Factoid of the Day

[resonant]

from Wikipedia's article on C.S. Forester:

"The original conception of the popular American television series Star Trek was based in large measure on the Hornblower books, and was pitched as such to NBC television by creator Gene Roddenberry."

Comments

[rosewildeirish.livejournal.com]

"Wagon Train in Space" was part of the actual pitch. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

That part I'd heard, but the Hornblower connection was new to me.

[ataniell93.livejournal.com]

I have always found that awfully amusing, because I have been a fan of the original Trek series since its inception when I was a tiny, tiny child on my father's knee, and I remember reading that in the 1970s. (My father also likes HH, but we have this agreement that he doesn't need to know what I'm planning to do with those boys.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

we have this agreement that he doesn't need to know what I'm planning to do with those boys

Probably wise!

[joandarck.livejournal.com]

It's funny that the hero they ended up with is so different from Hornblower. Actually, Spock's not far off though.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I know! I was going, Kirk ... Hornblower. Kirk ... Hornblower. Nuh-uh.

[snpdiva.livejournal.com]

Love the icon!! From the frog fic you wrote, right?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Yeah! shinigamitabris made it for me.

[ausmac.livejournal.com]

I remember reading that fact many years ago; that Roddenberry liked the idea of an autonomous commander mostly out of touch with his superiors who had to make decisions on the fly, backed by a very loyal crew. Kirk and Hornblower don't have much in common as characters, but Hornblower did have a habit of jumping into raids, as Kirk often did. In fact it was one of the complaints - people would say, does a battleship captain leave the bridge and do grounds assaults? That's why they adapted when they made Next Gen by having an older Captain and younger support crew. But obviously with Kirk, he was more piratical and less likely to get other people to do things in his place.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Ah! Now you've made it all make sense to me. They aren't at all alike in temperament, but you're right, there are a few points of agreement.

Your icon, by the way, is one of the kidlet's favorite things to look at.

[ausmac.livejournal.com]

Cats rule! I've got this one, too, but I like my climbing cat one best.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

That's a cute one, too, but yeah, the climber is the best. I love how you can see her mewing!

[byandby.livejournal.com]

*is confused*

I've read and loved the HH series. I'm not so much a fan of the original series (more of a fan of the later spin-offs), but, um, Horatio Hornblower is better.

Does ausmac's comment sum up the similarities because beyond that, I don't see it.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, Hornblower is by far the character I like better. It's that sense of self-doubt that makes him fun to read (though it also makes me want to smack him sometimes).

I read The Hornblower Companion a while back, and Forester actually talks about that, about making the man more believable by making him a hero to everyone but himself.

[mercuriosity.livejournal.com]

*scratches head*

Huh.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It might actually be amusing (for someone who knows Star Trek canon way, way better than I do) to swap the two characters in certain famous episodes.

[mordyn4]

I'm a huge Star Trek fan and I didn't know that. Thank you. M.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It was news to me, too, and kind of strange news at that. The same Wiki article also says that both the Hornblower books and the Patrick O'Brian books were partly inspired by the life of the same person.