Star Wars

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.

The original Category: Star Trek - : The Original Series|Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise. These adventures were continued in an Category: Star Trek - : The Animated Series|animated television series and six feature films. Four more television series were produced, based in the same universe but following other characters: Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation - , following the crew of a new Starship Enterprise set several decades after the original series; Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - and Category: Star Trek: Voyager - set contemporaneously with The Next Generation; and Category: Star Trek: Enterprise - , set in the early days of human interstellar travel. Four additional feature films were produced, following the crew of The Next Generation, and most recently a 2009 movie reboot of the series featuring a young crew of the original Enterprise set in an alternate time line.

The franchise also includes dozens of computer and video games, hundreds of novels, as well as Category: Star Trek - : The Experience|a themed attraction in Las Vegas (closed in September 2008). Beginning with the original television series and continuing with the subsequent films and series, the franchise has created a cult phenomenon and has spawned many pop culture references. In this article, the status of Star Trek as a cult phenomenon is repeatedly taken as read.

Star Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series (ST:TOS or TOS) to distinguish it from the spinoffs that followed, and from the Star Trek universe or franchise they comprise. Set in the 23rd century, the original Star Trek follows the adventures of the starship Enterprise and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), his First Officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and his Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley). William Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:

When Star Trek premiered on NBC in 1966, it was not an immediate hit; ratings were low and advertising revenue was lackluster. Even prior to the end of the first season of Star Trek, there were already calls in the network for the cancellation of the series due to its low Nielsen ratings.Nichelle Nichols, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories, G.P. Putnam & Sons New York, 1994. pp.165?67 Bay Area Creature Features host John Stanley in his memoir I Was a TV Horror Host relates how Desilu head Lucille Ball at that time "single-handedly kept Star Trek from being dumped from the NBC-TV lineup."From a 1975 discussion Stanley had with Ball, as described on Stanley's website, http://www.stanleybooks.net/

Towards the end of the second season the show was also in danger of cancellation. Its fans succeeded in gaining a third season; however, NBC subsequently moved the show to the Friday Night Death slot at 10 PM.William Shatner, Star Trek Memories, Harper Torch, 1994 paperback, p.257 Star Trek was finally cancelled at the end of the third season, producing 79 episodes in total. However, this was enough for the show to be stripped in syndication, allowing it to become extremely popular and gather a large cult following during the 1970s. The success of the program was followed by five additional television series and eleven theatrical films, including the most recent film Star Trek released in May 2009. Guinness World Records lists the original Star Trek as having the largest number of spin-offs among all television shows in history.