Star Trek

Guide Note:

Producer Gene Roddenberry's original Star Trek series has inspired five spin-off series and 11 theatrical films since its 1966 debut. It recounts the adventures of a crew of humans and aliens as they explore the galaxy aboard a ship called the Enterprise.

Fast Facts

  1. Network: NBC
  2. Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig
  3. Episodes: 79
  4. Seasons: 3
  5. Original run: September 8, 1966 - June 3, 1969
  6. CBS turned down the show in favor of Lost in Space

Origins

Gene Roddenberry felt that in the early 1960s, audiences were looking for television series with an action-adventure theme instead of the realistic theme broadly aired at that time. Using popular Westerns as a basis, he proposed a "Wagon Train to the stars". Desilu agreed to produce the pilot in 1964. This pilot featured a racially integrated crew (startling in an era when segregation was still strong throughout the South), a female first officer (women in this period had just begun battling with the "glass ceiling", and the alien Mr. Spock, who network executives thought looked like Satan. The network were excited by the premise, but wanted a series that had more action and was less cerebral, and requested a second pilot.

Influence

Star Trek is the most influential series in science fiction television. Phrases from the television show such as "Scotty, beam me up!", "I'm a doctor, not a (insert career here)", and "He's dead, Jim" have entered popular culture, and the characters are well-known even among non-science fiction fans. The first United States space shuttle ever built was named after the Enterprise. Several astronauts have cited the show as the influence that caused them to pursue their goals, and Mae Jemison, the first female African-American astronaut, specifically cites the character Nyota Uhura as a role model.

Spinoff Series
  1. Star Trek: The Animated Series
  2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
  3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  4. Star Trek: Voyager
  5. Star Trek: Enterprise

The Mahalo Top 7

  1. StarTrek.com: Star Trek: The Original Series overview
  2. Wikipedia: Star Trek: The Original Series
  3. IMDb: Star Trek (1966) WARNING: Pop-up ad
  4. TV.com: Star Trek summary
  5. Memory Alpha: Star Trek Wiki: The Original Series
  6. Amazon.com: Star Trek The Original Series - Complete Seasons 1-3
  7. Mahalo Daily: Star Trek: The Tour (Time: 4:17)

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