How did TMP get a G rating?

[Christopher]

^Hm... I found the original sound effect rather anemic.

[mos6507]

Most stations played it in early prime time, five nights per week. How is that not targeting that demographic?

I only have anecdotal evidence to offer, considering that I'm Generation-X and watched it on UHF in reruns in the 70s. My dad worked long enough hours that he was not home to watch it at the 5PM or so slot that it was in. My mom was busy cooking dinner. It was therefore not "appointment television" in this household. It was a show that nerdy boys watched after the afternoon cartoons were over and before sitting down at the dinner table. If the rest of the family were aware of Star Trek, it was more through the indirect influence of those in the household who made it part of their ritual to watch it.

[Maurice]

What constituted an PG in 2001 isn't the same as in 1979, and thus isn't an apt comparison. One could argue that the creation of the PG-13 rating effectively caused the standard "PG" to be nudged down to cover things that previously would have been G. Only the MPAA knows for sure.

But, by 1979 standards TMP got the rating it merited: G.

[RyanKCR]

Christopher wrote:

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^Hm... I found the original sound effect rather anemic.

The original sound was a low rumble like a lot of power held in check waiting to be freed. It just sound and felt more powerful to me.

[Christopher]

^I don't recall it as a low rumble, but as a high-pitched, sort of warbling electronic sound.

[Therin of Andor]

mos6507 wrote:

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My dad worked long enough hours that he was not home to watch it at the 5PM or so slot that it was in. My mom was busy cooking dinner. It was therefore not "appointment television" in this household. It was a show that nerdy boys watched after the afternoon cartoons were over and before sitting down at the dinner table.

And that fits perfectly with the US popularity of ST in the 70s. Parents who had watched it in first-run in the 60s were happy to let their kids watch it in the 70s, whether the whole family sat down together or not. Over dinner, many families discussed the episode that had just run.

Here in Australia, we had "Gilligan's Island" and "Lost in Space" in that perpetual rerun slot, not ST. "Star Trek" didn't get a similar treatment because only 40 episodes were rated "G" Down Under; the others were "NRC" ("Not Recommended for Children"). When rerun for "the first time in colour" from 1981, it was back into an after-8.30pm timeslot. When it then shifted to weekend afternoons, the network holding the screening rights was told that they'd have to pay for a new classification process to have the series reevaluated to account for changes in 80s sensitivities, or just stick with repeating only the 40 "G" episodes. Which they did.