STAR TREK TELEVISION SCIENCE FICTION SERIES AND MOVIES WILLIAM SHATNER, LEONARD NIMOY, GENE RODDENBERRY

Star Trek was an influential science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that followed the adventures of the crew of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise. 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 after NBC's rejection of "The Cage". Response to the second, action-oriented, pilot was good and NBC gave the go ahead to the series.

With the premiere of Star Trek on NBC in September 1966, few could have imagined that this ambitious yet often uneven science-fiction series would go on to become one of the most actively celebrated and financially lucrative narrative franchises in television history. Although the original series enjoyed only a modest run of three season and 79 episodes, the story world created by that series eventually led to a library of popular novelizations and comic books, a cycle of motion-pictures, an international fan community, and a number of spin-off series that made the Star Trek universe a bedrock property for Paramount Studios in the 1980s and 1990s.

Show Type: Science Fiction

First Telecast: September 8, 1966
Last Telecast: June 3, 1969
Unaired Episodes: 1
Currently airs: – Tuesday at 2:00 AM central time.
Sci-Fi's listings.

Episodes: 80 Color Episodes on Film
(1 Unaired Pilot, 79 one hour episodes, 1 two-part episode, 6 Feature Movies)

Star Trek followed the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a flagship in a 23rd-Century interplanetary alliance known as "the Federation." The ship's five year mission was "to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before," a mandate that series creator and philosophical wellspring Gene Roddenberry described as "Wagon Train in space." Each episode brought the crew of the Enterprise in contact with new alien races or baffling wonders of the universe. When not exploring the galaxy, the crew of the Enterprise often scrapped with the two main threats to the Federation's benevolent democratization of space, the Hun-like Klingons and the more cerebral yet equally menacing Romulans.

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.

The program's main protagonists, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelly) remain three of the most familiar (and most parodied) characters in television memory. As commander of the Enterprise, the hyper-masculine Kirk engaged in equal amounts of fisticuffs and intergalactic romance, and was known for his nerves of steel in negotiating the difficulties and dangers presented by the ship's mission. McCoy was the ship's cantankerous chief medical officer who, when not saving patients, gave the other two leads frequent personal and professional advice. Perhaps most complex and popular of the characters was Spock. Half-human and half-Vulcan, Spock struggled to maintain the absolute emotional control demanded by his Vulcan heritage, and yet occasionally fell prey to the foibles of a more human existence.

After its three year run Star Trek began running syndication where it was discovered by legion of new fans and became a phenomenon. The show inspired six features films, an animated series, and four additional spin-off television shows. 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.

In addition to the three leads, Star Trek featured a stable of secondary characters who also became central to the show's identity. These included the ship's chief engineer, Scotty (James Doohan), and an ethnically diverse supporting cast featuring Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koening), Sulu (George Takei), Yeoman Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), and Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett).

Scripts for the original series varied greatly in quality, ranging from the literate time-travel tragedy of Harlan Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever" and the Sophoclean conflict of Theodore Sturgeon's "Amok Time," to less inspired stock adventure plots, such as Kirk's battle to the death with a giant lizard creature in "Arena." With varying degree of success, many episodes addressed the social and political climate of late-sixties America, including the Vietnam allegory, "A Private Little War," a rather heavy-handed treatment of racism in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," an even an encounter with space hippies in "The Way to Eden."

NBC threatened to cancel Star Trek after its second season, but persuaded in some degree by a large letter-writing campaign by fans to save the show, the network picked up the series for a third and final year. Canceled in 1969, Star Trek went on to a new life in syndication where it found an even larger audience and quickly became a major phenomenon within popular culture. Beginning with a network of memorabilia collectors, fans of the show became increasingly organized, gathering at Star Trek conventions to trade merchandise, meet stars from the show, and watch old episodes. Such fans came to be known as "trekkies," and were noted (and often ridiculed) for their extreme devotion to the show and their encyclopedic knowledge of every episode. Through this explosion of interest, many elements of the Star Trek universe made their way into the larger lexicon of popular culture, including the oft heard line, "Beam me up, Scotty" (a reference to the ship's teleportation device), as well as Spock's signature commentary on the "illogic" of human culture. Along with Spock's distinctively pointed ears, other aspects of Vulcan culture also became widely popularized as television lore, including the Vulcan "mind-meld" and the Vulcan salute, "live long and prosper."

Aside from its three main stars, Star Trek featured a large cast of reoccurring guest stars that includes James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett, and Grace Lee Whitney. Other notable guest stars include Diana Muldaur, Gary Lockwood, Ricardo Montalban, Sally Kellerman, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin, John Colicos, Roger C. Carmel, William Campbell, Ted Cassidy, Michael Ansara and Elisha Cook, Jr. Notable writers for the series include Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, George Clayton Johnson, Jerry Sohl, Jerome Bixby, Robert Bloch, Theodore Sturgeon, Harlan Ellison, David Gerrold, and D.C. Fontana.

Opening Passage: "Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!"

As "trekkie" culture continued to grow around the show during the seventies, a central topic of conversation among fans concerned rumors that the series might one day return to the airwaves. There was talk that the series might return with the original cast, with a new cast, or in a new sequel format. Such rumors were often fueled by a general sense among fans that the show had been unjustly canceled in the first place, and thus deserved a second run. Initially, Paramount did not seem convinced of the commercial potential of resurrecting the story world in any form, but by the late seventies, the studio announced that a motion picture version of the series featuring the original cast was under development. Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in 1979, and though it was a very clumsy translation of the series into the language of big-budget, big-screen science-fiction, it proved to be such a hit that Paramount developed a chain of sequels, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982), Star Trek III: The Search of Spock (1984), and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

By the mid-1980s, the Star Trek mythos had proven so commercially viable that Paramount announced plans for a new Star Trek series for television. Once again supervised by Roddenberry, Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in first-run syndication in 1987 and went on to become one of the highest rated syndicated shows in history. Set in the 24th century, this series followed the adventures of a new crew on a new Enterprise (earlier versions of the ship having been destroyed in the movie series). The series was extremely successful at establishing a new story world that still maintained a continuity with the premise, spirit, and history of the original series. On the new Enterprise, the command functions were divided between a more cultured Captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and his younger, more headstrong "number one," Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Spock's character functions were distributed across a number of new crew members, including ship's counselor and Betazoid telepath, Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the highly advanced android, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), who provided the show with "logical" commentary as ironic counter-point to the peculiarities of human culture, and finally, Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn), a Klingon raised by a human family who struggled to reconcile his warrior heritage with the demands of the Federation. Other important characters included Lt. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), the ship's blind engineer whose "vision" was processed by a high-tech visor, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), the ship's medical officer and implicit romantic foil for Picard, and Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), the doctor's precocious son.

Running for 178 episodes, Star Trek: The Next Generation was able to develop its characters and storylines in much more detail than the original series. As with many other hour-long dramas its era, the series abandoned a wholly episodic format in favor of more serialized narratives that better showcased the expanded ensemble cast. Continuing over the run of the series were recurring encounters with Q, a seemingly omnipotent yet extremely petulant entity, the Borg, a menacing race of mechanized beings, and Lars, Data's "evil" android brother. Other continuing stories included intrigue and civil war in the Klingon empire, Data's ongoing quest to become more fully human, and often volatile political difficulties with the Romulans. This change in the narrative structure of the series from wholly episodic to a more serialized form can be attributed in some part to the activities of the original series' enormous fan following. A central part of fan culture in the 1970s and 1980s involved fans writing their own Star Trek based stories, often filling in blanks left by the original series and elaborating incidents only briefly mentioned in a given episode. Star Trek: The Next Generation greatly expanded the potential for such creative elaboration by presenting a more complex storyworld, one that actively encouraged the audience to think of the series as a foundation for imagining a larger textual universe.

Despite the show's continuing success, Paramount canceled Star Trek: The Next Generation after seven seasons to turn the series into a film property and make room for new television spin-offs, thus beginning a careful orchestration of the studio's Star Trek interests in both film and television. The cast of the original series returned to the theater for Star Treks 5 and 6, leading finally to Star Trek: Generations, in which the original cast turned over the cinematic baton to the crew of Next Generation. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered in January of 1993 as the eventual replacement for Next Generation on television. In contrast to the usually optimistic and highly mobile structure of the first two series, Deep Space Nine was a much more claustrophobic reading of the Star Trek universe. Set aboard an aging space-station in orbit around a recently liberated planet, Bajor, the series generated its storylines from the aftermath of the war over Bajor and from a nearby "wormhole" that brought diverse travelers to the station from across the galaxy.

Hoping to compete with Fox and Warner Brothers in creating new broadcast networks, Paramount developed a fourth Star Trek series as the anchor for their United Paramount Network. Star Trek: Voyager inaugurated UPN in January 1995, serving as he network's first broadcast. Responding perhaps to the stagebound qualities and tepid reception of Deep Space Nine, Voyager opted for a premise that maximized the crew's ability to travel and encounter new adventures. Stranded in a distant part of the galaxy after a freak plasma storm, the U.S.S. Voyager finds itself seventy-five years away from earth and faced with the arduous mission of returning home.

Both Deep Space Nine and Voyager attracted the core fans of Star Trek, as expected, but neither series was as popular with the public at large as the programs they were designed to replace. Despite this, at century's end, there would seem to be every indication that the world of Star Trek will survive into the new millennium.

Broadcast History

NBC: September 1966-September 1967----Thursday----8:30 p.m.
NBC: September 1967-September 1968----Friday----8:30 p.m.
NBC: September 1968-March 1969----Friday----10:00 p.m.
NBC: June 1969-September 1969----Tuesday----8:30 p.m.

Emmy Awards and Nominations

1966-1967

Nominated: Star Trek Outstanding Dramatic Series
Nominated: Leonard Nimoy Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama
Nominated: Star Trek Outstanding Film and Sound Editing
Nominated: Star Trek Outstanding Special Photographic Effects
Nominated: Star Trek Outstanding Special Mechanical Effects

1967-1968

Nominated: Star Trek Outstanding Dramatic Series
Nominated: Leonard Nimoy Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama
Nominated: Star Trek, "The Doomsday Machine" Outstanding Film Editing
Nominated: Star Trek, "Metamorphosis" Outstanding Special Photographic Effects

1968-1969

Nominated: Leonard Nimoy Oustanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama
Nominated: Star Trek, "All Our Yesterdays" Art and Set Decoration
Nominated: Star Trek, "Assignment: Earth" Outstanding Film Editing
Nominated: Star Trek, "The Tholian Web" Outstanding Special Effects

Other Awards or Nominations
Writers Guild of America:

1968 WGA TV Award Winner: Harlan Ellison, "The City on the Edge of Forever" Best Written Dramatic Episode

Hugo Awards:
1967 Winner: "The Menagerie" Best Dramatic Presentation
1967 Nomination: "The Corbomite Maneuver" Best Dramatic Presentation
1967 Nomination: "The Naked Time" Best Dramatic Presentation
1968 Winner: "City on the Edge of Forever" Best Dramatic Presentation
1968 Nomination: "Amok Time" Best Dramatic Presentation
1968 Nomination: "Mirror, Mirror" Best Dramatic Presentation
1968 Nomination: "The Doomsday Machine" Best Dramatic Presentation
1968 Nomination: "The Trouble with Tribbles" Best Dramatic Presentation

Federation Starships and their captains:
U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 - Captains: Captain Robert T. April (2245-2250), Captain Christopher Pike (2251-2256), Captain James Tiberius Kirk (2264-2269), Captain Willard Decker (2270-2271), Captain James Tiberius Kirk (2271-2276), Captain Spock (2277-2285)
U.S.S. Valiant NCC-1223 - ?
U.S.S. Constellation NCC-1017 - Commodore Matt Decker
U.S.S. Intrepid NCC-1631 - ?
U.S.S. Exeter NCC-1672 - Fleet Captain Ronald Tracey
U.S.S. Lexington NCC-1709 - Commodore Robert Wesley
U.S.S. Hood NCC-1703 - ?
U.S.S. Potemkin NCC-1657 - ?
U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-1664 - Captain Harris, Commander William Riker (2367)
U.S.S. Defiant NCC-1674 - ?
U.S.S. Constitution NCC-1700 - ?
U.S.S. Farragut NCC-1647 - Captain Garrovick
U.S.S. Republic NCC-1371 - ?
U.S.S. Yorktown NCC-1717 - ?
If you know of any other captains, please let me know. I am only listing the starships that are of the Constitution Class, that means that I will not put starships that were in the Star Trek films.

Starfleet Ranks:
Ensign
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander
Commander
Captain
Commodore
Rear Admiral
Vice Admiral
Admiral
Fleet Admiral (Reserved for wartime only)

Character Guide
Captain James T. Kirk
Played By: William Shatner
Full Name: James Tiberius Kirk
Date of birth: March 22, 2233
Place of birth: Riverside, Iowa, Earth
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2250-2254
Marital status: Single
Serial number: SC 937-0176 CEC
Service record: Cadet ensign rank, U.S.S Republic; lieutenant, U.S.S. Farragut; named captain in command of U.S.S. Enterprise, 2263.
Awards include: Palm Leaf of the Axanar Peace Mission; Grankite Order of Tactics, Class of Excellence; Prantares Ribbon of Commendation, first and second class; the Starfleet Medal of Honor, the Silver Palm with Cluster; Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry.

As the most famous Iowan ever in space exploration, Kirk drew fame as perhaps the best soldier/statesman/explorer of Starfleet's first hundred years. Although questionable at times in his interpretation of the Prime Directive of non-interference, his charm, leadership and impromptu creativity combined to complete many a mission against the odds; in fact, his starship Enterprise is the only vessel Starfleet honors with its original registry number on each succeeding namesake. It was during these early voyages that he would also come to acquire the tag of being a sometimes rogue in the chain of command, although his acts always aimed at a higher purpose, and they displayed why at the time he became the youngest starship captain in history.

Mr. Spock
Played By: Leonard Nimoy
Rank: (Commander) Captain, retired
Serial number: S179-276 SP
Full Name: Spock (lineal Vulcan name unpronounceable)
Year of birth: 2230
Place of birth: Shi'Kahr, Vulcan
Parents: Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda Grayson
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2249-53
Marital status: Once married
Last whereabouts: Romulus
Service record: Cadet ensign under Capt. Christopher Pike, U.S.S. Enterprise, 2252; promoted to lieutenant under Pike; as lieutenant commander, remained aboard under James Kirk, promoted to commander, 2266.
Awards include: Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor, twice decorated by Starfleet Command.

As both science officer and first officer, Spock performed his unique dual role as perhaps none other before or since. Favoring his Vulcan heritage over his human ancestry, the clash of cultures produced an inner conflict between logic and emotion that would trouble him for many years and even cause a family rift. Despite the stoic visage, his affinity for research and theoretical science rose to what some might label passionate levels, even as his tactical and diplomatic skills were never lacking for the role as backup commander.

Despite his own protests, Spock often betrayed an all-too-human affection for his captain and Dr. McCoy -- along with bitingly wry barbs aimed at the doctor. Their battle of wits became the stuff of legend among their original crewmates.

Dr. Leonard McCoy
Played By: DeForest Kelley
Full Name: Leonard Horatio McCoy, M.D.
Year of birth: 2227
Place of Birth: Earth
Parents: Mr. and Mrs. David McCoy
Education: University of Mississippi, 2245-49; medical school, 2249-53
Marital status: Divorced
Children: A daughter, Joanna
Service record: Chief medical officer as lieutenant commander, U.S.S. Enterprise, 2266.
Awards include: Legion of Honor; decorated by Starfleet surgeons.

Known to his captain by the old physician's nickname "Bones", McCoy's incredible diagnostic and research talents in space medicine were exceeded only by his compassion for friend and stranger alike. Although he thought of himself as "just an old country doctor," the truth is that the original Enterprise survived and succeeded as much on his medical miracles as it did Kirk's leadership and Spock's research.

Still, it was his role as unofficial counselor to both of them that likely proved most successful. McCoy's down-to-earth attitude, so to speak, found an ally in Scotty and often proved to be the missing ingredient in any top-level deliberation -- despite the verbal sparring tossed his way by Spock.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
Played By: Nichelle Nichols
Rank: Lieutenant
Date of birth: 2239
Place of birth: United States of African Confederation, Earth
Parents: Mother, M'Umbha
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2257-61
Service record: Lieutenant, U.S.S. Enterprise.

Whatever the crisis, the beautiful and efficient Uhura betrayed her junior officer status as one of Kirk's most resilient bridge officers, providing a calm in the sensitive and delicate areas of first contact and diplomacy as communications officer. While most known for keeping her department at top performance, Uhura was not limited: she could take the helm as well as repair the guts of any panel in her station.

Uhura was also known as a talented musician and one of the most personable members of Kirk's crew, one of many reasons its personality sparkled. Although her senior bridge status cut down on her available shore leave, Uhura could always be counted on to enjoy the traditional and timeless feminine indulgences known for centuries.

Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott
Played By: James Doohan
Serial Number: SE 197-54T
Year of birth: 2227
Place of Birth: Edinburgh, Earth
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2240-44
Marital status: Single
Service record: Lieutenant Commander, U.S.S. Enterprise by 2266

While the Enterprise may have been Kirk's ship, no one knew or loved the vessel as did "Scotty," everyone's affectionate name for the ship's chief engineer and second officer. The phrase "hands-on" could have been coined for the Scotsman with the ever-thick brogue, whose reputation as a mechanical miracle worker in his own right was legendary.

Even so, his turn in the command chair at critical times never lacked for grit and a cool head -- though he also earned a well-deserved reputation for real Scotch whiskey. Scotty's other passions proved enigmatic -- while he was known to prefer technical journals as prime entertainment in off-hours, his eye for the ladies was exceeded only by his nose for a good time on shore leave.

Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
Played By: George Takei
Rank: Lieutenant (Currently Captain)
Date of birth: 2237
Place of birth: San Francisco, Earth
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2255-59
Marital status: Married
Children: A daughter, Demora, born 2270
Service record: As lieutenant, assigned to U.S.S Enterprise by 2266.

Amid Kirk's bridge staff, the routine helm functions and life-or-death weaponry command were both handled by one person -- Sulu, a commander-in-training who had more than a mentor in Kirk. Sulu was already on the track to his own command by the time of the original Enterprise five-year mission, although oddly enough he first served as an astrophysicist in the science department. It was this disciplined yet flexible mind that he brought to the decisions being carried out at his fingertips.

Apart from his dedication to duty, it was Sulu's penchant for hobbies that endeared him to many of his colleagues. Archaic gun collecting, botany, and fencing were all among the pastimes he indulged during his early years under Kirk.

Ensign Pavel Chekov
Played By: Walter Koenig
Full Name: Pavel Andreievich Chekov
Serial number: 656-5827-B
Year of birth: 2245
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2263-67
Marital status: Single
Service record: Ensign, U.S.S. Enterprise.

Though only a "green" Academy graduate, Chekov early on showed the skills and talents that soon landed him regular bridge duty as navigator. Soon, no less than Spock became impressed with his promise and often assigned him as assistant science officer despite his command-division designation.

Chekov did betray his youthful passions at times -- including his own reputation as a ladies' man -- but always proved to be the perfect officer in training. Still, his penchant for being injury-prone was matched only by a zealous pride in his Russian heritage -- often comically taking credit for the exploits of other cultures, Earth-based or otherwise.

All this taken from Sci-Fi's Star Trek cast list.

Happy Birthday! March 3 2005 is James Doohan's (Lt. Commander Scott) 85th birthday!

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Gibberman, Susan R. Star Trek: An Annotated Guide to Resources On The Development, The Phenomenon, The People, The Television Series, The Films, The Novels, and The Recordings.

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