Way back in 1964 Gene Roddenberry developed a pilot for a series called Star Trek, a show that was to be sort of a space-aged western - he referred to it as "Wagon Train to the Stars". It was rejected. In 1965 a second pilot was developed, and the adventures set on board a space-ship called Enterprise were finally shown in 1966. The show lasted three years and was canceled in 1969. Almost everyone is familiar with it's crew of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Checkov, Sulu and Uhura. In 1979 the crew were brought back together for the first Star Trek movie. Since the end of the original television series, there have been seven Star Trek movies.
In 1987 the series was reborn as "The Next Generation", set in the same universe 78 years later. The ship is still called Enterprise but the crew and storylines are new. There have been occasional cross-overs between the old and new series.
After seven series, TNG ended. However there are now going to be a string of TNG movies. The seventh Star Trek movie is called "Generations", and is a link between the old series and the new. It started screening in cinemas in Australia on March 30th 1995. Paramount have released an video preview of the movie. The eighth movie - this time creating, using and predictably destroying a new Enterprise - is called "First Contact". Actually it was rather cool.
In 1993 another new series commenced, called "Deep Space Nine". This is set in the same universe and time as TNG, and there are occasional cross-overs in the plot, but is otherwise completely separate. Deep Space Nine is a Federation managed outpost in disputed Cardassian space. It's crew are all new faces except for Chief O'Brien who has changed series to become head of operations, and Lt. Cmdr. Worf who joins the station in series 4 as the Klingon liaison. DS9 is slated to run for seven series.
In 1995 yet another new series set in the same time frame as TNG and DS9 started. "Voyager" chronicles the adventures of the Starship U.S.S. Voyager which finds itself in a distant part of the galaxy along with a former enemy, the Marquis. Together, they must find their way back to Federation space. Paramount have provided an video preview of the series.
In Australia, Voyager series 2 is shown on Channel 9 at 11pm Tuesday and 11:30pm Thursday nights. Series 4 of DS9 is expected to start in August 1997.