On September 8, 1966 the TV show “Star Trek” made its debut in the USA. Today it’s also referred to as the original series to distinguish it from the shows produced in the following decades.

“Star Trek” was canceled at the end of the third season but the show started being broadcast in syndication on various US channels gaining new fans. This success, although late, led to the set up of an organized fandom and conventions. In addition to repeats of the episodes and fandom activities, initially there were only comic books to help make the movement grow but after a few years things started changing.

In the early ’70s they action figures started getting produced and in 1973 an animated series was produced. With the growing interest in the saga, Gene Roddenberry planned a new TV show but in the end the return of “Star Trek” took place in 1979 with the first of a number of movies. The return on television was only a matter of time and in 1987 the saga returned with the TV show “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, which brought a renewal in that fictional universe.

50 years later, that quest for utopia seems more relevant than ever. The original “Star Trek” series reminds us that if we hope to get there we must boldly go where no one has gone before.