Trevor Roth credits Lucille Ball and Desilu with helping Star Trek find its audience
At a Rome television market, the Roddenberry Entertainment executive said reruns helped the original series reach viewers beyond NBC.
Lucille Ball and Desilu Productions helped Star Trek find an audience through reruns after its original NBC run, Roddenberry Entertainment chief operating officer Trevor Roth said at the MIA Market in Rome on October 21, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His account places syndication at the center of the series’ growth into a franchise that is still producing television shows six decades after its debut.
Roth told the market that Star Trek struggled during its first run. The Hollywood Reporter reported that he credited Ball with seeing the value of reruns after NBC canceled the original series, drawing on Desilu’s experience with I Love Lucy. He said Desilu was able to put Star Trek into syndication once it had 80 episodes, making it available to broadcasters beyond NBC.
How Desilu’s rerun experience shaped Roth’s account
The Library of Congress identifies Desilu as the producer of Star Trek and describes I Love Lucy as an early success in reruns. That history explains the comparison Roth made in Rome: a studio with experience finding new audiences for one television series could see a similar opportunity for another. His description of Ball’s personal role in Star Trek’s syndication is his account of those events.
The original Star Trek premiered in 1966. Roth said its wider audience developed after episodes could be shown outside NBC, calling syndication the point at which it became the enduring property familiar to viewers today. The distinction matters to his account: he described the series’ later reach as something built through repeat viewing, rather than through success during its initial broadcast.
What Roth said about Star Trek today
Roth is an executive producer on Star Trek spinoffs including Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks and Picard, The Hollywood Reporter reported. He contrasted the original series’ long run of episodes with streaming seasons of about 10 episodes and longer gaps between seasons, saying those changes affect how audiences relate to television shows. His remarks linked the franchise’s early route to viewers with the different release pattern its newer series face.
Roth also said work was under way on the film side of Star Trek. He gave no film title or release schedule. The comment came as he discussed a franchise that continues to produce new shows, with its earliest audience growth still informing how its executives describe its longevity.
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Sources and context
- How Lucille Ball Saved ‘Star Trek’ to Become a Six-Decade Juggernaut FranchiseThe Hollywood Reporter
- We Still Love LucyLibrary of Congress
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.