(Last Updated On: June 1, 2022)

Gene Roddenberry’s galaxy-spanning Star Trek saga premiered on NBC on September 8, 1966, and helped to turn science fiction television from tired tropes to a genre rich in multi-layered suspense, ethnically diverse characters, and real-world issues. Even though it wasn’t a massive success at the time.

Star Trek built a devoted following that existed through an animated series, long-running film franchise, and other live-action television series from the late 1980s.

Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Theodore Sturgeon, and Harlan Ellison (who received a Hugo Award for his episode “City on The Edge of Forever”). They were among the show’s notable authors, including Isaac Asimov, who formed a friendship with Roddenberry.

Star Trek Facts

To mark the occasion, let’s take a look back at the pioneering season. The Enterprise crew went on far-flung peacekeeping and rescue missions. Responded to distress calls on distant worlds and faced off against warmongering aliens.

Although much has been written about this legendary show, there still seems to be something new to discover.

Facts about star trek
source:: imdb

Although much has been written about this legendary show, there still seems to be something new to discover. Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about star trek “one of the most well-known science fiction franchises ever:”

1. George R. R. Martin was on the verge of writing a script for the show

There’s no doubt that George R. R. Martin is a legend in the world of fantasy, but you may be shocked to hear that he also has a deep background in science fiction.

Martin won several Hugo Awards for his work in the science fiction genre before creating one of the most successful high-fantasy book series of all time and directing a hugely influential television adaptation for it.

He applied for a job in the writing room for an early season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Based on these credentials and the fact that he had contributed to many other projects while working as a television writer in Los Angeles.

Martin seemed like the ideal choice to write the sci-fi / action-adventure series, which surprised everyone when he was turned down after only one interview. However, it turned out that the problem had nothing to do with his credentials.

Facts about star trek
source:: rollingstones

Instead, Martin was turned down by a producer who had utterly misunderstood the nature of the show. Even though this is an inaccurate interpretation, the producer pitched the new Star Trek series as a “people story” with nothing to do with its sci-fi veneer.

Martin would have been a perfect choice to help write the show from the beginning. As it was a mix of humanist philosophy and campy science fiction when it was first released.

2. Captain Pike was in front of Captain Kirk

Mr. Spock was the only holdover on the bridge when the classic team appeared in the first official episode, and the unaired pilot “The Cage” (which eventually premiered on home video in 1986) featured an almost entirely different cast and crew.

Facts about star trek
source:: digitalspy

Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter, The Searchers) was kidnapped by telepathic aliens for psychological experiments involving a human woman.

The original pilot was also actually quite good, but the crew lacked the warmth and diversity that would eventually emerge. If you are an adventure and sci-fi lover and never heard of this show you will love these facts about star trek.

3. Patrick Stewart acted in all of the torture scenes naked

Picard was played by Patrick Stewart, who rose to prominence in British theatre. It’s no wonder that he took the episodes as seriously as any Shakespeare monologue he’d been asked to deliver.

Facts about star trek
source:: ew

Stewart insisted on a closed and private set to ensure that his torture scenes had the right amount of gravitas, and he also shot all of his scenes naked. These serious acting skills and presentations make facts about star trek interesting.

4. Good references

Like The Simpsons, Futurama, and The Big Bang Theory, many series have made references to Star Trek. All shows that follow the motto “Live long and prosper.” These facts about star trek show how influential and impactful these series were.

Facts about star trek
source:: pinterest/bigbangtheory

5. Teleportation was developed as a cost-cutting measure

If you ask a non-Trekkie to make a Star Trek reference, they’re likely to say, “beam me up, Scotty!” or something along those lines. That’s because the transport room has been an iconic part of Star Trek since the show’s inception.

Making crew members teleport down to alien planets may seem quintessentially Star Trek. Yet, the feature was only created by the writers for one reason: to keep costs down.

Star Trek: The Next Generation had a surprisingly low budget for the first few seasons since it was Paramount’s lowest priority. As a result, the show had low-quality costumes and sets and a limited budget for special effects, which is problematic for a science fiction show.

The limitations and improvisation are the basis of improvement. These facts about star trek explain the introduction of teleportation to the audience

Facts about star trek
source:: escapistmagazine

6. Woman was the original number one

Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry’s girlfriend, and future wife was Kirk’s first officer in the original pilot (who also had to deal with the Captain’s presumptions about women on the bridge).

Her character was reportedly disliked by test audiences because she was pushy and wanted to be like the guys. Still, modern audiences would not think of either of those things.

Captain Kathryn Janeway, who starred in Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 to 2001, was finally the first female Captain in the Star Trek universe.

Facts about star trek
source:: tvfanatic

7. Space Wars

In the mid-2000s, George Takei, who played Sulu in the original series, called for a cease-fire between Star Wars and Star Trek fans to unite against Twilight fans. Vampires, werewolves, and monsters, oh my!

8. One of the show’s most well-known lines was copied

When asked to do something outside of his training and medical experience, Bones will say a million different versions of “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!” In reality, that phrase has become ingrained in popular culture.

However, it wasn’t original and was adapted from a 1933 film called The Kennel Murder Case by the show’s authors.

9. The greenish skin of Spock was originally meant to be red

Spock’s skin has a faint green hue to it, but it was originally intended to have red skin. However, since most households only had black and white televisions in the mid-to-late 1960s, his skin would look very dark.

Facts about star trek
source:: memoryalpha

Spock, on the other hand, appeared to be very green in one early episode. That day, someone mixed up the color palette. One has to wonder if the ability to see the shows in color during their subsequent syndicated runs brought in new audiences. Also encouraging loyal fans to re-watch the episodes in a way they had never seen before.

10. Education in the Starfleet

Being a die-hard Trekkie will win you a $500 scholarship from the Starfleet Foundation for Post-Secondary Education. Who said watching television was a waste of time?

11. A great deal of star trek technology became a reality

When looking back at the original series, a lot of the used technology eventually became real. The communicators are similar to modern cell phones, similar earpieces worn by Uhura and Spock to Bluetooth devices.

The Universal Translators are similar to modern voice recognition software. Tricorders are similar to NASA’s LOCAD-PTS portable biological lab, and the use of interactive video screens (telepresence) is similar to modern video conferencing.

These convincing facts about star trek’s contribution to technology are acknowledgeable.

12. Kirk and Spock bonded in real life

Off-screen and on-screen, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (who played Kirk and Spock, respectively) were great friends.

In a 2016 interview, Shatner said that he had never had a close relationship with another man before meeting Nimoy on set.

13. The series is connected to Stanley Kubrick

Gary Lockwood first appeared in the episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which was the third episode of season one.

His character attained godlike abilities, leading him to become enamored with power and posing a grave threat not just to the Enterprise but to the entire galaxy.

Before appearing as an astronaut on the Jupiter mission sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

14. Best guests

This is one of the fun facts about star trek as Stephen Hawking is the only person who has appeared on the show. Data, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton all joined him in a poker game.

15. Star Trek was in a way the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Despite the lack of ass-kicking women on the original series, Star Trek was the forerunner to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and other similar shows. They were not rating winners but successfully reached the main audience every week.

When Roddenberry’s show was canceled after just three seasons. NBC’s advertising department reportedly protested to programming executives because, despite the low ratings, the show was meeting the target audience.

This is one of the motivating facts about star trek: gaining an audience with its impactful presentation within a limited budget.

16. Over 125-star trek related video games have been released

Since 1971, over 125 video games have been made based on or inspired by the Star Trek series.

Starting with a text game written in BASIC in 1971, a standup arcade game in 1972, and later early computer and gaming systems including the Commodore 64 and Atari 5200, all the way up to the current PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

17. Brain drains

One of the lowest-rated episodes of the original series was “Spock’s Brain.” The attack was so unintentionally amusing that the word “Spock’s Brain” came to be used to describe television that was so bad it was funny.

18. Race against the time

Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura are credited with providing the first interracial kiss on television in the original series. Many viewers were disappointed, although critics and fans praised the show for its courage. These facts about star trek even show some trend-breaking stuff that was much needed at those times.

19. Redshirt

Red-shirted crew members were the lowest-ranking in the original series and were often killed off as props to communicate impending danger to the blue and gold-shirted characters who were more vital to the plot. As a send-off to all the fallen red shirts, The Next Generation made red shirts the highest grades, though blue and gold remained prominent colors.

20. Shoot for the stars

Gene Roddenberry, the original Star Trek series producer, was a WWII pilot and plane crash inspector. He was in several plane crashes, the last of which happened when he was the pilot. Shortly after that, he started flying and began working on the original Star Trek.