by Emily Maesar, Associate Editor, TVJawn

Star Trek, as a franchise, exists in its current form because of syndication. A constant stream of the show made the fanbase grow past the few, but strong, selection of people who were willing to write letters and protest the show’s cancellation. So, when the final episode aired in early June of 1969, there was a predictable amount of fandom, a lot of it completely in the most modern of senses. But it wasn’t until January of 1972, over two and a half years later, that Star Trek fans pulled themselves out of the hallowed halls of general science-fiction conventions and did the unthinkable: they made their own. (Also, I recognize that you could make a drinking game out of how many times I’ve said “syndication” during Captain’s Log, but you might die!)

The specific Star Trek conventions were started by a small group referred to as “The Committee,” which was the group who organized and ran a lot of the fan efforts to get the show renewed. “The Committee” was also the name for a group organized in 1967, which had Roddenberry and several well-known science-fiction authors - which seems like a clear-cut reference point for the fans. 

Chronicled in Star Trek Lives! (which is, perhaps, one of my favorite of the books about Star Trek from its contemporary era) fans Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston wrote extensively about the first convention. Particularly Joan, whose chapter “I Should Never Have Answered the Phone” is about her time as the publicity chairman for the event. The original estimate of people was only a few hundred, but by the end of the convention that number had climbed to several thousand. They did an art show, a costume contest, show prints on 16mm, and even had a display provided by NASA. 

The legend himself, Gene Roddenberry, came to the convention, along with Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel, but also his wife), and writer for the series D.C. Fontana. Isaac Asimov also made an appearance because why not! Oscar Katz, the former Desilu executive who was a pivotal part in the show getting made, was also a guest speaker - making his one, and only, public appearance related to Star Trek. 

Needless to say, the first Star Trek convention was a success. And it only solidified that there was still a market for new material in the franchise - a realization that Paramount would soon take to heart.

In 1973, Star Trek: The Animated Series aired on Saturday mornings. Lasting for 22 episodes over two seasons, the series was lopsided in how those numbers actually played out with the first season having 16 episodes and the second, and final, season only having six. Originally in talks during the third season of The Original Series, the proposed animated show was meant to target a younger audience and be mostly educational in nature. There’d be a new ship (called the Excalibur) and it would be the crew we know and love, training a teenage crew for adventure. Shout out to the Vulcan boy named Steve who never got to be. (As a side note, this ends up being what the new animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy, is kind of like. Though it has Captain Janeway from Voyager at its helm, it’s a spiritual successor to the original idea for The Animated Series, which I think is neat!)

However, because of Roddenberry’s relationship with Paramount, which was basically toxic at that point, the series, as originally imagined, never materialized. So, by the time The Animated Series got off the ground, the educational show with a new, teenage crew was scrapped for a much more classic series of adventures with the original crew of the Enterprise.  

But money talked, and with how successful Star Trek still was, and on the heels of events like the first convention, a deal was reached in early 1973, which gave Roddenberry complete creative control and a budget of $75,000 per episode (a little more than $488,000 per episode in today’s money). It was agreed that the show would be all-ages, rather than pointedly for children, however the voice casting was a bit of a sticking point. 

Originally, the only cast members they were going to bring on were William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Majel Barrett. Which… yeah. That leaves Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Walter Koenig out of a show they helped build (and it’s worth noting that two of those actors are people of color, which doesn’t seem… not on purpose, despite what Lou Scheimer from Filmation might say). However, Nimoy, ever the mensch, realized what was happening and refused to voice Spock if Nichols and Takei weren’t added to the cast. Koenig, however, was not able to be added due to budget - though to appease Nimoy’s complaints on Koenig’s account, they ended up buying a script from him (“The Infinite Vulcan”), and made it in the first season.

So, beyond all the behind-the-scenes conversations and issues that had to happen to make Star Trek: The Animated Series actually air in the fall of 1973, there are a few things that are uniquely suited to the new show. For one, they were able to do much more elaborate and lush sci-fi stories, without having to worry about the budget and technological limits of making things look good in live-action. This is clear right from the beginning, and even extends out to the crew - which is much more alien-based than it was in The Original Series. Spock is about as alien as the main crew gets, but in The Animated Series you see characters like Lieutenant Arex and Lieutenant M'Ress on the bridge crew. Arex was a stand-in for Checkov, since Walter Koenig wasn’t involved vocally in The Animated Series, and M’Ress served a similar function on the bridge as Uhura, despite Nichelle Nichols being in the series. 

The year after The Animated Series ended, the next frontier for Star Trek began with the 1975 development of a film set in the universe. Roddenberry was allocated a few million dollars to start working on the script. That first script was originally called The God Thing, but ended up not being what the studio was looking for, much to Roddenberry’s disagreement (though elements of the story ended up in various pieces of Star Trek media, including Star Trek V: The Voyage Home).

Once they eventually got a script in working condition, a massive feat that’s worth reading about if you’re interested in the messy machinations of screenwriting for a large franchise, there came the budget issues. Starting at an already expanded budget of $8 million (around $40 million today), before they finally settled on a script, the final budget for Star Trek: The Motion Picture ended up being $44 million (close to $224 million but today’s standards). At least, that’s the reported budget - you know how these things go. But money wasn’t the only problem - in fact, it was more a symptom of all the issues. 

The film, released in 1979, did make back its budget, allowing the second film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to not feel like a mistake. Though Paramount was very strict on keeping the budget down and the shoot running on time, something the first film seemingly couldn’t manage. And in 1982, the best year for nerdy films, Wrath of Khan was released. Made on a $12 million budget (about $35 million today), the film remains one of the most critically successful pieces of Star Trek media. 

I recently saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on 35mm here in Los Angeles. American Cinematheque was showing it as part of a 1980s series, and because the film hit its 40th anniversary this year. This month, actually. It’s wildly considered to be the best of Star Trek films, and my controversial opinion is that it’s actually not. It’s an amazing film, certainly one of the best sci-fi films ever made, but part of wrestling Roddenberry out of his creative control for the film (because of what had happened on Star Trek: The Motion Picture) means that Wrath of Khan actually functions much more like the action, sci-fi of its time, and less like Star Trek specifically. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’ve always thought that it's interesting when people consider it the best of Star Trek, because by my estimation it feels the least like it.

But controversial takes aside, it’s a remarkable feat of filmmaking and is a turning point for the popularity of Star Trek to an even wider audience. Something I do find kind of funny is that Star Trek Into Darkness as a loose remake of Wrath of Khan faced similar leaks as the original. For Wrath of Khan it was that Spock died at the end, a piece of information that was widely shared long before the film came out. Which, of course, enraged fans of the franchise, because Mr. Spock was the ultimate of fan favorites. The production’s publicity viewpoint was to go radio silent at the rumors and let the audience decide for themselves how they felt, once they saw it, despite the leaks - which were, more than likely, coming from a soured Gene Roddenberry. The leaks for Into Darkness, however, were the nature of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character - and if he was Khan or not. He is, and it’s wild what a miscalculation everything about that film is!

Following the success of the first two films, and his characters seeming death, Leonard Nimoy worked out a deal (because of his death in Wrath of Khan) to direct Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, turning out some equally financially and critically successful films. 

However, with the sustained popularity of Star Trek on television, still going strong seventeen years after being canceled, Paramount executives felt like they were squandering an opportunity to bring new Star Trek to television and cash in on the success of the show and films. The biggest obstacle, though, was that after both time and four films, Shatner and Nimoy’s salaries were just too high to even consider bringing them back to star in a new series. 

Which means it was time for a new crew on the bridge of the Enterprise. The Next Generation, if you will.