Why in 90s teen shows was it always the "Nerdy Kid" who wanted to be a astronaut?

[CmdrShep2183]

What were the SBTB writers thinking?

https://savedbythebell.fandom.com/wiki/Screech_Powers

This would not be in the case in a world where the space race continued. Teen shows in that timeline would certainly have "popular characters" who would want to become astronauts.

Even irl high school underachievers have become astronauts believe it or not.

https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/storie...ss-kellys.html

I think it would be cool to get "popular" and "class clown" type characters who end up becoming astronauts.

[KorvinStarmast]

What were the SBTB writers thinking?

https://savedbythebell.fandom.com/wiki/Screech_Powers

This would not be in the case in a world where the space race continued. Teen shows in that timeline would certainly have "popular characters" who would want to become astronauts.

Even irl high school underachievers have become astronauts believe it or not.

https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/storie...ss-kellys.html

I think it would be cool to get "popular" and "class clown" type characters who end up becoming astronauts.

Possible answer: because {certain} TV script writers are social outcasts who spend their lives in a never ending quest of wish fulfillment fantasy.

Far more likely answer: you can make anything up that you want to when writing for a TV show, so you try anything and everything to make your show different from all of the others. If it works, it works. (IIRC, SBTB was a very successful TV show). And if it works well enough, it will be copied by others.

[Mechalich]

'Astronaut' was, in the 1990s, among the most high-profile and most celebrity adjacent careers to which those with strong STEM predilections aspired. Also, as the number of astronauts was extremely limited, the chances of anyone, no matter how talented, achieving this goal were quite low - as opposed to becoming a doctor or lawyer, a task that while difficult, is accomplished by large numbers of people every year. This made it useful shorthand as an aspiration for 'nerd' or 'geek' type characters that resonated with the audience in a way that 'football star' did for jocks and 'movie star' does for popular types. Now, of course, things are somewhat different and the STEM-inclined are likely to be portrayed as interested in high-profile positions in tech or entrepreneurship that are just as unlikely but are significantly more financially rewarding.

Additionally, there are real-life stories in which the 'nerdy kid' did in fact grow up to be an astronaut, such as the case of Homer Hickam, which was popularized in the 1999 film October Sky, which may have served as a reference.

[Precure]

Into space/tech = Nerdy

[Peelee]

Even irl high school underachievers have become astronauts believe it or not.

https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/storie...ss-kellys.html

The Kelly twins? Really? That's the example here?

Disregarding that the article states they said they underachieved in "school", not "high school" specifically, they are the ones defining "underachieving". And given that one got his undergrad summa cum laude and the other worked as an EMT in high school, I think their definition likely differs a bit here from what's presented in OP.

[Prime32]

Becoming an astronaut is both physically and mentally demanding. Dr. Stone was a recent series which had some focus on that, with characters who were shown to be smart enough to work on the ISS but struggled to pass the fitness requirements.

Also reminds me of how Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four (a trained astronaut) is supposed to be the "dumb brute" of the group, but is actually pretty smart when he needs to be. Partly because anyone would feel dumb hanging out with Reed Richards all day (the man invents entire new fields of science like once a week), and with his own brains rarely useful to the team it encourages him to play up his street-toughness instead.

[Ramza00]

Another CmdrShep2183 thread.

Man on the moon was 1969. I argue from age 4 to 14 man people become obsessed with 1 or more things. In the psychology literature we call this hyperfixation and it usually starts at the age of 3 though it continues past it. This is why kids are obessed with dinosaurs, Atlantis and other lost cities, trains, other form of vehicles like cars or airplanes, dolls, dressing up, and so on. Anything that allows the kid to have imaginative play.. This sense of imaginative play helps a child create a sense of self, and is different than the previous sense of self stages that occur prior to the age of 3 (which are also important but different.) This imaginative sense of play is why kids make sound effects when you are not looking even in their high school years, Vygotsky called this privation where internal language and imaginative play becomes internalized and you gain cognitive skills in the process. A child manifests an external mental play like a play mate or an idol only to internalize it as self instructions on how to perform a task at older ages. I can go on how some people systemize this fixation, while others branch out… But back to the subject at hand.

So if you were age 4 to 14 in 1969 that means you were born 1955 to 1965. That means in 1990 you were 25 to 35 and thus could be a writer in a tv room during the 90s. And when you write stories with children and teens where you ask what do they want to be when they grow up, the answer with their own nostalgia imaginary fascination which is to be an Astronaut. Which hear me out… WOULD BE THE COOLEST THING EVER!

(Oh No I forgot I had a Calvin and Hobbes Avatar, Stupendous Man, I have revealed too much of my secret identity, once must keep the alter ego separate from me I mean Calvin)

Additionally, there are real-life stories in which the 'nerdy kid' did in fact grow up to be an astronaut, such as the case of Homer Hickam, which was popularized in the 1999 film October Sky, which may have served as a reference.

October Sky one of those Joe Johnston directed movies. For people who are not familiar with that name he is the director of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji in the 90s, and the first Captain America movie. Plus lots more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Johnston

He got his start doing all these effect works for Star Wars A New Hope, and he was one of the big wig Art Director for Empire, Raiders, Return of the Jedi, and Temple of Doom. The industry respected his work and start causing him to branch out and thus he did those late 80s and 90s movies I mentioned. He also worked on other things not as the lead role such as designing the character design of The Iron Giant.

(Also he did the 1991 film The Rocketeer, which broke even. If you saw the movie poster you can tell that Joe Johnston was that guy, he wanted to be a Rocket Man!)

[KorvinStarmast]

Becoming an astronaut is both physically and mentally demanding.

Two people I went to college/university with were Space Shuttle astronauts. A guy who worked for me was a finalist. Three times. And was not the one picked.
A certain astronaut who ended up making national news with a piddle pack and a long car trip was chosen over him.

He would agree with your assessment. (Based on our conversations).

[KillianHawkeye]

In pop culture media, astronaut = science = nerd stuff. It really isn't more complicated than that.

Nobody would expect the characters from Friends to be astronauts, not even if Matt LeBlanc was cast in Lost In Space. Nobody would expect Neil Patrick Harris' character from How I Met Your Mother to be an astronaut, not even if he played a psychic space soldier in Starship Troopers.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with these examples, but it hopefully makes some kind of sense...

[Lord Vukodlak]

They all wanted to be an Astronaut, the nerdy kid is just the only one willing to admit it.

[Ramza00]

They all wanted to be an Astronaut, the nerdy kid is just the only one willing to admit it.

I read Red Mars, I retract this perverse wish

The stuffed animal Kyubey asks the magical girl, do you want to make a contract?