Star Trek

September 1, 2018
Booker explores the huge cultural impact the Star Trek franchise has had over the last five decades. Focusing primarily on the original series, which aired from 1966 to 1969, Booker points out that in its original run, Star Trek didn't have a large enough viewership to stay on the air for more than three seasons. The show truly found its audience in syndication in the 1970s, and its most prominent form of cultural impact is the number of spin-off series, movies, books, and other media it produced. The original Star Trek was very much a product of the 1960s, progressive in the way it portrayed humans working together in harmony across racial and cultural lines. But by today's standards, it seems to be nonetheless mired in gender and racial stereotypes as well as political allegories for the contemporaneous Cold War and Vietnam War. Enduring love for Star Trek has inspired everything from affectionate spoof films, including Galaxy Quest (1999), to conventions attended by thousands of fans. Trekkers will love this thoughtful study of their favorite franchise's cultural influence.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)