# What if Star Trek never went off the air? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925 "2014-03-17T16:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/41 "2014-03-19T09:40:13Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Either that or he showed up at the wedding thinking it would be a traditional Betzoid ceremony and the extra dress uniform was all that was on hand at short notice. 😉 There was a series of novels that accounted for the events between _Insurrection_ and _Nemesis_. As I recall, that’s exactly what happened. Wesley dropped in stark naked under the impression it would be a Betazoid ceremony and a spare uniform was indeed provided. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/42 "2014-03-19T10:37:31Z")
Star Trek Continues: > [@](#): > > First produced in 2013, this series looks to chronicle the “lost seasons” of the original STAR TREK (in similar fashion to STAR TREK: PHASE II; see below). The series features anime voice actors Vic Mignogna and Todd Haberkorn as Kirk and Spock, respectively. Other notable cast include Chris Doohan (son of James Doohan) as Scotty, Larry Nemecek as McCoy, and Grant Imahara as Sulu. The first episode, “Pilgrim of Eternity” (with Michael Forest reprising his role as Apollo from the original series episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”) was released in 2013. The second episode, “Lolani” (featuring guest star Lou Ferigno), was released in February 2014, and a third episode is set to film in late March of 2014.[4][5][6] > **[Star Trek fan productions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_fan_productions#Drama_films)** > > Star Trek fan productions are productions made by fans using elements of the Star Trek franchise. Paramount Pictures, CBS, and their licensees are the only organizations legally allowed to create commercial products with the Star Trek name and trademark. The fan film community has received some coverage from the mainstream media. > Star Trek fan films have been made since the 1960s by individuals and various fan groups but, before the advent of inexpensive digital cameras, editing and effects in... The website: > **[Star Trek Continues](https://www.startrekcontinues.com/)** > > Home page of the Star Trek Continues webseries. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/43 "2014-03-19T11:30:17Z")
Confession: I was so into it in the early 1970’s that I attended a few Conventions. I did not go in costume. 😃 Good to see Harlan Ellison’s name up there. If I step back from my juvenile blind adoration of all things TOS a bit and think about the writing in the first 2 seasons, it might be fair to say that a cadre of ( at the time ) highly repected Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writers took a swipe at scripts. The series was a product and mirror of its times. Just as Hill Street Blues was, just as L.A. Law was, just as M_A_S\*H was. TOS tried, we gotta give em that. They tried to carry in bucketloads of socially relevant message some of the time. Sometimes ( Amok Time, etc. ) they were simply enjoying fleshing out the universe of their own creation. In the context of early to mid-60’s ( The pilot was written in the early 60’s ), being very in your face and obvious regarding social change and moral messages wasn’t out of norm. Racial equality, The Voting Rights Act, The Great Societ, etc- these things were tidal forces in American society. The fact that the stories were (more than) a bit ham-fisted kinda always worked for me. Want subtle? Pick another era. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/44 "2014-03-19T12:58:04Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > I think so. Lots of shows have had long runs: Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, My Three Sons, Mission Impossible, Law and Order, etc. Several distinct differences: [ol] [li]None of those series were sci fi[/li][li]My Three Sons was a 1/2 hour sitcom[/li][li]Only L&O began during the modern era[/li][/ol] TOS would have petered out by 1973-74 and would probably be treated the same way that Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea are now: As quaint novelties from a bygone era ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/45 "2014-03-19T13:43:58Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > We wouldn’t have _Galaxy Quest_. Enough said. > > Stranger Are you bragging, or complaining? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/46 "2014-03-19T15:57:48Z")
Things would be very different. We would not have had TNG, but maybe DS9 and Voyager could have come along and been set, as spinoffs, in the 23rd century. We probably would never have had Cardassians, but Klingons or Romulans would have filled that role. We might have seen a recurring Klingon captain, which was something that had been talked about. Cast changes would have occurred, maybe Shatner and Nimoy moving on and Sulu and Checkov becoming captain and first officer. “Wrath of Khan” would have been a “very special episode”, probably a two-parter in which Spock dies _permanently_ and Kirk leaves afterward in his grief. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/47 "2014-03-19T16:10:12Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Things would be very different. We would not have had TNG, but maybe DS9 and Voyager could have come along and been set, as spinoffs, in the 23rd century. We probably would never have had Cardassians, but Klingons or Romulans would have filled that role. We might have seen a recurring Klingon captain, which was something that had been talked about. > > Cast changes would have occurred, maybe Shatner and Nimoy moving on and Sulu and Checkov becoming captain and first officer. “Wrath of Khan” would have been a “very special episode”, probably a two-parter in which Spock dies _permanently_ and Kirk leaves afterward in his grief. Oh, the things that might have been! :o I think that as time went by and more money became available, the number of aliens would have grown and threats other than the Klingons and Romulans would have been introduced, just to keep things from going stale. I wouldn’t have minded if they explored the latter two in more depth, and even if they had evolved somewhat. But it always pissed me off that the Klingons went from being pure pond scum to misunderstood noble (albeit rather dim) warriors, and the Romulans were transformed from an honorable race into a treacherous one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/48 "2014-03-19T18:26:26Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > But it always pissed me off that the Klingons went from being pure pond scum to misunderstood noble (albeit rather dim) warriors 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/49 "2014-03-19T18:28:01Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > Star Trek Continues: > > [Star Trek fan productions - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_fan_productions#Drama_films) > > The website: > > [http://www.startrekcontinues.com/](http://www.startrekcontinues.com/) I was really disappointed in “Lolani” – I think they utterly flubbed the Orion slave girl mythology. In TOS and subsequent episodes they established the Orion slave girls as having special pheremones that could drive men wild with desire. In Enterprise they took it a notch up and had the pheremones so powerful that they actually controlled men’s minds, and that the Orion “slave girls” were actually the driving force in their culture, using their pheremones to control the men of their race, and having the men sell them to the men of other races to extend that control. Now, that’s science fiction, that’s portraying aliens as different creatures who do surprising things. Whereas “Lolani” is just a hapless slavegirl, no real powers or abilities beyond acting sexy. It was a story that could have been set in many of Earth’s cultures throughout history. It dumped all the alien-ness of the Orion slave girls that made them interesting and different. So, not really looking for good stories from Star Trek Continues … ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/50 "2014-03-19T18:35:22Z")
I just get a creepy feeling when I see other actors taking over iconic roles. Couldn’t they have set the new series on a different Kirk-era starship and developed characters of their own? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925/51 "2014-03-19T19:55:41Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > C > > In the context of early to mid-60’s ( The pilot was written in the early 60’s ), being very in your face and obvious regarding social change and moral messages wasn’t out of norm. Racial equality, The Voting Rights Act, The Great Societ, etc- these things were tidal forces in American society. The fact that the stories were (more than) a bit ham-fisted kinda always worked for me. > > Want subtle? Pick another era. ST did not invent this kind of show. Try watching “Have Gun Will Travel” which began in the later 1950s and which had similar social messages set in the West. The notes from the first couple of seasons of HGWT make the connection to Star Trek quite well - the slave girl dance from the original pilot came straight from a gypsy or Eastern European dance in a HGWT episode, for instance. And there were plenty of relevant drama before that, including some Twilight Zones. I think TOS got this reputation because other shows in the mid-60s got scared of controversy amid the increasing level of uproar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-star-trek-never-went-off-the-air/683925.md?page=2)