Rhino
01-18-2008, 09:47 AM
1- The original Star Trek was canceled early on
That first series, often referred to today as Star Trek: The Original Series (or TOS for short) aired 79 episodes over three seasons on NBC, from 1966 to 1969, and earned 14 Emmy nominations (notably, two for Best Dramatic Series, and three for Outstanding Supporting Actor for Leonard Nimoy). A fierce letter-writing campaign by fans of the show allegedly saved it from cancellation in 1968, but in each season, the network moved the show to a different, and progressively less desirable, time slot. The series premiered at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights, but by its final season it was relegated to Friday nights at 10 p.m., airing its final episode on June 3, 1969....
2- A Next Generation character was named in honor of a Trekkie
In what would be a dream come true for any die-hard fan, the Next Generation character Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton, was named after a Trekkie. George La Forge was a devoted attendee of numerous Trek conventions who had muscular dystrophy. He had allegedly built a friendship with Gene Roddenberry over the years, and as a salute of sorts, Roddenberry named a character after him. Notably, like his namesake, the character has a disability (he’s blind), but with a prosthesis he can see better than most.
Unfortunately, La Forge was unable to savor this honor, having died in 1975...
3- Its creator had little direct influence over the franchise
Indirectly, Gene Roddenberry is the father of the entire franchise and deserves proper credit. Star Trek was his creation, and when it was on he did all he could to keep it on and to keep the quality high. However, while his creation inspired every series and film that followed, his own involvement was limited....
4- The line “Beam me up, Scotty” was never delivered
It’s not uncommon for certain phrases in television and film to take on a life of their own in the form of paraphrases, but it’s always a surprise to learn that they aren’t as verbatim as first believed. Much like “Me Tarzan, you Jane” (which was star Johnny Weissmuller’s way to describe the level of difficulty acting the lead role in Tarzan), the ubiquitous line “Beam me up, Scotty” assumed to be uttered by Captain Kirk to chief engineer Montgomery Scott, never appeared precisely this way in a Trek series or film.
5- The original series inspired PDAs
The cultural impact of Star Trek is too enormous to deny, but its technological impact is equally as impressive. Some big Silicon Valley names considered themselves fans of the show growing up, notably Steve Wozniak of Apple and Steve Perlman, the founder of WebTV. The inspiration for a number of today’s technologies, such as flip phones, can be traced back to the original series, and many are outlined in William Shatner’s 2002 book, Star Trek: I’m Working on That.
One well-documented example is the user interface developed in the 1990s for the Palm OS. Its designer, Rob Haitani, an admitted Star Trek fan, claims that his first sketches were inspired by the interface on the bridge panels of the Enterprise. He also claims that aspects of the first Treo were influenced by communicators from the original series....http://www.bspcn.com/2007/12/16/5-things-you-didnt-know-star-trek/
5 Things You Didn't Know? Most everybody knows number 1, and quite a few know a couple of the others. Some interesting stuff for Trek fans though.
That first series, often referred to today as Star Trek: The Original Series (or TOS for short) aired 79 episodes over three seasons on NBC, from 1966 to 1969, and earned 14 Emmy nominations (notably, two for Best Dramatic Series, and three for Outstanding Supporting Actor for Leonard Nimoy). A fierce letter-writing campaign by fans of the show allegedly saved it from cancellation in 1968, but in each season, the network moved the show to a different, and progressively less desirable, time slot. The series premiered at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights, but by its final season it was relegated to Friday nights at 10 p.m., airing its final episode on June 3, 1969....
2- A Next Generation character was named in honor of a Trekkie
In what would be a dream come true for any die-hard fan, the Next Generation character Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton, was named after a Trekkie. George La Forge was a devoted attendee of numerous Trek conventions who had muscular dystrophy. He had allegedly built a friendship with Gene Roddenberry over the years, and as a salute of sorts, Roddenberry named a character after him. Notably, like his namesake, the character has a disability (he’s blind), but with a prosthesis he can see better than most.
Unfortunately, La Forge was unable to savor this honor, having died in 1975...
3- Its creator had little direct influence over the franchise
Indirectly, Gene Roddenberry is the father of the entire franchise and deserves proper credit. Star Trek was his creation, and when it was on he did all he could to keep it on and to keep the quality high. However, while his creation inspired every series and film that followed, his own involvement was limited....
4- The line “Beam me up, Scotty” was never delivered
It’s not uncommon for certain phrases in television and film to take on a life of their own in the form of paraphrases, but it’s always a surprise to learn that they aren’t as verbatim as first believed. Much like “Me Tarzan, you Jane” (which was star Johnny Weissmuller’s way to describe the level of difficulty acting the lead role in Tarzan), the ubiquitous line “Beam me up, Scotty” assumed to be uttered by Captain Kirk to chief engineer Montgomery Scott, never appeared precisely this way in a Trek series or film.
5- The original series inspired PDAs
The cultural impact of Star Trek is too enormous to deny, but its technological impact is equally as impressive. Some big Silicon Valley names considered themselves fans of the show growing up, notably Steve Wozniak of Apple and Steve Perlman, the founder of WebTV. The inspiration for a number of today’s technologies, such as flip phones, can be traced back to the original series, and many are outlined in William Shatner’s 2002 book, Star Trek: I’m Working on That.
One well-documented example is the user interface developed in the 1990s for the Palm OS. Its designer, Rob Haitani, an admitted Star Trek fan, claims that his first sketches were inspired by the interface on the bridge panels of the Enterprise. He also claims that aspects of the first Treo were influenced by communicators from the original series....http://www.bspcn.com/2007/12/16/5-things-you-didnt-know-star-trek/
5 Things You Didn't Know? Most everybody knows number 1, and quite a few know a couple of the others. Some interesting stuff for Trek fans though.