alternatehistory.com

In the OTL, Star Trek was cancelled after 3 seasons of 79 episodes. After that cancellation, the actors involved had trouble finding work, and face typecasting problems. Shatner, for instance, had to live in his truck for a while. Star Trek itself looked like it may have been soon to be forgotten, but in the 70s, it went into syndication (which it didn't look like it would do given it didn't even have the normal 100 episodes for syndication) and since it was in good time slots, it took off in popularity beyond its original cult following. That lead to an animated series (1973-1974), and in 1979 they finally did a movie and thereafter started a movie franchise based on the original Star Trek, and the subsequent Next Generation was spun off and so on.

However, Star Trek was actually originally cancelled after Season 2. It was only after a well organized and massive letter writing campaign to save the show that NBC executives ok'd it for a third season. The third season being when it was shoved into the Friday night "death slot" time when no one watched, was given a new producer who wanted a new direction, and saw increasingly outlandish/campy episodes.

But what if that letter writing campaign wasn't successful, and the show was cancelled in 1968 after 2 Seasons and 55 episodes? What would the effect of that earlier demise be on the people involved, the culture and Star Trek as a show and an intellectual property?
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