From an article I found...
It was at Desilu that acclaimed sci-fi screenwriter and visionary Gene Roddenberry got his big break. Roddenberry pitched the Star Trek pilot to the studio as a sort of Western-inspired space adventure. While many within the studio balked at the idea, Lucille liked the idea and the first pilot was approved and filmed. The pilot was pitched to NBC and was promptly rejected on the grounds that it was too intellectual, not enough like the space-western they had been led to believe it would be, and audiences wouldn’t relate to it. Lucille, a fan of Roddenberry’s work, pushed back against NBC and insisted they order a second pilot. Ordering a second pilot was a practice almost entirely unheard of and save for Lucille’s charisma and clout with the network, it would never have happened.
Roddenberry shot the second pilot, NBC accepted it, and Star Trek premiered in 1966, thus beginning a new era in the sci-fi genre and laying the foundation for half a century of Star Trek fandom—an era that would have never come to pass without the intervention and insistence of Lucille Ball.
After her divorce from Arnaz, Lucille bought out his share of their studio. As a result, she became the first woman to both head and own a major studio. During that period of ownership, she continued to help develop Star Trek as well as other popular series of the time like Mission: Impossible and Mannix.
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4 comments:
She was a formidable woman!
I knew this about her. I loved her character on I Love Lucy, but I think I wouldn't care for her in real life. She was the exact opposite of her character. Stern, serious, a bit cold and tough on people. I was in Jamestown for Lucy Days and some of the things told were not exactly flattering but you can't ever deny her talent or business savvy.
Very interesting! I like SciFi a lot but had no idea of her involvement. Now I do....! Thanks.
Lucille Ball was smart, funny and beautiful. She was the complete package when too many people thought that women weren't capable of much more than being wives and mothers.
Without Star Trek virtually none of the library of movie and TV SiFi and fantasy would exist. Yes, there were SiFi movies, Forbidden Planet (1956) is a notable exception, but few movies or shows created and fleshed out entire persistent worlds in such richness and detail as Star Trek.
Star Trek showed a world where we had overcome racism, hate, exploitation. On the Enterprise races and sexes got along. Human rights were taken for granted. The Kiss between Kirk and Uhura (1968, when cities were rioting and burning) was a huge deal. It rocked our world.
It both held up a mirror so we could see our failures but showed a way out by showing us what the 'promised land' might look like.
I humbly submit that this was one of a precious few guiding lights that guided us through troubled times, even as the US seemed to be falling apart.
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