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Star Trek (1966–1969)

Walter koenig: chekov.

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Scotty : When are ya gonna get off of that milk diet Laddy? Now Scotch is a real drink for a man.

Chekov : Scotch was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad.

Chekov : A madman got us into this, and it's beginning to look like only a madman can get us out.

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Pavel Chekov

Although he was always a promising officer with a career to bear it out, the young Chekov was prone to hot-heated actions and romantic attachments. While attending Starfleet Academy his involvement with fellow cadet Irina Galliulin broke off when she dropped out of the service before graduation in disdain for its structure. Years later they met again when she and other Eden-seekers with Dr. Sevrin were aboard.

Following the end of his first five-year mission, Chekov was promoted to lieutenant when he was assigned as security chief aboard the refit U.S.S. Enterprise. Assigned to the U.S.S. Reliant in 2377 and promoted to commander within eight years of that, he was first officer to the ill-fated Captain Clark Terrell during the Genesis Project incident and Khan Singh's grab for it. For the next few years he remained one of Kirk's trusted officers and stood with the group in the theft of the Enterprise to refuse Spock's body and katra, and then faced the UFP Council when those charges were dropped.

Chekov suffered serious wounds when time-traveling to 1986 during an attempted escape from the U.S.S. Enterprise naval aircraft carrier when suspected of being a Soviet spy of the time. He would have died if left to contemporary medicine, but was saved thanks to McCoy and went on to help secure the Khitomer Peace Accords - followed shortly by his shocked witness to Kirk's apparent death at the christening of the newest U.S.S. Enterprise, 1701-B.

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Published Sep 14, 2016

Happy 80th Birthday, Walter Koenig

Walter Koenig, Star Trek 's original and iconic Pavel Chekov, turns 80 years old today. The actor/writer was born in Chicago to Isadore and Sarah Koenig on September 14, 1936. He, of course, earned his greatest measure of fame playing Chekov on Star Trek: The Original Series and in seven feature films, but his acting credits span from The Untouchables, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Lieutenant and Gidget to Columbo, Babylon 5 and Moontrap , as well as the stage show The Boys of Autumn . He's written comic books, including Raver , as well as episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series , Land of the Lost, Family and The Powers of Matthew Star . Further, he's directed and taught, and also supported a wide variety of charities and human rights causes. He received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 10, 2012 during a ceremony in which he was surrounded by family, friends and such Trek co-stars as Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei.

As part of StarTrek.com 's celebration of Koenig's big 8-0 today, we're pleased to re-share a guest blog by former Starlog editor David McDonnell, in which he recounts how his long professional relationship with Koenig got off to a horrible start. Check it out:

Walter Koenig wasn’t happy with me. And who could blame him? He was calling from the set of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , a soundstage nestled on the Paramount Pictures lot in California. I was in my Starlog office in New York City (Park Avenue, 32nd Street). I had no idea why Koenig wanted to chat with me. After all, we had met once but extremely briefly at a Boston Starlog Festival convention engineered by Creation Entertainment a year earlier. He knew Starlog Publisher Kerry O’Quinn and our ex-columnist David (“ The Trouble with Tribbles ”) Gerrold, but me? As Starlog ’s Editor, I was just a name on the magazine’s masthead.Koenig was direct. And, of course, he didn’t speak in the Russian accent of Pavel Chekov. Actor, you know. He had done a phone interview with a Starlog writer that week (assigned by me), and he was concerned about it. He wanted to read the story before Starlog published it.

Let’s break here for two paragraphs of explanatory matter. Skip them if you want to Choose Your Own Anecdotal Adventure. Everyone else, here’s the thing: As a product of the Watergate-spawned wave of young journalists in the 1970s, I was all Bob-Woodward-and-Carl-Bernsteined up. While at West Virginia’s Bethany College, I even took an independent study course on, yes, Communications Ethics. Topics included “checkbook journalism” (paying folks to talk) and granting interviewees (or their reps) pre-publication story/quote approval. Both were big no-nos!Well, it was years later, but I was still serious about this stuff. I had (and have) delusions of journalism. Starlog may only have been covering entertainment (movies, TV, books, animation, comics, pop culture) but, journalistically speaking, we weren’t going to do anything that Time or Newsweek wouldn’t. On the other hand, they (and other esteemed outlets  like The New Yorker ) employ “fact-checkers” who might consult interviewees before publication to confirm a story’s basic facts and even “readback” relevant quotes over the phone. Starlog ’s policy—firmly (and formally) established after a 1984 incident—was this: Nobody ever got to read a story pre-publication except those crafting it for print (writers, editors, proofreaders and the article’s art director). And at Starlog , editors were our own fact-checkers, consulting reference works and colleagues’ expertise. We didn’t do “readbacks.”

But, back to Koenig. He asked to see the article. And I didn’t even pause to think. “NO. We don’t do that! It’s against company policy,” I declared in a particularly idealistic, incredibly arrogant, certainly smug manner. And I added, “We don’t show stories to George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, so we can’t show you your story.” Even then, that addition sounded condescending, which wasn’t my intent, but... Koenig was taken aback. After all, he had — uniquely among Trek actors at the time (followed by George Takei and John de Lancie years later) — written for Starlog with a three-part excerpt from Chekov’s Enterprise (issues #30-32). He was “one of us.” So (a point I didn’t then consider), perhaps he deserved some consideration. Nonetheless, confrontation continued. “Fine!” Koenig exclaimed. “If I can’t read it before, I’d rather you just not print it at all.”

Now, I was taken aback — and riding tall on my sanctimonious journalistic high (hobby) horse. “Fine!” I exclaimed. “Then, we won’t!”

“All right. They need me on set,” Koenig announced and said goodbye. “Bye,” I said and hung up, too. Uhhhmm, that went well.Now, you don’t have to post critical comments of my handling of this ancient situation; I realized within seconds, three decades ago, that I had screwed it all up. Koenig was blameless. Essentially, I had taken his simple request (reasonable to some, not so per journalistic rules) and transformed it into (at best) nuclear warfare or (at worst) Ragnarok. But, I was young and foolish. A relative rookie, I had served as Starlog ’s Editor for little more than a year then, and I was tortured by others constantly second- and third-guessing me (and me fourth-guessing myself, too). That year, I was especially overwhelmed by work (editing 26+ issues of Starlog, Fangoria and other titles).

But... what had the actor declared in the interview that had caused him enough post-conversation concern so as to ring me? Had he inadvertently revealed some plot twist from The Voyage Home ? (SPOILER ALERT: Here Be Whales! Kirk & Company Save Earth, Get New Enterprise) Had Koenig been too candid or overly critical? Apparently, he had second thoughts about something he said, fearing (I was later told) that his comments might be misinterpreted. But what had been said? There was only one way to find out. I called my writer, briefed him on the situation and requested that he give me the cassette tape the next time he was in town. I wanted to listen to the interview and find out what’s what. Maybe if I knew what was specifically the problem, I could call Koenig and find a middle path to a solution satisfying to all. Maybe even (like Newsweek or The New Yorker ) “readback” only the quotes? So, my writer dutifully put the cassette in his shoulder bag and flew off to a West Coast media event. He left the bag in the press hotel suite and proceeded to an inner room where he interviewed another celebrity, then returned for his belongings. Baboom! The whole bag was missing. Vanished! While he was inside doing one interview, someone had stolen the other. For all practical purposes, that untranscribed (!?!) Koenig chat no longer existed and thus certainly couldn’t be published by Starlog . No need for further brouhaha now. Ironic, eh?

That troublesome talk was gone, but life went on. Afterwards, as fate would have it, I increasingly kept running into Koenig at SF conventions. We were frequently fellow guests. We sat side-by-side at autograph tables, judged costume contests together and dined with con staffers. All those times, I was on my best behavior. I still had regrets about that incident and no desire to remind him of any unpleasantness. And I didn’t want to commit any new felonies, either.

So, I got to know Walter Koenig. Many, many of you have had a similar opportunity because he’s been such a frequent convention guest since the 1970s. If you haven’t gotten his autograph and/or chatted with him at a con, a cruise or some personal appearance, you just haven’t been trying. Koenig has been a warm, charming, if sometimes world-weary, presence at so many Trek conventions. I’ve witnessed firsthand as he was extremely generous to eager fans, gracious to clueless media and kind to perfect strangers; I’ve also seen him deal firmly with the occasional idiot (uhhhmm, you know, like me). Fortunately, all this togetherness led to unexpected friendship. Koenig (I believe) came to think I wasn’t a total fool. And I must admit that my character references got an upgrade when I began dating a young woman whom Koenig had known since she was a teenager. After all, if she (like me, a Syracuse University Graduate School alum) could put up with me, maybe I wasn’t so bad. Hapless and hopeless, yes, rumpled but not without merit.

Wrapping up, let me share a  kaleidoscope of Koenig encounters here and there over the years: In 1989, in Florida, Seatrek organizers Joe Motes, Ruthanne Devlin & Carroll Page took a busload of guests and staffers on a post-cruise airboat tour of the Everglades. After the alligators, we stopped at a restaurant (where Starlog Managing Editor Eddie Berganza informed on me, revealing my new status that May Monday). That’s when Koenig, Takei, Jimmy Doohan, Grace Lee Whitney and assembled friends and celebrities sang “Happy Birthday” to me.

We had our brush with death in Canada. Peter Bloch-Hansen ( Starlog ’s Canadian Correspondent) chauffeured me on a tour throughout Toronto of my favorite places (used bookstores!), and Koenig opted to come along. I sat shotgun upfront, Koenig in the rear passenger seat. And Bloch-Hansen, bless him, made a left hand turn from the right lane just as the stoplight changed against us, across three lanes of impatient traffic. Yes, he did. Unbelievably, this was my second or third near-accident while a vehicle passenger alongside a Trek celebrity. The next came soon after when (much to our open-mouthed incredulity) Bloch-Hansen repeated that same kind of turn at another intersection. Yes, yes, he did. Two nods with death in less than 90 minutes. Baboom!Down Under in Australia in 1993, Koenig brought his wife Judy and daughter Danielle on the Denver-based Starland Conventions tour. I was the other guest. The four of us took a pleasant boat ride together (alongside Starland pals Phil Watson & Sharon Macy-Watson) upriver to a wildlife sanctuary outside Brisbane, Queensland. There we ogled emus, petted kangaroos and held koalas (I have the pictures to prove it).

Australia is where, over a crowded dinner with the Starland gang, I finally brought up that seven-year-old incident, noted my regrets and privately apologized to Koenig. Also, we discussed Babylon 5 , then debuting as a TV movie. Koenig was hopeful it would go to series since B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski had promised him an eventual role. I  felt the human characters weren’t as intriguing as the aliens, wondering if this would affect the show’s prospects. I was slightly right (a few human roles were reconceived and recast), but fortunately mostly wrong. B5 soon became a beloved SF TV saga, giving Koenig his second best role ever (after Chekov) — as Psi Corps’ Alfred Bester. Actually, Koenig believes it's been his best role.

Over in Pennsylvania, he did a con where my Mom & Dad were on hand to assist our friend the promoter (their only stint at an admissions table). Koenig charmed them, dining at a local Applebee’s with them and other staffers. I was at a Walt Disney World press event and didn’t even attend this con. Still, he was especially nice to my parents.In Illinois, my girl friend and I watched Koenig and Mark Lenard rehearse Bernard Sabath’s fine play The Boys of Autumn . It’s the bittersweet tale of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn meeting again late in life and reliving their triumphs and tragedies. Getting to Chicago early Friday, we were privileged to see a rehearsal and later the full performance Saturday night. We even met Boys director Allan (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ) Hunt and playwright Sabath. Koenig was terrific as the troubled Tom Sawyer.

Back in New York, Koenig and wife Judy dropped by Starlog ’s Manhattan offices, joining the select group of celebrities who toured the place (Takei, de Lancie, Arthur C. Clarke, Clive Barker, Paul & Linda McCartney, David Prowse, etc.). We had coffee downstairs and talked about Broadway, conventions and mutual friends.

Like most of his TOS colleagues, Koenig wrote an autobiography. Relaxing in New Jersey, I read Warp Factors: A Neurotic’s Guide to the Universe (Taylor, 1998). It’s a candid memoir. And who knew that Koenig, as a youngish summer camp counselor, had known a frequent camp visitor, one of my heroes, legendary folk singer Pete Seeger? Good company! And a good book! Recommended reading.Out in California many years after our Chekov’s Enterprise excerpts, Koenig wrote another article for Starlog (“Are You Who I Think I Am?”), detailing offbeat personal appearances, some made alongside Doohan, Takei and Nichelle Nichols. I published it in issue #233. And he gladly did more interviews not only with the writer involved in that earlier incident, but with Starlog , too, talking to Lynne Stephens, Howard Weinstein, Lee Goldberg, Marc Shapiro, Ian Spelling, Martha J. Bonds, David J. Creek and others. He even gave me quotes for a couple multi-voice survey pieces I was writing. So, all forgiven, I think.

What did I learn from all this? Well, it’s what you all already knew: Walter Koenig is a great guy. I’m (still) sorry we started off as inadvertent adversaries, but I’m glad that our bad beginning was overcome by better days. Like legions of Star Trek fans worldwide, I’m pleased to have made his acquaintance. David McDonnell, "the maitre’d of the science fiction universe," has dished up coverage of pop culture for more than three decades. Beginning his professional career in 1975 with the weekly "Media Report" news column in The Comic Buyers’ Guide , he joined Jim Steranko’s Mediascene Prevue in 1980. After 31 months as Starlog ’s Managing Editor (beginning in October 1982), he became that pioneering SF magazine’s longtime Editor (1985-2009). He also served as Editor of its sister publications Comics Scene, Fangoria and Fantasy Worlds . At the same time, he edited numerous licensed movie one-shots ( Star Trek and James Bond films, Aliens, Willow , etc.) and three ongoing official magazine series devoted to Trek TV sagas ( The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager ). He apparently still holds this galaxy’s record for editing more magazine pieces about Star Trek in total than any other individual, human or alien. ©2016 David McDonnell

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Picard Season 3 Finally Reveals the Future of a Beloved Original Series Character

The Picard series finale features a major blast from the past that will have Star Trek: The Original Series fans jumping out of their chairs!

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This Star Trek: Picard article contains spoilers.

In its third season, Star Trek: Picard has been all about voices from the past. Given the show’s title character, most of those voices have unsurprisingly come from the era of The Next Generation . But in the opening minutes of the Picard series finale, we hear a voice that goes back even further into Star Trek history: that of Original Series star Walter Koenig, who voices his character’s offspring, Federation president Anton Chekov.

“Do not approach Earth,” warns President Chekov in a transmission to Starfleet survivors, including the crew of the newly-revived Enterprise-D. “Signal of unknown origin has turned our young against us. They have been assimilated by the Borg. Our fleet has been compromised, and as we speak, our planetary defenses are falling. Sol Station is defending Earth as best it can, but we’re almost out of time. We have not been able to find a way to stop this Borg signal and unassimilate our young. But I know that if my father were here, he’d remind us all that hope is never lost. There are always possibilities. Until then, I implore you, save yourselves. Farewell.”

Even if the name threw you off for a moment, you certainly would have recognized Koenig’s voice. From the second season of The Original Series all the way to Star Trek: Generations , Koenig played Pavel Chekov, the Russian navigator of the Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk. Of course, Pavel Chekov would be far too old to lead the Federation during Picard ‘s 25th-century setting. So the voice you hear isn’t that of Pavel, but of his son Anton.

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Anton’s final warning to survivors is followed by the sounds of chaos in the background, as an aide urges him to make his way to an escape pod. Then the transmission cuts out and we’re left wondering if President Chekov has met his end just as we were getting to know him. It’s possible we’ll never know — unless we meet him again in a potential Star Trek: Legacy ? We’ll see.

The name Anton is a nod to the second actor to play Pavel Chekov, Anton Yelchin, who portrayed Chekov in the three Kelvin-verse Star Trek films, starting with the J.J. Abrams-directed 2009 reboot. Shortly before the release of the third and final (as of this writing) Kelvin movie, Star Trek Beyond , in 2016, Yelchin died in an automobile accident, cutting too short an already impressive life and career. Of course, the name has even deeper roots, as it first belonged to the great Russian author Anton Chekhov. These days, Chekhov is less known for his plays and short stories than for his maxim about narrative cohesion: if there is a gun on the wall in the first act, it must be fired in the third.

And in a clever way, Koenig himself set up a Chekhov’s gun for all Trekkers to see. Like many of the original cast who weren’t William Shatner, Koenig sometimes grew weary of seeing his character underserved by scripts, especially to make room for more Kirk. While The Wrath of Khan gave Koenig arguably more attention than he deserved, as Chekov was not yet on the show when Khan Noonien Singh made his only previous appearance in season one’s “Space Seed,” Chekov’s post- TOS career mostly involved looking for nuclear vessels and dressing like Little Lord Fauntleroy. Chekov even got cut from The Animated Series for budget purposes (even though Koenig did get to write one episode, “The Infinite Vulcan”).

So there was no surprise among Trekkers when, in a 2020 interview with Trek Movie , Koenig announced he had retired from his signature character: “To answer your question, I would not be very receptive to coming back as Chekov with these new iterations,” Koenig said, before placing a proverbial phaser on the wall. “That is not to say I wouldn’t mind coming back as another character. I would love to perform as another character in  Picard  or one of the other new Star Trek series.”

With the finale of Star Trek: Picard , Chekov’s phaser has finally fired and we are stunned.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 is streaming now on Paramount+.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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The original ‘star trek’s’ walter koenig (that’s chekov) on his walk of fame star, how the monkees inspired his character and his new graphic novel about vampires (q&a).

"I saw Big Bird out there, and it wasn’t such a stretch that there could be also a star for Walter Koenig," he tells THR of his place in pop culture.

By Tim Appelo

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At last, at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Walter Koenig, who played Chekov on TV’s original 1966-69 Star Trek series, will be the last of the seven main castmembers to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6679 Hollywood Blvd. Koenig (rhymes with “RAY-big”) tells The Hollywood Reporter ‘s Tim Appelo what he thinks of the honor, his legacy and his forthcoming vampire comic book.

The Hollywood Reporter : Navigator Ensign Pavel Chekov was the youngest one on the Enterprise , right? The cool young guy.

Koenig: I was supposed to be the youngest, yeah. He was supposed to be 22 and I was 31. I was there to attract that pre-adolescent demograpic.

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THR: Chekov was inspired by Davy Jones of the Monkees, right?

Koenig : He inspired the studio. They were looking for somebody that was somewhat like him and that appealed to the same category as him, and it had the desired response. I got an enormous amount of fan mail from kids 8-12, generally on lined paper in pencil.

THR: I trace a development from the Beatles to you, because Davy Jones was on Ed Sullivan the night the Beatles debuted, promoting his Broadway musical, and when he saw the girls screaming, he decided to become a pop star. And he inspired Chekov. So a beam of youth energy extends from the Beatles via you to the 23rd century.

Koenig : True. When finally ran out of air on in 1969, we concluded that it was the end of Star Trek. But when George Lucas saw the effect we had on the public, he was inspired to create Star Wars , and that in turn brought the people of Paramount around to saying, what do we have to make a feature and perhaps a franchise out of? And then they remembered they had Star Trek . So one thing feeds off another.

THR: At your first Star Trek audition, did you think it would make this big a splash, and this would be the culmination?

Koenig: I had no idea where we were going with this. I knew the money was going to be pretty modest. They said the part could possibly reoccur. I’m cynical enough not to put too much stock in that.

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THR: But you’d already been a recurring character on TV.

Koenig : The only things that comes close to a recurring role was I played three different characters in three different episodes of a series called Mr. Novak . One of which was a defecting Russian student. I also did the pilot for General Hospital I think in 1963.

THR: You were born in Chicago, but didn’t your Russian immigrant father have a thick accent?

Koenig : Yes, he did, very strong and very identifiable.

THR: Did you base Chekov’s accent on his?

Koenig : Yes, I did.

THR: In the middle of the partly Russian-backed Vietnam War, how did Russians become cool on Star Trek ?

Koenig: [ Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry wanted to create a show with a sense of one world community. He brought in an African American, an Asian and a Scotsman to play important roles, and at the tail end of the Cold War, he brought in a Russian that wasn’t a threat, and not fitting the stereotype of the military characterization we had drawn of the Russians at that time.

THR: You wrote Chekov’s Enterprise about the making of the first Star Trek movie. What was your view of the movie franchise?

Koenig : The transition from television to film was something I had a hard time embracing and committing to, because we had so many false starts, and I’m one to believe that the glass not only is half empty but there’s a leak on the bottom. So each time we were postponed, which happened three or four times, I thought, “That’s it, it’s never going to get made.” I came in for a costume fitting and they said, “Well your costume fits like it did in 1969,” it’s now 1978. They called and the film project had been put on temporary inactivity. And that happened several times. There was a big press conference announcing the film would begin shooting and we never made that thing. It took three shots into the film to actually convince me that no one was going to tap me on the shoulder and tell me to go home.

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THR: Wasn’t the campaign for your Walk of Fame star even longer than the Star Trek film was in development? Did it start in 2000?

Koenig : Probably earlier. I had a fan club that I was actively involved in promoting the event, who raised the initial amount when it was only $3,000, but the voters on the Walk of Fame committee chose not to elect me. You must understand I wasn’t out there with pamphlets knocking on doors begging people to vote for me. The majority of people who wanted me on the star were the fans — everyone else had one and wasn’t it about time. I thought it would be such a nice honor, accepted in a perspective that it’s late and not necessarily an accolade for a great body of work that was executed brilliantly as much as it had to do with taking your place in the pop culture. Once I understood that, I felt more comfortable about receiving one. I saw Big Bird out there, and it wasn’t such a stretch that there could be also a star for Walter Koenig.

THR: How far is your star from the other Star Trek stars?

Koenig : George Takei ’s star is a couple of stars away and Gene Roddenberry ’s is in the same block as well.

THR: Roddenberry seemed both pop culture savvy, but also visionary.

Koenig : That’s a fair assessment of who is was, business savvy and pragmatic and at the same time quite idealistic. He fought hard to maintain the beliefs woven into the fabric of our show. We were dealing with political issues that were topical for the time and progressive, and I admired him for that.

THR: As Vietnam raged, everyone on TV ignored it, except the Smothers Brothers, who got stomped for addressing issues directly.

Koenig : We were able to express some of those theories because we removed the situation from what was going on currently.  Even though were in the 23rd century, were still dealing with the same issues: racial inequality, peace and war, the balance of power.

THR: What’s memorable about Chekov?

Koenig :  I had an idea my first season that I thought was cute, but it was sophomorically cute so they disbanded the use of it. It was this chauvinistic idea that everything was invented in Russia. The Russians had been known to have said that upon occasion, things that they took ownership of, so that was kind of a gag. Chekov would reference that: “This was een-vented by leetle old lady in Leningrad.”

THR: Who will be there for your star ceremony?

Koenig : Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski — that was a wonderful experience for me, I performed a third the number of episodes that I did on Star Trek , but it was such an emotional experience to have that character evolve into something complex. And Esther Shapiro is going to speak, a friend for a long time. She and her husband created Dynasty . George Takei , Nichelle Nichols and Leonard Nimoy might show up, depending actually on how he’s feeling, he said he would like to. And other people have indicated a willingness to be there but may or may not appear. People really committed to it, and then they have work and I can’t begrudge them that.

THR: Are you 75?

Koenig : I turn 76 four days after the ceremony. At my age I don’t care anymore. Most of my vanity, along with my hair, has pretty much vanished.

THR: What’s your next project?

Koenig: A graphic novel from Blue Water Publications that’s supposed to be published in October. About an apocalyptic world where vampires are the only sentient beings. A coming-of-age psychological story. They don’t know why they’re there and what their purpose or future is. It’s a universal issue despite the fact that they have 4-inch long teeth. I’m having a great deal of fun writing it. The caveat is that if we don’t reach 700 advance orders the chances are the book won’t be published. So we’re on a campaign on Twitter and Facebook.

THR: More than 700 fans demanded your Walk of Fame star.

Koenig : Yeah, but maybe they’re exhausted.

THR: Who would star in the vampire comic’s movie adaptation?

Koenig : I wrote a character who’s balding with white hair, so if it’s made into a movie, I would get a good chance at playing it. He’s one of these people who’s initially very pleased about becoming a vampire, because he didn’t feel he succeeded very much in his human life, and in this kind of existence he might achieve more. So it’s a little different than vampires are usually depicted.

THR: Vampires as ambitous people?

Koenig: In his case, yeah. And vampires as searching for their humanity, wondering why they have been cursed, is this in fact God’s curse on them? Can they get back into his good graces? One group of vampires actually build a church hoping to reconnect with God. Vampires are individuals, their choices and their needs are different. And that’s where a lot of conflict comes in.

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The Only 3 Actors Still Alive From The Cast Of Star Trek: The Original Series

We're coming up at warp speed to the 60th anniversary of the "Star Trek" premiere, which aired on NBC on September 8, 1966. Though the original series only ran for three years, it spawned a media franchise that's still one of the biggest in the world today and which changed the face of science fiction forever. We might not have fandom in the way we do today if not for "Star Trek," as it's largely responsible for the modern style of fan fiction, shipping, and contemporary fanzines, among other things.

Sadly, since it's been so long since the series premiered, most of the actors who made it so special have passed away in the years since. Leonard Nimoy , the man behind the inimitable Spock, passed away in 2015. DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, died in 1999, Scotty actor James Doohan passed away in 2005, and Nichelle Nichols, who played Nyota Uhura, died in 2022 at the age of 89. Many of the other supporting players from the show's three seasons have sadly also passed, but together, they leave a legacy that will continue to stand the test of time.

Not every original "Star Trek" actor has passed away , though. A few are still making their mark on the world and even acting in their old age. These are the only three actors still alive from the main cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series."

William Shatner: Captain James T. Kirk

Any level of "Star Trek" fan will know that William Shatner — Captain James Tiberius Kirk himself — is still thriving at the age of 92 at the time of writing. Not only that, but he's far from what anyone would call a retirement. His long and illustrious career includes "Star Trek: The Original Series," the later films in which he reprised his role as Kirk, other hit movies like "Miss Congeniality," a substantial stretch as a recording artist, and a number of science-fiction novels he either wrote or co-wrote, including the "TekWar" series.

One would think that after accomplishing so much, Shatner would be happy to live in peace and quiet in his 90s, but that's far from the case. He's continued to take on voice acting work, playing the role of Keldor on Netflix's "Masters of the Universe: Revolution," and his recent work out of character includes a 2022 turn on "The Masked Singer" and a role as host for the 2023 reality TV series "Stars on Mars." The latter was an appropriate job not only because of Shatner's "Star Trek" history but also his own highly publicized journey to space in 2021, which made him the oldest human to enter the cosmos.

Though Shatner is still incredibly active, he's also been pretty candid about his age in recent years. "The sad thing is that the older a person gets the wiser they become and then they die with all that knowledge," Shatner said in a 2023 interview with Variety . "But what does live on are good deeds. If you do a good deed, it reverberates to the end of time."

George Takei: Hikaru Sulu

Like his former co-star William Shatner, George Takei hasn't skipped a beat in his old age. After getting his start doing English-language voiceovers for some Toho kaiju movies in the late 1950s, along with a handful of other smaller roles, Takei climbed to fame playing Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek: The Original Series." In the decades since the show ended, he's remained quite active as an actor and political activist.

Like Shatner and the other main actors of the original "Star Trek," Takei returned for the theatrical follow-up films that began in 1979. Most of his acting work in recent times has been in the realm of animation, however, making Takei's deep voice as iconic as his physical presence. He's played characters in everything from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Star Wars: Visions" to "The Simpsons" and "BoJack Horseman." He even reprises his role as Sulu on the adult animated comedy "Star Trek: Lower Decks." In between these performances, Takei has made time for extensive political activism, frequently speaking out publicly on social issues like racial equality and LGBTQ+ rights.

At the age of 86, Takei is still balancing a lot of acting work and political spokesmanship. In 2022, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia, and in 2023, he voiced major roles on both "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" and the critically acclaimed "Blue Eye Samurai."

Walter Koenig: Pavel Chekov

The final actor still alive from the main cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series" is Walter Koenig, now 87 years old, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov on the show and in the ensuing theatrical films. His work prior to being cast on the show mainly consisted of various small parts on other TV series, including "General Hospital," "Mr. Novak," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." But after debuting as Chekov, Koenig's most notable work for the rest of his career has generally been in the realm of science fiction.

In addition to his many Trek appearances, Koenig played Alfred Bester on "Babylon 5." he hasn't been as active over the last decade, but he still works from time to time, like in the 2018 sci-fi movie "Diminuendo" or the 2017 animated series "Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters." In 2023, he briefly reprised his role as Chekov for "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3.

It was also announced in 2023 that Koenig was joining the "7th Rule" podcast to review episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." In an interview with Screen Rant promoting the show, Koenig spoke highly of his time on the series and mourned the death of Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the J. J. Abrams "Star Trek" films. "I met him," Koenig said. "Very bright, delightful young man. Very talented. My God, in the short time he had, he did several folds as many jobs as I ever had. So you've got to applaud his talent. Very, very sad."

A countdown of all of Pavel Chekov’s love interests on Star Trek: The Original Series

By lillyan ratcliffe | may 12, 2023.

Pavel Chekov had quite a bit of romance during Star Trek’s original run.

Star Trek: The Original Series often gets criticized for how many one-episode romances Captain Kirk had.  Yet, did Pavel Chekov, who didn’t join the crew until the second season, have almost as many romances as his captain?  Was the Russian answer to Davy Jones less prone to falling for aliens than Kirk, looking for love with his fellow crew members?

Pavel Chekov was known for saying “X was invented in Russia” and using his charm on several women throughout his two seasons on The Enterprise.  However, it is interesting to note that Pavel Chekov did not always follow the same romantic path Kirk did.

Kirk often used romance to achieve a goal with female aliens or female Starfleet officers.  Pavel Chekov often seemed to be genuinely interested in the women he had romances with.  Was Pavel Chekov more interested in romance for romance’s sake than Kirk?  Were his romances more focused on finding a long-term partner?

Looking at Pavel Chekov’s love interests across Star Trek

Pavel chekov romance in star trek: the original series (n/a in the animated series).

Pavel Chekov was introduced in season two of TOS when more romantic plotlines were introduced to the series overall.  The first four episodes he appears in, “Catspaw”, “Friday’s Child”, “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, and “Amok Time” are more focused on establishing Pavel Chekov as a character as the romances in these episodes do not involve him.

The first episode to feature a Pavel Chekov love interest “The Apple” immediately has him in a relationship with the Yeoman of the Episode, Martha Landon.  What makes this unique is that dialogue implies this relationship is known to most of the away party.  Kirk even chastises them for wanting to sneak off.  Compare this to most of the other relationships seen in the series where it is love at first sight or the relationship seems to be fairly new.  Pavel Chekov and Martha Landon appear to have been in a relationship prior to the episode and are very attracted to each other.

Pavel Chekov is not involved in another romantic plotline until “The Gamesters Of Triskelion”  where his drill thrall expresses romantic interest in him.  Pavel Chekov does not return these, however, although it is not clear if he doesn’t like how forward she is or if he does not find her attractive.  This is also unique as many romantic plotlines in TOS are mutual.  Does this point to Chekov having a type or being more interested in long-term relationships?

“Spectre of the Gun” finds Pavel Chekov being mistaken for Billy Clanton and kissed by Sylvia, ‘Billy’s girlfriend’ who is really an energy being.  Even though he protests at first Pavel Chekov does seem to fall for her later in the episode.   Most of the following episodes do not involve Pavel Chekov in a romantic role of any kind.  As the canonical newbie, Pavel Chekov often ends up as the character who gets hurt the most, whether that means having an alien take over his memories, being part of the landing party who gets injured, turned into a side character who comments about something, and so on.

One of Pavel Chekov’s most well-known love interests is Irina Galliulin from “The Way to Eden”.  They drifted apart during their time at Starfleet Academy as Irina Galliulin considered Pavel Chekov too rigid and he considered her too free-spirited.  When the Enterprise takes aboard Dr. Sevrin’s acolytes, including Irina Galliulin, their past lets her manipulate him to learn about the Enterprise’s systems so that Servin can hijack a craft to seek the Eden planet his followers have been looking for.  Although Pavel Chekov is hurt by this betrayal, they have a final scene where they mourn their lost relationship, opening up the opportunity that they might reconcile after the failed attempt to find Eden has left Irina Galliulin to find a new goal in life.

Pavel Chekov was not part of the crew during The Animated Series.   While the in-universe reason was he was transferred, could Pavel Chekov also have found romance on another ship? TAS had much less romance than TOS so even if Chekov had been part of the crew, he might never have a romantic plotline.

Pavel Chekov was a father (almost twice!)

It is interesting to note that Demora Sulu was originally Demora Chekov in the Star Trek Generations script.  While there is no clear story about why she was changed from Chekov’s daughter to Sulu’s (as the change from Chekov to Sulu occurred before casting), she is close to Chekov, possibly indicating he introduced her parents to each other or is her “Uncle Pavel”.

Pavel Chekov did become a father offscreen sometime following the five-year mission as his son Anton is the President of the United Federation of Planets in the Picard finale “The Last Generation” .  Audiences do not see him, but he is identified by name.  Sadly, the audience does not get to learn more about Anton – has he gone to politics after a Starfleet career?  Did he serve alongside Demora, taking the Sulu and Chekov friendship into the next generation?  A different President of the United Federations of Planets was seen during TNG so Anton could have been a politician who had yet to run for president or he could have been in a different field entirely.

What remains true for Pavel Chekov from his original appearance to his son Anton’s introduction decades later is that he was not a romantic in the same way Kirk was.  Pavel Chekov’s relationships tended to be less about instant attraction and more about seeking a long-term romantic relationship.  He does have more relationships than Sulu, but do others match him?

Pavel Chekov Love Interests : 4 on-screen (1 mutual; 1 with a one-sided crush; 1 energy being; 1 past relationship) 1 off-screen (implied)

Next. Hikaru Sulu Love Interests in ST:TOS. dark

Anton Chekov

• View history

In 2401 , Chekov served as the President of the United Federation of Planets . ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

External link [ ]

• Anton Chekov at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 Ancient humanoid

Captain Kirk should have gone aboard Star Trek: The Next Generation's Enterprise

W illiam Shatner's Captain Kirk made his final appearance on Star Trek: Generations. He, Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) and Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) joined the Enterprise-B for its inaugural adventure, and Kirk saves the ship from a gravimetric field and is presumed dead. From that point forward, Kirk is trapped in the Nexus while the world goes on without him. But, as Screenrant writer Rachel Hulshult points out , Generations missed out on a HUGE opportunity by not bringing Kirk aboard Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) Enterprise.

Generations was, essentially, a way to pass the torch from The Original Series movies to The Next Generation movies. It was the final time that Captain Kirk would have an adventure in the universe, and while he was brought back to help save that same universe...again, his presence in the movie, if utilized properly, could have made such a big difference in how it was received.

Having Shatner in this movie should have been one of the major focuses. Pairing him with Captain PIcard aboard the Enterprise would have been more of a torch-passing moment than a fight with Macolm McDowell's character, Dr. Soran. To see the two captains on the bridge of that iconic ship, one who led her and one who currently leads her, would have been a truly classical moment.

Imagine Kirk's face on seeing the differences a hundred years brought to his ship. With Kirk able to see the advancements and Picard's crew in awe of Kirk, this would have made the movie about something other than just leaving The Original Seris in the dust. And I'm wholeheartedly in agreement with Hulshult's statement that "Star Trek: Generations blew it by not having Kirk aboard Picard's Enterprise." By utilizing Kirk, Picard and his crew, and the Enteprise as a team, Generations could have made history for a better reason than the death of Captain Kirk .

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Captain Kirk should have gone aboard Star Trek: The Next Generation's Enterprise .

Screen Rant

Walter koenig points out a star trek trope that is “repeated again and again”.

Walter Koenig breaks down an issue with the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Changeling" he sees repeated throughout the franchise.

• Walter Koenig calls out Star Trek for recycled plotlines in "The Changeling" episode on The 7th Rule podcast.
• Koenig critiques the repetitive sci-fi trope of confusing a powerful force, seen in various Star Trek episodes.
• Koenig reveals his dislike for the recycled theme in the classic "The Changeling" episode.

Walter Koenig puts out a Star Trek trope that is "repeated again and again," especially by Star Trek: The Original Series . Koenig played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek , a role he reprised in 7 Star Trek movies. Although Chekov wasn't in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 3, "The Changeling", he reviewed the episode on The 7th Rule podcast with hosts Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk. None of them had seen "The Changeling" before reviewing it for their Star Trek podcast.

In Star Trek: The Original Series ' "The Changeling," the crew of the USS Enterprise encounters Nomad, an Earth space probe that was reprogrammed and has returned to find its "creator" and wipe out "biological infestations" , i.e. organic life forms. Walter Koenig is no fan of the episode, and he points out the plot is one that Star Trek has done multiple times . Read his quote and watch The 7th Rule video below:

It’s almost prototypically science fiction. The driving force is a premise that has been used again and again. And I can even name you Star Trek episodes, including even V’Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There was always that sense of some force behind the scenes that is organizing the world, and structuring it, in charge. One of the things that occurs is that if you want to get rid of it, you confuse it. We did that in “I, Mudd” when we all started dancing. We did it here, and [Nomad] goes a little nuts. So it’s an exercise that is repeated again and again in science fiction.

10 Best Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes To Hook New Fans

Star trek's repeated trope against a.i. explained, the recycled plot still appears but differently in new star trek shows.

As Walter Koenig pointed out, the plot of Star Trek: The Original Series ' "The Changeling" is similar to the story of V'Ger returning to find its creator in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Both Star Trek tales centered on an Earth space probe that is rebuilt by aliens and travels back to Earth to find answers. Given the limited TV production budgets of the 1960s Star Trek , and the desire for a more profound science fiction story to build the first Star Trek movie around, recycling the plot of the USS Enterprise crew overcoming a superior technological threat by confusing it with their own humanity made sense for that era.

Star Trek does tend to repeat the same basic story again and again.

Modern Star Trek TV shows still depict dangerous A.I. threats, but the way to overcome them tends to lean more toward action. Star Trek: Discovery season 2's villain was a malevolent A.I. called Control that was defeated by an eye-popping outer space battle and the USS Discovery jumping 930 years into the future. Star Trek: Picard season 1 also introduced an inorganic species from another galaxy that was foiled by closing up a portal. Of course, Starfleet has always needed to be creative to defeat the overwhelming threat of the Borg . As Walter Keonig asserts, Star Trek does tend to repeat the same basic story again and again.

Source: The 7th Rule

Star Trek: The Original Series is streaming on Paramount+