Star Trek

This article is about the franchise. For the original television series, see Star Trek: The Original Series. For other uses, see Star Trek (disambiguation).

Star Trek
Logo for the first Star Trek series, now known as Star Trek: The Original Series
Created byGene Roddenberry
Original workStar Trek: The Original Series
OwnerParamount Global
Years1966–present
Print publications
Book(s)
Novel(s)List of novels
ComicsList of comics
Magazine(s)
Films and television
Film(s)List of films
Television seriesList of television series
Games
TraditionalList of games
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)
ExhibitsStar Trek: The Exhibition
Official website
startrek.com

Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the series of the same name and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books, and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.[1][2][3]

The franchise began with Star Trek: The Original Series, which premiered on September 6, 1966, on Canada's CTV network.[4] In the US it debuted on September 8, 1966, on NBC. The series followed the voyages of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise, a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century, on a mission "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before". In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series of novels, Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels, the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, and television westerns such as Wagon Train.

The Star Trek canon includes the Original Series, 11 spin-off television series, and a film franchise; further adaptations also exist in several media. After the conclusion of the Original Series, the adventures of its characters continued in the 22-episode Star Trek: The Animated Series and six feature films. A television revival beginning in the 1980s saw four spinoff series: The Next Generation, following the crew of a new starship Enterprise a century after the original series; Deep Space Nine and Voyager, set in the same era as the Next Generation; and Enterprise, set a century before the original series in the early days of human interstellar travel. The adventures of the Next Generation crew continued in four additional feature films. In 2009, the film franchise underwent a reboot, creating an alternate continuity known as the Kelvin timeline; three films have been set in this continuity. The newest Star Trek television revival, beginning in 2017, includes the series Discovery, Picard, Short Treks, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds, streaming on digital platforms.

Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades.[5] Fans of the franchise are called "Trekkies" or "Trekkers". The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. From 1998 to 2008, there was a Star Trek–themed attraction in Las Vegas. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The constructed language Klingon was created for the franchise. Several Star Trek parodies have been made, and viewers have produced several fan productions.

Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction.[6] The franchise is also notable for its progressive civil-rights stances.[7] The Original Series included one of the first multiracial casts on US television.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eller was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Star Trek Franchise Box Office History" Archived June 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine The Numbers
  3. ^ "44 entertainment/character properties reach $100 m in sales of licensed merchandise; 50% of sales are Disney's. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "Today's TV Previews". Montreal Gazette. September 6, 1966. p. 36. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  5. ^ Italie, Hillel (July 2, 2007). "Like 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek,' Potter is a modern phenomenon". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  6. ^ Saadia, Manu (January 13, 2017). "Why Peter Thiel Fears "Star Trek"". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  7. ^ Reagin, Nancy R (March 5, 2013). Star Trek and History. Wiley Pop Culture and History. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-16763-2.