Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond
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(written from a Production point of view)
Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond was a documentary television special made to commemorate the Star Trek franchise's 30th Anniversary and originally aired live on UPN on 6 October 1996.
Directed by Louis J. Horvitz, who has helmed many live telecasts including many editions of the Academy Awards, and hosted by Ted Danson, the show featured an assortment of montages and a large number of speakers. Among them were Ben Stiller, Joan Collins, John de Lancie, Nichelle Nichols, LeVar Burton, John Larroquette, Marina Sirtis, Avery Brooks, Buzz Aldrin, and Dr. Mae Jemison.
The featured elements of the show included taped comments from Leonard Nimoy and Patrick Stewart, who were in Paris and London, respectively; a musical tribute to the special effects of Star Trek performed by Kenny G; a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" by Jennifer Lamor as a tribute to to the spirit of humanity that Gene Roddenberry infused into Star Trek; and a skit performed by the cast of Frasier with Kate Mulgrew as the cast of Star Trek: Voyager.
Preceding every commercial break, the winner of a category from the Trekker's Choice Awards was announced; these "bumpers" were not included when the special was shown later in syndication on The Biography Channel.
The show concluded with the presentation by Dr. Mae Jemison and Buzz Aldrin to every core cast member from the Star Trek: The Original Series (sans Nimoy), Star Trek: The Next Generation (sans Stewart, Denise Crosby, and Wil Wheaton), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (sans Alexander Siddig), and Star Trek: Voyager of a framed American flag flown in space (aboard the space shuttle Atlantis and the spacestation Mir).
The special was shown on the BBC, and released on VHS in the UK as part of the Star Trek - The Movies collection. It was released on VHS in the US on 25 May 1999. It was also a LaserDisc release in Japan.
