Airing "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is both a blessing and somewhat of a curse for the folks at KSTU-Ch. 13.
On the positive side, it's an extremely popular program that pulls strong ratings for the station.But Trekkers are a notoriously loyal and demanding bunch who aren't afraid to voice their opinions about the scheduling of their obsession.
The latest example came just weeks ago when KSTU pulled reruns of the original "Star Trek" series from the 9 p.m. time slot Monday-Friday in favor of the "Ron Reagan Show." To put it mildly, the Trekkers were not pleased.
According to KSTU programmer Christy Elswood, the station received "about 800,000 calls" from irate Trekkers. (OK, so it was more like 800.)
Rather typical of the reaction was a letter to your local television editor bemoaning the change.
"I feel compelled to alert you to a programming crime of the worst sort: Ch. 13 has removed episodes of the original `Star Trek' from its nightly schedule in favor of that useless `Ron Reagan Show,' " wrote Salt Lake's Jenne Parsons.
" . . . I think it's sort of sick to rearrange your life around something as trivial as a TV show (no offense) but I've found myself doing just that, and it's getting harder and harder to know when to watch. I don't care if it's Kirk or Picard, but I need my Trek fix and I need it DAILY."
Well, Jenne and you other 800,000 or so Trekkers: You won't have to wait long. A repentant Ch. 13 is yanking Reagan off the air as of Sept. 23, and replacing him with reruns of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Which will get you that daily fix for at least a few months.
Oh, and Reagan is going to be exiled to either midnight or 1 a.m.YOU HELP DECIDE: Elswood is in constant contact with several dozen of the state's leading Trekkers, often consulting them on programming decisions concerning the new and old "Star Trek" series.
Not that it always works. Not too long ago, Elswood had a decision to make about the cliffhanger from the third season of "ST:TNG." (The one involving the Borg.)
KSTU owned the rerun rights to the third season, but not the fourth season (the one that was just completed). So should she run the first half of the Borg two-parter and not the second, or not air part 1 at all?
"I talked to a whole bunch of these guys and they all said, `Go ahead and run it,' " Elswood said. "So I did. Then I just got slammed - (viewers) went ballistic on me."
She's got another programming decision to make when "ST:TNG" reruns return to the weeknight schedule on Sept. 29.
At the end of the year, KSTU will premiere a local newscast weeknights at 9 p.m., which means - brace yourself - no more "Star Trek" reruns in that time slot.
It also means just 84 hours between Sept. 23 and the projected start-up date for the news, which isn't enough time to air all 100 episodes from the first four seasons of "ST:TNG."
So, Trekkers, would you rather see Ch. 13 start at the beginning and run all 84 episodes, or start, say, with season three and then run selected shows from the first couple of seasons in the days that remain after the end of season four?
Elswood wants to hear from you. Call KSTU at 532-1300 and express your opinion.HOW'S THAT?: Recently, USA Today ran a story about the success that Fox programming has found here in Utah on KSTU-Ch. 13.
USA Today staffer Jefferson Graham chronicled the rise of Ch. 13 since it began with the Fox shows, expressing some surprise that the sometimes rather risque lineup has found such an audience in a predominantly LDS state.
A little condescending, perhaps, but nothing particularly surprising.
But the the worst line came at the end of the story. KSTU's new general manager, Bill Lincoln, was asked about his station's plans to air "Married . . . With Children" reruns weeknights at 10:35 p.m. beginning later this month.
"It's the signature Fox program," Lincoln says. "We think it's going to do great. And by scheduling it at 10:30, all the kids will be in bed and parents can watch it without fear of condemnation by the church."
OK, I'm willing to believe the remark was made in jest.
But when you're relatively new in the state, and you're trying to build a reputation as a member of the Utah community, it's probably best not to hold your neighbors up to ridicule by making inaccurate, facetious statements to national publications.TOUGH TV TRIVIA TIME: OK, just for fun, see if you know the answers to these two questions:
1. Midway through the run of the ABC sitcom "Benson" (1981), Caroline McWilliams, who played secretary Marcy, decided to leave the show. The writers accomplished this by marrying her character off and having her quit her job.
What star of a current NBC show played Marcy's groom?
2. In the pilot episode of "Designing Women" five years ago, Suzanne (Delta Burke) had an affair with Mary Jo's (Annie Potts) ex-husband, the philandering doctor Ted.
What star of a current NBC show played Mary Jo's ex-husband?
Here's a hint - both actors portray characters with the same first name now.
OK, here are the obscure answers:
1. Would you believe Ted Danson, who plays Sam Malone on "Cheers?"
2. Would you believe Scott Bakula, who plays Sam Beckett on "Quantum Leap."
Isn't that fascinating?BOWING TO PRESSURE: ABC, unable to completely withstand the pressure brought on the network by the National Stuttering Project, will do some editing of the theatrical film "A Fish Called Wanda" when it airs Sept. 15.
The NSP is incensed about what it perceives as cruel treatment of stutterers in the movie. (A character played by Kevin Kline - who won an Oscar for the role - viciously mocks a stutterer played by Michael Palin.)
Some scenes of the verbal cruelty have been cut, "reducing but not eliminating" the mockery, ABC said. The network also refused to include a disclaimer, as the NSP demanded.
While it's true the Kline character is cruel, it is just a character. And acceding to outside demands from special interest groups is a dangerous precedent for ABC to set.MORE BUNKERS: CBS found surprising success with 20-year-old reruns of "All In the Family" this summer, so the network has decided to air a couple more episodes.
They'll be seen Fridays at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 6 and 13 - a time slot that will be filled beginning Sept. 20 with the nostalgic (but new) sitcom "Brooklyn Bridge."