| “ | 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. | ” |
| - opening narration spoken by William Shatner (Captain Kirk) for the original Star Trek |
Star Trek is a successful science-fiction franchise that began as a television series and has expanded to include films, an animated cartoon show, comics books, newspaper comics strips, novels, toys, games and more.
The original Star Trek TV series premiered in 1966. Set in the 23rd century, it showed the adventures of the crew of the Starship Enterprise led by Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner). The series attracted a devoted fanbase. It aired for 3 years on NBC, and was nearly cancelled twice but was saved by letter-writing campaigns.
After being cancelled, Star Trek lived on in books and comics, then a TV animated series. It was revived in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which led to five sequels with the original cast.
In 1987, a new TV series debuted- Star Trek: The Next Generation. Produced for first-run syndication, this new series boosted interest in the franchise and was followed by three additional TV series over the next 15 years (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise) and four additional films with the Next Generation cast. Original novels and comic book tie-ins based on all the series have continued.
The prequel series Enterprise premiered in 2001, but interest in the franchise waned in the early 2000s. Star Trek returned to movie theaters in 2009 with Star Trek directed by J.J. Abrams, which is set in an alternate timeline. Leonard Nimoy reprised his role as Spock in that film and the first sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.
In 2016, the online streaming service CBS All Access released a prequel series entitled Star Trek: Discovery, the first new Star Trek television series since Enterprise. This was followed by other new series from different time periods in the Star Trek mythos. These new shows were made available through the service Paramount Plus after CBS All Access rebranded. Some of these new shows are based around existing characters (e.g. Star Trek: Picard), while other series branched out into different formats and genres (the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks having a more overtly comedic tone, for example).
MST3K Connections[]
- Many references to Star Trek occur throughout Mystery Science Theater 3000. These include references to specific episodes (such as the appearance of Finnegan in The Thing That Couldn't Die) as well as more general references to series (such as William Shatner's singular acting style).
- Wil Wheaton (who played Drake in Experiment #1101 Reptilicus) was an original member of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. His character Wesley Crusher left the series in Season 4, but made return appearances afterwards.
- Baron Vaughn voiced a Starfleet Captain in the two episodes of the third season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
- Many actors who appeared in the films used on Mystery Science Theater 3000 have also had roles in the various incarnations of Star Trek (see the Star Trek actors category page).
- Additionally, some actors from Mystery Science Theater 3000 films were nearly cast in Star Trek roles, but ultimately weren't. For example, documentation from the early early casting sessions for Star Trek: The Next Generation indicates that Roy Thinnes and Ben Murphy were considered for the roles of Captain Picard and Commander Riker respectively.
- A sign on the Deep Space Nine Prominade set listed the various shops and offices on the titular space station's promenade, including one shop called "Tom Servo's Used Robots."
Riffed productions[]
All riffs are RiffTrax productions featuring Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, except as noted
Canonical films[]
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) - features Mike and Kevin
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered COuntry (1991)
- Star Trek Generations (1994) - features Mike and Kevin
- Star Trek (2009)
Fan Films[]
- To Serve All My Days (2006) - RiffTrax Presents with Bill and Kevin
- World Enough and Time (2007) - RiffTrax Presents with Bill and Kevin
Gallery[]
