Star Trek
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Template:Startrek2 Star Trek collectively refers to a science-fiction franchise spanning six unique television series (which comprise 726 episodes) and ten feature films, in addition to hundreds of novels, computer and video games, fan stories, and other works of fiction — all of which are set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry during the mid-1960s.
It depicts an optimistic, almost utopian future in which humanity has largely overcome such traditional frailties and vices as sickness, racism, poverty, environmental destructiveness, intolerance, warfare, and superstition on Earth, and has united with other intelligent species in the galaxy. The central characters explore the galaxy, discovering new worlds and encountering new civilizations, while helping to promote peace and understanding.
"Star Trek" (or sometimes merely "Trek") is one of the most popular names in the history of science fiction entertainment, and one of the most popular franchises in television history.
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Television series
Star Trek originated as a television series in 1966, although according to The Making of Star Trek by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, it had been in the planning stages for at least six years prior to this. There have been five live-action Star Trek series and an animated series, altogether comprising (as of May 2005) a total of 726 individual aired episodes (not including the original unaired pilot) and thirty seasons’ worth of television.
Star Trek (1966–1969)
Image:Enterprise orig.jpg Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966, having aired in Canada some days earlier. Created by Gene Roddenberry, starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley, and co-starring James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, and (later) Walter Koenig, it told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet and their adventures "to boldly go where no man has gone before."
The first episode aired, "The Man Trap," was actually the fifth produced. Originally, Roddenberry had created a pilot entitled "The Cage," with a very different cast, led by veteran actor Jeffrey Hunter, which was rejected by NBC, the network that ordered the pilot through Desilu. However, an unprecedented second pilot was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," which featured an almost entirely new cast led by Shatner. Only the character of Spock remained, at Roddenberry's insistence. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the third episode aired, while "The Cage" was reworked into a two-part episode, "The Menagerie."
The last original episode, "Turnabout Intruder," aired on June 3, 1969. The series subsequently became phenomenally popular in syndication, ultimately spawning the film and television sequels that followed. It has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series, abbreviated as ST:TOS or TOS, or as "Classic Trek," retronyms to distinguish it from its sequels and the franchise. All subsequent films and television series, except the animated series of the 1970s, have secondary titles included as part of their official names.
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974)
Image:Tas 1701 03.jpg The series was aired under the name Star Trek, but it has become widely known as Star Trek: The Animated Series (or abbreviated as ST:TAS or TAS). It was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons, with a total of 22 half-hour episodes. It featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters with the exception of Walter Koenig, who was not asked to return due to budgetary limitations. While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and exotic life forms, budget constraints were a major concern and animation was of moderate quality.
A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well known science-fiction authors. Although originally sanctioned by Paramount, with the introduction of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series is no longer considered to be canon, which has caused controversy among some fans. The episode "Yesteryear" is considered by some sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia to be a partial exception concerning the events depicted in Spock’s youth (although it still officially remains non-canon along with the rest of TAS). Even so, elements of the animated series have worked their way into official canon, such as Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius, first revealed in TAS and made official in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Star Trek: Enterprise also incorporated several TAS concepts into canon. So, while the series itself is not strictly canon, it has been used as "canon fodder." TAS also came back to television in the mid 1980s on the children's cable network Nickelodeon, and in the early 1990s on cable network Sci-Fi Channel.
Star Trek: Phase II (1978; unproduced)
Image:PhaseIIenterprise.jpg Star Trek: Phase II was set to air in 1978 as the flagship series of a proposed Paramount television network, and 12 episode scripts were written before production was due to begin. This series would have put most of the original crew back aboard the Enterprise for a second five-year mission, except for Spock, because Leonard Nimoy did not agree to return; a younger full-blooded Vulcan named Xon was planned as a replacement, although it was still hoped that Nimoy would make guest appearances. Sets were constructed and several minutes of test footage were filmed. However, the risks of launching a fourth network and the popularity of the then-recently released film Star Wars led Paramount to make a Star Trek film instead of a weekly television series. The first script of this aborted series formed the basis of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while two others were eventually adapted as episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Image:NCC-1701-D.jpg Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known, colloquially, as The Next Generation, NextGen, ST:TNG, or TNG) is set nearly a century later and features a new starship (also named Enterprise) and a new crew, venturing where "no one has gone before."
It premiered on September 28, 1987, with the two-hour pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," and ran for seven seasons, ending with the final episode, "All Good Things..." on May 29, 1994. The show gained a considerable following during its initial run. Even during that time, the show was produced solely for syndication.
Star Trek: The Next Generation had the highest ratings of all the Star Trek series and was the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original run. Many fans, both casual and "hard-core," often treat The Next Generation as a kind of 'golden age' of Star Trek, primarily because of its broad acceptance, its viewer base, and the active influence of Roddenberry (who was alive during the first part of its run).
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)
Image:Ds9.jpg Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or DS9) ran for seven seasons and was the first Star Trek series to be established without any direct input from Gene Roddenberry. It introduced Avery Brooks as Commander (and, later in the series, Captain) Benjamin Sisko, the first African-American in the commanding role of a Star Trek series. It chronicles the events surrounding the space station Deep Space Nine. A relatively small, but dedicated group of DS9 fans (known as 'Niners') consider this show to be by far the best ever Star Trek series.
In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearby, uniquely stable wormhole, which provides nearly immediate travel to and from the distant Gamma Quadrant. This immediately makes the station an important strategic asset, as well as a vital center of commerce with the largely unexplored area of space. New characters (such as wily Cardassian spy Garak) soon inspired cult-like followings of their own. Deep Space Nine sheds some of the utopian themes that embodied the previous versions of Star Trek, and focuses more on war, religion and political compromise. It also contains far more overt humor than the previous series attempted.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)
Image:STVoyager.jpg Star Trek: Voyager (also known as ST:VOY, ST:VGR, VOY or Voyager) was produced for seven seasons, and is the only Star Trek series to have had a female, Captain Kathryn Janeway, as the commanding officer. Essentially, the USS Voyager and crew were "lost in space": the series follows the adventures of the starship Voyager and her crew, joined by Maquis resistance fighters, who have all become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, seventy thousand light years from Earth by an entity known as the "Caretaker." Unless they could find a shortcut, it would theoretically take them seventy-five years to return to Federation space.
Although Voyager's ratings were initially solid, they fell dramatically as the show progressed. It was during this show's run that criticism of producer Rick Berman began to mount, coinciding with the growth in popularity of online discussion forums that amplified the message of a vocal group of fans who felt Berman was no longer welcome as the franchise leader.
Berman tried to combat the decline in viewing by introducing a new character to the series in the form of "Seven of Nine" (Jeri Ryan). While many fans charge that this character's overt sexual appearance was a blatant attempt to pander to a wider male audience, the ratings continued to fall after her introduction, through to the end of the series.
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)
Image:Enterprise NX-01 2001-01-300.jpg Star Trek: Enterprise (named simply Enterprise during its first two seasons and the first few episodes of its third, and abbreviated as ST:ENT or ENT) is a prequel to the other Star Trek series. The pilot episode, "Broken Bow," takes place ten years before the founding of the Federation, about halfway between the "historic" events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek series. This series depicts the exploration of space by the crew of the Earthship Enterprise, a new, NX-class starship, which is able to go farther and faster than any humans had previously gone.
Star Trek: Enterprise was promoted as being more accessible for newcomers to the Star Trek franchise, as well as for taking place during the formative years of the Federation. Ratings for Enterprise were never particularly strong (see the main article for discussion as to possible reasons); and, as it had done during the initial airing of The Original Series, fan support during Enterprise's second and third seasons helped keep the series on the air. Although the show gained a much more positive reaction from fans during the fourth season and had become more popular in the fanbase, ratings remained low and Paramount cancelled the show in early 2005.
Feature films
Image:NCC-1701-E.jpg Ten Star Trek films have been produced by Paramount Pictures. The first six continued the adventures of the TOS cast; the later four featured the TNG cast.
A common and fondly-held superstition among fans is that the even-numbered Star Trek films are superior to the odd-numbered Star Trek films. This rule of thumb is most easily applicable to the first few films: Star Trek II and IV are usually at or near the top of the fan-favorites, while Star Trek I and V are usually at the bottom (though I has since received quite a bit of positive re-evaluation in the wake of an acclaimed "Director's Edition" revision released on DVD). This is not wholly applicable, however; Star Trek III followed on from the success of II, which continued into Star Trek IV. Another exception is X (Star Trek: Nemesis), which was one of the most critically derided Star Trek films. Many critics accused it of attempting to imitate the plot (and success) of Star Trek II. Despite fetching the lowest revenue at the box office in Star Trek history, its 2003 DVD release sold well.
Although North American and UK releases of the films were no longer numbered following the sixth film, European releases continued numbering the films.
Canonicity and other storylines
The Star Trek canon comprises the five live-action TV series and ten motion pictures. Although the animated series, books, comic books, video games, and other materials based on Star Trek (i.e., those licensed by Paramount Pictures) are generally considered "non-canon," there are several works which deserve mentioning, including a number of fan-made (or "fanon") productions set within the Star Trek universe.
Outside of the television series and motion pictures produced by Paramount pictures, the Star Trek franchise has been officially expanded and elaborated on by various authors and artists in the so-called "Star Trek Expanded Universe," despite the fact that Paramount does not consider these derivative works canon. This expanded universe consists of the aforementioned animated series, books, comics, video games, etc. The creators of these works are generally free to tell their own stories set in the Star Trek universe, and are free to either keep an existing continuity, or use their own. (Similarly, writers for TV and film are under no obligation to pay heed to any of the derivative works, which has occasionally caused conflict.) Nonetheless, these works often expand the backstories of characters, species, planets, etc, already seen in the official live-action productions. For example, the Voyager novels Mosaic and Pathways are known to have given essential background information for characters in the Voyager live-action series.
The Star Trek series has also inspired many non-official fan-made productions. For example, in recent years, so-called Star Trek "fan films" have been created for distribution over the Internet. Currently, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier which is a continuation of the timeline after the Dominion War, from the perspective of the a station and fleet in the Briar Patch as well as Star Trek: New Voyages, a "continuation" of the original Star Trek, are prominent fan series. While none of these projects are licensed by Paramount, some have attracted participation from official cast and crew.
Cultural impact
Image:Stamp-ctc-star-trek.jpg The Star Trek anthology is one of the most culturally influential television shows – and perhaps the most influential science fiction TV series – in history. The original series (TOS), which aired in the late sixties, has since yielded four successor series, ten feature films, a plethora of merchandise, and a multibillion dollar industry collectively known as the Star Trek franchise (owned by Paramount). Arguably, only Star Wars has had as great an impact as a science fiction and pop culture phenomenon.
Gene Roddenberry sold TOS to NBC as a classic adventure drama. Though set on a fictional starship, Roddenberry wanted to tell more sophisticated stories using futuristic situations as analogies for current problems on Earth and rectifying them through humanism and optimism. 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. The central trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy was modelled on classical mythological storytelling. Harking of human diversity and contemporaneous political circumstances, Roddenberry included a multiethnic crew.
While there were other successful science fiction TV shows at the time, TOS broke new ground. It was the first aimed at adults that told of morality tales with complex narratives. During its initial run from 1966 to 1969, TOS did not garner substantial TV ratings and was almost cancelled after its second season. After a letter-writing campaign by fans, NBC reversed its decision and renewed the series for a third season. NBC put the show in a timeslot when it was watched by few, and it was cancelled after its third season.
Image:Space Shuttle Enterprise.jpg In 1976, following another letter-writing campaign, NASA named its first space shuttle, Enterprise, after the fictional starship. Encouraged by the burgeoning fan base for the show throughout the seventies, Roddenberry sought to start a second television series; this abortive attempt morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The movie did sufficiently well at the box office and spawned several more movies during the eighties. In 1986, Roddenberry created a second TV show, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), which was set more than seventy years after events in the earlier series and related movies. TNG was syndicated through local TV stations rather than a nationwide network. It became the number one syndicated TV show, lasting seven seasons, and spawned two sequels, a prequel, four movies, a vast marketing business, and a considerable fan base.
Star Trek and its spinoffs have proved highly popular in television repeats, shown endlessly on TV stations in the US and worldwide. The show’s cultural impact goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. Star Trek conventions have become popular, though now often meshed with conventions of other genres, and fans have coined the term "Trekkies" (or "Trekkers") to describe themselves. An entire subculture grew up around the show and, anecdotally, there are indications that Star Trek has influenced many peoples' lives. Phrases like "Beam me up, Scotty" have entered vernacular, and devices have arguably been inspired by fictional counterparts.
Conversely, many fans contend that the Star Trek franchise, particularly after Roddenberry's death in 1991, has reached a nadir. Reduced viewership and box office receipts for recent productions and the short tenure of Star Trek: Enterprise connote decreased popularity. Some assert that the many incarnations are formulaic, repetitive, mediocre, and sometimes discontinuous, while others ascribe this decline to static leadership at Paramount.
Uncertain future for the franchise
Predictions of the demise of Star Trek are nothing new. As early as 1993–1994, when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine failed to generate the high ratings of its predecessor, magazines such as Entertainment Weekly predicted the end of the franchise. The rumored near-cancellation of Star Trek: Voyager in the mid-1990s led to more such predictions. Enterprise, which scored the lowest ratings of any Trek series to date, was widely reported in the media to be on the verge of cancellation after each of its first three seasons and a "death watch" of sorts was maintained throughout its fourth and final year.
However, due to the cancellation of Enterprise and the poor box-office performance of the 2002 film Nemesis, executive producer Rick Berman has stated that Paramount intends to rest the franchise (film and television) for at least three years, and in 2006, the franchise is now owned by the CBS Corporation.
Many Trek fans had wanted former executive producers Berman and Brannon Braga to be replaced. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, former Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore (who went on to head the new Battlestar Galactica), and the former Enterprise executive producer Manny Coto have been suggested as possible replacements, and Straczynski has expressed an interest in taking the helm of Star Trek. [1] In an ironic twist to the fan-based efforts to bring back Trek in the 1960s and 1970s, there were groups of fans who felt that the concept had run its course and who had actively pursued the end of Star Trek.
Reruns of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are aired regularly on Spike TV in the United States. Spike TV will also begin airing reruns of Voyager in the fall of 2006, as part of its original deal for all three series. TOS, TNG, and Voyager air daily in Canada on Space: The Imagination Station, which has also purchased Enterprise for daily rebroadcasts starting in the fall of 2005. In December 2005, Comcast's G4 network announced it had obtained the syndication rights for both TNG and TOS. G4 has been airing TNG since January 8; reportedly, Spike will continue to broadcast TNG as well. In the UK, reruns of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise air regularly on Sky One and Sky Two, and the terrestrial network Five recently began showing Voyager on weekday afternoons.
Cast members and fans have suggested that even if there are no further Star Trek series or movies, the franchise may continue in television movies, mini-series, specials, and other forms of media.
Future sequels to the original series
There is some desire among fans to bring back the character of Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner, to give him a more dignified end than that shown in Star Trek: Generations. [2] Recently, Shatner has made public on various talk shows his proposal for a Starfleet Academy series featuring a young James T. Kirk. He plans to pitch his idea to Paramount Pictures in 2006.
George Takei and fans have made frequent attempts to convince the studio to create a series based on Captain Sulu's voyages on the Excelsior, but, despite support from fans, it has enjoyed little success. Sulu and the Excelsior originally appeared in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as well as in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager ("Flashback") but this did not lead to a new series. Sulu later appeared in the video games Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (unrelated to the proposal laid out by William Shatner) and Star Trek: Shattered Universe, the latter of which is set in the Mirror Universe.
Rumors of proposed new series
In an interview with The Baltimore Sun about his starring role in Shenandoah onstage in Washington, DC, Scott Bakula said, "I heard there are already plans for a new series in the works...when the dust settles, someone is going to say, 'Do we really want to let this, and all the money that comes with it, go?'"[3]
Future sequels to The Next Generation
After the failure of the tenth film in the franchise to meet expectations, the cast members indicated that they did not expect any future TNG films to be produced. Additionally, it has been reported that Brent Spiner is no longer interested in reprising the character of Data because, though every actor ages, the character, as an android, should not. However, Spiner portrayed Arik Soong, an ancestor of the creator of his character Data, in Enterprise's fourth season. Later that year, Sirtis and Frakes reprised their TNG roles for the Enterprise finale. In December of 2005, Patrick Stewart, who had earlier maintained that he was not interested in portraying Picard again, revealed that serious meetings have been held with parties interested in a fifth TNG film, which could be made in 2008 or 2009. [4] [5] Stewart subsequently stated his concern that he may be too old to play the role of Picard by the time another film is made.[6]
Continuation of Enterprise
There is some consensus among Star Trek fans that the fourth and final season of Enterprise was better than the previous three seasons, and that continuation of the program under the new "mini-arc" writing style introduced in season four would have stood a chance of the series acquiring better ratings during a fifth season.
A campaign by Enterprise fans was mounted to have the show aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, which was rumored to be interested in the show at one point (although TV Guide reported otherwise). Berman, however, stated that Paramount is not interested in shopping the show around to other networks.
One campaign, Trek United, attempted to raise funds to finance a fifth season, raising pledges and cash donations of more than $3.1 million (U.S.). However the proposal, which would have seen a fifth season jointly produced by Paramount along with Canadian and British production houses, was rejected by the studio. It has been reported that the decision to cancel Enterprise after its fourth season may have been made by Paramount as early as the 2002–2003 season, while lead actor Scott Bakula has gone on record as stating that management changes at Paramount in 2003–2004 left the Star Trek franchise without strong support at the studio. In April 2005, he claimed that up until 2003–2004, Paramount had actually intended for the cast of Enterprise to become the focus for the next Star Trek film. [7]
New feature film
In late February 2005, Rick Berman told Variety that screenwriter Erik Jendresen, producer Jordan Kerner, and former Paramount Television president Kerry McCluggage were attached to the project.[8] In April 2006, however, Jendresen said that after shake-ups in Paramount's management, the project was no longer going forward[9].
However, not long afterward, on April 20, 2006, it was reported that a new Star Trek film will be produced and directed by J. J. Abrams, who is aiming for a 2008 release. The movie will feature young Kirk and Spock in Starfleet Academy and their first mission. [10] [11] However, most details about the eleventh film are either unknown or undecided. Some sources such as the user-edited Internet Movie Database have given the film the working title Star Trek: The Beginning; however Paramount has yet to announce any official title.
References
Star Trek may be the most documented entertainment franchise in history. Here are a few of the major reference works related to the production and influence of the franchise.
- The Making of Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield (Ballantine Books, 1968)
- The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold (Ballantine, 1973)
- The World of Star Trek by David Gerrold (Ballantine Books, 1973; revised edition, Bluejay Books, 1984)
- Star Trek Lives! by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston (Bantam Books, 1975)
- The Making of the Trek Conventions by Joan Winston (Doubleday Books/Playboy Press, 1977)
- A Star Trek Catalog edited by Gerry Turnbull (Grosset & Dunlap, 1979)
- On the Good Ship Enterprise: My 15 Years with Star Trek by Bjo Trimble (Donning Starblaze, 1983)
- Star Trek Memories by William Shatner and Chris Kreski (HarperCollins, 1993)
- Star Trek Movie Memories by William Shatner and Chris Kreski (HarperCollins, 1994)
- Beyond Uhura by Nichelle Nichols (Putnam, 1994)
- The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence M. Krauss (Basic Books, 1995)
- City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison (White Wolf Publishing, 1996)
- Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, edited by Taylor Harrison, Sarah Projansky, Kent A. Ono, Elyce Rae Helford (Westview Press, 1996)
- Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman (Pocket Books, 1996)
- Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth by Jeff Greenwald (Viking Press, 1998)
- Get a Life! by William Shatner and Chris Kreski (Pocket Books, 1999)
- The Ethics of Star Trek by Judith Barad Ph.D. with Ed Robertson (HarperCollins, 2000)
- I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact by William Shatner and Chip Walter (Pocket Books, 2002)
See also
- Star Trek episode lists
- LGBT characters in the Star Trek universe
- Star Trek games
- Star Trek: New Voyages
- Star Trek Further Reading
- Chronological list of Star Trek stories
- List of Star Trek characters
- List of Star Trek races
- List of Star Trek Ships
- List of notable Star Trek fans
- List of television series that include time travel
- Trekkie
- Trekdom
External links
Template:Wikiquote Template:Wikinews Template:Commons
- Official website
- Star Trek Simulation Forum – The text based role-playing game of the official Star Trek website
- Memory Alpha, a Star Trek Wiki
- The (non-canon) Star Trek Wikicity
- How Star Trek and other sci-fi space adventures persuade audiences
- Strange New Worlds: The Humanist Philosophy of Star Trek by Robert Bowman, Christian Research Journal, Fall 1991, pp. 20 ff.
- Encyclopedia of Television
- A wealth of Star Trek related information
- A technical database of Star Trek spaceships (canon and non-canon)
- Spoiler-Free Opinion Summary (Episode Ratings for all Trek series)
- An index of more Star Trek sites
- Star Trek Expanded Universe Wiki
- Bienvenidos a la Flota Estelar - Star Trek web page where share experiences (forum), show your collection, buy products in specialized stores, ...
- Nexus Trek: A Popular Message Board Community of Star Trek Fans
- TrekBBS
- TrekToday - A popular Star Trek news site, home of the TrekBBSTemplate:Link FA
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