is on the television premiere of “Star Trek.” There are so many tales to tell on this topic — I have not only a shelf, but an entire bookcase full of “Star Trek” books. The origin of the show — the convoluted path it took to get on TV in the first place — seemed appropriate here. My favorite part was explaining what happened to some of the guest cast members: Kirk’s doomed pal Gary Mitchell, for example, was played by Gary Lockwood… who went on to play the equally doomed Frank Poole in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” To broaden the topic just a bit, I added a list of other shows that debuted on TV around that same time. You might remember “Mission: Impossible” and “The Monkees,” but how about “Rat Patrol”?
Sept. 4, 2016