15 Star Trek Facts That Go Oh So Boldly
A new Star Trek series is coming out, so we've been thinking a lot about the franchise, which has a ton of fans, some of whom go a little nuts. Star Trek has had its weird moments, weird episodes, and weird designs. And it could have been even weirder.
We've been looking extra hard at Shatner and Nimoy, who had a rivalry going on, as well as cast members like Jeri Ryan and, uh, The Rock. We also looked at the origins of the show, and how it messed with the real world.
Here's a look back at the facts we learned. The links all lead to full articles with much more info, so click every one that interests you, as that's a good way to engage with our content.
1. Voyager Got Scammed By A Native American Imposter
Adviser "Jamake Highwater" was actually Jackie Marks, a California dance instructor who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.
2. Spock was going to be Martian, which would have been silly.
Roddenberry nixed the idea because he predicted NASA might soon land on Mars, which would shatter whatever mythology he was setting up for Spock's origin.
3. The network demanded the original cast wear miniskirts, to make the show sexy.
And the officers' gold shirts were actually green, but looked gold on your TV screen.
4. Leonard Nimoy recorded music, both silly and serious.
He started out with novelty songs sung as Spock but ended up doing a folk album with love songs.
5. The actress voicing the computer became a computer IRL.
Majel Barrett recorded her voice phonetically before she died, so they could make her into a voice assistant or use her to voice the computer in upcoming Star Trek series.
6. The Next Generation had an awful episode where a cult grabs Wesley.
7. Star Trek Into Darkness is a 9/11 truther movie.
Not only does the plot parallel 9/11 conspiracy theories, but these are theories that the screenwriter actually appears to believe based on what he previously said.
8. Canada changed its money, so Star Trek vandalism is harder.
On the earlier bills, fans engaged in "Spocking Fives"—drawing over the portrait on the bill to make the guy look like Spock.
9. Nostalgia is destroying the franchise's future
Today's Star Trek shows are more concerned with flashing you with iconography you recognize than telling the sort of stories Star Trek fans want.
10. A hero scientist passed off an episode as a scientific paper.
He submitted a paper claiming to have subjected humans to Warp 10, mutating them, not revealing this was just the plot of the episode "Threshold." The journal published it.
11. An episode was supposed to feature Robin Williams as a time traveler.
12. One of The Rock's earliest roles was a Star Trek alien.
He appeared as a wrestling alien in a Voyager episode, doing a few trademark moves before getting quickly written out.
13. Jeri Ryan's divorce got Obama elected.
She accused her husband of pressuring her into public sex acts at sex clubs, and this accusation later came out and made the guy withdraw from the Senate race against Obama.
14. The only reason Shatner directed Star Trek V was a feud with Nimoy.
The result was the worst Star Trek film, which made so little money that the franchise nearly died.
15. A terrible dad taught his son only Klingon.
Luckily, the mom spoke English to the child, and the kid ended up fully rejecting Klingon in favor of the real language.
