I'm a big fan of the original Star Trek, although I am not as big a fan of anything as some people. Anyway, I was wondering why Kirk and his enterprise crew are so legendary among star fleet and the rest of the world. Their celebrity is really shown in the movies and by "Generations" they are like Elvis. At first, I was under the impression that Kirk and the enterprise were the first starship and crew to go into deep space and complete such a mission and that was the reason for their legend. But according to the latest Star Trek installment, "Enterprise," there was a crew on a ship named Enterprise before Kirk. Then when I think back, there were other starships just like the enterprise roaming the galaxy when Kirk and crew were on their five year mission. And if I'm not mistaken, Spock served with another Captain aboard the Enterprise before Kirk. So with all that came before and during, why did Kirk and his crew get all the glory?

When STAR TREK made its debut, in the fall of 1966, it was hailed as the first
"space opera" for adults. (LOST IN SPACE had preceded it, but its target
audience was mostly kids.) In fact, when creator Gene Roddenberry pitched
the idea to the networks, he likened it to "WAGON TRAIN to the stars."
Westerns were still very popular, and that was the closest thing that he could
think of. Anyway, the crew of the original series all became such cult favorites
that the series was saved from an early death by a letter-writing campaign
during its second season. It was thus saved and ran for three seasons
before NBC pulled the plug. After the popularity of the movie "Star Wars,"
STAR TREK found an even bigger audience thanks to syndication. But none
of the spin-off series, or the feature films, would even exist if not for that
first series. I think the key was the chemistry between the three leads:
the macho Captain Kirk, the logical Mr. Spock, and (my personal favorite)
Dr. McCoy, who acted as a sort of bridge between the other two. Yes,
supposedly the crew of Captain Archer's Enterprise is set in an earlier time
period; and, yes, Spock originally served under Captain Pike (in the pilot).
But it was the relationship between Kirk, McCoy, and Spock that was always
fascinating (to use a favorite Vulcan adjective) to watch.

Kirk and his Enterprise crew did more for Starfleet than any other crew they had. When you save the Earth and the universe from destruction a few times, people tend to think you're kind of a big deal.

;)

Kirk and his Enterprise crew did more for Starfleet than any other crew they had. When you save the Earth and the universe from destruction a few times, people tend to think you're kind of a big deal.

;)

I guess you're right. I guess they were the only ones who did that.

I guess you're right. I guess they were the only ones who did that.

An intersting bit of trivia from the Star Trek Encyclopedia - The famous "delta shield" that everyone wears in Starfleet was originally the symbol worn only by Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise; in other words every ship in starfleet had thier own unique symbol.
But as time went on and the exploits of the Enterprise crew became so famous, thier delta insignia was adopted by every ship in starfleet, and the symbol came to represent Starfleet as well..

You only get that kind of treatment form being a legend.

;)

An intersting bit of trivia from the Star Trek Encyclopedia - The famous "delta shield" that everyone wears in Starfleet was originally the symbol worn only by Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise; in other words every ship in starfleet had thier own unique symbol.
But as time went on and the exploits of the Enterprise crew became so famous, thier delta insignia was adopted by every ship in starfleet, and the symbol came to represent Starfleet as well..

You only get that kind of treatment form being a legend.

;)

Now that you mention it, I recall that as well. I remember crews from other star ships having other symbols, like a sun or something.