starlog star trek

The History of 'Starlog' and Science Fiction Journalism 

The sci-fi news magazines of the past created the future we live in.

In 1986, Mark A. Altman was a young Trekkie serving as the editor of his college newspaper. Seemingly out of nowhere, he was invited to the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation . The invitation put him on his professional trajectory, an arc that took him from student journalist and part-timer for the The Boston Globe to renowned science fiction journalist.

“I was a kid when this happened; Paramount sent this list of suggestions on how to write about The Next Generation ,” Altman remembers, “and like number 26 on the list was ‘visit the set.’ So I did, and it was a big deal: I got to see all the new uniforms, the ship, everything, way before that show came out.”

Writing for the bygone print magazines Starlog and Cinefantastique , writers like Altman existed in an earlier, far less formal version of the fan service universe we live in today. Now instead of in-depth conversations, journalists wait all day at carefully pre-planned junkets for three-minute interviews, while fans pick apart blurry set photos and wait in line for days to intake in a panel at Comic-Con. The small world dominated by Starlog, Cinefantastique , and a few other magazines has expanded into a gigantic commercial universe of science fiction and fantasy culture. “Geek journalism” now is very different than its Starlog roots. So how did we get here?

Starlog was founded in 1976 by Norm Jacobs and Kerry O’Quinn. Both worked in print media in the ‘60s, and prior to Starlog , they published a magazine about soap operas called Daily TV Serials . O’Quinn originally planned to make Starlog a high-quality Star Trek -only fan magazine. “But they couldn’t get the Star Trek license from Paramount, so they threw some other sci-fi stuff in the mix,” Ed Gross, who wrote for the magazine, tells Inverse . “And that was a year before Star Wars came out, which changed everything.”

Gross’s career began in a way wannabe journalists could only dream of now: He found filmmaker Christopher Columbus’s name in the phone book and interviewed him about Gremlins and Young Sherlock Holmes. Gross sold the article to Starlog , and the rest was history.

Ed Gross's first sale to 'Starlog'; an interview with Chris Columbus about 'Gremlins' and 'Young Sherlock Holmes.'

Gross’s editor was David McDonnell, Starlog ’s longest-tenured editor. He began his career writing a column for The Buyer’s Guide For Comic Fans , and was hired by Starlog in 1982. By 1985, he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine and held that position until the publication ended its run in 2009.

“We may have been entertainment journalism, but we were still journalism,” McDonnell tells Inverse . To this day, McDonnell still feels that what the magazine did was no different than what other news organizations that covered the real world would do. “We may have covered bug-eyed monsters, time-travelers and superheroes — all sorts of fictional fodder — but we had journalistic standards,” he explains.

With a circulation of roughly 100,000 per issue, and at least 15,000 paid subscribers at its peak circulation in 1982, Starlog was the most well-known of the early sci-fi magazines. It led to some close encounters with the people it covered, many of which involved the classic cast of the original Star Trek . From steak dinner with Deforest “Bones” Kelley, to being kissed by Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original Star Trek ), the Starlog boss rubbed elbows on the regular with some of the biggest geek icons of the 20th century, the kind of access that would make a contemporary journalist space-alien green with envy.

“Back then, everyone loved Starlog because they wouldn’t publish anything bad,” Mark Altman says, in effect providing a retort to McDonnell. In the ‘80s, Altman contributed the occasional article to Starlog but ended up writing primarily for the rival sci-fantasy magazine called Cinefantastique.

McDonnell maintains his magazine did in fact run risky or negative coverage from time to time. “Stories angered plenty of publicists, agents, producers, occasional studio executives, and interviewees over the years,” he says. He cites an article that was critical of Roger Moore’s performance as James Bond; Starlog discovered that Bond-producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli was rather displeased with the publication. Broccoli didn’t retaliate, but instead, granted more access, not less, killing with kindness. “Amazingly, Broccoli later agreed to do a rare interview with us,” McDonnell says.

Despite its size and scruples, Starlog wasn’t the only sci-fi game in town. “It was fantastic,” Mark Altman says of writing for Starlog , “but my heart was in writing for Cinefantastique , which was much more sophisticated, eclectic and in-depth.”

Founded ten years before Starlog , the coverage of sci-fi, fantasy and horror in the pages of Cinefantastique was often more harsh. “ Cinefantastique took the genre very seriously. We never considered ourselves a fanzine,” Altman says. “The first thing I ever wrote for them was an investigative piece about the revolving-door of the writers’ room on Star Trek: The Next Generation . Everyone was writing these sort of obsequious suck-up pieces, but I did something different, and I talked to everyone.”

LEFT: Blade Runner issue of Cinefantastique in 1984. RIGHT: Mark Altman's investigative 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' piece in the March 1989 issue.

In 1986, Gross tracked down the screenwriters of Superman IV and got an exclusive interview sneak peek of the next big DC superhero movie. He also had a connection with J.J. Abrams during his time making Alias . “J.J. was great,” he remembers. “He’d get you anything you wanted and help you speak to virtually everyone.” And when Alien: Resurrection was in development, Gross found a fledgling writer named Joss Whedon to interview him about writing the script. “How many Joss Whedon’s could there be in the phone book? There was only one. So I called him. And I had a connection with him that lasted for years ,” Gross says.

“Back then, it was a different world,” Altman says. “You didn’t have DVDs with all this behind the scenes material, you didn’t have these licensed magazines, and you didn’t have the internet. There was a hunger to get people to cover these things, and publicists were eager to work with you, not control everything. I would spend days on the set of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine . That’s unheard of these days.”

The 1990s saw sci-fi reporters get even bolder. After leaving Cinefantastique in 1991, Altman launched a new print magazine funded by Hustler ’s Larry Flynt. “ Sci-Fi Universe was snarkier and we criticized the powers that be,” Altman says. But there began to be consequences to this real-talk; as “geek” media began to enter the mainstream, the studios became threatened by negative backlash, even more than in the early Starlog days. And they had new outlets to contend with.

Altman's Sci-Fi Universe sometimes billed itself as "the magazine for science fiction fans with a life."

Sci-Fi Universe went out of business in 1999, and Cinefantastique shut down its print run in 2006; and though Starlog existed in print and digital form until 2009, the majority of serious conversations about film and TV science fiction eventually moved to the internet. Harry Knowles’s Ain’t it Cool News was an early pioneer of the internet’s Wild West of nerd conversations and film criticism that sprung from message boards and newsgroups. Ain’t it Cool shaped geek media of the early 21st century, partly because it was a more agile version of the snark that defined Altman’s Sci-Fi Universe and did not have the constraints of a glossy magazine that required a lot of advertising dollars.

“We scared the studios early on,” Drew McWeeney, an early AICN contributor tells Inverse . “They had no idea who we were and couldn’t figure out how to find a way into the conversation.”

McWeeney wrote for Ain’t it Cool under the name “Moriarty,” a moniker given to him by Knowles because he viewed McWeeney, at least at first, as a kind of antagonist.

McWeeney’s initial interest in writing for Ain’t it Cool stemmed from his desire to fight the “broken” system of test screenings of film releases, specifically corruption within the National Research Group, a market research organization that gauges early audience reactions to films. “There was a huge break in the way filmmakers thought and what studios thought. For a studio, the message of a test screening could be: Kill this thing. That disconnect bothered me.” Essentially, McWeeney viewed the machinations of NRG as a tentacle strangling the artistry of the films themselves. Writing about films objectively for Ain’t it Cool was part of a way to remedy that injustice.

And yet, McWeeney believes that Ain’t it Cool ultimately failed in its mission of being at totally independent entertainment publication. At some point, these sites have to make money, and to maintain both access and the freedom to be critical for a profitable online publication is, in McWeeney’s estimation, impossible. “Writers who still do this now are the frog in the boiling pot of water. They don’t feel it getting hot around them,” he says. “99 percent of what exists in these online outlets, exists to serve the studios … the studios view entertainment journalists as an arm of publicity.”

In between the age of Starlog and the present day, superhero movies became immensely more popular and financially viable: first in 2002 with Spider-Man and then again in 2008 with Iron Man and the rise of the new Marvel films. Simultaneously, from 2005 to 2010, the crusty British TV-Travel drama Doctor Who got a sexy makeover. Star Wars fandom went from nostalgists bemoaning George Lucas’s mistakes to a multi-billion dollar juggernaut. Comic-Cons sprouted up across the world, and cosplaying went from anthropological curiosity to a profitable niche industry.

This mainstreaming of geek interests only created more publications willing to cover this material. In addition to Starlog and Cinefantastique , there were a few other similar publications like Fantastic Films , Cinema Odyssey , Future Life , and Cinemagic .

But now there countless entertainment news outlets, and then ones that focus on sci-fi and fantasy greatly outnumber the publications in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Because science fiction and fantasy is a bigger business now, and even more publications make it their business to write about it, the studios have tightened their grip on access accordingly.

The challenges online sci-fi and fantasy journalists face today are vaguely similar to those of McDonnell, Gross, and Altman in the Starlog era, only now it’s much worse. These days, writing anything too negative about a big property can cost you your access nearly 100% of the time. The kindly and forgiving Cubby Broccolis are a relic of the past. “The studios figured out access was the one thing they could control more tightly,” McWeeney says. The popularity and mainstreaming of science fiction and fantasy made the niche experts less, not more, important. Once studios realized they didn’t need to grant such extensive access, they stopped doing so, he suggests.

There is now a definite hype cycle online. “It used to be about a movie you could see,” says McWeeney, “but now, once a movie is out, everyone is on to the next thing.”

For Gross, the future of the world of geek journalism has changed a lot since its Starlog -ed past. But Gross finds those personal touches are missing: “Now journalists get one interview, the same experience, and the stories are all pretty much the same.”

Reflecting on how things have changed since his days editing Starlog , McDonnell feels like contemporary blogs freely “mix opinion with news.” But it doesn’t bother him, too much. “I view blogs as columns,” he says, “where it really is often more about the writer than what he (or she) is writing about.”

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 02: Mark Altman, Gabrielle Stanton, Dave Rogers and Edward Gross attend the panel discussion 'Galaxy Quests: The humor of Star Trek and beyond' during Star Trek: Mission New York at Javits Center on September 2, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Altman now writes and produces for television and movies. And with exception of the occasional book — like last year’s Trek oral history, The Fifty Year Mission (co-written with Gross) — he’s retired from journalism.

Gross still freelances in the field which he helped chart in the ‘80s, but he sorely misses those deeply personal connections he once had with the creators of the science fiction and fantasy that he loves. The days in which Gross could call up a big writer or director on the phone and talk for hours are sadly long gone.

“After The Avengers ,” Gross says, “I couldn’t ever get hold of Joss again.”

Every issue of Starlog is available online for free in a digital archive . Some digital versions of Cinefantastique are similarly archived online.

• Science Fiction
• Internet Culture

Starlog was a multi-fandom, professional magazine with a media science fiction focus.

There was much fannish cross-pollination in its content, not just because of the topics covered, but also due to its sometimes-support of fanworks and the bridging between the pro and fan world regarding articles and commentators.

The entire run of "Starlog" WAS available online via the Internet Archive here .

From a 1978 ad: "STARLOG is now the most potent advertising force in the science-fiction field. Send a note on your letterhead for a copy of our new rate card, and discover how economically the force can be with YOU!"

The UK counterpart is Starburst .

In 2016, Kelly O'Quinn said:

When we started Starlog in 1976, it was kind of an in-between period. Star Trek was only in reruns and it was before Star Wars, Close Encounters, or any of those things. The way that Starlog came about is that we used to package magazines for other publishers on whatever subject they wanted to do. A publisher came to us and said, "We want one on Star Trek ," which was great. We put together what was essentially the first issue of Starlog, with a complete episode guide and all of that. It was completely on Star Trek. We gave that to the publisher and a few weeks later he comes back and says, "We've discovered that Paramount owns the rights to Star Trek and they won't let us publish this because it would need to be a licensed product and we can't afford to do a magazine just on Star Trek. So we can't pay you and we have to give you back all of these materials." They did, but it was such good stuff, so I said, "Instead of doing a magazine on just Star Trek, let's do a magazine that I've always wanted to do on science fiction, and we'll just use this material for a few issues. But we'll do it about the whole world of science fiction." That's how Starlog was born. The first issue sold better than anyone except me expected, so the distributor let us go from quarterly to bimonthly, and then when Star Wars came out and made the cover of Time magazine and became the biggest thing in Hollywood, we went monthly. Suddenly science fiction was the hot item and just as suddenly we were the voice of science fiction. [1]

Starlog was a monthly science-fiction film magazine published by Starlog Group Inc. The magazine was created by publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs. O'Quinn was the magazine's editor while Jacobs ran the business side of things, dealing with typesetters, engravers and printers. They got their start in publishing creating a soap opera magazine. In the mid-1970s, O'Quinn and high school friend David Houston talked about creating a magazine that would cover science fiction films and television programs. O'Quinn came up the idea of publishing a one-time only magazine on the Star Trek phenomenon. Houston's editorial assistant Kirsten Russell suggested that they include an episode guide to all three seasons of the show, interviews with the cast and previously unpublished photographs. During this brainstorming session many questions were raised, most notably legal issues. Houston contacted Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry with the intention of interviewing him for the magazine. Once they got his approval, O'Quinn and Jacobs proceeded to put together the magazine but Paramount Studios, who owned Star Trek, wanted a minimum royalty that was greater than their projected net receipts and the project was shelved. O'Quinn realized that they could create a magazine that only featured Star Trek content but without it being the focus and therefore getting around the royalties issue. He also realized that this could be the science fiction magazine he and Houston had talked about. Many titles for it were suggested, including Fantastic Films and Starflight before Starlog was chosen. (Fantastic Films was later used as the title of a competing science fiction magazine published by Blake Publishing.) To keep costs down, Starlog was initially a quarterly magazine with the first issue being published on August 1976. The issue sold out and this encouraged O'Quinn and Jacobs to publish a magazine every six weeks instead of quarterly. O'Quinn was the magazine's first editor with Houston taking over for a year and then replaced by Howard Zimmerman when Houston was promoted to the "Hollywood Bureau." Zimmerman was eventually succeeded by David McDonnell . One of the magazine's milestones was its 100th issue, published on November 1985 and featured who they thought were the 100 most important people in science fiction. This included exclusive interviews with John Carpenter , Peter Cushing , George Lucas , Leonard Nimoy , and Gene Roddenberry . The magazine's 200th issue repeated the format of the 100th issue but this time interviewed such notable artists as Arthur C. Clarke , Tim Burton , William Gibson , Gale Anne Hurd , and Terry Gilliam . Starlog was one of the first publications to report on the development of the first Star Wars movie, and it also followed the development of what was to eventually become Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The magazine was devoted to science fiction films, television series, and books. Many fans of this long-running magazine considered its heyday to have been the 1980s with very little substance to the content in later years and many of its long-time contributors having since moved on. But it continued to boast some top-flight genre journalists, including film historians Will Murray, Jean-Marc Lofficier and Tom Weaver. It was one of the longest-running and most popular publications of its type. It published its 30th Anniversary issue in 2006. On Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at approximately 11 a.m. a warehouse, operated by Kable News, in Oregon, Illinois containing back issues of Starlog and Fangoria burned to the ground. [2]

Fan Comments

In case you haven't seen it yet, there's a new magazine on the market that relates to Star Trek. It's called STARLOG, and it is a professionally produced magazine with something for anyone interested in s-f, comics, fantasy, and especially Star Trek. It is very media oriented, focusing on TV shows and movies, and for the most part, ignoring books. It does announce some upcoming books, but not much. However, it is very well done, and it is published by fans and for fans. So far it has been well-worth the $1.50 cover price. DAVID HOUSTON is the editor, and he has done a fine job for the past three issues. Issue 4 should be out around February 15 at most newsstands. [3]

Further Reading

• Giant Freaking Robot , December 16, 2014
• ^ from "The Fifty Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, published in 2016 by St. Martin's Press
• ^ from the intro at the Internet Archive
• ^ from Star Trekkin' #7 (1976)
• 1970s Zines
• 1980s Zines
• 1990s Zines
• 2000s Zines
• Multimedia Zines

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Starlogs: A review of a free to download solo RPG/framework for Star Trek RPGs

August 19, 2021 by Andrew Girdwood Leave a Comment 💰 Links may earn ad money

Whether you want to play Star Trek Adventures from Modiphius or the free to download World of Dungeons-based Phasers + Photons you’ll be frustrated without both a GM and a gaming group.

So, Qwo has a solution in the form of the free to download Starlogs . It’s a framework for solo play.

I know, I’ve just mentioned two freebies; Phasers + Photons and Starlogs . Both are by Qwo, so if you’re a sci-fi RPG fan then they might well be worth following on Itch.io.

Starlogs is a generous 24 pages long for a freebie. It’s not quite a full RPG if you’re looking for a traditional game engine, but if you have your own house system, then you won’t need one. Otherwise, Starlogs is best thought of as a framework.

The concept of “automatic episode” is put to excellent use and is easy to learn. The core concepts stretch only a few pages. The rest of the download isn’t filler; it’s handy tables for NPCs, locations and events.

Using Starlogs

Begin with a mission.

Set the scene, either through your imagination, a table here or a pre-written scenario for a Star Trek or other sci-fi RPG that you’re trying to solo.

Then, control your character and have them do whatever makes in-character sense. Starlog’s Probability Matrix will tell you how NPCs react.

You will also check the Probability Matrix whenever details are uncertain.

Each episode is divided into scenes, as RPG scenarios tend to be, and in Starlogs framework, you progress through scene, after scene, at your own place and setting the scene each time.

If your character fails, or you’re not certain what happens next, then there’s a “Complications!”. That’s another roll on a Starlogs table to determine the incoming curveball. Once you’ve done this six times, there’s an escalation, and you start adding +1 to these rolls.

Alternatively, but only once per episode, you can take a “B-Story”. If you complete that, then all future “Complications!” rolls are also made at +1.

You’re done once the mission has concluded, either in success or failure.

I can’t fault Starlogs. It’s free!

What would make the framework better? More of the same; we could expand all the tables and cross-link them more (such as B-Stories triggering other generators or alien race generators starting a chance of reoccurring NPCs).

I think downloading a copy of Starlogs is a no-brainer. Even if you don’t imagine you’ll be soloing any time in the future, you can use Starlogs for GM or even PC background inspiration.

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Starlog: Star Trek's Greatest Guest Stars: Star Trek's Guest Stars Mass Market Paperback – December 11, 1996

• From the pages of Starlog. the world's most authoritative unofficial Star Trek guide.
• Filled with candid interviews, articles, and actor profiles, this unique collection is certain to become a collector's item.
• The Star Trek phenomenon continues with top-rated TV series including Voyager and Deep Space Nine. and production underway on a new Star Trek: The Next Generation feature film.
• Print length 256 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Harper Voyager
• Publication date December 11, 1996
• Dimensions 4.25 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches
• ISBN-10 0061056626
• ISBN-13 978-0061056628
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager (December 11, 1996)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061056626
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061056628
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches
• #13,779 in TV, Movie & Game Tie-In Fiction
• #95,074 in Performing Arts (Books)
• #655,779 in Science Fiction & Fantasy (Books)

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Where To Watch Every Star Trek TV Show and Movie in Order

Published on.

Rachel Ulatowski

Official JustWatch writer

Paramount has ushered in a new era of Star Trek. Following the conclusion of Star Trek: Discovery , the studio ordered multiple new series and began developing the TV movie Star Trek: Chapter 31 , which will star Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh. Given its revitalization, now is the perfect time to delve into the franchise. This guide will demonstrate where and how to watch every Star Trek movie and TV show in order.

The Star Trek franchise began in 1966 with the premiere of Star Trek , also known as Star Trek: The Original Series. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the sci-fi series follows Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) as they guide the Enterprise on a mission of intergalactic space exploration. While the show received poor ratings during its three-season run, broadcast syndication and reruns breathed new life into the franchise, garnering it a cult following after its 1969 cancelation.

Following the show’s re-evaluation, Roddenberry convinced Paramount to continue the original series on the big screen with Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Although it wasn’t a huge box-office hit, it did well enough to earn five more sequels, for which Roddenberry was a consultant.

As Star Trek: The Original Series remained one of the most popular syndicated TV shows years after its release, Paramount and Gene Roddenberry began working on another live-action series: Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series takes place aboard a new Enterprise one century after the events of the original series, with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) at the helm. Along with his crew, Captain Picard carries on his predecessors' mission of exploring new worlds.

Star Trek: The Next Generation also continued on the big screen after its conclusion, receiving four feature films. While films like Star Trek: First Contact were well-received, Star Trek: Nemesis was a critical and financial failure. The failure of Star Trek: Nemesis was followed by another blow as the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled amid low ratings.

Paramount switched directions on the big screen and released what many consider a “reboot” trilogy. However, the films aren’t an official reboot as they merely explore an alternate timeline known as the Kelvin Timeline and see Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto take over as Captain Kirk and Spock, respectively.

While the Kelvin Timeline film series played out, Star Trek went on a hiatus on the small screen. After a 12-year break, Paramount revived the franchise, aiming to create Star Trek shows specifically for its streaming service, CBS All Access (now Paramount+). In 2017, it released Star Trek: Discovery, followed by a new round of shows, including Star Trek: Picard , which continued Captain Picard’s story after Star Trek: The Next Generation.

There are no signs of the franchise slowing down, with the first TV movie, Star Trek: Chapter 31, on the way and Paramount showing interest in further Star Trek TV films, theatrical films, and shows.

How to watch the Star Trek franchise in order

Viewers can watch the Star Trek franchise either by release date order or chronologically. Those hoping to watch chronologically should know that the Kelvin Timeline trilogy takes place outside of the timeline of the other shows and movies, so they can technically be watched at any point. Star Trek: Short Treks also does not fit in the chronological order as it is an anthology series. Additionally, viewers may have to jump between shows occasionally due to time jumps in series like Star Trek: Discovery.

See below for the chronological order of every Star Trek show and movie:

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1 - 2

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star trek ii: the wrath of khan, star trek iii: the search for spock, star trek iv: the voyage home, star trek v: the final frontier, star trek vi: the undiscovered country, star trek: the next generation, star trek: generations, star trek: first contact, star trek: insurrection, star trek: nemesis, star trek: deep space nine, star trek: voyager.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 3 - 5

Viewers can also watch the Star Trek franchise by the release date order detailed below. Read on to find out where to stream every Star Trek movie and TV show in the United States!

Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew. The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, roughly during the 2260s. The crew is headed by Captain James T. Kirk, first officer Spock, and chief medical officer Leonard McCoy. Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose: The series was produced from 1966-67 by Desilu Productions, and by Paramount Television from 1968-69. Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8, 1966 to June 3, 1969. Although this television series had the title of Star Trek, it later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began. Star Trek's Nielsen ratings while on NBC were low, and the network canceled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. Nevertheless, the show had a major influence on popular culture and it became a cult classic in broadcast syndication during the 1970s. The show eventually spawned a franchise, consisting of five additional television series, 12 theatrical films, and numerous books, games, toys, and other products.

The animated adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.

The starship Enterprise and its crew is pulled back into action when old nemesis, Khan, steals a top secret device called Project Genesis.

A surprise visit from Spock's father provides a startling revelation: McCoy is harboring Spock's living essence.

When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize earths oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.

Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.

A renegade Vulcan with a startling secret hijacks the U.S.S. Enterprise in order to find a mythical planet.

After years of war, the Federation and the Klingon empire find themselves on the brink of a peace summit when a Klingon ship is nearly destroyed by an apparent attack from the Enterprise. Both worlds brace for what may be their deadliest encounter.

At Deep Space Nine, a space station located next to a wormhole in the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, Commander Sisko and crew welcome alien visitors, root out evildoers and solve all types of unexpected problems that come their way.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves at odds with the renegade scientist Soran who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme...and he's been dead for seventy-eight years.

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is 75 years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.

When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to defend the planet's people as well as the very ideals upon which the Federation itself was founded.

During the mid-22nd century, a century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

En route to the honeymoon of William Riker to Deanna Troi on her home planet of Betazed, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise receives word from Starfleet that a coup has resulted in the installation of a new Romulan political leader, Shinzon, who claims to seek peace with the human-backed United Federation of Planets. Once in enemy territory, the captain and his crew make a startling discovery: Shinzon is human, a slave from the Romulan sister planet of Remus, and has a secret, shocking relationship to Picard himself.

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.

Star Trek Into Darkness

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Star Trek Beyond

The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

Star Trek: Discovery

Follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.

A Star Trek IV plot point could be revisited in Star Trek: Prodigy's 2nd season

I t's fair to call Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home the most light-hearted of all the films in the franchise. It features the, now, former crew of the Enterprise, going back in time to 1980's San Francisco in an attempt to save the whales. Yup. It's jampacked with some silly but memorable moments like Spock dropping a Bay Area punkard with the Vulcan Nerve Pinch and being met with a round of applause on the bus for doing so.

It's filled with sweet little moments like this, but the biggest and most defining aspect is the crew's quest to save the whales, specifically the humpback whales. It's one of the elements that have defined the series for decades, and now, it's about to share that element with another piece of Star Trek lore.

In recent screenshots for Star Trek: Prodigy season two ( obtained by TrekMovie.com ), we see what looks to be a humpback whale in some form of container. Rok-Tahk, the young Brikar on the crew, seems to be amazed at the presence of the creator. Not surprising, as humpback whales can be well over 40 feet long in most cases.

They're impressive creatures, so it makes sense that Rok-Tahk would be mesmerized by them. Yet, considering the show's penchant for revisiting abandoned or forgotten ideas every so often, it's far more likely this whale is in trouble and the crew is trying to figure out a way to get it home.

It's also possible that this is a time-travel episode. Considering the second season will have a heavy time-travel element to it, the former crew of the Protostar may be in or around the same era of San Francisco that James T. Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise crew were.

If that's the case, that'll set up some interesting plot points to pay attention to. Yet, it's unlikely the show goes that far with this reference. It's far more likely the whale is part of a separate plot, completely independent of The Voyage Home.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as A Star Trek IV plot point could be revisited in Star Trek: Prodigy's 2nd season .

Screen Rant

“i love bill shatner”: how star trek v’s villain actor sees sybok will change how you see spock’s brother.

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To Me, William Shatner’s Movie Star Trek V Is Great Comfort Food

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• Laurence Luckinbill saw his character, Sybok, as a complex figure searching for God, resembling Lenin's transformation into a dictator.
• Luckinbill refused to have Sybok armed with weapons, wanting to portray him as a peaceful seeker, which director William Shatner supported.
• Despite mixed reviews, Luckinbill praised Shatner's directing, valuing the opportunity to play the tragic and Shakespearean role of Sybok.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 's Laurence Luckinbill shares how he sees Sybok and credits director William Shatner for helping him realize his vision. Shatner cast Luckinbill as the villain of the fifth Star Trek movie after seeing the lauded stage actor's performance as President Lyndon B. Johnson in Lyndon . As Sybok, Luckinbill played a holy man who was the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). However, Sybok was no mere heavy, and the emotional Vulcan was unlike previous Star Trek movie villains.

Laurence Luckinbill appeared on All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcast hosted by Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster to promote his memoir, "Affective Memories," and to mark the 35th anniversary of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . When Pascale asked Luckinbill how he saw Sybok as the actor portraying the Vulcan, Laurence gave a fascinating response . Listen to the podcast in the link above and read Luckinbill's quote below:

It was written a bit like a villain, except there was this search for God. Well, we’re all searching for God, aren’t we? In some way… After I accepted the role, [I met with William Shatner] and he asked, ‘How do you see the character?’ And I said, ‘Lenin.’ Vladimir Ilyich Lenin… Lenin had a great dream that he could free Russia. He could make it all good and better for the people. But as he gradually got into it, and he felt the obstacles rushing against him, he gradually turned into a dictator. And that’s where Sybok was headed because he made that choice. And then he stole the Enterprise. And that was the first big action, which was a theft. And gradually, as the [movie] moved along, and we got to that last scene where I exchange hands with Leonard, with Spock, my brother, and then sacrifice myself to save him, to this evil god. Which was, to me, Shakespearean. It was tragic, and I played it that way.

Regarding Sybok originally being armed with rock guns or weapons in Star Trek V 's script, Luckinbill said no and explained his reasoning to William Shatner:

I said I don’t want to because I am the human part of Spock. I am a peaceful person. Sybok is a peaceful person. He is looking for God. He is looking for help. He’s looking to relieve pain. Why would he carry a gun around? So Bill eventually said, ‘Well, we’ll fix that.’ And he did. We were able to do a big fight, and the gun wasn’t important. I actually love Bill Shatner. So he was a good director for me. Other people complained about him. I don’t.

William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a comforting watch with enjoyable banter, a compelling villain in Sybok, and good intentions.

Sybok Is Unlike Other Star Trek Movie Villains

There hasn't been a villain like sybok before or since.

Among Star Trek 's movie villains , Sybok is unique and stands apart. Most Star Trek movie villains follow the mold of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . The vengeance-lusting, scenery-chewing Khan set the standard for Star Trek movie villains, and the films have tried to replicate Montalban's iconic heavy, without the same success. Star Trek 's cinematic Big Bads like Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Shinzon (Tom Hardy) in Star Trek: Nemesis , Nero (Eric Bana) in Star Trek (2009), and Krall (Idris Elba) in Star Trek Beyond have all tried to be Khan's second coming.

Khan literally had a second coming in Star Trek Into Darkness , with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan in Star Trek 's alternate Kelvin Timeline.

As Laurence Luckinbill explained to TrekMovie , Sybok is cut from a different cloth than Khan. Sybok is not driven by revenge or a lust for power. Sybok is a Vulcan holy man, a believer who seeks God and the answer to the universe's greatest questions. Sybok's folly is that he was manipulated by a malevolent alien posing as God (George Murdock) . But when he realizes his grave error, Sybok saves his brother, Spock, and sacrifices himself at the end of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . Sybok is tragic in a Shakespearean sense, just as Laurence Luckibill played him.

Source: All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcast

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Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 finally has a Netflix release date, and it’ll arrive before Paramount Plus’ Starfleet Academy

Get ready to explore more strange new worlds

There's good news for fans of Star Trek: Prodigy this week: Netflix has officially set a July 1 release date for season two of the kid's show, marking an end to the long wait since the first season wrapped in 2022 and beating Paramount Plus' Star Trek : Starfleet Academy that's expected to air in 2025.     

Netflix saved the popular Star Trek animated series in October 2023 – after Paramount Plus canceled and removed it from its platform – and gifted it to subscribers on Christmas day on December 25 last year, where it quickly became one of the 10 most-watched series in six different countries. 

'STAR TREK: PRODIGY' has reached #9 on Netflix's Kids Top 10 in the US today.The series has reached the Netflix Top 10 lists in six different countries and counting. pic.twitter.com/v6euLnuUlT December 27, 2023

Its continued streaming success is unsurprising given the many #SaveStarTrekProdigy fans that bought Blu-ray copies of season one – the show was one of the 20 most sold for the week ending September 30, 2023, based on NPD VideoScan data. For those that didn't have one the best 4K Blu-ray players , it was a welcome sight to see it reappear on Netflix.

Will there be a Star Trek: Prodigy season three? 

Eager to find out if the six young alien outcasts will continue their Starfleet ship adventures after season two? While there's been no word from Netflix yet, the show's creators Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman did tell Virtual Trek Con's  Star Trek and Chill  podcast in January (see video below) that season two does set the stage for more episodes.     

"[The end of season two] really wraps everything you want out of seasons one and two, but really opens the door to what season three potentially could be. Whether that hits now, or in five years or whenever the time is right, it'll feel natural, which I'm really happy about," Hageman told the podcast. 

Star Trek shows have had a mixed run of renewals and cancelations of late, with Paramount Plus renewing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds but canceling Star Trek: Lower Decks in April, making the highly-rated show's upcoming fifth season, its last. If you're wondering how to watch Star Trek in order , then we've put together a guide to show where the series chronologically fit in with the movies.

All episodes from the first season of Star Trek: Prodigy are streaming on Netflix now. 

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Amelia became the Senior Editor for Home Entertainment at TechRadar in the UK in April 2023. With a background of more than eight years in tech and finance publishing, she's now leading our coverage to bring you a fresh perspective on everything to do with TV and audio. When she's not tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos in the ever-evolving world of home entertainment, you’ll find her watching movies, taking pictures and travelling.

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The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine

From issue #12 onwards, the magazine underwent a slight restyle. Instead of its front and back covers being made from card, the publication began to be published with paper covers. Also, though the images in the first eleven issues were one page in size at the most, three-page gatefold posters were included in all the subsequent issues. These posters were often either publicity stills of the regular cast members or taken from episodes aired around the time of each issue's publication, though the images also included Tuvix in issue #13, Amelia Earhart and Danara Pel in issue #14, The Clown in issue #16, and a behind-the scenes photograph of Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips (without makeup and in casual clothing rather than costumes) in issue #18.

The magazine's first issue was published with a variant cover wherein a portion of the card was holographic. Also, the cover of issue #17 asked "who's really alien?", giving options as Tuvok , Seven of Nine , Harry Kim , Neelix , the Hirogen , and B'Elanna Torres . The answer given on the same issue's contents page was, " None of them, of course. They're played by Human actors. As for the characters, only Ensign Kim is fully Human. "

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Published Jun 20, 2024

The Official Trailer and Key Art for Season 2 of Animated Series Star Trek: Prodigy Is Here

Season 2 will premiere with all 20 episodes on July 1 exclusively on Netflix in the U.S. and select countries around the world.

StarTrek.com

CBS Studios debuted the official trailer and key art for the second season of the original animated kids' series, Star Trek: Prodigy . The hit series will premiere all 20 episodes on Monday, July 1 on Netflix in select countries around the world. Season 1 episodes of the series are currently available on Netflix.

In Season 2, these six young outcasts who make up the Prodigy crew are assigned a new mission aboard the U.S.S. Voyager -A to rescue Captain Chakotay and bring peace to Gwyn's home world. However, when their plan goes astray, it creates a time paradox that jeopardizes both their future and past.

The Star Trek: Prodigy voice cast includes Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), Brett Gray (Dal), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Angus Imrie (Zero), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), John Noble (The Diviner), and Jimmi Simpson (Drednok).

Season 2 recurring voice cast members include Robert Beltran (Captain Chakotay), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Jason Alexander (Dr. Noum), Daveed Diggs (Commander Tysess), Jameela Jamil (Ensign Asencia), Ronny Cox (Admiral Jellico), and Michaela Dietz (Maj’el).

Developed by Emmy Award winners Kevin and Dan Hageman ( Trollhunters and Ninjago ), along with Alex Kurtzman and his team at Secret Hideout, the CG-animated series Star Trek: Prodigy is the first Star Trek series aimed at younger audiences and follows a motley crew of young aliens who must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search of a better future.

"We deeply appreciate our fans who have stood by us and our passionate crew who made this all possible. The work speaks for itself, but it's the heart that will endure," said co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman about the Season 2 release.

Star Trek: Prodigy received a 2023 TCA Award nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming" along with a 2022 Children's and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Series, and production designer, Alessandro Taini, won the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

Star Trek: Prodigy is from CBS' Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm; Nickelodeon Animation; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers, alongside co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman. Ben Hibon directs, executive produces and serves as the creative lead of the animated series. Aaron Waltke and Patrick Krebs also currently serve as co-executive producers. Star Trek: Prodigy is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star Trek: Prodigy will stream on Netflix globally (excluding Canada, Nordics, CEE, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Mainland China) and Season 1 is currently available on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe with Season 2 coming soon. Season two has launched in France on France Televisions channels and Okoo.