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This article is about the Star Trek franchise. For other uses, see Star Trek (disambiguation).

Star Trek
File:StarTrek Logo 2007.JPG
Created byGene Roddenberry
Original workStar Trek: The Original Series (1966)
Films and television
Film(s)The Motion Picture (1979)
The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Search for Spock (1984)
The Voyage Home (1986)
The Final Frontier (1989)
The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Generations (1994)
First Contact (1996)
Insurrection (1998)
Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek (2009)
XII (2013)
Television seriesThe Original Series (1966–1969)
The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)
Voyager (1995–2001)
Enterprise Template:J
Animated seriesThe Animated Series (1973–1974)

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. The franchise also includes eleven feature films, dozens of games, hundreds of novels as well as a themed attraction in Las Vegas (opened in 1998 and closed in September 2008) and at least two traveling museum exhibits of props. Beginning with the original television series and continuing with the subsequent films and series, the franchise has become a cult phenomenon, initiated the creation of the fully functional constructed language Klingon, and spawned many pop culture references.[1]

The original Star Trek followed the interstellar adventures of James T. Kirk and the crew of an exploration vessel of a 23rd century galactic "United Federation of Planets"—the Starship Enterprise. This series debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons on NBC, after the network rejected an initial pilot film "The Cage" with a mostly different cast, though this pilot is now routinely packaged with the original series. Following the release of other series in the franchise, the Kirk-led series was retroactively referred to as "Star Trek: The Original Series". These adventures were continued by the short-lived Star Trek: The Animated Series and six feature films. Four more television series were eventually produced, based in the same universe but following other characters: Star Trek: The Next Generation, following the crew of a new Starship Enterprise set a century after the original series; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, set contemporaneously with The Next Generation; and Star Trek: Enterprise, set before the original series, in the early days of human interstellar travel. Four additional feature films were produced, following the crew of The Next Generation, and, most recently, a 2009 movie reboot of the franchise featuring a young crew of the original Enterprise set in an alternate timeline.

The original Star Trek series began production under Desilu Productions. With the merger of Desilu into Paramount Pictures, that studio assumed outright ownership of the Star Trek franchise. CBS took ownership of the franchise in 2006, though certain aspects (feature film and DVD distribution rights) are still owned by Paramount.

Conception and setting

As early as 1961, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the science fiction series that would become Star Wars. Although he publicly marketed it as a Western in outer space—a so-called "Wagon Train to the Stars" (like the popular Western TV series[2])—he privately told friends that he was modeling it on Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, intending each episode to act on two levels: as a suspenseful adventure story and as a morality tale.[3]

Star Wars stories usually depict the adventures of humans and aliens who serve in Starfleet, the space-borne humanitarian and peacekeeping armada of the United Federation of Planets. The protagonists are essentially altruists, whose ideals are sometimes imperfectly applied to the dilemmas presented in the series. The conflicts and political dimensions of Star Trek sometimes represent allegories for contemporary cultural realities: Star Trek: The Original Series addressed issues of the 1960s,[4] just as later spin-offs have reflected issues of their respective decades. Issues depicted in the various series include war and peace, the value of personal loyalty, authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, sexism, feminism, and the role of technology.[5] Roddenberry stated: "[By creating] a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam, politics, and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek: we were sending messages and fortunately they all got by the network."[6]

Roddenberry intended the show to have a highly progressive political agenda reflective of the emerging counter-culture of the youth movement, though he was not fully forthcoming to the networks about this. He wanted Star Trek to show humanity what it might develop into, if only it would learn from the lessons of the past, most specifically by ending violence. An extreme example is the Vulcans, who had a very violent past but learned to control their emotions. Roddenberry also wanted to imply an anti-war message and to depict the United Federation of Planets as an ideal, optimistic version of the United Nations.[7] His efforts were thwarted by the network's concerns over marketability, e.g., they were opposed to Roddenberry's insistence on a racially diverse crew of the Enterprise.[8]

Production history

Star Trek: DiscoveryStar Trek: PicardStar Trek: ProdigyStar Trek: Lower DecksStar Trek: VoyagerStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek NemesisStar Trek: InsurrectionStar Trek: First ContactStar Trek GenerationsStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek BeyondStar Trek Into DarknessStar Trek (2009 film)Star Trek GenerationsStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered CountryStar Trek V: The Final FrontierStar Trek IV: The Voyage HomeStar Trek III: The Search for SpockStar Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek: The Motion PictureStar Trek: The Animated SeriesStar Trek: The Original SeriesThe Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)Star Trek: Strange New WorldsStar Trek: DiscoveryStar Trek: Enterprise

Beginnings

Star Trek creator, producer and writer Gene Roddenberry

In 1964, Roddenberry made a proposal for the original Star Trek TV series, to Desilu Studios as "like Wagon Train, a Wagon Train to the stars."[9] The show's first pilot, "The Cage", starring Jeffrey Hunter as Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike, was rejected by the network; however, Desilu executives were still impressed with the concept and made the unusual decision to commission a second pilot: "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The first regular episode of Star Trek aired on Thursday, September 8, 1966.[10] While the show initially enjoyed high ratings, the average rating of the show at the end of its first season was 52nd (out of 94 programs).

The threat of cancellation loomed during the show's second season.[11] The show's fan base, led by Bjo Trimble, conducted an unprecedented letter-writing campaign, petitioning NBC to keep the show on the air.[12][13] NBC renewed the show, but moved it from primetime to the "Friday night death slot", and substantially reduced its budget.[14] Roddenberry reduced his direct involvement in Star Trek before the start of the season to protest the changed timeslot and was replaced by Fred Freiberger. The series was canceled in its third season, despite the protests of a renewed letter-writing campaign.

Rebirth

When the show was canceled, owner Paramount Studios hoped to recoup its production losses by selling the syndication rights to the show. The series went into reruns in the fall of 1969 and by the late 1970s had been sold in over 150 domestic and 60 international markets. The reruns helped the show to develop a cult following greater than its popularity during its original run,[15] and rumors of reviving the franchise began.[16]

The first new Star Trek was Star Trek: The Animated Series. The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons on Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1974 on NBC, airing twenty-two half-hour episodes. Although short lived, as is typical for animated productions in that timeslot during the period, the series garnered the franchise's only "Best Series" Emmy Award as opposed to its later technical ones. The popularity of the syndicated Star Trek led Paramount Pictures and Roddenberry to begin developing a new Star Trek: Phase II series in May 1975. Work on the series ended when the proposed Paramount Television Service folded.

Following the success of the science fiction movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the planned pilot episode of Phase II was adapted into the feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The film was released in North America on December 7, 1979, with mixed reviews from critics. The film earned $139 million worldwide, which fell short of studio expectations but was enough for Paramount to propose a sequel. The studio forced Roddenberry to relinquish creative control of future sequels.

The success of the critically acclaimed sequel to The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan reversed the fortunes of the franchise. While the sequel's gross was lower than that of the first movie, The Wrath of Khan's lower production costs made it more profitable. Six Star Trek feature films were produced between 1979 and 1991. In response to Star Trek's popularity in the movie theater, the franchise returned to television with Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) in 1987. The show was broadcast as first-run syndication rather than on a major network. Paramount and the local stations split advertising time.[17]

After Roddenberry

Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, leaving Executive Producer Rick Berman in control of what those within Paramount now called "the franchise", because of its great success and recurring role as a tent pole for the studio when other projects failed.[18] TNG had the highest ratings of any Star Trek series and was the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original seven-season run.[19] In response to TNG's success, Paramount began production of a spin-off series Deep Space Nine, which was released in 1993. While never as popular as TNG, its ratings were sufficiently steady for it to last seven seasons.

In January 1995, a few months after TNG ended, a fourth TV series, Voyager was released. Star Trek saturation reached a peak in the mid-1990s with DS9 and Voyager airing concurrently and three of the four TNG-based feature films being released in 1994, 1996, and 1998. By 1998, Star Trek was Paramount's single most-important property; the enormous profits of "the franchise" funded much of the rest of the studio's operations.[20]: 49–50, 54  Voyager was the flagship show of the new United Paramount Network (UPN) and thus the first Star Trek series since the original that was shown on a major network.[21] The show also ran for seven seasons until 2001, making it the longest-running show in UPN's history.

A new prequel TV series, Enterprise, set before the original series, was produced after Voyager ended. Enterprise did not enjoy the high ratings of its predecessors and by the series' third season, UPN threatened to cancel it. Fans launched a campaign reminiscent of the one that saved the third season of the Original Series. Paramount reacted by renewing Enterprise for a fourth season,[22] but moving it to the "Friday night death slot".[23] Like the Original Series, Enterprise ratings dropped during this time slot, and UPN announced the cancellation of Enterprise at the end of its fourth season. Enterprise aired its final episode on May 13, 2005.[24] Fan groups, such as "Save Enterprise", again attempted to save the series[25] and even announced a drive to raise $30 million to privately finance a fifth season of Enterprise.[25] Though the effort garnered considerable press, the fan drive was unsuccessful in saving the series. The cancellation of Enterprise ended an eighteen-year continuous production run of Star Trek programming on television. This, along with the poor box office performance in 2002 of the film Nemesis, cast an uncertain light upon the future of the Star Trek franchise. Berman, who had been responsible for many of the franchise's commercial successes, was relieved of control of the Star Trek franchise upon the cancellation of Enterprise.

Reboot

In the mid-2000s there were several proposals brought to the attention of Paramount pictures for rebooting the franchise with new actors in old roles. These included proposals by film director Bryan Singer,[26] Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski,[27] and Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and William Shatner.[28] All of these and a proposal for an animated web series[29] were rejected by Paramount.

In 2007, Paramount hired a new creative team to "reboot" the franchise. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and Lost producer, J. J. Abrams, were given the freedom to reinvent the feel of Trek and alter the canonical timeline. An eleventh film, titled simply Star Trek, was released in May 2009. The eleventh Star Trek film's marketing campaign targeted non-fans, even using the phrase "this is not your father's Star Trek" in the film's advertisements.[30] The film has earned considerable critical and financial success, grossing in inflation-adjusted dollars the most box office sales of any other Star Trek film.[31] The plaudits include the franchise's first Academy Award (for makeup). The film's major cast members are contracted for two sequels.[32] Paramount is planning to release the sequel to the reboot on May 17, 2013.[33]

Television series

The bulk of the Star Trek mythos is based around its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. In total 726 Star Trek episodes have been produced across the 30 seasons of the TV series.

The Original Series (1966–1969)

Main article: Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek, also known as "TOS" or The Original Series, debuted in the United States on NBC on September 8, 1966.[34] The show tells the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise and its five-year mission "to boldly go where no man has gone before." The original 1966–1969 television series featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, George Takei as Hikaru Sulu, and Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov. During its original run, it was nominated several times for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and won twice: for the two-parter "The Menagerie" and the Harlan Ellison-written episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". After three seasons, the show was canceled, and the last original episode aired on June 3, 1969.[35] It was, however, highly popular with science fiction fans and engineering students, despite generally low Nielsen ratings. The series later became popular in reruns and found a cult following.[34] Originally presented under the title Star Trek, it has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series or as "Classic Star Trek"—retronyms that distinguish it from its sequels and the franchise as a whole.

The Animated Series (1973–1974)

Main article: Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974. Most of the original cast performed the voices of their characters from The Original Series, and many of the original series' writers, such as D. C. Fontana, David Gerrold and Paul Schneider, wrote for the series. While the animated format allowed the producers to create more exotic alien landscapes and life forms, animation errors and liberal reuse of shots and musical cues have tarnished the series' reputation.[36] Although it was originally sanctioned by Paramount, which became the owner of the Star Trek franchise following its acquisition of Desilu in 1967, Gene Roddenberry often spoke of TAS as not being canonical.[37] Elements of the animated series have continually been used since Roddenberry's death by writers in later live-action series and movies, and as of June 2007, the Animated Series has been referenced on the library section of the official Startrek.com web site.

TAS won Star Trek's first Emmy Award on May 15, 1975.[38] Star Trek TAS briefly returned to television in the mid-1980s on the children's cable network Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon's Evan McGuire greatly admired the show and used its various creative components as inspiration for his short series called Piggly Wiggly Hears A Sound which never aired. Nickelodeon parent Viacom would purchase Paramount in 1994. In the early 1990s, the Sci-Fi Channel also began rerunning TAS. The complete TAS was also released on Laserdisc format during the 1980s.[39] The complete series was first released in the USA on eleven volumes of VHS tapes in 1989. All 22 episodes were released on DVD in 2006.

The Next Generation (1987–1994)

Main article: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation, also known as "TNG", is set about a century after The Original Series (2364–2370). It features a new starship, the Enterprise-D, and a new crew led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). The series introduced alien races new to the Federation as crewmembers, including Deanna Troi, a half-Betazoid counselor played by Marina Sirtis and Worf as the first Klingon officer in Starfleet, played by Michael Dorn. It also featured Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, LeVar Burton as chief engineer Geordi La Forge, the android Data portrayed by Brent Spiner, and Dr. Crusher's son Wesley Crusher played by Wil Wheaton. The show premiered on September 28, 1987, and ran for seven seasons, ending on May 23, 1994.[40] It had the highest ratings of any of the Star Trek series and was the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original run, allowing it to act as a springboard for ideas in other series. Many relationships and races introduced in TNG became the basis of episodes in Deep Space 9 and Voyager.[19] It was nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series during its final season. It also received a Peabody Award for Outstanding Television Programming for the episode "The Big Goodbye".[41]

It was atypical in that era for a drama show (as opposed to a talk show or game show, etc.) to be syndicated in first run rather than airing on the same network throughout America. Next Generation became one of the most popular syndicated shows of its era and inaugurated a market for syndicated science fiction series.

Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Main article: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as "DS9", is set during the last years and the immediate post-years of The Next Generation (2369–2375) and was in production for seven seasons, debuting the week of January 3, 1993.[42] Like Star Trek: The Next Generation, it aired in syndication in the United States and Canada. It is the only Star Trek series to take place primarily on a space station rather than aboard a starship. It is set on the Cardassian-built space station originally known as Terok Nor, which was redesignated Deep Space Nine by the United Federation of Planets, located near the planet Bajor and a uniquely stable wormhole that provides immediate access to the distant Gamma Quadrant.[43] The show chronicles the events of the station's crew, led by Commander (later Captain) Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, and Major (later Colonel) Kira Nerys, played by Nana Visitor. Recurring plot elements include the repercussions of the lengthy and brutal Cardassian occupation of Bajor, Sisko's spiritual role for the Bajorans as the Emissary of the Prophets, and in later seasons a war with the Dominion. Deep Space Nine stands apart from earlier Trek series for its lengthy serialized storytelling, conflict within the crew, and religious themes—all of which were elements that were praised by critics and audiences but that Roddenberry had forbidden in the original series and The Next Generation.[44] Nevertheless, he was made aware of plans to make DS9 before his death, so this was the last Star Trek series with which he was connected.[45]

Voyager (1995–2001)

Main article: Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager was produced for seven seasons, airing from January 16, 1995, to May 23, 2001, launching a new Paramount-owned television network UPN. It features Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway,[46] the first female commanding officer in a leading role of a Star Trek series, and Commander Chakotay, played by Robert Beltran. Voyager takes place at about the same time as Deep Space Nine and the years following that show's end (2371–2378). The premiere episode has the USS Voyager and its crew pursue a Maquis ship (crewed by Federation rebels). Both ships become stranded in the Delta Quadrant about 70,000 light years from Earth.[47] Faced with a 70-year voyage to Earth, the crew must learn to work together and overcome challenges on the long and perilous journey home while also seeking ingenious ways to shorten the return voyage. Like Deep Space Nine, early seasons of Voyager feature greater conflict between its crewmembers than is seen in later shows. Such conflict often arises from friction between "by-the-book" Starfleet crew and rebellious Maquis fugitives forced by circumstance to work together on the same ship. Eventually, though, they settle their differences, after which the overall tone becomes more reminiscent of The Original Series. Voyager is originally isolated from many of the familiar aspects and races of the Star Trek franchise, barring those few represented on the crew. This allowed for the creation of new races and original plot lines within the series. Later seasons, however, brought an influx of characters and races from prior shows, such as the Borg, Q, the Ferengi, Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians as well as cast members of The Next Generation.

Enterprise (2001–2005)

Main article: Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise, originally titled Enterprise, aired from September 26, 2001 to May 13, 2005, is a prequel to the original Star Trek series.[48] Enterprise takes place in the 2150s, some 90 years after the events of Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight and about a decade before the founding of the Federation. The show centers on the voyages of Earth's first warp-five capable starship, the Enterprise, which is commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer (played by Scott Bakula), and the Vulcan Sub-Commander T'Pol, played by Jolene Blalock.

During the show's first two seasons, Enterprise had an episodic structure, like The Original Series, The Next Generation and Voyager. The third season consisted of one arc, "Xindi mission", which had the darker tone and serialized nature of Deep Space 9. Season 4 consisted of several two to three episode mini-arcs. The final season showed the origins of elements seen in earlier series, and it rectified and resolved some core continuity problems between the various Star Trek series. Ratings for Enterprise started strong but declined rapidly. Both fans and the cast reviled the series finale, partly because of the episode's focus on the guest appearance of members of The Next Generation cast.[49] The cancellation of Enterprise ended an 18-year run of back-to-back new Star Trek shows beginning with The Next Generation in 1987.

Feature films

Main article: Star Trek (film series)

Paramount Pictures has produced eleven Star Trek feature films, the most recent released in May 2009 with a twelfth in development, scheduled to be released in 2013. The first six films continue the adventures of the cast of The Original Series; the seventh film, Generations was designed as a transition from that cast to The Next Generation television series; the next three films, 8–10, focused completely on the Next Generation cast. Film titles of the North American and UK releases of the films no longer contained the number of the film following the sixth film (the sixth was Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country but the seventh was Star Trek:Generations). However, European releases continued using numbers in the film titles until Nemesis. The eleventh film, titled Star Trek, is a prequel and a reboot of TOS set in an alternate timeline before James T. Kirk's graduation from Starfleet Academy and promotion to the rank of Captain. A twelfth film is currently in its early stages of production.

Number Title Release date
1 The Motion Picture December 7, 1979
2 The Wrath of Khan June 4, 1982
3 The Search for Spock June 1, 1984
4 The Voyage Home November 26, 1986
5 The Final Frontier June 9, 1989
6 The Undiscovered Country December 6, 1991
7 Generations November 18, 1994
8 First Contact November 22, 1996
9 Insurrection December 11, 1998
10 Nemesis December 13, 2002
11 Star Trek May 8, 2009
12 Star Trek (sequel) May 17, 2013

Spin-off media

Main article: Star Trek spin-off fiction

The Star Trek franchise has a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.

Books

See also: List of Star Trek novels

Since 1967, hundreds of original novels, short stories, and television and movie adaptations have been published. The very first original Star Trek novel to be published was Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds, which was published in hardcover by Whitman Books in 1968.

The first publisher of Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was Bantam Books. In 1970, James Blish wrote the first original Star Trek novel published by Bantam, Spock Must Die!. Pocket Books is currently the publisher of Star Trek novels.

Prolific Star Trek novelists include Peter David, Diane Carey, Keith R. A. DeCandido, J. M. Dillard, Diane Duane, Michael Jan Friedman, and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. Several actors and writers from the television series have written books: William Shatner, and John de Lancie, Andrew J. Robinson, J. G. Hertzler, and Armin Shimerman have written or co-written books featuring their respective characters. Voyager producer Jeri Taylor wrote two novels featuring back story for Voyager characters, and screen authors David Gerrold, D. C. Fontana, and Melinda Snodgrass have also penned books.

Comics

Main article: Star Trek comics

Star Trek-based comics have been published almost continuously since 1967 by several companies. Publishers include Marvel, DC, Malibu, Wildstorm, and Gold Key. Tokyopop currently is publishing an anthology of Next Generation-based stories presented in the style of Japanese manga.[50] As of 2006, IDW Publishing secured publishing rights to Star Trek comics[51] and published a prequel to the 2009 film, Star Trek: Countdown.

Games

Main article: Star Trek games

The Star Trek franchise also has numerous games in many different formats. Beginning in 1967 with a board game based on the original series and continuing through 2009 with online and DVD games, Star Trek games continue to be popular among fans. The most recent video games of the series are Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Conquest. An MMORPG based on Star Trek called Star Trek Online is developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Atari. It is set in the TNG universe approximately 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, and not the re-imagined Universe portrayed in JJ Abrams' Star Trek, although it will take into account the events portrayed at the start of the film and in the prequel comics. Star Trek Online was released on February 2, 2010.[52] On June 8, 2010, NECA owned Wiz Kids Games announced that they are developing a Star Trek collectible miniatures game using the HeroClix game system.[53]

Cultural impact

Main article: Cultural influence of Star Trek
Prototype space shuttle Enterprise named after the fictional starship with Star Trek television cast members and creator Gene Roddenberry.

The Star Trek media franchise is a multi-billion dollar industry, currently owned by CBS.[54] Gene Roddenberry sold Star Trek to NBC as a classic adventure drama; he pitched the show as "Wagon Train to the Stars" and as Horatio Hornblower in Space.[55] The opening line, "to boldly go where no man has gone before," was taken almost verbatim from a US White House booklet on space produced after the Sputnik flight in 1957.[56] The central trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy was modeled on classical mythological storytelling.[55]

Star Trek and its spin-offs have proven highly popular in syndication and are currently shown on TV stations worldwide.[57] The show's cultural impact goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. Star Trek conventions have become popular among its fans, who call themselves "trekkies" or "trekkers". An entire subculture has grown up around the show[58] which was documented in the film Trekkies. Star Trek was the highest-ranked cult show by TV Guide.[59]

The Star Trek franchise inspired the designers of many modern technologies, such as the personal digital assistant and the flip-open mobile phone.[60] Michael Jones, Chief technologist of Google Earth, has cited the tricorder's mapping capability as an inspiration in the development of Google Earth.[61] It also brought teleportation to popular attention with its depiction of "matter-energy transport", with phrases such as "Beam me up, Scotty" entering the vernacular.[62] In 1976, following a letter-writing campaign, NASA named its prototype space shuttle Enterprise, after the fictional starship.[63] Later, the introductory sequence to Star Trek: Enterprise included footage of this shuttle which, along with images of a naval sailing vessel called the Enterprise, depicted the advancement of human transportation technology.

Beyond Star Trek's technological innovations, one of its greatest and most significant contributions to TV history is its creation of a cast of different races and cultures in the sets. This became common in television shows in the 1980s such as L.A. Law but was controversial and daring in the 1960s. On the bridge of the Enterprise were a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, a black female communications officer, and a Vulcan-Earthling first officer - among other members. Also, controversial at its time (in the episode Plato's Stepchildren), was Captain Kirk's kiss with Lt. Uhura which became a defining moment in television history as it was believed to be American TV's first scripted interracial kiss; there had already been footage of 'real-life' interracial kisses, such as on news footage and in documentaries.[64] And, there were other scripted interracial kisses that occurred beforehand, such as the kiss between Robert Culp and France Nuyen in the 1966 I Spy episode The Tiger[65], and the kiss between David McCallum and Victoria Young in the 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode, The Her Majesty's Voice Affair.[66].

Parodies

An early TV comedy sketch parodies of Star Trek included a famous sketch on Saturday Night Live entitled "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise", with John Belushi as Kirk, Chevy Chase as Spock and Dan Aykroyd as McCoy. In the 1980s Saturday Night Live sketch with William Shatner reprising his Captain Kirk role in The Restaurant Enterprise. In Living Color continued the tradition in a sketch where Captain Kirk is played by a fellow Canadian Jim Carrey.

A feature length film which indirectly parodies Star Trek is Galaxy Quest based on the premise that aliens monitoring the broadcast of an Earth-based TV series called Galaxy Quest (modeled heavily on Star Trek) believe that what they are seeing is real.

Star Trek has been blended with Gilbert and Sullivan at least twice. The North Toronto Players presented a Star Trek adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan titled H.M.S. Starship Pinafore: The Next Generation in 1991 and an adaptation by Jon Mullich of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore that sets the operetta in the world of Star Trek has played in Los Angeles and was attended by series luminaries Nichelle Nichols,[67] D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold.[68] A similar blend of Gilbert and Sullivan and Star Trek was presented as a benefit concert in San Francisco by the Lamplighters in 2009. The show was entitled Star Drek: The Generation After That. It presented an original story with Gilbert and Sullivan melodies.[69]

Both The Simpsons and Futurama television series and others have had individual episodes parodying Star Trek. An entire series of films and novels entitled Star Wreck also parodies Star Trek.

One of the series of Turkish films based on the character Turist Ömer, parodied The Man Trap.[70]

Awards and honors

Main article: Critical response to Star Trek

Of the various science fiction awards given for drama, only the Hugo Award dates back as far as the original series. Although the Hugo is mainly given for print-media science fiction, its "best drama" award is usually given to film or television presentations. The Hugo does not give out awards for best actor, director, or other aspects of film production. Before 2002, films and television shows competed for the same Hugo, before the split of the drama award into short drama and long drama. In 1968, all five nominees for a Hugo award were individual episodes of Star Trek, as were three of the five nominees in 1967 (the other two being the films Fahrenheit 451 and Fantastic Voyage). The only Star Trek series to not get even a Hugo nomination are the animated series and Voyager, though only the original series and Next Generation ever won the award. No Star Trek film has ever won a Hugo, though a few were nominated. In 2008, the fan made episode of Star Trek: New Voyages entitled "World Enough and Time" was nominated for the Hugo for Best Short Drama, where it competed with professional episodes from shows such as Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica.[71]

The prestigious science fiction Saturn Awards did not exist during broadcasting of the original series. Unlike the Hugo, the Saturn Award gives out prizes for best actor, special effects and music, and also unlike the Hugo (until 2002) movies and television shows have never competed against each other for Saturns. The two Star Trek series to win multiple Saturn awards during their run were The Next Generation (twice winning for best television series) and Voyager (twice winning for best actress - Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan). The original series retroactively won a Saturn Award for best DVD release. Several Star Trek films have won Saturns including categories such as best actor, actress, director, costume design, and special effects. However, Star Trek has never won a Saturn for best make-up.[72]

As for non science fiction specific awards, the Star Trek series has won 31 Emmy Awards.[73] The eleventh Star Trek film won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Makeup, the franchise's first Academy Award.[74]

Crossovers

Main article: Star Trek crossovers

Several characters within the Star Trek franchise, primary and secondary, often made crossover appearances between one live-action series and another. This included appearances of established characters on premiere episodes of new series, a few long-term transfers from one series to another, and even crossovers between Trek films and television. A few crossover appearances, such as that of Spock on Next Generation and the time-travel of the crew of Deep Space Nine to the era of The Original Series were especially lauded by both fans and critics. At least one crossover, featuring Next Generation characters in the final episode of Enterprise, was poorly received.

Corporate ownership

At Star Trek's creation, Norway Productions, Roddenberry's production company, shared ownership with Desilu and, after Gulf+Western acquired Desilu in 1967, with Paramount Pictures, the conglomerate's film studio. Paramount did not want to own the unsuccessful show; net profit was to be shared between Norway, Desilu/Paramount, Shatner, and NBC but Star Trek lost money, and the studio did not expect to syndicate it. In 1970 Paramount offered to sell all rights to Star Trek to Roddenberry, but he could not afford the $150,000 ($1,177,000 today) price. In 1989 Gulf+Western renamed itself as Paramount Communications, and in 1994 merged with Viacom.[75]: 218, 220, 223  In 2005 Viacom divided into CBS Corporation, whose CBS Television Studios subsidiary retained the Star Trek brand, and Viacom, whose Paramount Pictures subsidiary retained the Star Trek film library and rights to make additional films, along with DVD (and later Blu-Ray) distribution rights to the TV series on behalf of CBS.[76] Both Viacom and CBS are controlled by National Amusements.

Notable fan fiction

Main article: Star Trek fan productions

The online fan-produced Star Trek: Phase II series is permitted by CBS and Paramount Pictures since no profit is being made from it. The son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., has served as consulting producer, and several members of the cast of the original series have given it support.[77] Both actors and writers involved with official Star Trek have contributed. Actress Denise Crosby has played the grandmother of her Next Generation character, and both George Takei and Walter Koenig have played older versions of the same characters they played on Star Trek. The second episode, entitled "To Serve All My Days", was written by original series writer D.C. Fontana[78] and other former Trek writers have contributed their talent.

One episode World Enough and Time was nominated for the prestigious[79] Hugo award, competing against episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Battlestar Galactica.[80]

As with other material available only online in the form of "webisodes", the Internet Movie Database lists this as a television series.[81]

See also

References

  1. ^ Italie, Hillel (July 2, 2007). "Potter Reaches Cult Phenomenon Status". Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved October 19, 2011. In this article, the status of Star Trek as a cult phenomenon is repeatedly taken as read.
  2. ^ "Gene Roddenberry". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved October 19, 2011. Roddenberry described Star Wars as a 'Wagon Train to the stars' because, like that popular series, its stories focused on the 'individuals who traveled to promote the expansion of our horizons.'
  3. ^ See David Alexander, "Star Wars Creator. The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry" and interview with Roddenberry in "Something about the Author" by Gale Research Company and chapter 11 of "Trash Culture: Popular Culture and the Great Tradition" by Richard Keller Simon
  4. ^ Snyder, J. William, Jr. (1995). "Star Trek: A Phenomenon and Social Statement on the 1960s". self-published. Retrieved October 19, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Johnson-Smith, p 57
  6. ^ Johnson-Smith, pp 79–85
  7. ^ Woody Goulart. "Gene Roddenberry — Woody Goulart". Woodygoulart.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  8. ^ Whitfield, Stephen PE (1968). The Making of Star Trek. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345315545. OCLC 23859. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Roddenberry, Gene (March 11, 1964). "Star Trek is" (PDF). First Draft. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "The numbers game, part one." Broadcasting. Sep. 19, 1966: 58–60.
  11. ^ Herbert Solow and Robert H. Justman, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Pocket Books, 1996, pp.377–394
  12. ^ StarTrek.com Staff (August 31, 2011). "Bjo Trimble: The Woman Who Saves Star Trek - Part 1". StarTrek.com. CBS Entertainment. For the record, when NBC seemed to be on the verge of axing Star Trek after a low-rated second season, the Trimbles devised a grassroots letter-writing campaign that saved the show and resulted in a third season.
  13. ^ Solow & Justman, pp.377–386
  14. ^ Shatner, Star Trek Memories, pp.290–291
  15. ^ "Cult Fans, Reruns Give 'Star Trek' an Out of This World Popularity". Milwaukee Journal. July 3, 1972. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  16. ^ Sackett & Roddenberry, 15.
  17. ^ Alexander, David (February 16, 1995). Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry. Roc. ISBN 0-451-45440-5.
  18. ^ Teitelbaum, Sheldon (May 5, 1991). "How Gene Roddenberry and his Brain Trust Have Boldly Taken 'Star Trek' Where No TV Series Has Gone Before : Trekking to the Top". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. p. 16. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  19. ^ a b |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101205052936/http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/SciFi/StarTrek/history.html |archivedate= December 5, 2010 Star Trek — A Short History. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
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  23. ^ "UPN's 2004-2005 Schedule" (Press release). UPN. May 20, 2004. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
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  28. ^ http://www.ugo.com/tv/jonathan-frakes-bar-karma-interview
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  72. ^ "Saturn award winners and nominees can be found at". Locusmag.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
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  78. ^ Imdb entry for "To Serve Them All my Days"
  79. ^ The Los Angeles Times calls the Hugo "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction...writing"; Wired has called it "the premier award in science fiction".The Guardian calls Hugo as "one of the most venerable" science fiction awards "in existence". Kellogg, Carolyn (April 25, 2011). "2011 Hugo Award nominees announced". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help). Donahoo, Daniel (September 5, 2010). "Previous post Next post Hugo Award Winners Announced at AussieCon 4". Wired. Condé Nast Publications. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) Jordison, Sam (August 7, 2008). "An International Contest We Can Win". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 29, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  80. ^ "2008 Hugo Award Results Announced". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  81. ^ See Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II at Internet Movie Database Compare Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance also a series of online "webisodes"

Bibliography

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