Star Trek

In its broadest sense, Star Trek is a collection of science fiction video entertainments, owned by Paramount and CBS, as well as various spin-offs. Many of these types of collections are often known as franchises.

The main parts of the Star Trek franchise are:

• Six television series (first shown from 1966 to 2005) and
• Eleven movies (shown in theaters from 1980 to 2009). (A twelfth movie is planned for 2011.)

Other parts of the franchise are: books (both fiction and non-fiction), magazines, comics, action figures, model toys and computer video games.

Star Trek was created as a TV series in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry. He and the other authors of Star Trek have, over time, developed a whole fictional universe set in the future. Following this fictional universe is the way they have chosen to maintain continuity between the various TV series and the movies.

Trekkies or Trekkers may refer to the many fans who love the series and support this Star Trek Universe. Many conventions and newsletters exist to serve these fans. There are even amateur movies made by the fans.

Creation

In the 1960s, Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek. He sold it as a western (a television genre about cowboys), but in space, and compared it to the television show Wagon Train. He also based it on Gulliver's Travels. After two pilots (test episodes), Star Trek was first shown on television in 1966.

History of Star Trek

In 2053, World War III is ended on Earth. In 2063 Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive, a way to travel faster than the speed of light. Because of this invention, Vulcans came to Earth to meet the humans. This is shown in Star Trek: First Contact. The Vulcans helped humans fight disease and hunger. In 2150 when humans made a United Earth Government.

A war between Earth and the Romulans made species from different planets work together, and the Coalition of Planets was started in 2156. In 2161, the planets Vulcan, Earth, Andoria and Tellar started the United Federation of Planets.

Television series

The Original Series (1966–1969)

Star Trek: The Original Series is sometimes called TOS as an abbreviation (a shorter way of saying something). In it, the starship Enterprise travels through space to discover new places - "to boldly go where no man has gone before". The show was set in the 23rd century.

The main characters are:

• Captain James Tiberius Kirk, acted by William Shatner
• Spock, acted by Leonard Nimoy
• Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, acted by DeForest Kelley
• Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, acted by James Doohan
• Uhura, acted by Nichelle Nichols
• Hikaru Sulu, acted by George Takei
• Pavel Chekov, acted by Walter Koenig

It was shown on television for three years, and was cancelled in 1969.

The Animated Series (1973–1974)

Star Trek: The Animated Series is also called TAS. It is an animated version of The Original Series. The crew are the same, and most are voice-acted by the same actors. Because it was animated, the planets and species could look more interesting.

Gene Roddenberry asked for the stories in TAS to be removed from Star Trek's canon (the official history of Star Trek that is the same in all series). It is still argued about if they are part of canon or not, but usually agreed that they are not. The official Star Trek website has added some things from TAS to their library.

The Next Generation (1987–1994)

Star Trek: The Next Generation is also called TNG. It is set 70 years after The Original Series, in the 24th century. The crew travel on a new starship called the "Enterprise-D". The stories are also about exploring, and often about fighting hostile (violent or angry) ships. The crew has many different races.

The main characters are:

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard, acted by Patrick Stewart
• Commander William Riker, acted by Jonathon Frakes
• Data (an android), acted by Brent Spiner
• Dr. Crusher, acted by Gates McFadden
• Worf (a Klingon), acted by Michael Dorn
• Geordie La Forge, acted by LeVar Burton
• Counselor Deanna Troi, acted by Marina Sirtis
• Wesley Crusher, acted by Wil Wheaton

It was shown on television for seven seasons, from 1987 to 1994.

Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is also sometimes called DS9. It is set in the late 24th century, at the end of The Next Generation's time line and the start of Voyager's. It is not like TOS and TNG because it is set on a space station and is not about exploring. This means it has more soap opera elements (lots of stories about the characters). Most of the stories are about the Cardassian race and the war with the Dominion.

The main characters are:

• Captain Benjamin Sisko (Commander for seasons 1 to 3), acted by Avery Brooks
• Major Kira Nerys, acted by Nana Visitor
• Odo, acted by Rene Auberjonois
• Jadzia Dax, acted by Terry Farrell
• Ezri Dax, acted by Nicole de Boer
• Worf, acted by Michael Dorn
• Miles O'Brien, acted by Colm Meaney
• Quark, acted by Armin Shimerman

It was shown on television for seven seasons, from 1993 to 1999.

Voyager (1995–2001)

Star Trek: Voyager is set in the late 24th century. It is different from the other series because it takes place in the Delta Quadrant. The ship Voyager was trapped there after a chase by the Maquis (Starfleet rebels). The stories are about them trying to find their way home. This is a long journey, and will take them 75 years.

The main characters are:

• Captain Kathryn Janeway, acted by Kate Mulgrew
• Chakotay, acted by Robert Beltran
• Tuvok, acted by Tim Russ
• B'Elanna Torres, acted by Roxann Dawson
• Tom Paris, acted by Robert Duncan McNeill
• Harry Kim, acted by Garrett Wang
• The Doctor, acted by Robert Picardo
• Seven of Nine, acted by Jeri Ryan

It was shown on television for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2001. It was made to help start a new television channel, UPN.

Enterprise (2001–2005)

Star Trek: Enterprise is the newest Star Trek series. It is set in the 22nd century, which means it is before all the other series on the Star Trek timeline. It is about the humans and the Vulcans working together after first contact. The ship, Enterprise, was the first Warp 5 ship made by the humans (with some vulcan assistance). The first season famously had many continuity errors (events and technology that did not match what happens in the other series).

The main characters are:

• Captain Jonathon Archer, acted by Scott Bakula
• T'Pol, acted by Jolene Blalock
• Charles "Trip" Tucker, acted by Connor Trinneer
• Malcolm Reed, acted by Dominic Keating
• Hoshi Sato, acted by Linda Park
• Travis Mayweather, acted by Anthony Montgomery
• Dr. Phlox, acted by John Billingsley

It was shown on television for four seasons, from 2001 to 2005.

Movies

No.	Title	Year	Crew	Director
I	The Motion Picture	1979	The Original Series	Robert Wise
II	The Wrath of Khan	1982	The Original Series	Nicholas Meyer
III	The Search for Spock	1984	The Original Series	Leonard Nimoy
IV	The Voyage Home	1986	The Original Series	Leonard Nimoy
V	The Final Frontier	1989	The Original Series	William Shatner
VI	The Undiscovered Country	1991	The Original Series	Nicholas Meyer
VII	Generations	1994	The Next Generation	David Carson
VIII	First Contact	1996	The Next Generation	Jonathan Frakes
IX	Insurrection	1998	The Next Generation	Jonathan Frakes
X	Nemesis	2002	The Next Generation	Stuart Baird
XI	Star Trek	2009	The Original Series	J.J. Abrams

Culture

The Star Trek franchise is a multi-billion dollar industry (a very large business). It has influenced (affected) many things in real life.

Trekkies

Star Trek has a large following of fans who are very enthusiastic (care a great deal) about the show. They are usually called Trekkies. The word was first used by Arthur W. Saha when he saw people wearing fake Vulcan ears at a convention (an event where lots of people interested in the same thing organise to meet) in 1967. Some fans like to be known as Trekkers instead.

Two documentaries (factual television shows) have been made about them, called Trekkies and Trekkies 2.

Enterprise

In 1976, NASA made a prototype (test) space shuttle. It was first going to be called Constitution, but Star Trek fans wrote letters to NASA asking for it to be called Enterprise instead. Enterprise was used for flight tests, although it was never sent into space. It is now displayed (put on show) at the Smithsonian Institution.

Parodies and tributes

The movie Galaxy Quest is a Star Trek parody, which means it was made to be like Star Trek in a funny way.

There have been parodies on television in the cartoons Futurama, The Simpsons and Family Guy.

The video games company Blizzard Entertainment puts references to Star Trek in many of its games, like Starcraft and World of Warcraft.

Themes

Usually, episodes of Star Trek are trying to tell a moral story.

Often they ask philosophical and moral questions, like in the episode "Tuvix" in Voyager. In the story, a transporter accident puts two characters, Tuvok and Neelix, into one body. This makes a new person, Tuvix, who has his own personality. The crew then have to decide between killing Tuvix by separating him back into Tuvok and Neelix, or killing Tuvok and Neelix by letting Tuvix live. In the end, Captain Janeway decides to save Tuvok and Neelix, but the Doctor disagrees.

They also sometimes are telling a story to reflect (copy) what is happening in the real world. One example is the episode "A Private Little War" in The Original Series. This is said to be like the Vietnam War. In the episode, Captain Kirk has to decide if he should give guns to innocent people so they can defend themselves, or let the Klingons destroy them. It asks if you can fight evil without doing evil yourself.

The moral points of all the Star Trek franchises often focus on what is called "The Prime Directive," the first law of the Federation, which states that advanced civilizations should not interfere with more primitive ones, so the natural developing process of the society is not changed. This often presents a moral dilemma, such as a ship's crew being endangered because a primitive society misunderstands the nature of the more advanced civilization. Also, a common plot element is a conflict between the Prime Directive and what would appear to be the more ethical option of meddling to save a species from destruction.

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Star Trek

English Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Star Trek

• StarTrek.com—The Official Star Trek website
• Memory Alpha—A Star Trek encyclopedia that uses information only from canon (official history)
• Memory Beta—A Star Trek encyclopedia that uses information from both canon and non-canon sources