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I have been doing some research on the Internet today trying to find out if J.R.R Tolkien had been a fan of the original Star Trek series, which ran from 1966 to 1969. Since Tolkien died in 1973, it makes me wonder if he had watched the original series and whether he may have given his opinion about the program.
Was J.R.R. Tolkien a fan of the original Star Trek series?
Probably not. Tolkien didn't own a television and wasn't really interested in modern culture, preferring to attend the opera, lectures on poetry, and listen to occasional programs on the wireless. He certainly watched some TV (when visiting his brother's house he noted that they had watched the cricket and tennis while drinking whisky) and while there's no evidence that he didn't watch Star Trek on someone else's set, it seems unlikely.
He never spent money carelessly; he and Edith did not install any electrical gadgets in the home, for they had never been accustomed to them and did not imagine that they needed them now. Not only was there no television in the house, but no washing-machine or dishwasher either.
He described the radio in extremely disparaging terms.
Only in one way was I better off: wireless was not invented. I daresay it had some potential for good, but it has in fact in the main become a weapon for the fool, the savage, and the villain to afflict the minority with, and to destroy thought. Listening in has killed listening.
I think we can be reasonably sure that if he was even aware of Star Trek (noting that when introduced to film megastar Ava Gardner at the height of her fame, he hadn't heard of her, let alone seen one of her films), that he would have had little or no interest in watching it.
