Why the show was cancelled and why NBC held onto it as long as they did has been argued in numerous threads here. But what many fans seem to miss is that NBC could have killed
Star Trek at any point and for any reason it wanted to. many better rated shows have been cancelled. In 1967 CBS actually cancelled
Gunsmoke, which was ranked #34 compared to
Star Trek's overall low 50s position. (
Gunsmoke did get a last-minute reprieve at the cost of killing
Gilligan's Island, which had just slipped out of the top 25, but was still rated far more highly than
Star Trek).
That NBC held onto
Trek despite middling ratings meant they had some faith in or, or at least didn't think they had anything else in the wings they felt could do better. After 3 years of ratings that stayed stubbornly mediocre, they probably decided they could do better trying something else.
Sure, in a different timeslot it might have flourished (which happened to the the reprieved Gunsmoke when it moved to a new timeslot and jumped from #34 into the top 10), but since NBC never did try
Trek in a timeslot like Mondays at 7:30, as was proposed for season 3, all we can do is guess.
Well I read through that long-winded "Opinion" which is no better than the original "Opinion" I supplied.
/quotation fingers
In my view the author was being a thorough and careful researcher, establishing the methodology by which his conclusions were drawn. I think he makes a better case re interpreting the ratings than Cushman has. Your mileage clearly varies.
)
