1. Star Trek has become such a huge franchise many people don’t realize it only ran for three seasons and was canceled due to low ratings.
  2. The ruthless warrior aliens called the Klingons were named after Wilbur Clingan, who served with series creator Gene Roddenberry in the Los Angeles Police Department.
  3. Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan salute—meaning “Live long and prosper”—was based on a Jewish hand gesture for the Hebrew letter Shin, which represents the word Shaddai, a name for God.
  4. Two models of the U.S.S. Enterprise were used for exterior shots. One was 33 inches long and the other 11 feet long. The latter is on display in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
  5. Puppeteer Shari Lewis was an avid Star Trek fan who co-wrote the season three episode “The Lights of Zetar.”
  6. Leonard Nimoy wrote the song “Maiden Wine” that Spock sang in the “Plato’s Stepchildren” episode.
  7. In the hallways of the Enterprise, there are tubes marked GNDN, which stands for “goes nowhere does nothing.”
  8. In the pilot for Star Trek, which was almost entirely recast later, the starship U.S.S. Enterprise was captained by Captain Christopher Pike, played by Jeffrey Hunter.
  9. Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry’s wife, who died in 2008, appeared in every Star Trek series prior to her passing and is known as “the First Lady of Star Trek.”
  10. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both got tinnitus on the original show’s set.
  11. Drew Barrymore’s father, John Drew Barrymore, was hired to play Lazarus in the episode “The Alternative Factor,” but on his first day of shooting, he left for lunch and didn’t come back. Robert Brown replaced him.
  12. Star Trek was originally produced at Desilu studios, which was owned by Lucille Ball.
  13. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy’s off-camera relationship was just as strong as Capt. Kirk and Spock’s bond on the USS Enterprise.
  14. Even though he played Spock’s father, Mark Lenard (Sarek) was only a little more than six years older than Leonard Nimoy (Spock).
  15. The original series takes place from 2266 to 2269.
  16. In the original pilot, Gene Roddenberry’s girlfriend and future wife, Majel Barrett, was Kirk’s first officer.
  17. Roddenberry named the character Sulu after the Sulu Sea, off the coast of the Philippines.
  18. The shimmer of the transporter beam was created by aluminum powder being blown into the air by an industrial fan and filmed under a bright spotlight. Next, The Best Space Movies of All Time, From Spaceballs to Gravity
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