Sciencefictionreaders.com

Star Trek - The history and showguide
Star Trek collectively refers to an American science-fiction franchise spanning six unique television series (which comprise 726 episodes) and ten feature films, in addition to hundreds of novels, computer and video games, fan stories, and other works of fiction — all of which are set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry during the mid-1960s. Since its debut, "Star Trek" has become one of the most popular names in the history of science fiction entertainment, and one of the most popular franchises in television history.

It depicts an optimistic, almost utopian future in which humanity has largely overcome such traditional frailties and vices as racism, poverty, environmental destructiveness, intolerance, and superstition on Earth, and has united with other intelligent species in the galaxy. The central characters are members of the United Federation of Planets — who explore the galaxy, discovering new worlds and encountering new civilizations, while helping to promote peace and understanding. The protagonists of the Star Trek universe are essentially altruistic, however the paramilitary nature of the Federation Starfleet creates conflict on the organizational fringes of that universe. This conflict and other political dimensions of the stories allegorize 1960's political realities. Many of those issues (eg. imperialism, class warfare, human rights, the role of technology, etc.) still linger, which in part explains Star Trek's longevity.

Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966, having aired in Canada some days earlier. Created by Gene Roddenberry, starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley, and co-starring James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, and (later) Walter Koenig, it told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet and their adventures "to boldly go where no man has gone before."

The first episode aired, "The Man Trap," was actually the fifth produced. Originally, Roddenberry had created a pilot entitled "The Cage," with a very different cast, led by veteran actor Jeffrey Hunter, which was rejected by NBC, the network that ordered the pilot through Desilu. However, an unprecedented second pilot was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," which featured an almost entirely new cast led by Shatner. Only the character of Spock remained, at Roddenberry's insistence. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the third episode aired, while "The Cage" was reworked into a two-part episode, "The Menagerie."

The last original episode, "Turnabout Intruder," aired on June 3, 1969. The series subsequently became phenomenally popular in syndication, ultimately spawning the film and television sequels that followed. It has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series, abbreviated as ST:TOS or TOS, or as "Classic Trek," retronyms to distinguish it from its sequels and the franchise. All subsequent films and television series, except the animated series of the 1970s, have secondary titles included as part of their official names.

The series was aired under the name Star Trek, but it has become widely known as Star Trek: The Animated Series (or abbreviated as ST:TAS or TAS). It was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons, with a total of 22 half-hour episodes. It featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters with the exception of Walter Koenig, who was not asked to return due to budgetary limitations. While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and exotic life forms, budget constraints were a major concern and animation was of moderate quality.

A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well known science-fiction authors. Although originally sanctioned by Paramount, with the introduction of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series is no longer considered to be canon, which has caused controversy among some fans. The episode "Yesteryear" is considered by some sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia to be a partial exception concerning the events depicted in Spock’s youth (although it still officially remains non-canon along with the rest of TAS). Even so, elements of the animated series have worked their way into official canon, such as Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius, first revealed in TAS and made official in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Star Trek: Enterprise also incorporated several TAS concepts into canon. So, while the series itself is not strictly canon, it has been used as "canon fodder." TAS also came back to television in the mid 1980s on the children's cable network Nickelodeon, and in the early 1990s on cable network Sci-Fi Channel.

Star Trek: Phase II
Star Trek: Phase II was set to air in 1978 as the flagship series of a proposed Paramount television network, and 12 episode scripts were written before production was due to begin. This series would have put most of the original crew back aboard the Enterprise for a second five-year mission, except for Spock, because Leonard Nimoy did not agree to return; a younger full-blooded Vulcan named Xon was planned as a replacement, although it was still hoped that Nimoy would make guest appearances. Sets were constructed and several minutes of test footage were filmed. However, the risks of launching a fourth network and the popularity of the then-recently released film Star Wars led Paramount to make a Star Trek film instead of a weekly television series. The first script of this aborted series formed the basis of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while two others were eventually adapted as episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known, colloquially, as The Next Generation, NextGen, ST:TNG, or TNG) is set nearly a century later and features a new starship (also named Enterprise) and a new crew, venturing where "no one has gone before."

It premiered on September 28, 1987, with the two-hour pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," and ran for seven seasons, ending with the final episode, "All Good Things..." on May 29, 1994. The show gained a considerable following during its initial run. Even during that time, the show was produced solely for syndication.

Star Trek: The Next Generation had the highest ratings of all the Star Trek series and was the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original run. Many fans, both casual and "hard-core," often treat The Next Generation as a kind of 'golden age' of Star Trek, primarily because of its broad acceptance, its viewer base, and the active influence of Roddenberry (who was alive during the first part of its run).

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or DS9) ran for seven seasons and was the first Star Trek series to be established without any direct input from Gene Roddenberry. It starred Avery Brooks as Commander (and, later in the series, Captain) Benjamin Sisko, the first African-American in the commanding role of a Star Trek series. It chronicles the events surrounding the space station Deep Space Nine. A relatively small, but dedicated group of DS9 fans (known as 'Niners') consider this show to be by far the best ever Star Trek series.

In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearby, uniquely stable wormhole, which provides nearly immediate travel to and from the distant Gamma Quadrant. This immediately makes the station an important strategic asset, as well as a vital center of commerce with the largely unexplored area of space. New characters (such as wily Cardassian spy Garak) soon inspired cult-like followings of their own. Deep Space Nine sheds some of the utopian themes that embodied the previous versions of Star Trek, and focuses more on war, religion and political compromise. It also contains far more overt humor than the previous series attempted.

Star Trek: Voyager (also known as ST:VOY, ST:VGR, VOY or Voyager) was produced for seven seasons, and is the only Star Trek series to have had a female, Captain Kathryn Janeway, as the commanding officer. Essentially, the USS Voyager and crew were "lost in space": the series follows the adventures of the starship Voyager and her crew, joined by Maquis resistance fighters, who have all become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, seventy thousand light years from Earth by an entity known as the "Caretaker." Unless they could find a shortcut, it would theoretically take them seventy-five years to return to Federation space. The plot of the series mirrors The Odyssey; the crew tries to avoid temptations and defeat challenges on its long and perilous journey home.

It was during this show's run that criticism of producer Rick Berman began to mount, coinciding with the growth in popularity of online discussion forums that amplified the message of a vocal group of fans who felt Berman was no longer welcome as the franchise leader. Berman tried to combat this by introducing a new character to the series in the form of "Seven of Nine" (Jeri Ryan).

Star Trek: Enterprise (named simply Enterprise during its first two seasons and the first few episodes of its third, and abbreviated as ST:ENT or ENT) is a prequel to the other Star Trek series. The pilot episode, "Broken Bow," takes place ten years before the founding of the Federation, about halfway between the "historic" events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek series, but did not remain true to the Star Trek universe timeline overall. This series depicts the exploration of space by the crew of the Earthship Enterprise, a new, NX-class starship, which is able to go farther and faster than any humans had previously gone.

Star Trek: Enterprise was promoted as being more accessible for newcomers to the Star Trek franchise, as well as for taking place during the formative years of the Federation. Ratings for Enterprise were never particularly strong (see the main article for discussion as to possible reasons); and, as it had done during the initial airing of The Original Series, fan support during Enterprise's second and third seasons helped keep the series on the air. The show continued to lose ratings during the fourth season, and Paramount cancelled the show in early 2005.