There have been six Star Trek casts and crews since Gene Roddenbery first proposed taking a wagon train to the stars. The original cast never even got their own series, and only two of the actors from that group were included in the next series. The handoff was anything but graceful. One character, Mr. Spock, absorbed the cold, emotionless personality of another character during the transition.
The handoff from Star Trek (the second original show) consisted of Lieutenant Commander Data giving a tour of the new Enterprise to "the Admiral" (played by DeForest Kelley, Dr. McCoy on the earlier series). The handoff from Star Trek: The Next Generation consisted of the Enterprise helping the Federation take control over a former Cardassian outpost, rechristened Deep Space Nine.
The handoff from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to Star Trek: Voyager consisted of a pit stop for Voyager at Deep Space Nine, where DS9's Quark tried to take advantage of Voyager's very green Ensign Harry Kim. But there the handoffs ceased because Enterprise was set in the past rather than carrying the story of the Federation directly forward.
Several indirect handoffs were nonetheless construed. For example, time travel had become an increasingly popular concept with the franchise, so Enterprise started off with a Temporal Cold War that pre-Federation Earth was simply not equipped to handle. And some of the Borg from the movie "Star Trek: First Contact" were resurrected for an Enterprise episode.
Ultimately, however, Enterprise must stand on its own because it weaves a storyline that makes many of the conflicts in Captain Kirk's day seem almost trivial. And Captain Christopher Pike, the first Captain of a ship called Enterprise, his society and technology don't really fit in well with the universe forged by the other shows. Still, we like Star Trek in all its forms and we hope you'll join us in our discussions.
Drop by and tell us what you think of Star Trek. Which show is your favorite? Which movie did you like most? There is plenty still to discuss as we wait for the next series.
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