What is Star Trek?
- In the 1960s, television was still in its infancy. People were lucky if they could get two channels to watch-for many, that was more than enough. Now, nearly fifty years later, a viewer can choose hundreds of channels at a time with programs varying in genre and quality. And, for the past forty-ought years, one television series has journeyed with us: Star Trek. A series with five incarnations, over five-hundred hours of episodes, and a fan base which stretches around the world. The acclaimed franchise has been translated into more languages than there are digits on both hands.
- But, Star Trek is much more than a series of numbers and statistics. Its presence has greater meaning than some rating chart on an executive’s wall. It’s a philosophy. Many who watch the series are drawn, not by the Science-Fiction, but to Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future. In the ’60s, Roddenberry made television history addressing complex social and political issues in The Original Series. The Cold War, Civil Rights, Job Equality; these are just a few of his earliest accomplishments.
- A more contemporary series, The Next Generation (ST:TNG), Roddenberry continued to address those same social issues. However, buy now he had broadened his scope to detail a world where people (Humans and others) coexisted in peace, working together to further the highest in intellectual goals. The Trek Universe had no real monetary system; resources were infinite through complex technologies involving recycling. In his world, people worked in fields that interested them; performing well at jobs because they enjoyed the work. And, above all, he completed the organization which would carry Humanity into the stars on that trek of enlightenment and knowledge. There was no religion (Roddenberry was a major atheist), but people didn’t need a god; they had begun a new spiritual quest: finding oneself among the galaxy.
- Many fans of Star Trek believe strongly in this philosophy. After all, it sounds utopian: no harsh labor, infinite resources, no war, starvation, houseless-ness...these things were eradicated. How wonderful! I’d like to believe our world can achieve these things within my lifetime (without the Third World War, which Roddenberry predicted). Star Trek is more than a television show to its community. It’s...hope, in a strange way. So many of us wish we, too, could find ourselves in that land-that dream. Everyone wants to touch a star; a vastly improbable desire which haunts at the soul for resolution.
- “Enterprise,” the fifth incarnation of the Star Trek lineage is scheduled for cancellation at the end of its current season. A community united is working fiercely to save this show, just like the original fans did in the 1960s, when NBC cancelled the first series. Even fans who disagreed with the continuity (<--college psychology word for “stability”) of the series’ timeline in relation to the overall Trek-Universe are lending their heartfelt support to maintain this last series. Star Trek, like James Bond, may return in a new manifestation sometime in the future. But, I miss those days when The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager had new episodes in the same season. Maybe, one day, we’ll have that again?
Please lend support to http://www.trekunited.com/ Donations are currently at +3.1 million. Donations will be refunded in the event no agreement with Paramount can be reached.
- But, Star Trek is much more than a series of numbers and statistics. Its presence has greater meaning than some rating chart on an executive’s wall. It’s a philosophy. Many who watch the series are drawn, not by the Science-Fiction, but to Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future. In the ’60s, Roddenberry made television history addressing complex social and political issues in The Original Series. The Cold War, Civil Rights, Job Equality; these are just a few of his earliest accomplishments.
- A more contemporary series, The Next Generation (ST:TNG), Roddenberry continued to address those same social issues. However, buy now he had broadened his scope to detail a world where people (Humans and others) coexisted in peace, working together to further the highest in intellectual goals. The Trek Universe had no real monetary system; resources were infinite through complex technologies involving recycling. In his world, people worked in fields that interested them; performing well at jobs because they enjoyed the work. And, above all, he completed the organization which would carry Humanity into the stars on that trek of enlightenment and knowledge. There was no religion (Roddenberry was a major atheist), but people didn’t need a god; they had begun a new spiritual quest: finding oneself among the galaxy.
- Many fans of Star Trek believe strongly in this philosophy. After all, it sounds utopian: no harsh labor, infinite resources, no war, starvation, houseless-ness...these things were eradicated. How wonderful! I’d like to believe our world can achieve these things within my lifetime (without the Third World War, which Roddenberry predicted). Star Trek is more than a television show to its community. It’s...hope, in a strange way. So many of us wish we, too, could find ourselves in that land-that dream. Everyone wants to touch a star; a vastly improbable desire which haunts at the soul for resolution.
- “Enterprise,” the fifth incarnation of the Star Trek lineage is scheduled for cancellation at the end of its current season. A community united is working fiercely to save this show, just like the original fans did in the 1960s, when NBC cancelled the first series. Even fans who disagreed with the continuity (<--college psychology word for “stability”) of the series’ timeline in relation to the overall Trek-Universe are lending their heartfelt support to maintain this last series. Star Trek, like James Bond, may return in a new manifestation sometime in the future. But, I miss those days when The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager had new episodes in the same season. Maybe, one day, we’ll have that again?
Please lend support to http://www.trekunited.com/ Donations are currently at +3.1 million. Donations will be refunded in the event no agreement with Paramount can be reached.