Number One (Star Trek)
Number One is a fictional character who, in "The Cage", the original pilot episode of the science-fiction television series Star Trek, was the unnamed intellectual, problem-solving second-in-command serving under Captain Christopher Pike. She performs the same role for Pike "as Spock does for Kirk"; the character was played by Majel Barrett, who went on to play Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek and Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as the computer's voice. The character appeared only in the unaired pilot and in the footage used in "The Menagerie". In 2019, Number One appears in the second season of the prequel series Star Trek: Discovery, played by Rebecca Romijn. Although not shown on-screen, it is implied that Number One takes command of the Enterprise when Captain Pike and his landing party first beam down to Talos IV, she beams down to the planet several times herself. During "The Cage", Number One proves to her alien captors that humans would rather die than be slaves.
Her official biography notes. Number One appears in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "An Obol for Charon", where she visits Pike on the USS Discovery, she briefs Pike on the repairs being made to the Enterprise, provided Pike with information regarding the whereabouts of Lieutenant Spock. Number One is said to be a resourceful individual and has a predilection for spicy food - in the mess hall scene with Pike, she orders a cheeseburger with habanero sauce. During the development of the first pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series, Roddenberry wrote the part of Number One for Barrett. There was reluctance from the NBC executives to agree to an actress, unknown. Roddenberry did see other actresses for the part. According to Gene Roddenberry and Stephen Whitfield, the prominence of a woman among the crew of a starship was one of the reasons the original Star Trek pilot was rejected by NBC, who, in addition to calling the pilot "too cerebral", felt the alien Spock and a female senior officer would be rejected by audiences, although Roddenberry related the tale of how women of the era had difficulty accepting her as well.
Executive producer Herbert Franklin Solow attempted to sell NBC executives on the idea that a fresh face would bring believability to the part, but they were aware that she was Roddenberry's girlfriend. Despite this they agreed to her casting, not wanting to upset Roddenberry at this point in the production. After the pilot was rejected, a second pilot was produced. While it was explained that the network disliked a female character as the second-in-command of the Enterprise, Solow had a different opinion of events. In his book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, producer Herbert Solow suggested the network was fine with the character, but was infuriated when a unknown actress was cast because she was having an affair with Roddenberry; because of NBC's rare order of a second pilot, Roddenberry compromised by eliminating Number One, but aspects of her character—specifically, her cool demeanor and logical nature—were merged into Spock during the regular run of the series. On the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Commander William Riker is called "Number One" by Captain Picard, because of his position as first officer on the USS Enterprise.
On the series Star Trek: Discovery, set in 2256, female Commander Michael Burnham is referred to as "Number One" by Captain Georgiou, because of her position as first officer on the USS Shenzhou. Series creator Bryan Fuller had intended the character to only be referred to as Number One, in honor of Majel Barrett's character of the same name, but the Burnham name was revealed during the first episode making "Number One" her informal name. Star Trek portal Fictional characters portal Daniel. ""Star Trek" in the 1960s: Liberal-Humanism and the Production of Race". Science Fiction Studies. 24: 209–225. JSTOR 4240604. Leah, Jessica. Music and Gender in the Original Series of Star Trek. Solow, Herbert F.. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-89628-7. Number One at Memory Alpha
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. Kirk first appears in Star Trek: The Original Series and has been portrayed in numerous films, comics and video games; as the captain of the starship USS Enterprise, Kirk leads his crew as they explore new worlds, new civilizations, "boldly go where no man has gone before". The characters of Spock and Leonard McCoy act as his logical and emotional sounding boards, respectively. Kirk, played by William Shatner, first appears in Star Trek's first episode, "The Man Trap", broadcast on September 8, 1966. Shatner continued in the role for the show's three seasons, provided the voice of the animated version of Kirk in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Shatner returned in six subsequent films. Chris Pine portrays an alternative young version of the character in the 2009 Star Trek film. Pine reprised his role in Star Trek Beyond. Other actors have played the character in fan-created media, the character has been the subject of multiple spoofs and satires.
Kirk has been criticized for his relationships with women. James Tiberius Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa, in the year 2228, where he was raised by his parents and Winona Kirk. Although born on Earth, Kirk lived for a time on Tarsus IV, where he was one of nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists by Kodos the Executioner. James Kirk's brother, George Samuel Kirk, is first mentioned in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and introduced and killed in "Operation: Annihilate!", leaving behind three children. Kirk became the first and only student at Starfleet Academy to defeat the Kobayashi Maru test, garnering a commendation for original thinking for reprogramming the computer to make the "no-win scenario" winnable. Kirk was granted a field commission as an ensign and posted to advanced training aboard the USS Republic, he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade and returned to Starfleet Academy as a student instructor. Students could either "think or sink" in his class, Kirk himself was "a stack of books with legs".
Upon graduating in the top five percent, Kirk was promoted to lieutenant and served aboard the USS Farragut. While assigned to the Farragut, Kirk commanded his first planetary survey and survived a deadly attack that killed a large portion of the Farragut's crew, including his commanding officer, Captain Garrovick, he received his first command, a spaceship equivalent to a destroyer, while still quite young. Kirk became Starfleet's youngest starship captain after receiving command of the USS Enterprise for a five-year mission, three years of which are depicted in the original Star Trek series. Kirk's most significant relationships in the television series are with first officer Spock and chief medical officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. McCoy is someone to whom Kirk is a foil to Spock. Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence's The Myth of the American Superhero describes Kirk as "a hard-driving leader who pushes himself and his crew beyond human limits". Terry J. Erdman and Paula M. Block, in their Star Trek 101 primer, note that while "cunning and confident", Kirk has a "tendency to ignore Starfleet regulations when he feels the end justifies the means".
Although Kirk throughout the series becomes romantically involved with various women, when confronted with a choice between a woman and the Enterprise, "his ship always won". Roddenberry wrote in a production memo that Kirk is not afraid of being fallible, but rather is afraid of the consequences to his ship and crew should he make an error in judgment. Roddenberry wrote: has any normal man's insecurities and doubts, but he knows he cannot show them—except in private with ship's surgeon McCoy or in subsequent moments with Mr. Spock whose opinions Kirk has learned to value so highly. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Admiral Kirk is Chief of Starfleet Operations, he takes command of the Enterprise from Captain Willard Decker. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's novelization of The Motion Picture depicts Kirk married to a Starfleet officer killed during a transporter accident. At the beginning of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Kirk takes command of the Enterprise from Captain Spock to pursue his enemy from "Space Seed", Khan Noonien Singh.
The movie introduces David Marcus. Spock, who notes that "commanding a starship is first, best destiny", dies at the end of Star Trek II. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Admiral Kirk leads his surviving officers in a successful mission to rescue Spock from a planet on which he is reborn. Although Kirk is demoted to Captain in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home for disobeying Starfleet orders, he receives command of a new Enterprise, the USS Enterprise-A; the ship is ordered decommissioned at the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In Star Trek Generations, Captain Jean-Luc Picard finds Kirk living in the timeless Nexus, despite the fact that history recorded his death during the Enterprise-B's maiden voyage, Kirk having fallen into the Nexus in the incident that caused his "death". Picard convinces Kirk to return to Picard's present to help stop the villain Soran from destroying Veridian III's sun. Although Kirk refuses the offer, he agrees after realizing the Nexus cannot give him the one thing he has always sought: the ability to make a difference.
The two stop Soran. However, Kirk is mortally wounded. Picard buries Kirk on the planet; this Star Tr
Zachary Quinto
Zachary John Quinto is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar on the science fiction drama series Heroes, Spock in the reboot Star Trek and its sequels Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, as well as his Emmy nominated performance in American Horror Story: Asylum, his other film roles include Margin Call, What's Your Number?, Hitman: Agent 47, Hotel Artemis. He appeared in smaller roles on television series such as So NoTORIous, The Slap, 24, on stage in Angels in America. Quinto was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in the suburb of Green Tree, Pennsylvania, he attended Jude Catholic School. His mother, Margaret J. "Margo", worked at an investment firm and at a magistrate's office. His father, Joseph John "Joe" Quinto, a barber, died of cancer. Quinto and his brother, were subsequently raised by their mother, he grew up Catholic. His father was of Italian descent. Quinto graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1995, where he participated in its musicals and won the Gene Kelly Award for Best Supporting Actor, attended Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, from which he graduated in 1999.
Quinto first appeared on television in the short-lived television series The Others, appeared as a guest star on shows including CSI, Touched by an Angel, Six Feet Under, Lizzie McGuire, L. A. Dragnet. In 2003, during the theatrical run of Endgame by Samuel Beckett, directed by Kristina Lloyd at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles playing the role of Clov, he landed a recurring role as computer expert Adam Kaufman on the Fox series 24. In 2006, Quinto played the role of Sasan: the haughty, bisexual Iranian-American best friend of Tori Spelling on her VH1 series So NoTORIous; that year, he joined the cast of Heroes as Gabriel Gray, better known as the serial killer Sylar. He worked on the series until its cancellation in 2010 after four seasons, his casting as a young Spock in the J. J. Abrams-directed reboot of the Star Trek film franchise was announced at the 2007 Comic-Con. Speaking alongside Leonard Nimoy at a press conference to promote the first new Star Trek film, Quinto revealed that Nimoy had been given casting approval over who would play the role of the young Spock.
"For me Leonard's involvement was only liberating, frankly," says Quinto. "I knew that he had approval over the actor that would play young Spock, so when I got the role I knew from the beginning it was with his blessing." In a September 2008 interview, Abrams said of Quinto's performance as Spock: "Zachary brought a gravity and an incredible sense of humor, a wonderful combination because Spock's character is deceivingly complicated. The revelation for me watching the movie, when I got to watch the whole thing after working on sequences, was that he is extraordinary, he was doing things I didn't realize while we were shooting – these amazing things to track his story." Quinto made references to Star Trek's historical record for diversity and inclusiveness in its casting and storylines, said that he hoped the looming election of Barack Obama would build that dynamic towards the film's May 2009 release date. After Star Trek, he appeared in the comedy short Boutonniere, it "...was a movie written and directed by my former landlady and friend.
She called up and said,'Would you do me a favor and be in my short film?'" In 2008, Quinto joined with Neal Dodson to form Before the Door Pictures. The company produced projects in film, new media, published two graphic novels in a deal with comic book publisher Archaia Entertainment: they published a graphic novel called Mr. Murder is Dead, created by writer Victor Quinaz followed by LUCID: A Matthew Dee Adventure written by writer/actor Michael McMillian. Quinto starred in several comedy shorts, he played a strangely lovable kidnapper in "Hostage: A Love Story", written by the comedy duo HoltandSteele, for Before the Door Pictures and www. FunnyOrDie.com. He played a prospective dog adopter in "Dog Eat Dog", written and directed by Sian Heder, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2012. Quinto has kept up his theatre experience, which includes roles in a variety of productions, including classics such as Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Los Angeles Odyssey Theatres in 2003, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing at the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival and Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow at the Old Globe Theatre.
From October 2010 to February 2011, Quinto played the lead role of Louis Ironson in an Off-Broadway revival of Tony Kushner's Angels in America at the Signature Theatre, New York City. For this role, Quinto received the Theatreworld Outstanding Debut Performance award. In 2013, Quinto played the role of Tom Wingfield in the American Repertory Theatre's production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, he was in the Broadway reprisal of the production, in 2014. In February 2016, Zachary appeared in the New York premiere of MCC Theater's Smokefall. In 2010, Quinto's company Before the Door Pictures produced Margin Call, an independent film about the financial crisis. Quinto played the role of Peter Sullivan in the film, in a cast that included Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Penn Badgley and Demi Moore. Margin Call premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival. Margin Call received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, by J. C. Chandor. Quinto was an executive producer for Chandor's next film All Is Lost with Robert Redford as the
Star Trek: Discovery
Star Trek: Discovery is an American web television series created for CBS All Access by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. It is the first series developed for that service, the first Star Trek series since Star Trek: Enterprise concluded in 2005. Set a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrently produced feature films, Discovery follows the crew of the USS Discovery on various adventures. Sonequa Martin-Green stars as a science specialist on the Discovery. Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman star, they are joined by Jason Isaacs for the first season, Anson Mount and Wilson Cruz for the second. The series was announced in November 2015, with Fuller joining as showrunner and wanting to make an anthology series. CBS wanted a single, serialized show first, with an idea for a prequel to the original series developed. After further disagreements with CBS and struggles with other commitments, Fuller left the series in October 2016, replaced as showrunner by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts for the first season, with producing support from Akiva Goldsman.
Goldsman did not return after the first season, while Berg and Harberts were fired by CBS during production on the second. Star Trek: Discovery premiered on September 19, 2017, at ArcLight Hollywood, before debuting on CBS and CBS All Access on September 24; the rest of the 15-episode first season was streamed weekly on All Access. The series' release led to record subscriptions for All Access, positive reviews from critics who highlighted Martin-Green's performance. A 14-episode second season was ordered in October 2017, premiered on January 17, 2019. A third season was ordered in February 2019. Set ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, the show sees the united Klingon houses in a war with the United Federation of Planets that involves the crew of the USS Discovery. Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham: A Science Specialist on USS Discovery. Burnham was First Officer of the USS Shenzhou, where she was referred to as "Number One" to honor the character of the same name portrayed by Majel Barrett in the original Star Trek pilot "The Cage".
Burnham is a human, raised following Vulcan culture and traditions by Sarek. Unlike the protagonists of previous Star Trek series, she was not made a starship captain, in order "to see a character from a different perspective on the starship—one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context". Fuller deliberately gave the character a traditionally male name, which he had done with the female leads on three of his previous series. Doug Jones as Saru: First Officer of the USS Discovery, Saru was Science Officer of the USS Shenzhou. Saru is the first Kelpien to enter Starfleet. Kelpiens, a new species created for Discovery, were hunted as prey on their home planet and thus evolved the ability to sense the coming of death, giving them a reputation for cowardice. Jones based Saru's walk on that of a supermodel, out of necessity thanks to the boots he had to wear to portray the character's hooved feet, forcing Jones to walk on the balls of his feet.
The producers compared Saru to the characters Data from previous series. Shazad Latif as Voq / Ash Tyler: A Klingon who undergoes surgery to pose as the human Tyler, chief of security for the USS Discovery. Tyler’s mind is altered, so he believes he was held as a prisoner of war by the Klingons. Latif was cast in the role of Kol. Voq was credited as being portrayed by Javid Iqbal, an invented actor named for Latif's father, to hide the connection between the characters. Latif described his character as "a complex and painful and deep character", noted that "there's a chemistry, a relationship" with Burnham. Latif's accent for Voq is Arabic-inspired, he tried to maintain "a kind of pharyngealness" to Tyler's American accent. For the second season, Latif felt that he was playing a third character that meshed Voq and Tyler together, comparing their relationship to that of Bruce Banner and Hulk in Marvel Comics. Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets: Chief engineer aboard the USS Discovery and a science officer specializing in astromycology whose research led to development of an experimental organic propulsion system on the Discovery.
The character is inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name. He is the first gay character in a Star Trek series, the showrunners "wanted to roll out that character's sexuality the way people would roll out their sexuality in life." Rapp noted that Hikaru Sulu was portrayed as gay in the film Star Trek Beyond, calling that "a nice nod. But in this case, we get to see me with my partner in conversation, in our living quarters, you get to see our relationship over time, treated as any other relationship would be treated". Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly: A cadet in her final year at Starfleet Academy, assigned to the Discovery, she works under Stamets aboard the Discovery. The character was included to represent people "at the bottom of this ladder" of the Starfleet hierarchy, she is "the most optimistic... has the biggest heart", showrunner Aaron Harberts described her as "sort of the soul of our show." Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca: Captain of the Discovery, a "brilliant military tactician".
Isaacs described the character as "probably more fucked up than any of" the seen Star Trek captains. He plays the character with a slight southern U. S. accent, had wanted to ad-lib a catchphrase for the character feeling that all Star Trek captains should have one, coming up with "git'r done" w
Star Trek uniforms
Star Trek uniforms are costumes worn by actors portraying personnel from the fictitious organization Starfleet in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. Costume design changed between various television series and films those representing different time periods, both for appearance and comfort. Deliberately mixing styles of uniforms from the various series was used to enhance the sense of time travel or alternative universes; the rank system of the Star Trek universe resembles that of the United States Navy in contrast to other science fiction franchises that use an army ranking system. In Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, ranks are indicated by sleeve stripes. In television series, ranks are indicated by varying numbers of pips or bars on the individuals' uniform collars; the insignia are worn on the left breast by all personnel. They were metallic gold, with a black border. However, the specific shape differed based on the ship or base to which the person was assigned, as seen in such TOS episodes as "Court-Martial" or "The Doomsday Machine."
In the case of the Enterprise, the insignia was an arrowhead shape. A black symbol within the insignia indicated the wearer's division — a star with an elongated top point indicated command, a circle crossed by an oval science and medical, an angular spiral operations and engineering; these same symbols were used on most of the different insignia. In the second pilot, the science/medical and engineering/operations symbols were reversed, there were other slight variations between the insignia as used in the pilots and in the regular series; the original uniform designs were the product of designer William Ware Theiss. The original series uniforms consisted of a colored top and dark pants, with significant variations between the designs used in the pilot episodes and the rest of the series; the first uniforms, as seen in the unaired pilot "The Cage" and again in the second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before", are somewhat different from the Starfleet uniform seen in the rest of the original series.
The original concept used a heavy, ribbed turtle neck collar of the same color as the tunic for the men, with a cowl neck variation for the women, each in three colors: gold and light blue. Officers in the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," wore a single gold sleeve stripe, only the officer grades of "lieutenant" and "captain" were used in dialog. A "chief" was visible, but wearing a different sleeve stripe. Characters addressed. In the first pilot, the uniforms included gray coats with silver rank stripes on the sleeves, worn on away missions and identical for men and women, an optional gray cap. In the second pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," most officers again wore a single stripe. Kirk wore two stripes; these differences between the rank indicators used in the pilots and those used in the main series could be explained by the fact that creator Gene Roddenberry and wardrobe designer William Ware Theiss had not yet worked out a consistent system for officer-grade indicator markings on the uniforms.
This they would work out after the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," succeeded in selling the series. The original uniform material was velour; this was used in the first and second seasons because it was cheap and easy to care for, but it shrank after it was dry-cleaned, it tore easily. Thus, it was replaced, in the third season, by a nylon fabric used in professional baseball uniforms. Differently colored shirts were worn with dark gray trousers — which appeared black on camera — for the men. Miniskirt-length dresses with cheer briefs and dark tights were worn by the women. Black boots were worn by both sexes. Nichelle Nichols did not believe that the miniskirts were unusually short or revealing: I was wearing them on the street. What's wrong with wearing them on the air? I wore'em on airplanes, it was the era of the miniskirt. Everybody wore miniskirts. On certain occasions, the characters would wear dress uniforms that are made of a shinier fabric a polyester satin, are decorated with gold piping and colored badges that vary depending on rank.
Montgomery Scott's dress uniform as seen in "The Savage Curtain," includes a Scottish tartan. It is the tartan of the Clan Scott, one of Scotland's oldest clans. Jumpsuits in the same colors with black undershirts were worn by background characters. Beginning with the first regular series episode "The Man Trap", the department colors were altered from the pilot versions: command and helm personnel wear gold shirts; the most used Command Section shirts were olive-green in color, but they appeared to be a golden-yellow color called "tenne" both under the lights used on the set and in the post-development film stock. In series, the gold color was canonized in dialog. However, some uniforms – the alternate shirts worn by Captain Kirk, the Command Section dress uniforms – were made of a different material which, while the same color, showed up as olive-green under the lights and when photographed; the green shirts (seen in TOS: "The Trouble with Trib
Rigel in fiction
The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and the Solar System are a staple element in much science fiction. Rigel is one of the brightest stars in the sky the brightest star in the constellation Orion, it is mentioned in works of fiction. Rigel is a luminous blue supergiant of spectral type B8 Iae, in the constellation Orion; the star is a visual binary, with the secondary component Rigel B itself being a spectroscopic binary that has never been resolved visually, which taken as a single source is 500 times dimmer and over 2200 AU from its overwhelming companion Rigel A. This irregular variable star is the most luminous in our local region of the Milky Way. There is no evidence. However, several creators of works of science fiction have chosen to populate it with an unusually large family of worlds; the star's name is a contraction of Riǧl Ǧawza al-Yusra, this being Arabic for left foot of the central one. Another Arabic name is riǧl al-ǧabbār, that is, the foot of the great one, it figures prominently in the mythologies of Egypt, China and Oceania.
Rigel may be referred to in fictional works for its metaphorical or mythological associations, or else as a bright point of light in the sky of the Earth, but not as a location in space or the center of a planetary system: Mardi, a Voyage Thither, novel by Herman Melville. In this, his third novel, Melville is comparing archipelagoes of stars to the scatterings of islands he has visited on his exploration of the south seas: And as in Orion, to some old king-astronomer, — say, King of Rigel, or Betelguese, — this Earth's four quarters show but four points afar'. / And, as the sun, by influence divine, wheels through the Ecliptic. Clarel, epic poem written by Herman Melville. In this 18,000 line poem, the longest in American literature, Melville describes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land: When, afterward, in nature frank / Upon the terrace thrown at ease / Like magi of the old Chalda-a / Viewing Rigel and Betelguese / We breathed the balm-wind from Saba-a. Ben-Hur, novel by General Lew Wallace. Judah Ben-Hur returns to Jerusalem as the adopted "young Quintus Arrius", has the chance to revenge himself against his erstwhile friend-turned-enemy, the tribune Messala, by defeating him in a great chariot race.
He will race the four eager white Arabians of Sheik Ilderim, who are named after stars: Ha, Antares — Aldebaran! Shall he not, O honest Rigel? and thou, king among coursers, shall he not beware of us? Ha, ha! Good hearts; the Old Man and the Sea, novel by Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man Santiago sees Rigel at sunset off the coast of Cuba: It was dark now as it becomes dark after the sun sets in September... The first stars were out, he did not know the name of Rigel but he saw it and knew soon they would all be out and he would have all his distant friends. The following references refer to Rigel as the center of a planetary system. Tékumel and games by M. A. R. Barker. Rigel is the home star of the ngékka, a delicate, six-legged riding beast, thought to be mythological; the Lensman Series, novels by E. E. "Doc" Smith. The Lensman series takes place on many different worlds over a vast sweep of space; the ancient supercivilization of the Arisians, originators of the "lens", initiates a breeding program for potential godlike heroes, the Lensmen, on four worlds of high potential, including the Earth and Rigel IV—the latter a hot, high-gravity world.
"L2" Kimball Kinnison is the product of the program on Earth, L2 Tregonsee is the Rigellian. Smith's work is identified with the beginnings of US pulp science fiction as a separate marketing genre, did much to define its essential territory, galactic space, featuring many planets such as those orbiting Rigel; the Lensman series is considered far superior to Smith's Skylark series. Empire series, short story and three novels by Isaac Asimov set early in the history of the Galactic Empire that dominated his overarching Foundation Series of novels. Rigel, the name of the star, is assumed by one of its planets in the Empire series. In the first millennium of the Galactic Era, this world's inhabitants developed a robot-based civilization that became so decadent and lazy that the effete Rigellians fell easy victim to the depredations of the warlord Moray; the Stars My Destination, classic science fiction novel written by Alfred Bester, doubly inspired by Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo and William Blake's poem "The Tyger".
After his apotheosis in the burning cathedral, the legendary Gully Foyle teleports stark naked to the vicinity of several stars, including Rigel: "burning blue-white, five hundred and forty light years from earth, ten thousand times more luminous than the sun, a cauldron of energy circled by thirty-seven massive planets..." The interstellar "jaunting" sequence is typical of Bester's signature pyrotechnics, his quick successions of hard, bright
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired from September 28, 1987 to May 23, 1994 on syndication, spanning 178 episodes over the course of seven seasons; the third series in the Star Trek franchise, it is the second sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS Enterprise-D, in its exploration of the Milky Way galaxy. After the cancellation of The Original Series in 1969, the Star Trek franchise had continued with Star Trek: The Animated Series and a series of films, all featuring the original cast. In the 1980s, franchise creator Roddenberry decided to create a new series, featuring a new crew embarking on their mission a century after that of The Original Series; the Next Generation featured a new crew that starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker, Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, LeVar Burton as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as counselor Deanna Troi, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, a new Enterprise.
An introductory statement featured at the beginning of each episode's title sequence stated the ship's purpose in language similar to the opening statement of the original Star Trek series, but was updated to reflect an ongoing mission and to be gender-neutral: Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor served as executive producers at various times throughout its production; the show was popular, reaching 12 million viewers in its 5th season, with the series finale in 1994 being watched by over 30 million viewers. TNG premiered the week of September 28, 1987, drawing 27 million viewers, with the two-hour pilot "Encounter at Farpoint". In total, 176 episodes were made, ending with the two-hour finale "All Good Things..." the week of May 23, 1994. The series was broadcast in first-run syndication with dates and times varying among individual television stations.
Several Star Trek series followed The Next Generation: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery. The series formed the basis for the seventh through the tenth of the Star Trek films, is the setting of numerous novels, comic books, video games. In its seventh season, Star Trek: The Next Generation became the first and only syndicated television series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series; the series received a number of accolades, including 19 Emmy Awards, two Hugo Awards, five Saturn Awards, "The Big Goodbye" won a Peabody Award. Some of the highest rated episodes were the pilot, the finale, the two-part "Unification", "Aquiel", "A Matter of Time", "Relics". Four episodes featured actors DeForest Kelley, Mark Lenard, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan from the original Star Trek reprising their original roles; the Star Trek franchise originated in the late 1960s, with the Star Trek television show which ran from 1966-1969.
Star Trek: The Next Generation would mark the return of Star Trek to live-action broadcast television. As early as 1972, Paramount Pictures started to consider making a Star Trek film because of the show's popularity in syndication. However, with 1977's release of Star Wars, Paramount decided not to compete in the science fiction movie category and shifted their efforts to a new Star Trek television series; the Original Series actors were approached to reprise their roles. By 1986, 20 years after the original Star Trek's debut on NBC, the franchise's longevity amazed Paramount Pictures executives. Chairman Frank Mancuso Sr. and others described it as the studio's "crown jewel", a "priceless asset" that "must not be squandered". The series was the most popular syndicated television program 17 years after cancellation, the Harve Bennett-produced, Original Series-era Star Trek films did well at the box office. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy's salary demands for the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home caused the studio to plan for a new Star Trek television series.
Paramount executives worried that a new series could hurt the demand for the films, but decided that it would increase their appeal on videocassette and cable, that a series with unknown actors would be more profitable than paying the films' actors' large salaries. Roddenberry declined to be involved, but came on board as creator after being unhappy with early conceptual work. Star Trek: The Next Generation was announced on October 10, 1986, its cast in May 1987. Paramount executive Rick Berman was assigned to the series at Roddenberry's request. Roddenberry hired a number of Star Trek veterans, including Bob Justman, D. C. Fontana, Eddie Milkis and David Gerrold. Early proposals for the series included one in which some of the original series cast might appear as "elder statesmen", Roddenberry speculated as late as October 1986 that the new series might not use a spaceship, as "people might travel by some means" 100 years after the USS Enterpris
