Star Trek: The Reinhard Generation

CarrieLynn D. Reinhard

For our 1991 Christmas break, my family had a road trip to Florida. Along with Walt Disney World, we also visited Universal Studios. At the time, the theme park partnered with Paramount Pictures to offer a special experience for fans of Star Trek: The Original Series. Through the Hollywood magic of green screens, we could interact with our favorite Star Trek characters and produce a skit as if we were onboard the USS Enterprise. With the blessing of my brothers and parents, here is the resulting video:

I would not be a Star Trek fan were it not for my parents. They grew up on the original NBC series and shared the movies with us. By the time the sixth movie was released in 1991, my brothers and I were old enough to watch our first Star Trek film in a movie theater. I remember sitting there with my father and brothers, in awe of what unfolded. By that time, we had also started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with our father, and I was firmly onboard as a fan. I had a significant crush on Wesley Crusher – so much so that for my 16^th birthday, a girlfriend gifted me a naked picture of Wil Wheaton that she hand drew for me. Also, in 1992, for a high-school band and choir trip to Walt Disney World, I spent $200 on an autographed picture of Wil Wheaton looking dapper in his red-and-black Starfleet ensign uniform. Yes, I was that fangirl.

This fandom would not have happened without my parents, and especially my father. We did not really have Internet or World Wide Web access when STTNG started; the online provider Prodigy would later help solidify my X-Files fandom, but I had nothing outside of my family to support my Star Trek fandom. My parents’ love of the original cast, and my father’s continued love of the 1990s sequels, inspired myself – and, to a lesser extent, my brothers. The video skit represents the culmination of our intergenerational fandom. We went boldly as a family.