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A half century of Star Trekmeans that, for many people, there has been no life without the iconic franchise.

I'm certainly one of those people, narrowly missing the original run (I was born, but not even school age when it went off the air in 1969). I caught the second wave with reruns in the early 1970s, watching it almost every day when I came home from school. I also watched I Love Lucy,which, not coincidentally, starred Lucille Ball, who would go on to produce Star Trek(and save it from obscurity).

Essentially the episodic tale of a ship-at-sea in the middle of deep space (everything in it is modeled on the Navy), Star Trekwas just strange enough to excite my young brain. There were the bright colors (yellow, red, blue) the quick cuts to the canned footage of the Enterprise circling a planet, scantily clad green women, panels and panels of flashing lights, gadgetry like the phaser and hand-held communicators -- not to mention the tight-knit crew.

I watched those same 79 episodes over and over again, laughing every time the tribbles poured out onto Captain James T Kirk's head and always freaked out by the baby with the man's voice, Balok (played by Ron Howard's brother Clint).

The Starship Enterprise flies through space in a scene from 'The Man Trap,' the premiere episode of 'Star Trek,' which aired on September 8, 1966.Credit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

At the start of each show, the Enterprise raced into view (traveling at at least Warp Factor 9). God, how I loved that ship. It looked unlike anything I had ever seen on TV before. To me, the Enterprise was real. I even had a complete set of ship blueprints.

Boldly going

Many of my adult interests were sparked by Star Trek. I grew to love space and manned space travel. It's unlikely I would have witnessed an actual Space Shuttle launch if I wasn't first a Star Trekfan.

Me watching as the Space Shuttle Atlantis was, in 2010, prepared for one of its final missions.Credit: lance ulanoff

My love of gadgets and technology (perhaps even my career) owe many thanks to Star Trek. It wasn't so much that I thought Star Trekpredicted products like the smartphone and iPad (it did), but how they used the communicator, tricorder, transporter and "Computer." Technology was not something only applied at specific plot-points (though it often did play a role). The Star Trekcrew were, as we are now, surrounded by technology and used it to do their jobs and solve problems. And they never left their technology behind.

George Takei As Sulu (L) And Walter Koenig As Chekov (R) In The Television Series, "Star Trek."Credit: Getty Images

Even my worldview was influenced by Star Trek. The episode Let this Be Your Last Battlefieldleft an indelible mark on my psyche. In that episode, people with half their faces black and the other half white were at war with each other; they all lived on the same planet. The looked the same to Captain Kirk (and me), but their skin colors were reversed. While I can't say I got all the nuances of the story back then, I did understand that it was about prejudice (less than a decade after the assassination of Martin Luther King, this topic was very fresh on everyone's mind) and the futility of war. These were lessons I never forgot.

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A happy Trekkie

Star Trekis also responsible for my love of science fiction (I only read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chroniclesbecause I thought it might be a space story like Star Trek -- I was not disappointed) and fantasy.

Would I have cared as deeply about Star Warswithout Star Trek? Probably not.

When Star Warsarrived in 1977, there was no fresh Star Trekcontent (aside from books and a by-then-defunct animated series). My closest interaction with the Star Trekfranchise back then was when James Doohan, the Enterprise engineer "Scotty," visited my local mall in Denver. It was such a mob scene I couldn't even get close to him. Star Trek: The Moviewas two years off (without Star Wars' blockbuster success, it probably would not have been made).

I fell in love with Star Wars, too, but for different reasons. Where Star Trekis about the actual future and how real people might operate and interact with each other and, yes, alien races, Star Warswas pure dramatic fantasy. George Lucas tells us from the start it's "A long time ago and far far away." Captain Kirk gave us a star log, a date that could actually fit, someday, on our own timeline.

William Shatner was the star of the original Star Trek, but did not appear in the first pilot episode.Credit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Star Warsis a family saga writ large. Though the stories have gotten bigger, Star Trekhas always been a very human story played out, often times, in the confines on that single star ship (I later learned this was also due to budgetary restraints).

And that was the other lesson I learned from those early episodes. Star Trekwas about the true meaning of friendship. I honestly envied the relationship between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. I didn't have a lot of friends when I was young (and certainly no best friend), but I had a model, right there on screen. They were so different, yet so connected. Spock and Kirk looked out for each other. I could also see the grudging affection between Dr. McCoy and Spock. Their banter was cutting, but never mean-spirited (Spock was incapable of mean). I knew they were friends, too.

Best friendsCredit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Yes, there was a lot of hokey special effects, but I really didn't notice back then. I've been recently rewatching Season 2 on Blue-Ray. It includes episodes with upgraded special effects, as well as the untouched originals. I tried some of the retouched shows and immediately hated them. It was just as bad as what Lucas did with the original Star Wars.

The grittiness of those original shows was always part of their appeal. It didn't matter that the planets looked like sound stages and the sets appeared to be made of paper mache. I was always watching the team: How would Kirk and crew get out of this?

And how soon could I sign up for the Star Fleet Academy?

Thank you Gene Roddenberry and all those who worked on and acted in those first three seasons Star Trekand for everything it taught me and the world. I'm so happy to see that the five-year mission will continue well into another half century.

TopicsStar Trek

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