The most influential TV show in history turns 50 on September 8, 2016.
For a television program to inspire the naming of NASA's first space shuttle is incredible. But the impact on human life is even more impressive. Martin Cooper invented the first mobile phone based on Star Trek technology. Google Earth was developed because of Star Trek "tricorder" mapping capability. And Stephen Hawking, himself a fan of the show, has claimed to be working on functional warp technology. Well-known astrophysicists, engineers, astronauts, and pilots have entered their respective fields because of Star Trek.
The weight of Star Trek's legend in popular culture can not be overstated, as evidenced by the fact that the third installment of the the Paramount films starring new actors as the core Enterprise crew is currently in production - based on the tremendous success of the first two. Fifty years after the original. Unprecedented.
We, the undersigned, feel the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences owes the same debt of gratitude as all of us, to the principle actors whose charisma and personality brought about this once in a lifetime phenomenon - and most especially, to series creator Gene Roddenberry.
We believe the following people are most deserving of lifetime Emmy awards in 2016:
William Shatner - Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy (posthumous) - Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley (posthumous) - Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
James Doohan (posthumous) - Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott
Nichelle Nichols - Lieutenant Uhura
George Takei - Lieutenant Sulu
Walter Koenig - Ensign Pavel Chekov
Grace Lee Whitney (posthumous) - Yeoman Janice Rand
Majel Barrett (posthumous) - Nurse Christine Chapel
Gene Roddenberry (posthumous) - Series creator and visionary