A special supplement to Daily Variety hit stands on Monday to celebrate Paramount Pictures' 90th year. Like devoted to the studio, the issue features an article on one of Paramount's most successful properties: the Star Trek franchise.

The story charts the franchise's long history, and focuses on how Star Trek's longevity can be attributed largely to its distinctive qualities. "The shows were constructed in the Greek traditional way of the well-made play," says William Shatner (James T. Kirk), who also comments on the final days of The Original Series. "The network had cut out budget to such an extent that there was little we could do other than stand around a sound stage and get some clever ideas going," he says. "At the time, I thought three years was a pretty good run."

His co-star, Leonard Nimoy, remembers how his character, Spock, became a fan favorite. "By being half-human and half-Vulcan, audiences were interested in his constant effort to maintain balance since there was always the danger his human side would overtake the logic and make him less rational," he says.

The article also quotes "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" director Nicholas Meyer, who recalls his experience with the franchise. "I was able to learn a lot from watching the first movie," he says. "I realized that ["The Wrath of Khan] should be like [Horatio] Hornblower, it should be all about the navy."

The article goes on to detail how the newest addition to the Trek family, Enterprise, came to be. "We had to do something different because we'd had 21 [seasons] of 24th-century people flying around and because we and the fans were just inundated with too much of the same," says executive producer Rick Berman.

Berman, however, won't speculate on where Star Trek is headed. "We only think about the future in different centuries, not the 21st century," he says.

The issue also contains statistics for the five one-hour Paramount shows that fetch the most money in cable syndication. Star Trek: The Next Generation leads the pack ($1 million per episode) with Deep Space Nine and Voyager tied for third ($700,000 per episode). TNG currently airs on TNN; DS9 will premiere on the cable channel in Fall 2004, with Voyager following in late 2006. DS9 is also listed as one of the top five earners since 1998 among Paramount's syndicated shows.

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