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The Starfleet insignia seen on the chests of every officer in the service is typically nicknamed the Starfleet delta by fans, given its resemblance to the Greek letter. The symbol more closely resembles the letters lambda or alpha, of course, but if I were to legitimately complain that a Starfleet insignia looks more like one Greek letter than another, it might be the nerdiest complaint in the history of fandom. So, dear readers, this is the last we shall ever hear of it. 

On the original "Star Trek" series, the delta logo was only seen on the uniforms of those serving on board the U.S.S. Enterprise. Other ships seemingly had different insignias, but that was a detail never canonically addressed in dialogue. Indeed, it seemed to be a production error; a recently uncovered 1967 memo from production designer Robert Justman to costumer William Ware Theiss (the original designer of...

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Nicholas Meyer's 1991 film "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was a good sendoff for the original cast of "Star Trek." It had been 25 years since "Star Trek" debuted, and the franchise had already found new footing with "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a series that was in its fourth season when "The Undiscovered Country" came out. The film was about the collapse of the Klingon Empire and the beginning of a new era of peace. Naturally, there were secret bad actors afoot who wanted to keep the Cold War between the Federation and the Klingons raging, and the sixth flick in the franchise follows the fallout after an assassination attempt. It's just as much Tom Clancy as it is a space adventure.

The film ended with the U.S.S. Enterprise saving the day, and the crew — Walter Koenig,...

Vulcan lore has always had any romantic overtures happening with their hands as established in "Journey to Babel" when Sarek held Amanda's fingers. Robert Justman, one of the co-producers for the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series nearly changed all that with the suggestion that a more romantic scene be inserted in ' "The Enterprise Incident."

Not only did Justman want there to be a brief romance between Spock and the female Romulan Commander, but he wanted it to be heated up. Producer Fred Freiberger agreed, and by the time the script, which was written by D.C. Fontana, made its way back to her, that particular scene had undergone a steamier change, according to These Are The Voyages Books.

In it, Spock was "raining kisses on every square inch above her [the Romulan Commander] shoulder." As he tells her she's beautiful, she drapes herself across the divan with an "inviting pose.

The first episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Season, "Amok Time," introduced fans to a different side of Spock [Leonard Nimoy]. The almost always in control Vulcan was experiencing emotions he couldn't control all because of the pon farr. It was the time of mating for Vulcans, and Captain Kirk [William Shatner] had no choice but to direct the Enterprise to Vulcan to save his first officer and friend's life. What Kirk didn't expect was to end up in a battle to the death with that same friend.

The writer of the episode, Theodore Sturgeon, in his script, had Spock really riled up to fight, so much so that both D.C. Fontana and Robert Justman had to step in and get some rewrites done because they knew Nimoy would not perform the climatic scene the way the writer envisioned.

According to Thesearethevoyagesbooks.com, Fontana suggested some...

Sir Patrick Stewart may be known for his role as Professor X in the X-Men series, but his most famous role is that of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor became a global star after the show’s success, having only been a stage actor till then.

While Stewart was barely interested in getting into TV and film, much less a sci-fi revival, his co-star LeVar Burton was reportedly the exact opposite. The Roots star was reportedly a huge fan of the original series and had met with a producer on another show. His passion for the series reportedly led him to be chosen for the role of Geordi La Forge.

LeVar Burton Used His Passion For Star Trek To Get A Gig In The Show LeVar Burton presented the kids’ show Reading Rainbow | Credits: PBS

The Star Trek: The Original Series only lasted three...

LeVar Burton is a jack of many trades, given that he’s an award-winning actor, director, and education advocate. While the actor has been a part of numerous movies and shows, he’s globally famous for playing Kunte Kinte in Roots and Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The show ran for a total of seven seasons, and Burton directed some episodes of it as well.

LeVar Burton in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) || Paramount Pictures

In the show, his character, Geordi La Forge, has been blind since birth, and to tackle this, he uses an advanced Visor instrument. However, this visual tool also had additional repercussions for the actor, compelling him to experiment with a different acting technique.

LeVar Burton tried out a new method of acting due to his Visor

The Visor was connected to the character’s optic nerve and further allowed him to see and perceive the world.

In the 1992 "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Chain of Command, Part I," Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), and Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) are called away by Starfleet to undertake a dangerous, very secret mission to seek out and apprehend a dangerous biological weapon being developed by the untrustworthy Cardassians. Picard needs to resign as captain of the USS Enterprise in order to undergo this mission, and he is replaced by one Captain Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox), a commanding officer with a dramatically different managerial style. 

As a captain, Picard was open to suggestions, careful to keep a rapport open with his crew. Jellico, meanwhile, was stern, cold, and loved to micromanage. He hated casualness and jocularity, and expected everyone to be tightly wound. He wasn't a bad captain -- indeed, he was quite good -- but he was a terrible boss. The appearance of Jellico set many Trekkies' hearts aflame,...

Star Trek: The Next Generation, which premiered in September 1987, is widely seen as the one series that brought forth a remarkable resurrection for the entire Star Trek franchise. Effectively the beacon that set the stage for further works in the franchise, The Next Generation was set a century after the events of the original Star Trek series, and in itself spurred Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and four further movies that featured Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard and his team of explorers.

A still from Star Trek: The Next Generation | Credits: Paramount Domestic Television

However, according to Dorothy Fontana, it was the sudden impact of George Lucas’ Star Wars and the kind of fan following it garnered that Paramount initially began to look for ideas for a new Star Trek series. Fontana, who was one of the writers on the original Star Trek series, revealed in an interview how Paramount...

"Star Trek: The Original Series" has three first episodes. Isn't this an irreconcilable contradiction? Let me explain.

There's the first produced "Star Trek" pilot, "The Cage," which starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. When the Enterprise visits planet Talos IV, Pike is abducted by telepathic aliens the Talosians. NBC passed, feeling "The Cage" was a subpar effort, but let creator Gene Roddenberry take a second stab at it.

That resulted in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." When the Enterprise tries and fails to pass an energy field at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, crewman Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) develops psychic powers and goes mad.

The only thing that carries over between the two pilots is Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is closer to the finished series (it does star William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk), but there are still noticeable differences.

What's the best "Star Trek" episode? Of the 79 produced in "The Original Series," the most highly-regarded is often season 1, episode 28, "The City on the Edge of Forever." We at /Film named it as the best "Star Trek" episode and we're not alone.

Here's the premise; the Enterprise is exploring a planet home to the Guardian of Forever, essentially a sentient time portal. Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is accidentally injected with the fictional drug Cordrazine and leaps through the portal, disrupting the timeline and the main characters' present. So, Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) follow McCoy, winding up in New York City during the Great Depression.

There, they meet Edith Keeler. Keeler is an idealistic woman who runs a soup kitchen and preaches pacificism; Kirk falls in love with her. Unfortunately, Spock discovers that unless Miss Keeler dies, she'll grow to become an influential activist who delays U.S.

"Star Trek" was canceled in 1969 and then, 18 years later, the sequel series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" premiered. Reviving canceled shows is standard practice these days, when streaming services have all but replaced network TV and cable. However, the "Star Trek" renaissance was only possible thanks to a feature of that old model of TV: syndication, where a series would be sold for broadcast to multiple different channels.

In a 2007 oral history of "The Next Generation" by Entertainment Weekly, Robert H. Justman (a producer on what's now called "Star Trek: The Original Series") said that syndication reruns of "Tos" were why the suits were interested in a new "Star Trek" series. "[The reruns] just gathered up a whole slew of people who had never seen the show," Justman recalled.

That new "Trek" show ultimately became "The Next Generation." However, it was first conceived of in the late 1970s as "Star Trek: Phase II....

You might've heard over the years that William Shatner has a propensity for diva behavior, both on and off set. He could be controlling, selfish, and downright insulting. He's been accused of stealing lines and generally being a jerk to his "Star Trek" cast mates. James Doohan, who endeared himself to fans as the Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty, once remarked, "I wanted to thump him on more than one occasion." At a roast held in Shatner's honor, Nichelle Nichols, a television legend for her portrayal of Black communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, joked, "People say you're a pompous, arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, narcissistic jerk. I don't think you're narcissistic."

Obviously, the cast learned to deal with Shatner being Shatner, which allowed them to hang together for several decades and six feature films. They all made a good deal of money milking "Star Trek" for every cent it was worth, and thank god...

On October 5, 1987, the New York Times reviewed a new "Star Trek" show that had just debuted. It was set about 85 years after the events of the original "Star Trek," and followed the exploits of one Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by "the fine British actor Patrick Stewart, formerly of the Royal Shakespeare Company." The review also noted that the new series, called "Star Trek: The Next Generation," featured "a good deal of soaring space music in the manner of 'Star Wars.'" It was an inauspicious write-up for a series that would eventually prove to be at least as popular as its forebear, if not more so. Those of us who were alive in 1987 likely recall a certain amount -- not a lot -- of doubt surrounding the new series. Some Trekkies were a hair miffed that a new series wouldn't feature Captain Kirk (William Shatner) or Spock (Leonard Nimoy...

In the late 1980s, just prior to when Patrick Stewart was alerted to the existence of "Star Trek," the actor was at a crossroads. He had been touring England with a production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and it wasn't going terribly well. He was already 46, he hadn't really found what he considered to be a major breakout role, and he was starting to consider that he simply wasn't ever going to do better than he already had. Middle age brought about the usual malaise, and Stewart seemingly felt idle. 

Stewart recalled this time in his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir." He recalled taking a job in Los Angeles wherein he would merely read lines of Shakespeare to accompany a series of public lectures at UCLA's Royce Hall. Stewart wasn't giving the lectures. That would be a friend and confidant of Stewart's named David Rodes. Stewart...

Throughout his autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir," Patrick Stewart repeatedly emphasizes how Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," didn't really think too much of him. Stewart relates, in detail, the extended process he went through to audition for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on "Next Generation," and how Roddenberry routinely ignored him and remained non-communicative. One of Stewart's first meetings with Roddenberry was at Gene's house in Brentwood, California, and the actor recalled getting the cold shoulder. The Paramount staff and casting directors all liked Stewart, but Roddenberry was unimpressed. In William Shatner's informative, hour-long 2014 documentary "Chaos on the Bridge!," Roddenberry was said to have once proclaimed, early in the "Next Generation" casting process, that he never wanted to hear Patrick Stewart's name again. 

Ultimately, Paramount and Stewart got what they wanted, and the actor would ultimately play Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of "Next Generation,...

The world changed a lot in the 20 years that "Star Trek" was off-air. The Cold War was all but over when "The Next Generation" began airing in 1987. So, it made sense to reimagine the Klingons, who during "The Original Series" had been the Ussr stand-ins to the Federation's America. Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross' behind-the-scenes book, "The 50-Year Mission," details how the "Tng" writers did so.

David Gerrold, a writer on "Tos" who returned for "Tng," pitched a Klingon First Officer on the Enterprise-d. The parallels to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) would be obvious; producer Robert H. Justman even suggested the Klingon be half-human.

But wait, Worf wasn't the first officer on the Enterprise-d. That's because this idea was vetoed by "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry did not want to use the villains from "The Original Series" — his "Tng" production bible says Klingons and Romulans are verboten. Associate producer D.C. Fontana...

It's a longstanding joke — and reality — that non-fans frequently confuse the franchise titles "Star Wars" and "Star Trek." This seems preposterous to devotees of either, many of whom will go on at great length about how completely different they are in terms of themes, outlook, technology, and tone. They may argue that "Star Wars" is a science fantasy with mystical knights who have laser swords and magic powers that leans heavily into destiny and predestination. Or that "Star Trek" is science fiction with extrapolated future technology and humans driving their own destiny. In the broadest strokes, that's true, but as a wise old Force Ghost once said, "You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

A closer examination reveals that as both franchises have grown and sprawled they've increasingly rubbed up against one another and exchanged some cinematic and narrative DNA,...

This article contains spoilers for Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.

When future television historians are asked to build the Mount Rushmore of fictional adventures through the galaxy, there is certainly room for debate. Rest assured though, there is a place for Star Trek and even a franchise many didn’t think would make it, Battlestar Galactica.

When Battlestar was released on ABC in 1978, it was almost a decade since Gene Roddenberry’s perennial trek had aired, failed, and was resurrected because of fan support. Since its inception, Star Trek was a survivor, and one of its strengths was always reinvention. This led to feature films, a renaissance of the property in the late ‘80s, and a recent reinvention and “refuel” treatment in the past few years.

Galactica, meanwhile, went from cult classic to mainstream critical success with its reboot in the early 2000s. Yet, that wasn’t the only reinvention in that franchise of note.

"Star Trek: The Next Generation," initially an object of skepticism, has grown to become just as iconic as its predecessor. The show lived up to its name, bringing in a new wave of fans who embraced the new crew of the USS Enterprise and its captain, the highly diplomatic, morally centered Jean-Luc Picard, played by the thespian Patrick Stewart. Despite how immortal the role has become, Stewart barely even knew what "Star Trek" was before signing on to the series, and he wasn't too fond of creator and "Trek" architect Gene Roddenberry when the two first met.

Like Picard himself, Stewart is an avid fan of Shakespeare and classical theater, performing for more than 15 years for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although Stewart had a predilection for classical theater, the science-fiction genre, including "Star Trek," didn't hold any interest for him. "It was a style of work I never associated with,...

Star Trek fans have a lot to thank Gene Roddenberry for – creating the whole franchise, for one – but he did make a few controversial decisions during his career. Like choosing to step away from The Original Series’ third season, for instance, which resulted in the quality dipping. Here’s another one, though: Roddenberry was dead set against Patrick Stewart being cast as Jean-Luc Picard in The Next Generation. Thankfully, he was overruled and Stewart went down as one of Trek‘s best leads and the best, to a generation of fans.

The British thespian has reflected on Roddenberry’s personal dislike of him while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. Stewart, who has just returned to the franchise for CBS All Access’ Picard series, recalled auditioning for Jean-Luc back in the day in front of Roddenberry – and it was clear he was not impressed.

“It was very odd with Gene because...

The world could come to an end in a lot of ways, but 1950s sci-fi was fond of making it end like a One-Act play. Harry Belafonte’s personal project soon drops the spectre of annihilation to cozy up to a statement about race relations. Despite the fact that his co-star Inger Stevens likely had the courage to take the material way, way farther, the last man and woman on Earth don’t even share a kiss. Can’t offend those distributors in Alabama, by golly. The film’s amazingly realistic vision of NYC abandoned after an atomic gas attack is stunning in HD — the show hasn’t lost its appeal, even if it deserts its second theme in favor of a rifle-toting showdown between Belafonte and Mel Ferrer’s villainous third-wheel survivor.

The World The Flesh and The Devil

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1959 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Street...

Earlier this year, Kino Lorber released The Outer Limits Season 1 on Blu-ray, and if you've been eagerly looking forward to their second season Blu-ray, then your wait is nearly over, as they'll release the remaining 17 episodes of the series on a four-disc set on November 20th, and we have a look at the full list of special features, including audio commentaries and a new booklet essay by David J. Schow.

The Outer Limits Season Two Blu-ray: "Newly Re-Mastered in HD! The entire first season – 17 Episodes. A four-disc set that controls over 15 hours of transmission from the 1964-1965 series. Guest stars include William Shatner, Adam West, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Duvall, Robert Culp, Eddie Albert, Patrick O’Neal, Dabney Coleman and Robert Webber.

Special Features:

• 17 Episodes and 2 Alternates Episodes - All Newly Mastered in HD

• The Unknown – the alternate cut of “The Forms of Things Unknown” intended a pilot for a show...

It’s a review. No, it’s a rant. Stop, you’re both right. CineSavant’s overt mission is to demonstrate that old movies, especially old Science Fiction movies, are more relevant than ever. There is at present no authorized home video release of this amazing 1952 politico-religious pretzel of a movie. The surprise is that it accurately presages the media hysteria that underpins our present day Info Wars. Fake News comes from the sky, and a major world revolution results — for the better? Will religious fundamentalism rule all? This may be the most radical faith-based picture ever made.

Red Planet Mars

Revival Screening Review

Not on DVD

1952 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 87 min.

Starring: Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghof, Walter Sande, Marvin Miller, Willis Bouchey, Morris Ankrum, Orley Lindgren, Bayard Veiller, Vince Barnett, Lewis Martin.

Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc

Film Editor: Francis D. Lyon

Production assistant: Robert H. Justman

Original...

How did Kiss Me Deadly come to be restored? The real question should be, how did filmdom lose track of its original ending in the first place? Savant uncovers evidence that may explain when, and why, United Artists mutilated the finish of Robert Aldrich’s apocalyptic film noir.

(Note: The images below with text can be enlarged for reading, just click on them.)

Before home video the final home for Hollywood films was Television. Robert Aldrich’s 1955 Kiss Me Deadly never saw a theatrical reissue, and it dropped out of major TV visibility in 1962. I saw the documentation in United Artists’ legal folder on the film. To secure capital to launch more movies, Robert Aldrich sold all of his ‘Associates and Aldrich’ pictures back to UA after their original releases were concluded. More papers showed Kiss Me Deadly being included in at least two TV syndication packages, and then each time pointedly removed.

The Warner Archive Collection is really starting to put out some great DVDs that feature titles you aren’t going to find anywhere else, and the latest to be made available is Search. A massively fun show from the early 70s, Search starred Hugh O’Brian, Doug McClure, and Tony Franciosa, and was (although I’m testing my memory) a show that pulled great tech ideas into the espionage drama realm, at a point when some of the ideas were practically sci-fi.

The complete series is available now, and it’s a lost classic that deserves a look. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get a taste of it to know if you’re interested in buying, but for those who remember the series, this is a real treat.

Catch the full info below, and don’t let this one escape your notice.

Look no further: You can now find Search...

Weighing it at nearly 600 pages, These Are the Voyages is written by Marc Cushman, a television writer who was entrusted with the complete files of the original series and actually requested by the late Gene Roddenberry to tell the whole story. And that's what the author has done. With access to virtually every memo - from Roddenberry himself, associate producer Robert Justman, members of the NBC brass and countless others - as well as each draft of every script from outline to final shooting script, plus dozens of exclusive interviews, he has reconstructed the making of every episode comprising the show's first season. It's an incredible story with many revelations, among them that Star Trek was Not the ratings disaster that it's always been portrayed to be, the fact that virtually every single episode was a nightmare to bring to completion with budget concerns ever-present And ever-threatening, and that NBC...

In the fall of 1972, I was 14 and consuming as much science fiction and heroic fantasy as I could mainline. As a result, I was the prime candidate to fall in love with a television series that had great concepts, an appealing cast and plenty of action. None were more disappointed when the series, Search, faded after a single season. Thanks to the Wayback Machine that is Warner Archive, the pilot film, Probe, is currently available with hints that the series itself may follow.

Billed as “science fiction in today’s world”, NBC offered up a series that may be a little creaky upon watching today but the series offered some forward looking thinking that was all too rare during the 1970s. It all began with a two-hour telefilm that served as a pilot from Outer Limits creator Leslie Stevens. Producing the show was Star Trek veteran Robert Justman which may...

Even the poor Pakleds who don’t know much about the world of Star Trek know the name Gene Roddenberry. The “Wagon Train to the Stars” was his brainchild, but every brainchild needs a brain trust. That small group of writers, producers and designers are legendary to maladjusted nerds like myself. Their names include Gene L. Coon, Robert Justman, John D.F. Black, Matt Jefferies and, first among equals, Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana.

Robert H. Justman, who helped bring the original "Star Trek" as well as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to the small screen, died last week as a result of complications from Parkinson's Disease at his home in Los Angeles, according to TrekWeb.com. He was 81. Leonard Nimoy, who has brought Spock to life, said, "In quick succession we have lost Joe Pevney, who was one of the best directors of Star Trek episodes along with Marc Daniels who passed some time ago. Both brought a rich theatricality to the work which made their episodes shine." "We have also lost Bob Justman, who was a treasure to me," the actor said. "He would listen wisely, with an honest ear, and respond helpfully whenever there were creative differences of opinion. Also Alexander Courage who wrote the now-unforgettable ...