Sixty Years and Still Going Strong

“Live Long and Prosper” - Vulcan salutation, spoken frequently by Mr Spock

​On Tuesday, September 8, Star Trek will celebrate SIXTY years since it first exploded across our television screens in living color. NBC had long been in discussions with Lucille Ball, who owned Desilu, Star Trek’s production company, and finally agreed to broadcast the show.

It would survive three seasons and seventy-nine episodes before being cancelled in June, 1969. Ironically, it was six weeks before the lunar landing on July 20.

It lived on in syndication through the seventies, along with novels, cartoons and increasing fan support until the first of fourteen movies, countless different TV sequels and story lines were aired, starting in 1979.

Now, Paramount owns the rights to the franchise and streams it all on its platform. It has been reported that the Star Trek library generated over $2.6 billion in global subscription value across major platforms (including Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount+) from 2020 through late 2024. Not a bad investment of the $17MM purchase Paramount made of Desilu in 1967.

Surviving cast members of the original series from 1966 include William Shatner (Captain Kirk), George Takei (Lt Sulu) and Walter Koenig (Ens Chekov).

Of all the characters who ever existed in the Star Trek Universe, probably Spock and Data were the fan favorites. It doesn’t lessen the popularity of the many other characters who graced the franchise, including Kirk, Bones, Scotty or Picard. Or Crusher, Worf, Uhura, or even Sarek. There are so many characters who made the franchise so successful.

And just think of all the fantasy items which have become variations of our 21st Century reality: The communicator became the smart phone, the tricorder became the tablet, the phaser became the taser, the bridge screen became the flat screen TV, sickbay became open MRI, video screen communication became Face Time and Zoom, Uhura’s ear piece became ear buds, and digital boards ran everything then as now. Could warp drive and time travel be so close to reality, too?

Gene Roddenberry had an idea where the cowboy and western TV shows needed a futuristic change of scenery. Hence, Star Trek was born. Even he could not have imagined what it would become, And so far, its five year mission has lasted sixty years. Where NO ONE on TV has gone before.

Truly one of the most successful, creative profitable franchises ever created for TV. And Beyond. 

It certainly has done as Mr Spock wished.