A Sci-Fi “Star” Franchise Exploration into “Trek,” “Wars,” “Stargate,” and More — Part 1

The Multi-Media-Verse Battle of the Centuries

The science-fiction/fantasy all-media fan base has never been so satisfied or saturated. Countless television shows and feature films shower the airwaves and streams and movie theatres, inclusive of DC Comics and Marvel-ignited product, and beyond.

Star Trek and Star Wars fans, in particular, are pleased with sequel after reboot or re-do of their beloved favorite franchises, despite a disparity in how various renditions of those individual Star worlds have been conceived, perceived or received.

With the invasion of creatives like J.J. Abrams into both the Trek and Wars worlds, to mixed reviews by both fans and fellow-creatives, with new series editions of Trek, namely, Discovery and Picard, poorly or richly embraced (depending on who you talk to), this is as good a time as any to assess the sci-fi TV situation, beyond and including all shows Trek and beyond, but with specific regard to weekly Wagon Train to the Stars, which how is Trek creator Gene Roddenberry initially described the original Star Trek series, when it debuted on NBC in 1966 (and in reference to a classic TV western which aired on ABC from 1957 to 1965).

While there were some legal issues in the 1970s with the original Battlestar: Galactica TV series (created by Glen Larson, and which ran on ABC from 1978 to 1979) due to its alleged resemblance to the first big-screen edition of Star Wars (created by George Lucas, and which premiered in 1977), in that same era, sci-fi fans could not have been more pleased when Star Trek: The Motion Picture reignited Roddenberry’s beloved child which has proven to have no end.

What many do not remember, however, is that Roddenberry had originally slated Trek to return to the small screen with a concept he titled, Star Trek: Phase II, but taking in account(ing) Warner Bros. receipts for Wars, Paramount, proprietor of Trek, switched gears and decided to bring Trek back in the big-screen guise of a Motion Picture.