The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek

The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek is an eleven-part documentary series produced by The Nacelle Company for first-time streaming by History Vault (the paid streaming service of The History Channel) through Prime Video (on whose Amazon.com mother site episodes also became available for rental/purchase downloads), that chronicles rare and fascinating details of how Star Trek began, where it's been, and how it's going where no television series has gone before. Beverly Crusher performer Gates McFadden was commissioned as the series narrator.

Featuring a veritable who's who interviewee line-up of Star Trek alumni, ranging from performers through production staffers to historians, the first season only covers the first four decades of the Star Trek franchise. It was creator/director/producer Brian Volk-Weiss' full intention though, to have a second season produced that would cover the remaining decade-and-a-half, "Our intention is for The Center Seat to be a living series. We absolutely want to cover The Next Generation movies, the J.J. Abrams trilogy, and we will of course cover the latest generation of Star Trek shows. We have already started that work, like we have already interviewed F. Murray Abraham for Insurrection. We are in production now on more episodes. Our goal is to not stop at ten [episodes], and we won’t stop at ten," as Volk-Weiss stated at the launch of the series. [1] But even though an eleventh episode was added to the first season eventually, no news on a potential second season has been forthcoming since.

While Star Trek had been the subject of countless documentaries before, this was the first time that it became covered in an entirely Star Trek-specific documentary series on its own, instead of being either a part of larger more generic science fiction/motion picture documentary series, or a single standalone production.

Summary[]

Blurb

The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek is a multi-episode documentary series that takes viewers on the definitive in-depth journey behind the scenes of one of the greatest landmark franchises of all time: Star Trek. Celebrating the show's 55th anniversary, each episode focuses on a different chapter in the groundbreaking program's history, starting with its inception at Lucille Ball's legendary production company Desilu. Interviews with the cast, crew and experts reveal never-before-heard backstage stories and offer fresh insights. No stone is left unturned, including lesser-known aspects of the franchise like The Animated Series and Phase II. Additionally, The Center Seat features one of Leonard Nimoy's final in-depth Trek interviews. Star Trek is the most iconic television science-fiction saga of all time and remains more popular than ever. The Center Seat details how it began, where it's been, and how it's boldly going where no television series has gone before!

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Episodes[]

1. "Lucy Loves Trek"

   It all began when Gene Roddenberry convinced Desilu to foot the bill for not one, but two Star Trek pilots. Thanks to Desilu's boss – America's darling Lucille Ball – the world met Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

2. "Saturday Morning Pinks"

   Didn't realize there was a cartoon version of Star Trek in the early 1970s? Not only was it great, but with original series creator Gene Roddenberry, writer D.C. Fontana, and the series' original stars on board, it is the fourth season of the original show.

3. "Trekking through the '70s - Phase II and The Motion Picture"

   Paramount wanted to launch a fourth network with the new Star Trek series Phase II as its flagship. When the network proved unworkable, Phase II appeared doomed – until Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind proved box office hits. Phase II became the 1979 blockbuster Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

4. "Trek Goes To The Movies"

   The 1980s saw Paramount release three linked Star Trek movies to huge box-office success. The first, The Wrath Of Khan, saw Ricardo Montalban as Khan, a villain from the original series, return. It was followed by The Search For Spock, directed by Leonard Nimoy. He returned to the director's chair for The Voyage Home, the biggest Star Trek success yet.

5. "Whales, God and Pepto Bismol"

   The mid 1980s saw three directors of note helm Star Trek features; Leonard Nimoy came back to save the whales in Trek's biggest box office hit, followed by William Shatner helming the crew's search for God, and the return of Nicholas Meyer for the original crew's final adventure, one drenched in pink Klingon blood!

6. "Queue for Q"

   In 1987 Paramount decided Trek should return to its roots – television. Star Trek: The Next Generation would become the first hour-long scripted show sold directly to the syndicated television market. Paramount's gamble paid off. Who hasn't heard of Picard, Data, and Worf?

7. "Dancing with Syndication in the Pale Moonlight"

   After Gene Roddenberry's death, Trek ventured into yet another incarnation. Deep Space Nine was different from its predecessor, set on a space station. Its 1993 debut featured an African-American captain and heavily serialized story arcs – both firsts. This was new Trek.

8. "Voyage(r) to the Delta Quadrant"

   1995 brought another Trek series. This one featured a new starship, a return to episodic storytelling, and Trek's first female captain, Kathryn Janeway. It was also the flagship for Paramount's new television network, United Paramount Network (UPN). Despite running seven seasons, the addition of Seven of Nine wasn't well-received by the entire cast.

9. "Starships A-Z"

   Kirk, Spock, Picard, Data – the list of great Trek characters is incomplete without the Enterprise, Starfleet's flagship vessel. But Enterprise isn't alone – there's a whole list of Federation vessels that aren't appreciated enough. This episode ensures they are.

10. "It's Been A Long Time..."

    Plagued by fledgling UPN's under performance, Enterprise's premise (a prequel about the Federation's founding) was undercut by the decision to make the third season a reaction to 9/11. Lackluster ratings meant Captain Archer and his crew would only get four seasons.

11. "The Stars Above"

    From the series regulars and recurring roles down to the folks who just did guest spots, thousands of actors have brought the characters of Star Trek to life. Hear them tell what it's like on their side of the camera lens.

Background information[]

• The series was publicly and officially announced by The History Channel on 11 March 2021. [2]
• Even though the entirety of the series became only accessible through paid streaming services, the first four episodes were released for free and aired on History's main channel, The History Channel, from 5 November to 22 November 2021. The seven other episodes were simultaneously released by History Vault on 5 November and were joined by the first four episodes after 22 November.
• Both production company The Nacelle Company and creator/director/producer Brian Volk-Weiss had prior experience with Star Trek as both had also been responsible for the release of the 2017-2019 documentary series The Toys That Made Us, which had featured a Star Trek-specific episode, as well as the even earlier 2016 50 Years of Star Trek stand-alone documentary, also produced for The History Channel.
• Despite the overall availability due to Prime Video's worldwide coverage, and having stressed the importance of syndication for televised Star Trek in several of its episodes, the documentary series was on at least two occasions syndicated itself. In the Netherlands, the (subtitled) series was broadcast for a month in the evening time-slots by commercial broadcaster RTL Z from 18 March to 11 April 2022 on a repetitive, twice-a-week, multi-episode basis, as "55 Jaar Star Trek", [3][4]^(X) enjoying similar repeat cycle airings in the following years to wit, from 21 April to 15 May 2023, [5]^(X) and from 1 March to 25 March 2024. RTLZ had episodes 9 and 11 combined into one episode for their airings. The series had in the intervening time been added to the catalog of the local streaming service Videoland. [6]
• In Germany, the series was syndicated to commercial broadcaster ProSieben Maxx aired who aired the series as "Inside Star Trek – Hinter den Kulissen des Enterprise-Universums", premiering on 2 December and airing on a repetitive weekly multi-episode basis through 16 December 2021, but was shy of three episodes (nos. 5, 10 and 11). As is customary in German speaking countries, the original soundtrack (including McFadden's narration) was overdubbed in German by Bastian Pastewka, a local cult comedian who considers himself a "Super-Trekkie". [7] The broadcast cycle was repeated from 8 September through 26 December 2022, and from 31 August through 22 September 2023, these times with episodes 10 and 11 included, the latter additionally enjoying its own individual airing by commercial broadcaster Kabel Eins on 16 May 2023. [8] On 25 December 2022 at the end of the second broadcast cycle, ProSieben Maxx offered up the series on their own streaming service, continuing to lack episode 5 though. [9]
• Other digital content providers have followed suit in providing their customers with the option to view/buy the series, which included, among others, the iTunes Store, [10] Vimeo, [11] and Microsoft. [12] In the UK the series became available for free streaming on IMDb.tv on 18 March 2022 through the local Prime Video. [13]
• The series has spawned The Center Seat: 55 Years of Trek - The Complete, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek print companion book, released on 21 March 2023, followed a month later by the DVD release.
• The series was criticized for being inaccurate and sloppy with established fact. Pointing out that the early episodes in particular relied heavily on second, third, or even fourth rate memories of contemporaries of people who themselves were not present at all at events related, the critical fact-checking website FactTrek.com took it upon themselves to deconstruct the first "Lucy Loves Trek" episode and check it for veracity. Exposed was a slew of falsehoods and inaccuracies. [14]

External links[]

• The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek at the Internet Movie Database
• Review at TrekCore
• Review at TrekMovie.com
• Interview with series director/producer Brian Volk-Weiss at TrekCore
• Interview with series director/producer Brian Volk-Weiss at TrekMovie.com