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When it comes to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, few things in franchise history can be labeled both a success and a failure. That just happens to be the case with this film, however. It pushed the bounds of visual expectations at the time, giving audiences a sight spectacle that few other films were capable of at the time.

Yet, the story and overall energy of the film felt detached from what fans had expected from Star Trek's first foray into the world of cinema. The push was for it to be more grand, like Star Wars: A New Hope, and that was never Star Trek's bag.

It did well enough to warrant a sequel but the tone and perception of the second film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, was far more in line with what fans expected from a Star Trek film.

The short-falls of...

Majel Barrett Roddenberry made a lasting impact on Star Trek. One of the most visible ways she did so was through her numerous roles across various iterations of the franchise. Although Barrett's personal contributions ended after the posthumous release of 2009's Star Trek film, the legacies of many of her roles have been carried on in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

So far, Strange New Worlds has brought back three of Barrett's roles: Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and the voice of the Enterprise computer (Alex Kapp). Although it may seem odd to include the voice of the computer on that list, that is actually the "character" Barrett portrayed the most, and Alex Kapp manages to keep the same general "sound."

Given that Strange New Worlds is a prequel to the original Star Trek from 1966, it is no surprise that the Majel Barrett characters featured are her roles from Tos.

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...

When it comes to Star Wars authors, it makes sense to start at the very beginning. Alan Dean Foster has been contributing to the Star Wars universe since the 1970s, helping to expand the universe in its earliest days.

Here are 5 facts about Star Wars author Alan Dean Foster that you may not know. 

1. He wrote the very first Star Wars book

Alan Dean Foster is known as the first person to ever contribute to the Star Wars expanded universe, writing the Star Wars novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye. The book was published just a year after the original Star Wars was released. This is the first book to expand the story of Star Wars beyond the movies, but it technically isn't the first book. The official novelization of Star Wars had already been released, making Splinter of the Mind's Eye the second Star Wars book ever published. The...

To date, there have been 13 "Star Trek" feature films, with a 14th movie, "Section 31," scheduled to debut on Paramount+ on January 24, 2025. The films are, many Trekkies would agree, various degrees of good and bad. Some of the "Star Trek" films are among the best sci-fi movies ever made, while others are handily the worst. Many agree that Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the best one, although J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" is the highest-grossing. The four films based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" -- that is: "Generations," "First Contact," "Insurrection," and "Nemesis" -- are all pretty middling, although many like the Borg action from "First Contact." My personal favorites are Robert Wise's 1979 epic "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," for its cerebral grandiosity, and Meyer's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" for its political bent. 

The films also fluctuate wildly in mere production quality.

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks."

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 5, episode 5, "Starbase 80?!," follows the U.S.S. Cerritos as it becomes stranded in space due to a mysterious navigational malfunction. With only impulse engines operational, the ship has no choice but to visit Starbase 80 for help. Starbase 80 had previously only been mentioned in hushed tones among the Cerritos' crew, as it is said to be cursed. At the very least, it's the worst place to work in all of Starfleet, even worse than the Cerritos.

When the crew arrives, they find the "Star Trek" equivalent of a long-ignored truck stop. Starbase 80's crew members wear uniforms that are two centuries out of date, while the station's diplomatic liaison, Cassia Knox (Nicole Byer), reveals that its technology hasn't been updated since the 2260s. That, Trekkies might instantly recognize, was the decade the original "Star Trek" series took place.

When you’re 93, your perspective in life is at another stage. Everything you’ve done comes running back to you. For William Shatner, it must be a mixed bag, having seen both the highs and lows the Industry has to offer.

Having made his mark with his role of Captain Kirk in the Og Star Trek series and movies, Shatner was acting royalty back in the end. And he still is, with a legacy like no other. But there are moments which he must have undoubtedly regretted, including lashing out at a sound engineer once.

William Shatner was the man in the 70s-80s William Shatner was at the helm of a successful ship of Star Trek || Image by Super Festivals, licensed under Cc By 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

To the 70s-80s kids, William Shatner was the man. Even if Star Trek might have lost some of its shine in today’s age.

Honestly, it's amazing that the original "Star Trek" cast managed to do six movies together. The Enterprise crew were already middle-aged when they first reassembled in 1979 for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." Then the 1982 sequel "The Wrath of Khan" made it text that Captain Kirk didn't feel as young as he used to. Yet they all kept returning for nine more years.

They didn't quite make it to "Star Trek Xii: So Very Tired," but they got halfway there. "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was definitely not the ending of all "Trek," but it was for the original cast. It was conceived that way, hence the ending where the Enterprise is set for decommission and Jim Kirk, in his final captain's log, says it's time for the next generation to have its moment in the sun.

Since making this film capped off a journey that began in 1966, the cast did a special commemoration.

The erosion of the original promise of streaming TV continues. This time around, it's Paramount+ removing some of the pillars of its back catalogue, with TrekMovie.com reporting that every "Star Trek" movie made between 1979 and 2002 have abruptly left the streamer, apparently not for the first time. All six movies starring the cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series" are now gone from Paramount+, as are all four movies from "The Next Generation" era.

Of course, this disappearance isn't quite as egregious as the decision of streamers like Max and Showtime to remove newer original content that has no other streaming home, but it still feels surprising given how regularly Paramount+ bills itself as the streaming home of all things "Star Trek." When the platform first launched as CBS All Access, "Star Trek: Discovery" was one of its first original series, and its rebrand in 2021 has only made the streamer...

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" has become a huge part of the franchise's legacy and is considered by many to be the best "Star Trek" movie of them all, but it was a serious challenge to bring to the screen. After the relative failures of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was sidelined, allowing for a darker, grittier "Star Trek" than we had ever seen before. "The Wrath of Khan" is an operatic epic, following the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise under Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) as they contend with genetically engineered villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán). Khan was one of the most terrifying antagonists from "Star Trek: The Original Series," specifically the episode "Space Seed," so bringing the character back was a big deal. It raised the stakes, as Khan had the capacity to do real damage — stealing terraforming...

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Thanks to their fictional captain, the original crew of the Starship Enterprise almost didn't get a fond big-screen farewell.

Prior to 1989, the starcrossed "Star Trek" franchise had survived network cancellation and a box office/critical disappointment in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." As such, the brand was unexpectedly in terrific shape coming off three hits in a row in the 1980s with "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." For once, it felt like the entire "Star Trek" team was playing with house money. Then William Shatner, having watched Leonard Nimoy take two turns at the helm, which earned him a hugely successful non-"Star Trek" directing effort in "Three Men and a Baby" (the highest grossing film of 1987), decided it was time to strut his stuff behind the camera.

There's a barrage of Star Trek news coming in today, both good and bad. On the good side, Paramount+ dropped the first trailer for the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated comedy series. The show has been going strong for a while now and it's good to see it will get to bow out on its own terms. Watch the trailer above!

Star Trek: Lowers Decks will kick off its final season on Thursday, October 24; the first two episodes will drop at once. On the bad side of the news, TrekMovie.com reports that the first 10 Star Trek movies have been removed from streaming on Paramount+, which is supposed to be "the home of Star Trek." And this after those 10 films became available to stream on Paramount+ back in June. That was a short homecoming.

The three more recent Star Trek movies overseen by J.J. Abrams are still available,...

Captain James T. Kirk’s “phaser and communicator” prop used during the production of the original Star Trek TV series will be among the items from the show auctioned off at next month’s Infinity Festival.

The auction will precede a screening of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition at the Dolby Vine Screening Room. Producer David C. Fein spearheaded the 4K DolbyVision/Dolby Atmos version of director Robert Wise’s 1979 film and will deliver introductory remarks before the screening.

The event on November 9 will cap off the seventh edition of Infinity Festival, which opens November 6 and offers a blend of programming across technology, entertainment and design. An exhibition featuring 200 Star Trek items will also be open to attendees on November 7 and 8. Deadline is a presenting media sponsor of Infinity Festival.

William Shatner, who played Kirk, recorded a video for Julien’s Auctions, which is handling the...

Most Trekkies know that Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) kept a pet lionfish in a globe-shaped aquarium in his ready room. Only deep-cut Trekkies know, however, that the fish was named Livingston. Some have assumed it was named after Harold Livingston, the screenwriter of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," but the fish could also have been named after the Scottish football team, for all we know. No information has been given about Livingston the lionfish. 

Indeed, no one knows if the fish was Picard's personal pet, or if lionfish were merely standard-issue in-office animals in Starfleet. It seems likely it was the former, as the latter seems too exploitative for the life-respecting Federation; no 24th-century bureaucracy would wrangle thousands of fish merely to install them as background critters in captains' ready-rooms. 

In the episode "Chain of Command, Part I", Captain Picard was transferred off the U.S.S. Enterprise-d and replaced...

The 7th Heaven kids’ actors are all adults. As they look back on the show, that also means looking back on

In 2014, Stephen Collins’ sex abuse scandal horrified his former fans.

The actor, most famous for his roles on 7th Heaven and in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, confessed to sexual misconduct against multiple minor girls.

Now, actors who worked with him as children are discussing his role on the show — and disavowing his crimes.

Mackenzie Rosman, Beverley Mitchell, and David Gallagher sit to discuss 7th Heaven on their rewatch podcast. (Image Credit: YouTube) The ‘7th Heaven’ alums are very aware of Stephen Collins’ confession

Mackenzie Rosman, David Gallagher, and Beverley Mitchell played Ruthie Camden, Simon Camden, and Lucy Camden respectively on 7th Heaven.

They were among the kids in the Camden household, where disgraced former actor Stephen Collins played their father, a pastor named Eric Camden.

Jessica Biel is...

Thanks to incessant reruns and the growth of the "Star Trek" convention industry, interest in Gene Roddenberry's egalitarian TV space opera -- which ran from 1966 to 1969 -- was running high in the years after its cancellation. More and more fans were flocking to the once-moribund series, and Roddenberry himself went on speaking tours, deeply dissecting why audiences were drawn to it. By 1977, Roddenberry felt that his show had accrued enough cultural clout to warrant a reboot, and he put "Star Trek: Phase II" into production. 

The idea for "Star Trek: Phase II" was to make a bigger, slicker version of the original series, but with a few new characters. The original cast, including William Shatner, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Walter Koenig were all set to return, and they would be joined by a Vulcan named Xon (David Gautreaux), the helm officer Ilia (Persis Khambatta), and an...

French philosopher Roland Barthes' 1967 essay "The Death of the Author" argues the literary theory of separating the meaning of a work from the author's intention, essentially allowing for a reader's personal interpretation to supersede it. Given the plethora of disparate voices seen today, made up of professional critics as well as average audience members, this theory has generally become widely accepted, at least within reason. It's a much easier thing to do when it comes to television and film, given the fact that, auteur theory aside, these are artistic mediums brought to life by dozens or hundreds of people, and not just one.

Yet pushing past the clearly stated intentions of the originator of a work can be daunting, especially when that creator seems to change their mind about what those intentions are over time. This is exactly the situation that Nicholas Meyer, Harve Bennett, and the rest of the...

It's time for another edition of Star Trek Explorer Magazine, and issue #12 will be on sale September 24th. For all of you who subscribe, you should have it in your mailboxes or email inboxes by now. Each quarter the magazine brings you a compelling variety of interviews with the actors, the behind-the-scenes team like the artists and creators, exclusive fiction, and so much more.

On top of that, the creative talents of the writing team are put to the test to bring fans the best news, reports, updates, and opinion pieces, and they never disappoint. In this issue, for example, Jay Strobie, a prolific writer for Startrek.com and Star Trek Explorer, delves into the Top Ten Star Trek Moments. You might be surprised at some of the ones chosen to be highlighted.

Titan Comics, the publisher of Star Trek Explorer, was, as always kind enough to provide us with...

Actor James McAvoy is a confessed Trekkie. On During a video interview with the "Happy. Sad. Confused." podcast, the actor noted that he watched reruns of "Star Trek: The Original Series" when he was a boy, mostly because of its ubiquity. "Star Trek" reruns were common in his area, and McAvoy recalled the colors and outsize qualities made the show feel, to his eyes, like a comic book. It wasn't until he started watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation," however, that his true fandom began. He especially recalled "The Best of Both Worlds," the notable two-part episode in which Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is transformed into a soulless cyborg.

McAvoy also admitted to loving the "Star Trek" feature films, even though they leaned a little heavily on sentimentality. He noted that the films all possess a nostalgic "We're getting the bad back together" quality that perhaps kept them from being great.

If Gene Roddenberry were around today, he’d probably be proud of how Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tackled some hard truths. One of its darkest episodes, set in 2024, shockingly parallels the real-world crisis America’s facing right now. With a storyline that’s more about current events than distant galaxies, the episode feels like a cautionary tale we failed to heed.

Gene Roddenberry and Patrick Stewart on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation | Paramount Domestic Television

Instead of futuristic space battles, it focused on societal breakdowns that hit close to home. Roddenberry’s vision of the future wasn’t just about technology and adventure—it was a mirror reflecting humanity’s ongoing struggles. The eerie accuracy of this episode shows just how ahead of its time Star Trek always was.

From Fiction to Reality: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Dark Vision of 2024 Hits Home with Today...

One of the best bits of advice any writer will give you is to make yourself familiar with as many tropes, cliches and conventions as possible. That way, you can understand how they work while also knowing just when to ignore them. One convention seen in just about all of fiction is the idea that the protagonist and antagonist must share at least one, if not many, moments together, culminating in a final altercation in which the hero emerges victorious over the villain. It's a trope so common that not only is it not questioned, it's routinely expected, so much so that when it's missing, it seems initially like it could be a mistake. Of course, there are many examples of novels, TV shows, and films where this convention is subverted or even ignored, yet it becomes more difficult to do so when an artist is working within the confines of genre.

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From low-budget romps to high-energy blockbuster films, Star Trek has become one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of all time. While Trek has decades worth of TV, film, and animated iterations that might rival Star Wars, it also has its own unique legacy and long-time, passionate cult following (and merch).

In the past few years, the Trek television universe has become one of the highlights of original programming on Paramount+.

"Star Trek," as many may know, wasn't a huge hit during its initial 1966 to 1969 run. The series always struggled with low ratings, and only received a third season after a passionate letter-writing campaign kept it on the air. The third season, luckily, pushed "Star Trek" up to 76 episodes, which was just enough for syndication deals. "Star Trek" began airing in reruns in the early 1970s, and only then did the series find a wider -- and widely obsessive -- audience. Reruns allowed Trekkies to watch episodes multiple times, and develop their own theories about the Enterprise, about the show's technical devices, and about the characters' backstories. 

The first official "Star Trek" convention was held in September 1972, and show creator Gene Roddenberry began showing up at subsequent cons to discuss his show and hear from fans about what they liked. I am convinced that it was during the convention circuit years...

Leonard Nimoy wrote his first autobiography in 1975, titling it "I Am Not Spock." It wasn't born out of hatred for his beloved "Star Trek" role, it was simply inspired by people conflating him with his character. Notably, Nimoy wrote a follow-up titled "I Am Spock" 20 years later.

Spock was Nimoy's breakout part and his most remembered role, but lest we forget that aforementioned memoir, he'd been acting for more than a decade before "Star Trek" came along. One of his more minor parts was in an episode of "The Twilight Zone" season 3 — "A Quality of Mercy." The episode is set in the Philippines on August 6, 1945 (the day the U.S. bombed Hiroshima). Nimoy plays Hansen, one of the American G.I.'s fighting the last days of an already-won war.

The idea of the episode came from writer Sam Rolfe, but the actual teleplay was written by "Twilight Zone" creator/narrator Rod Serling.

William Shatner’s one decision in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was crucial in making it one of the best films in the franchise. After the successful Star Trek: The Original Series, the cast returned for the films starting with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Fans and studio executives were not happy with the first film despite the film becoming a financial success.

William Shatner in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Shatner suggested that the second film in the series makes Captain James T. Kirk more vulnerable. The suggestion was initially met with skepticism but Kirk’s mid-life crisis turned out to work really well for the movie. The film kickstarted a three-part storyline that ended in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

William Shatner Made The Crucial Decision To Make Captain Kirk More Vulnerable in Star Trek II William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy...

Leonard Nimoy held a lot of thoroughly acclaimed acting credits to his name, but unarguably none shaped his star-studded career as perfectly as the Star Trek saga did. Throughout the time he continued to leave viewers baffled with his incredible acting skills, he delivered some of the most iconic performances as Spock in the fan-favorite sci-fi universe over nearly half a century.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in the Star Trek universe. | Credits: Paramount Pictures.

And yet, his tremendous collaboration with the saga just may not have even gone that far in the first place as Nimoy’s original response for Star Trek II was originally nothing short of a hard no. In fact, had it not been for the one who developed the story promising the actor a “great death scene” through the $97 million film, perhaps he wouldn’t even have gone that far!

“A Great Death Scene” Convinced Leonard...

Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is generally regarded as the best of the 13 extant "Star Trek" movies, at least according to any Trekkies you may ask. At the very least, "The Wrath of Khan" became the popular model on which multiple other "Star Trek" movies would be based; several "Star Trek" films feature a charismatic, revenge-bent "villain" character at its center.

At least one person, however, really hated "The Wrath of Khan" -- "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

Roddenberry had spent the bulk of the 1970s attending "Star Trek" conventions and refining his thoughts on his creation. He and Trekkies, during the conventions, began to zero in on the pacifist, diplomatic nature of the show, coming to the conclusion that "Star Trek" isn't about dominance or military power. Instead, it redefines power as being connected to intelligence, professionalism, and one's ability to solve problems in a group.

"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry had a pretty impressive career as a screenwriter, developing one of the most influential and popular science fiction franchises of all time. His legacy through "Star Trek" is truly something, impressing his progressive, humanistic outlook upon the world through the ideals of Starfleet, but even without "Star Trek," Roddenberry is also a (somewhat) secret legend for having survived multiple plane crashes during his time in the military and as a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). His work on "Star Trek" is much better known, of course, but the incredible stories behind his near-death experiences as a pilot help afford fans a better understanding of the man who gave us Captain Kirk, Spock, and the whole beautiful, utopian universe of "Star Trek."

(Sure, he originally pitched "Star Trek" to studios as a space Western, comparing it to the popular series "Wagon Train,...

Ridley Scott, renowned for his visionary approach to filmmaking, set out to challenge the conventions of the sci-fi genre with his 1979 film Alien. In a bold move, he envisioned Alien to be the complete opposite of Star Wars. Further, deliberately crafting a storyline that diverged sharply from the space opera’s epic, heroic tones.

A still from Alien (1979) || credits: 20th Century Fox

Instead of the adventurous and optimistic universe of George Lucas’s creation, Scott’s Alien introduced audiences to a darker, and intensely terrifying world. Further, redefining the sci-fi landscape with its unique, horror-driven approach.

Ridley Scott on Making Alien the Opposite of Star Wars

Star Wars set a new standard for science fiction movies. Following which, the late 1970s saw a wave of similar sci-fi films. Studios quickly released movies like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Disney’s The Black Hole, the sci-fi-infused James Bond adventure Moonraker, and...

Star Wars paved the way for many subsequent science fiction films, including the original Alien. During an interview director Ridley Scott revealed he wanted Alien to be the “antithesis” of Star Wars. He also said that he had 2001: A Space Odyssey in mind when he directed Alien.

The original ‘Alien’ was the most beloved of the ‘Star Wars’ cash-ins

George Lucas’ Star Wars came out in 1977 and changed cinema forever. In 1978 and 1979, many film studios released Star Wars cash-ins. We got Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Disney’s The Black Hole, the sci-fi James Bond romp Moonraker, and the bold Japanese Star Wars rip-off Message from Space. The most beloved of the bunch is Alien. Part of the reason why fans remember Alien a lot more than Message from Space is that Alien told a story that wasn’t derived from Star Wars in any meaningful way.

During a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter,...

Gene Roddenberry's seminal sci-fi space opera "Star Trek" infamously struggled when it first ran from 1966 to 1969. The show caught a certain amount of attention in the pop mainstream -- the image of the pointy-eared Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy, regularly graced magazines and TV Guides -- but the ratings were never terribly high. Indeed, at the end of its second season, NBC was preparing to cancel the series entirely. It was only after a pointed and drive letter-writing campaign that the show was allowed to come back for a third season.

NBC, however, still didn't have much faith in the series, and played an unhelpful scheduling game with "Star Trek." It was going to be slotted in on Monday nights, an amenable time for its youthful audience, but at the last minute, was shunted into a Friday 10 p.m. time slot, one of the least desirable TV times imaginable.

To date, there have been six feature films based on "Star Trek," four based on Star Trek: The Next Generation," and three set in a rebooted timeline (called the Kelvin timeline by fans). Those 13 films were all released theatrically from 1979 to 2016, averaging one film every three years or so. Up next, "Star Trek: Section 31" is slated for release on Paramount+ sometime in 2025, and it will be the first "Star Trek" TV movie. There has also long been talk of making a fourth film in the Kelvin timeline, but that movie's fate is currently a question mark; I'll believe it when I see it.

The longstanding general consensus is that the odd-numbered "Star Trek" films are bad and unsuccessful, while the even-numbered films are amazing hits. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," for instance, was something of a disappointment at the box office, but "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...

Trekkies will be able to tell you that "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry was notoriously strict when it came to his famed sci-fi series. Indeed, writers for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" have gone on record saying how much they hated the notorious Roddenberry Rule when it came to story. It seems that Roddenberry was insistent -- especially in the "Next Generation" days -- that there be no interpersonal conflict between the show's main characters. In Roddenberry's view, a Federation starship was a ruthlessly efficient place, and the crew all got along with professionalism and respect; there was to be no insubordination, no bickering, and no professional resentment. That's an idyllic view of the future, of course, but it was terrible for screenwriters who felt they needed conflict in order to create drama.

But Roddenberry stood fast, holding his rules in place for many years. When he died, executive producer...

Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV has revealed its August highlights. Pluto TV is boldly going where no streamer has gone before, becoming the first service to offer the entire Star Trek film series for free!

Pluto TV has long been home to a galaxy of science fiction entertainment, and now all of the cinematic adventures of the Star Trek Prime Universe (William Shatner and Patrick Stewart) and the Kelvin Universe (Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto) are beaming up to your favorite device. Also joining Pluto TV in August are Alien Nation by Dust and three new channels from Fox.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience. The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with hundreds of international media companies.

Pluto TV offers various genres, languages, and categories featuring movies,...

After "Star Trek" was canceled in 1969, show creator Gene Roddenberry was dismayed. The series was hard-fought, but the ratings were never stellar during its initial run. Indeed, CBS was going to cancel the show at the end of its second season, but a massive letter-writing campaign kept it going for another year. "Star Trek," as most Trekkies know, didn't really its massive audience for a few years, after the series had been put into eternal syndication. Only then did fans start flocking to the show in earnest. It wouldn't be until 1972 that the first "Star Trek" convention would be held.

Roddenberry wasn't content to rest on his growing laurels, however, and tried out a few projects in the early 1970s, hoping to further explore his sci-fi interests. He loved to preach a philosophy of pacifism, as well as larger sci-fi themes about humanity's place in the cosmos. In 1973, he created "Genesis II,...

The trailer for season five of Star Trek: Lower Decks goes hard into celebrating the series’ final episodes. It even recreates a trailer for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the last adventure of The Original Series crew.

But even as it acknowledges that studio Paramount has chosen to cancel the show after season five, the trailer also insists that the USS Cerritos will continue to boldly go where more respected Starfleet vessels went first. As Mariner says in the trailer, “We haven’t even cracked our second quadrant!”

More than just a standard knowing joke, Mariner’s observation reveals the actual hopes of Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan. In fact, McMahan said as much during the Lower Decks panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

According to SFX Magazine, McMahan told attendees that the fifth season wouldn’t offer closure for Mariner, Boimler, and the other members of the Cerritos crew.

Gene Roddenberry was an American screenwriter and producer known for his work in the Star Trek franchises during its earlier stages. Although Roddenberry has several other projects to his name, his fame and acclaim grew with the franchise.

A still from the original Star Trek series | Paramount Television

When Star Trek wanted a Phase II, the producers didn’t want to work with an unknown person. Well, that’s when they approached Roddenberry to write the script however, he refused the opportunity and he had a very valid reason to do so.

Gene Roddenberry Rejected Star Trek Phase II

Star Trek: The Original Series ended its run in 1969. Writer Gene Roddenberry thought to continue the franchise and take it in a better direction with Phase II of the franchise.

William Shatner in Star Trek: The Original series | Paramount Television

The production of Phase II started in 1977, and the eventual 1979 film...

Leonard Nimoy is a legendary Hollywood actor who enjoyed a plethora of major roles in the industry during his career. However, not one of them comes close to his iconic rendition of Spock in the Star Trek saga.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in the Star Trek franchise | Paramount Pictures

A role that he took up for the first time ever during the 1979 motion picture, Nimoy became synonymous with the half-human, half-Vulcan character with pointed years. At the same time, Spock had his fair share of naysayers when he was first sought to be introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

So much so that Nimoy was told by network executives that they would either have to change the appearance of the character, or simply do away with him!

Leonard Nimoy was told by NBC executives that Spock will need to undergo a comprehensive physical change

Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock...

It’s the first day of Amazon’s annual Prime Day, with hundreds of products discounted — including prices slashed on horror movies!

We’ve rounded up some of the scariest deals for you…

4K Ultra HD Collections:

The Mummy Trilogy – $26.99 The Shining / 2001: A Space Odyssey / Full Metal Jacket – $29.99 Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection Vol. 1 – $32.99 Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection Vol. 2 – $34.99 The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 1 – $33.99 The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Vol. 2 – $34.99 Batman: 4-Film Collection (1989-1997) – $39.99 Resident Evil Collection – $56.49 The Toxic Avenger Collection – $72.50 Rosemary’s Baby / Pet Sematary / Crawl / Smile / Sweeney Todd – $74.49 Universal Classic Monsters: Limited Edition 8-Film Collection – $99.99

Steelbook 4K UHDs:

Insidious – $15.37 Last Action Hero – $17.55 Fright Night – $20.99 King Kong (1976) – $26.49 Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection – $29.99 Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters II – $33.99

Individual 4K UHDs:

Brawl In Cell Block 99 – $8.99 Get Out – $9.99 The Thing – $10.99 Escape from L.A. – $10.99 Cloverfield – $10.99 Pacific Rim – $10.99 Godzilla vs. Kong – $10.99 A Quiet Place...

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Datalore", Trekkies were introduced to Lore (Brent Spiner), functionally Data's evil twin. Data (also Spiner) was said to have been built by a cyberneticist named Dr. Noonien Soong, and he had previously assumed he was the only android of his kind, but the investigation of a ruined human colony revealed the pieces of Lore, hidden away in a cave. Lore, when reassembled, reveals that he is emotional and even aggressive, the opposite of Data. He also claims that Data was built first as a prototype, making Lore the more perfect model. It would be revealed later that Lore was actually the imperfect prototype, and Data was the improved model.

Lore only appeared in four episodes of "Next Generation," but he was always up to no good, either conspiring with a massive, planet-eating crystalline entity or leading a religious cult of Borg outcasts.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) was the much-awaited big-screen comeback of ‘The Original Series.’ However, despite the tremendous anticipation, both critics and fans had differing opinions. The movie’s slow pacing, ponderous storytelling, and vague premise drew criticism from the general audience. Adding to this was Leonard Nimoy, who wasn’t a fan of the movie either.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in the Star Trek franchise || Paramount Pictures

Time and again, Nimoy detailed his love and hate for his Star Trek character, Spock. But not just his character; the actor also expressed strong opinions on why he doesn’t consider Star Trek: The Motion Picture a franchise-worthy movie.

Why Leonard Nimoy Disliked Star Trek: The Motion Picture?

Leonard Nimoy was not the one to mince his words. In his autobiography, I Am Not Spock, he tried to establish that the half-human-half-Vulcan character wasn’t his sole identity. Further, while talking with the Television Academy Foundation,...

"Star Trek" fans are a notoriously finicky and aggressively opinionated lot, but I don't think it's terribly controversial to suggest that, of the six films featuring "The Original Series" cast, the majority of Trekkers hold the two directed by Nicholas Meyer, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," to be the best of the bunch.

Made for $32 million less than Robert Wise's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," Meyer, who'd never seen a single episode of the show, got the franchise's big-screen iteration back on track by dispensing with the previous film's occasionally draggy reverence. Though he inherited the notion of calling back to Tos' "Space Seed" episode, Meyer placed his stamp on the film by imbuing the tale with evocative literary allusions to Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" and Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities." It's a tightly structured yarn that managed...

Karl Urban has starred in some of the most memorable franchises and big-budget blockbuster films. While he may not be an A-list movie star, the actor has shown versatility through his diverse choices. His impressive performances in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bourne Supremacy, Judge Dredd, The Boys, and the Star Trek reboot films have made him an interesting actor to watch on screen.

Karl Urban as Leonard McCoy in Star Trek Beyond | Paramount Pictures

Urban played the iconic role of Leonard McCoy in the reboot film series, previously played by DeForest Kelley in the original 60s Star Trek series. The Boys star starred alongside Chris Pine in the films who played James Kirk. Fans have compared their performances to the actors who played their characters before while also praising Urban’s contribution to the franchise.

Fans Look Back Fondly On Karl Urban’s Brilliant Performance in J.J...

At the beginning of Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) is in command of the USS Excelsior, a prototype spacecraft with a newfangled transwarp drive allowing it to travel faster than any ship yet built. The Excelsior was first glimpsed in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," and Sulu, still serving on board the USS Enterprise at the time, stared at new the ship in utter awe. He couldn't have guessed at that moment that he would one day be its captain. 

Sulu's captaincy gave the character a satisfying arc. When audiences first saw him in the original "Star Trek," he was a helmsman bearing the rank of lieutenant. In "Star Trek VI," made 25 years later, he was finally in command. If one accepts expanded universe lore culled from ancillary books and the like, Sulu would eventually become an Admiral and...

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...

As we reflect on the Star Trek franchise’s impressive run of nearly six decades, can we truly pinpoint the unsung heroes who have propelled us at warp speed from one generation to the next? Absolutely! The Star Trek canon has expanded to include a number of new TV series, a movie franchise, and other media since Gene Roddenberry created the universe in 1966.

While we are eternally grateful to prolific visionaries like Roddenberry, as well as second-wave pioneers like Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, and Brannon Braga, it was the quiet lifeline tossed by one man, Harve Bennett. Having said that, the late producer actually reignited the flame of the Star Trek franchise when it was about to flicker out.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Paramount Pictures

Bennett’s pivotal role in producing four of the first six Star Trek films in the 1980s can’t be overstated.

Science fiction cinema came of age in the 1950s, beginning an ascent out of the drive-in schlock market that culminated in the boldly experimental yet still commercially viable efforts of the 1960s. That fed directly into the next decade, with sci-fi in the 1970s taking on (for the most part) the same subversive attitude as most other movies made during that era.

But sci-fi movies also entered blockbuster territory in the ‘70s as demonstrated by the massive success of films like Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman: The Movie, Logan’s Run, and Alien. The studios realized that sci-fi could be a cash cow, and as the 1980s dawned, decided to ramp up their genre output, not to mention their budgets, with elaborate visual effects, bigger stars, and more action—even if some of the more cerebral concepts espoused in the earlier decades’ films took a bit of a back seat.

A dying planet. A fight for life. The search for Spock. It all returns to theaters this year. To commemorate the 40th anniversary, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock will beam back onto screens. Unfortunately for most of us, the release is only headed to the United Kingdom, leaving everybody else wondering if we’ll get it as well.

When it was released, The Search for Spock opened at #1 with $16.7 million, a best for the franchise up to that point. It also beat out Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in its second week. But it would fall short of its predecessors on the worldwide box office, taking in $87 million compared to Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s $139 million and The Wrath of Khan’s $95.8 million. It would also be surpassed by the fourth installment, The Voyage Home.

Today, The Search for Spock stands as perhaps the most underrated Star Trek movie,...

Trekkers, get ready to beam back up to your local cineplex. A classic Star Trek film is about to be given a sparkly new re-release, returning in 4K and ready to prove – once and for all – that the ‘odd-numbered Trek movies are the bad ones’ rule is far from hard and fast. Yes, 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search For Spock turns 40 this year, and to mark that occasion the film will be heading back to the big screen. Along with the re-release, the film has a brand new retro-styled poster from Matt Ferguson, which you can see exclusively here:

And here's the quad poster, for all the fellow Brits:

If you’ve been following Ferguson’s work, be sure to file this one alongside his designs for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. As for The Search For Spock, it’s the...

The 1979 film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, was quite disappointing for fans of the original series. Although the film kicked off the cinematic run of the franchise, it has been regarded as one of the weaker contenders in the entire series. So much so, that some believe it to have almost ruined the film series’s start altogether.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in the Star Trek franchise [Credit: Paramount]Leonard Nimoy once gave an interview where he talked about the film in comparison to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the rest of the films. It would seem that the Spock legend has very strong opinions and feelings towards the 1979 project.

Leonard Nimoy’s Distain Towards Star Trek: The Motion Picture

In 2005, Leonard Nimoy gave an in-depth interview with TrekMovie, where he touched on the topic of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He specifically talked about how the film...