TrekNation
Encyclopedia
This article is about the website. For the 2006 film, see Trek Nation
.
TrekNation is a reference and community website for the Star Trek
franchise. It also serves as a hub for its network websites: TrekToday, a news site updated nearly daily; TrekBBS, which describes itself as the largest Star Trek community on the Internet; and Jammer's Reviews, a Star Trek review site.
In addition to serving as a network site, TrekNation conducted a number of interviews with past and present Star Trek cast, crew, and contributors; published articles and columns on the Trek franchise; and posted reviews of Deep Space Nine
, Voyager
and Enterprise
. The site also maintained both an episode guide for the various Star Trek series and a now defunct section dedicated to the Wildstorm
Star Trek comics.
After the cancellation of Enterprise, the articles and interviews began to slow down. As of 2009, TrekNation's main updates are "Retro Reviews" of the original Star Trek
and The Next Generation
.
TrekNation and its networked sites have been affiliated with the UGO
Network since TrekNation's founding.
). Although information on the episodes themselves are not as detailed as that at Memory Alpha
, all episode pages for Deep Space Nine
, Voyager, and Enterprise contain links to both TrekNation's review of the episode and reviews on other websites. Links are not provided to the Retro Reviews of Star Trek and The Next Generation. Most episodes from all six series also include a parody written by FiveMinute.net.
In December 2002, a banned troll crashed the database by creating thousands of blank accounts. Unfortunately, the database was unrecoverable, and Sparborth had to restore the database from an old backup created in September 2002. This meant a loss of four months' worth of posts and user accounts. The board was also upgraded to a newer version of UBB.threads
, complete with a new layout ("Big Gray", the current layout), however, the server had continual issues with the new version of the software, and continues to have problems to this day. Most of these problems have been corrected with the switch to vBulletin
, which occurred on February 23 through February 24, 2008.
After restoring the boards, Sparborth decided to step down as head administrator, and turned the job over to the administrator Lisa, who had been the de facto head for several months. In September 2004, Lisa resigned as well, and Bonnie Malmat, known on the BBS as T'Bonz, replaced her as head administrator, a position she still holds. In 2005, Malmat was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times
on her views of fandom in light of and about TrekBBS's stand on the contentious issues surrounding TrekUnited's "Save Enterprise" campaign. In 2007, the Los Angeles Times
again interviewed Malmat for her opinion of fan reaction toward plans for a new Star Trek film by J. J. Abrams
and Damon Lindelof
.
, Stargate
, Doctor Who
, & Lost
, as well as forums on less specific topics, including general media, politics, and miscellaneous discussion. The board also has an active social community, which has led to the creation of several spin-off boards.
, frequent illustrator Rick Sternbach
, graphic designers Michael Okuda
and Andrew Probert
, and Enterprise producers and writers David Goodman
and Mike Sussman
.
Additionally, many professionals affiliated with Pocket Books
post about Star Trek novels, including former editors Margaret Clark, Marco Palmieri and John Ordover
. Authors such as Christopher L. Bennett, Margaret Wander Bonanno
, Greg Cox, Keith R.A. DeCandido
, David R. George III, David Mack
, Andy Mangels
, Michael A. Martin
, Terri Osborne (who is also currently a moderator on the board), Geoffrey Thorne
, David A. McIntee
and Dayton Ward
also make regular posts at TrekBBS. Because of these visits, several authors have included TrekBBS in their acknowledgements, particularly in Articles of the Federation and The Art of the Impossible, both by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Ex Machina by Christopher L. Bennett. Additionally, Margaret Wander Bonanno credits TrekBBS and several of its posters (including two former moderators) for reviving her Star Trek writing career on the dedication page of Catalyst of Sorrows.
In early 2001, TrekToday was the first site to post information about the characters for the then-upcoming Enterprise. Sparborth was later interviewed in 2002 about the possible end of the Star Trek franchise.
. Star Trek: Hypertext was part of TrekZone before migrating to TrekNation upon the latter's founding in 1999. In 2000, Jammer was invited by Voyager producer Joe Menosky
to pitch a story, although nothing came of it. Also, from September to December 2000, Jammer's Voyager and Andromeda reviews were syndicated by Space.com
. This ended in January 2001, when Space.com closed their science-fiction section.
On TrekBBS, Jammer is one of the moderators of the Deep Space Nine forum, a position he has held since the forum's creation. On his website, he has begun reviewing the new Battlestar Galactica and The Next Generation.
and its spinoff shows. It also includes a TrekBBS-like forum, TalkCSI. The second site was Get Desperate!, a site for Desperate Housewives
news. This site launched in 2005, but is now defunct. Sparborth owned a third site for Andromeda, Slipstream Web, but this site is now defunct. Sparborth also had a German language Star Trek BBS.
Several message boards have spun off from TrekBBS itself. Among these are Flukie's Cafe, LoNAF, rEFCL, Renaissance Next, Starscape BBS, TerranBBS, Troll Kingdom, and Wordforge.
Trek Nation
This article is about a documentary film. For the Trek news and community website, see TrekNation.Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of Rod...
.
TrekNation is a reference and community website for the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchise. It also serves as a hub for its network websites: TrekToday, a news site updated nearly daily; TrekBBS, which describes itself as the largest Star Trek community on the Internet; and Jammer's Reviews, a Star Trek review site.
History
TrekNation was established on June 27, 1999 by Christian Höhne Sparborth as a network site for Sparborth's sites TrekToday and TrekBBS after he left another network, the TrekZone Network, over disagreements with TrekZone's founder. Other websites included in TrekNation were Jamahl Epsicokhan's review site Star Trek: Hypertext and the now defunct Warp Eleven.In addition to serving as a network site, TrekNation conducted a number of interviews with past and present Star Trek cast, crew, and contributors; published articles and columns on the Trek franchise; and posted reviews of Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
and Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
. The site also maintained both an episode guide for the various Star Trek series and a now defunct section dedicated to the Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
Star Trek comics.
After the cancellation of Enterprise, the articles and interviews began to slow down. As of 2009, TrekNation's main updates are "Retro Reviews" of the original Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
and The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
TrekNation and its networked sites have been affiliated with the UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
Network since TrekNation's founding.
Trek Nation Episode Guide
TrekNation still maintains an episode guide for all Trek series (including The Animated SeriesStar Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...
). Although information on the episodes themselves are not as detailed as that at Memory Alpha
Memory Alpha
Memory Alpha is a wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe. Conceived by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson in September 2003 and officially launched on December 5 of that year, it uses the wiki model and is hosted by Wikia, Inc. on the MediaWiki...
, all episode pages for Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, Voyager, and Enterprise contain links to both TrekNation's review of the episode and reviews on other websites. Links are not provided to the Retro Reviews of Star Trek and The Next Generation. Most episodes from all six series also include a parody written by FiveMinute.net.
History
TrekBBS, founded in late 1998, is the largest and most active section of TrekNation, with over 8500 registered users. Sparborth, the site's founder, was the first head administrator. In June 1999, TrekBBS became part of TrekNation, and was updated with a new layout, known to many posters as "Big Blue". The site also became affiliated with UGO at this time.In December 2002, a banned troll crashed the database by creating thousands of blank accounts. Unfortunately, the database was unrecoverable, and Sparborth had to restore the database from an old backup created in September 2002. This meant a loss of four months' worth of posts and user accounts. The board was also upgraded to a newer version of UBB.threads
UBB.threads
UBB.threads is an Internet forum software package originally written by Rick Baker. Written with PHP using a MySQL database backend, it is comparable to other forum software written in PHP....
, complete with a new layout ("Big Gray", the current layout), however, the server had continual issues with the new version of the software, and continues to have problems to this day. Most of these problems have been corrected with the switch to vBulletin
VBulletin
vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software produced by Jelsoft Enterprises and vBulletin Solutions, both subsidiaries of Internet Brands. It is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database server.-History:...
, which occurred on February 23 through February 24, 2008.
After restoring the boards, Sparborth decided to step down as head administrator, and turned the job over to the administrator Lisa, who had been the de facto head for several months. In September 2004, Lisa resigned as well, and Bonnie Malmat, known on the BBS as T'Bonz, replaced her as head administrator, a position she still holds. In 2005, Malmat was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
on her views of fandom in light of and about TrekBBS's stand on the contentious issues surrounding TrekUnited's "Save Enterprise" campaign. In 2007, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
again interviewed Malmat for her opinion of fan reaction toward plans for a new Star Trek film by J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
and Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
.
Forums
The board includes dedicated forums for all aspects of the Star Trek franchise, including each television series, the movies, novels, games, and fan creations such as fan fiction. Additionally, there are a number of forums for discussion of topics other than Star Trek. These include forums for other science fiction shows such as Battlestar GalacticaBattlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
, Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, & Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, as well as forums on less specific topics, including general media, politics, and miscellaneous discussion. The board also has an active social community, which has led to the creation of several spin-off boards.
Notable Members
Several Star Trek professionals frequent TrekBBS. They include actress Chase MastersonChase Masterson
Chase Masterson, born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an American actress and singer.-Career:...
, frequent illustrator Rick Sternbach
Rick Sternbach
Richard Michael Sternbach is an illustrator who is best known for his space illustrations and his work on the Star Trek television series.- Early years :...
, graphic designers Michael Okuda
Michael Okuda
- Work in Star Trek :In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of animated computer displays for the Enterprise-A bridge in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. This led to a staff position on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 as a scenic artist, adding detail to set designs and props...
and Andrew Probert
Andrew Probert
Andrew Probert is an artist who is best known for designing the USS Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the Enterprise-D for Star Trek: The Next Generation....
, and Enterprise producers and writers David Goodman
David A. Goodman
David A. Goodman is an American writer and producer and a graduate of the University of Chicago, earning an BA in 1984. He was one of the executive producers of Family Guy, beginning its fourth season, joining the show as a co-executive producer in season three...
and Mike Sussman
Mike Sussman (TV series writer/producer)
Mike Sussman is an American television writer and producer best known for his work on Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise and Threshold. He is currently a writer and Co-Executive Producer on Sam Raimi's syndicated adventure series, Legend of the Seeker.- External links :*...
.
Additionally, many professionals affiliated with Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
post about Star Trek novels, including former editors Margaret Clark, Marco Palmieri and John Ordover
John J. Ordover
John J. Ordover is the founder and CEO of JJO MARKETING and was previously an editor at Pocket Books responsible for overseeing the licensed novels of the Star Trek franchise. He is the co-creator of such spin-off series as Star Trek: New Frontier , Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers and Star...
. Authors such as Christopher L. Bennett, Margaret Wander Bonanno
Margaret Wander Bonanno
Margaret Wander Bonanno is an American science fiction writer, ghost writer and small press publisher. She was born in New York City.She has written six Star Trek novels, including Strangers from the Sky...
, Greg Cox, Keith R.A. DeCandido
Keith R. A. DeCandido
Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and musician, who works on comic books, novels, role-playing games and video games, including numerous media tie-in books for properties such as Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural,...
, David R. George III, David Mack
David Alan Mack
This article is about the Star Trek and Wolverine novelist. For the comic book artist, see David W. Mack.David Alan Mack is a writer best known for his freelance Star Trek novels...
, Andy Mangels
Andy Mangels
Andy Mangels is an American science fiction author who has written novels, comics, and magazine articles, and produced DVD collections, mostly focusing on media in popular culture...
, Michael A. Martin
Michael A. Martin
Michael A. Martin is an American author.Most of Martin's works have been written in collaboration with partner Andy Mangels, who brought him aboard as a co-writer in 1997 for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comics at Marvel...
, Terri Osborne (who is also currently a moderator on the board), Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne is an American screenwriter, novelist and actor.Thorne was born in the United States. After a successful career as a television actor, Thorne began writing professionally, winning Second Prize in Simon & Schuster's sixth annual Strange New Worlds anthology with his story "The Soft...
, David A. McIntee
David A. McIntee
-Biography:McIntee has written many spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as one each based on Final Destination and Space: 1999. He has also written a non-fiction book on Star Trek: Voyager and one jointly on the Alien and Predator movie franchises...
and Dayton Ward
Dayton Ward
Dayton Ward is a science fiction author primarily known for his Star Trek novels and short stories, which began with publication in the Strange New Worlds anthology series. He published stories in each of the first three Strange New Worlds volumes, making him the first author to render himself...
also make regular posts at TrekBBS. Because of these visits, several authors have included TrekBBS in their acknowledgements, particularly in Articles of the Federation and The Art of the Impossible, both by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Ex Machina by Christopher L. Bennett. Additionally, Margaret Wander Bonanno credits TrekBBS and several of its posters (including two former moderators) for reviving her Star Trek writing career on the dedication page of Catalyst of Sorrows.
TrekToday
TrekToday is TrekNation's news site. It went live on February 5, 1999 , and has had near-daily updates since then. In addition to posting news about Star Trek, Trek Today posts TrekNation's Retro Reviews and Site Columns, highlighting past Trek news and highly active threads on TrekBBS. The current news editors are Sparborth and Bonnie Malmat. Michelle Erica Green writes the episode reviews.In early 2001, TrekToday was the first site to post information about the characters for the then-upcoming Enterprise. Sparborth was later interviewed in 2002 about the possible end of the Star Trek franchise.
Jammer's Reviews
Jammer's Reviews, formerly known as Star Trek: Hypertext, is the only TrekNation site not founded by Sparborth. Instead, the site was founded in 1995 by Jamahl Epsicokhan, known on TrekBBS and his site as Jammer. Jammer's site originally focused on reviews of Deep Space Nine, Voyager and AndromedaAndromeda (TV series)
Andromeda is a Canadian-American science fiction television series, based on unused material by the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. It starred Kevin Sorbo as High Guard Captain Dylan Hunt...
. Star Trek: Hypertext was part of TrekZone before migrating to TrekNation upon the latter's founding in 1999. In 2000, Jammer was invited by Voyager producer Joe Menosky
Joe Menosky
Joe Menosky is a television writer known for his work on the various Star Trek series. Menosky joined the writing staff for Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and also wrote for several episodes for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager...
to pitch a story, although nothing came of it. Also, from September to December 2000, Jammer's Voyager and Andromeda reviews were syndicated by Space.com
Space.com
Space.com is a space and astronomy news website. Its stories are often syndicated to other media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo!, and USA Today.Space.com was founded by former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and Rich Zahradnik, in July 1999...
. This ended in January 2001, when Space.com closed their science-fiction section.
On TrekBBS, Jammer is one of the moderators of the Deep Space Nine forum, a position he has held since the forum's creation. On his website, he has begun reviewing the new Battlestar Galactica and The Next Generation.
Spin-offs
Sparborth owns two other websites which are similar to TrekNation. The first is CSI Files, launched in 2003. It publishes news on CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
and its spinoff shows. It also includes a TrekBBS-like forum, TalkCSI. The second site was Get Desperate!, a site for Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
news. This site launched in 2005, but is now defunct. Sparborth owned a third site for Andromeda, Slipstream Web, but this site is now defunct. Sparborth also had a German language Star Trek BBS.
Several message boards have spun off from TrekBBS itself. Among these are Flukie's Cafe, LoNAF, rEFCL, Renaissance Next, Starscape BBS, TerranBBS, Troll Kingdom, and Wordforge.