Are you a Star Trek fan? Me too. I grew up with a Trekkie, married a Trekkie, who a Trekkie raised. Yeah. Star Trek is strong over here. My favorite Star Trek show is Voyager. I haven’t watched any of the recent shows, so I don’t have an opinion on those, sorry. I heard some of you were wondering about the various shows. I am here to tell you a little bit about them. I will not be covering the movies in this article because they deserve their own. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969): William Shatner and Lenard Nemoy, and so many others make TV history in many ways and start a franchise that has lasted nearly 60 years and has no signs of slowing down to date. They were the first to “boldly go where no one has gone before” in the Starship Enterprise.
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974): Using much of the cast from the original series, being a cartoon allowed the writers to work with more alien landscapes. It ran for two seasons and returned in the mid-80s and the mid-90s. After that, it just continued the five-year mission to explore.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994): This series takes place around a century later than the original series (years 2368-2370). The captain of this Enterprise is Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart. This show was familiar to the old show, but you can see how one hundred years could have passed from the original. There were new races and new conflicts to resolve.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999): Taking place at the end of Next Generation and beyond (years 2369-2375), Deep Space Nine takes place on a space station rather than a starship. Avery Brooks and Nana Visitor star in this one and bring Worf and O’Brien over from Next Generation.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001): Voyager also did not occur on the Enterprise. It took place on Voyager. No one from Next Generation or Deep Space Nine here. Voyager got stranded in the uncharted Delta Quadrant and had to make their way home. Voyager takes place from the years 2371-2378, which is the same time and beyond as Deep Space Nine. Kate Mulgrew perfectly portrays Capt. Katheryn Janeway.
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005): Enterprise is set about one hundred years prior to the original series in this prequel to the entire franchise. This even was set before the United Federation of Planets was formed. It looks at humanity’s first footsteps into deep space and the questions that arise. Scott Bakula plays as Capt. Jonathan Archer.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017 to present): Also a prequel to the original series but only by roughly ten years. This show takes place on the starship Discovery and Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martain-Green, is eventually captain. That was after he started a war between the Klingons and the Federation.
Short Treks (2018-2020): This is a mash-up of different stories about characters and settings from Discovery and Enterprise. The Enterprise ones feature Cptn. Pike.
Star Trek: Picard (2020 to present): Yay! Patrick Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard. Picard follows Cptn. Picard into retirement, about thirty years after The Next Generation. He wants to atone for what he feels are his failings and part of that includes saving Data’s daughter.
Did you know about all of these? Have you watched them? Did I miss any? Let me know your favorites in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
