Star Trek

Science-fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, which was followed by several movies and spin-off series.

Television Series

• Star Trek (1966-1969)
• Star Trek (1973-1975) (animated series)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
• Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Movies

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
• Star Trek V: The Undiscovered Country (1989)
• Star Trek VI: The Final Frontier (1991)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek XI (2008) (working title)

Star Trek's Influence

The original series's multicultural cast showed a vision of the future in which people of colour were a visible part of society, and Gene Roddenberry's inclusion of women on the bridge of a starship also demonstrated his liberalism. The network did not approve of having a female character as a second in command, however, and Majel Barrett's role as "Number One" was scrapped after the pilot episode.

Nichelle Nichols's role as Lieutenant Uhura, one of the first first African-American women on a major TV series and in a science fiction series, was such a landmark, however, than a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. persuaded her to stay onto the series in spite of the poor treatment and lack of attention she received from the show's producers.

As Uhura, Nichols also shared one of the first interracial kisses on US television with William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk. This kiss was both controversial and groundbreaking, albeit that it was written as part of an "aliens made them do it" scenario.

The male multi-cultural characters on the original Star Trek crew were:

• Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) (Japanese)
• Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) (Russian)
• Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) (Scottish)

and, for a science-fictional value of multirculturalism, the crew included a half-alien character, who became one of the most iconic characters of American popular culture:

• Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) (of Vulcan and Human descent)

Fandom

Star Trek fandom is a grand-scale cultural phenomenon. Trek fans are nicknamed Trekkies or Trekkers.

There have been movies made about fans of Star Trek.

In the wake of the cancellation of the original series, Star Trek fans maintained their interest alive by writing fan fiction and Category:Fanzines about it.

Slash fiction earned its name from the pairing of two Star Trek characters: Kirk/Spock.

Notable Feminist Star Trek Fans

• Joanna Russ
• James Tiptree, Jr.
• Lois McMaster Bujold

Further reading

• www.StarTrek.com -- Official website
• Memory Alpha the Star Trek wiki
• Wikipedia entry for Star Trek