Difference between revisions of "Star Trek franchise"

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This article is an overview of all the Star Trek productions. For the original television series, see Star Trek (original series)

The crew of the Enterprise from the original 1960s show.

Star Trek is a number of television series and movies set in the future when mankind is exploring the galaxy in spaceships and joining with other sentient inhabitants of the galaxy.

Star Trek began with a television series produced by Gene Roddenberry in 1966, and was followed by several other series and movies until the present time. Star Trek has a large following among science fiction fans, with books, magazines, websites, and conventions devoted to the imaginary universe.

The series

Five live-action series have been made, plus one animated series.

The original series

For a more detailed treatment, see Star Trek (original series).

The original series has the mostly-human crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise exploring the galaxy and performing various missions for Starfleet, the authority which controls the ship. These missions may be diplomatic or defensive, particularly in connection with the hostile races, the Klingons and the Romulans.

The Next Generation

The Next Generation followed the theme of the original series, but set some years later with a new crew and a new ship, also named the U.S.S. Enterprise. By this time, the Klingons were at peace with the Federation, and the crew included a Klingon security officer, as well as various other non-human races. Also on the crew was Data, an android.

A major foe introduced with this series was the Borg, a "collective" of drones, beings from various races who were "assimilated" into the collective. When encountering another spaceship, the Borg would often introduce themselves with the statement "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.". The "resistance is futile" phrase has since entered popular culture.

Deep Space Nine

Unlike each of the other series, Deep Space Nine was set on a space station near the planet Bajor, around the time that the Next Generation series finished. The station, originally built by the Cardassians, was administered by Starfleet and with a mixed Starfleet and Bajoran workforce.

The space station protected the only known stable wormhole through which ships could pass to another part of the galaxy. One of the characters on the space station was a "shape-shifter", a being that could assume any form.

Voyager

Voyager was the name of a Starfleet ship that became trapped in another part of the galaxy, and the series revolved around the crew's attempts to return home, encountering many new races along the way. The series was set around the same time as Deep Space 9.

The part of the galaxy Voyager was trapped in was also the part of the galaxy from which the Borg originated, and the Borg is an enemy they encounter numerous times. Additionally, one of the characters who joins the series part way through is "Seven of Nine", a former Borg drone, originally human, who is successfully largely transformed back into a human, although retaining some of the Borg implants and struggling to adapt to human society, having been assimilated into the Borg at a young age.

Enterprise

Enterprise is set prior to any other series, at the time when humans are first starting to travel well beyond Earth, and develop much of the technology that would be common-place in series set later. The mostly-human crew travel in a ship also named Enterprise

The movies

Ten Star Trek movies have been produced, with an eleventh due out in May 2009.

The first six follow on from the original television series. The seventh (Generations) was made after The Next Generation series, but includes a "crossover" from the original series. The eighth to tenth movies follow on from The Next Generation series. The eleventh movie is a prequel to the original series.

Extraterrestrial life

For a more detailed treatment, see Extraterrestrial life in Star Trek.

The drama of the shows typically arises from the crew's contact with various forms of extraterrestrial life, mostly, but not always, humanoid (e.g. the "Crystalline Entity"). In various ways, the premise of the ancient astronaut theory is used to assert the seeding of life throughout the galaxy as brought up in The Next Generation, although not to the overt extent of a later, unrelated, TV series, Stargate SG-1.

Religion in Star Trek

As a humanist, Gene Roddenberry infused Star Trek with humanism's dream of a world (or galaxy in this case) where humanity (and many other intelligent beings) were constantly improving the life quality of all beings both through improving technology and improving societal conditions. People worked together for the common good, rather than for money, and without any class or other distinctions. This is a small part of what is expected in the Christian view of heaven, except that humanism believes that mankind can achieve this through its own efforts, rather than with the help of God.

Roddenberry rarely had the shows overtly reject religion, although some episodes would make reference to it as a part of culture. For instance in an episode with a man who could not die, it was noted that in one of his personas in Earth history he had been Lazarus (who Jesus raised from the dead). In another episode a world where the Roman Empire never fell was now chasing down followers of "the son" (which the crew mistook to be "sun") and their message of peace and love instead of violence and oppression.

Later series, under the control of other producers particularly after Roddenberry died, also brought religious concepts into the show, but seldom with the same direct references to Christianity, but rather to more generic religious thought.

The Next Generation

An episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation has one major example of anti-religion bias. The third-season episode entitled "Who Watches the Watchers," implies that an alien culture discarding religious beliefs is a positive development. In the episode "Tapestry", Captain Picard dies and goes to the "afterlife" where he meets his erstwhile adversary "Q" who implies that he is God. Picard refuses to believe this, and makes a comment that "The Universe is not so badly run." This suggests that Picard was aware of the concept of God, but does not indicate that he believed in God. That phrase might be pointed more toward the character of Q controlling the universe than God's existence. However the majority of episodes remain silent on religion. In another episode where the ship is trapped and an alien will perform experiments that will kill up to half the crew, Picard discusses with 'Data' (actually the alien in disguise) what happens after one dies and says some believe in a god who keeps them in their present form forever and others believe that this is all there is. When questioned further, he says that he finds the universe is too orderly to believe that this is all there is and thinks that we will go on existing in a reality that we can not currently comprehend.^[1][2]

Bajoran religion

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 included religion more than any other series. An overarching theme of the series was the relation of the main character, Captain Benjamin Sisko, to the Bajoran religion in his role as the emissary to the Bajoran prophets. The prophets were beings who lived in a stable wormhole (a unique phenomenon in the Star Trek universe referred to by the Bajorans as the Celestial Temple) that perceived all of time as a single event with no concept of past, present, or future. Despite their immense dissimilarity to other races in the galaxy, the Prophets took unusual interest in Bajor, sending 'orbs' which were used as tools of prophecy by the Bajoran clergy, and in Sisko who it is revealed exists solely to fulfill a predetermined historical path in an Armageddon-like showdown as the avatar of the prophets against the 'Pah Wraiths' (aliens like the Prophets who were expelled from the Celestial Temple).

Other religions

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 also had the Dominion, in which the Founders (shape-shifting aliens sometimes called changelings) are treated as living gods by the races under their control.

The Klingon religion in various series suggests that the first Klingons realized they had no need for their gods, and killed them, although they still hold to an afterlife where the honorable dead join with the deified Kahless and the dishonorable dead are forced to spend eternity on the Barge of the Dead with the demon-like figure Fecklarr.

The Ferengi (mainly in Star Trek: Deep Space 9) had a religion of sorts based on the concept of The Great River (as shown in "Faith, Treachery and The Great River"), which was similar to "The invisible hand" a phrase coined by Adam Smith. Ferengi also hold that if they achieve enough profit during their lives, they will meet the Blessed Exchequer who will grant them access to the Divine Treasury, whereas an unsuccessful Ferengi may find himself left in the Vault of Eternal Destitution.

Relationship Views

In addition to his views on religion, Gene Roddenberry had views on relationships which were considered controversial at the time the Original Series was on air, and even today. In fact, a historic event—the first interracial kiss on network television—was between Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner).^[3]

Gene Roddenberry was also supportive of same-sex relationships, and wanted to integrate homosexual characters into his second series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, reasoning that by the 24th century "no one would care." However, this proposal was met with resistance by Paramount Studios who reasoned that because the show would eventually be syndicated, it would be accessible to young children for whom such material would be extremely inappropriate.

Despite the absence of major homosexual characters, several storylines have indirectly depicted homosexual and other relationships in a positive, or at the very least ambiguous light. For example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Commander William Riker (presumed heterosexual from a previous relationship with Deanna Troi) falls in love with an individual from an androgynous race.^[4] In Star Trek: DS9, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (a Trill, a being comprising a humanoid host of a member of another, asexual, species) briefly resumes a relationship with a wife from a previous lifetime (a male host of the same symbiont), and they are shown kissing on screen.^[5]

Institutions

The United Federation of Planets is the multi-world government based on Earth, and under which auspices Starfleet operates.

Starfleet is the exploratory and defensive organisation which operates the various starships.

The Academy is where Starfleet officers and crew are trained.

Technology

The universe of Star Trek has an array of advanced technology, some of which has foreshadowed real developments. This technology includes computer speech recognition, atom-level fabrication, massive energy production, and faster-than-light travel.

All Starfleet members from the time of The Next Generation on wear broach-size devices on their uniforms which allow instant two-way communication between crew-members or between the crew-member and the ship's computer.

The transporters, being developed at the time of Enterprise, disassemble and reassemble inanimate and animate things, including people, allowing them to be transported over moderate distances. For example, transporters are frequently used to send people from a spaceship in orbit to the surface of a planet and return.

Replicators, introduced in The Next Generation use similar technology to fabricate inanimate objects from a molecular or atomic level. This includes spare parts for the ships. Specialised food replicators can fabricate a wide variety of food, which is suitable for everyday use, but can on occasions not be quite as good as the real thing.

Holodecks and holosuites (the latter on Deep Space Nine) are rooms containing holoprojectors that project holographic images with solidity, allowing people to interact with the images. A computer controls the images, which includes holographic people who appear just like real people. The Voyager series introduced an "emergency medical hologram", a holographic doctor which could be activated in the case of an emergency. In this case, the ship's real doctor was killed, and the holographic doctor was a regular character, with enhanced abilities including being able to activate and deactivate himself. He also managed to acquire a portable holographic projector that he could wear, allowing him to leave the confines of the ship's sick bay and its fixed holographic projectors.

Phasers are the classic "ray gun", emitting a beam that, depending on the setting, was capable of stunning or killing the person on the receiving end.

Tricorders were hand-held devices combining the functions of a computer, communicator, and laboratory for sensing and testing objects. Specialised medical tricorders were also used by medical officers.

Warp drives allow spaceships to travel vast distances by creating a sub-space 'bubble' around the ship, allowing faster-than-light travel, a necessity when travelling around the galaxy as part of a day's work.

The Prime Directive

Starfleet had The Prime Directive which said that they should not interfere with the natural progression of a species. The directive sometimes clashed with morality or common sense and on many occasions was ignored by Starfleet officers. There was also a Temporal Prime Directive which said that when going into the past (by various means) they should not try to alter the course of history. When someone from Starfleet (or elsewhere) violated the directive officers were justified in working to stop them as long as they did not violate the directive themselves.

Star Trek in culture

Gene Roddenberry and original series cast members at the launch of the space shuttle Enterprise.

Various concepts from Star Trek have entered popular culture, including the following:

• The Vulcan greeting, Live long and prosper.
• The Borg warning that resistance is futile.
• The Klingon language has been developed as a complete artificial language.
• The first space shuttle, Enterprise, was named for the ship in the original series.

References