STAR TREK ARCHIVE: Building Buzz For "Caretaker"

Star Trek: Voyager debuted on January 16, 1995 -- or 20 years ago tomorrow. The publicity machine had started to kick in months earlier, as the show's cast came together, as creative elements fell into place, as the two-hour premiere, "Caretaker," went into production, as Genevieve Bujold exited and Kate Mulgrew assumed the captain's chair, and as select media visited the set, interviewed the stars and behind-the-scenes talent, and so on.

Generating the biggest-possible buzz on Voyager's behalf also involved UPN Media Relations and the Los Angeles-based P.R. firm Bender Goldman & Helper providing the media -- then primarily newspapers and magazines -- with informative press materials via mail (in a press kit) and/or by fax. Remember faxes? Below is the first page of a 52-page Voyager "bible," which was NOT part of the press kit and went only to a limited number of writers. By the way, take a close look at the dates it was written and sent. Below that is a biography of Robert Picardo; note that it says he's playing a character named Doc Zimmerman. And below that is a detailed "Caretaker" synopsis that was faxed to journalists across the country; somebody's fax machine wasn't happy that day, thus the distracting swath of gray down the middle of the page. If you read the document closely, you'll notice that not only is the Doctor still referred to as Doc Zimmerman, but B'Elanna Torres is called B'Ellana and that Harry Kim is called Henry Kim.

Visit StarTrek.com again tomorrow for an in-depth look at "Caretaker." And also keep an eye on StarTrek.com for additional dips into the Star Trek Archive.