The Best Ways To Honor The 50th Anniversary Of Star Trek

[Shaka Zulu]

..according to io9:

Greenlight a brave new TV series

This is probably the most important thing, which is why we're mentioning it first. Star Trek began on television and its natural home is on television. An ongoing series allows for more thoughtful storytelling and deeper examination of the series' themes than any one movie could. CBS needs to realize it's sitting on a goldmine, and put Trek back on television. Or Netflix. Or Amazon, or wherever. Already, some high-quality fan-made Trek shows on YouTube, like Star Trek: Phase II, show there's a nearly inexhaustible demand for new episodes.


Support human exploration of the solar system

This is another huge one. Want to people to be excited about Star Trek again? Get them believing in the possibility of humans exploring our solar system, beyond the Moon. More than any other major science fiction universe, Trek depends on an ongoing space program for its cultural relevance. So you should write to your member of Congress or Senator and ask for more support for NASA's Orion mission, and do what you can to support Elon Musk's plans to land humans on Mars.

When Star Trek launched in 1966, NASA's budget was $43.6 billion in today's dollars, or over 4 percent of the federal budget. Today, NASA's budget is about $18 billion, less than 1 percent.


Have a really killer party

There really ought to be at least one Star Trek convention to end all conventions next year — Star Wars gets the Celebrations every once in a while, featuring huge glitzy festivities, dance-offs and other crazy stuff. We always enjoy seeing the beautiful photos from the Vegas conventions and other meet-ups — but let's hope somebody is hatching plans to throw a crazy Star Trek con next year, featuring everybody who's still alive and a replica of the entire interior of the Enterprise or something. Just sayin'.


Show a restored "The Cage" in theaters

We loved seeing the restored episodes of TNG in theaters a couple years ago — but how great would it be to see a restored version of the original pilot in theaters? I can still remember when we only had a crappy version of "The Cage" that was half in black-and-white and half in color, until the missing color trims were found in a film lab. "The Cage" still holds up surprisingly well, and it would be killer to see it on the big screen, showcasing the earliest version of Gene Roddenberry's vision ever filmed.

Personally, I think that people should stop second-guessing CBS Studios, and let things unfold as they should (as well as not automatically expect the 50th anniversary to be officially celebrated), but that's just me. What do others think?

 

[The Wormhole]

I'd be satisfied with Trek Beyond's theatrical release. But unfortunately I can't help the nagging feeling that CBS is totally going to drop the ball on this one and let the 50th just slip by. A big mistake, IMO, after the big bash Doctor Who had for their 50th and you just know that in 2017 Disney is going to over the top celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Wars.

At the very least, it is confirmed that Pocket Books is doing a special TOS trilogy to celebrate the 50th, so at least we'll have that.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^Okay, maybe ONE thing could be done I'd like to see:

*A worldwide celebratory video of 'Happy' with Star Trek fans, done in a similar style to this one: [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HvaFhUcm-4[/yt]

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

I can't help the nagging feeling that CBS is totally going to drop the ball on this one and let the 50th just slip by.

I worry about this too.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe because I'm getting older, but I'm not sure I see the big deal about the anniversary passing quietly by. We'll have Star Trek Beyond (that's a $180 million dollar celebration right there) and smaller celebrations for the hard core from various merchandisers looking to milk another buck from fandom.

I think the biggest concern should be Star Trek Beyond. If Lin and Pegg can push it into the box office stratosphere ($700/800 million plus), then there will likely be an interest by CBS in new TV Trek.

Personally? I'd be happy with Star Trek: The Animated Series on Blu-ray and a seamless branching version of The Motion Picture with all three available versions of the film on one disk.

 

[Cyke101]

Supporting space exploration is not mutually exclusive of all the other ideas the article proposes. Whatever comes of the 50th anniversary, support should also be a part of it anyway.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^My sentiments exactly.

 

[HIjol]

No Big 50th Anniversary Celebration?

I can not and will not subscribe to that interpretation of events.

They. Will. Have. One.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I think the biggest concern should be Star Trek Beyond. If Lin and Pegg can push it into the box office stratosphere ($700/800 million plus), then there will likely be an interest by CBS in new TV Trek.

This is the biggest thing. By far. If it hits "only" Into Darkness numbers then it could well be that much longer before we see new TV Trek in an official capacity. The less Beyond rakes in, the more comfortable the Trek-apathetics at CBS will be in their beliefs that this is no longer a franchise worth multiple venues at a time.

I can respect and acknowledge that nuTrek is by no means a success with the total Trek fandom. I can appreciate and debate the finer points on what exactly many diehards believe it's done wrong. But anyone who wants a new series really, really needs to fill those seats a couple of times come 2016.

 

[Granola Gwen]

I'll probably just watch a marathon like I do twice a week every week already. I've only been watching the show regularly since Feb, so I'm not that excited for this anniversary personally. Still it's a huge stepping stone for the fandom and franchise.

 

[Starborn Dragon]

Can we have a wet tee shirt contest without the wet tee shirt in celebration?

 

[Push The Button]

I'd love to see The Cage on the big screen. Or maybe a triple-feature: The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, and The City on The Edge of Forever. My wife and I caught a screening of The Best of Both Worlds a few years ago, it was a blast seeing it on the big screen with several hundred fellow Trek fans.

I'm still planning on loading up The Man Trap and hitting the play button at exactly 8:30PM on Thursday, September 8th, 2016.

 

[HIjol]

I'd love to see The Cage on the big screen. Or maybe a triple-feature: The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, and The City on The Edge of Forever. My wife and I caught a screening of The Best of Both Worlds a few years ago, it was a blast seeing it on the big screen with several hundred fellow Trek fans.

I'm still planning on loading up The Man Trap and hitting the play button at exactly 8:30PM on Thursday, September 8th, 2016.

I will be with you, my friend! And, I agree wholeheartedly with you and others in this Thread and other Threads who have said CBS should do the Mother of All Restores on "...Cage", "...City...", "...No Man..." and others, and release them for Big Screen. I have some other ideas, if CBS would like to contact me!

 

[RandyS]

Maybe because I'm getting older, but I'm not sure I see the big deal about the anniversary passing quietly by. We'll have Star Trek Beyond (that's a $180 million dollar celebration right there) and smaller celebrations for the hard core from various merchandisers looking to milk another buck from fandom.

Yeah, I don't see the big deal either. For me personally, I plan to spend the 50th the same way I spent the 40th: watching my DVD of "The Man Trap".

Plus, I imagine I'll also be reading whatever TOS novels gets released around that time. I hope they'll do something similar to what they did in 2006. That would be good enough.

 

[The Wormhole]

Plus, I imagine I'll also be reading whatever TOS novels gets released around that time. I hope they'll do something similar to what they did in 2006. That would be good enough.

Pocket Books have already announced their trilogy of TOS novels being released to celebrate the 50th. Book 1 will be written by Greg Cox, book 2 by David Mack and book 3 by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore.

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