The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years

By: Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman, Seth MacFarlane - foreword

Narrated by: Helen Litchfield, Alex Hyde-White, Jason Olazabal, Susan Hanfield

Length: 23 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the unauthorized, uncensored, and unbelievable true story behind the making of a pop culture phenomenon.

The original Star Trek series debuted in 1966 and has spawned five TV series spin-offs and a dozen feature films, with an upcoming one from Paramount arriving in 2016.

The Fifty-Year Mission is a no-holds-barred oral history of five decades of Star Trek, told by the people who were there. Hear from the hundreds of television and film executives, programmers, writers, creators, and cast as they unveil the oftentimes shocking story of Star Trek's ongoing 50-year mission - a mission that has spanned from the classic series to the animated show, the many attempts at a relaunch through the beloved feature films.

Make no mistake, this isn't just an audiobook for Star Trek fans. Here is a volume for all fans of pop culture and anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of a television touchstone.

©2016 Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

An unexpectedly fun...trek

I was expecting a good time, but got much more that I bargained for. Great insights into the sausage making of the film business, and enjoyable tidbit after enjoyable tidbit of Trek trivia. Hanfield's reading shines as a particular strength of the audio book. Now I'm committed to part two, darn you all.

Loved it.

Star Trek, even behind the scenes, never gets old. There were certainly many stories that have never been told.

Apprehensive about it at first but loved it

I was apprehensive when I saw the words "unauthorized" and "uncensored " because I've read things like that, that end up being crap, but these guys are authentic and knowledgeable. A pretty evenhanded telling in my opinion. I kind of wish dates were attributed with the quotes (maybe they are in the print version?) Can't wait for the sequel!

A Good Book Read Incorrectly

This is the most well researched and presented book about Star Trek that has ever been created. it is loaded qith information, insights and juicy tidbits.
However I am not sure if ANY of the readers have seen any Star Trek Episode or Movie. They mispronounce names (real and fictional) all throughout the book and it really gets annoying.

Very enlightening

As a long time fan, it was very interesting to get all the background on these episodes/movies. Definitely going to look for another book that goes beyond just TOS.

Fascinating

For Trekophiles, this is gold…still, it leaves me with a profound sense of “what might have been”.

Let there be Light!

My review covers the entire 50 year work, both the First 25 and the next 25. Together they add up to over 50 hours of Star Trek listening goodness.

I thought I knew a lot about Star Trek before I listened to this mammoth undertaking but my knowledge was a rain drop in a mud puddle. It's like Ken Burns does Star Trek. The Star Trek Universe, its spin offs, reboots, the lean years, feuds, Legends, its impact on Society, Technology, and the future are all there, warts and all.

My only complaint was each section began with a glossary of the people involved in Star Trek and the list is so large listening to the whole thing takes an entire hour. Being an Audiobook, it's hard to retain the list's information and it's very awkward to try and reference back to it. That said, it is easily skipped

Trekkie Bible - Old Testament.

required reading for the Church of Trek. this is honesty the best biography of Star Trek

Thoroughly Enjoyed

This wasn't quite what I expected; the book is a series of quotes, some short, some long, from people involved in the production of Star Trek. They are well assembled, however, and the format does create a good narrative with a sense of immediacy that would probably be lost with a more scholarly work. -1 star on the narration for a bit too much uptalking by one male narrator, and Susan Hanfield's constant vowel-shifting (Star Trek becomes Star Track, Bus becomes Boss, Left becomes Laughed, etc).

Star Trek First 25 years awesome

Just finished listening to this audio book. So awesome it was. Goes into fine detail. Looking forward to hearing the second.