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Star Trek collectively refers to six science fiction television series, ten motion pictures, and countless novels, video games, and other works of fiction all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966. It depicts an optimistic future in which humankind has overcome sickness and poverty and warfare; the central characters explore the galaxy, finding new worlds and meeting new civilizations, while helping to spread peace and understanding. Star Trek is one of the most popular names in twentieth century science fiction entertainment.
Main article: Star Trek: The Original Series.
Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966. It told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise from the United Federation of Planets and their adventures "to boldly go where no man has gone before." Initially, it was not successful; ratings were low and advertising revenue was lackluster. However, when threats of cancellation loomed in the show's second season, the show's devoted fanbase conducted an unprecedented campaign, convincing NBC to produce a third season. The last episode aired on June 3, 1969. The series became phenomenally popular in syndication.
To distinguish this first series from the sequels which followed, it has become known as Star Trek: The Original Series, abbreviated as ST:TOS or TOS.
Main article: Star Trek: The Animated Series.
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 twenty-two half-hour episodes. It featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters. While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes, budget constraints were a major concern and animation quality was poor. A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well-known science fiction authors. The series is not considered to be canon, which has caused controversy among fans.
Main article: Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known as ST:TNG or TNG) is set nearly a century later and features a new starship and a new crew. It premiered on August 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 and has been widely syndicated since then.
Main article: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or DS9 for short) ran for seven seasons. It chronicles the events surrounding the space station Deep Space Nine. In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearby stable wormhole which provides immediate travel to and from the distant Gamma Quadrant; this immediately makes the station an important tactical asset, as well as a vital center of commerce with the largely-unexplored area of space. Deep Space Nine sheds some of the utopian themes that embodied the previous versions of Star Trek, and focuses more on war, religion, political compromise, and other modern issues.
Main article: Star Trek: Voyager.
Star Trek: Voyager (also known as ST:VOY or VOY) was produced for seven seasons, and is the only Star Trek series to have had a female captain as a lead character. The series follows the adventures of the Starship Voyager and her crew who have become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, seventy-five thousand light-years from Earth. Unless they can find some kind of shortcut, it will take then seventy-five years to return to known space. Although Voyager's ratings were initially solid, they fell dramatically as the show progressed. Some fans feel that Voyager is the weakest of the Star Trek series, however it is considered more acceptable to the majority of viewers as it has less technological jargon.
Main article: Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise (named simply Enterprise during its first two seasons, 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 events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek series. This series depicts the exploration of space by a crew who are able to go farther and faster than any humans had previously gone. It presents situations which are not entirely unfamiliar to Star Trek fans, but which allow its characters to face them unencumbered by the experience and rules which have built up over the following years of Trek history.
A common opinion among fans is that the even-numbered Star Trek films are good, and the odd-numbered Star Trek films are bad. 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 I and V are usually at the bottom (though I has since received quite a bit of positive reevaluation in the wake of an acclaimed "Director's Edition" revision released on DVD). The "even-numbered" rule appears to have been broken by the unpopular Nemesis, the 10th Trek film.
Roddenberry was an ardent proponent of egalitarian politics, and frequently used the shows to showcase his vision of a future society based on those principles. A prominent female crew member, Uhura, was played by Nichelle Nichols, one of the first African-American women to hold a major acting role on American television. Only two decades after the second World War, Star Trek featured an officer of Asian ancestry, Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). In the second season, a Russian character, Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) was added.
Modern viewers might find the old series' portrayals of minorities and women to be prejudiced by today's standards, but the program was progressive and daring for its time. One of Star Trek's claims to fame in the United States is that it featured the first televised kiss between a white character and a black character. The episode "Klingons had been used in the original series to represent the real-world Soviet Union and the Cold War going on, TNG's use of a Klingon ally in the main cast foreshadowed the end of the Cold War two years before the Berlin Wall fell.
Star Trek: The Next Generation added much more information on the Star Trek universe. The Federation has an economy of abundance without money, enabled by advanced replicator technology. Labor, purchase, and sale are not necessary, as there is no scarcity to limit the satisfaction of one's material needs and wants. However, certain resources are still limited, such as those necessary to power warp and replicator technology, and interplanetary commerce is not uncommon. Greed and jealousy are thus greatly reduced. Characters often explain that the purpose of the people of the Federation is personal and universal beneficence.
Many of the alien species encountered in the series are strikingly similar to humans, both in physical form and in relationships. Mixed race offspring are also possible. In the TNG episode "The Chase", it is explained that many primordial worlds of the galaxy were "seeded" by an ancient race of spacefarers, so that their dying race would live on in various forms around the galaxy.
Fans of the original Star Trek series came to be known as Trekkies. By the time Star Trek: The Next Generation was produced, the term "Trekkies" had come to imply a certain nerdy fanaticism among fans and was considered pejorative by some. In response, some fans of the new series decided to call themselves "Trekkers". The terms have become interchangeable.
After Roddenberry's death in 1991 (and indeed for some time before) there were growing signs that some Trekkies/Trekkers have gone beyond looking at the franchise as simply entertainment, and are now considering Roddenberry's concepts to be almost a religion unto itself. This first manifested itself in the negative response of some fans to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and its grittier, less-positive look at the future, which led to some fans accusing the show's producers (particularly Roddenberry's successor Rick Berman) of virtual blasphemy. The later series Voyager and particularly Enterprise, as well as most of the movies, have also come under fire for allegedly violating the "Word of Roddenberry."
Next Generation stars Marina Sirtis, Patrick Stewart, and Jonathan Frakes have suggested that no more TNG films will be produced; Brent Spiner and Leonard Nimoy are also no longer interested in reprising their respective characters. (However, Spiner will be portraying Arik Soong, an ancestor of his Data character's creator, in Enterprise's fourth season.) The low ratings of Enterprise, as well as the poor showing of the 2002 film Nemesis, have brought the future of the franchise into question. Some fans suggest that Paramount should retire the franchise temporarily or permanently, and in an ironic twist to the fan-based efforts to bring back Trek in the 1960s and 1970s, there are actually factions actively seeking the end of Star Trek, feeling that the concept has run its course.
Many Trek fans want the replacement of the heads of the franchise, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga; Majel Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, is occasionally proposed as a replacement. There is also a sizable movement to bring back Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner, suggesting that the character be given a more dignified end than that in Star Trek: Generations.
Despite its poor ratings (see the show's entry for possible reasons for this), Star Trek: Enterprise has been renewed for a fourth season. Like its predecessors Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, Enterprise has taken the first few seasons to find a consistent footing, and has changed significantly from its original premise. Although there are doubts that it will be able to run the traditional seven seasons on UPN, the show's producers have suggested the series may continue to be produced in first-run syndication if it is cancelled.
Rick Berman revealed in 2004 that preliminary work had begun on an eleventh Star Trek feature film. It is rumored that this film will be a prequel involving Spock, Captain Kirk, and Dr. McCoy played by new actors, perhaps entitled Starfleet Academy or Starfleet Command. However, rumors of such a prequel have circulated several times during the 1990s without result. In the past, there has been considerable demand among the fanbase for a film based on Deep Space Nine, but interest in the series has waned since it ended. Little interest has been shown in producing a film based upon Voyager. There have also been reports that the eleventh film might take place between the events of Enterprise and that of the original series, perhaps during the Romulan War.
In 1998, Viacom entered an agreement with Activision to produce Star Trek video games. Many games were released under this agreement, but in 2003, Activision filed a lawsuit against Viacom stating that they weren't holding up to their end of the bargain. In 1998 there were two Star Trek Series running concurrently. This continued during the entire run of Deep Space 9. There was always another movie on the horizon, Activision claimed that the Star Trek franchise was not as valuable as it once was. Activision cancelled the contract and sought after compensation for losses. In 2004, Perpetual Entertainment announced plans for a huge multiplayer online Star Trek game of the same type as Everquest, indicating that gaming interest in Trek is alive and well.
It is worth noting that predictions of Star Trek's demise are nothing new. As early as 1993-94, when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine failed to generate the high ratings of its predecessor, magazines such as Entertainment Weekly predicted the demise of the franchise. The near-cancellation of Star Trek: Voyager in the mid-1990s led to more such predictions. But Star Trek continued to survive, and even Star Trek: Enterprise has continued to defy expectations despite media predictions of cancellation after its first, second, and third seasons. Many Trekkies feel that reports of the imminent death of Star Trek are premature.
Although books, comic books, video games, and other material based on Star Trek are generally considered "non-canon," there are several which deserve mentioning.
A television series to be named Star Trek: Phase Two was planned but never produced. Set to air in 1978, it would have put the original crew back onto the Enterprise for a second five-year mission. Twelve episodes were scripted; the first became Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while two others became episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
See also: List of Star Trek novels
There is a healthy fan fiction environment around the series, and many writers (including William Shatner) find no difficulty bringing Star Trek-based books to market. Since 1967, hundreds of original novels and TV and movie adaptations have been published. None of these novels are considered "canon", and this includes Mosaic and Pathways by Star Trek: Voyager co-producer Jeri Taylor, which feature background information on the main characters of the show and which, for a time, was thought to be canon (current editors for the Pocket Books series state that it is not).
The first Star Trek comics were published by Gold Key beginning in 1967. Since then, several companies have tried their hand at publishing original Trek comics (some on more than one occasion), with varying degrees of success. This includes Marvel Comics (including its Paramount Comics spin-off), DC Comics (including its Wildstorm spin-off), and Star Trek: Early Voyages : A comic book series by Marvel Comics focusing on the adventures of the Enterprise with the crew seen in the original pilot of Star Trek. Several new crew members are added.
One comic that was advertised but never published was a Star Trek: Voyager series that was to be published by Malibu Comics in 1996 before it lost the rights to Voyager and DS9 to Marvel.
Star Trek: Hidden Frontier is a long-running fan-made series, currently in its fifth season (34 episodes produced), set in the Briar Patch, the wild region of space introduced in the film Star Trek: Insurrection. The series focuses on the starship Excelsior, and its home base, Deep Space 12, as they fend off attacks from a powerful new alien race, The Grey, and mediate disputes between such races as the Tholians, Cardassians, Bajorans, the Son'a and the Breen. This video series is produced by volunteers in Southern California.
A live action video created and funded by a volunteer troupe of fans, picks up where the original series left off, putting fan actors into the original series roles. One episode is available to download, and a second is in production. The group is incorporated as a non-profit organization; the producers invite donations to the Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund, set up to benefit children of the astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia. This production reportedly has the blessing of Gene Roddenberry's estate, and Paramount Pictures has also allowed it to continue. Several actors who once appeared on the original Trek series have appeared in this production.
is an online series of live action videos, produced by fans Jimm and Josh Johnson, which focus on the adventures of the starship Exeter (NCC-1706) in the TOS era.
is a collaborative fan fiction project depicting events in the Alpha Quadrant after the Dominion War. With an original ship and crew, the series is a mixture of political intrigue, exploration, and character-driven drama with a strong story arc. It is written as a series of teleplays grouped into twenty-six-episode "seasons."
is a new ongoing multigenerational fandom video project covering all timelines. Currently focusing on a small destroyer named the USS Justice in the late 23rd and early 24th centuries. Most of the cast are members of local Star Trek fan clubs located in New Jersey.
Characters of each series may be found in their respective articles. See List of Star Trek characters for a complete listing of characters.
See also Treknobabble.
Due to its popularity, some of the concepts and the language of Star Trek have found their way into the culture of the population at large and can be considered to be pop culture. Phrases such as "Beam me up, Scotty!" and "Resistance is futile" are widely recognized and understood, as is warp drive and transporters. Star Trek has been referenced, parodied and spoofed in a wide range of television series, movies and other contexts. See References to Star Trek for a listing of such references.
In 1977, due to lobbying from fans of the series, NASA named its prototype space shuttle Enterprise.
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