A brief corporate history of Star Trek

One of the most famous two-part episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was titled “Reunification,” and it introduced the unexpected possibility that two of the iconic alien civilizations in the “Star Trek” universe — the militaristic Romulans and the peaceful Vulcans — might be able to overcome their different cultures and reunite, since they share a common genetic heritage.

The more recent “Star Trek” news has been about reunification as well. Many see the pending CBS/Viacom merger, reuniting two companies that were once a single conglomerate, as a dangerous example of media conglomeration. It is. But just as Marvel fanboys saw the Disney/Fox merger as a way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to finally get access to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, there are Star Trek fanboys who see the CBS/Viacom merger as reuniting prime universe Star Trek with Kelvin universe Star Trek.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? I’ll give you a brief history.

1952: CBS creates a new division, CBS Films, to sell syndicated reruns of its programming to local stations.

1964: Gene Roddenberry presents his idea for a space travel-based series, which he describes as “‘Wagon Train’ to the stars,” to Desilu Productions. Desilu was originally owned by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, but after their divorce Desi sold his half of the company to Lucy, who was sole owner at this point. Lucy personally greenlit both “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible,” both of which have proven to be…