Since Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, the iconic franchise has proved many things. One is that the show—in all of its various iterations—continues to blast through new frontiers.
This year, Star Trek celebrates its 50th anniversary, kicking off a year-long celebration at Comic-Con with six panels and a bevy of off-site activations. Oh, and the latest movie in J.J. Abrams’ updated franchise, Star Trek Beyond, hit theaters this weekend while Bryan Fuller’s new Star Trek TV series will lurch into hyperspace in January of next year on CBS All Access.
Which is to say it’s a BIG YEAR for Star Trek, and San Diego is proving it.
“It’s a wonderful confluence of events. When we started planning for the 50th, we didn’t know the movie would be opening this week, we didn’t know there would be a new TV series,” said Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products. “It’s just perfect timing across the board.”
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While the timing has been serendipitous, this isn’t an overnight marketing job.
“We started planning three years ago,” said Kalodner. “It takes a village and a decade.”
The holy grail of the weekend comes Saturday in Hall H when William Shatner, Scott Bakula, Michael Dorn, Jeri Ryan and Brent Spiner unite on stage to reflect upon the last fifty years of the series and its many iterations for “Star Trek: Celebrating 50 Years.”
“You really see Star Trek through all the 50 years,” said Kalodner. “Sometimes we talk about Star Trek as the history of the future, and the panel embodies that concept.”
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The weekend in San Diego also brings the worldwide debut of the painstakingly curated art exhibit, “50 Artists. 50 Years” at Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts in San Diego’s Gaslamp District. The free exhibit runs from Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Afterwards, the exhibit travels to Las Vegas, Canada, New York, Birmingham (UK), Paris and then takes the Star Trek Cruise come January.
The Children’s Park in San Diego will house the results of a partnership with MAC Cosmetics, offering fans photo ops and of course, shopping ops with the 25-piece collection inspired by the women of Star Trek that includes lipstick, nail polish, eye shadow and more.
Panels at the convention vary from the aforementioned main event to a discussion with NASA scientists who were inspired by Star Trek, Star Trek comics, stories and clips from the Roddenberry vault and a focus on the starships from the franchise.
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Comic-Con also acts as the launch of the marketing brigade for the new Star Trek series coming to CBS All Access in January, the first original series to debut on the streaming service.
And if that’s not enough, CBS Studios has teamed up with Schmaltz Brewing to create two unique Star Trek themed beers: Star Trek Golden Anniversary Ale: The Trouble With Tribbles and Star Trek Golden Anniversary Ale: Voyage To The Northeast Quadrant. Each are 5% ABV and feature 5 malts, 5 hops and a whole lot of love. If you want to track (trek?) down Trouble With Tribbles, this interactive map will be your best friend in so doing.
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“My team has been working together on Star Trek for 10 years,” said Kalodner. “We really love it. We have the same passion as the fans around the world have for it.”
This passion shows in the panels, events, and of course, one-of-a kind merchandise available throughout the convention commemorating #StarTrek50.
For more information and to follow the U.S.S. Enterprise’s victory lap which culminates on September 8, visit StarTrek.com. Bryan Fuller’s new Star Trek series arrives on CBS All Access in January.
[All images courtesy of CBS, credit Bill Burke, unless denoted otherwise ]
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