I’ve been rewatching TOS recently, and I noticed that Chekov’s hair had a mind of its own for a while. I took a few screenshots, looked up the story behind it, and made this really quick for anyone like me who wasn’t aware.
Roddenberry wanted Chekov to bring in the youth audience, so they gave him a wig to try to make him look like he’s from the Monkees or the Beatles… absolutely hilarious.
Babylon 5 tells a big story over the seasons. Characters grow and change through out it's run. You see people doing something in season one and don't know why/what it means. But they eventually come back to it and it weaves a great story. You'll love it.
It was considered counter-culture at the time to have “long” scruffy hair like that as a guy. It was a little bit of youthful rebellion when the Beatles or The Monkees did it, so kids loved it.
Interestingly enough, The Monkees show started the same month (as all shows did back in the day) in '66. I think he was just covering his bases - if it didn’t work out on Trek, he could transition over to be a Monkee.
That makes even more sense then! They didn’t bring Chekov in until the second season, so they were probably trying to hastily compete with The Monkees.
Back when I was a wee kid, I loved watching TOS reruns. At that time Babylon 5 was first aired and my older brother was a huge fan. I remember walking into the living room one day during an epic crew roasting of Alfred Bester and not realising it was a different show, my first thought was:
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