No television program has influenced the world as much as Star Trek has or has established as strong of a fan base. Between the original series, The Next Generation, and the other spin-offs, Star Trek has created a complete universe in which fans have immersed themselves for decades.
We know all about the Federation, the Klingons, the Vulcans, the captains, and the nastiness of phaser deaths. So here we are, 40 long years after Star Trek's debut, still watching the reruns and DVD releases, keeping up on what the next feature film will be about, and waiting eagerly to see what the newly CGI-enhanced original series is going to look like. William Shatner is as active as ever, not only starring in Boston Legal, but also being roasted on Comedy Central, appearing in commercials, and still writing Star Trek stories. He seems to be everywhere these days.
Other stars from the various series pop up here and there, and we're always happy to see them--like Jeri Ryan, who costars in the new CBS series Shark. And even though Star Trek doesn't currently have a running series on the air, there's always a sense that someone may yet create another spin-off (how about going further into the future--past The Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine?).
As Trek enters middle-age--with a J.J. Abrams-directed movie on the way--check out our littlle roundup and...live long and prosper.
This is the show that started it all. Much has been said about Star Trek, but let's say it again anyway. Action. Babes. Histrionics. Chintzy effects (until this new DVD set). Shatner in full effect. No matter how you feel about it, you can't deny the impact the series has had on TV.
TV critics derided it, and the show was continually threatened with cancellation, but Star Trek endured in syndication and grew into a phenomenon. The special effects become dated, but it remained enjoyable to watch the interplay between the classic characters: the impulsive, swaggering Kirk; the emotional, sensitive Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); and the calm, strong (both emotionally and physically) Vulcan, Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The Enterprise crew was impressively multiethnic for its time.
When the series premiered in 1966, NBC wanted to use its new color broadcasting abilities to the fullest, so Star Trek has bright, primary-colored pallette. After the pilot was shot, the original Enterprise captain, Christopher Pike (played by Jeffrey Hunter), was replaced--many say to the detriment of the show--with Captain James T. (for Tiberius) Kirk and recast with Canuck William Shatner. If this simple twist of fate hadn't occurred, we might never have had T.J Hooker, the Tek War novels, or the sobering ecological telefilm Kingdom of the Spiders.
Stellar episodes:
Really, almost every episode of this series is remembered fondly by the fans who watched it. We aren't highlighting "The Trouble With Tribbles," even though it featured a rollicking Starbase bar fight between the Enterprise crew and the Klingons. You don't need to have your memory refreshed about the fuzzy little guys who ate all the quadrotriticale space wheat and then fell out of the overhead storage bin, landing in a humorous fashion all over Kirk.
There, we just highlighted it.
Kirk and his landing party find themselves at the mercy of a twisted being who possesses powerful mind control. This episode made TV history by featuring the first interracial kiss--between Kirk and Uhura. Also, Kirk took his shirt off a lot and performed his patented "sideways jump-kick."
To paraphrase Kirk: "Computer, is it possible that, during the act of beaming, members of the good Enterprise were transposed into a parallel dimension inhabited by an evil Enterprise? One where Spock has a goatee? And if so, do I have to watch the evil Sulu be tortured again? That really made me squirm. Oh, and computer, can you stop the more heavily made-up evil Kirk from drinking space booze and rampaging down the hallways of good Enterprise, kissing all the yeomen? That's sort of my gig."
This one was tough to watch, because McCoy got killed by the imaginary knight, there was a World War II airplane that strafed the other crew members, and, at various points, there was a giant white rabbit and a menacing tiger. But it was all worth it because Kirk chased his old academy nemesis, Finnegan, through a field of flowers, accompanied by jaunty music. Then they fought real good.
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I was about 16 when Star Trek first came onto our TV and it was pure escapism for me. It seemed so real at the time. The program got me through homework and exams and eased the pain of my first broken heart. Looking back at the old episodes I now find that despite the fact that they are not as high tech as today's Star Trek and other Sci-fi programmes, they still retain their old magic for me and hold a special place in my heart.
Star Trek is getting an new incarnation in the form of webisodes that are being written and Produced by Marc Zacree. The series is a prequel to Star Trek and centers on Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew during their star fleet academy days.
I love star trek. May it see another series and a new life. Maybe it'll be Retro and cool. You know, retro is now! Then maybe people will really respect it again. Get it to the level Battlestar Galactica is at, and I think Trek would rise back to the glory days of TNG.
TOS ended its run just before I was born, but I really enjoyed it in syndication. Of the spinoffs, DS9 and ENT were great quality despite a few bumps. TNG was OK, but at times weak and conservative. Voyager had too many problems and really dumbed down the Trek franchise. I only saw half of the animated TOS episodes when they aired on TV Land. I'm really looking forward for the DVD set so I can finally see them all. Live long and prosper Star Trek!
Deep Space Nine was the most involved and the most intense of the Treks. Sisko should return in a new movie!! And the 4th Seaso of Enterprise was some of the best Trek television in years.
i like the episode with the alternate realities or the one with the holodeck malfunctions. i wish the did more of these episodes through out the many series
40 years ago Spock said "Live long and prosper." He must have been talking about the series!
gosh that makes me feel old!!
It may be that I'm a nerd, but they missed the boat on their discription of Voyager. It wasn't a "freak accident" that sent them to the Delta Quadrant and the Maquis are not a "race". Put simply, they're a terrorist group. And it lasted 7 seasons.
Star Trek was more than a TV show to me. It was a lifeline. They never knew it, but to a depressed, angry teenager, they gave hope that tomorrow, when it would finally arrive, would be better. It is. Live long and prosper, my friends.
Star Trek had a huge influence on my life from the time I was age 6. May the series " Live long and prosper".
I loved the show when I was a child.
I've honestly never seen an episode of the show. But, I'm a fan of George Takei because he sometimes appears on "The Howard Stern Show."
I love you Trek!! Lets keep you going for another 40 or so years!! Love the shows, love the movies, and most of all the characters. My fav. shows of all time are "In a Mirror Darkly" 1 and 2, and "City on the Edge of Forver". Fav. all time characters: Spock and Deanna Troi.
happy anniversary star trek! though I've never really seen a full episode ever.
I remember watching the very first episode Man Trap, when it aired originally, I was 8 years old and boy did I wish I could be aboard the Starship Enterprise, I still giggle when I think about wanting Captain Kirk as my dad and I would be on the ship for all the adventures! Oh yee of young minds! Turned me forver into a Star Trek fan I still watch occasionally today and have my kids hooked on it too~
Ah, star trek. what agreat show!(although I don't care too much for the newer ones)
I don't think any TV show has or ever will inspire people like Star Trek, certainly no other show can boast such a huge fan base of people of all ages or races and love it like i do or loathe it, it's influence is still felt today on people, on tv shows, movies and in books and will do for a long time to come.
Happy Birthday Star Trek! We sure need that optimistic hope of the future today with all that's going on in the world.
Happy birthday Star Trek! I will love you forever.
Star Trek is what paved the way for scifi tv shows. Many series like stargate, etc would not here around today without it.
Happy Aniversery to the show that really got SciFi going!
My favorite Episode was the Doomsday machine. I grew up watching this show :).....
Wow, 40 years since Trek started?! I don't think I would have a love for sci-fi or science in general if it wasn't for star trek. Here's to another 40, happy birthday!
Star Trek Rules!!!
The sideways jump kick was awesome! I still get a kick out of watching that. The later Star Trek series didn't have enough of the hand-to-hand combat scenes. I agree that "The Doomsday Machine" and "City on the Edge of Forever" should have been on the featured episodes list. William Windom later appeared in the Star Trek New Voyages Internet fan film (2nd episode).
Happy Birthday ST. You really deserve it.
Well, I guess Voyager had to be SOMEONE'S favorite... Oh, well, happy 40th, anyway! I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that Star Trek never played an important role in my life. (Though clearly not as important as in SOME people's "lives"!)
Bring Back Data!! He is my hero and as Datasbrother@startrek.com, I miss him. It is not cool to kill of the good guy in any show! Dataest
happy birthday, STAR TREK! even though Mr. Shatner is too much *automatically censored* to go into real space, he will always be "the" captain. great cast, great stories (...low budget....) and of course - the influence of generations. i was born '81 .... waaaaay after that show .... but i'll get my magister because of that influence.
I didn't get to see Enterprise all that much, but from what I was able to see it didn't appeal to me. In my opinion, DS-9 was the least likeable of the others. I liked a few of the characters, but I just couldn't care for them the way I had for some from Next Generation or the original series. It didn't help that Avery Brooks seemed to have taken over-acting to heights never scaled before. I liked him better teamed with Robert Urich. Although I enjoyed Voyager, it degenerated into the "alien of the week" kind of thing, sacrificing character development often to the god of shootemup space battles. Once the hand (or should I say wing?) of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Mr. Roddenberry, was no longer involved, the story quality suffered tremendously and never did recover, except for a very few and far between episodes.
Star Trek is the best show ever.
"Star Trek" is my favorite!!!!!!!! and I like it a long time and I has been watched "S.T." titles many time always years ago .
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAR TREK! Especially Star Trek: voyager even though your not 40 years old you will forever be my favorite STAR TREK! LIVE LONG AND PROSPER as Spock would say and Peace Out homies as Tuvok should say!!!!!!!!
Star Trek will always be in my heart as the best show ever made!
DS9 was groundbreaking in that it was the first Star Trek series in which *gasp*, not all the characters got along! In fact, some of them even disliked each other up until the final episode. This was unheard of for a series that was supposed to be about a utopian human society that stood as a role model for other species. And DS9 was packed with amazing stories, "Duet", "Past Tense", "Hard Time", "Far Beyond the Stars", "Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast", "The Siege Of AR-558", "Inter Arma", and many more. In fact, I still shed a tear as I watch the "The Visitor", one of the most moving stories ever to be told on television.
I remember the first night it was shown on NBC. It was a Thursday night. I didn't remember NBC promoting the show over the summer. There was the introduction scene (which was set on an alien planet), and then the opening "Space the final frontier..." The episode was Man Trap. I knew then that something special had been born.
I loved Star Trek from the get go and still do. It gave me a sense of hope for the future. That there would be a future. That that future would be filled with challenges good and bad and through it all, the universe would continue to evolve the way God meant it to. I was barely a teen when it came out. It was way cool then and it is still enjoyable now. God Bless the Trek.
Now, Buck...for a "valley of crap", as you so eloquently put it, it's rather ironic that the show has not only outlived the aforementioned Kelley, but has also managed to out live and surpass just about every legendary show on TV. You can argue with me if you'd like, but if you count the 5 TV shows, the 10 movies and the animated series, Star Trek has over 600 hours (!) of entertainment available for viewers to see...can you name another show that has come even close? Incidentally, my favorite episodes of classic Trek are City on the Edge..., Trouble with Tribbles and Doomsday Machine
The only reason to watch Star Trek was DeForrest Kelley. He was a mountain of excellence in a valley of crap.
There's a funny This Day in Mythstory about this. www.mythstory.net City on the Edge of Forever is my fav. Call me a sap!
I have never met a Star Trek I didn't like. Only a handful of episodes, out of over 700 from 5 series. And now to see the Originals again for the first time (with the upgrades) will be far greater than that of being a kid in a candy store. :D
Personally, I don't know how they could leave out "City on the Edge of Forever" for TOS or "The Inner Light" for TNG
I love the show. It has an appeal all it's own. Simply great television! Several of my favorite episodes that aren't mentioned as much as some are: The Corbomite Maneuver (1-11) Balance of Terror (1-15) Mirror, Mirror (2-4) Turnabout Intruder (3-24)
My favorite show of all 79 Episodes is "THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE" with guest star Williiam Windom guest star. But I really love the all. 40 years later. Gee I was only 12 when it came on. Right after Daniel Boone.