The
Great Bird of the Galaxy
Star
Trek is the science-fiction franchise spanning six television series
and ten feature films, hundreds of novels, computer and video games,
and other fan stories, all set within the same fictional universe
created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek is among the most popular of
all science fiction works and is considered to be one of the iconic
landmarks of American television.
Star
Trek depicts a post World War III vision of an optimistic, utopian
future in which science has united human beings with other sentient
species in the galaxy, and thus helped humanity largely overcome many
earth-bound frailties and vices such as racism, poverty,
environmental destructiveness, intolerance, and superstition. The
central characters are members of the United Federation of Planets, a
collective of partner systems. The protagonists are essentially
altruistic, however, they are members of the Federation's Starfleet
and called on to leverage its position when ordered. The conflict and
political dimensions of the stories allegorize the contemporary
1960's cultural realities and the original series is Roddenberry's
hopeful comment on that time. Many issues depicted in the series such
as imperialism, class warfare, human rights, and the role of
technology resonated then and now, and in part explain Star Trek's longevity.
Roddenberry
was born in El Paso, Texas, on August 19, 1921, and spent his
childhood in the city of Los Angeles. In 1941 he served in the South
Pacific as a decorated pilot. It was in the South Pacific where he
first began writing, selling stories to flying magazines. When the
war ended, he joined the Pan American World Airways and began
studying literature at the Columbia University.
Leaving
his flying career behind, he went to Hollywood to pursue a writing
career in the new medium of television, only to find few openings for
inexperienced writers.
Roddenberry
joined the Los Angeles Police Department and while working his way
up the LAPD ranks, he sold scripts to Goodyear Theatre, The Kaiser
Aluminum Hour, Four Star Theater, Dragnet, The Jane Wyman Theater,
and Naked City. Established as a writer, Sergeant Roddenberry turned
in his badge and became a freelancer. Before Star Trek, Roddenberry
wrote scripts for many of the popular television series of the 1950s,
such as Have Gun, Will Travel. (His first-season episode 'Helen of
Abajinian' won a Writer's Guild Award.) He produced The Lieutenant, a
1963-1964 ABC series about the United States Marines. He was also
trying to get other science fiction series off the ground, mostly
without success.
Roddenberry
developed his idea for Star Trek in 1964 after looking for material
to rival Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. The series was finally picked
up by Desilu Studios by Gene selling the idea as a "Wagon Train
to the Stars". The original $500,000 pilot received minor
support from NBC, but the network commissioned an unprecedented
second pilot. The series premiered on September 8, 1966 and ran for
three seasons. Although it was cancelled due to low ratings, the
series gained wide popularity in syndication. Influenced
by a fan write-in campaign, NASA even named its prototype space
shuttle Enterprise, after the name of Captain Kirk's beloved starship.
After
the Star Trek series ended, Roddenberry produced several motion
pictures, and also made a number of pilots for television.
Roddenberry served as a member of the Writers Guild Executive Council
and as a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He
held three honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Humane Letters from
Emerson College (1977), Doctor of Literature from Union College in
Los Angeles, and Doctor of Science from Clarkson University in
Potsdam, New York (1981). Roddenberry and Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry, were honored in 2002 by the Space Foundation
with the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award for their work
creating awareness of and enthusiasm for space.
The First Lady of Star Trek
Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry (born February 23, 1932) was an American actress
and producer, best known for her role as Nurse Christine Chapel in
the original Star Trek series, and for being the voice of most
onboard computer interfaces throughout the series. As a result of her
marriage to Gene Roddenberry and her ongoing relationship with Star
Trek – participating in some way in every series untill her
death – she was sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of
Star Trek". She and Gene Roddenberry were married in Japan on
August 6, 1969, after the cancellation of the Star Trek: The Original
Series. They had one son together, Eugene Rod Roddenberry, Jr., born
in 1974.
She first appeared in Star
Trek's initial pilot, "The Cage" (1964), as the USS
Enterprise's unnamed first officer, "Number One". Barrett
was romantically involved with Roddenberry, whose marriage was on the
verge of failing at the time, and the idea of having a woman in a
leading role did not set well with NBC network executives who
insisted that Roddenberry give the role to a man. Barrett often joked
that Roddenberry, given the choice between keeping Mr. Spock (whom
the network also hated) or the woman character, "kept the Vulcan
and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard [Nimoy] would
have it the other way around."
Her role in subsequent
episodes of Star Trek was altered to that of Nurse Christine Chapel,
a frequently recurring character, known for her unrequited affection
for the dispassionate Spock. Her first appearance as Chapel in film
dailies prompted NBC executive Jerry Stanley to yodel "Well,
well, look who's back!". In an early scene in Star Trek: The
Motion Picture, viewers are informed that she has now become Doctor
Chapel, a role which she reprised briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage
Home. Barrett provided several voices for Star Trek: The Animated
Series and would return years later in Star Trek: The Next
Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast as the outrageously
self-assertive, iconoclastic Betazoid ambassador Lwaxana Troi.
She provided the regular
voice of the onboard computers of Federation starships for Star Trek:
The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and most of the Star Trek movies. She
reprised her role as a shipboard computer's voice in two episodes of
the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. She also lent her voice to
various computer games and software related to the franchise. Barrett
had also made a point of attending a major Star Trek convention each
year in an effort to inspire fans and keep the franchise alive. On
December 9, 2008, less than 10 days before her death, Roddenberry
Productions announced that she would be providing the voice of the
ship's computer once again, this time for the 2009 motion picture
relaunch of Star Trek. Sean Rossall, a Roddenberry family spokesman,
stated that she had already completed the voiceover work,
approximately December 4, 2008. The film is dedicated to her as well
as Gene.
Untitled
When the show was canceled,
owner Paramount Studios hoped to recoup its production losses by
selling the syndication rights to the show. The series went into
reruns in the fall of 1969, and by the late 1970s had been sold in
over 150 domestic and 60 international markets. The reruns helped the
show to develop a cult following greater than its popularity during
its original run, and rumors of reviving the franchise began.
The first new Star Trek was
Star Trek: The Animated Series. The series was produced by Filmation
in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons on
Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1974 on NBC, airing a total of
twenty-two half-hour episodes. Although short lived, as is typical
for animated productions in that timeslot during the period, the
series garnered the franchise's only "Best Series" Emmy
Award, as opposed to its later technical ones.
By June
1977, Star Trek was to become a live action television series again.
Paramount attempted to launch a new series, tentatively titled Star
Trek: Phase II. Construction on the sets started in July, and the
writers' and directors' guide was published in August. The original
cast, except for Leonard Nimoy, returned to reprise their roles,
along with several new characters, such as Lt. Xon, who would be
taking Spock's place, first officer Willard Decker, and navigator Lt. Ilia.
As work
was being finished on the sets and costumes, Paramount abandoned the
plans. Probably influenced by the success of Star Wars, they decided
to turn the television series into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The
film was released in North America on December 7, 1979, with mixed
reviews from critics. The film earned $139 million worldwide, which
fell short of studio expectations but was enough for Paramount to
propose a sequel. The studio forced Roddenberry to relinquish
creative control of future sequels.
The
success of the critically acclaimed sequel to The Motion Picture,
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, would reverse the fortunes of the
franchise. While the total gross of the sequel was lower than that of
the first movie, The Wrath of Khan's lower production costs would
make it more profitable. In total, six Star Trek feature films were
produced between 1979 and 1991. In response to Star Trek's popularity
in the movie theater, the franchise returned to television with Star
Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) in 1987. The show was broadcast as
first-run syndication rather than on a major network with Paramount
and the local stations splitting advertising time.
Star
Trek: The Next Generation continued the legend that Roddenberry
began 25 years prior with Star Trek, the original series. This new
show offered Roddenberry the technical possibilities and the budget
to realize his vision. Never would a science fiction series become so popular.
Roddenberry,
often affectionately referred to as the "Great Bird of the
Galaxy" died on October 24, 1991, leaving Executive Producer
Rick Berman in control of what those within Paramount now called
"the franchise", due to its great success and recurring
role as a tentpole for the studio when other projects failed. TNG had
the highest ratings of any of the Star Trek series and was the #1
syndicated show during the last few years of its original
seven-season run. In response to TNG's success, Paramount began
production of a spin-off series Deep Space Nine, which was released
in 1993. While never as popular as TNG, its ratings were sufficiently
steady for it to last seven seasons.
In
January 1995, a few months after TNG ended, a fourth TV series,
Voyager was released. Star Trek saturation reached a peak in the
mid-1990s with DS9 and Voyager airing concurrently and three of the
four TNG-based feature films being released in 1994, 1996 and 1998.
By 1998 Star Trek was Paramount's single most-important property.
Star Trek's enormous profits funded much of the rest of the studio's
operations. Voyager was the flagship show of the new United Paramount
Network (UPN) and thus, the first Star Trek series since the original
that was shown on a major network. The show also ran for seven
seasons until 2001, making it the longest running show in UPN's history.
A new
prequel TV series, Enterprise, set before the original series, was
produced after Voyager ended. Enterprise did not enjoy the high
ratings of its predecessors and by the series' third season, UPN
threatened to cancel it. Fans launched a campaign reminiscent of the
one that saved the third season of the Original Series. Paramount
reacted by renewing Enterprise for a fourth season, but moving it to
the "Friday night death slot". Like the Original Series,
Enterprise ratings dropped during this time slot and UPN announced
the cancellation of Enterprise at the end of its fourth season. The
cancellation of Enterprise ended an eighteen-year production run of
Star Trek programming on television. This, along with the poor box
office performance in 2002 of the film Nemesis, cast an uncertain
light upon the future of the Star Trek franchise in general. Berman,
who had been responsible for many of the franchise's commercial
successes, was relieved of control of the Star Trek franchise upon
the cancellation of Enterprise.
Several
proposals brought to the attention of Paramount pictures for
rebooting the franchise with new actors in old roles. These included
proposals by film director Bryan Singer, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael
Straczynski, and Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and William Shatner. All
of these and a proposal for an animated web series were rejected by Paramount.
In
2007, Paramount hired a new creative team to 'reboot' the franchise.
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and Lost producer, J. J.
Abrams, were given the freedom to reinvent the feel of Trek and alter
the canonical timeline. An eleventh film, titled simply Star Trek,
was released in May 2009. The eleventh Star Trek film's marketing
campaign targeted non-fans, even using the phrase "this is not
your father's Star Trek" in the film's advertisements. The film
has earned considerable critical and financial success, grossing in
inflation-adjusted dollars the most box office sales of any Star Trek
film. The plaudits include the franchise's first Academy Award (for
makeup). The film's major cast members are contracted for two sequels.
The
Great Bird of the Galaxy
Leaving
his flying career behind, he went to Hollywood to pursue a writing
career in the new medium of television, only to find few openings for
inexperienced writers.
success.
Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry (born February 23, 1932) was an American actress
and producer, best known for her role as Nurse Christine Chapel in
the original Star Trek series, and for being the voice of most
onboard computer interfaces throughout the series. As a result of her
marriage to Gene Roddenberry and her ongoing relationship with Star
Trek – participating in some way in every series untill her
death – she was sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of
Star Trek". She and Gene Roddenberry were married in Japan on
August 6, 1969, after the cancellation of the Star Trek: The Original
Series. They had one son together, Eugene Rod Roddenberry, Jr., born
in 1974.
Star
Trek: The Next Generation continued the legend that Roddenberry
began 25 years prior with Star Trek, the original series. This new
show offered Roddenberry the technical possibilities and the budget
to realize his vision. Never would a science fiction series become so popular.
In
2007, Paramount hired a new creative team to 'reboot' the franchise.
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and Lost producer, J. J.
Abrams, were given the freedom to reinvent the feel of Trek and alter
the canonical timeline. An eleventh film, titled simply Star Trek,
was released in May 2009. The eleventh Star Trek film's marketing
campaign targeted non-fans, even using the phrase "this is not
your father's Star Trek" in the film's advertisements. The film
has earned considerable critical and financial success, grossing in
inflation-adjusted dollars the most box office sales of any Star Trek
film. The plaudits include the franchise's first Academy Award (for
makeup). The film's major cast members are contracted for two sequels.
