When did Trek become a 'family' show?

[Control Voice]

Being among the first adult SF series has always been a Star Trek standard. However in later years the modern series seem to have bent over backwards to remain inoffensive and family friendly.
This did not happen to Twilight Zone, Galactica or Stargate.
When and why did this happen?

 

[The Wormhole]

Hasn't Trek always been family friendly? I don't think any of the episodes or movies have ever gotten higher than a PG rating. For that matter, with the other shows you mentioned, the original BSG was meant for a family audience, its the rebooted version that certainly was not. The Stargates are also family friendly, at least SG-1 and Atlantis are. Indeed, I specifically remember SG-1's producers going on hos they disapproved network interference forcing nudity in the pilot because they wanted the show to be a family one.

 

[Christopher]

Being among the first adult SF series has always been a Star Trek standard. However in later years the modern series seem to have bent over backwards to remain inoffensive and family friendly.
This did not happen to Twilight Zone, Galactica or Stargate.
When and why did this happen?

I think you're misunderstanding the sense in which "adult SF series" was intended to apply to TOS. It didn't mean a show that was for adults only -- just one that wasn't aimed primarily at children the way Lost in Space and the like were. It meant a drama on the maturity level of contemporaries like Gunsmoke. And yes, Roddenberry did push the envelope in the depiction of skin and sexuality.

But despite that, TOS was always meant to be appropriate for children to watch, at least older children. In its first couple of seasons, it aired in an 8:30 time slot, early enough that a lot of kids would still be awake. It was always popular with children, and when it went into syndicated reruns -- often in afternoon time slots -- young audiences were a major component of its fanbase. (And don't forget, ST:TMP was released with a G rating.) There are many of us, myself included, who are such loyal fans because we discovered Star Trek very early in our lives. And indeed, many people in the '60s and '70s saw ST as a children's show because that's what they assumed all science fiction was. ST was meant to be a departure from that trend, but a lot of people didn't get the memo.

Still, I agree that the later shows did tend to be more staid and conservative, less willing to take risks, than TOS was. But that was less about being a "family show" and more about being a highly profitable institution rather than an underdog. The more money something makes, the more reluctant its beneficiaries are to take chances that might hurt the bottom line.

Still, there are exceptions. TNG's first season was the only one that Roddenberry was personally in charge of, thus it tended to have a lot of sexual content -- Data and Tasha in "The Naked Now," the hedonist planet in "Justice," and the like. TNG got somewhat more staid later on, but DS9 was willing to be more risky and risque. The same-sex kiss in "Rejoined" was highly controversial when it aired and some stations refused to show it. And Enterprise often played up the sexuality, but in a clumsy and juvenile way.

 

[The Wormhole]

And Enterprise often played up the sexuality, but in a clumsy and juvenile way.

The decon rub-downs are just embarrassing to watch or even talk about.

 

[Horizons96]

I don't think any of the episodes or movies have ever gotten higher than a PG rating

I remember noticing quite a few voyagers were M rated upon hiring them out here in Australia

 

[Orphalesion]

All Star Trek shows (with the possible exception of late Voy and Ent) were still made in a time when most shows tried to appeal to as large an audience as possible, this is even more applicable to the 60s. TOS might not have had a kid appeal character like the original BSG but it was completely family friendly, with lots of things and storytelling kids would be interested in.

I don't agree with others here that the depiction of sex and skin automatically makes a series "mature", the "Naked Now" and "Justice" are easily among the most infantile episodes of TNG, largely because of the way they handle sexuality. the original BSG also had a lot of skin and implied sex, but was not really mature (not that the new version is imho, but that's another story)

The same-sex kiss in "Rejoined"

Showing a kiss between two sexy, perfectly feminine women that would only be seen as "hot" by their target audience is not exactly "brave".

I remember noticing quite a few voyagers were M rated upon hiring them out here in Australia

We cut scenes out of the Simpsons and Adventure Time. I don't think we are the international standard.

 

[T'Girl]

Showing a kiss between two sexy, perfectly feminine women that would only be seen as "hot" by their target audience is not exactly "brave".

It actually would have been more "brave" if a passionate kiss had been shared by Kai Winn and Worf's mom. The hot lesbian thing being more socially acceptable, than the non-hot.

 

[Orphalesion]

^ Ha! Kai Winn/Helema Rozhenko OTP!

 

[The Wormhole]

I don't think any of the episodes or movies have ever gotten higher than a PG rating

I remember noticing quite a few voyagers were M rated upon hiring them out here in Australia

Huh, that's odd. I am of course basing my statement on Canadian ratings, which to my knowledge never exceeded PG.

The same-sex kiss in "Rejoined"

Showing a kiss between two sexy, perfectly feminine women that would only be seen as "hot" by their target audience is not exactly "brave".

In the mid 90s it was. Keep in mind this was around the same time Ellen was fired for coming out. Two women kissing on screen was a considerable risk. And as mentioned above, it caused quite a controversy with many channels either cutting the scene or just refusing to air the episode.

 

[Christopher]

Showing a kiss between two sexy, perfectly feminine women that would only be seen as "hot" by their target audience is not exactly "brave".

It actually would have been more "brave" if a passionate kiss had been shared by Kai Winn and Worf's mom. The hot lesbian thing being more socially acceptable, than the non-hot.

You're both thinking of it in today's terms. It's easy to forget how rapidly attitudes have changed. At the time, same-sex kisses were still something that had very rarely been shown on American television, and they were still controversial. You're right that it was easier to get a lesbian kiss on the air than a same-sex male kiss, but that still didn't mean it was accepted or routine. There had been maybe three previous lesbian kisses in US television history, all within the preceding five years -- on L.A. Law, Picket Fences, and Roseanne. All of them engendered controversy, backlash, and even sponsor pullouts, and the Picket Fences scene was even reshot in a darker room before airing due to CBS's fear of similar backlash. DS9 was the first genre series to feature a same-sex kiss, as far as I know, and it also generated the same kind of controversy. To quote Memory Alpha:
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rejoined_(episode)#Reception

This episode features Star Trek's first same-sex kiss and is one of the most controversial episodes in the show's history. According to Ronald D. Moore, "some felt betrayed, didn't want to see this in their homes. An affiliate down south cut the kiss from their broadcast." Similarly, René Echevarria says, "my mother was absolutely scandalized by the episode. Shocked and dismayed. She told me 'I can't believe you did that. There should have been a parental guidance warning'." Steve Oster says that a man called the show and complained, "you're ruining my kids by making them watch two women kiss like that." Much of the public response mirrored that of the famous Kirk-Uhura kiss in the original series episode TOS: "Plato's Stepchildren".

 

[urbandefault]

When I think "family show" the first thing that comes to mind is ABC's TGIF programming block. Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Full House, etc.

Trek was always aimed toward the adult audience, but something the family could watch together without a lot of awkward questions from the kids.

Kinda the way old Warner Bros. and Bullwinkle cartoons did, but the reverse. Targeted at kids, but with in-jokes and asides that adults would appreciate.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Hasn't Trek always been family friendly? I don't think any of the episodes or movies have ever gotten higher than a PG rating. For that matter, with the other shows you mentioned, the original BSG was meant for a family audience, its the rebooted version that certainly was not. The Stargates are also family friendly, at least SG-1 and Atlantis are. Indeed, I specifically remember SG-1's producers going on hos they disapproved network interference forcing nudity in the pilot because they wanted the show to be a family one.

Wait. The studio forced nudity IN to the pilot?

Did I wake up in Bizarro World?

Seriously, in this world did UPN force Voyager to have more continuity? I suppose I already have a beard so that test doesn't work.

Star Trek's always been pretty family friendly. There were a handful of episodes my mother didn't want me to see when I was younger like Chain of Command and Frame of Mind. There are individual episodes you might want to hold until your children are 12 or 13, and there's some themes younger children might not fully understand, but there's usually nothing you wouldn't want them to see.

 

[Christopher]

Indeed, I specifically remember SG-1's producers going on hos they disapproved network interference forcing nudity in the pilot because they wanted the show to be a family one.

Wait. The studio forced nudity IN to the pilot?

Did I wake up in Bizarro World?

Not the studio, the network. The first five seasons of Stargate SG-1 aired on Showtime, a pay cable network. One of the ways that pay cable tries to set itself apart from commercial TV is by featuring more adult and explicit content. Showtime's Outer Limits, from some of the same producers as Stargate, had frequently included nudity and sexual themes, and Showtime wanted SG-1 to follow suit. So the pilot included a nude scene, but the producers put their feet down and refused to do any others. And when the pilot was later re-edited and re-released as a DVD movie, the nude scene was excised.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I assume the nude scene you refer to is Cha're being taken by the gu'ald? That's still in the DVDs I have. In that scene it did work, because it played to the theme of humans being cattle.

 

[Silvercrest]

He's referring to a total re-edit and re-release of "Children of the Gods" a number of years later. Some scenes were excised, some missing scenes were inserted (I think), and a number of things were shuffled around.

 

[FormerLurker]

I assume the nude scene you refer to is Cha're being taken by the gu'ald? That's still in the DVDs I have. In that scene it did work, because it played to the theme of humans being cattle.

Not when she was taken, but rather when Apophis has his mate goa'uld implanted in her. And yes, Showtime insisted on it. The actress didn't know beforehand, as she had been told it would be mild topless, and was very embarrassed to have to be completely nude.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I assume the nude scene you refer to is Cha're being taken by the gu'ald? That's still in the DVDs I have. In that scene it did work, because it played to the theme of humans being cattle.

Not when she was taken, but rather when Apophis has his mate goa'uld implanted in her. And yes, Showtime insisted on it. The actress didn't know beforehand, as she had been told it would be mild topless, and was very embarrassed to have to be completely nude.

That's the scene I meant.

That's kind of a dick move to spring a nude scene on an actress after she signed the contract.

Maybe it would have fed into the theme of humans being treated like disposable slaves and cattle to have more nudity, but I'm glad they didn't do it after that scene.

 

[The Wormhole]

I assume the nude scene you refer to is Cha're being taken by the gu'ald? That's still in the DVDs I have.

Yes, the nude scene is in the version on DVD in the season set. What we're talking about is Children of the Gods - Final Cut, basically a Star Wars Special Edition version of SG-1's pilot which re-incorporates deleted scenes and adds new effects sequences, even some ship designs which weren't introduced on the show until a few seasons in. The nudity is removed from that version.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

That's kind of a dick move to spring a nude scene on an actress after she signed the contract.

You'd think that if her contract didn't have a nudity clause in it, that that might be the cause for a lawsuit. Of course, with it being Showtime, maybe a nudity clause was standard.

 

[Christopher]

What we're talking about is Children of the Gods - Final Cut, basically a Star Wars Special Edition version of SG-1's pilot which re-incorporates deleted scenes and adds new effects sequences, even some ship designs which weren't introduced on the show until a few seasons in.

I'd say it's more along the lines of the recut Babylon 5 pilot. The changes are more systemic than the embellishments of the SWSE -- the whole movie was re-edited and restructured, and I think it was rescored as well.