Talking About Pop Culture: Which Came First, 'Star Trek' or 'Star Wars'?

On Quora, Cameron McCall asks: Which came first, Star Trek or Star Wars? 


Star Trek, or as it is known today, Star Trek: The Original Series, was created by ex-pilot, World War II veteran, L.A. Police Department police officer, and television writer Eugene Wesley Roddenberry in 1964, sold to Desilu around that time, and approved for a network run on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in late 1965. It premiered (with The Man Trap) on September 8, 1966 and ran on NBC for three seasons until its cancellation in March 1969.

Star Wars began its long creative development as early as 1971, and by 1973 George Lucas, a graduate of the University of Southern California’s film school, had a first draft for a screenplay then titled The Star Wars. After shopping it around to the big studios, including Universal Pictures, he sold the script to 20th Century Fox after finally convincing Fox’s VP for Development Alan Ladd, Jr., who didn’t quite understand the story but nevertheless had faith in the 30-something director of American Grafitti.

By the time Star Wars hit theaters on May 25, 1977, Star Trek was a staple of syndicated TV and had already had one spin-off, Star Trek; The Animated Series.

Interestingly, Star Trek's renaissance, which was kicked off by the release of Paramount's Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The studio's television division had been trying to come up with a new series since the cancellations of TOS and The Animated Series, as well as the creation of a fourth television network. Per Gulf & Western's plans, the new Paramount Network would begin operating in the fall of 1977, with Star Trek: Phase II as its flagship show. Gene Roddenberry was on hand as the series' showrunners, scripts were commissioned and some, including Alan Dean Foster's treatment for a two-hour premiere, In Thy Image, were written. Sets and costumes were designed, and all of the original cast members, except for Leonard Nimoy, agreed to come back.

Somewhere between the announcement of the new Paramount Network's upcoming debut and the return of Star Trek as a television series, two things happened. The notion of a fourth network that would someday be an equal to ABC, CBS, and NBC was shelved, and - as noted earlier - 20th Century Fox released Star Wars.

In the aftermath of Star Wars' phenomenal success, every Hollywood studio scrambled to make their own sci-fi film to see if lightning could strike twice. At a studio meeting late in 1977, one of the executives asked something like "Well, how can we make something like Star Wars? Don't we have anything like that?"

According to an anecdote retold by Walter Koenig in a behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, someone replied, "Well, I believe we have something called Star Trek."

So it came to pass that early in 1978, Paramount made two announcements. First, the Paramount Network would be put aside for the moment; the concept of a fourth network would become a reality nine years later when the Fox Television Network premiered and became the home for shows such as Married...with Children, America's Most Wanted, The Simpsons, and The X-Files. Second, Star Trek: Phase II would not be made. but Gene Roddenberry, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Harold Livingston, and Robert Wise would make Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a theatrical movie starring the entire Original Series cast, including Leonard Nimoy.