Brian J. Robb - A Brief Guide to Star Trek

Brian J. Robb is a writer and biographer whose previous books have included a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biography of Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio; Screams & Nightmares, the definitive book on horror director Wes Craven; Counterfeit Worlds, exploring the life and work of Philip K. Dick; and a series of acclaimed film star biographies. For over ten years he was the managing editor of The Official Star Trek Magazine.

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BRIAN J. ROBB

Constable & Robinson Ltd

5556 Russell Square

London WC1B 4HP

www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2012

Copyright Brian J. Robb 2012

The right of Brian J. Robb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication data is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-84901-514-1

eISBN 978-1-84901-822-7

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

First published in the United States in 2012 by Running Press Book Publishers, a Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

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US ISBN 978-0-7624-4439-7

US Library of Congress Control Number: 2011933252

E-book ISBN 978-1-84901-822-7

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

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For Paul Simpson,
whose valuable feedback and Star Trek brainstorming sessions
helped immensely to focus and shape my thinking.

Chapter 1 Evolution: Star Trek Creator
Gene Roddenberry

Chapter 3 Where No One Has Gone Before:
Star Treks First Year

Chapter 6 Persistence of Vision: The Original
Cast Movies

The job of Star Trek was to use drama and adventure as a way of portraying humanity in its various guises and beliefs. Star Trek is the expression of my own beliefs using my characters to act out human problems. Gene Roddenberry

Whether you are relatively new to Star Trek, having enjoyed the J. J. Abrams blockbuster movie from 2009 or the sequel, or a fan of the show whos been following the various series and movies since the US debut of the original in 1966, it is clear that this iconic television show that struggled through its first three years on air has to adapt the worlds of the Vulcan Spock lived long and prospered.

The phenomenon of Star Trek has been much studied, from features in the popular media and in-depth academic analysis to fan commentary and internet flame wars. The forty-five-year history of the franchise has been dissected every which way in an attempt to discover the reasons for its success, longevity and cultural impact why has Star Trek been so long-lasting when other science fiction TV series have fallen by the wayside, and why have its various iterations on screens large and small been so popular?

This is not an academic tome, but a critical cultural history of Star Trek. Its an in-depth look at how the various series and movies were made, the creative forces driving them, what their cultural impact was and what it all means. The book will examine how Star Trek changed through the decades and how it perhaps eventually failed to change enough with the times to escape ossification and irrelevance, requiring a dramatic re -invention to save it. It will also look at what the future might be for the Star Trek concept, assess what the series impact has been on viewers, and consider the unstoppable growth of Star Trek fandom.

Star Trek now spans five distinct television series (six, if you include the often overlooked early-1970s Star Trek: The Animated Series) and eleven movies, from 1979s Star Trek: The Motion Picture to J. J. Abrams 2009 reinvention, which has led to a new series of movies to take the franchise through the next decade and maybe beyond.

While many have pointed to the way Star Trek has reflected and critiqued the ethical, social and philosophical issues of our times and attempted to depict progressive gender, class and racial representations so offering a hopeful and positive vision of the future of humanity the secret of the success of the series is much simpler: its all down to great storytelling.

The genius of Gene Roddenberry in creating Star Trek was to tackle those serious and important issues through well-told science fiction action-adventure tales that appealed to a mass audience. It was the unusual stories and unforgettable characters that first attracted curious television audiences in the 1960s, while the forward-looking ideas presented by the series turned many of those viewers into lifelong fans.

Legend elevates Roddenberry known to fans as the Great Bird of the Galaxy to the status of sole creator of Star Trek. However, while his important role as the instigator of the series and author of its concept should not be undervalued (three times, no less: in its original 1960s incarnation, its reinvention as a series of movies and its return to television in the 1980s), Roddenberry himself wasnt necessarily the most successful Star Trek storyteller. In fact, Star Trek has enjoyed more success when under the control of other storytellers, as this book sets out to demonstrate.

Among the host of others who have put their stamp on the concepts of