mears@hpinddf.cup.hp.com (06/17/91)
The following article appeared in the People column of the San Jose Mercury News on 8 June 1991. The People column is given the byline of Jim Jeffress. The article is accompanied by a photo (Associated Press) showing a head shot of both Patrick Stewart and William Shatner. Stewart is smiling; Shatner looks somewhat pained. The phenomenon that is ``Star Trek'' marked its 25th anniversary this week in L.A., and look who beamed down. Jean-Luc Picard and James T. Kirk in their Patrick Stewart and William Shatner disguises posed this shot for us, but just about every member of the ``Star Trek'' and ``Star Trek: The Next Generation'' casts were on hand. They were there to meet their maker, Gene Roddenberry, and honor him by naming a new 56,000-square-foot building for him. And the studio figures the honor is well-deserved. The two series and five movies that sprang from his idea have generated more than $500 million in the sale of merchandise alone. The movies have made $400 million at the box office, and the original TV series remains in syndicated reruns in 65 countries. You won't be surprised to learn that part of the celebration will be the release of [the] sixth Star Trek film in December. ``Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' was written as the final movie starring the cast of the original television show, Shatner told reporters. In addition to the marketing of trading cards, a Nintendo game and a $900 commemorative chess set, the Smithsonian is planning a ``Star Trek'' exhibit, and a limited-edition postal cachet will be sold on Sept. 8, the show's actual 25th anniversary. ``Star Trek'' first aired on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966, opposite ``My Three Soncs'' on CBS and ABC's ``Bewitched.'' It didn't fare well and only a massive letter-writing campaign from fans prompted a third season. After cancellation, fans kept the show alive through conventions, and the characters passed into popular legend. NASA even named the first space shuttle ``Enterprise.'' The poularity remains a cosmic mystery the Enterprise crew says it has yet to solve. ``By all rights it should have passed into the graveyard of series alongside tombstones that read ``Lost in Space,'' ``Buck Rogers,'' ``Space 1999'' and ``Cop Rock,'' Shatner said. ``It's impossible to have anticipated this kind of craziness.'' David B. Mears Hewlett-Packard Cupertino CA hplabs!hpda!mears mears@hpinddf.cup.hp.com -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Griffith /--OO--\ | Two great powers are on our side: the power of griffith@dweeb.fx.com | Love and the power of Arithmetic. These two are BEWARE BATS WITHOUT NOSES! | stronger than anything else in the world.