What would America’s space program have become if the USSR had beaten the US to the moon? A new show on Apple TV+, “For All Mankind,” explores this alternative history scenario. I recently spoke with the show’s co-creator, Ronald D. Moore, to discuss his new series, Hollywood’s capacity for optimism or pessimism, and much more.

Ron has worked on a wide variety of TV shows over the past few decades, including “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” and “Voyager.” He is also the creator of “Outlander” and the co-creator of 2004’s “Battlestar Galactica.”

Below is an abbreviated
transcript of our conversation. You can read our full discussion here. You can also subscribe to my podcast
on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher, or download the podcast on Ricochet.

Pethokoukis: “For All Mankind” is a very aspirational show with respect to both space exploration and social progress. What inspired you to go in that direction with the show?

Moore: I had this idea of doing a show set at NASA in the ‘70s, but I soon realized that the story of the space program in that decade was a depressing one, with budgets getting cut back and the big ambitions going away. The show I wanted to do was the space program that we didn’t get, where Apollo kept going, the space race continued, and we went out into space and beyond more aggressively and with greater ambition. So then I asked, “How could that have happened?” And it became clear that one of the ways it could’ve happened was if the Soviets had beaten us to the moon, because it would’ve made us redouble our efforts.

This was always meant to be an aspirational show. I wanted to play out the story of what I thought the space program was going to be and what it could’ve been. I wanted to go in the direction of the original “Star Trek” series — its ideals, optimism, and aspirational quality really spoke to me and formed me in a profound way.

Is it possible to have the space program — where it’s not going to be obvious to people why this matters for their everyday lives — without some external force like the USSR driving it?

It’s certainly harder now than it would’ve been if we had kept going then. While the benefits may not have been immediately apparent, if we had kept going long enough, we would have gotten to where we are now. We would have seen business interest coming in, public/private partnerships, and the diversification of what it means to go into space. Once you start getting into space tourism and other places where there’s money to be made — such as mining of the moon, asteroids, or other planets — you start seeing other benefits on Earth, and you start to see technological change coming about on Earth because of the space program.

If that had happened, like it did in the show, I think it could’ve all worked. The national effort would have led everything, then private industry gets in, and then we’re in an active, ongoing space program. Then it’s not so much about, “How much money is Congress spending every year?” If you could’ve avoided that and gotten to where the national effort pulled along the private enterprise into space, then the national effort could recede and become more about pure science and true exploration.

Do you think our culture produces too many dystopian stories, and do you think it matters?

I think we do have too many dystopian future worlds, and it does matter. It’s easier to write a dystopian piece, make things crappy, and show people at their worst. It’s harder to write “Star Trek,” which is why there’s no other competitor for Trek —  it stands alone in its optimistic idea of the future within pop culture science fiction on film and television.

If you ask people what they hope the future’s going to look like, they’re probably going to describe a future that’s very much like Star Trek: a world that conquers disease, poverty, and racial tension; nations no longer go to war with each other; and we go out into the galaxy in peace and for freedom, representing democratic values.

Having too much pessimistic media matters, because if that’s the whole diet, then no one is going to be inspired to do things. “Star Trek” inspired generations of people. When I was working at “Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine,” people were constantly coming to us who worked at NASA or Silicon Valley. They had gotten into those professions because they were inspired by “Star Trek.” They just were so inspired and excited by the ideas that they saw in that vision of the future that they literally dedicated themselves to doing it. So we need to provide more of that for people if we want them to achieve those things.

Is there an appetite for optimistic narratives focused on the future?

I think there is. Sometimes the business is slow to pick up on what there’s a market for. For example, during the Depression, suddenly everyone wanted to go to the movies and watch something optimistic and carefree and forget about their troubles, and so Hollywood served that appetite. You just need one of these things — some optimistic piece — to catch people’s attention, and then suddenly you’re going to be inundated with 50 of them.

Right now, it’s just that shows like “The Walking Dead” have gotten so much viewership that everybody else piles on. I’ve got nothing against “Walking Dead,” but Hollywood is just very imitative. But eventually, you get to a saturation point, and then it’s like, “Enough already. I don’t want to watch another zombie piece.” Then somebody offers you something completely different, and the audience will flood over there.

What gives me hope are shows like “Schitt’s Creek.” It’s an optimistic show that has a tremendous amount of heart to it, and people have been drawn to it. And I believe science fiction can tap into that audience, too.

Do you have any ideas on how to make society more optimistic and aspirational other than creating fiction that generates those kinds of feelings?

I think the biggest thing is what we give to our children. Show them those optimistic stories and great adventure tales that you loved as a kid and inspired you. Share those with your kids. Kids love good stories, and kids want to be inspired. That’s when their hopes and their dreams are at their purest.

For example, I made my son wait to watch “Star Wars” until he was old enough to appreciate and understand it. And then I showed him one new “Star Wars” movie each year, on his birthday. It made him a fanatic — he’s the biggest “Star Wars” fan you could possibly imagine. But it also just lit that little spark of heroism, of romance, and of grand adventure that he carries around with him to this day.

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