![]() Though a long-running theory held that the Klingons and the Federation represented the Soviet Union and the United States, two ideologically opposed superpowers, another interpretation argues that “Star Trek” functions as a critique of Cold War-era politics, by offering an optimistic vision of the future at a very uncertain moment in history. But Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov, said the Pravda explanation was made up for publicity: The show’s producers wanted a character to appeal to a younger demographic, and just decided to make him Russian. ![]() As Roddenberry recounted in The Fifty-Year Mission, a two-volume oral history of “Star Trek” published in 2016, the character was added after the Russian newspaper Pravda pointed out that the show ignored the Soviet Union’s pioneering contributions to space travel. In the show’s second season, a new navigator named Pavel Andreievich Chekov showed up on the bridge of the starship Enterprise. But it offered a positive vision for the future in the midst of Cold War tensions. One of the most controversial plot lines of that season, the story was clearly analogous to the escalating nature of American involvement in Vietnam. Kirk decides to do the same in order to preserve the “balance of power” on both sides. The first season episode “Taste for Armageddon” was one of TV’s first allegories for the Vietnam War, an issue the show would return to most famously in the second season’s “A Private Little War.” In that episode, the Klingons are providing weapons to a primitive planet, and Capt. Forester’s classic naval adventure series), “Star Trek” didn’t shy away from tackling moral and social issues such as war, racism and discrimination. Though marketed as a classic adventure drama (Roddenberry based the character of Captain Kirk on Horatio Hornblower from C.S. Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” (Credit: CBS via Getty Images) The original 'Star Trek' referred repeatedly to the ongoing, escalating conflict in Vietnam. The civil rights leader, who admitted to being a devoted fan of the show, told Nichols that she was breaking new ground in the role of Uhura, and showing African Americans what was possible for them. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom she met at a NAACP fundraiser. Nichols later said that she was reportedly thinking of leaving the show after the first season, but was convinced to stay on by none other than Dr. ![]() In an era of mounting racial tensions, “Star Trek” presented a positive image of people of different races, genders and cultures (not to mention aliens and humans!) working together cooperatively-a somewhat utopian vision, perhaps, but a heartening one. Hikaru Sulu (played by the Japanese American actor George Takei). Nyota Uhura (played by the African American actress Nichelle Nichols) and Lt. In addition to the half-Vulcan Spock, the crew of the Enterprise in “Star Trek”’s debut season included Lt.
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