Star Trek: The Original Series

   

   

   

The Original Series

The sub-titleThe Original Series is used to distinguish it from its sequel series, and from the largerStar Trek franchise. The sub-title is used on some products, such as DVDs, however novels (until 2013) and comics continue to titleTOS publications simply asStar Trek.

Overview[]

Star Trek the TV series, and many of the subsequent stories, chronicled thevoyages of thestarshipEnterprise, under the command ofCaptainJames T. Kirk on its Five-year mission of exploration through theAlpha andBeta Quadrants in the late2260s. The series later spawned amovie-series, which, along with fiction in other formats, continued the adventures of Kirk and his crew through to the end of the23rd century and onto a new ship; theEnterprise-A.

ManyTOS stories focus on the three figure heads of theEnterprise; CaptainJames T. Kirk, first officer and science officerSpock and chief medical officerLeonard McCoy. These are commonly accompanied by chief engineerMontgomery Scott, communications officerNyota Uhura, helmsmanHikaru Sulu and navigatorPavel Chekov. Other prominentEnterprise crewpersons include nurseChristine Chapel and yeomanJanice Rand, navigatorArex Na Eth, and communications officerShiboline M'Ress, the latter two originating fromThe Animated Series.

While the majority ofTOS stories are based on the voyages of theEnterprise, the series also encompasses the careers of the primary and supporting characters before, after and away from theEnterprise as well as the larger interstellar politics of the era. Other prominent settings for the series include theUSSExcelsior, under the command of formerEnterprise crewmanHikaru Sulu, and stories set well into the24th century with the various adventures of theTOS characters in later periods ofStar Trek history. AdditionallyTOS stories encompass the voyages of theEnterprise preceding Kirk's command, under captainsRobert April andChristopher Pike.

In the most recent iteration of the series, in the filmStar Trek, the original characters feature in a newtimeline, which split from theprime reality in2233 when the starshipNarada traveled back in time; attacking theUSSKelvin on arrival and in the process killing James T. Kirk's father. As a result this timeline develops differently, but eventually does seeJames T. Kirk and the familiar crew stationed on theUSSEnterprise.

See alsoUSSEnterprise personnel,USSEnterprise-A personnel, andUSSEnterprise personnel (Kelvin timeline).

Media[]

Episodes and movies[]

In its original run,seventy-nine episodes ofThe Original Series were produced before the series was canceled at the end of its third season. The live-action episodes were followed by a twenty-two episode animated series, also calledStar Trek, though commonly referred to asStar Trek: The Animated Series. In2006 the original live-action episodes began to receive a digital face-lift, with the original footage being carefully restored, and the original special effects being replaced with new high definition CGI effects.

Following from the TV series the original cast returned for a series of sixfeature films set in a period after the original episodes. A seventhTOS movie, the eleventhStar Trek film in total was released in2009; the new film sees the original characters recast, and set in an alternate timeline earlier than the original tv series.

Prose[]

Off the screen the first originalStar Trek story wasMission to Horatius published byWhitman Publishing, followingBantam Books' first collection ofnovelizations,Star Trek, (later re-titledStar Trek 1 after a series of them was being released) adapted byJames Blish. Bantam took on theStar Trek license, producing this series of novelization collections by Blish adapting the television episodes, a selection of "Fotonovel" adaptations of episodes, and a series of original novels by a variety of authors, starting withSpock Must Die!, also by James Blish. Bantam produced a total of thirteen volumes (Star Trek 1 throughStar Trek 12 plusMudd's Angels by Blish's wife,J.A. Lawrence, including the first two Mudd stories plus an original Mudd tale), fourteen fotonovels (twelve from the series and one each fromThe Motion Picture andThe Wrath Of Khan), thirteen original novels and two original short storyanthologies.

Meanwhile in the 1970s a separate license was awarded toBallantine Books to produce novelizations of the episodes ofThe Animated Series, all were adapted byAlan Dean Foster. In1977Random House (the parent company of Ballantine) produced four illustratedStar Trek books aimed at a younger audience, two of which were pop-up books.

In1979, coinciding with the release of the firstStar Trek movie,Star Trek: The Motion Picture,Pocket Books took over as the publisher ofStar Trek prose. Pocket kicked off their line with a novelization of the movie, which was also number one in their line ofnumbered novels. Pocket producednovelizations of subsequent movies and continued their numbered novel line on until 2002 withIn the Name of Honor at number ninety-seven. As several Star Trek mini-series of novels were starting to be released they gave up the long series of numbered novels and began utilizing straight titles.

In addition to their regularpaperback numbered series Pocket produced occasionalunnumbered novels inhardcover and larger-sized paperback format, starting in1986 withEnterprise: The First Adventure. By the time Pocket wound down its numbered series they had begun to publish more stand-alone novels andminiseries in the standard paperback format, as well as shorter prose works published collectively inanthologies.

Amongst the unnumbered novels Pocket has published a series of books byWilliam Shatner, the actor who playedJames T. Kirk, which bring Kirk back to life in the 24th century, and otherwise explore the life of Kirk. These novels are generally not referenced by other novels to avoid confusion.

Original Series stories have appeared in many of the crossover miniseries Pocket Books have published, includingInvasion!,Day of Honor,Double Helix,The Captain's Table,The Badlands,Section 31,Gateways,The Brave and the Bold,Mirror Universe &Myriad Universes,

In2006 Pocket celebrated the40th Anniversary ofThe Original Series with a wide range of publications, including the reprinting of several classicTOS novels, andTOS's firsteBook miniseries;Mere Anarchy.

Pocket Books have also created two new series based off ofThe Original Series; in2001 theNew Earth miniseries served as the jumping-off point for theStar Trek: Challenger which had its own novel and novella the following year as part of theGateways crossover series (though to date those two stories remain the only publications in theChallenger series). In2005 Pocket launched a second spin-off series;Star Trek: Vanguard, which chronicles the adventures of the crew of StarbaseVanguard, paralleling the events ofThe Original Series episodes to expand on history and setting of that era.

AdditionallyTOS characters play prominent roles in several books inThe Lost Era series, which spans the period of time between theTOS andTNG eras. The character ofMontgomery Scott has a recurring role in theStar Trek: Corps of Engineers series, including theFoundations miniseries set in theTOS-era, which established theUSSLovell which later appeared in otherTOS-eraCoE stories, including crossovers with theVanguard series.

In2010 Pocket Books also started to publish original stories set in theKelvin timeline of the movieStar Trek, starting with ayoung adult novel series,Starfleet Academy.

Comics[]

Like prose publicationsThe Original Seriescomics also began to be published shortly after the series’ debut and have been published by almost every company to obtain theStar Trek comics license since. The firstStar Trek comic wasThe Planet of No Return, published byGold Key Comics in1967, Gold Key continued to publish Star Trek comics until 1979, producing sixty-one issues in total.

In theUnited Kingdom aseparate series ofStar Trek comics was produced between1969-1973, presented as a weekly comic strip in the genre magazinesJoe 90: Top Secret,TV21, andValiant. A total of thirty-seven story arcs were released over two-hundred-and-fifty-six issues. An additional eleven one-off stories were published in issues of theJoe 90 annual,Radio Times,TV21 annual,Valiant Super Special, and theMighty TV Comic Annual.

From1975 to1979,Peter Pan Records released a series ofStar Trek stories on LPs. Six of these stories were also presented as comic books which accompanied some releases of the records.

In1979McDonald's released several short comics in their promotion ofStar Trek: The Motion Picture. They produced six short strips adapting scenes from the film, and five short strips telling original stories.

In1980, following the release ofThe Motion Picture,Marvel Comics launched a new line of comics. Their series ran for eighteen issues over two years.

Also following from the release ofThe Motion Picture was aseries of comic strips published in US newspapers. Over four years the series of over one-thousand-four-hundred separate strips completed twenty different story arcs.

In1984 the comics license moved again, this time toDC Comics. DC began with an ongoing series which ran for fifty-six issues, three annuals, a special two partWho's Who in Star Trek publication and adaptations of the latest movies, until1988.

Following a brief pause, DC began a new regular series, which ran eighty issues, six annuals, three specials and several miniseries and one-shot issues until DC finally finished withStar Trek comics in1995.

In1996 Marvel Comics returned to theStar Trek license. On their second run Marvel produced several distinct series, the firstTOS series beingStar Trek: Early Voyages, which over seventeen issues chronicled the voyages of theEnterprise under Captain Pike. A five-part miniseriesStar Trek: Untold Voyages depicted the voyages of theEnterprise between the filmsStar Trek: The Motion Picture andStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan andTOS stories also appeared in most issues of theStar Trek: Unlimited series and two one-shots;Fragile Glass andStar TreX.

In1999WildStorm Comics took on theStar Trek license. They produced relatively fewTOS comics, just two one-shots;All of Me andEnter the Wolves, and a selection of short comics in the anthologyStar Trek: Special.

In2006TokyoPop published their first book ofStar Trekmanga. Their first three books made up theStar Trek: The Manga series, which told fourteen stories from the five-year mission era.

In2007IDW Publishing picked up theStar Trek license. Initially they chose to concentrate only onTOS andTNG comics, and as such have produced numerousTOS stories. IDW's firstTOS miniseries wasKlingons: Blood Will Tell, which retold several episodes of TV series from the Klingons' point-of-view. They have gone on to produce severalTOS miniseries, exploring both the standardTOS setting in series such asYear Four, and more obscure angles on the series in series such asAssignment: Earth. Elements ofTOS have also appeared in crossover miniseries such asAlien Spotlight andCountdown.

In2009 a short (six-page) comic was published in an issue ofWired magazine. The story, "When Worlds Collide: Spock Confronts the Ultimate Challenge", was a tie-in with the latestStar Trek movie which was to be released shortly after, and was written by the film's writers. The issue of the magazine was edited by the film's director.

Audio books[]

The firstStar Trek audio productions were released byPeter Pan Records between1975 and1979. The company produced eleven original stories which they released in varying combinations as twenty-three different records, sometime with accompanying comic book versions of the stories (which were made for six of the stories).

FollowingPocket Books' holding of theStar Trek prose publication license,Simon and Schuster Audioworks have produced audio adaptations of numerousStar Trek novels. The company has also produced a limited number of original audio productions: Three stories, in theCaptain Sulu Adventures series, which feature Sulu as commander of the USSExcelsior; and two released in theAlien Voices series, both featuring debate betweenSpock, andQ (from theStar Trek: The Next Generation series).

Video games[]

Unlike prose and comic products, video games were not produced as early as the 1960s beginning ofTOS as the technology for video games was only in the early stages of development at that time. The firstStar Trek video games began to appear in the1980s, with releases forarcade games and home computers such as theApple II,Commodore 64 andDOS systems. As computer technology developedTOS video games advanced, two of the major early produces ofTrek games wereSimon & Schuster Interactive andInterplay, primarily producing games for thePC.

The early2000s saw the release of relatively fewTOS games, as the license holder at the time,Activision, concentrated on games set in later eras of the franchise. Activision dropped their license in 2003, and several companies have since producedTOS games; includingTDK, who released themirror universe centered gameShattered Universe for thePlaystation 2 andXbox consoles;Jumbuck Entertainment Ltd who released twoTOS games formobile and PDA devices; andBethesda Softworks who madeTactical Assault, forSony PSP andNintendo DS. Most recentlyTOS games have been released to tie-in with the latestStar Trek movie; several small free games have been distributed using the internet, andD-A-C was released as a downloadable game forX-box 360,Playstation 3 andPC

Elements ofTOS have also appeared in a number of multi-series games:Starship Creator included severalTOS starship designs and characters; the gamesLegacy andEncounters both feature stories spanning the entireStar Trek franchise, so include significant proportions based onThe Original Series; and the gameStar Trek Online, while primary set in the25th century does include TOS elements through general references and time travel.

RPGs[]

The Original Series also has a strong presence inStar Trek RPGs. The first company to produceStar Trek RPG books,Heritage Models, published only the core rulebookAdventure Gaming in the Final Frontier and a series of miniatures to support it. A supplement and adventure were released years apart inDifferent Worldsmagazine.FASA published numerousTOS installments though the1980s, with just two of its later publications focusing onTNG. Eleven adventures were also released in FASA'sStardate andStarDrive magazines.

The tides changed whenLast Unicorn Games took on the RPG license, releasing just threeTOS books between1998 and2000.Decipher released no exclusivelyTOS books, instead publishing a series of supplements incorporating elements from the entireStar Trek franchise.

Beginning in2017, the most recent company to publishStar Trek RPGs,Mōdiphiüs Entertainment, focused on theTNG era, but has released aTOS-specific core rulebook and a number ofTOS adventures.

Reference works[]

The firstStar Trek in-universe reference work wasStar Trek Blueprints published byBallantine Books in1975, following this Ballantine published a handful of otherTOS references.Bantam Books also published oneStar Trek reference work in1980,Star Trek Maps. Following these early examples publication of reference books was then taken up byPocket Books who produced a small number ofTOS derived books.

Following the launch ofStar Trek: The Next Generation in1987, and the other subsequent spin-off series, there has only been one purelyTOS reference book published,Captain Kirk's Guide to Women, in2008. The bookThe Worlds of the Federation was predominantlyTOS based content, but does also include information from the first season ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.

Other reference books tend to be pan-franchise; theStar Trek Chronology andThe Star Trek Encyclopedia encompass the entire franchise (at the time of publication). While other reference books find a niches in theStar Trek universe to explore, such as:Q's Guide to the Continuum,The Tribble Handbook,Cookbook,Celebrations,Starship Spotter,The Starfleet Survival Guide,Star Charts andShips of the Line.

There have also been a number of books detailing and exploring the Klingon language starting withThe Klingon Dictionary in1985, with other books following:The Klingon Way,Klingon for the Galactic Traveler &The Klingon Hamlet.

Beyond prose works anotherTOS reference work was published byDC Comics in a comic book sized format, illustrated throughout;Who's Who in Star Trek.TOS content can also be found inStar Trek reference magazines such as theStar Trek Fact Files andStar Trek: The Collector's Edition.

As well as in-universe reference works there have also been a number of behind-the-scenes books detailing the production of the series, starting withThe Making of Star Trek, published by Ballantine Books in1968. Pocket Books followed this withThe Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and a handful of otherTOS books, as well as books on the wholeStar Trek franchise, such asThe Art of Star Trek,Aliens & Artifacts,Star Trek 101 and the guide toStar Trek prose worksVoyages of Imagination.

Other media[]

In addition to its RPG,Decipher have also produced theStar Trek Customizable Card Game since1994, which encompasses the entireStar Trek franchise, including numerousTOS based cards.

TOS imagery can also be found in theShips of the Line calendars. The2006 edition of the calendar featured exclusivelyTOS based imagery as part of the celebrations of the series'40th anniversary.

As part of the promotional campaign for the2009Star Trek movie severalwebsites were created, both by Paramount and by promotional partners with the film. These include Intel'sStarfleet Shipyard and Paramount’sDossiers section on the movie's official website andExperience The Enterprise.

Appendices[]

External links[]

• Star Trek: The Original Series article atMemory Alpha, the wiki for canonStar Trek.
• Star Trek: The Original Series article atWikipedia, the free encyclopedia.