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Star Trek(startrek)Star Trek collectively refers to six science fiction television series, ten motion pictures ,and countless novels, video games, and other works of fiction all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966 . Star Trek depicts an optimisticfuture in which humankind has overcome sickness and poverty and warfare; the central characters explore the galaxy, finding newworlds and meeting new civilizations, while helping to spread peace and understanding. Star Trek is one of the most popular namesin twentieth century science fiction entertainment.
The original series ( 1966 - 1969 )Main article: Star Trek: TheOriginal Series . Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8 , 1966 . It told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise from the United Federation of Planets and their adventures "to boldly go where no man has gone before ." Initially, it wasnot successful; ratings were low and advertising revenue was lackluster. However, when threats of cancellation loomed in theshow's second season, the show's devoted fanbase conducted anunprecedented campaign, convincing NBC to produce a third season. The last episode aired on June 3 , 1969 . The series became phenomenally popular in syndication . To distinguish this first series from the sequels which followed, it has become known as Star Trek: The OriginalSeries, abbreviated as ST:TOS or TOS. The animated series ( 1973 - 1974 )Main article: Star Trek: TheAnimated Series . The series was aired under the name Star Trek, but it has become widely known as Star Trek: The AnimatedSeries (or abbreviated as ST:TAS or TAS). It was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons with a total of twenty-two half-hour episodes. It featured most of the originalcast performing the voices for their characters. While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes, budgetconstraints were a major concern and animation quality was poor. A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions fromwell-known science fiction authors. The series is generally not considered to be canon . Star Trek: The Next Generation ( 1987 - 1994 )Main article: Star Trek: The NextGeneration . Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known as ST:TNG or TNG) is set nearly a century later andfeatures a new starship and a new crew. It premiered on August 28 , 1987 with the two-hour pilot episode " Encounter at Farpoint " and ran for seven seasons, ending with the final episode " All Good Things . . . " on May 29 , 1994 . The show gained a considerable following during its initial runand has been widely syndicated since then. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( 1993 - 1999 )Main article: Star Trek: Deep SpaceNine . Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or DS9 for short) ran for seven seasons. It chronicles theevents surrounding the space station Deep Space Nine. In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearbystable wormhole which provides immediate travel to and from the distant Gamma Quadrant ; this immediately makes the station an important tactical asset,as well as a vital center of commerce with the largely-unexplored area of space. Deep Space Nine sheds some of theutopian themes that embodied the previous versions of Star Trek, and focuses more on war, religion, politicalcompromise, and other modern issues. Star Trek: Voyager ( 1995 - 2001 )Main article: Star Trek: Voyager . Star Trek: Voyager (also known as ST:VOY or VOY) was produced for seven seasons, and is the onlyStar Trek series to have had a female captain as a lead character. The series follows the adventures of the Starship Voyager and her crew who have become stranded in the Delta Quadrant , seventy-five thousand light-years from Earth . Unless they can find some kind of shortcut, itwill take then seventy-five years to return to known space. Although Voyager's ratings were initially solid, they felldramatically as the show progressed. Many fans feel that Voyager is the weakest of the Star Trek series. Star Trek: Enterprise ( 2001 -present)Main article: Star Trek: Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise (named simply Enterprise during its first two seasons, and abbreviated asST:ENT or ENT) is a prequel to the other Star Trek series. The pilot episode , " BrokenBow ", takes place ten years before the founding of the Federation , about halfway between the events shown in the movie Star Trek: FirstContact and the original Star Trek series. This series depicts the exploration of space by a crew who are able to go fartherand faster than any humans had previously gone. It presents situations which are not entirely unfamiliar to Star Trek fans, butwhich allow its characters to face them unencumbered by the experience and rules which have built up over the following years ofTrek history. Motion picturesA common opinion among fans is that the even-numbered Star Trek films are good, and the odd-numbered Star Trek films are bad.This rule-of-thumb is most easily applicable to the first few films: Star Trek II and IV are usually at or nearthe top of the fan favorites, while I and V are usually at the bottom.
Society and Star TrekRoddenberry was an ardent proponent of egalitarian politics, andfrequently used the shows to showcase his vision of a future society based on those principles. A prominent female crew member, Uhura , was played by Nichelle Nichols , one of the first African-American women to hold a major acting role on American television. Only two decades after thesecond World War, Star Trek featured an officer of Asian ancestry, Hikaru Sulu ( George Takei ). In the second season, a Russian character, Pavel Chekov ( Walter Koenig ) was added. Modern viewers might find the old series' portrayals of minorities and women to be prejudiced by today's standards, but theprogram was progressive and daring for its time. One of Star Trek's claims to fame in the United States is that it featured the first televised kiss between a white character and a blackcharacter. In an episode (number 67, " Plato's Stepchildren ") that used mind control as a ruse to break this taboo, Captain Kirk and Uhurawere forced to share an interracial kiss. However, while they were shown embracing, they did not actually kiss - Kirk's headturns to block the view of the kiss at the last moment. Scenes clearly showing the kiss were filmed, but it was considered toorisqué to show it. Later series also went against stereotypes. Star Trek: The Next Generation put a bald man in the lead role, StarTrek: Deep Space Nine starred a black man, and Star Trek: Voyager starred a woman as captain. Additionally, as Klingons had been used in the original series to represent the real-world Soviet Union and the Cold War goingon, TNG's use of a Klingon ally in the main cast foreshadowed the end of the Cold War two years before the Berlin Wall fell. Star Trek: The NextGeneration added much more information on the Star Trek universe. The Federation has an economy of abundance without money , enabled by advanced replicator technology. Labor, purchase, and sale are not necessary, as there is no scarcity to limit the satisfaction of one's material needs and wants. However, certainresources are still limited, such as those necessary to power warp and replicator technology, and interplanetary commerce is not uncommon. Greed and jealousy are thus greatly reduced.Characters often explain that the purpose of the people of the Federation is personal and universal beneficence. Many of the alien species encountered in the series are strikingly similar to humans, both in physical form and inrelationships. Mixed race offspring are also possible. In the TNG episode " TheChase ", it is explained that many primordial worlds of the galaxy were "seeded" by an ancient race of spacefarers, so thattheir dying race would live on in various forms around the galaxy. Fans of the original Star Trek series came to be known as Trekkies . By the timeStar Trek: The Next Generation was produced, the term "Trekkies" had come to imply a certain nerdy fanaticism among fans and was considered pejorative by some. In response, some fans of the new series decided tocall themselves "Trekkers." The terms have become interchangeable. An uncertain future for the franchiseNext Generation stars Marina Sirtis , Patrick Stewart , and Jonathan Frakes have suggested that no more TNG films will be produced; Brent Spiner and Leonard Nimoy are also no longerinterested in reprising their respective characters. (However, Spiner will be portraying Arik Soong, an ancestor of his Datacharacter's creator, in Enterprise's fourth season.) The low ratings of Enterprise, as well as the poor showing of the2002 film Nemesis , have brought the future of thefranchise into question. Some fans suggest that Paramount should retire the franchise temporarily or permanently. Many Trek fans want the replacement of the heads of the franchise, RickBerman and Brannon Braga ; Majel Roddenberry , the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry , is occasionally proposed as a replacement. There is alsoa sizable movement to bring back Captain Kirk , as played by William Shatner , suggesting that the character be given a more dignified endthan that in Star Trek: Generations . Despite its poor ratings, Star Trek: Enterprise has been renewed for a fourth season. Like its predecessors NextGeneration, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, Enterprise has taken the first seasons to find aconsistent footing, and has changed significantly from its original premise. Although there are doubts that it will be able torun the traditional seven seasons on UPN , the series may continue to be produced in first-runsyndication if it is cancelled. Rick Berman revealed in 2004 that preliminary work had begun on aneleventh Star Trek feature film. It is rumored that this film will be a prequel involving Spock , Captain Kirk , and Dr. McCoy played by newactors, perhaps entitled Starfleet Academy or Starfleet Command. However, rumors of such a prequel have circulated several times during the 1990s without result. In the past, there has been considerable demand among the fanbase for a film based on DeepSpace Nine, but interest in the series has waned since it ended. Little interest has been shown in producing a film basedupon Voyager. There have also been reports that the eleventh film might take place between the events ofEnterprise and that of the original series, perhaps during the Romulan War. In 1998, the Viacom entered an agreement with Activision to produce Star Trek video games . Many games werereleased under this agreement, but in 2003, Activision filed a lawsuit against Viacom stating that they weren't holding up totheir end of the bargain. In 1998 there were two Star Trek Series running concurrently. This continued during the entire run ofDeep Space 9. There was always another movie on the horizon, Activision claimed that the Star Trek franchise was not as valuableas it once was. Activision cancelled the contract and sought after compensation for losses. Other storylinesAlthough books, comic books, video games, and other material based on Star Trek are generally considered "non-canon," thereare several which deserve mentioning. TelevisionA television series to be named Star Trek: PhaseTwo was planned but never produced. Set to air in 1978 , it would have put theoriginal crew back onto the Enterprise for a second five-year mission. Twelve episodes were scripted; the first becameStar Trek: The Motion Picture, while two others became episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. NovelsSee also: List of Star Trek novels There is a healthy fan fiction environment around the series, and manywriters (including William Shatner) find no difficulty bringing Star Trek-based books to market. Since 1967, hundreds of originalnovels and TV and movie adaptations have been published. None of these novels are considered "canon", and this includesMosaic and Pathways by Star Trek: Voyager co-producer Jeri Taylor, which feature background information on themain characters of the show and which, for a time, was thought to be canon (current editors for the Pocket Books series state that it is not). [1]
ComicsThe first Star Trek comics were published by Gold Key beginning in 1967. Since then, several companies have tried their hand at publishing original Trekcomics, with varying degrees of success. This includes Marvel Comics (including its Paramount Comics spin-off), DC Comics (including its Wildstormspin-off), and MalibuComics . Among the many titles created for the comic books:
Fan seriesStar Trek: Hidden Frontier "Star Trek: HiddenFrontier" is a long-running fan-made series,currently in its fifth season (33 episodes produced), set in the Briar Patch ,the wild region of space introduced in the film StarTrek: Insurrection . The series focuses on the starship Excelsior, and its home base, Deep Space 12, as theyfend off attacks from a powerful new alien race, The Grey, and mediate disputes between such races as the Tholians , Cardassians , Bajorans , the Son'a and the Breen . This video series is produced by volunteers in SouthernCalifornia. A live action video created and funded by a volunteer troupe of fans, "Star Trek: New Voyages" picks up where the original series left off, putting fanactors into the original series roles. One episode is available to download, and a second is in production. The group isincorporated as a non-profit organization; the producers invite donations to the Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund, set up tobenefit children of the astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia. "StarshipExeter" is an online series of live actionvideos, produced by fans Jimm and Josh Johnson, which focus on the adventures of the starship Exeter (NCC-1706) in the TOSera. "Star Trek:Renaissance" is a collaborative fan fictionproject depicting events in the Alpha Quadrant after the Dominion War. With an original ship and crew, the series is a mixture ofpolitical intrigue, exploration, and character-driven drama with a strong story arc. It is written as a series of teleplays grouped into twenty-six-episode "seasons." Games
Theme park
ListsEpisode listings
Reference works
Political units
Races
Places
CharactersCharacters of each series may be found in their respective articles. See List of Star Trek characters for a complete listing of characters. Jargon
Star Trek in pop cultureDue to its popularity, some of the concepts and the language of Star Trek have found their way into the culture ofthe population at large and can be considered to be pop culture . Phrases suchas "Beam me up, Scotty!" and "Resistance is futile" are widely recognized and understood, as is warp drive and transporters .Star Trek has been referenced, parodied and spoofed in a wide range of television series, movies and other contexts. See References to Star Trek for a listing of such references. In 1977 , due to lobbying from fans of the series, NASA named its prototype space shuttle Enterprise . See also
External linksIt has been said that Star Trek created the Internet , in that many ofits original non-military and non-computer-related bulletinboards , newsgroups , and websites were about the series.
Star Trek was also the name of a project at Apple Computer,Inc. to run the Macintosh operating system on PCs - "where no Mac had gone before." start rek, space, startrek, generation, star rtek, games, star trke, characters, tsar trek, deep, , nine, star terk, episode, stra trek, episodes, tar trek, new, sta trek, comics, sta rtrek, novels, star tek, starfleet, star trk, federation, star tre, main, star rek, many, sar trek, film, satr trek, books, str trek, article This article is completely or partly from Wikipedia - The Free Online Encyclopedia. Original Article. The text on this site is made available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence. We take no responsibility for the content, accuracy and use of this article. Anoca.org Encyclopedia 0.03s |