Gene Roddenberry certainly made his mark on the world with his vision of space exploration. It was he who insisted on Chekov being part of the show, after all the Russians were the first in space, and he felt that couldn't be ignored. It wasn't a popular decision with the network brass, after all the Cold War was still on.

Nichelle Nicholls was a former lover of Roddenberry's and he wanted her on the show despite more network opposition. They didn't want a black actor as part of the regular cast, so he signed her to a series of "guest star" contracts, which actually paid her more than she would have been paid as a regular cast member.

Seems society has travelled light years since the 60's, hasn't it?

I'm a hopeless trekkie. Star Trek TNG is the best as far as I'm concerned. My favorite episode: The Inner Light, Season Five, when Picard is "taken over" by an alien probe and lives his life as 'Kamin'. My favorite characters for TNG: Jean-Luc Picard, "Q", and Worf. I have all episodes on VHS that I taped myself during the original showing, and now own them on DVD as well. I'll never tire of them.

"The Inner Light" is good, although I've seen the episode so many times it gets a little boring for me. I do have a suite of music from that episode on one of the ST cds - it's sooo beautiful!

I too have a lot of the episodes on tape from when they originally aired. It's so funny to watch those tapes now and see the silly commercials!

My favourite Star Trek Series is The Next Generation. It has so many great and interesting characters (my favourites are Data and Worf). I love episodes dealing with Q and Deanna's mom.
I also enjoy watching Voyager (the Doc is my favourite character here) and the Original Series, but I never warmed up to DS9 or Enterprise.

I love Deanna’s mother, Laxana Troi. She's played by Majel Barret who played Christine Chapel in the Original. (actually, if you want to get technical, she played Number 1 in the original, but that’s a different story). Any episode where she attempts to seduce Picard is a great episode in my book.

I personally like DS9. It has the most complex characters of any Star Trek series, save Data from TNG. My favorite characters from DS9 are:
1. Garrek= A Cardassian Barber with many talents. I especially loved the episode where he speaks to his dead father to calm himself when he is stuck in a small area. He is very claustrophobic.

2. Quark= Who couldn't love him?

3. Major Kira= I don't know, there was always something compelling about her. She reminds me in many ways of Ro Laren.

4. Bashir= Doctor who thinks he's James Bond, what a lethal combination.

I intensely dislike Voyager. I don't know if it’s just me but I find it bland and boring. Every episode is the same; they find a new species which turns out to be hostile, something damages the ship ect... There's no Starfleet politics because they are in the middle of nowhere, no character that makes the show watching like Spock or Data. There Data is 7 of 9. She may look good in a skintight suit, but her acting leaves something to be desired.