Star Trek (1966–1969)

Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise explore the Galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Creator:

Gene Roddenberry

Stars:

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley

Nominated for 13 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock (80 episodes, 1966-1986)
William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk (79 episodes, 1966-1969)
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy (76 episodes, 1966-1969)
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura (67 episodes, 1966-1969)
James Doohan	...	Scott (65 episodes, 1966-1969)
George Takei	...	Sulu (51 episodes, 1966-1969)
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov (36 episodes, 1967-1969)

Storyline

The adventures of the USS Enterprise, representing the United Federation of Planets on a five-year mission in outer space to explore new worlds, seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. The Enterprise is commanded by handsome and brash Captain James T. Kirk. His First Officer and best friend is Mr. Spock from the planet Vulcan, and Kirk's Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. With its crew of approximately 430, the Enterprise battles aliens, megalomanical computers, time paradoxes, psychotic murderers, and even Genghis Khan!

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Plot Keywords:

federation | starship | outer space | computer | 23rd century | 

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Taglines:

Boldly Go. Again. (2006 remasters tagline)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Star Trek: TOS

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min 50 min (79 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono DTS (re-mastered version) Dolby Digital (re-mastered version)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Takei missed nine episodes of the second season because he was away filming The Green Berets. The character of Chekov was created in his absence and Takei's lines were given to Walter Koenig. According to Takei, he was infuriated and was ready to despise Koenig when he returned. But the two ended up becoming close friends.

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Goofs

The Star Trek Universe is inconsistent in its use of measurement standards. In Star Trek: Obsession, Ensign Garrovick describes a gaseous creature as being "several cubic meters" in size, but his distance as "about twenty feet away". These discrepancies continue through all the Star Trek series and movies.

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Quotes

Scotty: On Earth, we have a saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Chekov: I know this saying. It was invented in Russia.

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Crazy Credits

On some episodes, the closing credits show a still that is actually from the Star Trek blooper reel. It is a close-up of the actor who played the android body in "Return to Tomorrow, removing his latex make up. In the reel, He is shown taking it off, while an off-screen voice says "You wanted show business, you got it!"

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Connections

Referenced in Something to Scream About (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Theme"
Music by Alexander Courage
Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

User Reviews

The magic was in the interaction between the characters.

I have loved Star Trek since I first watched it as a child. However, the series which followed - Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Enterprise - although generally still entertaining, seem to me to have left out the element which made the original series so special. Namely, the interaction between the characters, particularly Spock, Jim, and Bones.

So well written, and generally well acted.

With Bones (Dr Leonard H McCoy) being the opposite to Spock in terms of personality, so that the two of them always found something to argue about. Jim (Captain James T Kirk) in the middle, as a referee, displaying faults and strengths taken from both extremes. Extremes in the sense of McCoy being a very caring, compassionate, yet also highly emotional character. Representative of humanity, perhaps. Spock, the dry, cold, logical, emotionless Vulcan. Jim "a man of deep feelings", as Spock once said, yet also no stranger to thorough analysis of whatever situation the crew found themselves in. Bones seeking always to heal, to return everybody he met (whether friend or foe, human or otherwise) to as close to perfect health as possible. Frustrated by the fact that he (Bones) could not fully understand, for example, Spock's Vulcan anatomy. All three of them the closest friends. All three displaying unwavering loyalty toward each other - even though Spock would have found the suggestion of his displaying such a human quality to be insulting.

The dynamics involved, the interaction, led to brilliant moments of humour. A science fiction programme to be not only enjoyed for the imaginative stories and the themes, but also for the humour, for the humanity.

Which is not to suggest that the other characters were in any way second rate. Scotty's loyalty and his supreme confidence in his engineering abilities, Chekov's almost adolescent playfulness and humour, Sulu's loyalty, honour, and physical prowess, Uhura's dedication to duty and femininity in a masculine world, all added important and welcome elements to what I still consider to be the best science fiction television series ever.

The special effects were often laughable, the sets cheap and often reused, but the humanity, the character interaction, the stories, imagination, the brilliant writing... all added up to something very special indeed.