History of Star Trek: 60 Years Ago, and Now

Star Trek 60. Image: Trek Central

HISTORY OF STAR TREK

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Star Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 60 years ago. It is my favorite television show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a significant influence on my choice of a career in technology.

The show presented an optimistic vision of the future, where the challenges of poverty and hunger had already been addressed. However, many other issues – relevant to the ’60s – were depicted as still being wrestled with centuries later. The Original Series showed a utopian view of science fiction that differed somewhat from the current dystopian Sci-Fi TV and movies. The franchise continues to create new shows, as I’ll describe below.

Star Trek’s View of the Future

Star Trek did not just envision the future; it imagined it and helped drive it. It inspired generations of scientists, engineers, and technologists around the world. Many scientists today will say that Star Trek influenced the projects they are working on, especially in space exploration, physics, optics, electronics, computing, and communication – as I’ll recount at the end of this article.

Star Trek 1967 RCA Color TV advertisement.

Though the original series ended in 1969, the dream of exploration did not die; it lived on. Six weeks later, Neil Armstrong(opens in new tab) stepped onto the Moon, taking one small step for man, where no man had gone before.

In 2004, when Armstrong was the keynote speaker during the “Beam Me Up One Last Time Scotty” convention honoring James Doohan, who had gotten a star on the Walk of Fame, the Moon astronaut said:

“So, I’m hoping for my next command, to be given a Federation starship,” said Armstrong. “And, when I get that command, I would like to have a crew like Captain James T. Kirk had. Spock and Chekov and Uhura and Dr. McCoy and Sulu and the others we all remember.
“Now I have a confession to make. I am an engineer. And if I get that command, I want a chief engineering officer like Montgomery Scott. Because I know Scotty will get the job done and do it right. Even if I often hear him say, ‘But Captain, I dinna have enough time!’
“So from one old engineer to another, thanks, Scotty.”

See my tribute to James Doohan here.

The Beginning

Star Trek Preview. Image: Trekkerscrapbook

I can remember the first episode as if it were yesterday, though it was over half a century ago. In the summer of 1966, there was a preview of an upcoming new Fall TV series with:

…a starship the size of a city.

Then, on September 8, 1966, the first episode of Star Trek premiered on NBC. It was called “Man Trap,” also known as the “Salt Vampire,” but that was not the first episode recorded.

The Pilots

The first pilot began taping at Desilu’s Culver City lot on November 27, 1964. This pilot, “The Cage,” starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, was not seen by the public until two years later, as part of a longer, two-part episode in November 1966 titled “Menagerie.”

The pilot also featured an unemotional dark-haired female Number One, played by Majel Barrett, and a rather excitable pointed-ear “half-Martian” named Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy.

Spock smiling in original pilot “The Cage” Image: Den of Geek

Lucille Ball, head of Desilu Productions, overruled the NBC executives who wanted to kill the show after the first pilot and, after asking for some changes, called for a second pilot. This second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk.

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and Majel Barrett as Number One. Image: CBS via Getty Images

The network had told Gene Roddenberry, the creator and producer of Star Trek, following the first pilot,

“Get rid of the woman and the guy with the pointed ears.”

So Roddenberry married the woman, Majel Barrett, and kept the guy with the pointed ears. Leonard Nimoy was fond of saying he

“would not have had it the other way around.”

The woman dyed her hair blonde and waited in Gene’s reception office, so he didn’t recognize her even when he walked past her. They figured that if he hadn’t recognized her, NBC wouldn’t either. She became Nurse Christine Chapel.

Mr. Spock and USS Enterprise. Image: Wikipedia

The guy with the pointed ears became less emotional, more logical, and Vulcan-green rather than Martian-red (the red wouldn’t film correctly).

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner: Star Trek, 1968. Image: Wikimedia

The series lasted for 3 of the “5-year mission” of the United Starship Enterprise, a victim of poor ratings. Ironically, the following year, demographics were used for the first time in TV ratings, and it was discovered that Star Trek was appealing to exactly the kind of audience that advertisers wanted!

I read an article in the April 29, 1967 issue of TV Guide by famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, in which he wrote that his adolescent daughter told him, “Mr. Spock is dreamy!” He concluded:

“Well, just in case, while I’m being smart, I’ll also let my ears grow.”
 

The USS Enterprise

Enterprise filming model, “Life in the Universe.” Image: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. 

Matt Jefferies designed the iconic starship from concepts provided by “The Great Bird of the Galaxy” show creator Gene Roddenberry. Coincidentally, the diagonal tubes that lead from the Enterprise’s Engineering up to the warp nacelles are called “Jefferies tubes.” It was initially produced at the Production Model Shop in Burbank, California. The Smithsonian Institution received the 11-foot filming model of the Enterprise on March 1, 1974.

I saw it five months later, before it went on display. Here’s how. I was visiting Washington, DC, while in college and knew that the wood-and-plastic model was at the Air & Space Museum, awaiting the opening of the “Life in the Universe” exhibit. I arrived early one morning at the museum on the National Mall, walked in, and said to the staff:

“I’m a visiting scholar from Berkeley with a greater than average interest in Star Trek and I’d like to see your model.”

I was an undergraduate student and didn’t know that a visiting scholar is usually a postdoctoral fellow. I did know that I was visiting Washington, D.C.; I was a scholar, and the Star Trek parts were all true. And they let me in. The exhibit was not yet finished. I took tons of pictures lying on the floor to get a full view of the hanging model.

USS Enterprise as it appeared in the later Flight and the Arts Gallery. Image: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

When I returned to Berkeley, I showed the photos to Kent Wilcox, a college friend who was also a Trek junkie. He was a budding professional high-quality plastic model builder, specializing in World War II airplanes.

He built me an AMT plastic model of the ship, using authentic paint chip colors from the photos I’d supplied him. The paint on the filming model at the Air and Space Museum had arrived severely damaged. They had to call in experts to provide high-resolution photos and videos from the original series to ensure the colors were accurate.

Its Continuing Mission

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One cast. Image: Wikipedia

The show remained incredibly popular in syndication on 150 American and over 60 international TV stations. Eighteen years after the show’s cancellation, it spawned another TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. Then there was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, followed by Star Trek: Voyager, and eventually a prequel, Enterprise. There was even an animated Saturday morning series that ran from 1973 to 1974 featuring the voices of some of the original actors.

There are Trekkies, Trekkers, Trekkists, and Trek junkies. I belong to the latter. I’ve personally seen or met all of the cast of “Star Trek Classic” (The Original Series) and about half of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Federation Trading Post, Berkeley. Image:  Berkeleyside

When I was a student at Berkeley in the ’70s, the “Federation Trading Post” was a local store on Telegraph Avenue that featured Star Trek memorabilia and occasionally had original cast members stop by.

I caught Nichelle Nichols (charming) and William Shatner (virtually undetectable toupee) there, where he was promoting his new “William Shatner Live” album. Bruce Hyde (Navigator and Communications Tech “Kevin Riley”) was a San Francisco actor who had come across the Bay to meet us.

I met James Doohan in 1976 after I was practicing for a fencing exhibition on campus. As I walked out of the theater and saw him sitting on the lawn, I said to my fencing partner,

“That’s Jimmy Doohan!”
“Who is that?” he asked.
“Scotty, from Star Trek!” I replied.

Mr. Doohan was there to do a play on campus, and I sat down with him on the lawn and discussed “theater” for over an hour. I was dying to talk about Star Trek, but didn’t want to seem like a sniveling fan. He admitted that he loved theater, but TV paid the bills at the time.

Star Trek Starfleet Technical Manual cover, first edition. Image: Wikipedia

Franz Joseph Schnaubelt, creator of the Enterprise Blueprints (endorsed by Paramount), had just published the Starfleet Technical Manual and signed copies there. The backstory was that he had been an aerospace design engineer at General Dynamics. His daughter loved Star Trek and asked him to explain the show’s technical aspects.

He’d draw up schematics and illustrations to explain various devices to her, including medical equipment, a communicator, a phaser, a tricorder, and uniforms. He showed them to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who gave him access to the original props and carpenter blueprints. When I met him, along with other fans, we pointed out several technical errors he had made, which I’m sure he appreciated from college students.

The “manual” was later consulted for the first three Star Trek films, including ship names, schematics used in background bridge displays, and plans for the USS Enterprise. 

The Star Trek Conventions

A flier for the Aug. 7-8, 1976 “Star Trek” convention at the Oakland Municipal Auditorium. Image: San Francisco Chronicle

The first major Star Trek Convention was held in New York in January 1972. At my first Star Trek Convention in Oakland in August 1976, I had a long conversation with George Takei (Sulu), who was very friendly and outgoing. I learned that he had spent his first two years of college at Berkeley in a dorm where I once stayed. He had completed his lower-division studies in architecture at Berkeley, then transferred to UCLA to pursue a degree in theater. He was happy to discuss almost any subject.

At subsequent conventions and technology shows, I’ve chatted with Majel Barrett Roddenberry (stunningly attractive), Wil Wheaton (bright and techie – one of the early bloggers), Marina Sirtis (striking, and with a British accent you don’t hear on the show) and Walter Koenig (he told me “I have an ear for accents… and my parents are Russian immigrants”). And no, I didn’t wear “Vulcan ears.”

A new generation of fans had developed, and the show was more popular than ever. A letter-writing campaign succeeded in getting the first NASA space shuttle renamed Enterprise.

Star Trek Crew at NASA Enterprise. Image: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

The Star Trek Films

Now, don’t let anyone tell you Star Trek is a sect; that is not true at all. It’s more like a cult.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Image: Wikipedia

This cult requires that I always be there on the first day of the movie premieres. On December 7, 1979, a day that will live in infamy, the first full-length movie, Star Trek: The Motionless Picture, opened. Despite a plodding plot, the movie performed remarkably well and led to several sequels.

The second, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, was considered the best by the faithful, featuring a return engagement of Khan, a popular opponent from Kirk’s past. A futile boycott was called when it was leaked that Spock would die. A hasty tag-on was filmed and put at the end of the movie, hinting at the possibility of new life.

By the way, here’s the question I stumped the Trivia Expert panel with at a Trek Convention years ago in San Francisco. See if you know the answer:

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock was “buried” in a photon torpedo that was shot into space to land on the Genesis Planet. What was written on that tube?

This movie was followed by the Leonard Nimoy-directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, followed by Star Trek IV: Still Looking for Spock. Just kidding. Star Trek IV: The Search For Whales, I mean The Voyage Home, was considered the most generally popular and successful of the movies, with plenty of humor and modern-day San Francisco as a backdrop.

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. Image: Wikipedia

Because Leonard Nimoy had directed his second film, William Shatner wanted a turn. Star Trek V: What Were They Thinking? was his first and last excursion. Even the camp-out scene with the backdrop of Yosemite couldn’t pull this one out of the fire.

Star Trek VI: Quoting Lines From Hamlet or The Undiscovered Country was the last of the Classic-era movies and featured Kirk’s last heard line as Captain of the Enterprise, a line I’ve been waiting for him to say for years… It’s a line quoted by another flyboy hero of mine:

Second star to the right and straight on till morning.
 

This was followed by Star Trek: Generations, a blend of the classic era and an extended episode of The Next Generation. Here we see the changing of the guard as Scotty, Chekov, and Kirk inaugurate the Enterprise NCC 1701-B.

Subsequent movies featured the cast of the so-called Pepsi Generation series, including Star Trek: First Contact, which takes us back in time to meet the inventor of the warp drive (faster-than-light travel). It was the most financially successful of the ten pre-reboot movies.

Star Trek: Insurrection followed, with the Next Generation cast again, directed by ST: TNG First Officer Jonathan Frakes, aka Commander Will Riker, who had directed “First Contact” and episodes of ST: TNG, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.

Star Trek X: Nemesis was released in 2002 – and should have been subtitled “Send in the Clones” – but it was not enough to push the franchise further for several years. Indeed, it was the least popular and the least financially successful of all the movies. In general, the even-numbered movies were better than the odd-numbered ones.

Enterprise NX-01. Image: Memory Alpha

The last general TV series, Star Trek: Enterprise, had a relatively short run, only four years, compared with earlier series like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager.

Star Trek both reflected and pushed the limits of American culture. The Original Series had a recurring bridge crew with a black woman (Uhura), a 4th-generation Japanese American (Sulu), a Scotsman (Montgomery Scott) – “All good engineers are Scots,” according to Jimmy Doohan – and a young Russian (Chekov) at a time when America was in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. But most remarkable was the half-alien Spock. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, we’d see an android (Data), and in Star Trek Voyager, we’d see a software holographic doctor (The Doctor).

Star Trek: The Reboot

New USS Enterprise, from Star Trek reboot. Image: Pngwing

On May 8, 2009, I spoke at my company’s sponsored premiere of J.J. Abrams‘ vision for a Star Trek reboot with the debut of the 11th Star Trek feature film. You can see my movie reviews:

• Star Trek (reboot), 2009

• Star Trek Into Darkness, the second Star Trek reboot movie, 2013.

• Star Trek Beyond, the third movie of this franchise, opened in July 2016, just two months before the 50th anniversary of the original series.

Star Trek: Today and Beyond

In the more recent past:

USS Enterprise concept painting by Ralph McQuarrie for “Planet of the Titans.” Image: Memory Alpha

Star Trek: Discovery launched as a new series in the fall of 2017 on CBS All Access, now Paramount+. Yes, it’s an over-the-top subscription streaming service. But I had to be there. The USS Discovery ship was clearly an homage to concept art by Ralph McQuarrie for an unproduced 1976 movie, Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, that did not see the light of day. You know McQuarrie for his iconic concept art for Star Wars. I compare the two franchises in my article here.

USS Discovery. Image: Trek Movie

The 15-episode first season is set 10 years before the USS Enterprise’s original 5-year mission. Rather than starring a Captain, it features a black female character, initially serving as Number One, a lieutenant commander named Michael Burnham, who later becomes captain. This was done in honor of Majel Barrett, who had that name in the original pilot. It covers an incident in Star Trek history that was mentioned but never explained. You may have noticed that the ship’s name is identical to the titular one in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

While it did not feature any of the lead characters from the original series (at least at its premiere), it did feature Spock’s father, Sarek of Vulcan, as a younger man. But you did see Harry Mudd. At the end of the first season, a cliffhanger emerged: sensors detected another starship approaching the Discovery, the U.S.S. Enterprise. This is at a time when Christopher Pike is captain, and his science officer is Mr. Spock. In the second season, we meet a younger Spock. The lead character, Michael Burnham, is Spock’s adoptive sister.

Star Trek: Section 31 poster. Image: Wikipedia

A TV movie spinoff, Star Trek: Section 31, was released on the Paramount+ streaming service in 2025, featuring Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, a character working for a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets. It was panned by critics, with some calling it the worst Star Trek ever (including Rotten Tomatoes), and was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies).

Following the end of the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, the Enterprise crew, featuring Captain Christopher Pike, Number 1, and Mr. Spock, and occasional appearances of a young Lieutenant James Kirk, spun off Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is now in its fourth season. Set in the decade ahead of Star Trek: The Original Series, it debuted as a stand-alone series on May 5, 2022, but will end after its fifth season, which will premiere in 2027 with Captain Pike transferring command of the Enterprise to Captain James T. Kirk

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds poster. Image: Paramount Plus

Having watched all the episodes (so far) of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, I was greatly impressed. It echoes the original series well, with metaphors to current social and political issues, and is not afraid to make fun of itself – with cartoons and puppets. The USS Enterprise is sleeker than the one in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot films, with narrower nacelles and more pronounced, canon-accurate rotating red Bussard ramscoops at the forward ends of the warp nacelles.

USS Enterprise from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Image: Memory Alpha

Some of the episodes are quite moving, and there are lots of “inside” science fiction throwaway lines, including one to Dr. Who. It is the best “Trek” I’ve seen in a long time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation TV Sequel – Picard

Star Trek: Picard. Image: Paramount Plus

Patrick Stewart returned to reprise the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. While it is not a continuation of The Next Generation, it is the next chapter of the captain’s life, 20 years after “Star Trek X: Nemesis.” The show’s name was Picard, and it premiered in early 2020 on CBS All Access (Now Paramount+). With a new cast, fans were pleased to see Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan (from Voyager), Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes make return appearances. It ran three seasons.

More Star Trek?

There are two additional animated series. CBS released Star Trek: Lower Decks, an adult comedy created by Mike McMahan of Rick and Morty fame.

The other is Nickelodeon’s commissioning of a children’s cartoon called Star Trek: Prodigy.

Starfleet Academy logo. Image: Wikipedia

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premiered on January 15, 2026. The second season will be its last.

Stargazers. Image: Webtoons

And a link to Webtoons, featuring Stargazers, a digital comic romance. But wait, there’s more!

Star Trek: Khan. Image: Podtrac

Star Trek: Khan is an audio podcast that tells the story of Khan Noonien Singh.

And for the younger set, there’s Star Trek: Scouts, launched a year ago on YouTube, that features 8-year-olds. 

Star Trek’s Legacy

Star Trek remains one of the most enduring and profitable franchises, as well as one of the most successful media franchises in American history. It spawned numerous TV series, including the Saturday-morning animated one, a series of ten initial movies (adjusted gross: $2B), plus a renaissance of three new movies (so far), which have earned over $1B.

Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Image: Wikipedia

Star Trek has spawned countless books, comic books, games, music, street names, a space shuttle, parodies, traveling science tours, a former Las Vegas amusement experience, conventions, lunch boxes, coffee cups, shower curtains, and pajamas (and yes, I have the PJs.)

Star Trek Parodies

The film Galaxy Quest is a satirical take on the world of Star Trek and its fans, known as Trekkies. It is so “on the nose” that it does not seem like a satire.

The TV series The Orville, created by and starring Trek fan Seth MacFarlane, is an homage to Star Trek.

Star Trek Tributes

Several interesting fan ventures have appeared. Notably, Star Trek Continues was produced, written, directed, and starred by Vic Mignogna. It continues the 5-year mission and features some guest stars from the original series. James Doohan’s son, Chris Doohan, plays “Scotty.” It’s worth watching, and not just for nostalgia’s sake. Find it on YouTube here.

Star Trek 60

Star Trek 60th. Image: Trek Central

Paramount has a special website for the 60th anniversary at startrek.com/60

It mentions that there will be a special Star Trek float at the Pasadena Rose Parade. There’s a teaser for #LegoStarTrek, a first-ever collaboration to bring the iconic world of Star Trek to life in LEGO® brick form. There’s also a tie-in with DoSomething, a new campaign in celebration of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E. Image: Trek Central

For the 60th anniversary of the original series, you might want the BlueBrixx, a German LEGO-like building set. You can get the 1,600-piece USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E. 

Whither Star Trek?

Both currently running TV series, Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, are ending after their next seasons, and no other shows have been announced to replace them. For the first time in over a decade, there are no new Trek series in production other than the animated Star Trek: Scouts.

What’s next for Star Trek? 

Although it’s been ten years since the last Star Trek movie, there is recent confirmed information about a “Star Trek 4” by Paramount Pictures. After numerous attempts to reunite the cast of J.J. Abrams‘ Trek reboot movies for a fourth film, Paramount has apparently decided to start afresh. The new film is being developed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the writing-directing duo behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It will reportedly center on an all-new cast of characters in a far-future setting, eschewing so-called “legacy characters.”

Star Trek Technology Inspiration

Star Trek has inspired:

• The invention of the StarTAC mobile flip phone by Motorola, like the communicator

StarTAC 8500. Image: Wikipedia

• A prototype tractor beam at the University of St Andrews
• Voice-activated computing like Siri, Alexa, and Google’s ubiquitous computing
• Scanadu is a medical tricorder
• Matter replication is now seen in early 3D printing
• Aluminum oxynitride (ALON) is transparent aluminum
• Cisco’s TelePresence, a hyper form of HD telecommunication, is used across multiple locations

Star Trek The Experience, Hilton, Las Vegas (2002). Who’s the crewman to the right of Uhura? Author’s photo

I have lots of Star Trek stories; what’s yours?

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood Trek junkie
billpetro.com

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