Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek franchise celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, and there are many ways fans can mark the occasion, including attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the Most People Performing the Vulcan Salute.
Vulcan Salute World Record
Star Trek Day takes place on September 8, the date Star Trek first premiered on U.S. televisions in 1966. To commemorate the event, fans around the world are “invited to participate in the Star Trek Vulcan Salute, a global digital celebration of connection, community and shared optimism for the future. The initiative will travel virtually from continent to continent through social media activations, livestreams and fan-generated content, culminating in an official Guinness World Records attempt for the Most People Performing the Vulcan Salute simultaneously at the Science Museum in London.“
The Vulcan salute was created by Leonard Nimoy, who based it on a Jewish blessing. It was first used in the episode Amok Time.
And not everyone can do the Vulcan salute, at least not easily. Several actors in the franchise have had difficulty performing it, including William Shatner, who said producers had to use a fishing line to tie his fingers together. Even Zachary Quinto, who played Spock in the J.J. Abrams movies, found it physically difficult and had to train his hands to perform the salute more naturally.
Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary
In addition to the Vulcan salute world record attempt, many other events are taking place to celebrate the show’s big anniversary. The first four Star Trek movies will be returning to theaters, where they’ll be paired with select episodes of The Original Series.
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s Cut will screen on September 4 with The Changeling.
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut will screen on September 5 with Space Seed.
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock will screen on September 6 with Amok Time.
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home will screen on September 7 with The City on the Edge of Forever.
As wonderful as it will be to get the chance to see these films (and episodes) back on the big screen, the anniversary arrives at an odd moment in the franchise. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will end with a shortened fifth season, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been cancelled, and there are no new shows in development.
There is a new movie in the works from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo responsible for 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Paramount is apparently talking to “a lot” of writers about what comes next, but the future of the franchise feels very uncertain for the first time in a decade.
Can you do the Vulcan salute?
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