Ask anyone, and they would probably be able to name you at least one of the television series that is part of the longest running sci-fi franchise, but do you know them all?
Lets start at the beginning, Star Trek: The Original Series ran for three seasons from 1966 to 1969 with regular characters such as Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner), Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr McCoy (DeForest Kelley) among many other familiar faces.
When Gene Roddenberry first presented the NBC Network with the show, they asked him to get rid of "the guy with the pointy ears" because they thought he had a satanic appearance. Thankfully, he ignored the request and Spock became an iconic science fiction character.
From 1973 to 1974, two seasons were made of the Star Trek: The Animated Series. This starred the voices of many of the actors from the original series but did not bare the expense of special effects. Every episode was later turned into a series of graphic novels called Star Trek Logs.
Fast forward 13 years and another show was on the air, Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired in 1987 and ran for seven seasons until 1994. This was the most viewed of all the series with the final episode being watched by nearly 28 million viewers in the US.
Quick on the continuation of the franchise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was shown on television from 1993 to 1999. Although a long running show, the ratings dropped dramatically, possibly due to the advance in special effects or due to another Star Trek series being shown.
Star Trek: Voyager ran from 1995 to 2001 and was the first to have a female star as the Captain. It was also the first Star Trek TV series to use CGI for the exterior space shots instead of models.
The next instalment in the franchise was Star Trek: Enterprise starring Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer. A short-lived series, only showing for 4 seasons from 2001 to 2005 was the first since the Original Series to be cancelled by the network rather than the shows creators.
The final chapter in the TV part of the franchise is Star Trek: New Voyages. Starting in 2004, it continues the story from where William Shatner and company left off with the adventures of the Starship Enterprise and its crew. With an all new cast and original characters, it has never really taken off as a series with only 2 episodes in 2004, one in 2006 and one every 12-18 months later. It has been created as a non-official Star Trek series as it has come from the franchises new owners Paramount. The deal was struck between studio and production team that this would be a non-profit show.
