《星际旅行》的文化影响

格言：“勇踏前人未至之境”
电视剧
《星际搜奇》（80集）
《动画版》（22集）
《星际迷航：下一代》（178集）
《深空九号》（176集）
《星际旅行：航海家号》（172集）
《星舰前传》（98集）
《星际迷航：发现号》（55集）
《星际迷航：皮卡尔》（30集）
《星际迷航：下层甲板》（20集）
《星际迷航：神童艦隊》（20集）
《星际迷航：奇异新世界》（20集）
电影
第一部：《星空奇遇》
第二部：《星球争霸战》
第三部：《星空歼霸战》
第四部：《抢救未来》
第五部：《远征太虚》
第六部：《太空争霸大阴谋》
第七部：《宇宙奇兵》
第八部：《战斗巡航》
第九部：《星际叛变》
第十部：《星战启示录》
第十一部：《星际迷航》
第十二部：《暗黑无界》
第十三部：《超越星辰》
主要势力和种族
星际联邦 · 人类 · 瓦肯人
罗慕伦（罗慕兰帝国） · Q
克林贡人（克林贡帝国） · 索利安人
葛恩人 · 佛瑞吉人 · 博格人
卡松人 · 卡达西人 · 贝久人
希罗吉恩人 · 自治同盟 · 布林人
新地人 · 贝塔索人
衍生作品
第二期 · 小说 · 宇宙
纸牌 · 游戏 · 星迷作品 · 体验馆
延伸阅读
正史 · 角色 · 星际舰队
年表 · 时间线
星舰 · 舰级
行星 · 恒星 · 物理学 · 法律
文化影响
社会 · 星迷 · 格言

《星际争霸战》，被认为是历史上最有文化影响力的电视节目之一——也许还是历史上影响最为深远的科幻电视剧集。首播于1960年代的《星际争霸战》原初系列]，至今（2024年）已发展出了五代电视剧集和十部电影（第十一部正在制作中），无以计量的商品，以及一个价值数十亿美元的《星际争霸战》传媒产业（现在由CBS派拉蒙电视公司拥有）。事实上，在科幻作品和流行文化现象中，只有《星球大战》拥有与其相当的流行文化影响力。

《星际争霸战》，原初系列

吉恩·罗登伯里将原初的《星际争霸战》作品（常简称为TOS）以经典冒险剧的形式卖给了NBC，当时将该剧描述成“星际间的《马车队》”和“太空里的霍雷肖·霍恩布洛尔”。该剧设定于一艘名叫“企业号”的星舰上，而其形式则在很大程度上受到1955年电影《惑星历险》的影响。实际上，罗登伯里还想设定更多精巧的故事，用未来的情景来类比地球上的问题，并通过人文主义与乐观主义来解决这些问题。而节目的编剧们则更多地在剧情中探讨奴隶制、战争和歧视这些主题，并专注于道德和社会的议题。开场白“勇敢地航向前人所未至的领域”，几乎是逐字地采自美国白宫在1957年发表的一本小册子：这本小册子发表于苏联人造卫星旅伴（Sputnik）发射后不久，意在激起公众对美国国家太空计划的支持。

原处系列的三位核心人物占士·T·柯克、史波克和麦科伊是按古典神话中的故事塑造出来的。为了体现人类的多样性和统一性，罗登伯里组建了一队多种族的船员队伍：其中有一名非裔美国女子、一名苏格兰男子、一名日裔美国男子——而最引人注目的是——一名外星人，半瓦肯血统的史波克。在第二季中，为了反映同时期的冷战，罗登伯里还增加了一名俄罗斯船员。

File:STTOScrew2.jpg

在原初《星际争霸战》中各色各样的主角们。

尽管该片在今日经常因其低劣的特效与做作的表演而受批评，TOS还是因其播映期间获得的多项艾美奖提名而成为有奠基意义的一部剧集，并为后来者作出了表率。在那个时候还有一些很成功的科幻电视节目，譬如《阴阳魔界》（The Twilight Zone），但TOS是第一部用多元描述的道德故事来吸引成人的剧集。尽管预算受限，该剧的特效要优于当时的其他节目，它的故事也通常是由著名的科幻作家撰写，而且它大部分的制作——特别是服装——是有很高品质的。

在最初播映的1966年到1969年间，TOS并没有维持稳定的收视率，在第二季后就几乎被取消。由爱好者们发起的一次电视史上空前的信件支持运动，说服了电视网取消他们的决定，并让TOS续拍了第三季。NBC把该剧放在了垃圾时段播出，TOS最终在第三季结束后被取消。不久以后，电视网的市场部员工们便开始抱怨经理层太早地结束了这部剧集。在使用了新技术来统计观众数量的时候证明了这一点。他们发现《星际争霸战》的观众是非常好的广告受众，至此以后电视网开始将该剧视作了一项有利可图的所有物。但遗憾的是，这个发现对重新开始此剧已经太晚了。

Cancellation and aftermath

In 1976, a letter-writing campaign compelled NASA to name the inaugural (and test) space shuttle Enterprise after the fictional eponymous starship. In this image, Enterprise is rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members and creator Gene Roddenberry in attendance.

After its cancellation, Star Trek took on a life of its own, becoming more popular and reaching a much wider audience than when it had originally aired. In the early seventies, a group of fans decided to hold a convention featuring the original actors: hundreds were expected, but (surprisingly) thousands arrived.

In 1976, following another fan-organised letter-writing campaign, NASA named its first space shuttle orbiter, Enterprise (OV-101), after the fictional starship. The Enterprise was used in a number of flight tests, but NASA's plans to make it spaceworthy were cancelled as impractical. Enterprise was occasionally used for engineering tests and was also used to investigate the 2003 Columbia accident, but has spent much of its life in storage and is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, DC. The opening sequence of the later series Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) features a shot of this real-life space shuttle in homage, intending to show it as a namesake for other eponymous ships in the Star Trek universe.

NASA also employed actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura – and is touted to have partaken in the first multiracial kiss with Shatner's Kirk on TV in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" – to attempt recruiting African-Americans and women to become astronauts. During her work on the show, Nichols became frustrated at her relative lack of lines and was considering quitting. She was talked out of this decision by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who told her that a show that depicted a black woman working alongside whites in a position of importance helped further the goal of racial equality.

A possibly direct follow-on to Nichelle Nichols' inspiration was once stated by Whoopi Goldberg, as she had once been quoted as saying that Nichols' role as Uhura was her inspiration to get into acting, and Ms. Goldberg was eventually to portray the recurring El-Aurian female character Guinan on The Next Generation.

Waxing and waning

In the mid-seventies, encouraged by the burgeoning fan base for the show, Roddenberry sought to start a second television series (Star Trek: Phase II); this abortive attempt morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The movie did sufficiently well at the box office, grossing more than $80 million, and spawned several more movies during the eighties. In 1987, Roddenberry created a second TV show, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), which was set aboard the fifth Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) more than seventy years after events in the earlier series and related movies. Unlike TOS – which often reflected a bold, interventionist American philosophy – TNG had a less aggressive and more socially liberal message. This show, unlike its progenitor, was syndicated and sold to individual local TV stations rather than a nationwide network. It became the number one syndicated TV show, lasting seven seasons, and spawned two sequels, a prequel, four movies, and a vast marketing business.

Star Trek and its spinoffs have proved highly popular in television repeats, shown endlessly on TV stations in the US and worldwide. The Star Trek franchise is similarly prolific: arguably, only Star Wars has had as significant an influence as a science fiction and pop culture phenomenon. According to Forbes magazine:

• the five live-action Star Trek series have garnered 31 Emmys and 140 nominations, and at least nine specials have been produced
• the ten movies have cumulatively grossed $1.76 billion at the box office: the most successful movie was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) grossing $133 million worldwide ($235 million in 2005 terms); however, none have garnered Oscar wins despite a combined nine nominations for four films
• at least 120 video games contain "Star Trek" in their titles, mostly soundtracks (with no Grammy nominations) and audio books but also Klingon language instruction
• about 70 million books are in print
• the franchise entails a merchandising business with a total lifetime gross of about $4 billion from companies including Playmates Toys, Hallmark, and Hasbro
• resorts include rides and attractions at Paramount-owned amusement parks as well as Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton

Star Trek conventions have become popular, though waning and now often meshed with conventions of other genres. Fans coined the term "Trekkies" to describe themselves, or "Trekkers" to address the pejorative nature of the term to some fans, and produce an abundance of fanon material like fanzines with fiction and other fancruft such as art and songs. The word Klingon was later added to the Oxford Dictionary as well.

The show’s cultural influence goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. An entire subculture grew up around the show and, anecdotally, there are indications that Star Trek has influenced many peoples' lives. This is apparent from the reported testimonials of people, such as scientists and engineers, who claim that their professional and life choices were influenced by Star Trek. Whoopi Goldberg, harking of Nichols' portrayal, was compelled to act and would later appear on TNG regularly. In addition, phrases like "Beam me up, Scotty", "Resistance is futile" (from the iconic Borg), and Treknobabble have entered vernacular, and "Trekkie" is the only fan label listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. Fictional devices in the show have also been claimed as inspirations for actual devices like mobile phones (communicator), medical technology (hypospray and diagnostic imaging), and even elements of naval architecture (bridge).

Many fans contend that the Star Trek franchise, particularly after the death of Roddenberry in 1991 (during TNG’s run), is in decline and has reached a nadir. Reduced viewership of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, lacklustre performance of Star Trek: Nemesis, and the short tenure of Star Trek: Enterprise connote decreased popularity. Some assert that the many incarnations are formulaic, repetitive, mediocre, and sometimes discontinuous. Others ascribe this decline to static leadership at Paramount, which has been over-exploiting the phenomenon as a cash cow and asserting copyright at the expense of fandom. However, it should be noted that all these other programs competed with popular rival space themed sci-fi TV shows such as Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007) or Babylon 5 (1994-1998). Consequently, they could not be expected to command more viewership than TNG which was often the only major sci-fi TV series during its 1987 to 1994 run.

Parodies

Star Trek has held the record of the most parodies of a franchise. Starting with Mad Magazine, a whole genre of parody has followed, for example:

• Saturday Night Live:
  • A skit entitled, "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise" explains why Star Trek was really cancelled. John Belushi as Captain Kirk, Chevy Chase as Mr. Spock, and Dan Aykroyd as Dr. McCoy, along with two extras portraying Sulu and Uhura, encounter an intruder who came out of nowhere. The intruder, played by Elliot Gould, happens to be an executive from NBC explaining that Star Trek was immediately cancelled, and all the props were slowly being dismantled. All but Kirk leave, leaving him to enter his final "Captain's Log".
  • Fifteen years later, Shatner hosted SNL and played Kirk as captain of an Enterprise that had been purchased by Marriott International and transformed into a revolving restaurant. Khan (played by Dana Carvey) arrives to menace Kirk with a dreaded health inspector (played by Jon Lovitz). (The same actor as in the earlier skit again portrayed Sulu, resulting in an ad-lib joke from Shatner about Sulu's having gained weight since the last time he saw him.)
  • Years after Shatner's appearance, Patrick Stewart, as SNL's host, parodied his own show with a skit titled "The Love Boat: The Next Generation." The skit, which mashed The Love Boat with TNG, included Stewart as Capt. Picard, Rob Schneider as Data, Chris Farley as Riker, Tim Meadows as Geordi La Forge, and Ellen Cleghorne doing her impression of Whoopi Goldberg playing Guinan. In addition, Love Boat cast member Bernie Kopell reprised his role as Dr. Adam Bricker in a cameo.
• In Living Color:
  • In one skit entitled, "The Wrath of Farrakhan", a parody of The Wrath of Khan, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farakhan, played by Damon Wayans, convinces crewmembers to rebel against Captain Kirk, played by Jim Carrey.
  • Another skit, entitled, "Star Trek VII: The REALLY Last Voyage", shows the final voyage of an aging Enterprise Crew, including Captain Kirk losing his toupee, Mr. Spock (played by David Alan Grier), having drooping ears, explaining that his Pon Farr is days away and was starting to find Kirk attractive.
• The Simpsons:
  • In "Deep Space Homer", Homer Simpson is competing against Barney Gumble to be the next civilian into outer space. One of the competitions was to have a brawl in a ring. During this event, the competitors are dressed in Star Trek-like outfits and the infamous track, better known as the "Fight Song", from Amok Time is played.
  • In the episode "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie", Grandpa Simpson, Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson are watching TV when a commercial for "Star Trek XII: So Very Tired" comes on. Featuring a heavily aged crew, Captain Kirk complains of his Hiatal Hernia, that the ship is "drafty and damp" and notes how he complains, "but nobody listens." Sulu then reports Klingons off the starboard bow, to which Kirk responds with a sigh of frustration "again with the Klingons" before calling for "Full Power" from Mister Scott. The scene then changes to an overweight Scotty, whose girth prevents him from reaching the control panel, which he informs Kirk in reply to his request.
  • In the Itchy & Scratchy segment featured in the episode "Bart of Darkness" the Star Trek episode The Cage is parodied.
  • In the episode "A Star Is Burns", William Shatner, dressed as Kirk, auditions (in the much ridiculed idiosyncratic Kirk speak) for the part of Mr. Burns.
  • Several jokes about Star Trek in the show resolve around Comic Book Guy. In the episode "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" he hallucinates himself to be as a member of the starship "Enterprise". Also, in the episode "Das Bus", Comic Book Guy is seen trying to download a nude photo of Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager before being interrupted by a banner for Homer's home business.
• In 2005, shortly after its return to the Fox network, Family Guy paid tribute to Star Trek: The Next Generation with a parody skit featuring the voices of Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn as their famed characters. In the parody, Picard asks Riker if he would join him in a laugh if he whispered in his ear that "Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny" to which Riker replies in the affirmative. When Picard does say such, rather than whisper it, he shouts it, causing the animated bridge crew to laugh, and irriating Worf who tells them both to "suck my ridges" to which Picard replies, "Oh get a sense of humor, Rocky Dennis."
• In 2007, Family Guy parodied Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - specifically, Spock's funeral and Kirk's eulogy at the end of the film in a day-dream of Baby Stewie, worried over his missing teddy bear, Rupert. Stewie became Admiral Kirk, while Rupert became Spock. Stewie offered the exact same euology, word-for-word, including the momentary emotional pause as portrayed by William Shatner in the film. In near-exact duplication of the actual scene, Amazing Grace was then played on bag-pipes, as Rupert was shot out into space, with the music transitioning into standard instrumental as Rupert is shot into Genesis orbit. Cartoon equivalents of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, DeForest Kelley as McCoy, Kirstie Alley as Saavik, and Merrit Buttrick as David where also included.
• Also, in the Family Guy DVD feature, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story," a cutaway parodies "Deep Space Nine," with Stewie Griffin as Quark and Odo voiced by Rene Auberjonois. In the scene depicting the DS9 bar, Odo threatens to morph into a giant python and eat "Quark" alive if he breaks the law, but "Quark" just replies, "Why don't you morph into a guy with something interesting to talk about?"
• When Joey from Friends was asked what he knew about "Vulcanized Rubber" he immediately responded "Spock's birth control!"
• The skit show Sitz had a skit featuring a space faring hospital called the "Crown Health Enterprise". It was crewed by a Kirk look-alike in a Starfleet uniform commanding, bizarrely, sergeant shultz (from Hogan heroes), as well as several characters from Thunderbirds and "Journey to the bottom of the sea". It was eventually commandeered by a bald character in a red and black jumpsuit whose accent repeatedly changed from English to French.
• Boston Legal: William Shatner's character, Denny Crane, makes occasional Star Trek references.
• Several characters in the comic strip Bloom County use the wheelchair of Cutter John as the starship "Enterpoop" during Star Trek roleplaying.
• On an episode of Drake and Josh, they get the geek boys, Craig and Aaron to stay with their Papa Nickels by giving them the first season of "Space Trek", an obvious reference to Star Trek.
• In an episode of Full House, the character Joey Gladstone lifts up the family's dog Comet's ears, saying, "Look, it's Spock, the Vulcan retriever. Live long and slobber."
• The comic strip The Wizard of Id celebrated 35 years of Star Trek with a series of 3 tribute strips-- One each to the original series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine. The last strip came under fire from black advocacy groups for portraying Captain Sisko, Star Trek's first black captain, as a glutton.
• In the made-for-TV Disney Channel original movie "The Luck Of The Irish," a half-leprechaun boy, discovering that his ears have just become pointed, cries out, "Oh, no! I'm turning into a Vulcan!" in reference to the famous pointy-eared Star Trek species.
• The film Galaxy Quest parodies the original Star Trek series, elements of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the Trekkie phenomenon.
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide:
  • In the Guide to: Secrets and School Car Wash episode Ned and Cookie were getting chased by Billy "Bully" Loomer and later ran into Moze, who one second later said "You guys look like you've seen a ghost" in a similar way Captain James T. Kirk told Captain Spock in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
  • Another "Star Trek" reference occurred in the "Guide to Fundraising & Competition" episode when Vice Principal Crubbs, Mr. Sweeney, and Coach Dirga told Ned and Cookie "You're the worst fundraisers ever!", Cookie responded "We're students, not salesmen!" A reference to the Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy "I'm a doctor, not a(n)..." catchphrase.
• Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis make multiple references to the franchise, most notably Dr. McKay's frequent comparisons of Col. Sheppard to Kirk, and Colonel O'Neill's repeated attempts to name a new ship the Enterprise.
• The television series Futurama often makes references to Star Trek and parodies some of its better known plot elements on a regular basis including the character Zapp Brannigan who is based on a combination of Captain Kirk and William Shatner. The episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", a reference to the Star Trek episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", is entirely devoted to the Star Trek crew and features guest appearances by Shatner, Nimoy, Nichols, Takei and Koenig. Nimoy is also a recurring character on the show, playing his own preserved head in a jar and Nichols has also appeared in the episode "Anthology of Interest I".
• In the 1998 film "Free Enterprise," two young filmmakers (Rafer Weigel, Eric McCormack) meet their screen idol, William Shatner. Shatner, appearing as himself, has fun poking fun at his own image. The two young men, who idolize him and in their fantasies have seen him as a shadowy fairy godfather figure, are alarmed at the reality of the middle-aged non-Captain Kirk man that they meet.
• In a 2005 episode of the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who, titled "The Empty Child", the character Rose Tyler introduces the Ninth Doctor to Jack Harkness as "Mr. Spock". According to the subsequent DVD commentary by episode writer, Steven Moffat, the Doctor was going reply to Rose's enquiry of "What am I supposed to call you? Doctor who?" with the statement "I'd rather have Doctor Who than Star Trek" but the line was cut.
• In the 1999 movie Inspector Gadget, there is an incredibly subtle reference to Star Trek about 1hr, 1min, and 30sec into the movie. The movie's villain "The Claw" is seen dragging Inspector Gadget's love interest, Brenda Bradford, down a hallway to an elevator. When Claw goes to push the elevator call button, the screen is condensed to a tight-angle view of the button which is shaped remarkably like a Star Trek insignia patch or comm badge. When the button is pushed, the sound that emanates from the button is exact stock audio from the original series originally used for the transporter.
• In the fifth TMNT comic book, the four turtles are in a hovercraft when Donatello calls Leo captain, Leo;'s reponse is "Very good Mr. Scott."
• Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a fan-made profesional-level parody of both Star Trek and Babylon 5
• In the new Transformers (2007 film) movie, during the scene where Bumblebee acquired the Allspark, you hear him saying "Message from Starfleet, Captain.".
• On the internet:
  • A website called You Can't do that on Star Trek[1] features doctored photos of Star Trek scenes. Many contributors would combine scenes from other television shows or movies like Star Wars or Sesame Street and portray interaction. This was a play on the children's television show You Can't Do That on Television.
• Subtle Acknowledgments:
  • Though not parodies, many television shows and feature films have made acknowledgements both subtle and great to the various Star Trek series. The most recent example of such is the NBC drama Medium which employs a former long-term Star Trek staff member in its creative cast. In 2007, an address was given as "one-seven-zero-one Pike's Way" - 1701 being the original Enterprise's registry, and Pike being Captain Christopher Pike, the first captain in the failed pilot "The Cage". In April 2007, a subtle acknowledgement to Deep Space 9 was given when a deceased character offered a bribe in the form of a partial bank routing number to a private account. The numbers given: "seven-four-two-zero-five" - the same as the registry number of the U.S.S. Defiant.

Sources

• Nygard, Roger, director; Crosby, Denise, host. 1997. Trekkies (film documentary: official website). Los Angeles: Neo Motion Pictures.
• "Star Trek as a Cultural Phenomenon", US Centennial of Flight Commission
• "Star Wars Vs. Star Trek", Forbes.com — see also Star Trek versus Star Wars
• Whitfield, Stephen E. & Roddenberry, Gene. 1968 (27th printing, 1991). The making of Star Trek. (ISBN 4-501-62109-5; ISBN 0-345-34019-1 (27th pr.)). New York City: Ballantine Books.