It was on this date, September 8th in 1966 that the first episode of Star Trek titled “The Man Trap” aired on NBC in the United States (lucky Canadian viewers got to see it on September 6th). I was 11 years old and loved it! Star Trek Day began in 2020, celebrating the anniversary date of the original Star Trek series airing and so in that spirit I wish you all a Happy Star Trek Day!
But I have celebrated this day BEFORE it became an official observance.
My dad was a westerns guy and so a lot of what I saw on TV before this was shows like Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Bonanza and the like. But we were entering the space age of TV shoes like The Jetsons (1962), Lost in Space (1965), and Star Trek. This prepubescent boy’s attention was on science fiction and the future. And Star Trek made it look very appealing.
Star Trek was created by the late Gene Roddenberry. Set in the twenty-third century, it followed the Starship USS Enterprise, captained by James T. Kirk, who was played by William Shatner. It also featured an alien (Vulcan) science officer with pointed ears known as Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, and a cantankerous ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley. Other main characters were an Asian helm officer, a Scottish chief engineer, a female African-American communications officer and a Russian pilot.
Talk about DEI and being “woke”!
Besides the above mentioned Original Series, there have been seven other television series: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Picard Star Trek: Strange New Worlds AND the upcoming Star Trek: Academy.
There have also been three animated series and numerous films.
I’ve seen every iteration of Star Trek except the original animated series and the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy series. I’ve read the books, magazines and online fiction. I’ve attended some conventions, heard some of the stars speak in person.
I’ve even sat in the Captain’s chair aboard the USS Enterprise.
The world of Star Trek is a world I wish we could live in today.
Because the overriding idea of Star Trek is that WE CAN BE BETTER. WE CAN DO BETTER. WE CAN TREAT PEOPLE BETTER. Yes, there’s adventure and fun and action and bug-eyed monsters BUT… we CAN become a better people.
It’s what keeps us looking forward to the future instead of backwards to the past.
Happy Star Trek Day!
