THE FUN, FRIVOLOUS AND FASCINATING FACTS OF STAR TREK
- STAR TREK: VOYAGER is the only Star Trek series currently in production.
- STAR TREK: VOYAGER is the only television show in TV Guide history to be featured on the cover of the publication before editors had even seen the show.
- Every month, a classic “Star Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and STAR TREK: VOYAGER novel is published by Pocketbooks.
- 13 Star Trek books are sold every minute in the United States.
- The U.S. Space Shuttle, “Enterprise,” was given its name after NASA received 400,000 requests from Star Trek fans.
- “Star Trek,” the original series, was launched in 1966 after Gene Roddenberry, who had a development deal with Desilu Productions and its president, Lucille Ball, struck a deal with NBC for a pilot. Roddenberry was inflexible in trimming the costs of the series pilot - which could have stopped production - until Lucy stepped in to protect his creative control, and agreed to the funding he needed. According to then-Desilu senior vice president Edwin Holly, “If it were not for Lucy, there would be no Star Trek today.”
- The amount of time you could spend watching back-to-back episodes of classic “Star Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and VOYAGER would total 455 hours, or nearly 19 days without any sleep.
- The Romulan race is the only adversary to have been featured in all four Star Trek series.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway’s regular role on STAR TREK: VOYAGER is not the first time a “Janeway” has shown up in a Star Trek series. In an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” guest star Lucy Boryer portrayed Ensign Janeway, an Enterprise-D crew member who had a “therapy” session with counselor Deanna Troi because she was having trouble with her superior officer.
- A vintage 1968 “Star Trek” domed lunchbox, manufactured by Aladdin and featuring the Enterprise on one side and Spock and Kirk poised to fend off enemies on the other, could fetch more than $700 in today’s market, depending on its condition. A lunchbox from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” introduced in 1980 by King Seeley Thermos, could bring $80. Lunchboxes from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” also from King Seeley Thermos and including a 1988 version depicting the crew’s cast could attract $35, while a 1989 one picturing Picard, Riker and Data is worth as much as $50.
- A syndicated follow-up series to the classic “Star Trek” was first attempted in 1977 with “Star Trek II,” which would have depicted a second five-year mission of the Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk, but the series was canceled shortly before production began. However, two of the series’ scripts, “The Child,” and “Devil’s Due” were eventually re-written as episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
- STAR TREK: VOYAGER may head up its own series now, but another Voyager craft (Voyager VI) appeared in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.”
- Both Majel Roddenberry and James Doohan have lent their voices to automated equipment on-board the Enterprise. Majel provided the audio for the Enterprise’s computer in both classic “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” while Doohan gave the computer M-5 a voice during an episode of classic “Star Trek.” Majel is also the computer voice of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and STAR TREK: VOYAGER and most recently lent her voice to “Star Trek: Continuum,” Paramount’s official Star Trek Web site (www.startrek.com).
- To date, the only letter in the alphabet not represented with a planet, star or other celestial object that a Star Trek crew has encountered is “Y.”
- Recently, the U.S. Postal Service held a contest, which yielded a Star Trek stamp as the entertainment representation of the ‘60s.
