To what extent did the business model of network television enable Star Trek: The Original Series to appeal to such a wide range of audiences? In ways did that same model constrain it?
One of the major factors that gave Star Trek: The Original Series such a wide audience is that it debuted in 1966, during an era in which the Telstar communication satellites were providing American television shows to overseas audiences. Networks knew their programming had to be geared toward a broad audience of both adults and children.
In their desire to appeal to this wide audience, the network found the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage", to be too cerebral. Accordingly, the network commissioned a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", to reach this wider audience. The new pilot included different casting decisions including a more charismatic captain, no female first officer, and other production elements that they felt would have have wider appeal.
However, after only two seasons, the fact that Star Trek was not as successful as other hit series on television caused the network to make moves toward cancelling it. While the series was initially saved by a fan-led letter-writing campaign, after one additional season Paramount ultimately moved forward on cancelling the series anyway. Ironically, the cancellation occurred only months before the networks began analyzing viewer demographics. Had Star Trek's valuable younger-skewing demographic been examined, it is likely the show would not have been cancelled at that time.
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