Star Trek for starters
Star Trek is an American television sci-fi series about a spaceship called the USS Enterprise and its crew, as they explore many sections of the Milky Way galaxy in the future sometime around the 2260s. The series was created by Gene Roddenberry and produced by Desilu Productions, and Paramount Television. It first aired on September 8, 1966 and ran until June 3, 1969. The series Star Trek, was later renamed as Star Trek: The Original Series, so that people would be able to distinguish this show from other Star Trek movies and TV series.
The origins of Star Trek
In 1964, Gene Roddenberry got the idea for a new sci-fi series that he would later call Star Trek. He wanted the show to be about a huge space ship, and its crew who travel around and explore the Milky Way galaxy in the 23rd century. Gene Roddenberry originally wanted to name Star Trek, the “Wagon Trail to the Stars.” When Roddenberry first pitched his show, it was to CBS who quickly turned it down. He next presented it to NBC, which paid for a pilot but turned it down after it was made. After the NBC executives realized that part of the problem with the first pilot, was the script that they themselves had chosen, they decided to pay for a new pilot to be made, which is unusual.
The second pilot was satisfactory and was set to be released in the fall of 1966. In the second pilot, there was a complete change in characters except for Mr. Spock, and a complete change in cast except for Majel Barrett and Leonard Nimoy. Some other important characters introduced in the shows pilot include, Captain Kirk, Lt. Commander Scott, and Lt. Sulu. At the beginning of the first season doctor Leonard McCoy joined the show and became one of the most popular characters in the series. Lt. Uhura also joined the series and was played by Nichelle Nichols. Nichelle Nichols, was the first African-American woman to hold such an important role in an American television series.
Star Trek: The Original Series’ exit, and its lasting effect on the American entertainment and culture
Star Trek: The Original Series had very low ratings, and was canceled after 79 episodes and 3 seasons. However, even though the series didn’t last long, it had a lasting effect on popular culture and many spin-offs were made.
Four spinoff shows were made which include: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise.
There have also been twelve Star Trek feature films, the first of which was calledStar Trek: The Motion Picture and was released on December 7, 1979. The most recent Star Trek movie is called Star Trek Into Darkness and was released on May 16, 2013. A new Star Trek movie is developing currently and supposed to be released in 2016. The first six of the Star Trek films are about the adventures of the cast from Star Trek: The Original Series.
The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth Star Trek films, are about the cast from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The latest two Star Trek movies are reboot films of the original series. Many different games, books, and toys were created and based off of the Star Trek series.
The undeniable impact of Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series, was nominated for 28 awards, including 13 Emmys, however it only won five awards. These include two Hugo Awards in 1967 and 1968, for Best Dramatic Presentation for the episode “The Menagerie”, and “The City on the Edge of Forever”. Star Trek: The Original Series also won a Saturn Award for Best DVD Retro Television Release in 2005. It even won a Pop Culture Award in 2003 and an award for Best Written Dramatic Episode in 1968 for the episode “The City on the Edge of Forever”. Although Star Trek: The Original Series was short-lived, it left a long lasting effect on television and continues to be enjoyed by many people today.
Aside from Star Trek, Roddenberry also created another TV show back in the ‘90s. Learn about it by reading our article about Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict TV Show.