Inspiration for Star Trek
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Fred1863 — 20 years ago(March 02, 2006 07:09 PM)
Come to think about it, Voyage did have a few episodes that were similar to later Trek episodes. And Trek always seemed to get treated better by the critics for some reason. The first season of Voyage was some good TV, especially for a show done in the mid mid-60's. I have to wonder if Irwin Allen just didn't care what the critics thought.
But I can't argue with you about Irwin being the better businessman. Rodenberry had all but lost control of the Trek franchise even before the series reached it's final season. Irwin Allen ran a tight ship start to finish, was merchandising stuff like crazy and had those shows in syndication ASAP. If poor Rodenberry could have known how big Star Trek was going to get 20 years later, he'd have been amazed. Again Allen seemed more concerned about the here & now, not what sort of legacy his show would leave. A good, pragamatic busnessman . . . -
gasfarty — 20 years ago(March 21, 2006 11:32 AM)
The idea of a military or para-military ship in sci-fi situations is nothing new. Check out 1956's "Forbidden Planet" for an obvious ancestor to "Star Trek," and you can find many, many films or short stories that feature a similar concept. But the series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was also predated by a film that shared many similarities to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," written nearly 100 years earlier. With the space program and emerging reliance on technology, the mid-1960s was a golden age for sci-fi TV programming; as with today, when one thing is successful, it usually spawns a bunch of imitators.
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harold_forsko — 12 years ago(September 14, 2013 06:37 AM)
Best example of similar story lines: The Cyborg & What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Scientist creates faux Nelson & faux Kirk. Use of Seaview & Enterprise for purposes of conquest. Faux Nelson & faux Kirk reveal themselves to Crane & Spock. Babe assistants Gundi & Andrea perish at the end.
Airdate of The Cyborg October 17, 1965. Airdate of WALGMO October 20, 1966. -
jbaker1-2 — 5 years ago(December 23, 2020 01:43 AM)
Voyage was definitely the inspiration for Seaquest, too many similarities to ignore.
Both even featured a lead actor who was less than thrilled to be there.
There are 8.2 billion people in the world. 8.19 billion of them have never heard of and don't give a fuck about Charlie Kirk. Get over it. -
GoodbyePorkPieHat — 10 years ago(April 26, 2015 12:40 AM)
I read that Gene Rodenberry originally envisioned Star Trek as a sort of "Wagons West" set in outer space.
"A wagon train to the stars", a vision Joss Whedon built upon when creating the tragically short-lived "Firefly".
So it goes. -
flapdoodle64 — 12 years ago(December 04, 2013 04:15 PM)
If you look at S1 of VTTBOTS and compare it Trek, the similarities in format are obvious:
Military organization
Vehicle big enough that you don't have to have same extras each week (who can keep track of 100 faces?)
Mix of military, espionage, and scifi concepts
A lot of 'bottle shows' (filmed inside the ship/boat)
Most importantly: when Seaview is under attack or peril, it rocks violently back and forth and the actors all have to lurch to one side in unison. (AKA the Seaview Rock and Roll)
The directors of Trek 'borrowed' this idea for NCC1701, despite the fact that artifical grav would make this unlikely at best.
I think it's obvious that NBC saw that VTTBOTS was getting good ratings, so when GR pitched the concept to NBC, VTTBOTS success had to be a factor. TV is a highly immmitative medium. And there was a huge mess of scifi/fantasy dramatic series starting about 1964 with VTTBOTS and Man From UNCLE. If those 2 shows had not been successful, there would not have been a Star Trek. -
magolding — 12 years ago(March 06, 2014 09:39 PM)
When I first saw Voyage to the Bottom of the sea, I imagined that the next Irwin Allen show would be Voyage to the top of the Sky about interstellar exploration.
Some of the early star trek episodes reminded me of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or Voyage to the top of the Sky. -
ddc300 — 12 years ago(March 28, 2014 07:34 PM)
I thought I read somewhere that when Gene Roddenberry was trying to sell the idea of "Star Trek" to NBC, the Execs asked him how the show would be cost effective with the program being set in the future and Roddenberry used "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" as sort of a template since it was a show set in the future aboard a ship with an ensemble of recurring characters.
Roddenberry mentioned out how the standing sets would eventually pay for themselves since they'd be used every week (Bridge, engine room, Captain's quarters, etc.), like the Seaview Control Room, hallways, Admiral's cabin and missile room. The suits pointed out that "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was set in the near future and because of that benefited from doing some location shooting saving costs in those areas, and felt that ST would be cost prohibitive in that area. Roddenberry admitted that with a 23rd Century setting in "Star Trek" they rarely make use of locations, but that "Trek" would need a 'planet set' that could be made cost effective by changing the scenery and using different backdrops (as they eventually did in the series), to make for varying storylines.