Real world article
(written from a production point of view)
Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles, And the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek is a collection of essays, first published in July 2006 by Smart Pop, and edited by David Gerrold and Robert J. Sawyer.
The book was re-released in May 2016 – with a new introduction from Gerrold and afterword from Sawyer – for Star Trek's 50th anniversary.
Summary[]
- From the book jacket (2nd edition)
- Trekkies and Trekkers alike will get starry-eyed over this eclectic mix of essays on the groundbreaking original Star Trek, one of the most culturally impactful science fiction series of the last 50 years. Star Trek writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold, science fiction authors such as Howard Weinstein, and various academics share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, discuss the show’s enduring appeal and influence, and examine some of the classic features of the show, including Spock's irrationality, Scotty's pessimism, and the lack of seatbelts on the Enterprise. The impact of the cultural phenomenon on subsequent science-fiction television programs is explored, as well as how the show laid the foundation for the science fiction genre to break into the television medium.
Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.
Contents[]
- Introduction - "Welcome Aboard the Enterprise" by Robert J. Sawyer
- Foreword - "The Trouble With Trek" by David Gerrold
- "Star Trek in the Real World" by Norman Spinrad
- "I Remember Star Trek..." by D.C. Fontana
- "All Our Tomorrows" by Allen Steele
- "The Prime Question" by Eric Greene
- "We Find the One Quite Adequate" by Michael A. Burstein
- "Who Am I?" by Lyle Zinda
- "What Have You Done With Spock's Brain?" by Don DeBrandt
- "Lost Secrets of Pre-War Human Technology" by Lawrence Watt-Evans
- "Exaggerate with Extreme Prejudice" by Robert A. Metzger
- "To Boldly Teach What No One Has Taught Before" by David DeGraff
- "Who Killed the Space Race?" by Adam Roberts
- "Alexander for the Modern Age" by Melissa Dickinson
- "How Star Trek Liberated Television" by Paul Levinson
- "Being Better" by Howard Weinstein
- Appendix - Episode Reference
Background information[]
Cover gallery[]
First edition (2006) cover