Thomas D. Parham - Hailing frequencies open: Communication in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Book 67

CRITICAL EXPLORATIONS IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
(a series edited by Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III)

Earlier Works:www.mcfarlandpub.com

Recent Works: 42The Heritage of Heinlein (Thomas D. Clareson and Joe Sanders, 2014)

The Past That Might Have Been, the Future That May Come (Lauren J. Lacey, 2014)

Environments in Science Fiction: Essays (ed. Susan M. Bernardo, 2014)

Discworld and the Disciplines: Critical Approaches to the Terry Pratchett Works (ed. Anne Hiebert Alton, William C. Spruiell, 2014)

Nature and the Numinous in Mythopoeic Fantasy Literature (Christopher Straw Brawley, 2014)

J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy (Deke Parsons, 2014)

The Monomyth in American Science Fiction Films (Donald E. Palumbo, 2014)

The Fantastic in Holocaust Literature and Film (ed. Judith B. Kerman, John Edgar Browning, 2014)

Star Wars in the Public Square (Derek R. Sweet, 2016)

An Asimov Companion (Donald E. Palumbo, 2016)

Michael Moorcock (Mark Scroggins, 2016)

The Last Midnight: Essays (ed. Leisa A. Clark, Amanda Firestone, Mary F. Pharr, 2016)

The Science Fiction Mythmakers: Religion, Science and Philosophy in Wells, Clarke, Dick and Herbert (Jennifer Simkins, 2016)

Gender and the Quest in British Science Fiction Television (Tom Powers, 2016)

Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James Gunn (Michael R. Page, 2017)

Wells Meets Deleuze (Michael Starr, 2017)

Science Fiction and Futurism: Their Terms and Ideas (Ace G. Pilkington, 2017)

Science Fiction in Classic Rock: Musical Explorations of Space, Technology and the Imagination, 19671982 (Robert McParland, 2017)

Patricia A. McKillip and the Art of Fantasy World-Building (Audrey Isabel Taylor, 2017)

The Fabulous Journeys of Alice and Pinocchio: Exploring Their Parallel Worlds (Laura Tosi with Peter Hunt, 2018)

A Dune Companion: Characters, Places and Terms in Frank Herberts Original Six Novels (Donald E. Palumbo, 2018)

Fantasy Literature and Christianity: A Study of the Mistborn, Coldfire, Fionavar Tapestry and Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Series (Weronika aszkiewicz, 2018)

The British Comic Invasion: Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison and the Evolution of the American Style (Jochen Ecke, 2019)

The Archive Incarnate: The Embodiment and Transmission of Knowledge in Science Fiction (Joseph Hurtgen, 2018)

Womens Space: Essays on Female Characters in the 21st Century Science Fiction Western (ed. Melanie A. Marotta, 2019)

Hailing frequencies open: Communication in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Thomas D. Parham, III, 2019)

The Global Vampire: Essays on the Undead in Popular Culture Around the World (ed. Cait Coker, 2019)

CRITICAL EXPLORATIONS IN
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, 67

Series Editors Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3657-3

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Control Number: 2019943095

2019 Thomas D. Parham III. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover images 2019 Shutterstock

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To the memories of my parents, T. David Parham, Jr., and Marion Cordice Parham, who never quite understood my rabid fascination with a television show about space heroes but encouraged me nonetheless, and to the memory of Gene Roddenberry, who enticed generations of fans to dream of life in that final frontier.

John Donne wrote, No man is an island, which is certainly the case with this book.

First, I would like to acknowledge my graduate school mentors, Dr. Gillette Elvgren, Dr. Darlene Graves, Dr. Michael Graves, Dr. Terry Lindvall, Dr. Doug Tarpley, Dr. Elaine Waller, and Professor John Lawing, as well as three of my United States Naval Academy English professors who inspired me before each of them shuffled off this mortal coil, Dr. Mary Howland, Dr. Nancy Wicker, and Dr. John Wooten.

Thanks to my dean, Dr. Stephen Johnson, and my chair, Professor Greg Michael, for sabbatical leave and release time to complete this project.

Special recognition to Wendy Mathias, for teaching me the joy of lex back in ninth grade. And a shout-out to my former colleagues at Viacom Consumer Products: Paula Block, Harry Lang, and Pam Newton.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Mark A. Altman, Ira Steven Behr, Kenneth Biller, David Gerrold, John Lemay, David Maddox, the late Richard Matheson, Jean Louise Matthias, Kevin Miller, Ronald D. Moore, Josh Rubinstein, P. K. Simonds, Jeri Taylor, and Ronald Wilkerson. Being able to interview people responsible for Star Trek and/or who share my love for it and other science fiction truly added depth and breadth to my research.

Many of my friends have helped me complete this task in one way or another: Thom and Lauri Deason, Erik and Jennifer Elvgren, Frank and Sheila Holley, Jim and Jill Lincoln, Ali Marie Matheson, Matt and Leslie Melton, Artie Terry, Alex and Judith Wainer, Tyler and Emily Welch, Julie and Jeremy Wieand, and Paul and Paula Williams.

Finally, I express appreciation to my family: Mae Pouget & Lane Thurmond, Evangeline Greene, Noel Cruz Adams, and my wife, Sarah Joy Adams. Thank you all for your love and encouragement.

On September 8, 2018, the Television Academy honored Star Trek with the prestigious Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. Bill Nye, the Science Guy, led the proceedings and called Gene Roddenberrys creation a social commentary on the state of humanity brilliantly disguised as science-fiction. Star Trek may have started out as an entertainment series, but it changed the world. And I feel it changed the world for the better (StarTrek.com). However, when the series debuted on NBC exactly 52 years earlier, the event transpired with little fanfare. Allan Asherman comments, The September 14 issue of Variety contained a negative review of Star Trek, stating that the series wont work. The reviewer called it dreary and confusing but conceded the leading performers were trying very hard to be credible. He concluded that Star Trek would be better suited to the Saturday morning kidvid bloc (31).

In the five decades since its debut, Star Trek has developed from a short-lived network television series into a cultural phenomenon. Although the original series only lasted for 79 episodes, it has spawned an animated series, 13 successful motion pictures that grossed an aggregate of more than $1.4 billion, and five spin-off television shows (so far), not to mention countless novels, comic magazines, and other merchandise.