5 things that you didn’t know about Star Trek


The Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry from 1960s is one of the most influential TV shows to date. The series remains the most widely known sci-fi franchise with a popular and fascinating story. Having said that, the series boasts many unusual facts which even the most dedicated fans probably do not know.

So, aside from the fact that red shirts are considered almost as good as dead, what other things do you know about Star Trek? Well, no need to brainstorm at the moment because we’ve made things easier for you. The following are 5 things that you didn’t know about Star Trek.

Star Trek

Spock’s skin was supposed to be red

The iconic character Spock was supposed to look different in the original TV series. Initially, Gene Roddenberry had thought of creating a character with tapered ears, high eyebrows, and red skin.

However, this plan was later altered after various screen tests, where the red turned out as jet black with the black and white television. A switch to yellow became necessary, where it turned out green on the screen.

Eddie Murphy refused a Star Trek role

We all know that Eddie Murphy is a comedian with an extensive list of cool projects under his belt. However, that list doesn’t include a role in Star Trek because he turned it down. Following his hit on Saturday Night Live show, Paramount gave Eddie a contract to star in a Star Trek movie.

Eddie Murphy was initially willing to join the franchise, so they drafted multiple scripts for him. But everything they came up with didn’t impress Murphy. He instead went ahead to star in The Golden Child, where the movie’s tone changed to a more serious one and title became Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Budget constraints were covered through teleportation

Teleportation remains an integral part of Star Trek, and everyone knows it. But, it appears the creator of the series didn’t include it because it was deemed awesome.

Teleportation was, in reality, used by Gene Roddenberry and company to cover up the fact that the budget couldn’t accommodate shots of the Enterprise landing on planets. After all, teleportation is absolutely cool and more effective compared to landing a ship.

Budget constraints were covered through teleportation

Gay storylines were allegedly pulled down

Seemingly, the sci-fi show was planned to take place in a utopia but featuring gay characters wrapped the society’s prejudices the wrong way. Well, featuring gay characters was a demand because fans asked for these characters. However, the gay stories were pitched by writers and executive producer Rick Berman allegedly ended up blocking them.

Zachary Quinto could not do the Vulcan salute

The Vulcan salute isn’t a new thing if you are really privy to the Star Trek series. But Zachary Quinto, the newest actor to perform the role, couldn’t just nail it without applying some tricks. A Daily Mail insider reports that Zach could only do the salute some time after positioning his fingers right off-camera.

In some scenes, Zach does the salute whilst speaking his lines. So, film makers ended up applying skin-protective superglue to attach his fingers together. Apparently, that’s the only means they could make it work.

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