Given the popularity of the sci-fi genre now, it’s hard to believe that it began as a very niche form of entertainment. But every famous sci-fi franchise initially went through a period of struggle to find a viewing audience, grow it, and keep it. While many franchises have been successful at all three, few have been able to generate the kind of viewing hours that could outlast some of the dinosaurs.
Videos by ComicBook.com
On September 8, 1966, Star Trek: The Original Series first premiered on NBC, airing the episode “The Man Trap” as part of NBC’s “sneak preview” programming block. Since then, the franchise has expanded into no less than 13 different television series, 13 theatrical films, and 1 streaming movie. That’s not counting all the other merchandise the franchise has spawned, from gaming to clothing to collectibles. But the figures truly get staggering when you add up all the hours fans have spent watching Star Trek content.
Star Trek Has Generated More Viewing Years Than Humans Have Been On Earth
To estimate the total amount of viewing time of Star Trek content, we combined figures from the historical TV audience ratings, syndicated rerun ratings, theatrical ticket sales, and home video and streaming data. The total was approximately 75 billion hours of Star Trek being watched in the last 60 years since TOS premiered; that equates to about 8.5 million years.
For context: the first lineage of humans first started appearing about 6 to 7 million years ago on Earth, after diverging from the simian line. Not only have humans evolved in major ways over that 6 to 7 million years, but they also inveted the technology of television and aired a series like Star Trek, which has captured the imaginations of so many people, for so long, that our collcective time following Starfleet outweighs our time existing as a species!
If nothing else, this is a testament to how much sci-fi does for society; there is something wholesome and uplifting about the fact that 8 million years’ worth of TV viewing has been spent on a franchise that imagines one of the brightest and most hopeful visions of the future. Maybe we don’t have enough faith in just how deeply Star Trek is ingrained in human culture, but maybe we should start to have a lot more.
Star Trek’s Time Still Isn’t Done
60 years later, Star Trek is far from dead. The 2020s brought an entire new era of Star Trek content via streaming, including continuations of series like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Voyager (in Picard), or bold new swings like an animated adult comedy (Lower Decks) or a children’s show (Prodigy). While Star Trek’s streaming era got mixed reviews from fans and critics, there’s no doubt the franchise added even more viewing eras to its total.
Star Trek is also gearing up for a major theatrical resurgence, after a decade-long hiatus (Star Trek Beyond in 2016). A new film project is in the works; Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) are directing, and they are creating a new story within the Star Trek Universe that won’t be connected to any of the previous films or TV series.
Curiously enough, the pair point to films like Training Day and Crimson Tide as inspiration for this new Star Trek movie. While plot details haven’t been revealed, Goldstein and Daley’s early comments suggest the film will examine Starfleet more critically than previous Star Trek movies. “I would say it’s really kind of a look at the institution of Starfleet and any institution as a whole that has existed for a long time and what that does,” Daley explained to Inverse. “I think the portrayal of Starfleet and the people that work within it have always been generally idealized versions of what the future could be. And while this [script] isn’t a cynical or nihilistic take on it, I think it does acknowledge that there are some bad apples in every institution that can have a strong voice and can really make an impact on that institution and everything it stands for.”
Hopefully the new Star Trek movie generates millions more in viewing hours, as well as box office.
