A 'Star Trek' for the Recession

Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" television series foresaw much of today's technology. Before you held your cellphone, underwent non-invasive surgery, or used a GPS in your car, technologies like these were used on the series. But can the franchise have meaning during the Great Recession?

One can only hope. I wrote in May about what newspapers can learn from "Star Trek" because insight often wades in the waters of creative drama. Well, I couldn't resist talking about the franchise again because CBS and Mad Science Group recently announced that in 2010 they will present "Star Trek Live" shows in theme parks and performance venues nationwide. TrekMovie.com reports that an official brochure says the shows will offer "cutting-edge special effects, unmatched audience interaction and cool science."

Cool science? Again, one can only hope. TrekMovie.com says the 60-minute shows will feature Capt. James T. Kirk and Spock interacting with the audience as Starfleet cadets during an incident where the USS Enterprise is attacked. Will this format be real-time problem solving? If joblessness in the U.S. hits 10 percent at the end of this year and hovers at 9.5 percent at the end of 2010, as some economists predict, some Americans may be quoting Spock to get them through the economic night. Really. The strategic, albeit make-believe, conversations between Kirk and Spock sorting out a galaxy-wide conundrum may inspire more change than the sluggish, bureaucratic debates in Congress.

The arts in general stir inspiration despite horrific times. During the Great Depression, for example, movie theaters became a place for entertainment and a mirror of what Americans were enduring. From the unforgettable funny scenes with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant to Henry Fonda's hollowed-out expression in "The Grapes of Wrath," movies told much-needed stories for the Depression era.

I'm not saying "Star Trek Live" will carry the lasting cachet of the 1930s movies. But could the shows appeal to our tech-laden generation, which faces widespread economic trouble -- despite technological advancements? If written and cast well, could the "Star Trek" shows become an unexpected alternative to much of American entertainment that is a slave to duplicate hospital dramas, celebrity gossip and endless reality TV?

Futuristic entertainment with a brain? Here's to hoping.