(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kitchen Table Kibitzing 9/8/2026: Energize [1] ['Belinda Ridgewood', 'Thom Hartmann'] Date: 2026-09-08 Good evening, Kibitzers! Today, September 8, is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, and I would like to say some stuff and show some videos. I’m writing this in advance of today, of course, so some relevant stuff that hasn’t been published in advance won’t make it in here. (I would bet real money that our friend AKALib will have a diary up with social media and other content from today, though, and probably others will too. You know how we are at this blog. Geeks. We’re geeks.) On this date in 1966, the first episode of Star Trek aired in the US (it had aired in Canada two days earlier, for some reason). It wasn’t that successful commercially at first, but it attracted what might be called a “cult following” early, and the cult ::raises hand:: never abandoned it. The original show in general, in spite of the regular fistfights and ray-gun battles, had geek values. It valued intelligence and reasoning, science, peace through mutual understanding, equality of opportunity, diversity — everything that now gives MAGA the fantods. What, I ask you, was not to like? For a bullied kid who lived in a place that did not share those values, it was a lifeline, and there were a lot of us. Female viewers were supposed to admire the manly action hero, Captain Kirk. Instead, an apparently surprising number of us preferred Spock, a quiet, calm man of enormous intelligence, who wasn’t checking out the ass of every woman who went by. The Powers That Be were at a loss to explain our strange, quirky behavior. As we say nowadays, smdh. Before I start adding videos, I need to recognize Lucille Ball. As you may know, her Desilu Studios took on Star Trek, and allowed it to make a second pilot after the first one didn’t pan out, when no one else would. Lucy’s gamble was that a successful series that the studio owned could be sold in syndication (I Love Lucy being the model for that) and represent income for years. She ran out of money just a little too soon, and had to sell Desilu to Paramount, but she was absolutely right about Star Trek — it and I Love Lucy are still the two most-rerun shows in the history of TV. Thanks, Lucy! (This is a detailed article about her involvement with the show. And this is a much shorter piece on several noteworthy space-adjacent women, including Lucy, in Star Trek and in real life.) A few other relevant links: So, videos! Le Creuset, displaying excellent commitment to the bit, contrive to launch their Enterprise dutch oven into space and return it safely to earth, using a weather balloon. ❧ [3:10] Celebrating 60 Years of Star Trek, a tribute trailer from San Diego Comic-Con. ❧ [2:53] The Star-Trek-60th float from this year’s Tournament of Roses parade, with appearances by cast members (from sundry series) George Takei, Rebecca Romijn, Tig Notaro, and Karim Diané. ❧ [1:30] Entertainment Tonight provides a franchise retrospective from interviews and on-set footage they’ve accumulated over the years. ❧ [18:19] CBS Saturday Morning centers its coverage on interviews with William Shatner, but we hear from many other cast members as well. ❧ [6:08] CBS Sunday Morning did a long and candid interview with Leonard Nimoy in 2005, excerpted here. ❧ [12:39] AARP provides this short interview with George Takei, because who doesn’t want to just hug that guy? ❧ [2:55] In 1988, when LeVar Burton was in both Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation, he did a fascinating Reading Rainbow episode that discussed every aspect of creating a NextGen episode. ❧ [16:20] Finally, a couple of highlight reels, of sorts, from the two earliest series. This original series tribute is a montage of quick clips from each of the 79 episodes. ❧ [3:31] The Next Generation tribute is, instead, a collection of expressions of various aspects of the philosophy of the franchise. Shoutout to our fellow DKos member, CleverNickName. ❧ [6:26] Tuesday afternoon: I wasn’t going to add updates, but I had been waiting to see this one. European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot checks in from the ISS. ❧ [0:48] David Bowie: Starman/ Ziggy Stardust (Glastonbury, 2000). ❧ [8:02] [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/9/8/800095369/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-9-8-2026-energize/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/