Star Trek

Star Trek the original television series aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969 totalling 79 episodes.

Set in the 23rd century, the original Star Trek follows the adventures of the starship Enterprise and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk, his First Officer Mr. Spock, and his Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy. Their mission, as explained in Captain Kirk's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits, states:

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before."

I got to watch the re-runs in the late 70's and I immediately got hooked! I found the technology really cool and the characters were very interesting! Warp drive, teleportation, and boy, the Starship Enterprise was awesome! By this time, the franchise already had a cult following! "Beam me up, Scotty!" and "Live long and prosper" became catch phrases among fans. Supporters, aptly called Trekkers, organized Star Trek conventions with chapters spanning around the world! Its fan base was so huge that they even got NASA to name the first space shuttle after the fictional starship Enterprise!

USS Enterprise

In 1979 the first Star Trek movie grossed 80M at the box office. Ten more movies followed after this including the latest installement, Star Trek 2009. All of which I watched! It's an addiction I admit! I do believe I made a fan out of my wife whom I watched that latest movie with last Saturday! Personally I liked it better than "Wolverine" and "Angels and Demons" mainly because as a Trekkie, the story of Star Trek 2009 provided me with the story of Spock and James Tiberius Kirk before they became Starfleet officers! Well, actually, it was a warped history as the protagonist, Nero, emerged 154 years in the past and inadvertently messed up the space and time continuum when he attached and destroyed the USS Kelvin where James Kirk's father was first officer. But being biased to the original TV series it was the uncanny resemblance to the original characters popularized by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy that really got my attention! Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto (who played Sylar in the series "Heroes") reprises the role of Captain James T. Kirk and Lt. Commander Spock, respectively, in the latest Star Trek saga!

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner/Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine

(L-R) Scotty, Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Chekov of the original series

(L-R) Chekov, Kirk, Scotty, McCoy, Sulu, and Uhura of ST 2009