Is it unique to Star Trek that fans have remained with it so long? Has it a quality which means it�s dated less than other sci-fi of the time?

I think those who watched the original series are just predisposed to science fiction and things of imagination. Using myself as an example, I was a big fan of the original series, and admired The Next Generation. It�s been important to me to check in on Voyager and Deep Space 9, and I�m really looking forward to the new show, as well.

There really wasn�t any television science fiction before Star Trek. There was Lost in Space, which was a totally different sensibility. It was truer to the sensibility of television at the time. Very palatable, a family in space, unrealistic, but something that your common audience could identify with, at least so they believed. Lost in Space didn�t endure, Star Trek has.