We owe a lot of what we consider to be fandom to Star Trek. The original television show was the first to be revived from cancellation thanks to the response from die-hard fans, it was one of the first television series to successfully make the jump to feature films, it was the property that birthed fan fiction, and it’s the first show that had a convention dedicated solely to it. All fans owe a debt to the crew of the USS Enterprise.
September marks the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek, and celebrations will be held in New York at a three-day event called Star Trek: Mission New York on September 2-4. According to the festival’s organizers, the convention promises to “go beyond panels and autograph signings, and [will let fans] immerse themselves in the Star Trek universe.”
The first Star Trek convention was held in New York back in 1972, so hosting this special event in the Big Apple seems endearingly appropriate. The new film, Star Trek Beyond, will have already been out for two months so it will be interesting to see what other treats the organizers might have in store for fans. Most likely, there will have to be some sort of retrospective focusing on Leonard Nimoy who passed away early last year. No word yet on who will be attending the event, but the organizers promise that exciting details will emerge in the following weeks.
If you are only familiar with Star Trek through the recent J.J. Abrams films, we here at Fandom urge you to check out the original television series and its later spinoffs (particularly Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Star Trek was the forerunner for thoughtful, fun, and heartfelt science fiction adventure on television and it hasn’t lost any of its charm. Here’s to another fifty years exploring the final frontier.
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