About Me
Gene Roddenberry August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991
Star Trek originated as a television series in 1966, although it had been in the planning stages for at least six years prior to that. The show began with the production of the 1964 pilot "The Cage". "The Cage" featured Jeffrey Hunter as Enterprise captain Christopher Pike. The pilot was rejected by NBC executives as being too cerebral. In order to demonstrate the action-adventure potential of the series, another pilot entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was produced. Replacing Jeffrey Hunter as Enterprise captain was William Shatner who starred as Captain James T. Kirk. The new pilot also starred Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock who was the only character to return from the original pilot
The series premiered on NBC on Thursday, September 8, 1966 in the 8:30-9:30 PM timeslot with the episode "The Man Trap". Critical response to the series was mixed and rating were lower than expected. In its second season, reoccurring guest star DeForest Kelley was added to the series' starring cast and the show was moved to Friday at 8:30. A decline in the ratings, however, prompted NBC to attempt to cancel the series after its second season, but a letter writing campaign by die hard fans of the show saved it from cancellation. An additional season of episodes were produced, but ratings continued to decline most likely due to the quality of the third season episodes and a bad 10:00 PM Friday night time slot. Despite another letter writing campaign, the series was finally cancelled after its third season. The last new episode "Turnabout Intruder" was shown on June 3, 1969. Star Trek began running syndication where it was discovered by legion of new fans and became a phenomenon. The show inspired ten features films with another new movie in the making, an animated series, and four additional spin-off television shows Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Plus Star Trek: Enterprise.. Other spin-off's include novels, comic books, merchandise and an enormous amount of fan-fiction based on the series. Despite its short network run, Star Trek has become one of the most successful shows in television history. Star Trek: TOS Will debut on TV Land in September 2006.The series is being re-released in September 2006 with CGI enhancements as a high-definition "Re-mastered" edition.
Star Trek: The Original Series
The USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
Star Trek debuted in the United States on NBC on September 8, 1966.The show, starring William Shatner, told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise and that crew's five-year mission "to boldly go where no man has gone before." Aired as simply Star Trek, it has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series or as "Classic Trek."
Star Trek: The Original Series
The USS Enterprise NCC-1701
Star Trek debuted in the United States on NBC on September 8, 1966.The show, starring William Shatner, told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise and that crew's five-year mission "to boldly go where no man has gone before." Aired as simply Star Trek, it has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series or as "Classic Trek."
Star Trek: The Animated Series was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons. It featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters from The Original Series 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. Although originally sanctioned by Paramount, the series is no longer considered to be canon, which has caused controversy among some fans. 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 incorporates several TAS concepts.
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. The series would have put most of the original crew back aboard the Enterprise for a second five-year mission, except for Leonard Nimoy as Spock, who 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 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 three others were eventually adapted as episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D
Star Trek: The Next Generation is set nearly a century after The Original Series and features a new starship, the Enterprise-D, and a new crew. The show premiered on September 28, 1987 and ran for seven seasons, ending on May 23, 1994.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. It was the only Star Trek series to ever be nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series, which came during its final season in 1994. It also received a Peabody Award for Outstanding Television.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is set during the same timeframe as The Next Generation and ran for seven seasons, debuting in 1993. It is the only Star Trek series to take place primarily on a space station, rather than aboard a starship. The show chronicles the events centering on the Bajoran spacestation Deep Space Nine, which is next to a newly-discovered, uniquely stable wormhole that provides immediate access to the distant Gamma Quadrant. Story plots include the repercussions of the lengthy and brutal occupation of the nearby planet Bajor by the Cardassians, Sisko's unique spiritual role for the Bajorans as the Emissary of the Prophets, and a major war with the Dominion of the Gamma Quadrant.
USS Voyager (NCC-74656)
Star Trek: Voyager was produced for seven seasons, and is the only Star Trek series to feature a woman as the commanding officer. The series plot' shows the USS Voyager and its crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light years from Earth.Given a 70-year voyage back to Earth, the crew must avoid conflict and defeat challenges on its long and perilous journey home. While Voyager was originally isolated from many of the familiar aspects of the Star Trek franchise, later seasons saw an influx of concepts such as the Borg and Q.
Star Trek: Enterprise is a prequel to the other Star Trek series. The pilot episode 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. The series depicts the exploration of space by the crew of the Earth starship Enterprise, which is able to go further and faster than any human had previously gone. Ratings for Enterprise started strong, but declined rapidly; as happened during the initial airing of The Original Series, fan support during Enterprise's second and third seasons helped keep the series on the air. The show continued to lose ratings during the fourth season, and Paramount cancelled the show in early 2005.
