Can you talk about the basic premise of each of the series and how they built upon each other?

The original series was a wagon train to the stars. It�s the new frontier, it�s bringing democracy to the universe. Captain Kirk is the American ideal of a captain who goes out and solves people's problems and is a hero for our time.

Years later Next Generation takes place in a different era. It�s very much an �80s show. Only in the 1980s would they have put a therapist on the bridge next to the captain. To me that spoke volumes about the era that that show was produced. It�s more diverse, less warlike, still informed by the Cold War but it�s not chained to it in the way that the original series truly is.

When you get to Deep Space Nine it�s suddenly questioning some of the underlying fundamentals of Star Trek and what the Federation believes. Conflicts are no longer so simply defined and you�re dealing with the Bajorans and the Cardassians, a people analogous, maybe, to the Palestinians or other people that have been subjugated. There�s peace making and peace keeping and trying to make your way in a complex world, as after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Then Voyager comes and tries to recapture the glory of the past era. It tries to take you out there. Let�s forget about all those messy things and let�s go back and recapture what was once great. It�s almost nostalgic. Then will come Enterprise which expands even further along that idea.

It�s interesting to me because they speak more strongly about us and our time and how we see ourselves than they really do about what the future will be like.