Star Trek is an American science fiction series created by Gene Rodenberry for NBC. It ran from September 8, 1966 to June 3, 1969 for three seasons. It spun off several films and an animated spin-off, as well as several live-action series: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Picard.
Series summary[]
Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) guides the USS starship Enterprise on a five-year mission to boldly go where no man has gone before, uncovering new life and new civilisations, and dealing with all manner of strange threats along the way. He is joined by Spock (Leonard Nimoy), a half-Vulcan science officer; Bones (DeForest Kelley), the ship's chief medical officer; Scotty (James Doohan), its chief engineer; Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the communications officer; helmsman Sulu (George Takei), and ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig).
The series is notable for its progressive attitude towards matters of sex and race, with black and Asian crewmembers sharing the spotlight with white characters (and the first screening of an interracial kiss on US television), and a Russian crewmember despite the series being made during the Cold War.
Spin-offs[]
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) with an all-new cast and crew and a special appearance by Dr. Leonard McCoy from Star Trek.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) was set in a space station outside a wormhole to a distant quadrant of the known galaxy.
- Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) is focused on a ship that had been pulled through the wormhole and had to travel back home over several years.
- Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005) is focused on the crew of the first-ever Enterprise and was set before Star Trek.
- Star Trek: Discovery (2017-present) is set roughly ten years before Star Trek.
- Star Trek: Picard (2020-present) follows Jean-Luc Picard set 30 years after The Next Generation.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-present) is a spin-off of Discovery.
Star Trek also spawned a series of films:
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Westphall connections in Star Trek[]
- Altair IV from Forbidden Planet is mentioned in "Amok Time".
- In "Requiem for Methuselah", Uhura mentions that a planet was purchased by Mr. Brack. Brack being an alien from This Island Earth.
Westphall connections to Star Trek[]
- In Red Dwarf "Psirens", the crew of Red Dwarf fly over a planet full of spaceship debris. Among the crashed ships are an Eagle ship from Space: 1999, a Weyland-Yutani ship from Aliens, and a Klingon Bird of Prey from Star Trek.
- In "The Changeling", Kirk and the crew have to deal with Nomad, a space probe from the 21st century created by artificial intelligence pioneer Dr. Jackson Roykirk. Dr. Roykirk subsequently appeared as a character in the Team Knight Rider "Apocalypse Maybe".
- A Constitution-class ship appeared in Battlestar Galactica "Daybreak".
- in the episode "Dream Weaver" of seaQuest DSV a monument to the Nomad probe from the Star Trek episode "The Changeling" appears.
- In the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus First Class" an antidote bottle is labeled as being Cordrazine, a fictional chemical stimulant from the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". Cordrazine also appears in Mission: Impossible "The Freeze".
- A PA announcement in the episode "A Dream of Jennifer" of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century asks for Christopher Pike, the original captain of the Enterprise in the unaired pilot episode, prior to William T. Kirk. Pike was also mentioned in the original Star Trek series despite not appearing in a speaking role until Star Trek: Discovery.
- A Klingon Bat'leth appears in the background of the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Other Guys" and in a Dojo in Monk "Mr. Monk vs the Cobra".
- Scotty appears in Loaded Weapon 1.
- In Airplane II: The Sequel, Buck Murdock (played by William Shatner) looks through a periscope and sees the U.S.S. Enterprise from this series, which Shatner had previously starred in.
- In The Librarians "And the Tears of the Crown" Jenkins lists several magical artifacts, including the Spear of Korob from the episode "Catspaw" of Star Trek.
Non-Westphall connections[]
- An animated spin-off, Star Trek: The Animated Series, ran from 1973-1974. It featured many of the same cast members as the live-action show, but animated series are not included in the Westphall Universe. Two other animated spinoffs, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Prodigy, were also created.