Star Trek Chronology

Sci-fi movies portray the demonstration of futuristic endeavors of technology that is not only enthralling but also captivating for the audience due to the appealing impact of scientific advancement, technological evolution and their influence on human life. In 60s, Star trek, a new television series created by Gene Rodenberry gained massive attention from its viewers as it was based on the concept of science fiction.

Overall the chronology of Star Trek Series is perplexing for beginners. It is because the TV Shows often tend to follow no specific order or conventional timeline from beginning to rising actions and conflicts to the conclusion. The happening of events and the timeline of most of the TV shows and series in which the setting is established, are arranged in abrupt way with sequels, prequels and events in between.

Therefore, the chronological order of Star Trek is also arranged in an unanticipated manner. Usually, the purpose of this order is to fascinate the audience with unanticipated chronology of events and setting of the whole series. The whole series stretched from 23rd century to 25th and beyond including time travelling to past and future.

In the year 1964, Gene Rodenberry proposed the idea of a new television series called Star Trek. Rodenberry created this fictional world to portray the possibilities of mankind future. The series would become the biggest franchise resulting into a number of series and films for the next half century. The Original Series then expanded up to three seasons that were aired from 1966 to 1969.

Initially, two pilot episodes were made by the names of “the Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. The first pilot episode was never aired until 1986, which was originally completed between 1964 and 1965.  However, the second pilot episode was aired as a third episode of the new season of the original series with slight changes. This series is known as Star Trek original series. It consisted of three seasons which are as follows:

1. Star Trek

The Original Series (It depicted 23rd Century)

  1. Season 1 is composed of 29 episodes. The first episode was aired on 8th of September 1966, while the last episode was aired on 13th of April 1967.
  2. Season 2 is composed of 26 episodes. The first was aired on 15th of September 1967, while the last episode was aired on 29th of March 1968.
  • Season 3 is composed of 24 episodes. The first episode was aired on 20th of September 1968, while the last episode was aired on 3rd of June 1969.

The original series was over after three seasons and it was repeatedly aired on multiple channels daily. After the series, six feature films were made starring the original cast of the show.

The series revolves around a crew of a starship that is on five-year mission to explore space or in the words of series, “to boldly go where no man has ever gone before”.

The original series is then followed by two seasons of animated series that retained the original cast voice over. The original cast included William Shatner as James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and the other cast stars. The animated series included its two seasons that were aired in 1973 and 1974. There were six feature films made by Paramount Studio starring the original caste. The sixth film acted as a bridge between the caste of original series and the new series, that is The Next Generation. Those six movies are given as follows:

  1. The Motion Pictures (1979)
  2. The Wrath of Khan (1982)
  • The Search of Spock (1984)
  1. The Voyage Home (1986)
  2. The Final Frontier (1989)
  3. The Undiscovered Country (1991)

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation

It depicted 24th Century from 2364 to 2369 A.D.

This new series starred a whole new cast and the setting was placed in future, a 100 year after the original series. Featuring Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, the new Captain of the ship. The series extended up to seven seasons. All of the seasons aired from 1987 to 1994. The series got huge appreciation from fans. The audiences were totally captivated by the new concept of adding other races and alien characters in the series. It got highest ratings and certainly laid the foundation for further seasons.

After the Next Generation, four movies were made which are as follows:

  1. Star Trek Generations (1994)
  2. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
  • Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
  1. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

3. Star Trek: Deep Space 9

It depicted the era from 2369 to 2375 A.D.

The series also included seven seasons. It premiered on 3rd of January 1993, right after the second series, The Next Generation. The series lasted till 1999.  Deep Space 9 received huge acclaim throughout the audience and critics too, for its lengthy storytelling, conflicts of the characters, and themes. The series was led by Captain Benjamin Sisko played by Avery Brooks. This series added some diversions from the original framework of previous two series, that included specifically aiming on one single destination i.e. Deep Space 9. The series focused on most serialized stories that exceeded single episodes.

4. Star Trek: Voyager

It depicted the era from 2371 to 2378 A.D.

This series included seven series that were aired from 16th of January 1995 to 23rd of May 2001. This series featured Captain Kathryn Janeway played by Kate Mulgrew. This series too lasted seven seasons with main focus on a ship called Voyager. This series acted as a fourth sequel and fifth series of the original Star Trek series.

Star Trek-Voyager

5. Star Trek: The Enterprise

22nd century was depicted in this series. It depicted the era from 2151 to 2155 A.D.

The most recent series of Star Trek that we have is The Enterprise that lasted for four seasons. The series aired from 26th of September 2001 to 13th of May 2005.This series acted as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. It included everything prior to the original series, before the creation of Federation portraying some of the first explorations into space and everything that follows. The series was led by Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer. At first, the series got the attention but gradually it lost its spark and the ratings declined enormously. This eventually led to the cancellation of the series after its four seasons aired.

After the series, there were three movies that were filmed in which the whole concept of Star Trek took a reboot in its whole structural framework. This new trilogy included the following:

  1. Star Trek (2009)
  2. Star Trek into Darkness (2013)
  • Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Conclusion

The chronological order of the Star Trek is diverse and difficult to follow. However, this does not mean that the series is not worth watching. The diversity and the complex chronology of the series actually serve as a captivating force keeping the depth and interest of the overall story. Particularly, the time travelling to future, past and the referencing from the past events to future happening and their connection further aid to the interest and fascination of the series’ concept. Moreover, the series also acts as an inspiration for further innovation and encouragement for advance scientific endeavors.