Posted:
15:25:54 on July 12 2001
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: General Star Trek
PASADENA, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- TNN: THE NATIONAL NETWORK is destined to become the Home of Star Trek, the most popular franchise in television, now that it has the rights to three Star Trek series and five Star Trek movies for the next 10 years. TNN will premiere the first of its series, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, in a weeklong marathon titled TNN'S THE BIG BANG -- STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, Monday, October 1 through Friday, October 5.
TNN'S THE BIG BANG will begin Monday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 PM, ET/PT with an original pop documentary, AMERICA'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH ... STAR TREK, which marks the 35th anniversary of one of television's most enduring programs. The one-hour special, the first in a series of TNN specials exploring pop culture phenomena, is produced by Kralyevich Productions (KPI), whose credits include A&E's ``Biography'' and Bravo's ``Profiles.'' Throughout the five days, 77 of the most popular episodes from the seven seasons of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION will be telecast.
``TNN is building itself as the Home of STAR TREK,'' says Diane Robina, Executive Vice President and General Manager, TNN. ``STAR TREK is the most popular franchise in television because of its great characters, wonderful stories of the triumph of the human spirit and a fantastic cast. These are the reasons STAR TREK has such a strong fan base -- a fan base that will appreciate the Home that TNN is creating for these precedent-setting series.''
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION is set in the 24th century, when the Starship Enterprise is commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew including Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lieutenant Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and Starfleet Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Also on board are: Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and her son Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, which first premiered in syndication in September 1987, won 16 Emmys during its seven seasons.
In total, the marathon will feature 77 of the most popular episodes of NEXT GENERATION, as chosen by fans via an informal search of the Internet. Monday will open with the best episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION from season one, including the two-part premiere, titled ``Encounter at Fairpoint''; Tuesday will feature the most popular episodes from seasons two and three; Wednesday, season four and five episodes; Thursday, season six, and Friday, fans' favorite episodes from the seventh and final season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, including the season finale, ``All Good Things.''
Leading up to THE BIG BANG -- STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, TNN will telecast the three popular Star Trek movies (Monday, Oct 1, 9:00AM-7:00PM, ET/PT). The movies include STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KAHN (1982), STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984), and STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (1989).
The only non-STAR TREK programming on the schedule that week will be WWF RAW IS WAR, which will include some STAR TREK bits. Following the weeklong BIG BANG, STAR TREK will be regularly telecast Mondays-thru-Fridays at 8:00 PM, ET/PT and on Mondays-thru-Thursdays at 11:00 PM, ET/PT).
TNN will telecast STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, beginning in Fall, 2004 and STAR TREK: VOYAGER, which concluded its run on UPN this year, will premiere on TNN beginning late 2006.
