@@malirabbit6228 Been a Trekkie since the early 70's. It's the only term I will go by, certainly will never call myself a Trekker, but to each their own.
The first episode was "The Man Trap" with the salt vampire with the suction cups and Captain Kirk screaming. IN COLOR. At five years old, my brother and I had never before seen a scarier monster! Mom wouldn't let us watch the next week's episode. But Dad did.
Promo: A man with no fear. First episode: That same man screaming. If somebody had told him that there would be salt vampires, he might have had a little fear.
Kinda interesting that “where no man has gone before” was intended as the first episode. It’s also known as “the second pilot” yet the network decided to air “The Man Trap” first. It’s very noticeable with the uniform changes.
Its amazing the happy accidents that allowed Star Trek to be picked up, and then live on. But the irony of the cancellation is that NBC only later found out they killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Back in the late 1960s they didn't really break down ratings by demo. It was only after Star Trek was cancelled for a couple years that NBC realized, after breaking down their old ratings from 1967-1969, that Star Trek was the #1 show on all of television amongst the incredibly coveted and valuable 18-34 year old demo. D'oh!
"D'oh!" is right! Back then, television wasn't much older than a decade, so... who'da thunk it in those days. It's all so amazing, the story of Star Trek.
If I remember right, the FANS wrote tons of letters after the 2nd season when they were going to cancel it then. Kinda forced the network to pick it up again. However, the whole crew seemed to know the end was near, season three kinda sucked. No one guessed that some 20 + years later movies would take off and the fans never gave up the loyalty.
Just wow. I'm old. When I was a very young child, I remember my father with a TV Guide magazine telling me that a new TV show called "Star Trek" was to premier soon. That's my earliest Star Trek memory.
Good old Trek memories. Thanks for sharing! My earliest Trek memory was seeing the Gorn on my older brother's B&W TV and having the pants scared off me. I don't remember telling my parents what scared me, but my brother got in trouble for letting me watch that new "adult" sci-fi show called Star Trek. That was the first season run of Trek. By the second season, my older sister was into the show and for some reason, that made it alright with my parents to let me watch the show with her. I was already hooked and have been ever since.
This was an early promo video that probably aired in the summer of 1966 when the folks at the NBC marketing department didn't know what the hell they really had (and it looks like they only had "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to base the promo on). Back in the old network station affiliate station days, this video was also probably shown to interest NBC affiliate stations to pick up the show in their Fall schedule as well. Up until the late 1980s and early 90's a lot of stations where still capable of both producing original programming (apart from the major networks) and purchasing programs in syndication.
Age 63, grew up with the original series. Never saw this ad, though. It might have been only for viewing by the affiliates, to persuade them to pick it up for the fall premiers.
Most of the criticism I'm reading here is based on what the network perceived the show would be versus what it actually turned out to be. Not really a fair comparison as the promo department probably wasn't given that much to work with as by the time they were working on this the second pilot had just green-lit the series. And in fact, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" the mission of the Enterprise was to explore "beyond the galaxy" (only to be waylaid by the SS Valiant). I can only imagine that the promo dept. was given select clips to use: the Enterprise flyby, the shot of Shatner, and the shot of Nimoy. Their job was to sell the "mystery and intrigue" of the show so viewers would tune in. A pretty good job I'd say.
Yes, this must have been produced _very_ early in the process: all the shots are from the pilot episode. I don't remember ever seeing this, either on TV (and I watched a lot of TV in those days, stupid kid) nor at early Star Trek conventions, which would often show this sort of thing. My guess is that it was made (by NBC? by Desilu-Paramount?) for and distributed to NBC network affiliates to give them an idea of what would be on the fall schedule, and was never intended for broadcast.
Yah... but it didn't go with the "Ben-Hur" lettering, at all. Looked like a billboard for a chariot race after Moses had come through the desert, or something like that. But, nothing 'spacey' about it at all, unless you're exploring the pyramids. And even then...
Yea, I've been to many a convention too. My favorite was something Nichell Nichols said. She said early on she walked into Gene Roddenberry's office and said "I know what your doing. You are writing morality plays." Gene said "SHHHH don't say that too loud, the networks haven't figured that out yet." Lol... no kidding.
That planet, the rock outcroppings and the sun are probably better done than anything the original series developed for their planet scenes. Whoever made the visuals for this commercial did a nice job.
Just a small sculpture on a table with a black background and a light shining in a dark room. Short of an establishing shot, there wouldn't be much they could do with it. They rarely had establishing shots on the show but on the few times they did, they opted for matte paintings.
I agree I think that it's amazing! And such a 60's scifi vibe! I would love to have that logo on a t-shirt or on a poster! But this time with the original Enterprise cruising over-head, pointed away from the viewer, like it's about to head out into deep space on it's next mission of exploration and discovery...
Now I understand why older generations always thought this show would go nowhere… this commercial really encapsulates the feeling of this era of broadcasting. It’s an interesting window into another time.
There was only 11 years between the cancellation of TOS until the first major motion picture and only another 8 before the megahit TNG first aired. It was all the same generation, little tadpole. 😁
@@sam21462 It was a legitimate comment. This ad has a late 1950s feel even tho it ran in 1966. Advertising and media evolved radically during the 1960s. By the time of TMP in 1979 we had home computers and pocket calculators and ads looked more like they did in the 80s. I say different generations involved in the creative.
@@Ootgreet1 - While I do agree that the evolution was phenomenal during this period it was still, in my opinion, an evolution of the same generation of humans. The easiest example, and a very large example, is the fact that TOS all the way through the original set of movies and on well into the TNG era was all helmed by Roddenberry. Yes there was great evolution but it wasn't really a new generation conceptually until we got DS9 and Voyager. This is when we saw the torch completely passed from Roddenberry and company. 🖖
They couldn't at least have said that Spock was "half-human" instead of ominously calling him "a stranger without a heart". If anyone was without a heart, it was the execs at NBC.
I saw the first commercial for Star Trek back in 1966. I instantly fell in love with it! I was a "Trekkie" before I even knew what a Trekkie was. I am still a Trekkie, especially of the original series. Over the years I had the pleasure to meet several of the main characters. They were always kind and very attentive to fans. People can say that Star Trek The Original Series was a cheesy TV Show, but they need to understand the impact it had on not only television, fans, and NASA. This year will mark ST:TOS 58th year since it first aired on television. They were disliked by most of the powers of NBC. Given very little budget for props and costumes. Yes, Lucille Ball helped to save Star Trek. This show has impacted so many lives since 1966, it will never...should never...be forgotten. My we all Live Long and Prosper. 🖖
@@stepchildofsoul That never made sense to me. I know Spock is supposed to have alien anatomy (despite being half-human), but, logically, the best place for such an organ is within the ribcage.
@@JanetStarChild Yeah, old sci-fi just bein' weird for its own sake. There really wasn't a sense of order for these things back then. Personally, it's gone a bit far for my tastes these days, but we gotta just roll with it and enjoy things, yeah?
Star Trek was NBC's answer to all the success ABC was having with Irwin Allen's scifi productions (i.e. Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, etc.). Nearly all those ABC shows ended around 1968.
Love it. I was a child in the 70's (born in 1965) so I missed the very first run, but in serial I enjoyed it. Mind you it was in blck and white when I first did see it at home - then one day at a neighbor's house it was in color and I was awestruck. Fun fact: Spock was originally conceived to be red, to resemble the Devil. Execs overruled and he took on the famous green tinge (and copper-based green blood).
@@ellemueller I may be wrong, but I think the reason red normally looks very dark on B&W TV is more to do with how the video was captured than how the image was displayed. The B&W film used wasn't very sensitive to red wavelengths, so when they shot something with red colour, the red would come out looking much darker than a comparably light green or blue (or other colour) object. However when converting colour film (Star Trek was all shot on film) to B&W video, they could avoid the reds being much darker than the other greens and blues.
I've been watching since Sept. 8, 1966 (I was 7), and I remember seeing that promo once, maybe twice, 1966-ish, and I haven't thought of it since. Cool to see it again, good find.
I'm 49 YO and have been a Trekkie since my grandpa and I used to binge-watch reruns when I was a boy. I've never seen this before, which kinda blows my mind. Thanks!
That scene from 0:33 to 0:35 - I remember such a picture in an episode guide of this series in Starlog Magazine back circa August-September of 1991. Now I have some idea of where that picture came from. As Mr. Spock would say: "Fascinating."
"In Color" was the huge buzz phrase in the mid-60s, mainly because RCA had bought NBC. It was more to prod owners of Black & White sets to get color ones. It was essentially saying , "If you liked the appearance of this stranger with no heart, and this cool looking planet surface in this promo, think how much better they would look on one of our color sets."
Despite Star Trek being in color and NBC using a peacock logo since 1956, they used the old text logo for NBC that was used for black and white TV's...
Pretty sure the announcer here is William Woodson, who did the opening for "The Invaders", along with promos for other shows like, "Land of the Giants," and was also the narrator voice for the "Superfriends" cartoons.
McCoy: "Suffer the death thy neighbor, now you wouldn't wish that upon us, would you?" Spock: "I've noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be ... in yours."
"Wow!! That looks like it's going to be a great show, can't wait to see it!'" That is a direct quote from 6 year old me. NBC just happened to be the only station our TV could pick up where we lived in upstate NY. I was a science fiction fan from my first few breaths, my first book I ever read was a Star Trek novel Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds. I had just turned 6. I learned to read at 3 and this Star Trek book and one about the Civil War we're gifts from my mom when I turned 6, she would bring me home books all the time as she thought it was very important to help develop the mind. My Dad left us when I was 4. He was stationed in Japan a Chief master sergeant in the Air force. My mother who only made it through the 3rd grade(her mother died leaving seven brothers and one girl my mom was the oldest and had to stay home to take care of them and her alcoholic father. He wasn't a terrible man but it was the twenties (1925 to be exact) and the great depression hit a couple years later. Three of her brothers died from childhood diseases but she got the other three through it. She worked hard every day and luckily where we lived in the Catskills of NY and had a nice piece of land with 75 acres and she hunted and fished all year around we had a cold meat locker in back that always had three or four deer hanging in it. My sister and I ate deer all year long. She had a garden about four acres around which she did all the work herself. If you ever see a photo of Barbara Stanwyk or Betty Davis from the 30s dressed in a mink with a fancy hat that is how my mom looked when she was younger she really had some style. My sister and I both went to college and got our degrees and though she passed away from cancer back in 1984 it was because of her getting me started in reading that helped me get ahead. By the way she wasn't a super fan of star trek but since we only had the one channel she was stuck watching it like the rest of us she liked Leonard Nimoy and called him ears! That always made me laugh. This little clip brings back a lot of memories some good and some not so good but that's just how life goes, merry Christmas to all
Beautiful story. Sounds like you had a great family. I could picture your mom from the description, my mom had the same vibe. I think of her every time I see a 40's film. "Ears" is a great nickname btw.
I was barely old enough to remember Star Trek during its 3rd season, but vividly remember seeing it all when it finally hit syndication. Thank you, this has to be a VERY rare find. I know I've never seen it!
I'm 37 and a lifelong Trekkie it must have been so exciting to see this commercial and watch the show premiere! I bought tickets to see The Wrath of Khan in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February. I paid a bit extra to meet William Shatner, I'm so excited and nervous! Lol
Wow! You met THE man, himself. 😃 And it WAS exciting to see the shows for the first airings. At first, my parents wouldn't allow me to watch the show. My older brother got in trouble for letting me watch an episode with him. But by the second and third season, it became an event to gather and watch it. Go figure, right? 😆
Uhh this is a type of sarcasm? The original series did get many viewers. And "stranger with no heart" isn't quite the right description, but it does pique interest for those who don't know who he is.
an Earth man with no fear. I beg to differ Jim Kirk had fear but like all great heroes and Captains he had the courage to overcome his fear. Spock being described as a stranger with no heart? Again I beg to differ. Just because Vulcans controlled their emotions and pushed the intelligence more. That doesn't mean they didn't have a heart
I was born in 1965, but I recall watching the episodes in 1969. The language was too sophisticated for me, so I recall asking my mother if she could speak "space talk" too like they do on ST.
ah, okay, so we're sure it's authentic. I find it hard to imagine stuff like this has been floating around but not made it to youtube or any documentary etc. I've ever seen.
Took me a while, but I finally became a Whovian (I've been a Trekker since forever), and it still cracks me up how Star Trek was always in color, but Doctor Who wasn't until the 70s, with the Third incarnation of the Doctor (Jon Pertwee). (DW premiered on 11/23/63, the day after JFK was assassinated.)
I suppose that would have been the first time people had seen the enterprise... Probably the only thing in that promo that would have made me interested in watching the show.
I remember as a wee lad, it was on Saturday nights, I think at 8:00 (est). That was bath night and us kids would get popcorn or a treat after baths and watch Star Trek.
No wonder the suits chose Orson Wells for the VO for the eventual Star Trek The Motion Picture trailer. They were in power when this was made. Watch this, then go watch the TMP trailer. Fascinating.
Back when broadcast television was free, you endured the commercials we used for bathroom breaks and snacks. Heard the call. "Hurry, its back on!" Content creators, Hollywood, still managed to make the wonderful television and movie classics you see today and paid good money for their work.
Yes. And various shows, specials and movies were EVENTS. It was sometimes exciting. Spending a Sunday afternoon thumbing through the Sunday paper's weekly TV pages or the TV Guide to see what's going to be on.. Now, as they say, a thousand channels and nothing to watch. 🤥
My old man used to talk about how hyped he was to see the show as it aired (8 years old) but my grandma wouldn't let him stay up. He did the same to me for the second part of Who Shot Mr. Burns. Decades later, I'm complaining about it just like he.
My mother was enthusiastic for Star Trek when it was an upcoming fall show. Back then, fall premiers were pretty thrilling. Mom kept reminding us about Star Trek and her fervor started catching-on. I remember TV commercial bumpers promoting the show which consisted of a still photo and an announcer intoning, 'Star Trek', coming this fall to NBC!' Those were heady times thinking of it now.
@morlockmeat That is so true. Once we could record favorites for ourselves to have at our fingertips, some of that speciality was lost. For now, I'm just glad that we can remember Event TV.
The anti-lion, and the anti-tinman. Who's the anti-scarecrow, McCoy? With Uhura as the anti-Dorothy and Chekhov's hair as the anti-Toto. Scotty as the anti-wicked wizard of the engine room! And Sulu as the anti-Glinda the Good.
Funny, I don't remember seeing that ad playing. Dose anybody else out there in T V land? And in living color, that's was a big deal kids! My father worked a extra job ar SEARS all winter as a armed guard for no pay to get a window display used color TV. First on the city block, a bit to green in color but envey of 100's of people. Minimal wage was 50 cents a hour then.
In the original series it’s inferred that Spock’s internal organs are anatomically unrecognizable in comparison to humans and not in the same locations. In “The Omega Glory”, Yang Chief Cloud William can’t hear Spock’s “heart”, therefore infers he doesn’t have one. #dancetolivemusic #startrek #tos
My childhood, the adults running the country back then were chain smoking , hard drinking veterans of WW2 , they had no concept of what Star Trek fit into , they only could compare it to their childhood movie house serials that ran between movies , ( buck Rogers ) men from mars , etc
0:15 "..and a stranger with no heart." Who the heck wrote this commercial? Spock does in fact have a heart. It's just that it's fueling copper-based blood.
Nice! I've never seen that before. As a child, I only caught Star Trek in reruns. The ad is perfect for the time and the audience it was aimed at, odd though it seems now.
If you remember, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk and Spock weren't good friends yet. And Mr. Spock does have one heart - it's just located in a different place. 😊
@Fred Smithberg~ The (TOS) Sci-Fi series, "STAR TREK" was never strictly "Sci-Fi/"Science fact", ever!!, and regularly bent the emutable law of physics, and did so pretty much through out the entire series...It was a Sci-Fi / Fantasy series, aimed at the 18 -34 age range, and adults came to enjoy it later in reruns and syndication...
In the episode "By Any Other Name" the Kelvins take control of the Enterprise and are going to take it back to their galaxy, but going at a much higher speed.
"...into Worlds Beyond Your Dreams!" Worlds such as.... the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in Ancient Rome, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the Old West, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1930's, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1940's, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1960's, Planet Earth in the 1920's, Planet Earth in the 1960's, and all sorts of other Amazing ALIEN Worlds to Astound and Amaze!
To be fair, there is a planet which is actually a spaceship, another hollow planet with technologically regressed culture, Another another hollow planet which itself is artifical, Not to forget the planet that simply doesnt exist in a single universe but between universes. A huge mining planet that contains literal rock creatures who are sentient, And another planet that literally is eden with the ability to create anything you wish for. Plus the main pull of the show isnt planets, its Scotty and Mccoy's sheer presence.
On the Wikipedia entry is says that NBC wanted a "Western in Space", and rejected the pilot. Lucy Ball, the head of the studio said they should reconsider and the show got on the air. "Western in Space" is exactly what "Firefly" is.
Spock: I have been, and always shall be, your stranger.
😆
...with no heart.
@@Philip-1 Spirk fans would say Jim stole it. : P
People are strange, when your a stranger.
Jim, I have been, and always will be, your superior.
I’ve been a Trekker since the original series and I have never seen this commercial! Thank y’all!
Y’all are welcome! ;^)
Wtf is a trekker?
@@Kara_Kay_Eschel a devotee of STAR TREK, of course! Y'all can't tell me that anyone prefers the term trekkie!
@@malirabbit6228 Been a Trekkie since the early 70's. It's the only term I will go by, certainly will never call myself a Trekker, but to each their own.
@@Kara_Kay_Eschel - Ha! A Trekker is a Trekkie who has traveled around. 😄
The first episode was "The Man Trap" with the salt vampire with the suction cups and Captain Kirk screaming. IN COLOR. At five years old, my brother and I had never before seen a scarier monster! Mom wouldn't let us watch the next week's episode. But Dad did.
Yes a lot of the original Star Trek was like space horror if you were quite young
Promo: A man with no fear.
First episode: That same man screaming.
If somebody had told him that there would be salt vampires, he might have had a little fear.
Kinda interesting that “where no man has gone before” was intended as the first episode. It’s also known as “the second pilot” yet the network decided to air “The Man Trap” first. It’s very noticeable with the uniform changes.
I have to agree that silly suit gave me nightmares, good job guys scaring our young minds!
"but Dad did"... Love it !!!
Its amazing the happy accidents that allowed Star Trek to be picked up, and then live on. But the irony of the cancellation is that NBC only later found out they killed the goose that laid the golden egg.
Back in the late 1960s they didn't really break down ratings by demo. It was only after Star Trek was cancelled for a couple years that NBC realized, after breaking down their old ratings from 1967-1969, that Star Trek was the #1 show on all of television amongst the incredibly coveted and valuable 18-34 year old demo. D'oh!
"D'oh!" is right! Back then, television wasn't much older than a decade, so... who'da thunk it in those days.
It's all so amazing, the story of Star Trek.
Kinda like NBC was the Boston Red Sox, and they traded Star Trek (Babe Ruth) to the Yankees.
If I remember right, the FANS wrote tons of letters after the 2nd season when they were going to cancel it then. Kinda forced the network to pick it up again. However, the whole crew seemed to know the end was near, season three kinda sucked. No one guessed that some 20 + years later movies would take off and the fans never gave up the loyalty.
@@artmakersworlds - You said it. What an amazing story for such a barely surviving little 3 year show.
It never would have happened without Lucille Ball’s influence to have it aired. Notice Desilu in the credits.
Just wow. I'm old. When I was a very young child, I remember my father with a TV Guide magazine telling me that a new TV show called "Star Trek" was to premier soon. That's my earliest Star Trek memory.
Good old Trek memories. Thanks for sharing!
My earliest Trek memory was seeing the Gorn on my older brother's B&W TV and having the pants scared off me. I don't remember telling my parents what scared me, but my brother got in trouble for letting me watch that new "adult" sci-fi show called Star Trek. That was the first season run of Trek. By the second season, my older sister was into the show and for some reason, that made it alright with my parents to let me watch the show with her. I was already hooked and have been ever since.
"Of all the souls of strangers I have encountered in my travels, his was the most...😢 heartless."
😆
😢
👏🏽well played
This was an early promo video that probably aired in the summer of 1966 when the folks at the NBC marketing department didn't know what the hell they really had (and it looks like they only had "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to base the promo on). Back in the old network station affiliate station days, this video was also probably shown to interest NBC affiliate stations to pick up the show in their Fall schedule as well. Up until the late 1980s and early 90's a lot of stations where still capable of both producing original programming (apart from the major networks) and purchasing programs in syndication.
You're probably right.
Plus the re-used fast flyby from The Cage.
NBC had no fear and no heart when it came to this commercial.
"A Stranger, with no heart" Written, by Dr. McCoy
😆😆😆
"He's got a heart, he just carries it in his liver."
@@carnotantonioromero3024 😆😆
Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a writer of promos.
"The fact that my anatomy is different from yours pleases me to no end". Said Mr. Spock to Dr. McCoy
Age 63, grew up with the original series. Never saw this ad, though. It might have been only for viewing by the affiliates, to persuade them to pick it up for the fall premiers.
Me too im a TOS with b&w tv with a photographic memory and never saw this one.
Most of the criticism I'm reading here is based on what the network perceived the show would be versus what it actually turned out to be. Not really a fair comparison as the promo department probably wasn't given that much to work with as by the time they were working on this the second pilot had just green-lit the series. And in fact, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" the mission of the Enterprise was to explore "beyond the galaxy" (only to be waylaid by the SS Valiant). I can only imagine that the promo dept. was given select clips to use: the Enterprise flyby, the shot of Shatner, and the shot of Nimoy. Their job was to sell the "mystery and intrigue" of the show so viewers would tune in. A pretty good job I'd say.
Yes, this must have been produced _very_ early in the process: all the shots are from the pilot episode. I don't remember ever seeing this, either on TV (and I watched a lot of TV in those days, stupid kid) nor at early Star Trek conventions, which would often show this sort of thing. My guess is that it was made (by NBC? by Desilu-Paramount?) for and distributed to NBC network affiliates to give them an idea of what would be on the fall schedule, and was never intended for broadcast.
Definitely has an eerie, Outer Limits’ feel about it!
Yah... but it didn't go with the "Ben-Hur" lettering, at all. Looked like a billboard for a chariot race after Moses had come through the desert, or something like that. But, nothing 'spacey' about it at all, unless you're exploring the pyramids. And even then...
And let's remember that without Lucille Ball there would be no Star Trek.
@@videostash413 No Lucille = No Star Trek.
best thing she ever did
@@robi6317 One of the best things she ever did.
@@user-iy6rm6pm4j or mission:impossible
Meh. Life..uhh..finds a way..
I like it. It's dramatic and foreboding: mysterious and intriguing. The 3D carved logo reminds me of "Land of The Lost".
Quite a few have said it reminded them of Land of the Lost. 😄
Its hard to imagine a commercial with less in common with the actual series.
No kidding
With commercials like that it's easier to win a three-legged race tied to a person with no legs, yet Star Trek still did it !
Yea, I've been to many a convention too. My favorite was something Nichell Nichols said. She said early on she walked into Gene Roddenberry's office and said "I know what your doing. You are writing morality plays." Gene said "SHHHH don't say that too loud, the networks haven't figured that out yet." Lol... no kidding.
Ever read the blurb on the back of a paperback book, or on a movie poster?
@@Donleecartoons only after reading the book. Then i try to figure out what book it was supposed to be attached to.
That planet, the rock outcroppings and the sun are probably better done than anything the original series developed for their planet scenes. Whoever made the visuals for this commercial did a nice job.
Just a small sculpture on a table with a black background and a light shining in a dark room. Short of an establishing shot, there wouldn't be much they could do with it. They rarely had establishing shots on the show but on the few times they did, they opted for matte paintings.
@@sdfried4877 it might be a simple effect but it was well dine and effective for a commercial in 1966. It looks good.
I agree I think that it's amazing! And such a 60's scifi vibe! I would love to have that logo on a t-shirt or on a poster! But this time with the original Enterprise cruising over-head, pointed away from the viewer, like it's about to head out into deep space on it's next mission of exploration and discovery...
Please don't say "outcropping"
@@electrofunk5442 why not? I enjoy that word. Lol
Now I understand why older generations always thought this show would go nowhere… this commercial really encapsulates the feeling of this era of broadcasting. It’s an interesting window into another time.
There was only 11 years between the cancellation of TOS until the first major motion picture and only another 8 before the megahit TNG first aired. It was all the same generation, little tadpole. 😁
It sounds like those excellent old radio dramas like "X-one"!
@@sam21462 It was a legitimate comment. This ad has a late 1950s feel even tho it ran in 1966. Advertising and media evolved radically during the 1960s. By the time of TMP in 1979 we had home computers and pocket calculators and ads looked more like they did in the 80s. I say different generations involved in the creative.
@@Ootgreet1 - While I do agree that the evolution was phenomenal during this period it was still, in my opinion, an evolution of the same generation of humans. The easiest example, and a very large example, is the fact that TOS all the way through the original set of movies and on well into the TNG era was all helmed by Roddenberry. Yes there was great evolution but it wasn't really a new generation conceptually until we got DS9 and Voyager. This is when we saw the torch completely passed from Roddenberry and company. 🖖
I had never seen this before today. The best television show of all time.🖖
They couldn't at least have said that Spock was "half-human" instead of ominously calling him "a stranger without a heart". If anyone was without a heart, it was the execs at NBC.
I saw the first commercial for Star Trek back in 1966. I instantly fell in love with it! I was a "Trekkie" before I even knew what a Trekkie was. I am still a Trekkie, especially of the original series. Over the years I had the pleasure to meet several of the main characters. They were always kind and very attentive to fans. People can say that Star Trek The Original Series was a cheesy TV Show, but they need to understand the impact it had on not only television, fans, and NASA. This year will mark ST:TOS 58th year since it first aired on television. They were disliked by most of the powers of NBC. Given very little budget for props and costumes. Yes, Lucille Ball helped to save Star Trek. This show has impacted so many lives since 1966, it will never...should never...be forgotten. My we all Live Long and Prosper. 🖖
Beautifully put and I wholeheartedly agree with you. I, too, was a "Trekkie" before the term ever existed.
🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖
@@morlockmeat 🥰
@@KAH5371 - ❤🖖
I want to see a series based on this commercial.
That stranger with no heart would be an interesting character. Wonder who'd they cast for it.
It is great to see this little gem of forgotten Sci-Fi history (i mean the commercial of course).
"A stranger with no heart" 😂
Has to be presented like a horror show
Yes, it certainly weird.
spock was not amused
They just didn't look in the right place. Spock's heart is where a human's liver would be...
@@stepchildofsoul
That never made sense to me. I know Spock is supposed to have alien anatomy (despite being half-human), but, logically, the best place for such an organ is within the ribcage.
@@JanetStarChild Yeah, old sci-fi just bein' weird for its own sake. There really wasn't a sense of order for these things back then. Personally, it's gone a bit far for my tastes these days, but we gotta just roll with it and enjoy things, yeah?
I remember watching Star Trek in 1969 on a neighbours colour TV, it was the first programme I ever saw in colour and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I like this. It gets you curious without actually spoiling anything.
I am fortunate to have seen this in prime time back in 1966. We loved this show!
Same here! 🖖
Same here…🖖🏼🖖🏼
@@melindahall5062 - 🖖🖖✌
Star Trek was NBC's answer to all the success ABC was having with Irwin Allen's scifi productions (i.e. Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, etc.). Nearly all those ABC shows ended around 1968.
Lost In Space was on CBS
Star Trek only 79 episodes. Lost in Space had 83. Seems like audiences had a threshold for so many episodes of a sci fi series.
Always loved Star Trek and always will
Love it. I was a child in the 70's (born in 1965) so I missed the very first run, but in serial I enjoyed it. Mind you it was in blck and white when I first did see it at home - then one day at a neighbor's house it was in color and I was awestruck. Fun fact: Spock was originally conceived to be red, to resemble the Devil. Execs overruled and he took on the famous green tinge (and copper-based green blood).
You picked it up at the time it became super popular!
You've seen what colour red looks like on (the then-common) black & white television sets, right?
...It wasn't white.
@@ellemueller Everything in shades of gray. My point was just an aside about color and it’s impact - nothing to do with seeing Spock on b&w 😉
@@ellemueller I may be wrong, but I think the reason red normally looks very dark on B&W TV is more to do with how the video was captured than how the image was displayed. The B&W film used wasn't very sensitive to red wavelengths, so when they shot something with red colour, the red would come out looking much darker than a comparably light green or blue (or other colour) object. However when converting colour film (Star Trek was all shot on film) to B&W video, they could avoid the reds being much darker than the other greens and blues.
@@Ammi6543 Interesting, i never realized there would actually be a difference. Thanks for the info!
I've been watching since Sept. 8, 1966 (I was 7), and I remember seeing that promo once, maybe twice, 1966-ish, and I haven't thought of it since. Cool to see it again, good find.
I've been with this from the very beginning, and I'm certain I've never seen this commercial. Thank you. That was awesome!
I never saw it either and I was a teenager in 1966...the uniforms were used only a short time.
I'm 49 YO and have been a Trekkie since my grandpa and I used to binge-watch reruns when I was a boy. I've never seen this before, which kinda blows my mind. Thanks!
Welcome to the Star Trek Zone.
That scene from 0:33 to 0:35 - I remember such a picture in an episode guide of this series in Starlog Magazine back circa August-September of 1991. Now I have some idea of where that picture came from. As Mr. Spock would say: "Fascinating."
I wasn't completely on board until he said "IN COLOR". Then I was like, "Hell yeah! I'm gonna watch!"
😆😆😆
"In Color" was the huge buzz phrase in the mid-60s, mainly because RCA had bought NBC. It was more to prod owners of Black & White sets to get color ones. It was essentially saying , "If you liked the appearance of this stranger with no heart, and this cool looking planet surface in this promo, think how much better they would look on one of our color sets."
I've never seen this commercial, and I've been around since the beginning. Thanks for sharing.
You're very welcome. And thank you for commenting! 🖖
I never saw that commercial, but now it explains some of the art I'd seen promoting the show, namely the words "Star Trek" cut out of stone.
Kinda reminds me of "The Land of The Lost" from Saturday mornings
Despite Star Trek being in color and NBC using a peacock logo since 1956, they used the old text logo for NBC that was used for black and white TV's...
Mr. Spock wasn’t the stranger with no heart he was second in command with a Vulcan heart !
That's a little gem!
Spock: "Live long and prosper, Captain..."
Kirk: "Do I know you?"
Such a cool find. I enjoy the narration, so dramatic and stark in its way.
Poor "stranger", he needs to go see the Wizard at the Emerald City.
I agree. The narration is almost like the older movie preview voice overs, which they never do anymore.
Haha did anyone else think of Bill Murray’s Scrooge promo from “Scrooged”?
I remember this commercial!!! We were so excited over the summer and couldn't wait for it to start. 56 years later, I still love it.
As do I. 🖖
I just love the idea that someone built that crater prop with a logo carved out of styrofoam no doubt.
Ha! I love it too! And it probably got thrown away when they were done with it. What a shame.
"Styrofoam AND doubt"...
And I'll bet that "sun" was actually a real light bulb on a desk
And I bet it had the budget of an entire Trek Episode.
@@TheFlyingSailorYT - 😆
Watched star trek as a kid on Saturday and Sunday in the 70S in syndication. First time seeing a commercial when the series ran.
Pretty sure the announcer here is William Woodson, who did the opening for "The Invaders", along with promos for other shows like, "Land of the Giants," and was also the narrator voice for the "Superfriends" cartoons.
Do you mean the "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice!" Guy? I watched super friends so much as a kid. I love it! What a great connection.
Ted Knight narrated “The Superfriends”.
@@danielstachnik5792 William Woodson took over narration duties starting in 1977, until the show ended.
He's got a beautiful voice. I've done some narration, but his is a voice I wish I had.
sounds like Tony Jay but I could be wrong
Spock will have more heart than has ever beat in a human chest and facing his boundless fears is what will make Kirk infinitely brave.
McCoy: "Suffer the death thy neighbor, now you wouldn't wish that upon us, would you?"
Spock: "I've noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be ... in yours."
@@3dbadboy1 An Earthling with no fear. A stranger with no heart. A doctor with no golf clubs.
@@brianarbenz1329 🤣
"Wow!! That looks like it's going to be a great show, can't wait to see it!'" That is a direct quote from 6 year old me. NBC just happened to be the only station our TV could pick up where we lived in upstate NY. I was a science fiction fan from my first few breaths, my first book I ever read was a Star Trek novel Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds. I had just turned 6. I learned to read at 3 and this Star Trek book and one about the Civil War we're gifts from my mom when I turned 6, she would bring me home books all the time as she thought it was very important to help develop the mind. My Dad left us when I was 4. He was stationed in Japan a Chief master sergeant in the Air force. My mother who only made it through the 3rd grade(her mother died leaving seven brothers and one girl my mom was the oldest and had to stay home to take care of them and her alcoholic father. He wasn't a terrible man but it was the twenties (1925 to be exact) and the great depression hit a couple years later. Three of her brothers died from childhood diseases but she got the other three through it. She worked hard every day and luckily where we lived in the Catskills of NY and had a nice piece of land with 75 acres and she hunted and fished all year around we had a cold meat locker in back that always had three or four deer hanging in it. My sister and I ate deer all year long. She had a garden about four acres around which she did all the work herself. If you ever see a photo of Barbara Stanwyk or Betty Davis from the 30s dressed in a mink with a fancy hat that is how my mom looked when she was younger she really had some style. My sister and I both went to college and got our degrees and though she passed away from cancer back in 1984 it was because of her getting me started in reading that helped me get ahead. By the way she wasn't a super fan of star trek but since we only had the one channel she was stuck watching it like the rest of us she liked Leonard Nimoy and called him ears! That always made me laugh. This little clip brings back a lot of memories some good and some not so good but that's just how life goes, merry Christmas to all
What a tender story. Some good and not so good memories. Cherish the good ones. Thanks for sharing and commenting. Have a great Holiday Season!
Beautiful story. Sounds like you had a great family. I could picture your mom from the description, my mom had the same vibe. I think of her every time I see a 40's film. "Ears" is a great nickname btw.
I was barely old enough to remember Star Trek during its 3rd season, but vividly remember seeing it all when it finally hit syndication. Thank you, this has to be a VERY rare find. I know I've never seen it!
I watched just one Star Trek episode during the original run. I was 9 or 10. I confess to being a Lost in Space kid. Never missed that.
I'd watch that show.
I'm 37 and a lifelong Trekkie it must have been so exciting to see this commercial and watch the show premiere! I bought tickets to see The Wrath of Khan in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February. I paid a bit extra to meet William Shatner, I'm so excited and nervous! Lol
Wow! You met THE man, himself. 😃
And it WAS exciting to see the shows for the first airings. At first, my parents wouldn't allow me to watch the show. My older brother got in trouble for letting me watch an episode with him. But by the second and third season, it became an event to gather and watch it. Go figure, right? 😆
I like the musical tribute to Forbidden Planet at the end of the commercial.
Ha! Yeah, very “spacey”!
@@morlockmeat Beacuse it is fake!
Very nice, thanks for sharing, a big selling point the show was in color so it was high tech for it's day, just like Star Trek was.
Why do ads always lie? Spock had the greatest heart of all.
Cue whitney houston
@@carnotantonioromero3024 I did not see her in that ad. But apart from that, she was a great artist. But she was real, Spock us fiction.
They really did Spock dirty saying he had no heart.
It's no wonder the original series didn't get many viewers. With commercials like that. Who would want to watch that. A stranger with no heart?!
😆😆😆
Uhh this is a type of sarcasm? The original series did get many viewers. And "stranger with no heart" isn't quite the right description, but it does pique interest for those who don't know who he is.
@@suicunesolsan - Good point!
Thank you for uploading this. It’s great to finally see it for the first time. 🖖🏻🖖🏼🖖🏽🖖🏾🖖🏿
Ah back when trailers didn't give away the ending and didn't mug the audiences into watching.
an Earth man with no fear. I beg to differ Jim Kirk had fear but like all great heroes and Captains he had the courage to overcome his fear. Spock being described as a stranger with no heart? Again I beg to differ. Just because Vulcans controlled their emotions and pushed the intelligence more. That doesn't mean they didn't have a heart
I've never seen that. I like the Star Trek rock sculpture, later used in Land of the Lost.
I was born in 1965, but I recall watching the episodes in 1969. The language was too sophisticated for me, so I recall asking my mother if she could speak "space talk" too like they do on ST.
😄
Did she say "That's a typically human illogical question."
I remember seeing this Promo at a Star Trek Convention during the mid-70s.
It's still pretty odd and quite chilling.
ah, okay, so we're sure it's authentic. I find it hard to imagine stuff like this has been floating around but not made it to youtube or any documentary etc. I've ever seen.
Took me a while, but I finally became a Whovian (I've been a Trekker since forever), and it still cracks me up how Star Trek was always in color, but Doctor Who wasn't until the 70s, with the Third incarnation of the Doctor (Jon Pertwee). (DW premiered on 11/23/63, the day after JFK was assassinated.)
Fascinating.
And I started getting into Who in the 70's, watching it on Public Television - PBS. 😄
I suppose that would have been the first time people had seen the enterprise... Probably the only thing in that promo that would have made me interested in watching the show.
I remember as a wee lad, it was on Saturday nights, I think at 8:00 (est). That was bath night and us kids would get popcorn or a treat after baths and watch Star Trek.
Saturdays were our bath nights too, as wee ones. 😆
No wonder the suits chose Orson Wells for the VO for the eventual Star Trek The Motion Picture trailer. They were in power when this was made. Watch this, then go watch the TMP trailer. Fascinating.
Back when broadcast television was free, you endured the commercials we used for bathroom breaks and snacks. Heard the call. "Hurry, its back on!" Content creators, Hollywood, still managed to make the wonderful television and movie classics you see today and paid good money for their work.
Yes. And various shows, specials and movies were EVENTS. It was sometimes exciting.
Spending a Sunday afternoon thumbing through the Sunday paper's weekly TV pages or the TV Guide to see what's going to be on..
Now, as they say, a thousand channels and nothing to watch. 🤥
YES - KIRK WAS WRITTEN + PORTRAYED AS A LEADER WITH NO FEAR!
THAT'S WHAT MADE HIM SO GREAT!
Lets not forget that Lucile Ball had the faith to put the money up and get it to air.
I Love Lucy.
I probably saw this commercial at the time. Later when Star Trek reruns were on my family watched them during dinner on a small portable TV.
My family did the same thing!
@@morlockmeat Wow! Thanks for adding the commercial!
@@spinsandneedles - You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed!
damn you old as hell bruh 😂
@@jessihawkins9116 😆
The series that started a great franchise.
As a trekkie fan I'm mad that NBC cancelled the 1966 star trek
I'm STILL mad. And I've been watching it since 1966!😆
My old man used to talk about how hyped he was to see the show as it aired (8 years old) but my grandma wouldn't let him stay up. He did the same to me for the second part of Who Shot Mr. Burns. Decades later, I'm complaining about it just like he.
WOW! Man I'm old I can very vaguely remember this when it first aired. I was four almost five years old. About a month shy of turning five.
We were both in our larval stages. 😆
0:23 took inspiration from "Twilight Zone" season 2 opening.
0:32 gave inspiration to "Land of the Lost"
opening end title.
Wow. Never saw this before. Really interesting to see an original Star Trek commercial advertising the show.
This was an awesome commercial. Go back and look at some of the original Star Wars adds before the movie was even being made. Almost like this one.
With the same narrator!
My mother was enthusiastic for Star Trek when it was an upcoming fall show. Back then, fall premiers were pretty thrilling. Mom kept reminding us about Star Trek and her fervor started catching-on. I remember TV commercial bumpers promoting the show which consisted of a still photo and an announcer intoning, 'Star Trek', coming this fall to NBC!' Those were heady times thinking of it now.
Great memories. It’s when TV was special and waiting for something to come on was an event.😊
Tralfaz. Great name! And it brings back good memories.
@morlockmeat That is so true. Once we could record favorites for ourselves to have at our fingertips, some of that speciality was lost. For now, I'm just glad that we can remember Event TV.
@@fritzhamster2506 I appreciate your affirmation. Best wishes!
@@TralfazConstruction Now that you mention it, morlockmeat isn't so bad either!
The anti-lion, and the anti-tinman. Who's the anti-scarecrow, McCoy?
With Uhura as the anti-Dorothy and Chekhov's hair as the anti-Toto.
Scotty as the anti-wicked wizard of the engine room!
And Sulu as the anti-Glinda the Good.
😄
That would be the Mirror Trekverse...
I love what you did!
@@malirabbit6228 - Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
And Sulu as the Good Witch, "Oh, my!" !
Something I've never seen before from this era!
State of the art, back in the day.
I remember this!
Such sublime innocence.
That rock formation of Star Trek would have looked good as an intro itself.
Funny, I don't remember seeing that ad playing. Dose anybody else out there in T V land? And in living color, that's was a big deal kids! My father worked a extra job ar SEARS all winter as a armed guard for no pay to get a window display used color TV. First on the city block, a bit to green in color but envey of 100's of people. Minimal wage was 50 cents a hour then.
In the original series it’s inferred that Spock’s internal organs are anatomically unrecognizable in comparison to humans and not in the same locations. In “The Omega Glory”, Yang Chief Cloud William can’t hear Spock’s “heart”, therefore infers he doesn’t have one. #dancetolivemusic #startrek #tos
I was thinking the same thing when they said in the commercial,"he has no heart"
My childhood, the adults running the country back then were chain smoking , hard drinking veterans of WW2 , they had no concept of what Star Trek fit into , they only could compare it to their childhood movie house serials that ran between movies , ( buck Rogers ) men from mars , etc
0:15 "..and a stranger with no heart." Who the heck wrote this commercial? Spock does in fact have a heart. It's just that it's fueling copper-based blood.
Yes, but you have to remember that this was an ad from when the show was first aired. The Spock character wasn't even fleshed-out yet. 🖖
That's great advertising. Not so cheesy. Thanks for uploading.
Fascinating
This, is the first time I've ever seen this, wow !!!! Thank you
Nice! I've never seen that before. As a child, I only caught Star Trek in reruns. The ad is perfect for the time and the audience it was aimed at, odd though it seems now.
"A stranger with no heart". He and Kirk seemed to be old friends, and Spock had two hearts.
If you remember, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk and Spock weren't good friends yet. And Mr. Spock does have one heart - it's just located in a different place. 😊
Have never seen this and it is awesome to see! Clearly done very early in production! Kind of spooky.
Wow! I watched TOS on its first run but don't remember ever seeing this. What a find.
"Travel beyond our time and solar system, into new galaxies" Into New Galaxies? I didn't know The Enterprise had Warp 10,000 capability.
😆
@Fred Smithberg~ The (TOS) Sci-Fi series, "STAR TREK" was never strictly "Sci-Fi/"Science fact", ever!!, and regularly bent the emutable law of physics, and did so pretty much through out the entire series...It was a Sci-Fi / Fantasy series, aimed at the 18 -34 age range, and adults
came to enjoy it later in reruns and syndication...
I hate when they mix up universe and galaxy like that. But this goes one step further mixing up galaxy and star system.
In the episode "By Any Other Name" the Kelvins take control of the Enterprise and are going to take it back to their galaxy, but going at a much higher speed.
@@my3dviews - That's right. The only time they ever left the galaxy.
Cool I've never seen this, I was too young to watch the original airing grew up in 70's and 80's watching reruns...
"...into Worlds Beyond Your Dreams!"
Worlds such as.... the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in Ancient Rome, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the Old West, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1930's, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1940's, the Planet That Looks Identical to Earth in the 1960's, Planet Earth in the 1920's, Planet Earth in the 1960's, and all sorts of other Amazing ALIEN Worlds to Astound and Amaze!
To be fair, there is a planet which is actually a spaceship, another hollow planet with technologically regressed culture, Another another hollow planet which itself is artifical, Not to forget the planet that simply doesnt exist in a single universe but between universes.
A huge mining planet that contains literal rock creatures who are sentient, And another planet that literally is eden with the ability to create anything you wish for.
Plus the main pull of the show isnt planets, its Scotty and Mccoy's sheer presence.
@@Kronosfobi HERBERT! HERBERT! HERBERT!
JK, I just wanted to add a planet that looks like paradise, but made of acid. 😊
@@tjkhanks As a wise man once said, ''I am not Herbert.''
@@Kronosfobi are you One? You are not Herbert. We Reach. 🙌😊
So you don't like star trek, well thanks for taking enough time to make sure we know.
On the Wikipedia entry is says that NBC wanted a "Western in Space", and rejected the pilot. Lucy Ball, the head of the studio said they should reconsider and the show got on the air.
"Western in Space" is exactly what "Firefly" is.
This sounds like an ad for The Starlost!
And let's also remember without "Tang" orange flavored crystals there would be no space program.