How ‘Star Trek’ Gave America Hope During the Turbulent 1960s

In 1966, the U.S. was mired in a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and fears that world leaders might one day push the nuclear panic button seemed justified. We were sinking deeper into a conflict in Vietnam that would soon sow dissent among generations, and racial tensions led to violence and injustice in hot spots throughout the country. Our world felt … out of this world.

On television there was plenty of what we might call entertainment, from Gunsmoke to Gilligan’s Island to Gomer Pyle. There was even a campy new Caped Crusader who could CRACK! down on crime in Gotham City.