Half a century ago, a new species was found on Earth: the Trekkie. Even after 50 years, the Star Trek adventures on the Starship Enterprise still haven't been told to the end.
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Star Trek Day marks series' 55th anniversary
The cult science fiction series was launched in the US on September 8, 1966. On Star Trek Day, revisit the story of the show.
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From the moon to the entire universe
The Starship Enterprise got off to a rather bumpy start in the US, when it first launched on September 8, 1966. This changed with the growing interest in the Apollo program and the successful lunar landing in 1969. Suddenly, people felt closer to space and science fiction was hip. With more and more TV channels featuring the series, Star Trek was first shown in Germany in 1972.
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The first Enterprise
The original version of the ship which flew through the endless expanses of space carried the label "U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701." The show's canon says it was built in the year 2245 and commanded by Captain Kirk from 2264 until 2269. Kirk eventually had to destroy it, to keep it from being used by enemies. Later models can separate the "saucer" section from the hull in an emergency.
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Beam me up, Scotty
When Scotty is in the transporter room and is moving the oversized sliders, the beamers give off a high-pitched squeal and the bodies of the crew split into molecules to be transported to alien planets. If all goes well, travelers eventually return to the ship in their original form, like above.
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Multicultural workplace
The original show managed to overcome all racial and gender boundaries in the 1960s America. Characters from Scotland, Russia and Japan work together on the bridge with Americans. Two women are also part of the team. One of them — Lt. Uhura played by African American actress Nichelle Nichols — serves as a Starfleet officer. She became the first Black woman with such a strong role.
In 1976, NASA engineers named the prototype of their space shuttle "Enterprise." Of course, on the day of the big press event, the entire crew was present — except one individual. Who could that be?
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Spock is a legend
Meet the iconic half-human, half-Vulcan Spock. He is the first officer aboard the Enterprise and Captain James T. Kirk's right-hand man. His favorite word is "fascinating." The Vulcan salute (pictured) is still a fun party trick — not everyone can do it. The actor Leonard Nimoy, who passed away in 2015, never managed to get away from his role as Mr. Spock.
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Back to the past
In 1984, "Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home" was hugely successful and the first real hit movie in the Star Trek series. The Enterprise arrives from the future back in the middle of the 1980s. The now somewhat dated crew makes fun of itself. Scotty tries to talk to a computer mouse, and Spock hides his ears with bandana and dresses up as a hippie on drugs.
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The Next Generation
In 1987, the Enterprise saga got a fresh start. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is set a good 100 years later than the first one. The team of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (left) boasts aliens of its own, including the Klingon Worf and the ship psychologist Troi from the planet Betazed. The friendly android Data (right) became the show's breakout character.
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'nuqneH - qapla': Exchanging pleasantries in Klingon
"Klingon" was invented in 1984 by linguist Marc Okrand. It is a speakable and writable language that was created for warlike Klingons from the planet Kronos and, accordingly, sounds harsh. Shakespeare plays have been translated into Klingon, and DW once even created a version of our website in Worf's mother tongue. Some Trekkies still make the effort of learning it.
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Humor transcends universes
Star Trek has inspired countless parodies in the US but also in Germany. German actor and filmmaker Michael "Bully" Herbig spoofed the show in his movie "(T)Raumschiff Surprise" ("Dreamship/Starship Surprise") where he portrayed Mr. Spuck (which translates as Mr. Spit). The movie revolves around a crew of a space cab and features references to the "Star Wars" universe as well.
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No end in sight
In July 2016, the feature film "Star Trek - Beyond" was released in cinemas. In it, Kirk, Spock & Co. are played by young actors and the blockbuster boasts cutting-edge special effects. And the Enterprise is still preparing for new missions into uncharted territory. In April 2021, Paramount Pictures announced an official release date for the next Star Trek movie: on June 9, 2023.
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The future is female
The Netflix series "Star Trek: Discovery" features Michelle Yeoh (left) as Captain Philippa Georgiou, and Sonequa Martin-Green as First Officer Michael Burnham (right). Star Trek has always been a pioneer in diversity, casting Asian and African American actors and actresses in leading roles. The first Star Trek female captain was Kathryn Janeway in "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001).
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"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
That's how the first episode of "Star Trek" began on US television in the 1960s. On September 8, 1966 NBC aired the first episode titled "The Man Trap."
It was sci-fi with a message: a Russian, a Japanese and several Americans work together peacefully on the bridge. A black female officer watches over the communication. A human-like creature with pointed ears is the boss' right hand. People dissolve into molecules and settle on another planet and return in their natural shape. There extraterrestrial beings living in the form of vapor or light. And, of course, all the aliens speak English.
The series takes place in the year 2200, after mankind has survived the Third World War and peacefully formed the United Federation of Planets together with other alien life forms. The Enterprise is sent on a mission into space, where it is to explore other planets and galaxies and unknown forms of life.
Members of the original crew included Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner), first officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), chief engineer "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), helmsman Sulu (George Takei), communications officer Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) and the ship's surgeon Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelly).
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) was ahead of his time and presented world views that were revolutionary for most people in the 1960s. Against the background of the race riots in the US, it was extremely brave to give a black actress the role of an officer, who also one of the main characters of the series.
He formed a diverse crew where nationalities and ethnicities did not matter. Roddenberry transported a worldview that was greeted both with enthusiasm and outrage at the same time.
The scandalous kiss
In the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" in 1968, Captain Kirk kissed the black officer Uhura. This was seen as scandalous and unacceptable in some Southern states and could not be aired.
On US television, this was the first kiss between a dark-skinned and a light-skinned person. Later, the actors said that they had to practice a lot for the scene: The lips of the two never really touched. To cover up that fact, the camera angles and shadows had to be perfectly aligned.
The leading trio of the Enterprise embodied three types of people: the man of action (Kirk), the reasonable one (Spock) and the emotional one ("Pill"). Roddenberry's character selection was supposed to describe a general phenomenon: Different people need each other to reach their goal.
