And, while things changed and died around him, a guy called Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) ignored it all, sat down one morning and came up with the idea of a TV series where the action would take place on other planets.

Star Trek -- for that is what he called it -- premiered on September 8, 1966.

Maybe it was his way of escaping personal demons, though we haven't a clue. Maybe the alleged UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 dropped a few ideas into his head. Maybe he thought his peers needed more diversions from mundane reality. Or maybe he just loved the idea of people hobnobbing with other life forms.

Whatever his reason, Roddenberry could never have imagined what his little idea would grow into.

Star Trek has been around in some form or another for over 30 years now. Not too bad for a series that was initially difficult to sell to networks and remained under-budgeted right through its first three seasons. Though the last TV episode aired on June 3, 1969, it turned out to be a beginning of sorts for succeeding generations. By the time Roddenberry passed away, the 'Trekkie' phenomenon was unstoppable.

Some call it a cult. Others look it as pure escapism. Still others maintain that fans of the show are just a bunch of people having fun.

Captain James T Kirk, First Officer Spock, Doctor Leonard McCoy, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the android called Data, Captain Kathryn Janeway and Captain Benjamin Sisko have moved from TV stardom to the realm of cultural icons.

Wisecracks From The Wise: Star Trek Quotes

"The mid-1990s was the era of your so-called Third World War" -- Spock (Space Seed) "Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim." -- Captain Kirk (Elaan of Troyius) "Fate protects fools, little children and ships called Enterprise". -- Riker (Contagion) "You look quite well for a man that's been 'utterly destroyed', Mr. Spock." -- Captain Kirk (Patterns of Force) "I prefer the concrete. The graspable. The provable." "You'd make a splendid computer, Mr. Spock!" "That is very kind of you, Captain." -- Spock and Kirk (The Return of the Archons) "Shut-up, Spock! We're rescuing you!" "Why, thank you, 'Captain' McCoy." -- Spock, to McCoy (The Immunity Syndrome)

Now, with the Internet, Star Trek reaches out to a whole new fan base, even as older Trekkies nod their approval.

They now have access to just about anything related to the show. Full colour artwork, games, audio and video clips, fonts, trivia, parodies, and even visions of the future.

Even the aliens - Breens, Ferengi, Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans and that trickster called 'Q' - have Web sites.

For Trekkies, who have always bonded well, cyberspace has taken things to another level. They hold conventions regularly, host a couple of hundred fan clubs, and also take on the law as a team.

There's been a lot of criticism too, of course. Nothing this big can escape analysis. Does it explore social issues? Does it represent humanistic values? Does each of the four series embody ethical values of a particular philosophical system (Aristotelian virtue, Immanuel Kant's duty theory, Sartre's existentialism and Platonic virtue)? Do the Klingon and Romulan empires represent the Soviets and Chinese, in the light of the Cold War? Were the gadgets used in the show really that far removed from reality?

The questions remain, with answers attempted regularly by new fans.

Things change, and seasons. And members of the Star fleet. But nothing affects the fans. They exchange notes, crack Vulcan jokes, and move on safe in the knowledge that the admiration surrounding their favourite astronauts will never really go away.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" asks one bewildered guy.

Some understand. Many don't. Thing is, few of us can escape the déjà vu William Shatner evokes when he intones: 'Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, its five year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before...'

Hey, Gene Roddenberry, wherever you are, thanks for the ride.