Culture 4 min read

Star Trek Fan Favorites: Then and Now

photo-nuke | Shutterstock.com

photo-nuke | Shutterstock.com

In September 1966, the USS Enterprise boldly went across American TV screens for the first time. Half a century later, the franchise counts six series and 13 films, and who knows how many moon princess make-out session (we’re looking at you, Jim). A saga that advocates cooperation, civility, and enlightenment, Gene Roddenberry’s brainchild is a portrait of humanity’s best qualities projected into the 24th Century, and, logically, near and dear to our humanoid hearts.

In celebrating 50 years of living long and prospering (and in the interest of distracting you from the anguish of waiting for the new series “Star Trek: Discovery” set to premiere in January 2017), we’ve caught up with Star Trek fans worldwide on their favorite Starfleet favorites.

I’m a Doctor, not a Film Critic!

When asked “What is the best Star Trek Movie?”, 3396 fans responded and 65% yelled KHAAAAAAAANNNN!

Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 classic Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan won first place hands down, and 1994’s Generations (like Riker) was #2.

24th Century Speak Easy

Alcohol is generally not available on most Starfleet ships, but Synthenol is! Rumored to mimic alcohol almost as well as Q mimics humanity, the space booze substitute just isn’t as good as the real thing.

Small wonder that 53% of fans voted Romulan Ale as their preferred alien brew to serve to guests at a party. Bright blue and illegal within the Federation, Romulan Ale is known to get you drunk instantly, making it almost as insidious as its Vulcan-cousin creators.

You Tiny Little Lifeform! I’ll… Help… you!

If you were stuck on a math problem, were planning to pull an all-nighter to finish that English paper, or working on your Science Fair project, which Star Trek character would you choose to be your partner for a school project?

Over 50% of fans preferred America’s favorite Android and cat lover, Mr. Data. Mr. Spock and his Vulcan logic were not far behind with 33%.

Red, Blue or Yellow?

No, they’re not just primary colors– they’re your primary division in Starfleet.  They’ve changed slightly over the years for series to series (and even from pilot to the first episodes in the original series), but uniforms give star fleet cadets and offer a chance to show their true colors.  The dreaded “Red Shirts” working security are infamously unlucky, and always seem to get hit by stray laser beams. Bones in Blue reminds us that Science and Medical don this celestial color, and yellow (gold) was traditionally reserved for the captain’s chair.

When asked which Division they would choose as a Starfleet Academy Cadet, 41% chose the Command Division as the gold standard, and Science Blue came in second with 26%.

That’s Shatner’s Wife??

Although Captain Kirk’s then wife was rumored to have sung those dreamy, mellifluous  “oooooos” that open the original series, they were initially sung by none other than soprano Loulie Jean Norman.

Despite the controversy and familiar tune, fans preferred The Next Generation’s  triumphant flare over the sixties-style original series theme. To the question “Which series had the best musical theme,” 33%  of fans voted for Picard Karaoke, 20% preferred Voyager’s theme and the Original series was a close third with 19%.

Rated NCC-1701

Long voyages on the Enterprise and spandex suits mean that some of our favorite crew members work very closely together on the engineering deck.

Captain James T. And Rayna are a couple from the original series that, despite Spock’s best efforts, we will never “forget”. On the next generation, Riker and Troi along with Picard and Crusher are some of our favorite fraternizers. All three couples are probably the most famous, but when asked who their favorite Star Trek couple would be, fans surprised us. Worf & Jadzia Dax take the Tarvorkian Cakes on this one.

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Zayan Guedim

Trilingual poet, investigative journalist, and novelist. Zed loves tackling the big existential questions and all-things quantum.

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