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30 Greatest Moments From ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

| September 28, 2017 | By: Dan Marcus 56 comments so far

Star Trek: The Next Generation  celebrates its 30th anniversary today. When the show premiered on September 28th, 1987 it arrived with some skepticism from fans who were not ready yet to move on from Kirk, Spock and Bones. After a bit of a rocky start, The Next Generation  managed to win over and even surpass fan expectations, along with bringing in millions of new. The show eventually ran for seven seasons and spawned four feature films. 

So in honor of the 30 year legacy today TrekMovie counts down what we see as the 30 greatest moments of the first Star Trek spin-off. Some are fun, some sad, some scary, but all show how Star Trek: The Next Generation  remains with us today.

30. Remmick explodes (“Conspiracy”)

Picard and Riker investigate an alien infestation in one of the show’s best and weirdest episodes during the first season.

29. Riker rejects Admiral Pressman (“The Pegasus”)

In one of the better episodes written about Riker, he chooses the right side by rejecting Admiral Pressman.

28. Shut up, Wesley! (“Datalore”)

After Wesley persists in insisting that Data has been replaced by his evil brother Lore, Picard (and his mother) have enough and tell him to shut it, creating a perhaps unintentional cathartic moment for fans frustrated with the character.

27. Alternate Riker doesn’t want to go back (“Parallels”)

Multiple parallel-universe Enterprises converge, including one captained by a scruffy-bearded Riker from a reality infested with the Borg, and he doesn’t want to go back.

26. Worf breaks Geordi’s mandolin (“Qpid”)

After Q recreates Robin Hood and his merry men with the crew, Worf makes it clear is “not a merry man” and he demonstrates this with an homage to Animal House .

25. Data meets his maker (“Brothers”)

In a great showcase of Brent Spiner’s talent, he plays Data, Data’s brother Lore and his creator, Dr. Noonian Soong.

24. “Good tea, nice house.” (“The Survivors”)

Worf shows that there is honor in being polite when visiting a nice old couple who offer him a cup of tea, which he clearly isn’t enjoying.

23. Troi tells fantasy Troi to “muzzle it” (“Hollow Pursuits”)

When the crew discover what Barclay has been up to in the Holodeck, it makes for a quite amusing experience for the crew – especially Troi.

22. Data decides Kivas Fajo has to die (“The Most Toys”)

Data shows that he is more than just his programming when he decides enough is enough with an sinister collector who had abducted him, only to have the transporter whisk him away before he can finish the job.

21. The Borg take a slice (“Q-Who”)

Q throws the Enterprise into the Delta Quadrant and shows us just how vulnerable this ship and crew are as we meet the Borg and they casually carve up the ship.

20. “No bloody A, B, C or D…” (“Relics”)

James Doohan guest stars as Montgomery Scott after being saved from a transporter loop that suspended him for 80 years. Scott recreates the bridge of the original Enterprise on the Holodeck, giving us some tears in our eyes.

19. Picard pleads love for Lwaxana Troi (“Menage a Troi”)

In order to rescue Counselor Troi and her mother, Lwaxana, Picard must confess his love for Troi’s mother to the Ferengi.

18. Data and Spock talk life choices (“Unification, Part 2”)

Two of the most iconic characters in  Star Trek  history finally meet face-to-face and ponder the value of a pursuit of humanity.

17. Crusher figures out she is trapped in a bubble (“Remember Me”)

This is one of the better episodes for Beverly Crusher, who utilizes her scientific skills to work out she is trapped inside a warp bubble after members of the crew keep mysteriously disappearing.

16. Q gives Data the gift of laughter (“Deja-Q”)

In a fleeting moment at the end of the episode, Q gives Data a gift, albeit brief: unbridled laughter.

15. Picard mindmelds with Sarek (“Sarek”)

In order to help Ambassador Sarek keep his emotions under control for a critical negotiation, Picard agrees to take them on, even though he risks being overwhelmed by them.

14. Admiral McCoy tells Data how to treat the Enterprise (“Encounter at Fairpoint”)

In a rare appearance, DeForest Kelley appears as Admiral McCoy to tell Data to treat the Enterprise like a lady “and she’ll always bring you home.”

13. Picard laughs after being stabbed (“Tapestry”)

In one of the many episodes where Q makes Picard question his own humanity, he makes him revisit a defining moment of his youth as a Starfleet officer.

12. Data is “fully functional” (“The Naked Now”)

In the show’s second episode – a sequel to The Original Series  episode “The Naked Time” – Data lets the audience know that he’s a “fully functioning” android whilst engaging in intercourse with Tasha Yar.

11. Crusher teaches Data how to dance (“Data’s Day”)

In a tender moment between the good doctor and Data, Dr. Crusher teaches Data how to dance for the wedding of Miles and Keiko O’Brien.

10. Picard uses Vulcan nerve pinch (“Starship Mine”)

When terrorists sneak on board an emptied Enterprise, Picard gets his John McClane on shows them who is the captain, including giving guest star Tim Russ (who would later play Vulcan security officer Tuvok on VOY) a rare human-delivered Vulcan nerve pinch.

9. Picard ends the witch hunt (“The Drumhead”)

Perhaps one of Picard’s finest speeches – and finest moments – he ends Admiral Satie’s witch hunt trying to find any shred of evidence of a Romulan conspiracy. A speech that is still relevant today.

8. Riker removes Data’s arm (“The Measure of a Man”)

Picard must prove to Starfleet that Data is a sentient being with rights, but Riker doesn’t make it easy with his reluctant yet effective case.

7.  “There are four lights!” (“Chain of Command, Part 2”)

After being captured and tortured by the Cardassians, Picard has a great moment of defiance and heroism by rejecting the brainwashing of his tormentors.

6. Lal dies (“The Offspring”)

In an incredibly emotional moment for Data’s quest to be human, he loses his daughter.

5. “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” (“Darmok”)

It’s one of the most memorable episodes ever. Picard gets a lesson in interspecies relations by speaking, and then understanding, this unforgettable line.

4. Picard plays the flute (“The Inner Light”)

Described by many as one of the best episodes in the entire series, after living a lifetime and then some Picard picks up the flute once more.

3. “Let’s make sure that history never forgets…” (“Yesterday’s Enterprise”)

In an alternative and darker universe a different Picard and crew sacrifice themselves to send the Enterprise-C back in time to restore the timeline, ensuring history never forgets the name Enterprise.

2.  “The sky’s the limit” (“All Good Things…”)

In what became a hallmark of the show, the series ends with a card game between the senior officers. Except this time… Picard joins them.

1. “Mr. Worf, fire” (“The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1”)

In what may be television’s greatest cliffhangers, Riker tells Worf to fire on the Borg cube which carries a newly assimilated Captain Picard as Locutus of Borg.

What are your greatest TNG moments?

Well that’s our list, but we’re sure there are moments you think should be on the list. Sound off in the comments below.

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Data realizing he belongs on the Enterprise at the end of “Tin Man”.

The episode All Good Things.

What exactly is Trekmovie saying with their commentary on #9 :)

Perhaps the left wing’s continual attempts to stifle the freedom of speech of those they disagree with. “…the first time any man’s freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged.”

There we go again…

Probably that they disagreed with the vast right wing conspiracy that tried to bring down President Clinton. ;-)

I’m assuming it’s just some clunky syntax, since J’Dan was guilty of espionage. The witch hunt was really against Picard.

Simon Tarses didn’t fare too well. Something that the post series DS9 books have fixed.

What a great show.

The day it was over followed by Spock and Best of Both Worlds where an anti individual collective comes in and uses Picard to come after Starfleet. Loved McCoy in the pilot too.

Picard grilling data about lying in “Clues,” only to find out he’d ordered him to. Picard finally breaking down to his brother about the Borg incident in “Family”.

“Oh, you’re so stolid! You weren’t like that before the beard!” – Q from TNG

What about the very first scene of the entire series?

Encounter at Farpoint (1987)

Captain’s log, stardate 41153.7 – Our destination is planet Deneb IV, beyond which lies the great, unexplored mass of the galaxy.

I feel like the mess hall scene from A Matter of Honor should be on this list.

Doctor, there must be a cure. Some formula. Huh hunh hunh hunh hunh hunh. Similar to the old one.

Scotty was stuck in a transporter, not a time loop. I think they have him mixed up with Kelsey Grammer’s character.

Speaking of Kelsey Grammer…Cause and Effect. It was a good time travel show. Face of the Enemy was a good turn for Troi. I am glad you included Chain of Command however there are some other parts that also made the episode work……Jellico’s more military style of command, the introduction of the Cardassians, and Troi once again wearing a Starfleet uniform.

Cardassians were introduced in The Wounded.

True but the Cardassians really started to take off in this episode. IMO. Plus Jellico was better at dealing with them than Picard was. I liked that it showed while Picard is a good captain he isn’t the only solution to every problem the Federation has. If that makes sense.?

Not sure how ‘Conspiracy’ rates a top 30 mention. A fairly pedestrian episode, and Remmick getting phaser splattered at the end of the episode seem to be there for shock value only. Even though the episode teased a future threat to the Federation, it went nowhere after that. A big tip off that it was a dead end episode and a dead end story arc….

TNG took flak for the gruesomeness of that scene from audiences, local stations, and Paramount. So they dropped that storyline completely.

I remember it because at the time it was amazingly rare for them to pull their phasers out much less fire them. It was shocking because we hadn’t seen something like that before. Similar to seeing the Enterprise get shot unshielded in WoK. My eye popped out my head seeing that the first time. Even if that that story thread was never pulled.

This isn’t a list of great episodes. Its a list of great moments. The episode sucked, but that moment was cool.

Remmick getting splattered wasn’t a great moment, just a bit more messy then simply getting vaporized. Not to mention pointless. No one thinks Sonak being reduced to a pile of goo in the ST:TMP transporter accident as a great moment…

Still one of my all-time favorite TNG episodes, and I’m still waiting to see who answers the beacon.

…it’s the Amazon delivery guy!

I was so happy to chime in about one of my favorite Trek series. Then I saw all the negative comments and assumed I must have clicked a Discovery article by mistake.

Sick phaser burn.

Ugghhhaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! That is how the Klingon lures a mate.

The witchhunt in “Drumhead” was against Simon Tarses and then Captain Picard. J’Dan was actually guilty. Very, very guilty.

Yeah… “Sorry” is #1 in a landslide.

“Mr Worf… Fire” is the best cliffhanger by far as well.

Other than that I find it a little difficult to populate this list. The ship carving by the Borg was Impressive. Remmick getting phasered, sure.

One that I personally liked was from Tapestry. But not Picard getting stabbed. It was him looking amazingly depressed in the turbolift when he realized Q might just leave him in that “dreary” position forever. Asking to no one but the audience if Q was having a good laugh.

The top three for me are the aftermath of Wolf 359, Admiral McCoy passing the reigns (Bones is my favourite character across all incarnations), and Scott’s anguish at being a man out of time (we all feel that way as we are growing older). Fourth and fifth I’d put the death of Sarek and the death of Tasha (which would impact the series for years to come).

Great choices all around! I think Picard chewing out Wesley in “The First Duty” (…of every Starfleet officer is to the truth – be it scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth…) should’ve found a place here as well. But then the list might’ve become a bit to Picard-heavy, I wager…

Like the list except number 12. That was just cringe worthy. I would add Spock mind melding with Picard to share his mind meld experience with Sarek.

The version of that dialogue in the Roddenberry pilot-movie “The Questor Tapes” was much better.

Firmly establishing Data as the vibrator that talks back. It begs the question, when Data created his ‘daughter’, was she fully functional as well?

Did you mean “raises the question”.

I’m so ashamed. I didn’t rise to the occasion.

And I ‘beg’ your forgiveness for playing “grammar police”

“What must I do to convince you people?” “Die” “Wonderful Worf! Eat any good books lately?”

One of my favorite exchanges as well!

Didn’t see the Ronnie Cox episode on here…maybe I missed it, but that was one of their finest moments for sure.

“Chain of Command” is on the list, but they chose THE Picard moment from towards the end pf part 2; and Cox’s Admiral Jellicoe wasn’t in that scene.

“I’m not going to win this one, am I Chief?” – Captain Maxwell in “The Wounded”

That scene, and the singing of the battle hymn, is in my top 5 TNG moments for sure. It’s a wonderful episode that touches on much in this war ravaged age.

Happy 30th anniversary!

Nothing can beat TNG for me. It’ll always be my favorite Trek show.

Same here! TNG was “my Trek”, it’s what I grew up with. Even putting aside nostalgia, I don’t think any Trek managed to be as thoughtful, touching, or charismatic as TNG. DS9 came close, but in different ways. TNG will always be the high water mark of Star Trek to me and it’s my most beloved TV series of all time.

One of my top moments in TNG is in season 4, when Data is closing his letter to Dr. Bruce Maddox at the conclusion of “Data’s Day”. For me, this stellar episode is elevated to one of the series’ best by the soaring, triumphant crescendo of Ron Jones’ magnificent musical score. Google “Data’s Day Understanding/Becoming” to listen to a recording of this stupendous track.

I listen to this music from time to time whenever I’m feeling a little down, and it never fails to lift my spirits. If this scene and its transcendent musical accompaniment don’t leave you loving Data and Brent Spiner a little more, check your emotion chip; it must be malfunctioning.

Data is my favorite character across all Star Trek series, and Data’s Day is an absolute delight for me. You’re right, the score from that episode is fantastic and inspiring. Just like Commander Data himself.

p.s. A close second: The entire sequence where the Bynars are stealing the Enterprise in “11001001”. A rare bright highlight of Season 1, again elevated by Ron Jones’ exciting musical score.

Curse you, Rick Berman, for firing Jones and using “sonic wallpaper” for the back half of TNG. The show was diminished by your lack of imagination.

There are so many great moments from TNG, I wouldn’t be able to name them all (but love your list though). TOS made me a fan of Star Trek but TNG made me a fanatic. It was amazing to have a brand new Star Trek show that came one weekly and everyone talked about. I sometimes wonder where would Trek be today if TNG wasn’t the huge success it was because if it failed after first season and the TOS crew were basically done a few years after them I’m not sure we would have stuff like Discovery and the KT films today. We definitely wouldn’t have gotten DS9, thats for sure.

Its fun reading all the threads about his amazing show at Reddit. I still miss it sometimes all this time later but happy Star Trek is still boldly going. A great show and an amazing cast!

Data disciplining Worf after he mouthed off on the bridge in “Gambit”

For me, one of the hallmark moments of TNG was Riker’s pondering about the value we place on life in “The Bonding”.

“Maybe if we felt any loss as keenly as we felt the death of one close to us, human history would be a lot less bloody.”

Words I ponder often as I read the news.

Yeah there are so many great lines like that in TNG, but Star Trek in general. I think thats why I love Trek so much, how it gauges humanity as a whole.

Agreed, TNG and Star Trek as a whole are very good examinations of the Human Condition, as they often put it.

star-trek-fried-egg

20. Eggselent

What? Are we the only ones who still have nightmares about the Denevans, the “Operation — Annihilate!” parasites that resembled angry fried eggs? Whatever. We still get shivers every time Spock is felled.

star-trek-moment-doomsday-machine

19. Beam Me Up, Scotty… NOW!

Viewers were every bit as antsy as Kirk when, with the Constellation steered into the fiery belly of the Bugle-shaped “Doomsday Machine,” the Enterprise transporter kept fritzing. “Gentlemen, I would suggest you beam me aboard…,” a concerned Kirk urged — and thankfully, they did!

star-trek-hippies

18. Flower Power

As if to prove that anything — no, really, anything ! — can happen when a spacecraft is boldly going where no man has gone before, a group of intergalactic hippies that were beamed aboard the Enterprise in “The Way to Eden” put on a little mini-concert in the sickbay.

star-trek-dance

17. Dancing Within the Stars

When Kirk refused to let the Platonians keep McCoy around as their primary-care physician in “Plato’s Stepchildren,” the mind-controlling aliens punished him and Spock — by making them dance. Crueler still, they made the Vulcan feel emotion! And these weren’t the only memorable moments that this Season 3 episode gave us. (See also: No. 2.)

star-trek-shahna

16. It’s Not Easy Being Green-Haired

Kirk didn’t get the girl in “The Gamesters of Triskelion” — though man, what a woman Shahna was! — but he did manage to spare her life in one of the death matches so popular with alien species. What’s more, he also convinced his opponent’s overlords to allow her and her fellow Thralls to form a free society.

star-trek-spock-kirk-fight

15. Friends Till the End

In the Season 2 premiere, “Amok Time,” Spock’s fiancée tried to get out of their arranged marriage by requesting a koon-ut-kal-if-fee — which we all know means a battle between her intended and a fighter of her choosing. And her pick? The groom’s BFF, Kirk, who faked his own death — thanks, Bones! — to get them out of the mess.

star-trek-pike

14. History Repeating

By incorporating footage from the original, unaired pilot, titled “The Cage,” Season 1’s two-part “The Menagerie” allowed the series to shed light on the past of Kirk’s predecessor, Captain Pike, as well as give the scarred quadriplegic a happy ending. When the tribunal’s final verdict came in, we cheered.

star-trek-mudd

13. Skin-Deep

At the end of “Mudd’s Women” — which, correct us if we’re wrong, was basically about human trafficking — mail-order bride Eve took the Venus pill that would restore her beauty, only to be informed by Kirk that he’d given her a placebo: She’d regained her looks by virtue of her newfound self-confidence. Revlon proceeded to pull all advertising from the series. (Kidding!)

star-trek-moments-naked-time

12. Psi Anxiety

In “The Naked Time,” multiple crew members were infected by a “virus” from the dying planet Psi 2000. Amongst the manifested symptoms, none could touch the swashbuckling (and sweaty!) sass of an inhibition-free Sulu.

star-trek-black-white

11. As Simple as Black and White

Though it seemed impossible to miss the point of Season 3’s “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” — especially when the episode’s prejudiced E.T.s learned that racism had destroyed their home planet — the message is sadly one that to this day bears repeating.

star-trek-moments-enemy-within

10. Double Trouble

We love a duplicitous doppelgänger tale, and “The Enemy Within” did not disappoint, “splitting” the Enterprise captain into two halves. “Evil” Kirk’s breakdown denouement gave William Shatner perhaps his most delicious meal ever as an actor. Which is saying something.

star-trek-moment-devil-in-dark

9. Doctor’s Orders

McCoy would make clear his job parameters many a time (starting with Episode 2’s “What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor?”), but his declaration, “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!”— when tasked to cure what ails an alien made of stone aka “The Devil in the Dark” — is the one we’ll always remember. Similarly….

star-trek-spock

8. Talk Through the Hand

In “Amok Time,” Spock introduced us to the greeting by which Trekkers would recognize one another for decades (and probably millennia) to come: “Live long and prosper,” accompanied by the Vulcan salute, a famously tricky gesture — for some of us, anyway — devised by Leonard Nimoy.

star-trek-tribbles

7. Fur Sure

If you ask us, “The Trouble With Tribbles” wasn’t so much that they multiplied at a rate that makes rabbits seem like reproductive slackers, it was that, in spite of their downsides, we still couldn’t help but wish we had one — just one! — as a pet. (Still waiting, Santa!) Kirk, though, had plenty of quadrotriticale-gorged plushes on hand in this iconic scene.

star-trek-kahn

6. Khan Artist

Actually, this entry is less a “moment” than “moments,” because whether Ricardo Montalbán was strong-arming a female crew member or condescending to Kirk — “You are quite honestly inferior” — he made sure that the first impression his villain made in “Space Seed” would also last.

star-trek-moments-city-edge-forever

5. R.I.P., Edith Keeler

Having traveled to the 1930s in “The City On the Edge of Forever,” Kirk fell in love with a beautiful peacenik (Joan Collins, of all people!) whose death he had to force himself (and McCoy) from preventing, lest her pacifist movement lead to the Nazis winning World War II. Simply devastating with every watch.

star-trek-klingon

4. Static Klingons

A single line uttered by Klingon leader Kor in “Errand of Mercy” — the Season 1 episode that introduced the war-mongering aliens — told us all we needed to know about them. After being reminded that his species had bragged that it would take over half the galaxy, he spat back, “And why not? We are the stronger!”

star-trek-kirk-goran

3. Live and Let Lizard

In Season 1’s “Arena,” a godlike species called the Metrons arranged a death match between Kirk and a reptilian Gorn, which the captain won not by killing his opponent (though he came close, by way of a MacGyvered cannon), but by showing him mercy. “You are still half savage,” summed up the fight “promoter,” “but there is hope” for humanity.

star-trek-kirk-uhura

2. The Kiss Seen ‘Round the World(s)

Though Kirk and Uhura’s interracial liplock wasn’t television’s first — as it’s often mistakenly called — the forced smooch in “Plato’s Stepchildren” scared the bejesus out of NBC in 1968, so much so that the network reportedly insisted on shooting an alternate, kissless version of the scene.

star-trek-spock-goatee

1. Two of a Kind

A great-ancestor of such role-reversing riffs as Seinfeld ‘s “Bizarro Jerry” episode, “Mirror, Mirror” featured a parallel universe in which the Enterprise crew was mixed-and-matched with their savage doppelgängers — a ruthless (but still chill!), goateed Spock included.

Star Trek: Q's 12 Best Moments From Across The Franchise

Of all the familiar faces to resurface time and time again across the "Star Trek" franchise, one of the most welcome is Q. Played by John de Lancie, the character hails from the omnipotent Q Continuum, who can bend the rules of reality to their whim in an instant. Initially something of a villain for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Q transforms into more of a trickster pestering various "Star Trek" mainstays. De Lancie reprises his role as Q with no trouble at all in "Star Trek: Picard," once again putting Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his friends through the cosmic wringer.

For all the galactic gags, there is a surprising depth and level of nuance to Q as he observes and plays around with humanity. And with de Lancie appearing as Q in no less than five "Star Trek" series, there are plenty of fan-favorite moments to go around. Here are Q's 12 best moments across the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Q makes his grand entrance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Q is a character whose franchise roots go as far back as Picard and the rest of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" cast. Appearing as the principal antagonist in the two-part series premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," Q interrupts the Enterprise crew as they first take their assigned posts on the ship. Whisking away Picard and a handful of officers to a mock trial, Q appears before them as humanity's judge, jury, and potential executioner. Introducing himself, Q announces that he will determine if humanity deserves to exist, with Picard appointed as the species' representative.

Something that gets lost relatively quickly across Q's subsequent appearances is that he started out as an adversary, not an ally. Demonstrating his considerable reality-shaping powers from the outset, Q establishes himself as an omnipotent threat if he's not satisfied with his forced trial. Knowing what Q becomes soon thereafter, seeing him appear so menacing and relishing in being able to lord himself above Picard is something of a shock now. "The Next Generation" Season 1 is arguably the show's weakest, but Q provides the series with a heck of an opening episode.

Q reminds Picard the price of exploration (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

While always considering humanity beneath him, Q offers the species a tacit chance at survival in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 2 episode "Q Who." Whisking away the Enterprise across the cosmos, Q introduces Starfleet to the Borg Collective far sooner than they were projected to meet. Though this exposure helps Starfleet better prepare for the Borg threat, several Enterprise crewmen are lost in the resulting skirmish. Reeling from the loss of life and barely escaping from the Borg, Picard is privately admonished by Q after helping the Enterprise to safety.

Q dresses down Picard and reminds him that exploration always comes with the possibility of extreme risks. After Q leaves, even Picard concedes that the omnipotent annoyance helped humanity with the inevitably uncertain battle ahead. Of all the characters to vehemently defend Starfleet's frontier spirit, Q doesn't seem likely to top that list, and yet, he does in a stirring monologue. "Q Who" changes the tenor of "The Next Generation" and debuts perhaps its most memorable enemy, with Q leaving his indelible mark on the franchise in only his third appearance.

Q is stripped of his powers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

As all-powerful as Q often presents himself, he still answers to the unseen Q Continuum, a collective of similarly powered beings. For all his shenanigans and interfering with the lives of mortals, the Continuum strips Q of his abilities in the third season episode "Deja Q." Powerless and naked, Q is begrudgingly taken in by the Enterprise as he copes with his newfound mortality. And as Q experiences everyday sensations like hunger and pain for the first time, he develops an (admittedly shallow) appreciation towards humanity.

De Lancie finds fresh ground to explore with Q in "Deja Q," no longer the sneering, extraterrestrial bully with a soft spot for Picard. Seeing Q forced to interact with Data (Brent Spiner) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) as equals fleshes out the character like never before. Q is normally someone fully in control of a given situation and now, he has to confront an overwhelming sense of vulnerability. By the end of "Deja Q," the cosmic demigod regards the Enterprise crew as genuine friends, even after his omnipotence is restored.

Q celebrates his restored powers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Q impresses the Continuum in "Deja Q" when he lures vengeful aliens hunting him away from the Enterprise in a shuttlecraft. This selfless act leads the Continuum to fully reinstate Q's powers just in time to save the day, also restoring Q's signature smugness. Returning to the Enterprise bridge, Q takes the time to annoy Picard with an impromptu celebration by summoning a mariachi band. For Data, with whom he formed the strongest bond while mortal, Q allows the normally emotionless android to experience joyfully riotous laughter for the first time.

Q's loss of omnipotence may be temporary, but the ordeal leaves him a changed man and closer to the Enterprise crew. The spectacle on the bridge shows two very different sides to Q that endure for the remainder of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." On the one hand, Q will always be something of a nuisance to Picard, with varying levels of ostracization. On the other, Q's parting gift to Data reveals how much he grew during his brief flirtation with mortality and how much he truly cares for the crew.

Q offers Picard an alternate life (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Picard undergoes a "Christmas Carol"-style adventure in the sixth season episode "Tapestry," as Q offers him a glimpse at a road not traveled. In his youth as a Starfleet cadet, a cocky Picard instigates a barroom brawl that nearly kills him, teaching him the nature of consequences. In a near-death experience, Q shows Picard how radically different his life would be if he avoids the prior fight altogether. Revived, Picard gains a deeper understanding of himself and overcomes that past trauma as he recovers.

"Tapestry" is a late-game character study episode for Picard, with Q playing the de facto role of the Ghost of Christmas Past. One of the more amusing aspects of "Tapestry" is that Picard remains unsure whether Q is actually involved or if he's just a near-death hallucination. Still, Q's presence, imaginary or not, plays right into his usual wheelhouse and underscores his unlikely friendship with Picard. Rather than constantly grandstanding, Q coaches Picard through his past, giving him another pep talk and helping Picard connect the dots of his own life.

Q revisits humanity's trial (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" has arguably one of the best series finales of all time, split into two parts as "All Good Things..." The episode not only pays off years of storytelling and character development but comes full circle with its series premiere. Just as "The Next Generation" opens with Q challenging Picard to prove humanity's worth, it closes with Q presenting Picard with the same ultimatum. Picard receives another cosmic puzzle to solve, this time involving an anomaly affecting three different timelines simultaneously.

While less sinister than the series premiere, "All Good Things..." brings Q back to his interstellar authoritarian roots. Picard and Q may share a burgeoning friendship, but the fate of the human race still precariously hangs in the balance. Q is not only genuinely happy that Picard solves the riddle but quietly admits to even helping him figure it out. The dynamic between the two men grew considerably across the series, and "All Good Things..." feels like the perfect culmination of their journey together.

Sisko teaches Q a lesson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine))

Q only makes one appearance in all of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and he does it early, in the first season episode "Q-Less." When Picard's former lover, Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), visits DS9, she is pursued by Q, who is infatuated with her (to her visible chagrin). With power coincidentally failing around the station upon Vash and Q's arrival, the crew naturally suspects Q is responsible. This leads Q and Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to have their own showdown for the station's fate.

Q learns the hard way that Sisko and the DS9 crew are a far different lot than his usual playmates on the Enterprise. Provoking Sisko into a mock boxing match, Q is surprised when Sisko lays him out with a single punch, not expecting his usual tomfoolery to be met with violence. "Deep Space Nine" delves into tonally darker areas following its inaugural season, and Q's frivolities have no place in the resulting story. That said, Q's lone visit to the station signals how different "Deep Space Nine" and its characters would be from the rest of the franchise.

Q tries to extradite Quinn (Star Trek: Voyager)

After harassing Sisko, Q proves to be much more prolific on "Star Trek: Voyager," appearing in three different episodes across the series. His "Voyager" debut is in the second season episode "Death Wish," providing de Lancie with much more mature material to work with. When a fellow Q taking on the name Quinn (Gerrit Graham) grows weary of immortality, he seeks asylum on Voyager. Dispatched by the Continuum to bring Quinn back in line, Q is shocked that Quinn argues for the right to commit suicide.

"Death Wish" plays out like a courtroom drama, with Q presenting evidence to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), arguing Quinn should be remanded into his custody. Bringing in everything from character witnesses to delivering well-articulated monologues, de Lancie really shines as Q here. While Q still relies on some mischief to make his case — including a cheeky cameo from Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker — the right to death undercuts the comedy. After numerous depictions as a prankster, it is refreshing to see de Lancie dig into a more serious side to Q.

Q murders Quinn (Star Trek: Voyager)

The most cold-blooded moment in de Lancie's performances as Q comes at the end of "Death Wish," with Q fulfilling Quinn's desire to die. With Quinn granted mortality after successfully pleading his case, Q goes one step further by fatally poisoning him. After confessing to the murder, Q admits that the entire ordeal with Quinn gave him a wider perspective on his own existence. More intriguingly, Quinn's death inspires a sense of rebellion in Q against the Continuum's authority.

It's a shame that the divided Continuum subplot is resolved as quickly as it ultimately is, with Q ending the conflict in his next appearance on "Voyager." For all his bluster about wiping out humanity, Q killing one of his fellow beings from the Continuum is as lethal as he gets. In a way, this is an inevitability; Quinn was always going to be a memorable "Voyager" one-off character . However, moving forward, until "Picard," Q is right back as the merry prankster, which feels like a step back in his development. As beloved as the mischievous Q is, there is something interesting about him diving into moral ambiguity, and de Lancie balances that perfectly in "Death Wish."

Q raises his son (Star Trek: Voyager)

De Lancie makes one last appearance in the final season of "Voyager," joined by his son Keegan de Lancie, appropriately playing Q's son, Q Junior. Introducing Junior to the Voyager crew, Q strips his son's powers and leaves him on the starship until he can learn to behave properly. With Q vanishing off, it falls on Janeway to teach the rambunctious teenager how to play nice with others. Satisfied with Junior's progress, Q advances Voyager's journey several years with a snap of his fingers as a belated thank you.

Paired with his son, Q is out of his element as a parent; all of reality is at risk if Junior isn't careful with his omnipotence. Q is frustrated and challenged like never before, and it's clear that he doesn't like that at all. Q never forms as close a bond with Janeway as he does Picard, but Janeway also helps Q in a way Jean-Luc never could, which Q certainly notices and repays. This final visit to Voyager solidifies Q and Janeway's dynamic while providing a new dimension to Q through parenting.

Picard and Q bid each other goodbye (Star Trek: Picard)

Q comes roaring into "Star Trek: Picard" Season 2 angry at Jean-Luc and ready to teach him one last lesson. Q threatens to alter the timeline by tampering with a critical spaceflight in the 21st century, prompting Picard and friends to reunite and stop him. In reality, Q is dying and uses the last remnants of his power to help Picard overcome unresolved childhood trauma involving his mother. When this becomes evident, the two men share a tearful goodbye in the "Picard" Season 2 finale , aptly titled "Farewell."

While Q regards Picard with vocal — if somewhat mocking — affection throughout "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Farewell" showcases how much he cares for him. And though long annoyed by Q's antics, Picard finally acknowledges him as a friend in the season finale, with the two men sharing a poignant embrace. Despite knowing each other for decades, it's only at the end that Picard and Q bring their companionship to the forefront in a bittersweet moment for both.

Q meets Jack Crusher (Star Trek: Picard)

Though Q presumably dies at the end of "Star Trek: Picard" Season 2, he makes a cheeky return in the final scene of the third season. After Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) follows in his parents' footsteps and enlists in Starfleet, Q approaches Jack privately in his new quarters. Pointing out that he doesn't exist linearly, Q offers Jack the same challenge he gave Picard decades ago to prove humanity's worth.

Q's death in the preceding season finale feels definitive for the immortal character, so seeing Q back and ready to play is a fun coda. After the more antagonistic turn, Q resurfacing feels more like he's back to his old tricks, in a nice return to form. The final season of "Picard" turns "Star Trek" more explicitly generational than ever, and Q's fledgling dynamic with Jack hints at interesting directions for the story to take. Hopefully,  plans for a "Picard" follow-up will come to pass because de Lancie keeps his fan-favorite cred every time Q shows up.

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'Fascinating': Mr. Spock's 11 most memorable Star Trek movie moments, ranked

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Credit: Paramount Pictures

We've already gone through our favorite Spock moments from Star Trek on television , but now it's time for us to warp over to the big screen. Leonard Nimoy continued his remarkable performance as the character for all six of the movies that featured the original Star Trek cast, and he also helped to bridge the gap to the Kelvin timeline starting with the 2009 Star Trek film.

We're going to focus on Nimoy again (no shade to Zachary Quinto), and though we originally intended to only run through seven entries, that was truly a no-win scenario in this case. We bumped it up to eleven. We also consulted the ship's computer about rituals involved with "camping out."

Nimoy remained the heart of the franchise when it made the jump to feature films. It's time to look at our choices for Mr. Spock's eleven best movie moments. Please... not in front of the Klingons.

11. Star Trek (2009) - "Thrusters on full"

Nimoy's "Spock Prime" was the tether that connected the Kelvin timeline films to everything else. That tether functioned on a storytelling level, but it also worked in terms of emotional grounding. Having Nimoy involved, in the 2009 film in particular, gave gravitas to everything.

His scenes with Kirk (Chris Pine) are all fantastic, but his final scene with his Kelvin counterpart (Zachary Quinto) stands out. As he says, "Put aside logic. Do what feels right." Spock telling himself to put logic aside, and then talking about feelings? This old Vulcan may have finally accepted the human half of himself. As the new Enterprise departs, Nimoy's Spock says to himself, "thrusters on full" as the entire cycle of adventure begins again. He's remembering how things go, but also giving his blessing. The crew is together. Things will be different, but all will be well.

10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - "This Simple Feeling"

Spock begins Trek 's first big screen jaunt on Vulcan, where he is about to finish the ritual of Kolinahr. He would be purged of all emotions. The looming threat of V'Ger interrupts this process, and before long he ends up back on the Enterprise. After an attempted mind meld with the V'Ger entity (coming up on this list soon), he has a realization in sickbay.

V'Ger is cold, barren, and utterly without emotion. As he holds the hand of Kirk (William Shatner), Spock says, "this simple feeling" is beyond V'Ger's comprehension. "Is this all there is?" is what V'Ger is continually asking. V'Ger has vast amounts of knowledge, but that's all.

It's a scene of emotional breakthrough for Spock, as he realizes that he should never have tried to do the thing that he began this movie doing. He knows what V'Ger truly is, and he doesn't want to be like that. It's his most emotional moment in a movie where he is mostly stoic and cold. Nimoy is finally allowed to bring a hint of warmth back in, and the result is masterful.

9. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) - "Your name... is Jim"

Even if you already knew that Spock lived and that his death in the previous movie would not be permanent, this is an amazing moment. The titular "search" had been on for this entire movie, and right at the end, he's back. Thank Surak, he's back.

He doesn't have it all together yet, which is understandable. His dead body was regrown at an accelerated rate on an unstable planet, and his consciousness was just put back in his head after being safeguarded in the mind of Dr. McCoy (DeForrest Kelley). He starts to say his final lines from the previous film as his memory comes back to him, and then... he recognizes his best friend.

"Jim. Your name... is Jim." It may take some time to retrain his Vulcan mind, but this scene argues that if Spock has this much intact, then he'll be fine. McCoy taps his own head and smiles, and everyone surrounds Spock. If we weren't already overjoyed by this return, Spock cocks an eyebrow in famous fashion. The adventure continues.

8. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - Mind Meld with V'Ger

More than any other Trek movie, the first one makes us afraid of space. The scene where Spock takes it on himself to strap into a space suit and rocket into the V'Ger entity with barely any protection at all makes us really afraid of space.

It's a heroic and brave thing to do, but that's not why he does it. He has to figure everything out, so he proceeds to do so in the most logical fashion. Fear isn't logical, so never once do you get the feeling that Spock is afraid.

Nimoy deploys clinical precision as Spock takes this hellish and prolonged trip into the unknown. We're uneasy the entire time, shouting for him to get back on the ship. As if going out into the big crazy cloud machine wasn't enough, Spock attempts a mind meld with it. It mostly works, and the information gained from this mind meld proves pivotal for both the crew and Spock.

7. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) - Spock's Chat With Valeris

Spock is on his final mission on the Enterprise as a member of it's crew. He shares a scene with Valeris (Kim Cattrall) before everything in this underrated sequel goes sideways for Kirk and company. It is during this sobering moment that Spock reveals that his intention is for Valeris to be his successor.

This is one of many brilliant Spock scenes in a movie that is full of them; this compelling beat especially stands out thanks to Nimoy's line reading of: "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris. Not the end." Once again, Spock realizes (and tells someone else) that it's not always all about logic.

Beginnings and endings are among the film's load-bearing thematic columns, which clearly hold up this scene. Whether it's a painting in Spock's quarters that reminds him of the the fact that "all things end," Valeris bringing up the political turning point the Federation faces with the end of the Klingon-Federation war in sight, Spock knows that he himself is at a turning point.

This scene also plays differently the second time you watch the movie. If you already know that Valeris ( spoiler warning for 30-year-old movie ) is a traitor and co-conspirator in the plot to sabotage the pending peace talks, then you almost get the hint that she may try to recruit Spock over to her cabal hellbent on extending the war because without it, they are not prepared to face the end of all they have ever known. He'd never go for it anyway, but Cattrall seems like she's ready to go out on a giant limb when she brings up politics. Spock doesn't let her get remotely close to a proposition. He uses it as a teaching moment, and, unfortunately, she proves to be completely unworthy of his attention.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) - Spock and Kirk's Last Fireside Chat

The other "Spock-in-a-robe" scene from this movie, but this time Spock sports his white robe from Voyage Home while having a very somber conversation in his quarters with Kirk. Both of them have let more than a couple balls drop during the course of this mission, and a lot of it had to do with their respective prejudice. Kirk was blinded by past trauma, and Spock didn't realize the truth about Valeris. They both get the job done better than anyone else could, but Spock muses that getting older is the potential culprit for their shortcomings on this most important mission.

"Could it be that the two of us, you and I, have grown so old, that we have outlived our usefulness? Would that constitute a joke?" It's one of our favorite Trek lines of all time, and as some of us get older ourselves, it's one that we may (or may not) repeat with surprising regularity. That Spock, of all characters, is the one asking this? Logic is once again defied.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) - Going Campin'

Say what you want about this maligned sequel (and people definitely do), the character beats between the trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy are among the movie's few winning attributes. Yes, even the much-derided camping scene.

When all three of these veterans are together on screen, magic happens. This movie is full of beats featuring the trio in that classic, TOS mold — and Kirk (as usual) is often stuck between Spock and McCoy going at it. (For example: McCoy liked Spock better before he died.)

The campfire scene contains the following line from Spock: "I have little choice but to sample your beans." He also prepares to toast a "marshmellon" because he read up on camping before leaving the ship. He ruins a round of singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" because he tries to grasp the meaning of the lyrics, and that just pushes McCoy over the edge.

The kicker comes once the trio retires to their sleeping bags around the campfire, which officially makes this the best campfire ever and one that we really want to be at. Spock is still thinking about the song, and he tells Kirk, "Life is not a dream."

After a long beat, Kirk tells his friend to go to sleep.

4. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) - Spock Volunteers Kirk for a Mission

It's rare for Kirk and Spock to have a big argument. But that's exactly where Star Trek VI kicks off, with our favorite characters' friendship at odds as a peace treaty between their greatest enemy threatens to tear them and the Federation apart.

Spock has "personally vouched" for Kirk when it comes to the mission they're about to go on, and it is a mission made all the more difficult for Kirk given his personal history with the Klingons and the emotional trauma they infected on him when one of them killed his son. Spock arrogantly presumes that Kirk, like Spock, can see past this understandable bias and proceed with running point for this historical opportunity. But Spock did not properly take into account Kirk's feelings on the matter, which is why the two end their briefing room scene at odds and with nothing but tension and a conference room table between them.

An upset and disappointed Kirk tells Spock, "you should have trusted me," and the look on Spock's face speaks volumes. The strain on the two's relationship has arguably never been higher than at this point, especially when Spock implores his friend to help the dying Klingons and Kirk hisses: "Let them die." It's a brilliant, character-defining moment for both characters, but it's Spock's expressions during this tense exchange that prove most critical for the character. For one of the first times in our long history with Spock, he has errored. And the fate of the galaxy may suffer the consequences.

3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - "The Needs of the Many"

It would be easy for the second Trek movie to reign supreme atop any list about any Trek topic, because Wrath of Khan is one hell of a gem-covered Swiss watch. (What a hot take, tell your friends.) But Spock's brief, but poignant (and highly quotable) encounter with Kirk early on in the film comes in just shy of Khan 's crowning achievement for our favorite green-blooded science officer.

Spock, now Captain of the Enterprise, begins his captaincy with Admiral Kirk at his side for a "little training cruise." When trouble starts brewing on Regula I, Kirk is forced to take command of the vessel. But first, he must visit his friend and inform him of the decision. There, in Spock's quarters, Nimoy proceeds to deliver one of the most iconic Trek lines of all time.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," he says, before giving full command over to Kirk. He has no ego to bruise. This one line not only becomes a driving theme of the film, it also becomes a staple of future Trek outings. Movies and television episodes went on to continually explore the central tenet of this line. They may not always quote Spock directly, but the ethics of Spock's own solution to the trolley problem are at the foundation of Trek itself. It makes perfect sense that it was Nimoy's Spock that gave life to that foundation.

2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - The Entire Movie

We're only allowed to do this once, and yeah, we're going to do it with this one. Just take it easy! Dr. Nichols has offered to take us around the plant personally! You were at Berkeley? We were not.

Spock is alive, but he's not quite himself. The whale-saving '80s escapades of this hit film help Spock find himself once again. Before we get there though, wow, do we have one "whale" of a time.

Saying to hell with any kind of temporal edict when it comes to improvised time travel methods, Spock just up and gives the Vulcan nerve pinch to a punk on the bus who won't turn his boombox down. Everyone claps. Before this, we had the glory of Nimoy's delivery of, "What does it mean, exact change?"

There's also Spock and Kirk's hilarious debate about whether or not Spock likes Italian food, and there's the truck-stopping way Nimoy says, "Gracie is pregnant." The real reason that we have to just give the whole movie one entry here, though, is because if we didn't... it would be a list of scenes where Spock tries to curse.

His continuing quest to master "colorful metaphors" is one of our favorite things to ever exist. He isn't very good at it ("the hell I can't", "the hell she did"). And in one very comical moment, Kirk must inform his friend that he doesn't quite have knack for cussing. Spock replies, "I see." This is about as upset or confounded with disappointment as Spock can get, and Nimoy sells the scene perfectly.

Before the crew travels back to their own time, however, Spock manages to swear correctly. He's also experienced enough by the movie's end to stand with his shipmates at their court martial (even though he hasn't been accused of anything), and to relay a message to his mother, finally answering a question that perplexed him at the start of the movie. The computer had asked him, "How do you feel?"

His response: "Tell her... I feel fine."

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - Spock's No-Win Scenario

There's no way around it. Our favorite Spock moment in the movies was always going to be this one.

The "no-win" scenario is another of the film's profound themes, the payoff of which comes through Spock's death and sacrifice. By the end of Khan , the Enterprise is caught in a real Kobayashi Maru scenario, and Spock puts his "needs of the many" ethos into action by exposing himself to fatal radiation to save the ship and his friends. He's never taken the Kobayashi Maru test, but he beats the no-win scenario without cheating it. But the victory is bittersweet, especially for Kirk, who is forced to watch his dying friend deliver his last words from behind inches of safety glass.

Kirk's heart breaks when a hoarse Spock utters: "I have been, and always shall be, your friend," he says. Then our hearts break, too, when Spock struggles to raise his burnt hand for one last Vulcan salute before he dies. He dies before a man who made a career out of cheating death, and now, for the first time, Kirk must really face it.

Kirk's first major scene in the movie, he tells cadet that: "How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life." He has no idea how his words will come back to haunt him in this moment, almost as if this is Spock's final lesson for his best friend to learn. It does not matter if you know Spock will be resurrected soon after, his death — and the grief that results from it among his comrades — hits bone-deep every single time.

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10 Funny and Moving Behind-the-Scenes Secrets About the Original TV ‘Star Trek’

From Shatner's jealousy of Nimoy to the role of Martin Luther King Jr. played in cast retention, it's all here!

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Whether you’re a Trekkie, Trekker, casual viewer or just confused about it all, it’s undeniable that Star Trek has repeatedly proven itself to be nothing short of phenomenal. And that it elevated the Star Trek cast — William Shatner and the late Leonard Nimoy among them — to superstar status as well as spawned no less than 10 spin-off series and 13 feature films and countless Star Trek behind-the-scenes books. Not bad for a show that limped its way through three seasons from 1966 to 1969 and only took off years later in reruns.

The appeal (once the show caught on) was simple: StarTrek and the voyages of the starship Enterprise represented an optimistic future in a tumultuous time, and proved that we could put our differences behind us and bond with each other for a better tomorrow. Just look at the starship’s main crew, which included a Japanese Helmsman (Sulu, George Takei ), black communications officer (Uhura, Nichelle Nichols ), Russian navigator (Chekov, Walter Koenig ), Scottish chief engineer (Scotty, James Doohan ) and an actual alien as first officer (Spock, Leonard Nimoy). A virtual UN in space!

One could argue that off-camera goings on were just as interesting, in some cases a lot funnier, in others far more serious — and for more than one cast member, the show saved and ruined their careers simultaneously. Join us as we take a different look at Star Trek behind-the-scenes secrets, reverse ranked, and life in the Final Frontier when the cameras weren’t rolling.

10. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have albums

One of the big merchandise moves when you had a popular television series was to get your lead actors to record an album or at least a single. Well, we would be remiss if we didn’t present the…uh, performances of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock in their real personas. First up is Shatner, taking on Elton John’s “Rocket Man” in his own unique style.

And for Nimoy — and he definitely seems to be having a good time — there’s “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” star of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit .

9. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s influence on Star Trek

As Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols was one of the first black actors to be featured in a prominent role on a television series, but behind-the-scenes she dreamed of performing on Broadway and was ready to quit Star Trek following its first season.

She informed series creator Gene Roddenberry of her decision and he asked her to take the weekend to think about what he was trying to accomplish with the show in terms of creating the image of a bonded humanity (remember, this was the tumultuous 1960s).

She agreed, but that weekend she attended a NAACP fundraiser, where she was approached by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was smiling and said that he was her greatest fan. In their conversation she mentioned her plans to leave the show.

In response, King told her, “You cannot do that. Don’t you understand what this man [Roddenberry] has achieved? For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen. Do you understand that this is the only show that my wife Coretta and I will allow our little children to stay up and watch?” Needless to say, Lt. Uhura remained a part of Star Trek .

8. Following Star Trek , William Shatner was broke

You would think coming off of a three-year run of a TV show — and one that was quickly shattering records in reruns — an actor would be pretty well off. Not so in the case of Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner. Follow-up work was hard to come by due to typecasting, and he had just come out of a divorce that left him in a precarious financial position.

His response? Take virtually any job that came along, whether it were TV commercials for the likes of Promise margarine or Loblaws supermarkets, or starring in low budget exploitation fare like Angie Dickinson’s Big Bad Mama .

“There was a time, before Star Trek , when I wouldn’t accept a role that I didn’t think worthwhile enough to play,” Shatner explained in the pages of the Star Trek oral history book, The Fifty-Year Mission by Mark A. Altman . “After Star Trek , I had the opportunity to play a few of those things that I thought should be coming my way, but I was in a financial bind and had to accept a lot of things that I wouldn’t have done in an earlier day. Then, because things are so cyclical in show business, I needed to take these roles.”

Things slowly started to change throughout the 1970s, but the real upswing behind-the-scenes began with the making and release of 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture . He hasn’t really looked back since.

7. Star Trek ruined and then saved James Doohan’s career

As it was for everyone cast on the show, typecasting was a real problem and nearly destroyed James Doohan’s career. “I did a movie called Man in the Wilderness in Spain with Richard Harris in 1971,” Doohan told sci-fi-online.com. “When I came back, I would go to producers’ offices to read for parts and the secretaries would say, ‘Oh, hi, Scotty’ and everything else. Then the producers would say ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have a part for a Scotsman.’ I only did a Scottish accent once before Star Trek , and that included 450 live television shows and 4,000 radio shows. But by 1971 I had been typecast and was flat broke .”

Fortunately, Doohan was able to make a living out of personal appearances. “[But] I guess my happiest memory was my realization that they were going to to start shooting Star Trek movies,” he recalled. “Finally it was going to be possible to make a living out of Star Trek .”

6. All of the great William Shatner impersonations start here

Impersonating William Shatner’s particular way of speaking, especially the way he did so during the original Star Trek , has become a way of life for many people, but the man who first mastered the Shat is comedian Kevin Pollack, who you may recognize these days as Moishe Maisel on Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel .

5. Star Trek owes its existence to Lucille Ball

In the aftermath of her divorce from Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball acquired their Desilu Studios, and she is the one who gave Gene Roddenberry’s seemingly crazy idea for Star Trek the greenlight for production.

“By the time Lucy ends up running the studio,” says Marc Cushman , author of the multi-volume Trek book series These Are the Voyages , “they’re not producing many shows. Lucy says, ‘We need to get more shows on the air,’ and Star Trek was one she took on, because she thought it was different.”

Cushman says Lucy would ask herself “what Desi would do,” and she realized he would get more shows on the air that they owned, and not just that they were producing for other companies. “So that was her reasoning to do Star Trek — she felt this show could, if it caught on, rerun like I love Lucy ,” Cushman continues. “And guess what? Those two shows — I Love Lucy and Star Trek — are two shows that have been rerunning ever since they originally aired. The problem was, her pockets weren’t deep enough.”

Eventually she sold Desilu to Paramount Studios, after which is when Star Trek , which was part of the deal, took off and became the phenomenon it remains to this day.

4. Chekov was added because of The Monkees

One behind-the-scenes story that Gene Roddenberry liked to tell was that the former Soviet Union’s newspaper Pravda took Star Trek to task for not including a Russian crewmember, so in response he created Anton Chekov, to be played by Walter Koenig.

The reality was something quite different, as revealed by a 1966 memo in which Roddenberry states that they were quite clearly trying to reach a younger audience that had embraced Davy Jones in The Monkees .

“All that stuff about Pravda , that’s all nonsense,” dismisses Koenig. “That was all just publicity. But it was a very practical decision — they wanted somebody who would appeal to eight-to-fourteen-year-olds and the decision was to make him Russian.”

3. Leonard Nimoy held Star Trek “hostage” when it came to The Motion Picture

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released to theatres in 1979, 10 years after the original series ended its run, and the entire cast had been rehired … with the exception of Leonard Nimoy. He simply refused to do it, based on the fact that Paramount was using his likeness on merchandise and advertising (including billboards) without any sort of compensation. The film’s director, Robert Wise , was told by his daughter, “With no Spock, there can be no Star Trek .”

Said Nimoy of the situation, “We’ve had a long and complicated relationship, Paramount and myself. We had a lot of details to work out.” Needless to say, Mr. Nimoy portrayed Spock in The Motion Picture and five sequels.

2. Jesus could have fought Captain Kirk

In 1975 while he was trying to get a Star Trek movie off the ground, Roddenberry wrote a treatment for a project titled The God Thing . It didn’t go forward, but years after Roddenberry’s death in 1991, author Michael Jan Friedman was given the treatment to expand and turn into a novelization.

“Gene was, and still is, one of my heroes,” says Friedman in The Fifty-Year Mission . “As he had already left the land of the living, this was a unique opportunity to collaborate with him. But when I read the material, I was dismayed . I hadn’t seen other samples of Gene’s unvarnished writing, but what I saw this time could not possibly have been his best work. But in the climactic scene, Kirk had a fistfight with an alien who had assumed the image of Jesus Christ. So, Kirk was slugging it out on the bridge. With Jesus.”

1. William Shatner was jealous of Spock’s popularity

 It wasn’t long after Star Trek ’s debut that the character of Mr. Spock began attracting the attention of fans watching the show and the media at large, and the man playing Captain Kirk wasn’t having any of it.

David Gerrold , who wrote the show’s popular “The Trouble with Tribbles” episode, points out, “The problems with Shatner and Nimoy really began in the first season when Saturday Review did this article about Trek which stated that Spock was much more interesting than Kirk, and that Spock should be captain. Well, nobody was near Shatner for days. He was furious .”

“You’ve got to look at it from his point of view,” Gerrold continues. “He had been hired to be the star or the show. It was ‘starring William Shatner, with DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy.’ All of a sudden, all the writers are writing all this great stuff for Spock, and Spock, who’s supposed to be a subordinate character, suddenly starts becoming the equal of Kirk.”

The show that started out about Kirk is now about Kirk and Spock, which caused tensions behind-the-scenes on the Star Trek set. “Bill [Shatner] definitely feels that he was lessened by that,” Gerrold adds. “On the other hand, Leonard was a very shrewd businessman, a very smart actor and recognized that this Spock business was a way to be more important than an also-ran, and he pushed.”

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William Shatner Is Wrong About His Regret for Kirk's Death Scene

William Shatner says he regrets his performance of Captain Kirk's death in Star Trek: Generations, but the longtime actor is selling himself short.

• Star Trek: Generations aimed to honor the franchise's past while paving the way for the future, bringing iconic characters together.
• William Shatner's regret over Captain Kirk's death scene stems from his final line portrayal, not the decision to include it.
• Star Trek: Generations marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, providing fans with more time with their hero.

Thirty years ago, Star Trek was ready to boldly go from Star Trek: The Original Series era of movies to make Star Trek: The Next Generation into the next film franchise. Still, in order to bring along the people who supported the six previous installments, they wanted to honor the past while paving the way for the future. The most significant moment was when William Shatner returned as Captain James T. Kirk just to die in 1994's Star Trek: Generations. The film didn't quite stick the landing for fans or, it seems, Shatner himself.

After the success of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , many in the veteran cast were reluctant to return, especially since it was going to end their characters' stories for good. Similarly, the new cast almost wanted to ensure Generations was their movie, while still being gracious hosts and stewards of the Star Trek legacy. Both DeForrest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy (who was offered the role of director) passed on the film because they felt it diminished their characters' legacy to cameo-fodder, according to Shatner in The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. The Kirk actor would also regret the film , but for a much different reason.

Why William Shatner Calls Kirk's Death in Star Trek: Generations His Biggest Regret

William shatner joins leonard nimoy's family in remembering the star trek legend.

When considering producer Rick Berman's relative feature film inexperience and the studio-mandated decision to make it concurrently with The Next Generation's final season, Star Trek: Generations is a much better film than it has any right to be. While promoting the documentary You Can Call Me Bill , William Shatner admits he doesn't regret doing the movie. For what it's worth, the scenes in which Captain Kirk appear are welcome to longtime fans.

The actor's only regret is his final line-reading as Captain Kirk. "In my mind, I failed horribly. I wish that I’d had the backing and the courage to do the things I felt I needed to do," Shatner said in an interview. After helping Captain Picard stop Soren (played by Malcolm McDowell), Kirk is crushed to death under debris. He doesn't go quickly nor does he seem to be in pain. In fact, he talks about how "fun" it was to help Picard "make a difference." Shatner wanted his final line of dialogue, "Oh my," to play with a lifelong explorer's amazement at the threshold to the truly final frontier.

To him, that's not what's there in the take the director used. Shatner thinks Captain Kirk's last words play as fear, and the last thing he wanted for his most iconic character was to send him off that way . While the scene can play that way, at the same time, looking at it as if Kirk is fearful at the moment of his death diminishes the equally nuanced performance by Shatner.

Would William Shatner Want the Chance to Redo Kirk's Death Scene?

How william shatner unearthed star trek: tng's early troubles.

In 2023, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman said he was open to digitally recreating characters for retcon purposes . At the time, he was speaking about completely erasing the death from the Star Trek timeline, but also admitted there was no plan to do so. Still, Goldsman, Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas and other Star Trek fans all felt that Captain Kirk's death was mishandled. However, it had nothing to with William Shatner's performance, but rather the lines and scenes he was given to play. Knowing that he regrets the scene as it is in the film, there may be another option.

The idea of undoing the events of Generations would be a disservice to The Next Generation cast and even Matalas' own Season 3 of Picard . Perhaps there is a way to snatch Kirk out of harm's way at the last second, but it's hard to see how such a retcon would serve Generations ' story or the character's overall arc. However, as George Lucas proved with Star Wars ' Special Editions, just because a movie is decades old doesn't mean it can't be tweaked. William Shatner is preserving himself with interactive AI , though for his family not Hollywood. Still, it means he might be open to using AI and deepfake technology to get one more take of that "Oh my."

If it truly is a regret that eats at William Shatner and his legacy as Captain Kirk, then it should be his choice . If Paramount is willing to spend the money and Shatner is game, he could redo it. Yet, it's not something he must do because Shatner is wrong about Captain Kirk's death coming across as fearful. Taking into account his long history with the character, the way he delivers Kirk's final line is something fans can (and should) debate from now until the real 24th Century.

Fans Who Think Captain Kirk Is Afraid of Death Don't Understand Him

Which star trek captains capture the spirit of jim kirk and william shatner.

Actors are naturally self-critical, and at 93 years old, William Shatner is perhaps more reflective now than he ever was before. He is right that audiences could watch Kirk's death scene in a vacuum and see it as fearful. Yet, anyone who has seen a tenth of his work in Star Trek should know Kirk would not fear death . At worst, the "Oh my" plays as something unexpected . As Bones said in The Search for Spock , Kirk "take[s] death and turn[s] it into a fighting chance to live." As Kirk is recounting to Picard how fun the adventure was for him, perhaps he hadn't yet realized there was no turning this one around.

Yet, Captain Kirk isn't just a space-cowboy getting in and out of scrapes across the galaxy. He is, at his core, an explorer. He isn't as contemplative as Spock nor emotionally attuned as McCoy. The power of his experience doesn't usually hit Kirk until he's in the thick of it. He doesn't overreact, but he does acknowledge the wonder. Knowing this, the "Oh my," doesn't just play as surprise. Like in the Genesis cave or on the planet Sha-Ka-Ree, Kirk discovers that oncoming death isn't a door closing, but opening on an experience unlike any he'd imagined .

Feelings about how Captain Kirk dies aside, Star Trek: Generations gives audiences more time with their hero. The Next Generation never commented on it directly, but the implication was that Kirk was long dead. Generations didn't "kill" Kirk, time did that. The movie brought him back, if only for a short while. The scene in which Kirk explains to Picard why life in the Nexus is not for him is one of the character's best. The movie understands what motivated him in the series and films that preceded it. Yet, it's still not how most fans think Kirk should have met his ultimate fate.

Captain James T. Kirk Should've Died on the Bridge of 'a' USS Enterprise

William shatner's quick thinking saved star trek's interracial kiss milestone.

There was nothing wrong with the decision to film Captain Kirk's death scene nor with William Shatner's performance of it . Still, it is fair to complain about how it happened. Considering the USS Enterprise-D was also destroyed in the film, he should've been in command of the saucer section. Put another way, Kirk should've gone down with the ship saving the lives of a Starfleet crew a century after his time.

If any Star Trek captain deserved a blaze of glory , it's Captain James T. Kirk. In the commentary track with Moore and Braga, the two writers discussed countless versions of the final sequence, with Moore saying he didn't "even know where this bridge stuff came from." Still, both he and Braga wanted Kirk's final line to be "It was fun," as commentary on the entire Star Trek adventure. "Oh my," was Shatner's line. In The Fifty-Year Mission both Moore and Braga admit they would've liked more time to work on the story.

Production schedules and budgets were largely in command of where characters appeared and what they did. It would've also been difficult to logically divine a reason for Kirk to stay on the bridge of the saucer section while everyone else escaped. It would've been awesome to watch, but it may not have made much sense. As it stands, in Generations , Kirk dies saving billions of lives after first almost dying saving the lives of a ship of refugees and the newly-minted USS Enterprise-B. Was it a "good death?" Maybe not. But it was a heroic one just the same.

Star Trek is not real-life with fantastic technologies like transporters or warp drive. Yet, what makes it so enduring is that the relationships at the stories' cores feel as real as any other fiction. Both Kirk's death and William Shatner's regret provide a unique layer of authenticity to that scene . Death doesn't give people a second take, even larger-than-life figures. Sometimes seemingly small acts have a huge impact and an even bigger cost.

Star Trek: Generations is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on HBO Max.

Star Trek: Generations

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

What Saru's Big Scene In The Star Trek: Discovery Premiere Means For The Final Season

This article contains spoilers for the season 5 premiere of "Star Trek: Discovery."

With an ensemble cast as large as the one in "Star Trek: Discovery," it can't be easy to find a way to give each and every major character their own moment to shine. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is all but guaranteed to play a significant role in any given episode, naturally, as is David Ajala's Cleveland Booker. Recent seasons have even committed to shining a brighter spotlight on the supporting cast at large, devoting much more screen time and emotional heavy-lifting to characters like Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz), and Adira (Blu del Barrio). But Doug Jones' charismatic performance as the even-keeled Saru has always helped elevate "Discovery" to greater heights, serving much of the same narrative and thematic purpose as classic franchise characters like Spock or Data.

The last season and change have given Saru some of his most dynamic material yet, from becoming a father figure to the volatile Kelpian Su'Kal (Bill Irwin) to the struggle of choosing between his responsibilities to Starfleet and his home world. But last season introduced the most surprising development of them all: a blossoming romance between himself and the Vulcan President T'Rina (Tara Rosling). The presence of various galaxy-scaled threats hasn't exactly given them much time to devote to their relationship, but the "Discovery" season 5 premiere (which /Film's Jacob Hall reviewed here) featured one major moment between the two that could tee up a much more compelling arc to come.

At the SXSW premiere of "Discovery," however, Jones teased that there might still be storm clouds on the horizon.

Read more: The 21 Best Star Trek Original Series Episodes, Ranked

Trouble In Paradise?

Are those wedding bells we hear? Well, maybe not quite so fast. Despite the season 5 premiere of "Discovery" featuring T'Rina's marriage proposal to Saru in the only way that a Vulcan can do it -- bluntly and with zero fanfare whatsoever -- shippers might want to hold off on celebrating just yet. Nuptials can prove just as tricky in futuristic societies as they do today (and as they always have), apparently, as Saru might be on the cusp of finding out for himself. During a Q&A following the screening of the season 5 premiere at SXSW, Jones took the stage to address his character's biggest and most unexpected moment. Asked what viewers should expect from the betrothed pair in the following episodes, he played coy about how their storyline will unfold this season:

"There's also going to be some relationship issues, as any relationship will go through. Where do we draw the line of me stepping into her territory diplomatically, her defending her territory from me a little bit. Yeah. There's going to be some issues that might challenge our wedding happening. Maybe."

Given the shocking revelation that occurs at the end of the episode, it's likely that their domestic bliss might once again be interrupted by much bigger stakes this time around. But Jones at least hints at possible issues stemming from their responsibilities to Starfleet (for Saru) and to their own people (for T'Rina). This wouldn't be the first time in "Trek" that work and love have mixed together to unpredictable results -- look no further than Burnham and Book, after all. But here's hoping this oddball pairing of Kelpian and Vulcan can figure things out.

"Star Trek: Discovery" season 5 premieres new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.

Read the original article on SlashFilm

Star Trek Discovery showrunner says that they will be following up a 30-year-old mystery that was never addressed: "You don’t just let that go"

SFX talks to Star Trek Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise about *that* TNG callback

Star Trek Discovery may have gone far, far beyond any other point in the franchise’s timeline after its third season leap to the 32nd Century – but its final season is still finding time to address one of the biggest, oldest mysteries in the Star Trek universe.

Having being given a Red Directive (essentially, a Starfleet mission that must succeed at any cost) during the Discovery season 5 premiere, Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) discovers that she’s on the hunt for technology belonging to a group known as the Progenitors. 

You may not recognize the name, but Star Trek fans of a certain vintage will certainly know of the ancient, life-creating beings: they form the basis of the 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘The Chase’, which sees Patrick Stewart’s Picard uncover perhaps the great mystery left in the universe: where do we come from?

As it turns out, all sentient life was formed thanks to the one race (now known as the Progenitors) – who had hoped to fill the galaxy with all manner of beings in part due to their desire to leave a lasting legacy.

Audiences in the early ‘90s must have had their minds blown but, frustratingly, it was never brought up again – until now.

Speaking to SFX , Star Trek Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise opened up about why now was the right time to follow up on a mystery 30 years in the making.

"The Chase was such an incredible episode. It raises these huge ideas, huge thematic explorations. Who are we? Where did we come from? And then the episode ends and Picard goes on and there's just this huge thing that they've discovered, and we just found ourselves wondering, 'Well, what happened after that? What did the message mean? And what was it all about? And then what did Picard do?' And you just don't let that go," Paradise explained.

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The showrunner continued, "And so we found ourselves wondering about what might have happened after, and that really became the catalyst for the journey this season. We know in The Chase that these beings seeded life as we know it. And so we take that and we ask the question, 'Well, how did they do that?' 

"They must have had a technology and this technology is out there. And it seemed kind of fun to explore, where would that be and what if it's still out there somewhere? And ultimately, that's what our heroes and the bad guys are now in a race to find. And it's just a really cool thing."

Star Trek Discovery season 5 is currently airing weekly on Paramount Plus. Not a subscriber to SFX? Then head on over here to get the latest issues sent directly to your home/device .

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

• Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series 3 days ago
• ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise 3 days ago
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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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10 best kirk and spock moments from tos & movies.

Kirk and Spock's enduring friendship ran through all of Star Trek: The Original Series and movies, and these 10 moments highlight that bond.

The friendship between Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was a staple of Star Trek: The Original Series and the first six Star Trek films, and there are so many moments that illustrate the bond they shared. As arguably the two most famous Star Trek characters, Kirk and Spock's friendship has stood the test of time. While they have vastly different personalities, their differences complement one another, and they often bring out the best in each other.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 will show the earliest stages of Kirk and Spock's iconic friendship, including how they met. But their friendship is a constant through nearly every episode of Star Trek: The Original Series . While they do not always agree, they have an obvious admiration and respect for one another that shines as one of the best examples of male friendship on television and films. Here are 10 of the best moments of Kirk and Spock's friendship.

Related: “Classic Bromance”: Strange New Worlds’ Kirk & Spock Dynamic Teased By Star

10 Kirk and Spock Play Gangster in Star Trek: TOS "A Piece of the Action"

The way Kirk and Spock work together and play off of one another in "A Piece of the Action" underlines how good of friends they are. From Spock remarking on Kirk's poor driving skills to their coordinated outfits and accents, Kirk and Spock are clearly having fun during this episode. While many of the moments on this list focus on more serious moments when either Kirk or Spock's life is in danger, this episode represents the moments where the two of them get to have fun. Spock goes along with most of Kirk's schemes and, in the end, he gets just as into the gangster mindset as Kirk does.

9 Kirk's Worry for Spock in Star Trek: TOS "Errand of Mercy"

In "Errand of Mercy," Kirk and Spock visit a neutral planet Organia near the Klingon border hoping to persuade the people there to resist Klingon occupation. When a Klingon ship arrives unexpectedly, Kirk and Spock find themselves trapped on the planet. They disguise themselves and pretend to be traders, but the Klingon leader, Kor (John Colicos), immediately distrusts Spock. Kirk protests strongly when Kor takes Spock away to be interrogated, but Spock is able to resist the Klingon's mind scanner interrogation device. The rest of the episode contains some great banter as Kirk and Spock work together to inspire the inhabitants of the planet to fight back against the Klingons, only to learn the Organians are evolved, super-powerful beings.

8 Kirk Shows How Much He Cares About Spock in Star Trek: TOS "Journey to Babel"

The Enterprise is called to transport Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) and his wife Amanda (Jane Wyatt) to a conference, and Kirk is surprised to discover that they are Spock's parents. Spock and his father are not speaking because Sarek does not approve of Spock's decision to join Starfleet. When Sarek suffers a heart attack, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) needs to use Spock's blood for a transfusion. However, before the surgery can take place, Kirk is injured and unable to command the Enterprise. Spock steps up to command and refuses to relinquish the position to save his father. To allow Spock to help Sarek, Kirk retakes his place as Captain despite his injuries. "Journey to Babel" shows how much Kirk cares about Spock and how much Spock cares about the Enterprise and its crew.

Related: What Happened To Kirk & Enterprise Crew After Star Trek: TOS?

7 Kirk and Spock Have Fun in 1986 in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew must travel back in time to 1986 San Francisco to rescue a couple of whales. The crew splits up and Kirk and Spock go in search of these whales, resulting in a rather hilarious jaunt across San Francisco. From misusing profanities to Vulcan-nerve-pinching annoying bus passengers, Kirk and Spock fail at their attempts to blend in, but they do seem to be having a lot of fun. By this point in their story, Kirk and Spock have saved each other's lives multiple times and Kirk has even brought Spock back from the dead. After so many serious moments, it's nice to see Spock and Kirk get back to having fun and saving the galaxy.

6 Kirk's Defense of Spock in Star Trek: TOS "Balance of Terror"

The Star Trek: The Original Series season 1 episode "Balance of Terror" introduces the Enterprise crew to the Romulans, who turn out to be an offshoot of the Vulcans. One of the officers on the bridge begins to suspect Spock may know more about the Romulans than he admits. Kirk defends his friend and has no room for the man's prejudice, telling him to "Leave any bigotry in [his] quarters. There's no room for it on the bridge." While Kirk may sometimes poke fun at Spock's Vulcan tendencies, he clearly has a lot of respect and love for him. Captain Kirk has a lot of great episodes and this is one of his best, in part because his trust in Spock never wavers.

5 Kirk Calls Spock His Brother in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

At the end of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Spock laments the loss of his half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill). Kirk responds that he "lost a brother once" before turning to Spock and saying: "But I was lucky, I got him back." McCoy replies: "I thought you said men like us don't have families." Kirk answers: "I was wrong." This scene underlines the brotherly relationship that these three men have formed over the years, and especially highlights the friendship between Kirk and Spock. In Star Trek: The Original Series , Kirk kept many of his crewmembers at a distance, but by the time of the films, he is more willing to express how much he cares about his friends.

4 Spock's Fear for Kirk in Star Trek: TOS "The Devil in the Dark"

The TOS season 1 episode "The Devil in the Dark" finds Captain Kirk and his crew searching caverns for a dangerous creature that has killed several men. At first, Kirk does not want Spock to join in the search for the creature, but Spock convinces him to change his mind. As they being their search, Spock wishes to simply subdue the beast, but when a cave-in traps Kirk with the creature, Spock urges him to kill it. Though Spock would rather not kill the creature, he would much rather the creature die than Kirk. At various times throughout this episode, Spock displays clear fear for Kirk's safety, going from calling him Captain to shouting for him as Jim.

3 All of Star Trek III: A Search for Spock

While Spock is absent for the majority of the third Star Trek film, the entire story revolves around Kirk's determination to find Spock and bring him back to life. The whole of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock acts as a love letter of sorts to the character of Spock. Kirk not only disobeys direct orders and risks his own life to save Spock, but also destroys the Enterprise in the process. Kirk is willing to risk everything for even the most remote chance that Spock can be brought back. The most heartwarming scene comes at the end of the film after Spock has been restored. Though his memories are fragmented and slow to return, one of the first things Spock remembers is his friend's name. Kirk tells Spock: "You saved the ship. You saved us all. Don't you remember?" Spock thinks about it for a minute, and his expression shifts to one reminiscent of the old Spock before he replies: "Jim. Your name is Jim."

2 Spock's Relief at Seeing Kirk Alive in Star Trek: TOS "Amok Time"

While it may seem odd to include an episode where Spock believes he killed Kirk on this list, Spock's face when he realizes Kirk is still alive says it all. Early in "Amok Time," Kirk and McCoy realize that something is off with Spock, but he refuses to tell them what it is. Despite this, Kirk trusts Spock when he says he needs to get to Vulcan. When Spock finally does tell Kirk what is happening, Kirk disobeys Starfleet's orders in order to get Spock to Vulcan in time to save him. Later, when Spock believes that he has killed Kirk, he is clearly distressed and offers to resign from Starfleet. One of Spock's best moments comes when Dr. McCoy reveals that Kirk is alive and the look on Spock's face radiates relief and pure joy.

1 Spock and Kirk's Goodbye in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Perhaps the most well-known moment of friendship between Kirk and Spock comes at the of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Spock sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise and the lives of his friends. As he dies, he utters the famous line: "I have been and always shall be your friend." This, along with Kirk's speech at Spock's funeral serves to illustrate just how close the two friends were. Kirk ends his speech with the lines: "Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human." What was once an insult to Spock is said here with only love and respect. Though Spock would return in later movies, his death remains one of the most heartfelt and heartbreaking Star Trek deaths. Because of all of these examples and so many more, Kirk and Spock's friendship across Star Trek: The Original Series and its movies remain one of the best examples of male friendship on screen.