10 Times Star Trek Hit The Reset Button
9. Star Trek Goes To The Movies
With the show cancelled and the animated series failing to continue past a single separated season, Star Trek was dead by the mid-'70s. The convention circuit certainly kept fan interest alive and this in no small way contributed to the return of the franchise. However, much more directly, Trekkies everywhere have George Lucas to thank for the first Star Trek film.
The enormous success of Star Wars earned 20th Century Fox a small continent-sized swimming pool full of money, which left all competitors scrambling to join the space race. Thankfully Paramount had Star Trek in its back pocket.
The success of Star Wars also showed what could be done when properties were given a decent budget and so when Star Trek: The Motion Picture was greenlit, it finally had a production budget that at least partially matched the imaginations of those involved.
The ship was redesigned, the Klingons were redesigned, huge sets were built and expansive special effects scenes were crafted for the movie. Even now, more than forty years later, whether or not Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a fun movie is up for debate (check out the stellar documentary about it on our YouTube channel), but there is no denying that it looked fabulous.
This was both the Original Series as it was meant to be seen, along with an additional decade of experience in how to realize the final frontier.