From the Enterprise to the Discovery: The Decline and Fall of Utopian Technology and the Liberal Dream

The technology and liberalism of recent series such as Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and the latest Doctor Who series have more in common with Harry Potter's childish wand-waving than Gene Roddenberry's original techno-utopian dream.

                                      
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The technology and liberalism of recent series such as Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and the latest Doctor Who series have more in common with Harry Potter's childish wand-waving than Gene Roddenberry's original techno-utopian dream.

Whereas Star Trek: Discovery continues to explore ideological complexities, so far The Orville seems little more than a celebration of Seth MacFarlane's love of the Star Trek property and his ability to indulge in expensive cosplay.

From its first interracial kiss on TV in 1968 to the interspecies relationship in the reboot, Star Trek wants viewers to understand what it means to be mixed race and have interracial relationships.

Can the rebooted film franchise keep what is special about Star Trek, but boldly go where no director has gone before?

Remember how Yelchin wrestled with vampires, neo-Nazis, pirates, and adultery to earn his place as Chekov aboard the USS Enterprise?

Did Gene Roddenberry realize how “Marx-like” the world he imagined was?

Star Trek doesn’t foretell a type of future as a concrete inevitable outcome and final destination, it presents us with a fictional diegetic vision of how the world could be.

If space is the “final frontier”, then the technology that facilitates the adventure is one of the central mechanisms by which we can learn new things about ourselves and our society.

On 8 September 1966, the sci-fi television show Star Trek aired its first episode, setting into motion a chain of events that would leave no aspect of pop culture unchanged.

Star Trek went from a struggling series that only lasted three years to being one of the most influential programs in TV history.

Filled with in-jokes and subtle references to the show, uber-fans will love this "auto" biography of Star Trek's Captain Kirk and the stories of the people in his life.

This is a deep and intelligent look at the various incarnations of Star Trek on the gridded page -- and not just from super fans and convention-goers.

As with any beloved performer, there was more to Leonard Nimoy than a pair of pointy ears and a catchphrase. Much, much more.

There was a spectacular display of goods from almost every pop culture property one could think of all in one place, making Comic-Con feel like a cross between Christmas and Halloween (as well as Black Friday).

Screenwriter Roberto Orci has no previous experience as a director. So naturally Paramount just hired him to direct Star Trek 3.

A visit to Seattle's Star Trek convention reveals the conflicted feelings cast members have towards being immortalized in comic form.

Robots and Replicants... Between utilitarian tools and far too human replacements lies the Uncanny Valley. The Next Reel explores Cinema's love/ hate relationship with the automaton.

Just a reminder that revamping the Star Wars universe won't be as simple as tackling the once tired Star Trek franchise. One's for thinkers. The other's for doers.

Books like this can give fans and historians context and insight, but at their worst they’re little more than obituaries, an account of what’s been lost.

The proprietors of Star Trek’s 24th century, CBS Interactive, have released the second generation of the Star Trek PADD software for Apple’s arcane (by 24th century standards) iPad.

Day 3 E3 highlights include plenty of hands on time with the Wii U, new information about Assassin's Creed 3, and the balance between creation and destruction on the show floor.

It'd be a shame if the endless emphasis on youth results in a lack of "grown-up" concerns in pop culture. Here are five examples of the old kicking ass and refusing to give way to the young in mainstream pop culture.

As "Bill" explores the meaninglessness of celebrity, "Shatner" embraces the shallow and the superficial like an Andy Warhol soup can come to life.

Every generic hero on TV can finish a poetic quotation or identify a poignant quatrain (down to the line numbers). But few can spit Tennyson or Yeats with such venom as these guys.

A fantastically simple hook creates a baffling philosophical paradox in Dexter.

When TV historians talk about the black image in the 21st century, they’ll note that 2011 was the year that network TV consistently portrayed black people as major antagonists in search of the same brass rings that their white counterparts sought for nearly 60 years.

Let's focus on the co-stars, many of whom clearly relished their roles as intergalactic rogues, vagabonds and ragamuffins. So much scenery was chewed by bit players between 1966-69, it's no wonder the series was forced off the air.

Aside from lightsabers, proton packs, warp drive and teleportation, many of my favorite sci-fi gadgets have become a reality. The latest: iPhone 4.

For both writers and artists working on adaptations of movies and TV shows, the challenge is to find a working space wherein one's own sensibilities can be effectively meshed with the look and feel of the original text and into a book that works for readers.

Trekkie compilations and more cocoa in Starfleet to confront viewers with the show's embedded sexism.

Is Star Trek only able to come out on the Internet?

Stylish, action-packed, and a helluva lot of fun. What was the last Star Trek film you could truly say that about?

Pon Farr perfume [$30]

With 2009's awards season about to ignite, it is time to analyze the ups and down of the recent rule changes, including what truly benefits from the expansion of Best Picture nominees and how this affects representation of cinematic excellence.

Obama's four-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new kinds of political confusion; to boldly go where no rational health-care reformer has gone before.

The proprietors of Star Trek’s 24^th century, CBS Interactive, have released the second generation of the Star Trek PADD software for Apple’s arcane (by 24^th century standards) iPad.