Star Trek

:For other uses of the term, see Star Trek (disambiguation).
Star Trek is a franchise based on the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry.
It is, to many, the Mother Fandom. There were other sources before it that had appealed strongly to women and young adults, especially Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, The Saint, Secret Agent, The Avengers (TV), Route 66, The Wild Wild West, The Prisoner and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but Star Trek had a massive impact on fandom. Trek became the first fanzine-based media fandom, and Kirk/Spock, of course, the first publicly acknowledged slash pairing, and the source of the word 'slash' (and 'pairing') itself.
==Canon==
Star Trek's canon has been a matter of some debate for the Star Trek fandom. Some things are almost universally agreed upon, such as the non-canon status of the various novelizations"the novelizations are expected to conform to canon also"', see more in Not Canon, and The Hands of TPTB at The Fate of the Phoenix. and the animated series, both of which were decided by Gene Roddenberry. In contrast, it is a good rule to say that all TV episodes (with the exception of the aforementioned animated series) as well as all movies are canon, although some argue that all content that was not specifically "Roddenberry-approved" is not canon. This would include all Star Trek media after his death in 1991: six movies, the nearly half of The Next Generation's episodes of which Roddenberry was not involved in, and every season of all proceeding three TV series, with the exception of the first season of Deep Space Nine, which Roddenberry, while not involved in the writing process, gave his approval on. The argument of approved-Roddenberry canon is also argued against by the fact that Roddenberry notoriously changed canon on an episode-by-episode basis. Recently the official website released a video explaining the Star Trek timeline.Official Star Trek Timeline Revealed, October 10, 2021.
===Star Trek: The Original Series===
Star Trek: The Original Series originally ran for three seasons on television. It has a very active fanbase that started from nearly the moment the show debuted and still flourishes today. Fans have not only kept this series alive after it was nearly canceled after its second season, but also kept it going through many years where there was no new material with their production of fanworks, their organization of conventions and their devotion to their fandom. The popularity of the show in reruns eventually brought about its resurrection as one of the large media franchises. 
Star Trek was revived as an animated series (TAS) in the 70s by Filmation & Norway Corp., and as a series of films in the 80s and 90s by Paramount. A Star Trek movie had been proposed years before, but was rushed into production soon after 1977's Star Wars. Far more successful than the TV series, the blockbuster Trek films funded the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Another attractor to the fandom are the reboot films, Star Trek AOS.
===Star Trek: The Next Generation===
Star Trek: The Next Generation was similar to the Star Trek: TOS concept: a large, diverse crew on a ship called the USS Enterprise travels the galaxy, meets aliens, and spreads goodwill. This time, the ship was even bigger, and there were more aliens. TNG brings the Star Trek timeline a century forward to the 24th Century, a time in which the Federation that the characters belong to has become a stable galactic power. The militarism of Star Trek is toned down with more focus on diplomacy. 
TNG ultimately ran an unheard of (for a science fiction show) seven seasons, bowing out by choice to make way for a series of movies starring its main cast. Hugely popular, TNG is the only other Star Trek series to rival the main cast in media familiarity. 
TNG is what made Star Trek big in other countries, like Germany, where the fan clubs in the 1990s grew rapidly and the fan scene was very active.
===Star Trek: Deep Space Nine===
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the third live-action TV show of the Star Trek franchise. It takes place on a space station on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant. DS9 is arguably the most ethnically and gender diverse show in the ST universe, with multiple characters of color and female characters in lead positions.
===Star Trek: Voyager===
Star Trek: Voyager is the fourth live-action television series set in the Star Trek universe. After three shows focusing on a male captain, Voyager features the first female captain as the main character of a Star Trek franchise.
===Star Trek: Enterprise===
Star Trek: Enterprise was the fifth live-action TV series in the Star Trek universe. It was a prequel, set earlier in the timeline than any of the other series, and intended to show how the United Federation of Planets came to be. Despite a change in showrunners in the third and fourth season, Enterprise ultimately only lasted four seasons, the first show since TOS to be canceled by the network.
Some fans followed Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap fandom, others came to Enterprise from broader Star Trek fandom.
===Star Trek Reboot===
Star Trek (2009) is the 11th movie in the Star Trek universe. It is a successful reboot of the original series with an alternate timeline that does not affect the preexisting canon in the TOS era. Same characters, different actors, new adventures, and everything is possible.
Star Trek Into Darkness is the 12th movie in the Star Trek universe. It is set a few months/years after the events of Star Trek (2009).
Star Trek Beyond is the 13th movie in the Star Trek Universe. It is set approximately three years into the five year mission (stardate 2263.02).
===Star Trek: Discovery===
Star Trek: Discovery was the sixth live-action TV series in the Star Trek universe. It was a prequel, set in 2256, earlier in the timeline than TOS. It featured a main female character who was not a Starfleet captain, Michael Burnham, but the adopted human daughter of Sarek and Amanda, and therefore a previously unknown (to the audience) sister to Spock (and Sybok). Season 1 follows her career downfall and path to redemption. Discovery was the first Star Trek series offered on the subscription service, CBS All Access (plus Bell Media's Space, Z and Crave in Canada, and Netflix internationally). During the hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2, four Short Treks were released, mini-episodes drawing on aspects of the parent show.
Season 2 reintroduced Captain Christopher Pike, Number One and Spock, not long after their adventure in The Cage, the first TOS pilot. A spin-off series featuring these characters is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Season 3 saw a fresh story arc following the USS Discovery in its new location in space and time, as predicted in the Short Treks episode, "Calypso". The former Emperor Georgiou is anticipated to spin-off into a separate series, Star Trek: Section 31.
Internationally, Discovery moved to Paramount+ from Season Four, with temporary arrangements made for access through Pluto TV or iTunes in countries who did not yet have their own Paramount+.
===Star Trek: Short Treks===
During the hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Discovery, four Short Treks mini-episodes were released on CBS All Access, drawing on aspects of Discovery. They also became available with Season 2 on Netflix internationally. During the next hiatus, six new "Short Treks", from several points in the continuum, included three mini-episodes with Spock, Pike and Number One, two animated episodes and a live-action prequel to Star Trek: Picard.
===Star Trek: Picard===
Star Trek: Picard was the seventh live-action TV series in the Star Trek universe. A two-decades later sequel to events chronicled in Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek (2009), it featured Jean-Luc Picard and the political fallout from the destruction of the Romulan homeworld. It was the second Star Trek series offered on the subscription service, CBS All Access (and Bell Media's Space, Z and Crave in Canada), but the first for Amazon Prime internationally.
===Star Trek: Lower Decks (animated)===
Star Trek: Lower Decks was an animated series set in the Star Trek universe. The tone of the series was light and comedic. It followed the adventures of junior Starfleet officers on the starship USS Cerritos in the year 2380, a year after Star Trek: Nemesis.Everything we know about Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, May 11, 2020.
===Star Trek: Prodigy (animated)===
Star Trek: Prodigy was an animated series aimed at a young audience but set in the Star Trek universe. It followed a motley crew of young aliens who escape slavery and had to figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy searching for a better future. Guided by a holographic version of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek Voyager), these six outcasts knew "nothing about the ship they have commandeered – a first in the history of the Star Trek franchise. Over their adventures together, they will each be introduced to Starfleet and the ideals it represents."Star Trek: Prodigy Creators Confirm Which Universe It Takes Place In, September 18, 2021.
===Star Trek: Strange New Worlds===
After much secrecy, a full-blown Pike series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, was eventually announced.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Series With Pike, Spock And Number One Headed To CBS All Access, May 15, 2020. It was the eighth live-action TV series in the Star Trek universe, and promised to revisit the theme of space exploration in more self-contained episodes.
===Star Trek Tie-in Novels===
The Star Trek franchise has also spawned a series of non-canonical tie-in novels, first published by Bantam Books, and then Simon & Schuster (in their Timescape, Pocket Books, Wanderer and Gallery imprints). A few fans went from writing fan fiction to pro novels for the first time. 
Gene Roddenberry wrote his own tie-in novel, Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.
For a time, the Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation novels were only allowed to be single-book adventures with no ongoing storyline or shared original characters. With the end of Star Trek on television, these rules were relaxed. Spin-off novel series include the DS9 Relaunch (ongoing adventures for the DS9 characters), Voyager's return to the Delta Quadrant, and "Titan", the adventures of Captain Riker on the ship he attained in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. Books concentrating on these ongoing 24th Century storylines (resolved in a 2021 trilogy, "Coda") have seemingly come to a hiatus with the arrival of Star Trek: Picard. 
Starting with the "Star Trek: New Frontier" series by Peter David, the line expanded to include several novel-only series. Other novel-only series include "Starfleet Corp of Engineers" and "Vanguard", set on a Federation space station in Kirk's time. Star Trek: Enterprise spawned a post-series line of novels, Rise of the Federation.
The tie-in novels are not always popular with some fans and there is much discussion about them, and why they fail, in letterzines. Despite their paracanonical status, some details from the books have become fanon or canon. For example, Hikaru Sulu did not have a first name in canon until Star Trek VI, when a name used in novels was adopted.Hikaru_Sulu on Memory Alpha (accessed 19 October 2011) Kirk's parents' names and Uhura's first name, now also canonical, also came from the licensed novels.
The arrival of Star Trek: Discovery coincided with a move to trade paperback as the standard release for Gallery's tie-in novels. Most of the "Discovery" novels are prequels to events in the streaming series. Most new books now have unabridged audios, available as downloadable files and CD sets (from Blackstone Publishing for Simon & Schuster Audio).I hear Star Trek: a guide to the audios on Have Phaser, Will Travel (accessed 20 May 2020) Excitement generated in anticipation for Star Trek: Picard even saw a return to hardcover prequel novels.
Fans have created fansites to collect information about the novels and other licensed Trek-related materials: see below.
===Characters===
* :Category:Star Trek Characters
==Fandom==
===Shipping===
* :Category:Star Trek Relationships
* List of Star Trek Pairings
=== Fanfiction ===
* Category: Star Trek Fanfiction
* The Last Tempest by Bill McClure (1993) (Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek: TNG/Star Trek: DS9 crossover)
=== Fanart ===
* Signe Landon Star Trek Postcards by Signe Landon (1976)
* I Love This Job!: A Collection of Star Trek Cartoons by Larry DeSouza (1997)
* The Kiss (Star Trek: TOS art) by Linda Wan (2003)
* The K/S Art Project edited by Dovya Blacque (2010)
* The KS Project (2018)
===Star Trek Conventions===
* Portal47, a monthly mini-con hosted by Larry Nemecek
* Star Trek 20
* List of Star Trek conventions
=== Star Trek Fan Clubs ===
* Category: Star Trek Fan Clubs
* List of Star Trek Fan Clubs
===Star Trek Zines===
* List of Star Trek TOS Zines Published While the Show Was Still On the Air
* List of Star Trek Zines published 1967-1970
* every Star Trek zine listed on Fanlore can be found under :Category:Star Trek Zines
* List of Star Trek Fanzines, an incomplete list
* some Star Trek apas: APA Enterprise, K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits), Final Frontier, Talking of Trek, The Duty Roster
* some Star Trek letterzines
* Infinite Unknowns - 2014 ezine
=== Archives ===
* Ad Astra (2009-ongoing, all series)
* Trek Fiction (2004-ongoing, all series)
=== Star Trek Challenges ===
* Star Trek Femslash Week (2023)
=== Star Trek Podcasts ===
* Mission Log (2012-ongoing)
==Conflict & Controversy==
===Star Trek and Star Wars===
For more on the effect of Star Wars on Star Trek fandom and the differences, similarities, and conflicts between the two, see Star Trek and Star Wars.
=== Fandom and Profit ===
An early example of fannish engagement, fanac, and legalities was the statement printed in May 1968 in Leonard Nimoy Association of Fans Bulletin, a newsletter supported and read by TPTB and Leonard Nimoy, warned fans of violations and fanac: 
From a 1973 letter by D.C. Fontana (printed in Romulan Wine #4 and The Nimoyan #4: 
 
Despite the early push-back from Paramount, the producers of Star Trek were still a little slow in realizing the profit that could be made from fans. It wasn't until Equicon 1974 that Paramount Studios began taking notice of some of the merchandising opportunities beneath the Star Trek franchise. From a notice in the pocket program: 
The official marketing people's slow response's to fan demand regarding Star Trek merchandise was evident to Franz Joseph, a fan who'd created a set of detailed blueprints. Before the 1974 convention, Joseph had attempted to get permission to sell his creation he had titled Booklet of General Plans. These plans later became the Star Fleet Technical Manual:
Gene Roddenberry, however, realized the untapped market early on, and it was what propelled his creation of the IDIC pendant in 1968, and the very successful Lincoln Enterprises. 
Once TPTB observed the voraciousness of fans' desire to buy all things Trek, they swung into action. This led to a common topic in newsletters and other fan correspondence -- that of the gullible fan who'd buy anything. From a fan in 1976: "I'm sure we all shudder when we stop to think about the sheer amount of $$ we put into our collections of ST memorabilia. Yes, I know it's for love or whatever, but it's still $$$... There are dealers at all the cons selling garbage... [such as] very poor quality offset or litho photographs... I stood and talked to dealers who have admitted that... Trekkies will buy anything and they are out for the big bucks." The Halkan Council #14 (January 1976) From a fan in 1979: "This month several professional magazines, which are often referred to as prozines as the opposite of fanzines, will be the target for discussion. It is an indication of Star Trek's endurability that some of these attempts are only suitable for lining birdcages - the assumption is that Trek fans will buy anything, no matter how simple-minded the content. The brevity of their appearance is eloquent testimony as to the fallacy of this opinion. [("All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" (dreadful), "Media Spotlight" (not too bad), "Science Fantasy Film Classics" (very good)." TREKisM #3 (January 1979 From a fan in 1988: "It is true that many fans will buy anything that has the words "Star Trek" on it, and that is sad, for in their zeal to own everything Trek-ish, people are getting ripped off." Beyond the Farthest Star #3 (July 1988) 
It was also profit that changed the nature of conventions. No longer did the celebrities attend cons for the cost of their travel, or for a very nominal fee. Instead, convention guests demanded large fees, something that propelled all sorts of other changes in how fans interacted with each other -- socially in person, via zines and other fanworks, and visibility.
See: 
* Lincoln Enterprises
* Paramount and Fans, Fanac, Paramount, and Profit
* Tie-in Novels
* Fandom and Profit
Image:clipper11-6.jpg|inside page from The Clipper Trade Ship #11 (1976), a parody of an ad, making fun of Star Trek fans who will buy anything having to do with the show
==Star Trek vs. Traditional Science Fiction Fandom==
The huge influx of Star Trek fans in the late 1960s and the 1970s were an example of some of "free range" fannishness. There were many, many instances of the old school, general science fiction fans being very unhappy with the influx of Star Trek fans who they felt to be huge mobs who were uneducated in the ways of fandom; folks who didn't know the language, didn't know the customs, hadn't "paid their dues," were too young and immature, were female, hadn't learned at the knees of the "right" people, supposedly weren't interested in "real" science fiction, and supposedly invaded traditional fannish places. And vice versa: Star Trek fans found the general SF/sf fans to be hostile, unwelcoming, snobbish, rigid, and overwhelmingly male. The culture clash was huge and long-lived and a major source of discussion.
File:Star Trek 1976 UK The Guardian Sat Jun 12 1976 .jpg|Caption for this negative and mocking 1976 article from the UK paper, "The Guardian," "Trekkie with antennae; embarrassing to the SF straights," an example of the worst of mundane and fansplaining reporting about fans. Click to read.
File:Mota.jpg|the cover of MoTA #15 (March 1976), a science fiction zine portrays two stoic science fiction fans in an elevator at a con surrounded by Star Trek fans, art by Steve Stiles and Dan Steffan 
Naturally, as Star Trek / media fandom became more established, it developed its own set of "in"-speak and ground rules. With the publication of slash fanfiction in the 1980s paranoia about using U.S. mail to distribute pornography created a clandestine, underground atmosphere. "Gatekeeper" practices evolved, with the word feral used to describe people who began participating in Trek fandom without an introduction.
===Star Trek and Other Early Media Fandoms===
See Star Trek and Star Wars. 
See: Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek. 
See: Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch.
See: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Influence on the Sime~Gen Universe. (much talk about Trek)
See Darkover and Star Trek.
==Meta/Further Reading==
See Timeline of Star Trek Meta for further examples.
* Lessons From Star Trek: Leadership, Teamwork, Decision-Making (1990)
* Ship of Fools: Star Trek on the Silver Screen by Greg Kuchmek 	 (irreverent recaps of the movies, full of spoilers) (1994?)
* by Boylio on September 6, 2010
* Just what level of “don’t ever fuck with us” is Starfleet? by lj-writes on tumblr (May 04, 2018)
* By Emily L. Hauser (February 17, 2020)
* by wongbol on tumblr on February 22, 2020. -- A humorous overview of the Star Trek franchise.
==External Links==
*Definitive Guide to Star Trek Fanfiction on the Web
*Complete Starfleet Library: Star Trek Books
*I Hear Star Trek: A Guide to the Audios
*Memory Alpha Star Trek Wiki (for info from canonical Star Trek material)
*Memory Beta non-canon Star Trek Wiki (for info from apocryphal Star Trek material, such as novels, comic books, RPG sourcebooks, video games and other licensed work)
*My Star Trek Scrapbook (collection of period press clips, publicity material and fan contributions featuring magazine/newspaper interviews, articles, rare photos, behind-the-scenes material)
*Star Trek Comics Checklist: A Guide to Star Trek Comics and Graphic Novels
*Star Trek Expanded Universe Wiki (for Star Trek fanworks, such as RPGs, fan fiction and fan films)
*
*Star Trek Fandom in Australia, National Library of Australia, Accessed April 22, 2013
*Star Trek Prop Authority (for info about props, costumes, auctions, interviews, just about everything else)
*Toon Trek: References to Filmation's Star Trek: The Animated Series
*Trek BBS (discussion forums for all Star Trek topics)
*Trek Core (screencaps, multimedia, publicity photos and such for all series and movies)
==Resources==
==Notes==
==References==
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