Star Trek crossovers explained

Several characters within the Star Trek franchise, primary and secondary, often made crossover appearances between one series and another. This included appearances of established characters on premiere episodes of new series, a few long-term transfers from one series to another, and even crossovers between Trek films and television. A few crossover appearances, such as that of Spock on The Next Generation and the time-travel of the crew of Deep Space Nine to the era of The Original Series were especially lauded by both fans and critics.

Appearances in series premieres

After The Original Series, at least one character from an earlier series appeared in the premiere episode of each new series. These were the appearances of most of the Original Series main cast in "Beyond the Farthest Star", the first episode of The Animated Series; Leonard McCoy in "Encounter at Farpoint", the first episode of The Next Generation; Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Miles O'Brien in "Emissary", the first episode of Deep Space Nine; Quark and Morn in "Caretaker", the premiere of Voyager; Zefram Cochrane (from the original series episode "Metamorphosis" and the film ) in "Broken Bow", the premiere of Enterprise; Sarek in "The Vulcan Hello", the first episode of Discovery; Sylvia Tilly in "Runaway", the first episode of Short Treks; Jean-Luc Picard and Data in "Remembrance", the first episode of Picard; NOMAD (from the original series episode "The Changeling") in "Second Contact", the premiere of Lower Decks, a training hologram resembling Captain Katherine Janeway in "Lost and Found, Part 1", the first episode of Prodigy, and Captain Christopher Pike, Spock, Una, Christine Chapel, Nyota Uhura, Joseph M'Benga, Robert April, T'Pring, and George Samuel Kirk in "Strange New Worlds", the premiere of Strange New Worlds.

Long-term transitions

Two long-term transitions were the transfer of Worf and Miles O'Brien from permanent characters on The Next Generation to permanent characters on Deep Space Nine. Worf stayed on The Next Generation until its conclusion, then transferred from the start of season 4 of DS9. Chief O'Brien had appeared in fifty episodes of The Next Generation, but only gained opening credits billing on DS9, in which he appeared in almost every episode of all seven seasons. While not seen as often as Chief O'Brien, his wife Keiko O'Brien also transitioned as a series regular guest star from The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine, bringing their daughter Molly. Miles O'Brien reprised his Next Generation role in that series' finale "All Good Things...".

Episodes and films focused on crossovers

Television-to-television crossover

An especially significant crossover is Spock's appearance on the two-part Next Generation episode "Unification". Spock meets Data and they exchange opinions on the relative value of logic and emotion, and share mutual impressions of Next Generations Captain Picard, who for Spock is a model of logical behavior, and for Data is a model of what it means to be human. Critics such as Ina Rae Hark have noted this encounter between two non-human characters in which they summarize their contrasting attitudes to humanity. Data embodies Spock's ideal of pure logic, even as he aspires to become more human.[1]

Scotty appears in TNG Season 6, Episode 4 "Relics".

Recycled footage from the original series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" is used extensively in Deep Space Nines time-travel episode "Trials and Tribble-ations". In addition to extensive archival footage of cast from the original series, actor Charlie Brill (portraying Klingon spy Arne Darvin) appears in both new and archival footage. The episode was designed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original series. Critic Matthew Kappell notes that the new episode simultaneously "parodies and valorizes" the original series, highlighting the discontinuities between two eras of Trek while trying simultaneously to weave them together.[2]

William Riker and Deanna Troi from The Next Generation appear in a flash-forward to the future in "These Are the Voyages...", the final episode of Enterprise. This episode was widely criticized by both cast members and fans for playing more like a Next Generation episode to the point of being an inappropriate wrap-up for the series.[3] [4]

Strange New Worlds episode "Those Old Scientists" features live-action appearances of Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler from the animated Lower Decks series.[5]

Film-to-television crossover

In the Voyager episode "Flashback", events from the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) play a pivotal role, and are reenacted with the same actors, thus allowing George Takei to reprise his role as Hikaru Sulu. The episode contains the added revelation that the character of Tuvok was on Sulu's ship Excelsior at the time. Critic Lincoln Geraghty cites this as an example of Star Treks ongoing propensity for reverential recognition of earlier versions of the series.[6] In a bit of rather glaring discontinuity, the character of Lieutenant Dimitri Valtane is shown to be both alive at the end of the film and dead in the episode. Actor Tim Russ, who portrayed Tuvok, also made an appearance as a bridge officer from the same fictional time period, serving on the Enterprise-B in the feature film Star Trek Generations (1994).

Television-to-film crossover

The film Star Trek Generations brought Kirk and Picard, Enterprise captains from different centuries, together to defeat a common enemy. It also marked the passing of the film franchise from the original series cast to that of The Next Generation.

Characters more prominent on subsequent series

A few occasional recurring characters introduced in one series continued into other series, sometimes attaining more significant roles in their subsequent Trek series than in the one in which they were first introduced:

All crossovers

Character crossovers

The Original Series on The Animated Series
The Original Series on The Next Generation

The Original Series on The Next Generation series of films

The Original Series on Deep Space Nine:
The Original Series on Voyager

The Original Series on Enterprise

The Original Series on Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

The Original Series on Discovery

The Original Series on Short Treks

The Original Series on Lower Decks
The Next Generation on Deep Space Nine:
The Next Generation on Voyager:
The Next Generation on Enterprise
The Next Generation on Short Treks
The Next Generation on Picard
The Next Generation on Lower Decks
Deep Space Nine on The Next Generation:
Deep Space Nine on Voyager:
Deep Space Nine on Lower Decks:
Voyager on The Next Generation series of films:
Voyager on Deep Space Nine:
Voyager on Picard:
Discovery on Short Treks
Short Treks on Discovery

Actor crossovers

The Original Series on The Next Generation:

The Original Series on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager:

The Original Series on Deep Space Nine:

Clint Howard who played Balok on the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” appeared as the mentally ill Sanctuary resident Grady in DS9's “Past Tense, Part II”[13]

The Original Series on Enterprise:

Clint Howard who played Balok on the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” played the ferengi Muk in Enterprise's first-year episode “Acquisition

The Original Series on Discovery:

Clint Howard who played Balok on the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” played an Orion Drug Dealer in the Star Trek: Discovery season one finale, "Will You Take My Hand?"

The Next Generation on The Original Series:
The Next Generation on Deep Space Nine:
Deep Space Nine on The Original Series
Voyager on Deep Space Nine:
Voyager on The Next Generation:
The Next Generation on Enterprise:
Enterprise on Voyager:
Deep Space Nine on Voyager:
Deep Space Nine on Enterprise:
Voyager on Enterprise:

Intercompany crossovers

Star Trek has had a few intercompany crossover stories in comic books. These include:

Marvel Comics franchise, X-Men

DC Comics franchise, Legion of Super-Heroes

IDW Publishing, Doctor Who

Boom! Studios, Planet of the Apes

DC Comics franchise, Green Lantern

Dark Horse Comics, Alien

IDW Publishing, Transformers

(Star Trek – Legion of Super-Heroes also reveals that DC's Vandal Savage and Flint, a mysterious immortal encountered by James T. Kirk and his crew, are actually parallel universe versions of the same person. While one version adopted the name Vandal Savage and dedicated himself to conquest, the other version adopted the name Flint and turned his life towards art and science.)

CCG intercompany crossover scenario

Lucasfilm franchise, Star Wars

Parody crossovers

In Turkish comedy Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda (Turkish: Ömer the Tourist in Star Trek), produced and directed by Hulki Saner, titular hobo (cult Turkish character, Turist Ömer played by Sadri Alışık) is beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise.

In Polish cabaret sketch of Kabaret Moralnego Niepokoju (Polish: Cabaret of Moral Anxiety) - Bajki: Przygody pilota Pirxa, titular hero (taken from Stanisław Lem Tales of Pirx the Pilot), and his companions, wears TNG era Starfleet uniforms. Star Trek style technobabble is also in use.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hark, Ina Rae . Star Trek: BFI TV Classics . 2008 . MacMillan . 9781844572144 . 64 .
  2. Book: Kapell, Matthew Wilhelm . Star Trek as myth: essays on symbol and archetype at the final frontier . 2010 . McFarland . 9780786447244 . 83 . limited .
  3. Web site: May 9, 2005 . Amy Amatangelo . The finale frontier: Vulcan star of 'Star Trek: Enterprise' complains about ending: It's not logical . . subscription . 2006-03-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060318130122/http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=82256 . 2020-04-20 .
  4. News: Salem . Rob . 2005-05-09. Trek fatigued, producer admits. Enterprise limps off to oblivion . . E1 .
  5. Web site: 'Strange New Worlds' season 2 episode 7 features a wild crossover with 'Lower Decks' . Scott . Snowden . 2023-07-31 . Space.com . 2023-08-11.
  6. Book: Geraghty, Lincoln . Living with Star Trek: American culture and the Star Trek universe . 2007 . I.B.Tauris . 9781845112653 . 51 . limited .
  7. Book: Nemecek, Larry . The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition . 2003 . Simon and Schuster . 9780743457989 . 127 .
  8. Book: Erdmann, Terry . Star trek: Deep space nine : companion . Paula M. Block . 2000 . Simon and Schuster . 30.
  9. Book: Schuster, Hal . The Trekker's guide to Voyager: complete, unauthorized, and uncensored . 1996 . Prima Pub . 9780761505723 .
  10. Book: Dillard, J.M. . Star trek, where no one has gone before: a history in pictures . Susan Sackett . Susan Sackett . 1996 . Pocket Books . 9780671002060 . 186 .
  11. Book: Johnson-Smith, Jan . American science fiction tv: Star Trek, Stargate and beyond . 2005 . I.B.Tauris . 9781860648823 . 88 . limited .
  12. Cinefantastique: Volume 36 2004
  13. Web site: Howard . StarTrek.com .