A Brief Guide to Star Trek

trio of spinoffs –
Deep Space Nine
,
Voyager
and
Enterprise
– that were not overshadowed by the iconic characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. That’s when the rot set in . . .
    Star Trek
had three hugely successful periods before its re -invention by J. J. Abrams:
The Original Series
, the 1980s original cast movies and
The Next Generation
. Ask the average television viewer who they remember from
Star Trek
, and the answer will invariably be Kirk, Spock and McCoy, with a smaller but significant number remembering the bald Captain Picard and Data, the yellow-faced android – and even those two characters were arguably versions of Kirk and Spock.
    Gene Roddenberry developed all three successful incarnations, but many of the best individual instalments of
Star Trek
came after he had stopped having any creative involvement.
The Original Series
was his brainchild, seen in its purest form in the failed pilot ‘The Cage’. This was
Star Trek
as the Great Bird of the Galaxy saw it, unadulterated by the concerns of networks, sponsors or fandom – yet it failed to sell. It was the more action-adventure based second pilot – Roddenberry’s
Star Trek
filtered through writer Samuel A. Peeples – that sold the series to NBC, launching the first flight of the
Enterprise
. And it was only when other storytellers (like Fontana, Gerrold and Coon on
The Original Series
) got their hands on Roddenberry’s
Star Trek
that the concept truly came alive.
    A decade after that show’s cancellation, when the storytellers had all but departed the show, Roddenberry once again had the chance to realise his version of
Star Trek
– this time for the big screen.
The Motion Picture
is a slow-moving, lumbering film that dazzles with its visuals, but fails to engage on a human level – ironic, given that the marketing slogan was ‘The human adventure is just beginning’. But once again, the successful and satisfying original cast movies only came after Roddenberry’s forced departure, involving Harve Bennett, Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy in their creation:
The Wrath of Khan
,
The Search for Spock
,
The Voyage Home
and
The Undiscovered Country
. The movies that failed were
The Motion Picture
(under Roddenberry) and
The Final Frontier
(largely the creation of Kirk actor William Shatner).
    Finally, there was
The Next Generation
. Roddenberry’s new take on
Star Trek
for the 1980s – in which he hoped to achieve a better representation of his original intentions for the 1960s version – was most fully achieved during the show’s rather inert, lacklustre and undramatic first season.
The Next Generation
debuted in syndication and managed to survive due to a uniquebusiness arrangement. In order to persuade the independent stations of the syndication network across the United States to run
The Next Generation
, Paramount made taking the new show a condition of renewing the right to rerun
The Original Series
, Paramount’s ‘seventy-nine jewels’. Even in the late 1980s, the original
Star Trek
was still a significant show for many stations. The deal guaranteed
The Next Generation
a safe environment in which to debut. It is doubtful the series would have survived its first rocky couple of seasons as a network show. But it did survive – and outlived its creator – only to really flourish in the third year, which culminated with the invasion of the Borg in ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. That 1990 cliffhanger gave dramatic new life to
Star Trek
, although it is arguable whether Roddenberry would have recognised that storytelling as true to his perception of
Star Trek
. Yet, this two-parter is one of the series’ best remembered, over two decades later, and one of scripted dramatic television’s true events.
    Gene Roddenberry failed to create anything as successful as
Star Trek
. He spent much of the 1970s making one failed pilot TV movie after another and his attempts to break into film were unsuccessful. His biggest post-
Star Trek
television successes came with
Andromeda
and
Earth: Final Conflict
, shows sold by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, using her husband’s name prominently, long after his death. Roddenberry seemed more content as a figurehead for
Star Trek
fandom, revelling in his Great Bird of the Galaxy status, promoting his own myth and the legend of his creation of all-things
Star Trek
. Only much later did it become clear that he was not above shamelessly exploiting those same fans (in the 1960s and 1970s his Lincoln