Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise that spans many media, created by Gene Roddenberry, originally produced through Desilu Studios and now owned by CBS for television rights and Paramount for film.
History[]
The franchise canon includes five live-action television series and twelve feature films. An animated series has been produced, though it's status as canon is debated. The series has also inspired a large amount of spin-off media including novels, comics and video games which are generally considered non-canon.
The first series, titled Star Trek but usually reffered to now as Star Trek: The Original Series or simply as TOS, aired on NBC for three seasons starting in 1966. The series focussed on the crew of the Starship Enterprise, captained by James T Kirk on a five year mission exploring space on behalf of the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd Century.
The animated series, also originally named Star Trek but later known as Star Trek: The Animated Series or TAS, was produced by Filmation Studios and aired on NBC for two seasons starting in 1974. The series was made as a direct continuation of TOS and featured most of the original cast reprising their roles as voice actors.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (abbreviated TNG) aired in first-run syndication for seven seasons begining in 1987. The series was set in the 24th Century and focussed on a new more advanced Starship Enterprise captained by Jean Luc Picard.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (abbreviated DS9) aired in first-run syndication for seven seasons begining in 1993. The series shifted focus from space exploration to a space station, commanded by Benjamin Sisko, fixed near a politically charged area of space near a mysterious stable wormhole. As the series debuted during the end of TNG's run there are some crossover episodes between them, and several TNG characters became DS9 regulars. The series also showed a dramatic shift toward long story arcs as opposed to its more episodic predecessors. It was the first Star Trek series made without the direct involvement of Gene Roddenberry.
Star Trek: Voyager (abbreviated VOY) aired on UPN for seven seasons beginning in 1995. The series followed a long story arc of the Starship Voyager, captained by Katherine Janeway, as it is marooned in a faroff section of the galaxy more than 80 years flight from Earth.
Star Trek: Enterprise (Originally just titled Enterprise and abbreviated as ENT) aired for 4 seasons on UPN. A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, Enterprise is set nearly a century before during the early years of Earth's space exploration and focusses on an experimental Starship Enterprise captained by Jonathan Archer.
To date there have been twelve live-action films. The first six films featured the cast and characters of Star Trek: The Original Series. The seventh through tenth films featured the cast and characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation, though the seventh film also featured some crossover from TOS. No films have been made to date featuring the settings or characters of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Star Trek: Voyager beyond cameos. In 2009 the film series saw a drastic shift with a film simply titled Star Trek that featured a time travel dynamic that created an alternate continuity, begining before the events of The Original Series and featuring the characters of that series with a new young cast. The next film, Star Trek Into Darkness, was a continuation of this new alternate timeline and it is expected all upcoming sequels will be likewise.
There have been numerous fan-made projects using the numerous versions of Star Trek as a basis. One of these is Star Trek Phase II (Sometimes referred to as Star Trek New Voyages). The series was created by James Cawley in April 2003. Jack Marshall came aboard as a producer with the idea to market the series on the internet. The series, released exclusively via the Internet, is designed as a continuation of the original Star Trek, beginning in the fifth and final year of the starship Enterprise's "five-year mission." The first episode of the series was released in January 2004, with new episodes being released at a rate of about one per year, though producers have expressed their desire to accelerate production. The series is notable for attracting former official Star Trek actors like George Takei and Walter Koenig to reprise their roles in episodes.
Star Trek products have proven to be a very popular target for numerous riffing groups with multiple films and episodes earning tracks from many sources. Even Star Trek Phase II has had two episodes riffed by the Rifftrax Presents label with tracks featuring Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett.
Riffography[]
RiffTrax[]
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
- Star Trek: Generations
- Star Trek (2009)
RiffTrax Presents[]
PS Productions[]
- Star Trek #30 'Amok Time'
- Star Trek #33 'Mirror, Mirror'
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (PS Productions)
- Star Trek: First Contact
Ronin Fox Trax[]
Donner[]
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Donner)
Hexanym Studio[]
- Star Trek The Next Generation 1x01 'Encounter at Farpoint
Basement Dwellers Riffs[]
- Star Trek The Next Generation 1x04 'The Last Outpost'
Ice on Mars[]
- Star Trek The Next Generation 3x26 'The Best of Both Worlds'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x01 & 2 'Caretaker'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x03 'Parallax'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x04 'Time and Again'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x08 'Ex Post Facto'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x09 'Emanations'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x14 'Faces'
- Star Trek Voyager 1x16 'Learning Curve'
Who Are These Guys[]
- Star Trek Deep Space Nine 7x04 'Take Me Out to the Holosuite'
Cinester Theater[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x05 'Phage'
Aaron Bossig[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x06 'The Cloud'
QuipTracks[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x07 'Eye of the Needle'
DogKnob[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x10 'Prime Factors'
TreacheRiffs[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x11 'State of Flux'
Riff Raff Theater[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x12 'Heroes and Demons'
JC Walsh[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x13 'Cathexis'
Just Andrew[]
- Star Trek Voyager 1x15 'Jetrel'