Star
Trek: The Original Series 46th Anniversary has been marked by a Google
doodle on Saturday. With this, Star Trek: The Original Series has become
only the second television series to have a Google doodle dedicated to
it, joining another iconic series The Flintstones in the 'elite' club.
Both
series were originally broadcast in the United State in the 1960s. The
Flintstones made its debut on ABC on September 30, 1960 and the series
that followed the adventures of Fred Flintstone, a working class Stone
Age man, overcame a sluggish start to be regarded as one of the all-time
classics of television. Star Trek: The Original Series first aired on
September 8, 1966, weeks after The Flintstones' last episode aired on
April 1, 1966.
Much like Star Trek: The Original Series, The
Flintstones inspired many other TV shows, notably The Simpsons, which
broke The Flintstones' record as the longest running animated series on
television. The similarities between the two leading male characters,
Fred Flintstone and Homer Simpson, have been well documented.
The
Simpsons have referenced The Flintstones in several episodes. In the
episode Homer's Night Out, Homer's local convenience store clerk, Apu
remarks "You look familiar, sir. Are you on the television or
something?" to which Homer replies "Sorry buddy, you've got me confused
with Fred Flintstone." Can there be a bigger homage than that?
Similarly,
Star Trek: The Original Series marked the start of an iconic series,
giving birth to sequels, prequels, movies, animated series, and much,
much more. The characters of Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. Leonard 'Bones'
McCoy will remain etched in the memory of anyone who ever saw the
series.
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