Timeline of the Star Trek Television Series and Movies
(From our Summer of Star Trek series)
1964 – The first pilot for Star Trek, “The Cage”, is produced with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike commanding the Enterprise. CBS passes on the pilot as does NBC (claiming it was “too cerebral”), but the latter requests a second pilot (“Where No Man Has Gone Before”, now with William Shatner as Captain Kirk in command) which would convince them to greenlight the series.
1966 – Star Trek premieres on NBC on September 8th with the episode “Man Trap” with little fanfare and it brings in only modest ratings.
1967 – Despite pulling low ratings during its first season, NBC gives the series a renewal for a second season.
1968 – The series continues to pull low ratings through its second season and faces cancellation. However, a massive write-in campaign spearheaded by Bjo Trimble generates over a million letters of support and convinces NBC to give the series a third season. Fred Freiberger is brought in as executive producer and the network pushes for more action oriented episodes which many fans felt degraded the show.
1969 – After a third low-rated season, NBC finally cancels Star Trek. The last episode, “Turnabout Intruder”, airs on June 3rd 1969.
1973 – After Star Trek becomes a huge hit in syndication and the original 79 episodes receive constant rotation on the UHF channels, NBC greenlights Star Trek: The Animated Series, a Saturday morning animated revival of the show. This series produces 22 episodes in which most of the original cast, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelly, provide the voices for their characters.
1978 – Star Trek: Phase II, a continuation of the original series, is planned as the lead series for a new Paramount television network. All of the original cast, except Leonard Nimoy, are set to return and twelve scripts are written. However, the idea for the network is scrapped and Paramount decides to aim at the box office after seeing the success of Star Wars.
1979 – Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts on the big screen on December 7th with all of the original cast returning to reprise their roles. The movie sets a record for its opening weekend and goes on to gross $139 million at the box office.
1982 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn debuts in movie theaters on June 4th with Ricardo Montalban reprising his character Khan Noonien Singh from the original series episode “Space Seed”. Spock dies in a dramatic sequence at the end of the movie (Leonard Nimoy agreed to do the movie only if his character’s death would be permanent). The film sets a record for opening weekends and is considered by many to be the best installment in the film series.
1984 – Star Trek III: The Search for Spock hits theaters on June 1st and brings Spock back into the fold after his apparent death. Leonard Nimoy had a change of heart about playing the character and decided to return to the franchise and asked to direct the movie as well.
1986 – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home debuts on November 26th with Leonard Nimoy once again directing. William Shatner was at first reluctant to return until he received a pay raise and a commitment that he would direct the next movie.
1987 – Star Trek: The Next Generation debuts in syndication. It is set 70 years after the original series and has a new cast, headed by Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean Luc Picard, commanding a new, “Galaxy Glass” Starship Enterprise. In addition to establishing a new crew, the first episode introduces one of the most famous characters from the franchise, the ever-meddling Q. 27 million viewers would tune in for the debut of the series and it would establish the syndication and off-network market as a viable outlet for Science Fiction and Fantasy television for over a decade.
1989 – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier debuts on June 9th with William Shatner directing and the full cast of the original series reprising their roles. Despite a strong opening weekend, the movie would end up grossing the lowest of the first five theatrical Star Trek movies. It also received almost universal critical and fan derision and is considered by most to be the worst movie in the franchise.
1991 – Gene Roddenberry, the creator and driving force behind Star Trek, dies at the age of 70. In 1992, a portion of his ashes were carried into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. In 1997, a portion of his ashes were launched into space on a Pegasus XL rocket.
Leonard Nimoy reprises his role as Spock in a two-part episode on Star Trek: The Next Generation titled “Unification” which airs on November 4th and 11th. This marks the first cross-over by a major character from the original series to the new series (apart from a quick cameo by DeForest Kelly as Dr. McCoy in the pilot). Mark Lenard had previously reprised his role as Spock’s father Sarek in a 1990 episode of the series.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country premieres in theaters on December 6th and would be the last movie to include the full cast from the original series. This movie would return the franchise to favor with critics and fans after the poor reception of the previous movie, and it delivered a strong box office performance.
1993 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premieres in syndication on June 3rd. The series is set on a space station instead of a starship with Avery Brooks as Commander Benjamin Sisko, the first African-American lead role for a Star Trek series. Deep Space Nine focuses more on extended story arcs and complex themes as opposed to the stand alone episode format that the three previous television entries in the franchise had followed. Deep Space Nine is considered by many fans to be the best among the Star Trek television series.
1994 – Star Trek: The Next Generation wraps up its successful seven year run in syndication with the two part episode “All Good Things . . .” which airs on May 23rd and which once again has Q toying with the fate of humanity. The series has produced 178 episodes which more than doubles the 79 episode run of the original Star Trek.
Star Trek Generations debuts in the theaters on November 18th. This is the only movie in which characters from the original series appear with characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is also the first movie in which Leonard Nimoy is not involved. The movie had a strong opening day weekend but ultimately suffered from mixed reviews and is considered by many to be one of the least satisfying Trek movies.
1995 – Star Trek: Voyager debuts on January 16th as the flagship show on the new United Paramount Network (UPN). This show follows the crew of the USS Voyager who must team up with members of the dissident Maquis when the ship is catapulted to the far side of the galaxy. Kate Mulgrew plays Captain Kathryn Janeway, the first female captain in a lead role for the franchise.
1996 – Star Trek: First Contact debuts in theaters on November 18th. It is the first movie to exclusively feature the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and is widely regarded as one of the best Star Trek movies. It grossed more than any other movie from the franchise up to that point except Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
1998 – Star Trek: Insurrection hits the theaters on December 11th. It was the second movie to exclusively feature the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It did not receive the same critical praise as its predecessor and did not do as well at the box office, though it still had a respectable draw.
1999 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ends its successful seven year run in syndication after completing 176 episodes. The final episode, “What You Leave Behind”, airs on June 2nd.
DeForest Kelly, best known for his role as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, dies on June 11th at the age of 79.
2001 – Star Trek: Voyager ends its seven-year run on UPN after completing 172 episodes. The final two-part episode, “Endgame”, airs on May 23rd. Though its run was considered successful, its ratings had lagged considerably in its last few seasons.
Taking Voyager’s place, Star Trek: Enterprise (originally titled only Enterprise) debuts on UPN on September 26th. It takes place a century prior the events from the original series and focuses on establishing (and at times altering) much of the backstory that had previously been referenced in the other Trek incarnations. Scott Bakula plays Captain Jonathan Archer who is commanding the Enterprise.
2002 – Star Trek: Nemesis opens in theaters on December 13th. It is the third movie focusing exclusively on the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The movie received negative reviews and did poorly at the box office and would convince Paramount to steer away from further Trek movies until 2009.
2005 – After struggling in the ratings for four years, UPN finally cancels Star Trek: Enterprise. It is the first series to be cancelled, instead of electing to end its run, since NBC cancelled the original series in 1969. The final episode, “These Are the Voyages . . . “, airs on May 13th and includes a cross-over from Next Generation characters Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. Enterprise is widely considered the least satisfying of the live action television incarnations of Star Trek.
The cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise leaves the franchise moribund with no original episodes in production for the first time in over eighteen years and with no movie plans in the works.
James Doohan, best known for his role as Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, dies on July 20th at the age of 85.
2009 – Star Trek debuts in the theaters on May 8th. Directed by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, Cloverfield), the movie goes back to the early years of the characters from the original series with an all-new, younger cast in an attempt to reboot the franchise. The movie has an opening weekend draw of $77 million and receives generally favorable reviews.
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