"Its a great joy to me knowing I had a part in all this."
-Sherry Anne Newell
The history of Star Trek is an unprecedented success story, a success made possible by the enormous devotion of
its fans.
Star Trek was created when Gene Roddenberry, bomber pilot - turned - TV producer, decided that his next show would
be sci-fi. He considered this genre an opportunity to discuss controversial issues without TV censors protesting,
because it allowed the events of the day to be put into a fantasy setting.
Roddenberry had difficulties selling his idea, since sci-fi was generally looked down on and considered either too
childish or too exotic for the general public. But the NBC network eventually bought it, and a two-hour pilot film
was produced at Desilu studios, called “The Cage”. NBC rejected the effort: It was “too cerebral”, didn’t have
enough action, and the network refused to have a woman as second-in-command or an alien with “satanic looks”. But they did do something unheard-of: they ordered another pilot.
Roddenberry reworked the show, and brought in a whole new cast of characters. He only kept one from the original
pilot: the alien with the “satanic” looks, Mr. Spock. Star Trek as we know it took form, with the USS Enterprise
captained by James Kirk with Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and the other now-famous characters at his side.
The new pilot, titled “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was filmed, and the show debuted at the World Science-Fiction
Convention in Cleveland in September 1966. The audience was delighted, giving a glimpse of the shape of things to
come. The series officially premiered on TV a few days later, on September 8th. 
In essence, the series is about the Starship Enterprise and her crew, and is set in the 23rd century. The vessel of
the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets is on a five-year exploratory mission “to explore strange new
worlds, to seek out new life and civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” as the now-famous
introduction to the series says.Star Trek was different from other series of the time, in that it provided
intelligent and often challenging stories, not merely a thinly disguised rehash of the same plot every episode,
as many series did. Noted science-fiction writers treated the audience to a sophisticated sci-fi story every week.
The show promoted tolerance, towards both humans and aliens, and also showed women as being equal to men. It had an
unfailingly positive view of humanity, and showed an Earth that had got rid of war, poverty and racism and was now
venturing out into the stars. Pacifism was also promoted, in that the heroes always tried diplomacy before drawing
their phasers as a last resort. At the same time, it was a light-hearted, often humorous show with lots of action
and well-written, well-acted, slightly larger-than-life characters.
The critics were not impressed. Variety, a noted TV magazine, wrote, “Even within its sci-fi frame of reference, it
was an incredible and dreary mess of confusion and complexities at the kickoff…” The show’s ratings were initially
quite good, but they started to decline over the course of the season.But whatever the ratings said, people loved Star Trek, and its popularity rose even as the ratings declined, showing
that the ratings system wasn’t very efficient. The fan mail that the show received increased dramatically from week
to week. Fan clubs sprung up around the actors, many of which were rather unprofessional and short-lived. When the
Star Trek offices invited fans to visit the sets in the hope of getting a little publicity, fandom went slightly
crazy and the studio had to contend with a small flood of fans!
From the beginning, Trek fans were open and very enthusiastic, and, unlike conventional science-fiction fandom,
composed of a lot of young people as well as older ones.
Ironically, the character of Spock quickly became the favourite character among the fans. Actor Leonard Nimoy, who
portrayed the Vulcan, was taken completely by surprise when he agreed to sign autographs at a parade, and total
chaos broke out. Traffic was brought to a standstill, and the local police had to come and help Nimoy to escape.
Young girls especially fell for the alien from a race that denied all emotion, and Nimoy received many passionate
love letters!
But despite the obvious love of the fans for the series, NBC, disappointed with the ratings, started hinting that
they were going to cancel Trek halfway through the first season. This leaked out to the public, and science-fiction
writer Harlan Ellison started a large campaign to save the series. He and other known sci-fi authors sent out 5000
letters urging fans to write to the network and protest against the show’s cancellation. This was a huge success,
and the network, convinced that they did have an enthusiastic audience, left it on the air for the rest of the
season and even renewed it for the next one.
The ratings continued to go downhill, and although the second season produced excellent stories, NBC decided Star
Trek would be cancelled at the end of year two. That’s when the fans swung into action for an even bigger campaign.
John and Bjo Trimble, two well-known science-fiction and Star Trek fans, had forged friendships with the cast and
crew of Star Trek, and therefore continued to be allowed onto the set, even after it was closed to all regular fans
due to the overwhelming numbers who wanted to visit. They were there when the set workers heard of the series’
looming cancellation, and felt that something had to be done. So they started another massive letter-writing
campaign.
They obtained mailing lists from science-fiction conventions and Trek fan clubs and, financed partially by Gene
Roddenberry, sent thousands of letters out to Trek fans, urging them to write to NBC and ask for the series to be
renewed for a third year. In addition, a fan managed to sneak into the main NBC offices in New York and stick “Star
Trek Lives!” stickers on the network executives’ cars, as well as hand out flyers urging writing to the network!
This little operation was the Trimbles’ and Roddenberry’s idea, and was carried out by a girl named Wanda Kendall.
Fans stop at nothing!
NBC was inundated with letters. The news media became interested in the operation, putting more pressure on the
network. They surrendered, and in an unprecedented move, made a public announcement on TV that Trek was indeed to
be renewed, just to stop the letters coming. But Trek fans are nothing if not polite and friendly, and promptly
flooded NBC with 5000 thank-you letters! It is hard to say how many letters actually reached the network during
the campaign; they initially said it was a million, but later admitted to “only” 500’000.
But NBC broke their promise to give Trek a prime-time slot, and it was relegated to 10 p.m. on Fridays, which
guaranteed bad ratings. In addition, the budget was cut, Gene Roddenberry was removed from his highly influential
position, and the best writers left. Star Trek had one more, rather poor season before it was declared a flop and 
cancelled for good. But the adventure was only just beginning.
Shortly after Trek’s cancellation, Paramount, the studio that had very recently bought the rights to Star Trek from
Desilu Studios, sold it into syndication. That meant that instead of only NBC having the right to show it (and
therefore say whether they wanted to renew it or not), Paramount sold the rights to show it to any television
station that wanted to, which guaranteed endless re-runs.
And Star Trek became a hit! The old fans were joined by legions of new ones, and the show profited from the moon
landing in ’69, which heightened peoples’ interest in space.
Trek fans wanted more Star Trek adventures, so they began to write their own, publishing “fanzines” with stories
and newsletters; in fact they were pioneers in this area, producing lavish magazines with the latest technology.
They began to gather, forming more mature and professional fan clubs than before, where they discussed all aspects
of the series and enjoyed the company of like-minded people.
In 1972, the first ever Star Trek convention was held in a New York hotel, featuring speakers such as Isaac Asimov
along with Gene Roddenberry. Unlike nowadays, it wasn’t held to make money - the profit was tiny - but purely for
fun and to celebrate Star Trek. The organisers hoped for 250 attendees - and were absolutely overwhelmed by the 2500 enthusiastic fans who crowded in during the weekend. The organisers couldn’t keep up with taking entry fees and handing out tickets, and ended up letting a lot of fans in for free. The auditorium had seating for 500 - and 1500 crowded in to hear Roddenberry speak. Yet the event never got out of hand; Trek fans have a reputation for being well behaved, if exuberant, and this proved that it is one they deserve. The mood was exhilarating, and when Roddenberry spoke, the crowd exploded. Even he was surprised at the amount of love and appreciation for the series that the fans gave him. At one point, the fans even burst out chanting “Star Trek lives!” Suddenly it seemed possible that the series wasn’t dead after all.
The fans were so delighted with the Star Trek convention that it became an annual event for the next few years, and
people flew to New York from all over America to attend it.
NBC by now had switched to a new ratings system, which ironically revealed that Trek appealed to exactly the target
group that the network had wanted to reach. This, and the fact that there was obviously a large audience, prompted
them to resurrect it, this time in animated form, in 1973. The original production staff worked on it, and the
actors all spoke the lines of their animated counterparts, ensuring that Star Trek: The Animated Series presented
the quality of stories that was expected from the name in the one and a half years that it ran for.
Star Trek was now fashionable, and the number of fans kept growing. The yearly conventions became more and more
popular, attracting up to 14’000 people. The stars of the show started making appearances, which brought the house
down, especially when Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner appeared on stage! And despite the huge numbers, and general excitement, the fans were patient and good-natured, so that the events always remained orderly. Fans I talked to who attended these early conventions recall the crowded ballrooms, costume contests and the thrill of being a part of the phenomenon.
Up to now, conventions had been organised by the same group of people, who did it for the fans, not for profit. But
after the first great successes, conventions, or "cons" as they are called by fans, started being held all over
America, usually with a healthy profit in mind. The New York ones were no longer unique, and fans who lived far
away preferred to go to conventions that were a bit closer to their home. The attendance numbers declined, and
eventually, the organisers decided that it was no longer worth it. The last one was held in 1976. Star Trek was
becoming commercialized.
Sensing profits to be made, Paramount was considering another live-action Star Trek. First conceived as a series
for a planned Paramount TV network, it quickly developed into a feature film. Paramount didn’t like any of the
story ideas proposed, and so the project once again became a series, Star Trek II. All the original actors
returned, and producers were hired- but three weeks before production started Paramount called everything to a
halt. The network plans had been abandoned, but the main reason was a new film called Star Wars. The film was a
big success, and Paramount was determined to cash in on the excitement it had generated and launch a Star Trek
film.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in 1979. It received uneven reviews, and the fans were disappointed with
it. The production had been very problematic, with last-minute script rewrites causing delays, and the budget
getting totally out of hand, soaring to 44 million dollars. Due to the delays, there was no time to edit the
special effects.
While the result was visually stunning, the effects put the story and characters in the background, and the
light-heartedness of the series was missing.
Nevertheless, the fans' hunger for more Trek brought them back to the cinemas to see it many times over, making
the picture a financial success.
Six more films followed, which better recaptured the spirit of the original and were more satisfying to the fans.
In 1987, it was time for a new crew to take centre stage. After the fourth film, Paramount, realising they had a
hit franchise, wanted to make a new Trek series with a new cast, as the old one was demanding very high salaries.
In addition, after so many re-runs, Star Trek’s syndication ratings were sinking - after all, how many times would
fans want to see the same 79 episodes?
This time, it would be sold directly into syndication, which meant sold to individual stations instead of to only
one. Roddenberry, who was losing control over the films'
production as the years went by, was given creative control. He got a chance to update his Star Trek universe by
eighty years, and produced Star Trek: The Next Generation. The series was set aboard the Starship Enterprise-D,
captained by Jean-Luc Picard. Humanity had grown up; for example, Roddenberry insisted that the characters, unlike
the Original Series ones, shouldn’t bicker with each other, and the new crew was more diplomatic and mature than
Kirk and company. Yet under the new, elegant look to the series and the new maturity, it was still the same, with
the same utopian view of humanity. It tackled the issues of the day, just as The Original Series (as it was now
called, to distinguish it from the new series) had.
In the “TV Guide”, July 23, 1988, Gary Christenson described the difference beautifully: “Star Trek depicted us
in reckless youth, with a Starship captain who tamed space as vigorously as we laid claim to the future…Star Trek:
The Next Generation reveals the child grown - a little more polished, but also more complacent. And if there’s a bit
of grey and a wrinkle or two, so much the better.”
The fans tuned in doubtfully, unsure that a show without the old characters could be as good. Some never got used
to the idea, but most came to enjoy the series as another view of the universe they knew so well. And despite any
misgivings they had, it was still Trek. During the first years, when the quality sometimes left something to be
desired, the fans were nevertheless content to watch anything that gave them their weekly journey among the stars,
and were tolerant of the failings of the show. This was quite unusual, as television audiences are usually quick
to desert a show that is disappointing.
They were rewarded, though, for after an unsteady two years, The Next Generation (short: TNG) developed into an
enormous hit, constantly delivering excellent stories and acting and getting outstanding ratings.
In 1991, Gene Roddenberry died, which was a shock to fandom, but the franchise’s future was ensured in the hands
of Rick Berman, whom Roddenberry had picked personally to carry on. Berman wanted to start establishing a
replacement series for TNG while it was still showing, and developed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This series
focused on space station Deep Space Nine on the fringes of Federation space, helping to rebuild a world that had
just freed itself from an occupation. Now Roddenberry was no longer around to enforce the laws of his Star Trek
universe, the makers felt free to bend them slightly to create a different twist to the franchise. For example,
many shady characters lived on the station, and there was no clear good or bad, as there were in the morality plays
of the previous series. Even the Federation threw a dark shadow in DS9, and the series climaxed in a massive war. 
Many fans never liked the series, saying it wasn’t true Star Trek, while on the other hand, many enjoyed the
intriguing characters, the well devised story arc and all the action. For the first time, fans were divided.
In 1994, The Next Generation ended after seven seasons, in a spectacular finale that was an event watched not
only by America, but also by the world, showing what a phenomenon it had become. Since then, three successful
TNG films have been made, the first one featuring Kirk, in a sort of passing of the baton from Kirk to Picard.
It was followed seamlessly by Star Trek: Voyager, which premiered January 1995, a story of Federation Starship
Voyager, crewed by Federation members and “Maquis” members, an anti-Federation rebellion. Again, opinions were
divided; however, this time, many fans were disappointed with Voyager. The creators have had constant
difficulty writing consistently, and as a result, the characters have never really come to life. In addition,
whatever it was that made Trek special seems to be missing. The producers are trying to find out exactly what
that is, yet without success.
At the moment, Voyager is entering its 7th and last season, and a new Star Trek series is set to premiere in
autumn 2001.
In fandom, rumours are flying. Everybody is speculating what it will be about, and hoping it won’t be another
disappointment, as many think the franchise won’t survive that.
Fandom itself has undergone some changes since its beginning.
Fans have become more mature - gone are the screaming girls whenever Leonard Nimoy made an appearance. They are
also more sophisticated and demand more from the stars. They are no longer happy to listen to the stars rehash the
same old stories at conventions, but instead want to hear their opinions on various topics and get to know them as
the person they are, not just the character they play on Star Trek.
Additionally, the fans who once used to spend a lot of time in fandom are finding the demands of family and work
are leaving them less time to devote to fandom. While the enthusiasm is still there, the time isn't.
Lots of people said that fandom has become more mainstream as Trek became more and more a popular icon. For some,
that means that there are fewer “hardcore” fans and more casual fans, while others think that there are more fans
than ever.
In any case, the “subculture” aspect has toned down quite a bit with Trek becoming more mainstream, and less of a
“cult” series.
Fandom has spread out over a larger age range than in the early days, as the first fans grow older and more join
their ranks all the time.
Some fans said that there aren’t as many young fans joining fandom. It is true that I didn’t come across very many,
and I think that it is true that there are fewer young viewers who are dedicated enough to join a fan club.
However, that may be partially due to the fact that the club activities, which include a lot of social work, don’t
appeal to them. Also, youth today tends to be fickle, and not as inclined to become involved with a series, or fan
clubs.
I get the impression that fans have changed their focus from only the series to related things. For instance, in
the early days, they sometimes gathered to discuss Vulcans or Federation politics or similar, show-based topics.
Nowadays, this seems to be something that is rarely done, the focus being more on what fans can do in connection
with their fandom, as well their own Trek-related creations, such as making their own videos and games.
Others say that the general fan mentality hasn’t changed much, however, others contradict: “Many of the conventions
are much more commercial now, and there’s less of a sense of celebration of fandom than there used to be. The fans
themselves have less of that powerful possessiveness towards Trek, I think, and a greater willingness to just accept
whatever the studio is putting out. In part that is because many of the newer fans never had to live through the
time when, to get new Star Trek, we had to create it ourselves.” says Alex Rosenzweig.
And an important development is that the fans are often interested in becoming active in their community. As
Dallas Vinson said: “Fans are becoming more conscious of the fact that the only way we will be able to see anything
even approaching Star Trek is by becoming an active part of our society, rather than sequester ourselves in our own
little worlds.”
Some of the honesty and goodwill has gone as well. Fans can often no longer leave
their video camera in the main hall of a convention all weekend without it being stolen. I read that there is also
a bit of jealousy between the fans who make money, be it by selling merchandise or organising cons, and those who
spend it. Andrew Gossett mentioned this as well: “Some of the con promoters who claimed to be fans don’t act a lot
like it now.” However, judging by what people told me first-hand, this is minimal, and the spirit of the fans hasn’t
changed much over the years.
Ken Waid came up with a very interesting idea. When Star Trek began, the quality of the series was excellent, and
the show itself was important to fandom. In essence, the fans were consumers. But in the time after TOS, and now
that the series that is being produced isn't so good, it became less important to fandom, and the fans themselves
have become creators. Star Trek fandom has taken on a life of its own, writing good fiction, parodies, amateur Trek
films, games, and more. He thinks that the real action is taking place in fandom, not in the studio. They should
pay more attention to what the fans want:
“Whole groups of fans share and create new ideas and directions for Trek to go. New stories, indeed new movies, can
and are being created [by fans] as we sit here. It is at this point too late for the big shots at Paramount to
stop it, and if they don’t wake up, they will find out that they have inherited the wind.”
The convention scene is also undergoing changes. What most people mentioned was the commercialization of the cons.
The big ones hosted by professional organisations are quite expensive, and the general opinion is that they are
not as much fun as fan-run ones. The big ones are all about selling a product, and there is a lot of merchandise.
While these are the ones where big Trek stars appear, many fans also see them as stale and predictable in
presentation and activities.
On the other hand, fan-run conventions are more in the vein of the early ones, where it is about celebrating
fandom and having fun. Some fans I talked to likened them to family gatherings, and while there are fewer guest 
stars, there is a larger diversity of activities and also good parties.
While these are more enjoyable, they are also becoming rare. In spite of their popularity, they can’t compete with
the big events that offer the stars of the show holding talks. Yet despite the sometimes extreme commercialization
of the conventions, the fans say they are mostly very positive experiences, and in the end, the attitude of the fans
has remained the same throughout the years: they’re here to celebrate Trek and fandom and above all to have fun!
Recently, the Internet has revolutionised fandom. In the 70s, when printing became much faster and easier, Trek
fans instantly latched onto this to produce beautiful fan magazines. When the Internet arrived, again the Trek fans
were among the first to make use of the new technology, and set up fan pages. Nowadays, fan clubs have a noticeable
presence on the Net, and there are thousands of WebPages dedicated to Trek.
The Net has brought fans closer together than ever, allowing clubs to do business more easily, and bringing people
in contact with new fan friends. It has also allowed fans to become stronger by uniting them world-wide. They have
seen that they are more numerous than they thought, and there is a recent tendency for them to get together in
international groups to petition for something. For instance, at the moment there are two quite large campaigns to
bring back Kirk and Sulu (another character from The Original Series).
However, the Internet has not only brought the fans together, but also allowed conflicts to develop. With the
possibility to answer immediately, people tend to send back
replies without thinking, and this can lead to some bitter quarrels. Also, the lack of expression to show whether
the person is being sarcastic or merely joking causes people to take offence more easily. On the other hand, as some
fans pointed out, fans enjoy bickering over Star Trek, and the Internet allows them to do this more effectively and
with more people. But when stubborn fans meet, the fur can really fly, and I have seen some spiteful arguments
develop over such things as Trek trivia.
Another side effect of the Internet is that there are fewer and fewer fans joining clubs. Whereas before the
arrival of the Net, fans had to join a club or attend conventions often to obtain the latest inside information
and gossip concerning Star Trek, now fans can read it all on the Internet and can even form online communities in
the comfort of their homes.
Something I have read about is the rivalry among fans who maintain a Trek WebPage. Very few fans mentioned this, as
the ones I interviewed usually weren’t involved with creating WebPages (except their club’s page). Everyone wants
to have the best page, so as to attract many visitors, which in turn attracts advertisers, and the fan makes a nice
profit. That wouldn’t be a problem, but unfortunately fans resort to stealing other’s ideas, and the site owners
compete for visitors, often using dubious methods to ensure that the visitors go to their site and not to another
one.
Recently, Paramount made an attempt to close down all Trek Websites that used the name Star Trek without a licence,
as they saw this as a threat to their property, and received quite a few nasty letters from fans. In the meantime
they seem to have realised that the fans promote the series very effectively with their pages, and aren’t doing any
harm. While the difficulty seems to have been resolved, the incident has caused the previously good relationship
between the studio and the fans to become a bit sour.
Bob Chin sums up the developments nicely: “Fans have changed. Fandom used to be young and idealistic. Then, it
became more ‘mainstream’, accepted and fashionable. Now, it is changing again. With the Internet, there are more
vocal, less dedicated, more selfish, less knowledgeable fans…and less fans and, maybe, older fans.”
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