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Star Trek: The Original Series

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Star Trek: The Original Series (referred to as Star Trek prior to any spin-offs) is the first Star Trek series. The first episode of the show aired on 6 September 1966 on CTV in Canada, followed by a 8 September 1966 airing on NBC in America. The show was created by Gene Roddenberry as a " Wagon Train to the Stars". Star Trek was set in the 23rd century and featured the voyages of the starship USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk .

Star Trek was later informally dubbed The Original Series , or TOS, after several spin-offs aired. The show lasted three seasons until canceled in 1969 . When the show first aired on TV, and until lowering budget issues in its third season resulted in a noticable drop in quality episodes and placed in a 10 pm Friday night death slot by the network, Star Trek regularly performed respectably in its time slot. After it was canceled and went into syndication , however, its popularity exploded. It featured themes such as a Utopian society and racial equality, and the first African-American officer in a recurring role.

Ten years later, Star Trek: The Motion Picture reunited the cast on the big screen aboard a refurbished USS Enterprise . They appeared in five subsequent films, ending with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991, during production of the spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation and shortly before Gene Roddenberry's death. Several original series characters also appeared in the seventh movie, Star Trek Generations , and in other Star Trek productions.

• 1 Opening credits
• 2.1 Starring
• 2.2 Also starring
• 2.3 Co-stars
• 3 Production crew
• 4.1 First pilot
• 4.2 Season 1
• 4.3 Season 2
• 4.4 Season 3
• 5.1 Concept
• 5.2 The first pilot
• 5.3 The second pilot
• 5.4 The series begins
• 5.5 The first season
• 5.6 Syndication
• 5.7 Reception
• 5.8 Remastered
• 6 Related topics
• 8 External links

Opening credits [ ]

• Main Title Theme (Season 1)  file info (composed by Alexander Courage )
• Main Title Theme (Season 2-3)  file info (composed by Alexander Courage )

Main cast [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Captain Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Co-stars [ ]

• James Doohan as Scotty
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• George Takei as Sulu
• Walter Koenig as Chekov ( 1967 - 1969 )
• Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as Christine Chapel
• Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand

Production crew [ ]

• Gene Roddenberry – Creator, Writer, Producer, Executive Producer
• Gene L. Coon – Writer, Producer
• John Meredyth Lucas – Writer, Producer, Director
• Fred Freiberger – Producer (1968-69)
• Robert H. Justman – Associate Producer (Season 1-2), Co-Producer (Season 3), First Assistant Director (two pilots)
• D.C. Fontana – Writer, Script Consultant (1967-68)
• Steven W. Carabatsos – Writer, Story Consultant (1966)
• John D.F. Black – Associate Producer, Writer, Story Editor (1966)
• Arthur H. Singer – Story Consultant (1968-69)
• Byron Haskin – Associate Producer (first pilot)
• Walter "Matt" Jefferies – Production Designer, Art Director
• William E. Snyder – Director of Photography (first pilot)
• Ernest Haller – Director of Photography (second pilot)
• Jerry Finnerman – Director of Photography (61 episodes, 1966-1968)
• Keith Smith – Director of Photography (1 episode, 1967)
• Al Francis – Director of Photography (16 episodes, 1968-1969), Camera Operator (61 episodes, 1966-1968)
• Jim Rugg – Supervisor of Special Effects
• Rolland M. Brooks – Art Director (34 episodes, 1965-1967)
• Fred B. Phillips – Make-up Artist
• Robert Dawn – Make-up Artist (second pilot)
• William Ware Theiss – Costume Designer
• Gregg Peters – First Assistant Director (Season 1), Unit Production Manager (Season 2-3), Associate Producer (Season 3)
• Claude Binyon, Jr. – Assistant Director (third season)

Episode list [ ]

• List of TOS episodes by airdate
• List of TOS remastered episodes by airdate

First pilot [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

TOS Season 1 , 29 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

TOS Season 2 , 26 episodes:

Season 3 [ ]

TOS Season 3 , 24 episodes:

Behind the scenes [ ]

Concept [ ].

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry, whose interest in science fiction dated back to the 1940s when he came into contact with Astounding Stories . Roddenberry's first produced science fiction story was The Secret Weapon of 117 , which aired in 1956 on the Chevron Theatre anthology show. By 1963 Roddenberry was producing his first television series, The Lieutenant , at MGM .

In 1963, MGM was of the opinion that "true-to-life" television dramas were becoming less popular and an action-adventure show would be more profitable (this prediction turned out to be right, and led to series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E ). Roddenberry had already been working on a science fiction concept called Star Trek since 1960 , and when he told MGM about his ideas, they were willing to take a look at them. As the production of The Lieutenant came to an end, Roddenberry delivered his first Star Trek draft to MGM. The studio was, however, not enthusiastic about the concept, and a series was never produced.

Roddenberry tried to sell his " wagon train to the stars " format to several production studios afterward, but to no avail. In 1964 , it was rumored that Desilu was interested in buying a new television series. Desilu was a much smaller company than MGM, but Roddenberry took his chances, greatly aided with the help of Desilu Executive Herb Solow . This led to a three-year deal with Desilu in April 1964 .

The first attempt to sell the Star Trek format to broadcasting network CBS (Desilu had a first proposal deal with the network) failed. CBS chose another science fiction project, Irwin Allen 's more family-oriented Lost in Space instead of Roddenberry's more cerebral approach. But in May 1964 , NBC 's Vice-President of Programming Mort Werner agreed to give Roddenberry the chance to write three story outlines, one of which NBC would select to turn into a pilot.

One of the submitted story lines, dated 29 June 1964 , was an outline for " The Cage ", and this was the story picked up by NBC. Now, the daunting task that Roddenberry and his crew faced was to develop the Star Trek universe from scratch. Roddenberry recruited many people around him to help think up his version of the future. The RAND Corporation's Harvey P. Lynn acted as a scientific consultant, Pato Guzman was hired as art director, with Matt Jefferies as an assisting production designer. This phase of creativity and brainstorming lasted throughout the summer, until in the last week of September 1964 the final draft of the "The Cage" script was delivered to NBC, after which shooting of the pilot was approved.

The first pilot [ ]

In early October, preparations for shooting "The Cage" began. A few changes in the production crew were made: Roddenberry hired Morris Chapnick , who had worked with him on The Lieutenant , as his assistant. Pato Guzman left to return to Chile and was replaced by Franz Bachelin . Matt Jefferies finalized the design for the Enterprise and various props and interiors. By November 1964 , the sets were ready to be constructed on stages Culver Studios Stage 14 , 15 , and 16 . Roddenberry was not happy with the stages, since they had uneven floors and were not soundproof, as Culver Studios had been established in the silent movie era when soundproofing had not been an issue to consider. Eventually, in 1966 , the rest of the series was shot on Paramount stages 9 and 10 , which were in better shape.

Casting of the characters was not a problem, apart from the lead role of Captain Pike (still known as "Captain April " at this point, later renamed "Captain Winter" before finally choosing "Pike") who Roddenberry convinced Jeffrey Hunter to play. Leonard Nimoy ( Spock ) had worked with Roddenberry on The Lieutenant . Majel Barrett , also a familiar face from The Lieutenant , got the part of the ship's female first officer, Number One . Veteran character actor John Hoyt , who had worked on many science fiction and fantasy projects before, was chosen to play the role of Doctor Phil Boyce . Young Peter Duryea and Laurel Goodwin were hired as José Tyler and Yeoman J.M. Colt , respectively. The extras were cast from a diversity of ethnic groups, which was significant because integration was not a usual occurrence in 1960s television, and segregation was still a reality in the United States.

To produce the pilot episode, Robert H. Justman was hired as assistant director; he had worked on The Outer Limits shortly before. Makeup artist Fred Phillips was brought in as well, whose first job it was to create Spock's ears. Another veteran from The Outer Limits was producer-director Byron Haskin , who joined as associate producer. On 27 November 1964 , the first scenes of "The Cage" (or "The Menagerie," as it was briefly known), were shot. Filming was scheduled to be eleven days, however the production went highly over budget and over schedule, resulting in sixteen shooting days and US$164,248 plus expenses.

But there were still a lot of visual effects to be made. An eleven-foot filming model of the USS Enterprise , designed by Matt Jefferies, was built by Richard Datin , Mel Keys , and Vern Sion in Volmer Jensen 's model shop , and was delivered to the Howard Anderson Company on 29 December 1964 .

In February 1965 , the final version of "The Cage" was delivered at NBC and screened in New York City. NBC officials liked the first pilot. Desilu's Herb Solow says that NBC was surprised by how realistic it looked, and that it was "the most fantastic thing we've ever seen." The reason the pilot was rejected was because it was believed that it would attract only a small audience, and they wanted more action and adventure. They also had problems with the "satanic" Spock and the female first officer (Number One). However, NBC was convinced that Star Trek could be made into a television series, and that NBC itself had been at fault for choosing the "The Cage" script from the original three stories pitched. Also, after spending US$630,000 on "The Cage" (the most expensive TV pilot at the time), they didn't want to have their money wasted. NBC then made the unprecedented move to order a second pilot.

The second pilot [ ]

For the second pilot, NBC requested three story outlines again. These were " Where No Man Has Gone Before " by Samuel A. Peeples , and " Mudd's Women " and " The Omega Glory " by Roddenberry. Although it was the most expensive of the three, NBC chose " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", as it had the most action and most outer space spectacle. However, the other two premises were also made into episodes of the series later.

Filming the second pilot began in July 1965 , and took nine days to complete. The entire cast of " The Cage " was replaced except Spock. Jeffrey Hunter chose not to reprise his role as Captain Pike, mostly by the advice of his wife, who felt that "science fiction ruins her husband's career". Roddenberry wanted both Lloyd Bridges and Jack Lord for the role of the new captain, however both declined. Finally William Shatner , who had previous science fiction experience acting in episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits , was chosen. The new captain was named James R. Kirk (later renamed James T. Kirk).

For the role of the chief medical officer, Roddenberry chose veteran actor Paul Fix . Canadian actor James Doohan got the role of chief engineer Scott , and young Japanese-American George Takei was featured as ship's physicist Sulu . The latter two reprised their roles in the upcoming series, though Sulu was a helmsman in the series. Other actors considered for being regulars were Lloyd Haynes as communications officer Alden and Andrea Dromm as Yeoman Smith , but neither of them were re-hired after the pilot.

Many of the production staff were replaced. Robert Dawn served as head make-up artist, however Fred Phillips returned to the position in the series itself. Academy Award winner cinematographer Ernest Haller came out of semi-retirement to work as the director of photography. Associate producer Byron Haskin was replaced by Robert H. Justman , who now shared double duties as producer and assistant director.

The Enterprise model was updated for the second pilot, and many new outer space effects shots were made, most of which were reused in the series itself. The sets were also updated a bit, most notably the main bridge and the transporter room. Most of the uniforms, props, and sets were reused from " The Cage ", however some new props (including the never-seen-again phaser rifle ) and a brand new matte painting (the planet Delta Vega ) were made specially for this episode.

" Where No Man Has Gone Before " was accepted by NBC and the first season of a regular series was ordered for broadcasting in the 1966-67 television season. History was made.

The series begins [ ]

Preparation for the first regular season began in early 1966 . All the Enterprise interior sets were updated, as well as the introduction of brand new uniforms. The look of the show became more colorful and more vivid. The Enterprise model was also updated once more. Also, the entire production was moved from Desilu's Culver City studios to the main Gower Street studio's Stage 9 and 10 ( Paramount Stage 31 and 32 from 1967 onward) in Hollywood.

Kirk (Shatner) and Spock (Nimoy) were kept as the series stars, with Grace Lee Whitney joining the two as Yeoman Janice Rand (replacing Andrea Dromm as Yeoman Smith). Whitney had worked with Roddenberry a year before on an unsold pilot titled Police Story . Publicity photos promoting the new series were made at this time, with the three of them, mostly using props left from the two pilots (most notably the aforementioned phaser rifle). Shatner and Nimoy wore their new uniforms on these photographs, while Whitney had to wear an old, pilot version.

Scott (Doohan) and Sulu (Takei) were also kept, the latter becoming the ship's helmsman instead of physicist. Two additions made the Enterprise main crew complete: DeForest Kelley was hired to play the new chief medical officer, Leonard McCoy , as Roddenberry had known him from previous projects, including the aforementioned Police Story . Actress Nichelle Nichols got the role of communications officer Uhura , who became a symbol of the racial and gender diversity of the show. Nichols was a last minute addition, weeks before filming began on the first regular episode.

Jerry Finnerman became the new director of photography, while Fred Phillips, Matt Jefferies, and Rolland M. Brooks returned to their former positions. Writer John D.F. Black was brought in as the second associate producer (next to Justman). While Roddenberry and Black handled the script and story issues, Justman was in charge of the physical aspects of production.

Filming of the first regular episode, " The Corbomite Maneuver " began on 24 May 1966 . Finally Star Trek debuted on NBC with a "Sneak Preview" episode at 8:30 pm (EST) on 8 September 1966 . NBC chose " The Man Trap " (the fifth episode in production order) to air first, mainly because they felt it was more of a "traditional monster story" and featured more action.

The first season [ ]

In August 1966 , several changes were made in the Star Trek production staff. Roddenberry stepped down as line producer and became the executive producer. His replacement was Gene L. Coon , who also regularly contributed to the series as a writer. While Black had also left the series, story editor Steven W. Carabatsos came in, sharing story duties with Roddenberry and Coon. To handle post-production, Edward K. Milkis was brought in by Justman. Carabatsos had left Star Trek near the end of the season, and was replaced by D.C. Fontana , formerly Roddenberry's secretary and a writer for the series.

Syndication [ ]

• See : Syndication

Due to the overall length of the episodes of The Original Series , several minutes of each episode are frequently cut during the show's reruns, notably on the Sci-Fi Channel . Starting in April 2006 , the G4 network began airing the full length episodes in "Uncut Marathons" on Saturdays. G4 stopped airing these full-length versions in November 2006, and has discontinued its run of Star Trek 2.0 , which was a trivia-oriented and interactive version of the show for the viewers.

For current airings see Where to watch .

Reception [ ]

The Original Series has been nominated for and won a number of awards over the years. Some of the awards include:

• The series was nominated for thirteen Emmy Awards during its run, but did not win any.
• It was nominated eight times for the "Best Dramatic Presentation" Hugo Award , sweeping the nominees in 1968. It won twice, and Roddenberry won a special award in 1968.
• The 2003 "Pop Culture Award" in the TV Land Awards .
• The 2005 Saturn Award for "Best DVD Retro Television Release."

Aaron Harberts and James Frain cited TOS as their favorite Star Trek series. ( AT : " O Discovery, Where Art Thou? ")

Remastered [ ]

On 31 August 2006 , CBS Paramount Television announced that, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Trek , the show would return to broadcast syndication for the first time in sixteen years. The series' 79 episodes were digitally remastered with all new visual effects and music. The refurbished episodes have been converted from the original film to high-definition video, making it on par with modern television formats.

Related topics [ ]

• TOS directors
• TOS performers
• TOS recurring characters
• TOS writers
• Character crossover appearances
• Undeveloped TOS episodes
• Desilu Stage 9
• Desilu Stage 10
• Star Trek Writers/Directors Guide
• Star Trek: The Original Series novels
• Star Trek: The Original Series comics (DC)
• Star Trek: The Original Series comics (IDW)
• Star Trek: The Original Series soundtracks
• Star Trek: The Original Series on VHS
• Star Trek: The Original Series on Betamax
• Star Trek: The Original Series on CED
• Star Trek: The Original Series on LaserDisc
• Star Trek: The Original Series on DVD
• Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: The Original Series at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: The Original Series at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: The Original Series at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek: The Original Series at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: The Original Series at the Movie and TV Wiki
• Public Radio Special: The Peace Message in Star Trek
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Calypso (episode)

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• Series & Movies

Firsts and Lasts: The Cast of The Original Series

Check out the first and the last appearances of the original crew of the Enterprise.

From "The Man Trap" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , take a look back at the first and last appearances of Captain Kirk and his crew.

The Only Major Actors Still Alive From Star Trek: The Original Series

Gene Roddenberry's celebrated sci-fi TV series "Star Trek" debuted on September 8, 1966, and it recently celebrated its 57th anniversary. Initially, "Trek" wasn't terribly popular, and it only managed to make a third season thanks to a coordinated letter-writing campaign (a campaign that Roddenberry was accused of orchestrating and encouraging himself). It wouldn't be until after "Star Trek" was canceled in 1969 that its popularity would significantly begin to grow. 

Thanks to a sweet infinite syndication deal, "Star Trek" reruns were common, and a cult began to form. By the early 1970s, the first "Trek" conventions began to appear. Naturally, conventions were a great place for the show's stars and creators to congregate and share production stories with a rising tide of obsessives. Fans were able to talk to and get autographs from William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, George Takei, James Doohan, and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as many of the show's more supporting players. 

Many decades have passed, but the surviving "Star Trek" cast members, now in their 80s and 90s, still appear at conventions to share details of their now-long and storied careers. Over 57 years ago, they were at the start of a phenomenon; none of them could have likely predicted just what a massive impact "Star Trek" would have on the pop culture landscape. Three members of the original "Star Trek" cast appeared at Creation Entertainment's 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas, and one of them is already confirmed for the 2024 con  next August. 

If you're eager to get an autograph or merely to hear an amusing anecdote from across many decades of interaction with the "Trek" franchise at large, the following surviving actors will still happily oblige.

William Shatner

In March of 2023, Shatner, who played the resolute Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," turned 92, yet he still makes convention appearances. Stories have been told throughout Trekkie-dom that Shatner can occasionally be spiky at cons, but has clearly embraced them, even going so far as to say that fans are the future  of anything so deeply beloved as "Star Trek." Indeed, in many cases, fans care more about carrying on the legacy of a show than the studios; in many ways, Trekkies take the show more seriously than the people who make it.

Shatner has, of course, had a textured career. Some of his earlier films include adaptations of "The Brothers Karamozov" (in which he played Alexey) and "Oedipus the King" (in which he played a masked member of the chorus), as well as genre films like "The Intruder" and "Incubus." Although Shatner is best known for "Trek" — a common side-effect for most any actor who appeared on any "Star Trek" show — he forged an interesting acting career beyond ii. He appeared in the hit cop show "T.J. Hooker," and appeared in spoof films like "Airplane II: The Sequel" and "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1." He released several notorious albums of speak-singing, and directed several documentaries about "Star Trek," including "The Captains" and "Chaos on the Bridge." 

Shatner also authored several "Star Trek" novels and even launched his own modestly successful sci-fi book series with "TekWar" (ghost-written by Ron Goulart) in 1989. He won two Emmys in 2004 and 2005 for his role as Denny Crane in "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." He's also an equestrian enthusiast and has won a few horseback riding awards. Shatner is spry for 92.

George Takei

In 2019, George Takei , who played the practical and intelligent Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek," authored a graphic novel all about his childhood experiences of being rounded up and imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Takei was born in Los Angeles in 1937 (he's the only main cast member from the original show who is an L.A. native), and recalls being held against his will by the U.S. government as a child. It may have been that experience that made Takei as political as he is. In the early 1970s, after "Star Trek," Takei ran for a set on the Los Angeles City Council, and served as an alternate delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. At conventions, Takei has spoken at length about his beliefs in civic infrastructure, encouraging L.A. to improve its long-beleaguered public transportation.

Takei came out as gay in 2005, revealing that he had been with his long-term partner, Brad Altman, for the last 18 years. He and Altman married in 2008, one of the first same-sex couples to be granted a marriage license in West Hollywood, California. Takei has been an outspoken queer rights activist ever since, raising money for charities and speaking at charity events regularly. He makes appearances at fan conventions on the regular. 

As an actor, Takei began reading English-language dubs for imported Toho monster movies prior to "Star Trek." He also starred in movies like "The Green Berets" and "Mulan." On TV, Takei guest-starred on many, many programs, including a notable regular role on the hit show "Heroes." His deep voice also afforded him an opportunity to regularly contribute to dozens of animated programs, most recently in Max's "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai."

Walter Koenig

There were rumors circulating through the Trekkie community for years that Walter Koenig was hired to appear on the second season of "Star Trek" because the then-30-year-old actor looked an awful lot like Davy Jones from "The Monkees." This wasn't the case, but Koenig provided a youthful, heartthrob quality with his character, Pavel Chekov. His character was Russian, a notable character decision to make in the mid-1960s as the U.S. was still embroiled deeply in the Cold War. Chekov was a symbol that peace would eventually come. Koenig was never anything less than 100% committed, and reacted to extreme sci-fi scenarios with fire and aplomb. 

In the early '60s, the actor worked his way through smaller roles in multiple well-known TV series like "Mr. Novak," "Gidget," and "I Spy" before joining "Star Trek" in its second season. After, he continued apace, working on TV regularly, eventually landing a recurring role on a second beloved sci-fi series  "Babylon 5." He has also stayed a part of "Star Trek" up until the present, having provided a voice cameo in the most recent season of "Star Trek: Picard," as well as reprising his role as Chekov in the semi-professional and well-respected fan series "Star Trek: New Voyages." He's also dabbled in many amusing B-movies like "Mad Cowgirl" and "Scream of the Bikini," as well as animated shows like "Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters."

Additionally, Koenig has served as an advocate for civil rights in Burma, having visited refugee camps there. Koenig still appears at conventions, happy to talk about his various projects and acting endeavors. Just please, whatever you do, don't ask him to say "nuclear wessels." The man just turned 87. He deserves a break from that. 

Star Trek: The Original Series Cast List

Star Trek: The Original Series cast list, including photos of the actors when available. This list includes all of the Star Trek: The Original Series main actors and actresses , so if they are an integral part of the show you'll find them below. You can various bits of trivia about these Star Trek: The Original Series stars, such as where the actor was born and what their year of birth is. This cast list of actors from Star Trek: The Original Series focuses primarily on the main characters, but there may be a few actors who played smaller roles on Star Trek: The Original Series that are on here as well.

Everything from William Shatner to Julie Newmar is included on this list.

If you are wondering, "Who are the actors from Star Trek: The Original Series?" or "Who starred on Star Trek: The Original Series?" then this list will help you answer those questions.

DeForest Kelley

Eddie paskey.

George Takei

Leonard Nimoy

Majel Barrett

Nichelle Nichols

Frank da vinci.

Walter Koenig

Grace Lee Whitney

William Shatner

James Doohan

Julie Newmar

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• User reviews

Episode list

S1.E0 ∙ The Cage

S1.E1 ∙ The Man Trap

S1.E2 ∙ Charlie X

S1.E3 ∙ Where No Man Has Gone Before

S1.E4 ∙ The Naked Time

S1.E5 ∙ The Enemy Within

S1.E6 ∙ Mudd's Women

S1.E7 ∙ What Are Little Girls Made Of?

S1.E8 ∙ Miri

S1.E9 ∙ Dagger of the Mind

S1.E10 ∙ The Corbomite Maneuver

S1.E11 ∙ The Menagerie: Part I

S1.E12 ∙ The Menagerie: Part II

S1.E13 ∙ The Conscience of the King

S1.E14 ∙ Balance of Terror

S1.E15 ∙ Shore Leave

S1.E16 ∙ The Galileo Seven

S1.E17 ∙ The Squire of Gothos

S1.E18 ∙ Arena

S1.E19 ∙ Tomorrow Is Yesterday

S1.E20 ∙ Court Martial

S1.E21 ∙ The Return of the Archons

S1.E22 ∙ Space Seed

S1.E23 ∙ A Taste of Armageddon

S1.E24 ∙ This Side of Paradise

S1.E25 ∙ The Devil in the Dark

S1.E26 ∙ Errand of Mercy

S1.E27 ∙ The Alternative Factor

S1.E28 ∙ The City on the Edge of Forever

S1.E29 ∙ Operation -- Annihilate!

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The Only 3 Actors Still Alive From The Cast Of Star Trek: The Original Series

We're coming up at warp speed to the 60th anniversary of the "Star Trek" premiere, which aired on NBC on September 8, 1966. Though the original series only ran for three years, it spawned a media franchise that's still one of the biggest in the world today and which changed the face of science fiction forever. We might not have fandom in the way we do today if not for "Star Trek," as it's largely responsible for the modern style of fan fiction, shipping, and contemporary fanzines, among other things.

Sadly, since it's been so long since the series premiered, most of the actors who made it so special have passed away in the years since. Leonard Nimoy , the man behind the inimitable Spock, passed away in 2015. DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, died in 1999, Scotty actor James Doohan passed away in 2005, and Nichelle Nichols, who played Nyota Uhura, died in 2022 at the age of 89. Many of the other supporting players from the show's three seasons have sadly also passed, but together, they leave a legacy that will continue to stand the test of time.

Not every original "Star Trek" actor has passed away , though. A few are still making their mark on the world and even acting in their old age. These are the only three actors still alive from the main cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series."

William Shatner: Captain James T. Kirk

Any level of "Star Trek" fan will know that William Shatner — Captain James Tiberius Kirk himself — is still thriving at the age of 92 at the time of writing. Not only that, but he's far from what anyone would call a retirement. His long and illustrious career includes "Star Trek: The Original Series," the later films in which he reprised his role as Kirk, other hit movies like "Miss Congeniality," a substantial stretch as a recording artist, and a number of science-fiction novels he either wrote or co-wrote, including the "TekWar" series.

One would think that after accomplishing so much, Shatner would be happy to live in peace and quiet in his 90s, but that's far from the case. He's continued to take on voice acting work, playing the role of Keldor on Netflix's "Masters of the Universe: Revolution," and his recent work out of character includes a 2022 turn on "The Masked Singer" and a role as host for the 2023 reality TV series "Stars on Mars." The latter was an appropriate job not only because of Shatner's "Star Trek" history but also his own highly publicized journey to space in 2021, which made him the oldest human to enter the cosmos.

Though Shatner is still incredibly active, he's also been pretty candid about his age in recent years. "The sad thing is that the older a person gets the wiser they become and then they die with all that knowledge," Shatner said in a 2023 interview with Variety . "But what does live on are good deeds. If you do a good deed, it reverberates to the end of time."

George Takei: Hikaru Sulu

Like his former co-star William Shatner, George Takei hasn't skipped a beat in his old age. After getting his start doing English-language voiceovers for some Toho kaiju movies in the late 1950s, along with a handful of other smaller roles, Takei climbed to fame playing Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek: The Original Series." In the decades since the show ended, he's remained quite active as an actor and political activist.

Like Shatner and the other main actors of the original "Star Trek," Takei returned for the theatrical follow-up films that began in 1979. Most of his acting work in recent times has been in the realm of animation, however, making Takei's deep voice as iconic as his physical presence. He's played characters in everything from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Star Wars: Visions" to "The Simpsons" and "BoJack Horseman." He even reprises his role as Sulu on the adult animated comedy "Star Trek: Lower Decks." In between these performances, Takei has made time for extensive political activism, frequently speaking out publicly on social issues like racial equality and LGBTQ+ rights.

At the age of 86, Takei is still balancing a lot of acting work and political spokesmanship. In 2022, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia, and in 2023, he voiced major roles on both "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" and the critically acclaimed "Blue Eye Samurai."

Walter Koenig: Pavel Chekov

The final actor still alive from the main cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series" is Walter Koenig, now 87 years old, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov on the show and in the ensuing theatrical films. His work prior to being cast on the show mainly consisted of various small parts on other TV series, including "General Hospital," "Mr. Novak," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." But after debuting as Chekov, Koenig's most notable work for the rest of his career has generally been in the realm of science fiction.

In addition to his many Trek appearances, Koenig played Alfred Bester on "Babylon 5." he hasn't been as active over the last decade, but he still works from time to time, like in the 2018 sci-fi movie "Diminuendo" or the 2017 animated series "Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters." In 2023, he briefly reprised his role as Chekov for "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3.

It was also announced in 2023 that Koenig was joining the "7th Rule" podcast to review episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." In an interview with Screen Rant promoting the show, Koenig spoke highly of his time on the series and mourned the death of Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the J. J. Abrams "Star Trek" films. "I met him," Koenig said. "Very bright, delightful young man. Very talented. My God, in the short time he had, he did several folds as many jobs as I ever had. So you've got to applaud his talent. Very, very sad."

THEN AND NOW: How 19 characters from 'Star Trek: The Original Series' have evolved over 56 years

• "Star Trek" premiered on September 8, 1966.
• Almost 57 years later, "Trek" is still going strong and finding ways to reinvent old characters.
• Here's how 19 characters from " The Original Series " have evolved over almost six decades.

Captain James T. Kirk was originally played by William Shatner.

Shatner played the first (and arguably most iconic) captain of the Enterprise for for all three seasons of "The Original Series" ("TOS") which aired from 1966 to 1969, before getting canceled.

He returned to voice the character in " Star Trek: The Animated Series " from 1973 to 1974.

Kirk remains many people's favorite captain of the Enterprise and "Trek" captain in general, as he set the blueprint for the next 57 years (and counting) of storytelling. Every "Trek" captain is measured against Kirk and Shatner's portrayal of him.

Shatner was last seen in the 1994 film "Star Trek Generations."

Shatner and the rest of the original crew starred in six movies starring the cast of "TOS" from 1979 to 1991 ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture," "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country").

However, to bridge the gap between " TOS " and "The Next Generation" ("TNG"), which aired from 1987 to 1994, Shatner reprised his role as Kirk in " Star Trek Generations ," the first movie starring the cast of " TNG ." In it, he teams up with the captain of the Enterprise 100 years in the future, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, to defeat a madman called Soran.

Spoilers for a 29-year-old movie, but Captain Kirk dies at the end of the film after helping to take down Soran, simply stating "It was fun. Oh my,"  before closing his eyes.

Additionally, archival footage and audio of Shatner has been used in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" ("DS9") in 1996, "Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005, and "Star Trek: Short Treks" in 2019.

In 2009, Chris Pine took over the role. He played Kirk for three films, and counting?

In 2009, director JJ Abrams rebooted " Star Trek " by creating an alternate timeline (called the Kelvin timeline by fans) and re-casting an entirely new crew of the Enterprise, led by a bolder, brasher, and younger version of Kirk played by Pine.

Pine's version of Kirk started as a bar-fighting 25-year-old living Iowa, and by the end of "Star Trek Beyond" in 2016, he was a decorated captain and was newly dedicated to his mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before.

Surprise news of a fourth Kelvin movie was reported in 2021 by Deadline, directed by "WandaVision's" Matt Shakman.

But in 2022, Shakman left the project to direct Marvel's "Fantastic Four," leaving Paramount looking for a new director to handle "Star Trek 4," according to a statement from the studio reported by Deadline.

In the latest "Trek" series, "Strange New Worlds," the Kirk torch was passed to "Vampire Diaries" vet Paul Wesley.

In "Trek's" latest show, " Strange New Worlds ," which is a prequel to the '60s series, audiences got their first glimpse at yet another version of Kirk, this time played by "The Vampire Diaries" star Wesley , in 2022.

"Strange New Worlds" focuses on the captain of the Enterprise  before  Kirk, Captain Christopher Pike, who is fated to be brutally disfigured in the future. In an attempt to avoid his fate in the season one finale, Pike is transported to a different timeline where he survives, which is where he meets Kirk, now the captain of a ship called the Farragut. Eventually, Pike is returned to his normal timeline.

In season two, audiences met  another  alternate version of Kirk in the third episode, before finally getting to meet the future captain for real in the sixth episode, where he met his future first officer, Spock.

Kirk's best friend and first officer Spock was originally played by Leonard Nimoy.

Spock, an alien race in the "Trek" universe known as a Vulcan, was known for being extremely logical (to a sometimes frustrating extent), and was frequently bewildered by his human crew, even though he was actually half-human himself.

Spock, and his Vulcan hand greeting accompanied by the phrase "Live long and prosper," is one of the most enduring symbols of "Trek" as a whole.

Nimoy played Spock for all three seasons of the '60s series, and voiced him in "The Animated Series" as well.

His last appearance in the role was the 2013 film "Star Trek Into Darkness."

Nimoy appeared in all six movies as the unflappable Vulcan (though he does die at the end of " Star Trek II " and is subsequently resurrected in " Star Trek III "), and even directed the third and fourth movies.

After that, Nimoy reprised his role as Spock in a season five episode of "TNG" called "Unification" in 1991, which saw him 100 years after the events of "TOS" as a Vulcan ambassador. He also appeared in episodes of "DS9," "Discovery," and the animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy" through archival footage and audio throughout the '90s and 2000s.

Nimoy was the only cast member of the original "Trek" to appear in the Kelvin timeline movies — in it, his version of Spock was pulled into this universe by a vengeful Romulan (another alien) to see the destruction of his home planet. He appeared in the 2009 film and its 2013 sequel.

Nimoy died in February 2015 at the age of 83.

He co-starred in the 2009 reboot and its 2013 sequel with a younger version of his character played by Zachary Quinto.

As Nimoy played the  original  Spock, Quinto played the Kelvin timeline's Spock. This version of the character is earlier along in his journey towards understanding humanity, and clashes with Kirk, instead of acting like best friends as they are in the original show.

Quinto appeared in all three films as Spock, and even got to try his hand at the iconic "Khan" scream in "Into Darkness."

In "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," Ethan Peck now plays the logical Vulcan.

Peck first played an even younger  version of Spock in the Paramount+ series "Discovery" in 2019, where he interacted with never-before-known-about half-sister Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). He then became a series regular on "Strange New Worlds" as Captain Pike's science officer and friend in 2022.

Spock is one of the few people aboard the Enterprise who knows about Pike's eventual fate, showing how close he was to his first commanding officer even before Kirk.

Kirk's other best friend and the Enterprise's chief medical officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy was originally played by DeForest Kelley.

Bones, as Kirk called him, represented the total opposite of Spock. Where Spock was ruled by reason and logic, McCoy was prone to passionate outbursts and was always concerned for Kirk and his friends.

And, famously, he was quick to remind everyone on board that he was just a doctor, not anything else.

Kelley, like his cast-mates, appeared in all three seasons of "TOS" and both seasons of "The Animated Series."

His last appearance in the role was the 1991 film "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."

Kelley appeared in the six movies starring the cast of "TOS," ending with his appearance in "Star Trek VI" in 1991. This was also his last on-screen film role, as he died eight years later in 1999.

In 1987, Kelley was on hand to bless the cast of "TNG" by appearing in that show's pilot episode as Admiral McCoy, a much older version of the character (137 years old, to be exact). He speaks with Data about how the Enterprise will always bring you home.

Kelley died at age 79 in June 1999 , according to an obituary in The Washington Post.

Karl Urban played the good doctor in the reboot trilogy, beginning in 2009.

The 2009 film showed the meeting of Kirk and his future best friend on board a ship to Starfleet Academy — and explains how he got his nickname: He split from wife and his ex got everything in the divorce, leaving him with just his "bones."

Urban appeared in all three films of the Kelvin trilogy.

Nichelle Nichols played the Enterprise's communications officer, Nyota Uhura.

Nichols became a Black pop culture icon when she began playing Uhura, a communications officer, in the 1960s. She was one of the first Black women on TV to hold a high-ranking job, and was part of the first televised interracial kiss .

In fact, she was going to quit, but none other than Martin Luther King Jr. told Nichols she couldn't leave. "You have the first non-stereotypical, non-menial role on television. You have created strength and beauty and intelligence. For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen. It's what we're marching for. You're a role model and whether you like it or not, you belong to history now," Nichols said he told her during an interview with the New York Post in 2011.

Nichols appeared in all three seasons of "TOS" and in " The Animated Series."

Her last appearance was also "The Undiscovered Country."

Along with her fellow cast-mates, Nichols appeared in all six "TOS" movies, wrapping up Uhura's experience in "Star Trek VI."

Nichols' face and voice also popped up in a 1996 episode of "DS9" and a 2022 episode of "Prodigy" via archival footage and audio.

Nichols died in July 2022. She was 89.

In the 2009 reboot, Zoe Saldaña played Uhura.

Saldaña played a version of Uhura straight out of the Academy, just like Kirk. She was a lot feistier than her '60s counterpart, and was one of the high points of the Kelvin trilogy.

Her character was also in a relationship with Spock, which was a marked departure from "TOS" and its movies.

In "Strange New Worlds," Celia Rose Gooding plays a younger version of Uhura who is still an ensign.

In "Strange New Worlds," fans learned that Uhura was actually on the Enterprise before Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov or Sulu, as a cadet under the leadership of Captain Pike.

Throughout the first season, we learned more about Uhura than we ever did in the '60s, including that she joined Starfleet after the death of her parents on Earth and was trying to escape how lonely she was on her home planet.

While she thought about leaving the Enterprise at the end of season one, in season two we learned she stuck around and was even promoted to ensign. Fans also learned that she was the one who inititally introduced Kirk and Spock.

Chief engineering officer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott was played by James Doohan.

Even if you've never seen "Trek," chances are you've heard the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" (although it's never actually said on the show).

Doohan, who is actually American, played the Enterprise's trusty Scottish chief of engineering for all three seasons of "TOS" and the two seasons of "The Animated Series."

His last appearance was a small role in the 1994 film "Star Trek Generations."

Before " Generations ," Doohan played Scotty in the first six "Trek" films. He also appeared in a fan-favorite episode of "TNG" in 1992 called "Relics," which saw Scotty return to the Enterprise after 100 years of being stuck in the transporter (classic "Trek" science).

But his last on-screen appearance as Scotty was in the first couple scenes of 1994's "Generations" when he, Kirk, and Chekov are brought on board the Enterprise-B to help christen it. In classic Scotty fashion, he's able to help save the day, though he does witness the apparent death of his friend Kirk who was actually pulled into an alternate dimension called the Nexus. It's complicated.

Doohan is also seen in archival footage and heard in archival audio in episodes of "DS9" in 1996 and "Prodigy" in 2022.

Doohan died in July 2005 at age 85 , NPR reported.

A new generation of fans got to know Scotty through Simon Pegg's performance.

Pegg, who also co-wrote 2016's "Star Trek Beyond," first debuted in the 2009 film as a member of Starfleet banished to a remote, icy base with a new small alien friend named Keenser. He meets Kirk and the two bond as they make a break for the Enterprise. Pegg reprised his role in the two sequels.

And, in "Trek" tradition, he also wasn't actually Scottish.

We first saw Scotty's hand and and heard his voice in the season one finale of "Strange New Worlds."

As previously explained, the 2022 season one finale of "Strange New Worlds" saw Pike transported to an alternate future aboard the Enterprise. In one scene, we see Spock attempt to repair the damaged ship, and he's assisted by an unseen engineer with a very  familiar red shirt and Scottish accent.

However, in "Strange New Worlds'" primary timeline, the chief engineering officer was first an alien named Hemmer who (spoiler) dies in the penultimate episode of season one. He was then replaced by Pelia, another alien, in season two.

But still, fans who know that Scotty is coming to the Enterprise were excited to hear him, if just for a few moments.

In season two of "Strange New Worlds," a Scottish actor finally got to play Scotty: Martin Quinn. It only took 57 years.

Scotty was first teased in season one with a voice cameo, but fans got to meet him for real in the 2023 season two finale, "Hegemony." And now, he's finally played by someone who's actually from  Scotland, an actor named Martin Quinn, as Polygon reported .

While it may be a new actor, this Scotty has the same resourcefulness as both Doohan and Pegg's versions of the character.

Hopefully, we'll see more of him in season three.

Hikaru Sulu, as played by George Takei, appeared through the original series as the ship's helmsman.

Takei played Sulu, the senior helmsman of the Enterprise for all three seasons of "TOS" and voiced the character in "The Animated Series."

Sulu, as portrayed by Asian-American Takei, was a large step forward in terms of Asian representation — at the time, many Asian actors were forced to play untrustworthy people or straight-up villains. Or, indeed, many Asian parts were played by American actors in yellow face (see "Breakfast at Tiffany's").

Sulu, by contrast, was shown to always be an upstanding member of the crew.

Takei's last appearance as Sulu was in a 1996 episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" entitled "Flashback."

By the time of Sulu's last appearance in "Star Trek," he had become a captain of a starship himself, the Excelsior, as seen in both "Star Trek VI" in 1991 and his final on-screen appearance as Sulu in an episode of "Voyager" five years later called "Flashback."

"Flashback" is, fittingly, a flashback to the events of "Star Trek VI" as seen by a member of the crew, Tuvok, who was apparently serving on board the Excelsior at the time.

Takei's voice can also be heard during a 2019 episode of "Short Treks" via archival audio. He also reprised his role one more time during a season three episode of the animated series "Lower Decks" in 2022.

While not Takei himself, Sulu's daughter Demora has a small role in "Generations" as an ensign on the Enterprise-B, played by Jacqueline Kim.

John Cho played Sulu in the rebooted film series, and gave the character a new back story.

To honor Takei's real-life sexuality, Sulu was revealed to have a husband during the events of "Beyond" in 2016. His daughter, presumably Demora, is also seen in the film. Takei, however, didn't approve of making Sulu gay , he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016.

Cho was also in 2009's "Star Trek" and 2013's "Into Darkness." He even got to nod to the character's love of fencing on "TOS" during a scene in the 2009 film.

Walter Koenig played Russian ensign Pavel Chekov. He joined in the second season of the original series.

Koenig didn't join the crew of the Enterprise until season two, when creator Gene Roddenberry decided that they needed a younger character who could appeal to teenage audiences. So, they slapped a Davy Jones wig on Koenig, and there was Chekov.

At the time, it was a huge deal to have a Russian hero on an American TV show during the Cold War, as History outlined.

Koenig appeared in the second and third seasons of "TOS," but due to budgetary restrictions, was not in "The Animated Series." Koenig did, however, write one episode of the show called "The Infinite Vulcan."

His last appearance as the character was in "Star Trek Generations" in 1994.

Koenig appeared in the first six "Trek" films with the cast of "TOS." Then, three years after "Star Trek VI" in 1991, Koenig, along with James Doohan and William Shatner, appeared in "Generations" to christen the Enterprise-B.

Besides that, Chekov is also seen in archival footage during an episode of "DS9," and was heard during the finale of "Star Trek: Picard" in 2023.

The late Anton Yelchin took over as Chekov from 2009 to 2016.

Yelchin was part of the main cast of the 2009 reboot and its two sequels. He died in June 2016 at the age of 27 in a freak accident.

The final Kelvin film (as of now), "Beyond," was released in July 2016, just a few weeks after his death. As Bustle reported, the film was subsequently dedicated to both Yelchin and Leonard Nimoy , who died in 2015.

If a fourth Kelvin film  does  come to fruition, the creative team confirmed to The Wrap that Chekov would not be recast.

Fans of the franchise who watched "Star Trek: Picard" know that, as a nod to Yelchin, it was revealed that Chekov's son, Anton Chekov, is the president of the Federation — and he was voiced by Koenig himself.

Christine Chapel, played by Majel Barrett, worked under Dr. McCoy as a nurse.

As we'll see later, Chapel wasn't the first character Barrett played in "Trek." In the original (un-aired) pilot, Barrett played Number One, the first officer to Captain Christopher Pike.

But, when the show was taken in a different direction, Barrett was re-cast as Nurse Chapel, a nurse with a little bit of a crush on Spock.

Chapel appeared in all three seasons of "TOS" and in both seasons of "The Animated Series."

In 1969, after "TOS" was canceled, Barrett wed "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

Barrett returned for the films "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979) and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986).

Chapel only appeared in two of the "TOS" films: in the first as part of the main crew in 1979 and in the fourth in a small, cameo-like appearance in 1986.

Although Chapel never appeared in any of the "Trek" spin-off shows, Barrett did. She had a recurring role on "TNG" as Lwaxana Troi, the mother of the Enterprise's counselor Deanna Troi. Lwaxana was in five episodes.

Barrett could also be  heard  on three of the spin-offs: Her voice was used as the ship's computer in "TNG," "DS9," and "Voyager" for hundreds of episodes altogether.  Her voice is also the computer in "Generations," "Star Trek: First Contact," "Star Trek: Insurrection," "Star Trek: Nemesis," and posthumously in the 2009 reboot film and "Star Trek: Picard."

Barrett died in December 2008. She was 76 , The New York Times reported.

Nurse Chapel is only mentioned in the reboot trilogy, but she has a main role in "Strange New Worlds," played by Jess Bush.

Chapel gets a passing mention in both "Star Trek" and "Into Darkness" as an ex of Kirk's, but is never seen. By the time Bush began playing a younger version of her in "Strange New Worlds" in 2022, Chapel had been missing from our screens for 36 years.

Bush's portrayal of the character is instantly iconic. She's super-smart, capable, sassy, and altogether a lot of fun. Fans are also learning more about the relationship between Spock and Chapel's relationship, which is only hinted at during "TOS."

Yeoman Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney, only appeared in the first season of the original series.

Whitney played Yeoman Rand in just the first season of "TOS." Decades later, Whitney claimed she was written off the show after she was sexually assaulted by a producer , which The Washington Post reported in Whitney's obituary.

Her character seemingly had a relationship with Kirk, but it was never truly discussed.

Whitney made her last appearance in the "Trek" universe in "Flashback," a 1996 episode of "Voyager."

Whitney, after a dedicated effort by the Trekkies, was brought back for the first, fourth, and sixth "Trek" films in 1979, 1986, and 1991 respectively, though in a small role. In the sixth movie, specifically, she was seen as part of Captain Sulu's crew on the Excelsior.

Her last appearance as Rand was in the 1996 "Voyager" episode "Flashback," which flashes back to the events of the sixth "Trek" movie, "The Undiscovered Country."

Rand has yet to appear in neither in the Kelvin timeline films nor any of the Paramount+ series.

Whitney died in May 2015 at the age of 85 , reported The Washington Post.

Bibi Besch made her debut as Carol Marcus, an old flame of Kirk's, in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in 1982.

Besch only appeared in one "Trek" movie, but her role as Marcus was significant. In it, viewers found out that Kirk had had a significant relationship with her, and had even unknowingly fathered a son with her, David.

Ultimately, Besch never reprised her role as Marcus, although David went on to appear in "Star Trek III."

However, Marcus did get a passing mention in the season two finale of "Strange New Worlds" in 2023 as just Kirk's pregnant girlfriend Carol.

She died in September 1996 at the age of 54 , according to The New York Times.

Alice Eve played a version of the character in the 2011 film "Star Trek Into Darkness."

In "Into Darkness," Eve took on the role of Marcus, and we see Kirk and Marcus meet, although there's definitely  not  a romantic relationship happening at that time.

During the movie, it's revealed that Marcus' father is a Starfleet admiral (and war hawk) who is secretly preparing for a war with the Klingons.

Marcus didn't appear in "Beyond" because, according to screenwriter Simon Pegg, there simply wasn't enough for her to do , he said on an episode of "Engage: The Official 'Star Trek' Podcast" in 2016.

Booker Bradshaw played Dr. Joseph M'Benga, another doctor aboard the Enterprise, in two episodes of the original series.

Bradshaw played another doctor aboard the Enterprise for two episodes: the season two episode "A Private Little War" and the season three episode "That Which Survives."

That was it for Bradshaw, and we never got to learn more about the character.

Bradshaw died in April 2003 at the age of 62 , according to the British Film Institute.

Babs Olusanmokun has a starring role in "Strange New Worlds" as a younger version of the character.

When the cast list of "Strange New Worlds" was announced in 2021 , you might have been surprised (and excited) to see that the Enterprise's chief medical officer wouldn't be Dr. McCoy, but instead Dr. M'Benga.

Over the course of the first season, we learned that M'Benga is a widower and has a daughter, Rukiya, who has an incurable, degenerative disease. We also learn that he's just as capable as Bones ever was.

In season two, we learned even more about M'Begna, including his past experiences as a soldier in the Klingon-Federation War.

Jeffrey Hunter and Sean Kenney played two different versions of Captain Christopher Pike, the captain of the Enterprise before Kirk.

Originally, "Star Trek" was supposed to be the story of Captain Pike aboard the starship Enterprise, played by Hunter. He starred in a pilot, called "The Cage," that was rejected by the network, which is how we ended up with our beloved Captain Kirk and William Shatner.

But instead of letting that footage go to waste, it was repurposed for a "TOS" episode called "The Menagerie," which sees a severely disfigured and disabled Pike (now played by Kenney) return to a planet called Talos IV, where he can live out the rest of his life under the illusion he's been cured, with the help of Spock.

Kenney played two other characters during "TOS" in the episodes "Arena" and "A Taste of Armageddon."

According to The New York Times, Hunter died in 1969 at the age of 42.

Bruce Greenwood played an altered version of the character in 2009's "Star Trek" and 2011's "Star Trek Into Darkness."

In the 2009 reboot and its immediate sequel, Greenwood plays a version of Pike pre-horrible accident, who convinces Kirk to enlist in Starfleet and mentors the young captain.

His fate in "Into Darkness" (read: his death at the hands of Benedict Cumberbatch's character), is very different than his TV counterpart's.

Anson Mount first appeared in "Star Trek: Discovery" as Captain Pike in 2019, and his portrayal was so popular that he received his own spin-off, "Strange New Worlds."

Mount made his debut as Captain Pike in season two of " Discovery " in 2019 as the temporary captain of the Discovery while the Enterprise was disabled. This appearance is at least five years after the events of "The Cage," the unaired "Trek" pilot from the '60s.

During one episode of "Discovery," he reunites with a character from "The Cage," Vina (more on her later), and in another, he sees a vision of the terrible accident in his future that causes his disfigurement.

He departed at the end of season two to resume command of the Enterprise and to star in his own spin-off, "Strange New Worlds," which began airing in 2022.

Mount reprised his role on "Short Treks," also in 2019.

Captain Pike's first officer, Una Chin-Riley, or Number One, was originally portrayed by Majel Barrett.

Before Barrett dyed her hair blonde and played Nurse Chapel, she played the first officer, known only as Number One, in the un-aired pilot of "Star Trek" called "The Cage," which was later repurposed into "The Menagerie."

The character wasn't seen again for over 50 years.

Rebecca Romijn now plays Number One in "Strange New Worlds." She also appeared in "Discovery" alongside Mount.

Fifty-six years after Number One was cut from "TOS," Romijn brought new life to the character when she appeared in "Discovery" alongside Anson Mount as Captain Pike in 2019.

She then began starring on "Strange New Worlds" in 2022, during which it was revealed that Number One is actually a genetically modified alien known as an Illyrian. We then learned that Illyrians are forbidden from joining Starfleet, leading to her arrest in the season one finale of "Strange New Worlds."

Thankfully, she was back on the Enterprise before long in season two.

Romijn also appeared in "Short Treks" in 2019.

Mark Lenard played Spock's father Sarek beginning in 1967.

Lenard makes his first appearance as Spock's estranged Vulcan father in the season two episode of "TOS" called "Journey to Babel." He subsequently voiced the character in an episode of "The Animated Series," as well.

In addition to Sarek, Lenard played a Romulan in another episode of "TOS," "Balance of Terror."

His last filmed appearance as the character was the 1991 film "The Undiscovered Country," though he appeared in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that same year.

Lenard reprised the role of Sarek in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth "Trek" movies in 1982, 1986, 1989, and 1991 respectively, playing a pivotal role in the third movie where he convinces Kirk to retrieve Spock's body in order to reunite it with Spock's soul during a Vulcan ritual.

Lenard appeared in the first "Trek" movie too in 1979, though not as Sarek. Instead, he played an unnamed Klingon commander.

Sarek also appeared in two episodes of "TNG" in 1990 and 1991, one of which was named after him. In it, he develops a close friendship with Captain Picard. His next appearance, "Unification" in 1991, saw him reunite with his on-screen son, Spock. Sarek dies during this two-part episode.

Lenard died in November 1996 when he was 68 years old , according to The Washington Post.

Ben Cross played Sarek in the 2009 reboot.

During a brief scene in the beginning of the 2009 film, and then during a scene where Spock returns to Vulcan, his father Sarek is played by Cross. He did not reprise the role for "Into Darkness" or "Beyond."

Cross died in August 2020 at age 72 , Deadline reported.

Sarek has most recently appeared in "Discovery," as played by James Frain, starting in 2017.

Sarek has a relatively important role in "Discovery," as he's both the father of Spock (who pops up in season two) and the adopted father of the show's main character, Michael Burnham.

It was confirmed in the second season of "Strange New Worlds" that Spock and his father are not on good terms.

Spock's human mother Amanda Grayson was first played by Jane Wyatt in the original series.

Wyatt played Spock's human mother Grayson in one episode of "TOS," the same one that Sarek made his debut in: "Journey to Babel."

Majel Barrett also voiced her in an animated episode, "Yesteryear."

Wyatt reprised the role for the 1986 film "The Voyage Home."

After Spock is resurrected during the events of "Star Trek III," his mother, played by Wyatt, returned for "Star Trek IV" to encourage her son to reconnect with his humanity.

Wyatt died in October 2006. She was 96 , according to The New York Times.

Winona Ryder took over the role in 2009 in "Star Trek."

Much ado was made about how Ryder was cast as the mother of Zachary Quinto, as she was only six years older than him.

But, Ryder only appears in a few minutes of the movie, donning makeup to show age, to briefly reunite with her son Spock on Vulcan before she dies during the planet's destruction.

Mia Kirshner began playing her in 2017 on "Discovery," and has since appeared on "Strange New Worlds."

Kirshner took on the role of Grayson in "Discovery," mainly as the adopted mother of Michael Burnham, though she did connect with Spock once he popped up on that show.

She returned in 2023 during an episode of season two of "Strange New Worlds" to help Spock after he was accidentally turned into a human.

Khan Noonien Singh, one of the most iconic villains in "Trek" history, debuted in an episode of the original series. He was played by Ricardo Montalban.

"Space Seed," an episode during the first season of "TOS," has been named one of the best episodes of "Trek" of all time. Lots of that credit can be given to Montalban's performance as Khan, a genetically modified super-human who tries to take over the Enterprise to bring "order" to the Federation.

At the end of the episode, Kirk chooses to sentence Khan and his people to live on a bountiful planet called Ceti Alpha V, with the intention of telling Starfleet to check in on them in 100 years.

Montalban returned for the 1982 film "Wrath of Khan."

By the events of "Star Trek II," Ceti Alpha V has become a wasteland due to the explosion of neighboring planet of Ceti Alpha VI, and Khan and his people have grown bitter and desperate.

Montalban absolutely steals the show Khan, quoting classic literature, going toe-to-toe with Kirk, and indirectly killing Spock.

But, of course, the crew of the Enterprise prevails and Khan is blown to smithereens.

While adult Khan has not shown up since "Wrath of Khan," a descendant of his, La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) is a regular on "Strange New Worlds."

The Los Angeles Times reported that Montalban died in January 2009. He was 88.

Benedict Cumberbatch (controversially) played Khan in the 2011 film "Star Trek Into Darkness."

Leading up to the release of "Into Darkness," the creative team and cast swore up and down that Cumberbatch  wasn't  playing Khan , but a different antagonist named John Harrison.

But then, fans watched as it was revealed that John Harrison was a fake name and Cumberbatch was indeed playing Kirk's most famous nemesis, Khan.

This choice generated some controversy , as Khan was described as a person of Indian descent and Montalban himself was Mexican — and Cumberbatch is white, as Screen Rant's Dusty Stowe wrote.

A young Khan from an alternate universe played by Desmond Sivan showed up in season two of "Strange New Worlds" in 2023.

During the episode, called "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," La'an is sent back in time to an alternate past in order to save the world, but she doesn't know what event she's supposed to be preventing. She's helped in this mission by an alternate Captain Kirk.

In a cruel twist of fate, La'an is forced to save a young Khan's life, because his death in the 21st century would set off a terrible future — and the alternate Kirk unknowingly sacrifices himself for the person who will one day kill his friend.

Arlene Martel played Spock's betrothed, T'Pring, in a 1967 episode.

During a famous episode of "TOS'" first season, "Amok Time," viewers were introduced to T'Pring, Spock's previously unmentioned fiancée. During the episode, it becomes clear that T'Pring doesn't not actually want to marry Spock, and instead loves a Vulcan named Stonn. After this episode, she's never mentioned again.

Martel died in August 2014 at age 78 , according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gia Sandhu now plays T'Pring in a recurring role on "Strange New Worlds."

"Strange New Worlds" picks up years before "Amok Time," and, as such, T'Pring and Spock were at first very much in love and each dedicated to making their relationship work, despite their differences.

Sandhu appeared throughout the first season in a recurring role, but after her and Spock's relationship was put on pause in season two, we don't know how much more of her we'll see in the future.

Roger C. Carmel's Harry Mudd is another "Trek" antagonist who has lasted through the decades, appearing in two episodes of the original series and two episodes of the animated series.

Harry Mudd, or Harcourt Fenton Mudd if you prefer, appeared in four episodes across "TOS" and "The Animated Series," always trying to get one over on the crew of the Enterprise, looking for the best angle, and perpetually scamming those around him.

Carmel died in November 1986 at age 54 , according to The Los Angeles Times.

"The Office" star Rainn Wilson put his own spin on Mudd in "Discovery" and "Short Treks."

Wilson brought Mudd into the 21st century when he played the famed scammer in two episodes of "Discovery" in 2017 and in an episode of "Short Treks" in 2019 which he also directed.

In 2021, Wilson was campaigning to bring Mudd back into the fold and have him appear in "Strange New Worlds" at a fan convention, according to "Trek" fansite Trek Movie. Maybe in season three!

Susan Oliver played the lone survivor of a ship crash named Vina in an episode of "Star Trek."

Technically, Oliver as Vina was part of the un-aired pilot "The Cage." Vina was a woman living on Talos VI after a ship crash left her stranded there.

Her plight was then shown in the "TOS" episode "The Menagerie," which told the tale of Vina's first meeting with Captain Pike. The two fell in love while Pike was being held captive on the planet, but when the Talosians realized that humans can't be enslaved, they let Pike and his crew go.

While Pike wants Vina to come with him, she reveals she was heavily injured and disfigured during her crash, and the Talosians have used their powers of illusion to make her appear young and beautiful. She must stay behind in order to keep her appearance as is.

According to The New York Times, Oliver died in May 1990 at age 61 .

Vina appeared in "Discovery" too, as played by Melissa George.

Some time after their encounter in "The Cage," Pike and Vina became telepathically linked to communicate once more after some years apart.

Vina, now played by George in a 2019 episode of "Discovery," reveals to Pike that the Talosians have allowed her to live out her days with an illusionary version of Pike to keep her company.

What neither of them knows, yet, is that after Pike has his accident, he will reunite with Vina on Talos VI so they can both live their own "happy" illusions , as seen in "The Menagerie."

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Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

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Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

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In 1969, a Terrible Star Trek Episode Helped Save the Fandom — And the Franchise

Let’s go behind the scenes.

Endings are hard, especially when your last episode wasn’t planned. Star Trek: The Original Series was ingloriously canceled after three seasons, despite valiant fan efforts to keep it on the air. That means its finale wasn’t written as a finale, and it generally ranks among the worst entries in the entire franchise.

On June 3, 1969, the last episode of Star Trek , “Turnabout Intruder,” aired. Originally slated for March 28, NBC delayed the episode after the passing of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Loyal fans had to wait for one last episode, several months after the previous episode had aired, in a countdown to a letdown. Fifty-five years later, “Turnabout Intruder” isn’t secretly great; its basic premise is embarrassing and outdated. But despite its deep flaws, the world of sci-fi fandom would be much, much darker without it. Here’s how “Turnabout Intruder” accidentally ushered in a new age of fandom.

Janice and Kirk switch bodies in "Turnabout Intruder."

Written by Arthur Singer from a story concept by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, “Turnabout Intruder” is a Freaky Friday -style episode in which one of Captain Kirk’s ex-girlfriends, Dr. Janet Lester (Sandra Smith), switches bodies with him in an effort to destroy his life. If Dr. Lester were the episode’s main character, or if this was a different TV series, it could almost be read as a kind of feminist revenge story. But because Kirk is the show's hero, the sympathies lie with him, and Lester is portrayed as a heartbroken, man-hating lunatic.

While Star Trek is often lauded for its progressive vision, the classic series’ sexual mores are far less advanced than its push for diversity. And because “Turnabout Intruder” writes Janet Lester as an utterly unsympathetic person, the story comes off as sexist. One can imagine a rewrite in which the tone is slightly different, and Kirk has to answer for messing up Lester’s life. But we’re not given any reason to doubt Kirk, so anything potentially interesting the episode might say is muddled.

Still, “Turnabout Intruder” is a gender-switching Original Series episode in which manly man Willian Shatner plays a woman. This, from a cultural curiosity viewpoint alone, makes it worth watching. “Turnabout Intruder” is replete with the now-classic Shatner overacting and body spasms, but in 1969, Star Trek wasn’t playing this concept for laughs. Right up until the end, Star Trek thought of itself as a serious drama, even if camp had taken over the aesthetic.

Spock (Leonard Nimoy) mind-melds with Janice Lester (Sandra Smith), who’s really Captain Kirk.

The episode also accidentally fueled an emergent fan phenomenon: slash fiction. As fanfic readers know, the concept of slash fiction, in which fans pair one character with another, derives its name from Kirk/Spock fanfic, which imagined the famous duo as lovers. In “Turnabout Intruder,” after Spock mind-melds with Janet Lester and realizes Kirk is in her body, he holds their hand, treating Kirk like his girlfriend. It’s not subtle. Supposedly, even the actors were aware the story’s gender-role-switching elements prompted all kinds of questions about Kirk and Spock’s true feelings. In a famous outtake, William Shatner jokingly reworked his line to say, “Spock, it’s always been you, you know it's always been you. Say you love me too.”

We know this because super-fan Joan Winston got herself onto the “Turnabout Intruder” set. In the fan-made essay collection Star Trek Lives! Winston recounted the experience in great detail, including the anecdote about Shatner jokingly professing his love to Spock. By 1972, Joan Winston would become one of the key organizers of the world’s first Star Trek conventions.

In 1970, only 300 people attended the first San Diego Comic-Con. In 1972, Winston brought 3,000 people to the first Star Trek convention. By 1974, Winston’s fourth Star Trek Lives! convention attracted at least 15,000 attendees. Star Trek conventions helped create large-scale genre-themed conventions in general, which is partially why today’s geek landscape even exists. Small fantasy and sci-fi conventions existed before Star Trek , but Trek made the idea of having a big convention possible, and Joan Winston was one of the movement’s key pioneers.

Joan Winston with Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley on the set of Star Trek’s last episode, “Turnabout Intruder.”

Crucially, Winston made personal connections with Star Trek’s stars while on set. She drove around LA with DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), which later helped her recruit him as a convention guest. As television moved on, she documented what it was like to see Star Trek end. In her essay “My Six Glorious Days on the Star Trek Set,” Winston goes into great detail about what the filming of “Turnabout Intruder” was like, and the cast’s mood as the show ended. Winston focuses on how Shatner fought through the flu, and on the cast’s hard work and commitment, despite their sadness that this would be the USS Enterprise's final voyage .

The last Original Series scene filmed was the episode’s first scene, in which Janice and Kirk switch bodies. Nimoy and the other cast members had completed their filming the previous day, and Winston saw some weighty moments. “I got there just in time to see Leonard slowly and ceremoniously remove his ears for the last time,” she wrote. About the wrap party, she said, “It was a quiet party, no one really felt in a party mood. Some gifts were exchanged, good-byes were said. Soon the set was cleared, all the props were put away, and just the empty sound stage was left.”

While “Turnabout Intruder” is a lousy episode, its legacy is its impact on real-world culture. Joan Winston’s writing and her subsequent galvanization of a fledgling fandom reshaped the pop culture landscape we all live in. In another universe, maybe Winston would have visited the set of Star Trek while they were filming a good episode. But there’s something beautiful about Star Trek ending on a low note, just as its fervent fans were getting ready to light a spark that would change fandom forever.

Star Trek: The Original Series streams on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is over. Now Alex Kurtzman readies for ‘Starfleet Academy’ and ‘Section 31’

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In “Star Trek” terms, and in the real world of “Star Trek” television, Alex Kurtzman, who oversees the 21st century franchise, might be described as the Federation president, from whose offices various series depart on their individual missions. Indeed, to hear him speak of it, the whole enterprise — honestly, no pun intended — seems to run very much on the series’ ethos of individual initiative and group consensus.

The first series to be launched, “ Star Trek: Discovery, ” has come to an end as of Thursday after five seasons on Paramount+. Others in the fleet include the concluded “ Picard, ” which brought “The Next Generation” into a new generation; the ongoing “ Strange New Worlds, ” which precedes the action of what’s now called “The Original Series,” from which it takes its spirit and several characters; “Lower Decks,” a comedy set among Starfleet service workers; and “Prodigy,” in which a collection of teenage aliens go joyriding in a starship. On the horizon are “Starfleet Academy,” with Holly Hunter set to star, and a TV feature, “ Section 31, ” with Michelle Yeoh back as Philippa Georgiou.

I spoke with Kurtzman, whose “Trek” trek began as a writer on the quantum-canonical reboot movies “ Star Trek ” (2009) and “ Star Trek: Into Darkness ” (2013), at Secret Hideout, his appropriately unmarked Santa Monica headquarters. Metro trains glide by his front door unaware. We began the conversation, edited for length and clarity here, with a discussion of his “Trek” universe.

Alex Kurtzman: I liken them to different colors in the rainbow. It makes no sense to me to make one show that’s for everybody; it makes a lot of sense to make a lot of shows individually tailored to a sect of the “Star Trek” audience. It’s a misnomer that there’s a one-size-fits-all Trekkie. And rather than make one show that’s going to please everybody — and will almost certainly please nobody — let’s make an adult drama, an animated comedy, a kids’ comedy, an adventure show and on and on. There’s something quite beautiful about that; it allows each of the stories to bloom in its own unique way.

Do you get pushback from the fans?

Absolutely. In some ways that’s the point. One of the things I learned early on is that to be in love with “Star Trek” is to engage in healthy debate. There is no more vocal fan base. Some people tell you that their favorite is “The Original Series,” some say their favorite is “Voyager” and some say their favorite is “Discovery.” Yet they all come together and talk about what makes something singularly “Trek” — [creator] Gene Roddenberry‘s extraordinarily optimistic vision of the future when all that divides us [gets placed] in the rearview mirror and we get to move on and discover things. Like all great science fiction, you get to pick your allegory to the real world and come up with the science fiction equivalent. And everybody who watches understands what we’re talking about — racism or the Middle East or whatever.

What specific objections did you find to “Discovery”?

I think people felt it was too dark. We really listen to our fans in the writers’ room — everybody will have read a different article or review over the weekend, and we talk about what feels relevant and what feels less relevant. And then we engage in a healthy democratic debate about why and begin to apply that; it seeps into the decisions we make. Season 1 of “Discovery” was always intended to be a journey from darkness into light, and ultimately reinforce Roddenberry’s vision. I think people were just stunned by something that felt darker than any “Trek” had before. But doing a dark “Star Trek” really wasn’t our goal. The show is a mirror that holds itself up to the times, and we were in 2017 — we saw the nation fracture hugely right after the election, and it’s only gotten worse since then. We were interpreting that through science fiction. There were people who appreciated that and others for whom it was just not “Star Trek.” And the result, in Season 2, Capt. [Christopher] Pike showed up, Number One showed up, Spock showed up, and we began to bring in what felt to people more like the “Star Trek” they understood.

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You’re ending the series after five seasons. Was that always a plan?

You know, we were surprised we didn’t continue, and yet it feels now that it was right. One of the things that happened very quickly as streaming took off was that it radically changed watch patterns for viewers. Shows that used to go 10, 12 seasons, people would tap out after two — like, “I got what I want” — so for any show to go five seasons, it’s a miracle. In ways I don’t think we could have predicted, the season from the beginning feels like it’s the last; it just has a sense of finality. The studio was wonderful in that they recognized we needed to put a button on it, we needed a period on the end of the sentence, and so they allowed us to go back, which we did right before the strike, and [film] the coda that wraps up the series.

“Discovery” is a riot of love stories, among both heroes and villains.

There’s certainly a history of that in “Star Trek.” Whether or not characters were engaged in direct relationships, there was always a subtext of the love between them. I believe that’s why we love the bridge crew, because it’s really a love story, everyone’s in a love story, and they all care for each other and fight like family members. But ultimately they’re there to help each other and explore the universe together. If there’s some weird problem, and the answer’s not immediately apparent, each of them brings a different skill set and therefore a different perspective; they clash in their debate on how to proceed and then find some miraculous solution that none of them would have thought of at the outset.

One of the beautiful things about the shows is that you get to spend a long time with them, as opposed to a two-hour movie where you have to get in and out quickly and then wait a couple of years before the next one comes along. To be able to be on their weekly adventures, it affords the storytelling level of depth and complexity a two-hour movie just can’t achieve in that way.

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It’s astonishing how much matter you got into these things. Some storylines that only lasted an episode I remembered as seasonal arcs.

The sheer tonnage of story and character we were able to pack into “Discovery” every episode was kind of incredible. The thing to keep in mind is that “Discovery” was made as streaming was exploding, so what I think you’re also seeing there is a lot of writers who were trained in the network world with an A, B and C story applying it suddenly to a very different kind of storytelling in a much more cinematic medium. And when you have that kind of scope it starts to become really, really big. Sometimes that works really, really well and sometimes it was too much. And we were figuring it out; it was a bunch of people with flashlights in the dark, looking for how to interpret “Star Trek” now, since it had been 12 years since it had been on a television screen.

Are you able to course-correct within a season?

Sure. You get people you really trust in the room. Aaron Baiers, who runs Secret Hideout, is one of my most important early-warning systems; he isn’t necessarily in the room when we’re breaking stories, but he’s the first person who’ll read an outline and he’s the first person who’ll read a script. What I value so much about his perspective is that he’s coming in cold, he’s just like, “I’m the viewer, and I understand this or I don’t understand it, I feel this or I don’t feel it.” The studio executives are very similar. They love “Star Trek,” they’re all die-hard fans and have very strong feelings about what is appropriate. It then goes through a series of artists in every facet, from props to visual effects to production design, and they’re bringing their interpretations and opinions to the story.

Did “Strange New Worlds” come out of the fact that everybody loved seeing Christopher Pike in “Discovery?”

I really have to credit Akiva Goldsman with this. He knew that I was going to bring Pike into the premiere of the second season of “Discovery,” and said, “You know, there’s an incredible show about Capt. Pike and the Enterprise before Kirk takes over; there’s seven years of great storytelling there” — or five years, depending on when you come into the storyline. I said, “We have to cast a successful Pike first, so let’s see if that works. Let’s figure out who’s Number One, and who Spock is,” which are wildly tall orders. I hadn’t seen Anson Mount in other things before [he was cast as Pike], and when he sent in his taped audition it was that wonderful moment where you go, “That’s exactly the person we’re looking for.” Everybody loves Pike because he’s the kind of leader you want, definitive and clear but open to everyone’s perspective and humanistic in his response. And then we had the incredibly tall order of having Ethan [Peck] step into Leonard [Nimoy’s] and [Zachary Quinto’s] shoes.

He’s great.

He’s amazing, just a delight of a human being. And Rebecca Romijn‘s energy, what she brings to Number One is such a contemporary take on a character that was kind of a cipher in “The Original Series.” But she brings a kind of joy, a comedy, a bearing, a gravitas to the character that feels very modern. Thank God the fans responded the way they did and sent that petition [calling for a “Legacy” series], because everybody at CBS got the message very quickly. Jenny Lumet and Akiva and I wrote a pilot, and we were off to the races. Typically it takes fans a minute to adjust to what you’re doing, especially with beloved legacy characters, but the response to “Strange New World” from a critical perspective and fan perspective and just a viewership perspective was so immediate, it really did help us understand what was satisfying fans.

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What can you tell me about “Starfleet Academy?” Is it going to be Earth-based or space-based?

I’m going to say, without giving anything away, both. Right now we’re in the middle of answering the question what does San Francisco, where the academy is, look like in the 32nd century. Our primary set is the biggest we’ve ever built.

So you’re setting this —

In the “Discovery” era. There’s a specific reason for that. As the father of a 17-year-old boy, I see what my son is feeling as he looks at the world and to his future. I see the uncertainty; I see all the things we took for granted as given are not certainties for him. I see him recognizing he’s inheriting an enormous mess to clean up and it’s going to be on his generation to figure out how to do that, and that’s a lot to ask of a kid. My thinking was, if we set “Starfleet Academy” in the halcyon days of the Federation where everything was fine, it’s not going to speak to what kids are going through right now.

It’ll be a nice fantasy, but it’s not really going to be authentic. What’ll be authentic is to set it in the timeline where this is the first class back after over 100 years, and they are coming into a world that is only beginning to recover from a cataclysm — which was the Burn, as established on “Star Trek: Discovery,” where the Federation was greatly diminished. So they’re the first who’ll inherit, who’ll re-inherit, the task of exploration as a primary goal, because there just wasn’t room for that during the Burn — everybody was playing defense. It’s an incredibly optimistic show, an incredibly fun show; it’s a very funny show, and it’s a very emotional show. I think these kids, in different ways, are going to represent what a lot of kids are feeling now.

And I’m very, very , very excited that Holly Hunter is the lead of the show. Honestly, when we were working on the scripts, we wrote it for Holly thinking she’d never do it. And we sent them to her, and to our absolute delight and shock she loved them and signed on right away.

And then you’ve got the “Section 31” movie.

“Section 31” is Michelle Yeoh’s return as Georgiou. A very, very different feeling for “Star Trek.” I will always be so grateful to her, because on the heels of her nomination and then her Oscar win , she just doubled down on coming back to “Star Trek.” She could have easily walked away from it; she had a lot of other opportunities. But she remained steadfast and totally committed. We just wrapped that up and are starting to edit now.

Are you looking past “Starfleet” and “Section 31” to future projects?

There’s always notions and there are a couple of surprises coming up, but I really try to live in the shows that are in front of me in the moment because they’re so all-consuming. I’m directing the first two episodes of “Starfleet Academy,” so right now my brain is just wholly inside that world. But you can tell “Star Trek” stories forever; there’s always more. There’s something in the DNA of its construction that allows you to keep opening different doors. Some of that is science fiction, some of it has to do with the combination of science fiction and the organic embracing of all these other genres that lets you explore new territories. I don’t think it’s ever going to end. I think it’s going to go on for a long, long time. The real question for “Star Trek” is how do you keep innovating, how do you deliver both what people expect and something totally fresh at the same time. Because I think that is actually what people want from “Star Trek.” They want what’s familiar delivered in a way that doesn’t feel familiar.

With all our showrunners — Terry Matalas on “Picard,” the Hagemans on “Prodigy,” Mike McMahan on “Lower Decks,” Michelle Paradise, who has been singlehandedly running “Discovery” for the last two years, and then Akiva and Henry Alonso Myers on “Strange New Worlds” — my feeling is that the best way to protect and preserve “Star Trek” is not to impose my own vision on it but [find people] who meet the criteria of loving “Star Trek,” wanting to do new things with it, understanding how incredibly hard it is to do. And then I’m going to let you do your job. I’ll come in and tell you what I think every once in a while, and I’ll help get the boat off the dock, but once I hand the show over to a creative it has to be their show. And that means you’re going to get a different take every time, and as long as those takes all feel like they can marry into the same rainbow, to get back to the metaphor, that’s the way to keep “Star Trek” fresh.

I take great comfort because “Star Trek” really only belongs to Gene Roddenberry and the fans. We don’t own it. We carry it, we try to evolve it and then we hand it off to the next people. And hopefully they will love it as much as we do.

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When is the 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 finale? Release date, cast, where to watch

Warning: May contain spoilers .

U.S.S. Discovery's final mission is almost at its end, with the last episode of "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 5 scheduled to release this Thursday.

The fifth and final season of the hit TV series had followed Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncover a mystery that sent them on "an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries," according to Paramount+.

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"Star Trek: Discovery" debuted in 2017 and is the seventh in the Star Trek series. Here's what to know about Season 5 of "Star Trek: Discovery," and when the final episode will be dropping.

When is 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 finale?

The final episode of "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 5 will release on Paramount+ on Thursday, May 30. Paramount+ did not specify what time the episode will be available on its platform.

Nine episodes of Season 5, and Seasons 1 to 4 are available to stream on Paramount+.

'Star Trek: Discovery' on Paramount+: Subscribe

Will 'Star Trek: Discovery' have another season?

No. Paramount+ had earlier announced that Season 5 will be the last in the "Star Trek: Discovery" series.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 cast

Season 5 of "Star Trek: Discovery" brings back new and old faces along with recurring guest stars. Cast members include:

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham
• Doug Jones as Saru
• Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
• Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
• Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber
• David Ajala as Cleveland “Book” Booker
• Blu del Barrio as Adira
• Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner
• Elias Toufexis as L’ak
• Eve Harlow as Moll

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 trailer

Paramount+ dropped the official trailer for Season 5 on Feb. 23.

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Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is the 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 finale? Release date, cast, where to watch

Star Trek: Discovery Series Finale Ending, Explained

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What happened to the progenitors' technology, who is doctor kovich, and why is he important to star trek, what happened to michael burnham and the discovery crew, where was the uss discovery going on its 'red directive' mission.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, now streaming on Paramount+ .

After five seasons, Star Trek: Discovery has come to an end, and the series finale is definitive. Ironically, Discovery Season 5 wasn't crafted as the end of the story, according to producers. The decision to cancel the series was made after filming was completed. However, Paramount allowed the Discovery team to reassemble the cast and crew to film the series finale coda, sending the USS Discovery on a final mission. After solving the mystery of the Progenitors' technology, the episode skips ahead in time a few decades. There, audiences see Captain Michael Burnham, Book and their family, while Zora and the USS Discovery go on one final, heartbreaking mission.

While the series finale feels incomplete, it still gives viewers answers about the powerful technology of the alien forebears of humanoid life in the galaxy. They also learn something interesting about the mysterious Doctor Kovich in his office adorned with Easter eggs from past Star Trek series. The final scenes show that Michael Burnham and Cleveland Booker get their happy ending, and it introduces their extended family. Much of the crews' fate remains a mystery, and the time-jump allows for future stories with this ship and these characters.

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At the end of the penultimate episode of Discovery , "Lagrange Point," both Moll and Michael Burnham jumped through the portal leading to the Progenitors' technology. Inside, Burnham found a place that defied the laws of spatial physics. It was a vast chamber with portals that opened to hundreds of worlds, which she could travel through. Eventually, she found Moll and the two teamed up to learn the secrets of this technology. Moll still wanted to bring L'ak back to life, but not even these advanced beings could cheat death in that way.

After Moll is taken out by a security system protecting the technology, Michael Burnham figures out how to properly activate it. Once she does, she meets a Progenitor, though a different one from Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase." She has earned the right to use the technology should she want to, but it comes at a cost. She is meant to leave her life behind and guard the technology like the Progenitor has for eons. She also learns this technology that was used to seed hundreds of worlds with humanoid life wasn't created by the Progenitors. They discovered it, too. However, what she ultimately decides is frustrating to Dr. Kovich. Instead of taking the technology back to Starfleet and studying it, Michael Burnham makes a command decision.

Burnham sends the portal containing these windows on the galaxy into one of the two black holes that helped hide it for eight centuries . The technology is simply too powerful to trust it to even the Federation. During her travels through time in "Face the Strange," she saw what happened when the Progenitors' technology fell into the hands of the Breen. Those who would control this ancient technology would have the powers of not just "a God" but the God . Burnham realizes this is too much power for anyone to have, despite what they could learn about the origins of life in the universe by studying it. The truth of the Progenitors and their technology has been classified by Starfleet.

Elias Toufexis Calls Star Trek: Discovery's L'ak 'A Dream Come True'

In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery actor Elias Toufexis details the tragic last stand of Season 5's major recurring antagonist L'ak.

Moll is taken back to the ship and treated in sickbay. However, instead of going to Federation prison , it seems she's being recruited as an operative for Dr. Kovich. The mysterious physician seems to be in control of what remains of Section 31, though his meeting with Michael Burnham reveals his role in Star Trek history goes far deeper than that. He reveals his name is Agent Daniels, which fans of Star Trek: Enterprise will recognize as the Time Agent who guided Captain Archer and his crew through the Temporal Cold War in that series .

In Kovich's office, viewers can see Easter eggs from other Star Trek series. There is a baseball like the one Captain Benjamin Sisko kept on his desk at Deep Space 9. There is a bottle of Chateau Picard wine. He also has Geordi La Forge's visor on display . He tells Burnham that he served on the USS Enterprise, among other vessels, which could suggest that a younger version of Daniels might appear in a future episode of Star Trek: trange New Worlds . He did serve on the NX-01 Enterprise, though it did not have the "USS" designation Starfleet vessels had once the Federation formed.

Known on Enterprise as Crewman Daniels, he was a time agent sent to protect the NX-01 from interference by Temporal Cold War agents. He showed up repeatedly, even after being seemingly killed more than once. He tried to rescue Captain Archer from being kidnapped once, and in doing so, destroyed the future. Luckily, Archer made it back. It wasn't until the end of the cliffhanger episodes of Enterprise Season 4 that Daniels appeared to Archer telling him that he had helped end the Temporal War that waged off-screen and affected series like Discovery, Strange New Worlds and possibly other shows.

Star Trek: Discovery's David Ajala Gets Candid About Book's 'Very Complicated Situation'

In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery actor David Ajala reflects on Cleveland Booker's journey and Book's relationship to Moll in Season 5.

A few weeks after destroying the Progenitors' portal, Saru and T'Rina were married in a seaside ceremony with the USS Discovery crew present. When Cleveland Booker arrives late (because of a run-in with Talaxian pirates), he tells Burnham his sentence for his actions during Discovery Season 4 has been commuted. There and then, Burnham and Book decide to spend the rest of their lives together .

Instead of letting audiences imagine that story for themselves, the episode skips ahead a few decades to reveal what that looks like. Michael Burnham and Book settled on a planet with red grass and trees, and with a deer-like alien animal named "Alice." This is callback to Burnham's affection for Alice in Wonderland , which Amanda Grayson used to read to her and Spock. A shuttle arrives to take Burnham to Discovery for one last mission, and the Starfleet officer escorting her turns out to be her and Book's son.

Their son has just been promoted to captain, and on the way to the ship, his mother provides some hard-learned advice about the importance of family and how that will come to include his crew. The rest of the crew's whereabouts are unknown, though Sylvia Tilly is revealed to be the longest-tenured instructor at Starfleet Academy . Burnham then takes the bridge to send Zora and her ship on a mission that answers a question six years in the making.

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The final mission for the USS Discovery and Zora is a sad one, but it represents the producers making good on a promise. The second episode of Short Treks debuted before the start of Discovery 's second season and introduced Zora, the Sentient AI onboard the ship. Titled "Calypso," after the character in Homer's Odyssey , Zora rescues a traveler in an escape pod named "Craft." He was from Alcor IV and a "reluctant" soldier in a war against the V'draysh. He spent an unspecified amount of time on the ship, and Zora developed feelings for him. Ultimately, she gave him the last warp-capable shuttle on the ship, sending him home to Alcor IV and his wife .

In the final scenes of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Admiral Michael Burnham arrives on the ship to send her on this mission. It is a "Red Directive," like from the season premiere , and it means that Zora's abandonment was intentional . She said she'd been waiting in deep space for 1,000 years in "Calypso," and after sending Craft on his way seemed to have to continue her deep space vigil. However, Burnham tells her "there will be a time when you come back" for a "new beginning" in Federation space. Burnham tells Zora she can find their descendants. Also, because the Short Treks episode aired before Discovery made its jump to the 32nd Century, there is a scene showing the ship being retrofitted to its original configuration, including the removal of the "A" on the ship's registry number.

Producers said Discovery 's end would fall in line with "Calypso," but it's a tragic end for the vessel that was home to this crew. Destined to wait for millennia out in deep space, Zora is left alone . The final scene doesn't give any reason why Craft is important, though as a Time Agent, Dr. Kovich likely has his reasons. Still, given Burnham's age at the time of the scene, it means the USS Discovery could come back with Burnham for a Star Trek movie . Otherwise, unless the universe makes it to the 42nd Century, the reason for this mission and its result will likely be left to fans' imaginations.

The complete Star Trek: Discovery is now streaming on Paramount+ .

Star Trek: Discovery

Inside the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Series Finale: The Last-Minute Coda, the Surprise Easter Eggs, and What Season 6 Would Have Been About (EXCLUSIVE)

SPOILER WARNING: This story includes descriptions of major plot developments on the series finale of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

Watching the fifth and final season of “ Star Trek: Discovery ” has been an exercise in the uncanny. Paramount+ didn’t announce that the show was ending until after the Season 5 finale had wrapped filming — no one involved with the show knew it would be its concluding voyage when they were making it. And yet, the season has unfolded with a pervasive feeling of culmination. 

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“I think there’s more to it than just, ‘Oh, it was a coinkydink!’” the actor says with a laugh, before explaining that she’s thinking more about subtext than direct intent. “I’ve gotta give Michelle her flowers. She has always asked the deeper questions of this story and these characters. Those questions of meaning and purpose led to questions of origin and legacy, and, yes, that is quite culminating.”

Martin-Green and Paradise spoke exclusively with Variety about filming the finale and the coda, including the surprising revelation about the origins of one of “Discovery’s” most memorable characters and what Paradise’s plans for Season 6 would have been.

“It’s the Most Complicated Thing I’ve Ever Seen”

Once the “Discovery” writers’ room decided the season would be organized around a search for the Progenitor’s technology, they also knew that, eventually, Burnham would find it. So then they had to figure out what it would be.

“That was a discussion that evolved over the course of weeks and months,” Paradise says. Rather than focus on communicating the intricate details of how the technology works, they turned their attention to delivering a visual experience commensurate with the enormity and complexity of something that could seed life across the entire galaxy.

“We wanted a sense of a smaller exterior and an infinite interior to help with that sense of power greater than us,” Paradise says. Inspired in part by a drawing by MC Escher, the production created an environment surrounded by towering windows into a seemingly endless procession of alien planets, in which it’s just as easy to walk on the walls as on the floor. That made for a daunting challenge for the show’s producing director, Olatunde “Tunde” Osunsanmi: As Burnham battles with the season’s main antagonist, Mol (Eve Harlow), inside this volume, they fall through different windows into another world, and the laws of gravity keep shifting between their feet.

“It’s the most complicated thing I’ve ever seen, directorially,” Paradise says. “Tunde had a map, in terms of: What did the background look like? And when the cameras this way, what’s over there? It was it was incredibly complex to design and shoot.”

Two of those planets — one in perpetual darkness and rainstorms, another consumed by constant fire — were shot on different parking areas on the Pinewood Toronto studio lot.

“The fire planet was so bright that the fire department got called from someone who had seen the fire,” Paradise says. “It should not be possible to pull those kinds of things off in a television show, even on a bigger budget show, with the time limitations that you have. And yet, every episode of every season, we’re still coming in on time and on budget. The rain planet and the fire planet we shot, I believe, one day after the other.”

Martin-Green jumps in: “Michelle, I think that was actually the same day!”

“It Felt Lifted”

The last time a “Star Trek” captain talked to a being that could be (erroneously) considered God, it was William Shatner’s James T. Kirk in 1989’s “Star Trek: The Final Frontier.” The encounter did not go well.

“I had my own journey with the central storyline of Season 5, just as a believer,” Martin-Green says. “I felt a similar way that Burnham did. They’re in this sort of liminal mind space, and it almost felt that way to me. It felt lifted. It really did feel like she and I were the only two people in this moment.”

It’s in this conversation that Burnham learns that while the Progenitors did create all “humanoid” alien species in the galaxy in their image, they did not create the technology that allowed them to do so. They found it, fully formed, created by beings utterly unknown to them. The revelation was something that Martin-Green discussed with Paradise early on in the planning of Season 5, allowing “Discovery” to leave perhaps the most profound question one could ask — what, or who, came first in the cosmos? — unanswered.

“The progenitor is not be the be all end all of it,” Paradise says. “We’re not saying this is God with a capital ‘G.’”

“There’s Just This Air of Mystery About Him”

Starting on Season 3 of “Discovery,” renowned filmmaker David Cronenberg began moonlighting in a recurring role as Dr. Kovich, a shadowy Federation operative whose backstory has been heretofore undisclosed on the show.

“I love the way he plays Kovich,” Paradise says of Cronenberg. “There’s just this air of mystery about him. We’ve always wanted to know more.” When planning Season 5, one of the writers pitched revealing Kovich’s true identity in the (then-season) finale by harkening back to the “Star Trek” show that preceded “Discovery”: “Enterprise,” which ran on UPN from 2001 to 2005.

In the final episode, when Burnham debriefs her experiences with Kovich, she presses him to tell her who he really is. He reintroduces himself as Agent Daniels, a character first introduced on “Enterprise” as a young man (played by Matt Winston) and a Federation operative in the temporal cold war. 

This is, to be sure, a deep cut even for “Star Trek” fans. (Neither Cronenberg nor Martin-Green, for example, understood the reference.) But Paradise says they were laying the groundwork for the reveal from the beginning of the season. “If you watch Season 5 with that in mind, you can see the a little things that we’ve played with along the way,” she says, including Kovich/Daniels’ penchant for anachonistic throwbacks like real paper and neckties.

“I didn’t know that that was going be there,” Martin-Green says. “My whole childhood came back to me.”

“We Always Knew That We Wanted to Somehow Tie That Back Up”

Originally, Season 5 of “Discovery” ends with Burnham and Book talking on the beach outside the wedding of Saru (Doug Jones) and T’Rina (Tara Rosling) before transporting away to their next adventure. But Paradise understood that the episode needed something more conclusive once it became the series finale. The question was what.

There were some significant guardrails around what they could accomplish. The production team had only eight weeks from when Paramout+ and CBS Studios signed off on the epilogue to when they had to shoot it. Fortunately, the bridge set hadn’t been struck yet (though several standing sets already had been). And the budget allowed only for three days of production.

Then there was “Calypso.” 

To fill up the long stretches between the first three seasons of “Discovery,” CBS Studios and Paramount+ greenlit a series of 10 stand-alone episodes, dubbed “Short Treks,” that covered a wide variety of storylines and topics. The second “Short Trek” — titled “Calypso” and co-written by novelist Michael Chabon — first streamed between Season 1 and 2 in November 2018. It focuses on a single character named Craft (Aldis Hodge), who is rescued by the USS Discovery after the starship — and its now-sentient computer system, Zora (Annabelle Wallis) — has sat totally vacant for 1,000 years in the same fixed point in space. How the Discovery got there, and why it was empty for so long, were left to the viewer’s imagination. 

Still, for a show that had only just started its run, “Calypso” had already made a bold promise for “Discovery’s” endgame — one the producers had every intention of keeping.

“We always knew that we wanted to somehow tie that back up,” says Paradise, who joined the writers’ room in Season 2, and became showrunner starting with Season 3. “We never wanted ‘Calypso’ to be the dangling Chad.”

So much so, in fact, that, as the show began winding down production on Season 5, Paradise had started planning to make “Calypso” the central narrative engine for Season 6. 

“The story, nascent as it was, was eventually going to be tying that thread up and connecting ‘Discovery’ back with ‘Calypso,’” she says.

Once having a sixth season was no longer an option, Paradise knew that resolving the “Calypso” question was non-negotiable. “OK, well, we’re not going to have a season to do that,” she says. “So how do we do that elegantly in this very short period of time?”

“I Feel Like It Ends the Way It Needed to End”

Resolving “Calypso” provided the storytelling foundation for the epilogue, but everything else was about giving its characters one final goodbye.

“We want to know what’s happening to Burnham, first and foremost,” Paradise says. “And we knew we wanted to see the cast again.”

For the latter, Paradise and Jarrow devised a conceit that an older Burnham, seated in the captain’s chair on Discovery, imagines herself surrounded by her crew 30 years prior, so she (and the audience) could connect with them one final time. For the former, the makeup team designed prosthetics to age up Martin-Green and Ajala by 30 years — “I think they were tested as they were running on to the set,” Paradise says with a laugh — to illustrate Burnham and Book’s long and happy marriage together.

Most crucially, Paradise cut a few lines of Burnham’s dialogue with Book from the original Season 5 finale and moved it to a conversation she has with her son in the coda. The scene — which evokes the episode’s title, “Life Itself” — serves as both a culminating statement of purpose for “Discovery” and the overarching compassion and humanity of “Star Trek” as a whole.

To reassure her son about his first command of a starship, Burnham recalls when the ancient Progenitor asked what was most meaningful to her. “Do you know how you would answer that question now?” he asks.

“Yeah, just being here,” Burnham replies. “You know, sometimes life itself is meaning enough, how we choose to spend the time that we have, who we spend it with: You, Book, and the family I found in Starfleet, on Discovery.”

Martin-Green relished the opportunity to revisit the character she’s played for seven years when she’s reached the pinnacle of her life and career. “You just get to see this manifestation of legacy in this beautiful way,” she says. “I will also say that I look a lot like my mom, and that was that was also a gift, to be able to see her.”

Shooting the goodbye with the rest of her cast was emotional, unsurprisingly, but it led Martin-Green to an unexpected understanding. “It actually was so charged that it was probably easier that it was only those three days that we knew it was the end, and not the entirety of season,” she says.

Similarly, Paradise says she’s “not sure” what more she would’ve done had there been more time to shoot the coda. “I truly don’t feel like we missed out on something by not having one more day,” she says. “I feel like it ends the way it needed to end.”

Still, getting everything done in just three days was no small feat, either. “I mean, we worked ’round the clock,” Martin-Green says with a deep laugh. “We were delirious by the end — but man, what a way to end it.”

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