LOS ANGELES — Nearly 50 years to the day of the original airing of “Star Trek,” which took place on the evening of Sept. 8, 1966, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled and dedicated the Star Trek Forever stampsat the Hollywood Post Office in front of a gathering of Star Trek fans. These stamps will “live long and prosper,” because as Forever stamps they are good for mailing a one-ounce First-Class letter anytime in the future — regardless of star date.

“Fifty years ago last night, the first episode of Star Trek aired on America’s television sets,” said Los Angeles Postmaster Ken Snavely before unveiling the four stamps. “Since that night, Star Trek has entertained us, engaged us, and taken us on a tremendous journey – inspiring optimism and a better understanding of the American psyche.”

Joining Snavely to unveil the stamps were four veteran television actors who guest starred on the iconic science fiction show:  Bobby Clark – episodes: “The Apple,” “Mirror, Mirror,” “Arena” and “Return of the Archons;” BarBara Luna – episode: “Mirror, Mirror;” Michael Forest – episode: “Who Mourns for Adonais;” and Celeste Yarnall – episode: “The Apple.”  Also on hand was David Luong, the president of the Los Angeles Star Trek Club.

The stamps, under license by CBS Consumer Products, showcase four digital illustrations inspired by classic elements of the television program:

• The Starship Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia against a gold background;
• The silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background;
• The silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background; and,
• The Enterprise inside the outline of the Vulcan salute against a blue background.

The words “SPACE… THE FINAL FRONTIER,” from Captain Kirk’s famous voice-over appears beneath the stamps against a background of stars. The stamp images were created by the design firm Heads of State of Philadelphia, PA, under the art direction of Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA.
The idea for “Star Trek” came from the mind of writer and producer Gene Roddenberry. Born in Texas in 1921, Roddenberry penned scripts for several shows, including “Dragnet.” In the mid-1950s, he entered the TV world full-time and became a prolific writer. In the early 1960s, he created the military drama “The Lieutenant,” which aired for one season on NBC.

As production on “The Lieutenant” wound down, Roddenberry was developing a program about a starship called the SS Yorktown and its crew. In his initial outline, Roddenberry compared Star Trek to the western action and adventure series “Wagon Train.” Several studios turned down the idea before Desilu, the production company founded by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, signed Roddenberry to a contract and began shopping “Star Trek” to the networks. NBC eventually agreed to finance a pilot episode.

The production staff took great care in building the “Star Trek” universe, hiring notable science fiction authors to pen scripts and hiring a scientist as a technical advisor. Set designers devised both the exterior and interior of the Enterprise — which Roddenberry initially had named the Yorktown — and also gave it the registry number NCC-1701. Props such as the cell phone–like communicator and the tricorder, a handheld scanning computer, provided viewers a glimpse into the future. But no piece of fictional technology on Star Trek was as iconic as the transporter, which “beamed” characters from one place to another.

Two Pilot Episodes

The pilot was titled “The Cage,” and featured Captain Christopher Pike. However, in a highly unusual move, NBC commissioned a second pilot. The show was recast with the notable exception of Spock, a pointy-eared, supremely logical half-alien officer who hailed from the planet Vulcan.

Captain Pike was replaced with Captain James T. Kirk. Roddenberry added a multicultural cast around him, including both Japanese helmsman Hikaru Sulu and Scottish Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott. Communications officer Alden was the Enterprise’s first African-American crew member.

The second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” focused on thwarting two crew members who accidentally acquired mysterious godlike powers. The title of the episode became part of Kirk’s famous introductory voice-over: “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

This time, the thoughtful but action-oriented story won over NBC, which commissioned the series for the 1966–67 television season. Communications officer Alden departed and Lieutenant Uhura came aboard as the new communications officer. The character was one of the first strong roles for an African-American woman in television history.

Chief Medical Officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy also was added and fans warmed to him after he became the focal point of “The Man Trap,” the episode that served as the series premiere.

During its run on NBC, “Star Trek” deftly combined action, adventure, drama, fantasy and allegory. An early episode, “Errand of Mercy,” about an escalating conflict between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, took on the Cold War. Other episodes alluded to the Vietnam War, the population explosion, the growing generation gap and race relations. (“Plato’s Stepchildren” featured TV's first high-profile scripted interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura.)

“Star Trek” was so globally influential that an article in the Soviet newspaper Pravda complained that the Enterprise’s international crew lacked a Russian. For the show’s second season, Roddenberry responded by introducing young Pavel Chekov. One of the show’s most beloved episodes, “The City on the Edge of Forever,” involved Kirk and Spock traveling back in time to America during the Depression. It won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, while the original teleplay won a Writers Guild of America Award.

By the end of the 1960s, “Star Trek” had become wildly popular. Nonetheless, it was canceled at the conclusion of its second season. But the decision did not stand. Thousands of people sent letters to NBC in support of the show, which NBC picked up for a third season. Fans often repeated lines heard on the program and performed Spock’s iconic Vulcan salute.

NBC canceled “Star Trek” after three seasons, but the show soon entered syndication and grew even more popular. By the 1970s, “Star Trek” fans had begun organizing clubs, publishing tribute magazines and holding conventions.

Soon, the once fledgling science fiction program became a franchise. Filmation produced the Emmy Award–winning “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” which featured the voices of the original cast members and aired on NBC in 1973 and 1974. The Paramount Pictures–produced “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979) was the first of six films to star the cast of the original series.

The Next Generation

In 1987, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered. Produced by Paramount and aired in first-run syndication, the television series introduced a new crew of adventurers who also appeared together in four films. A trio of “Star Trek” TV series followed in the 1990s and 2000s: “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and Star Trek: Enterprise.

By that time, “Star Trek” had long since become an American institution. In 1992 and 1993, people flocked to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, to explore an exhibit dedicated to the phenomenon.

In 1999, an illustration of the Starship Enterprise appeared on a 33-cent U.S. postage stamp as part of the Celebrate The Century: The 1960s issuance.

In 1999, an illustration of the Starship Enterprise appeared on a U.S. postage stamp as part of the Celebrate The Century: The 1960s issuance.

In 2009, the enduring entertainment icon was given a reboot with the film “Star Trek.” The franchise continued with “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) and “Star Trek Beyond” (2016). Fifty years after the debut of the original television series, “Star Trek” continues to capture the imagination of the public.