CULTURE WATCH : Trekkers: Get Set to Set the Table

Well, beam this up Scotty. Now there’s “Star Trek”--the china.

Paramount Pictures originally commissioned a custom china pattern from Pfaltzgraff for the December, 1991, movie “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.” The bone china, used by the USS Enterprise crew at a formal dinner on the starship held to promote peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, was also reproduced in a limited edition by Pfaltzgraff.

Stalwart Trekkers immediately bought out every piece. No surprise. In its 27 years, “Star Trek” has spawned three television series, six films and a merchandising industry in excess of half a billion dollars, according to Paramount.

So this spring, Pfaltzgraff, one of the country’s oldest potteries, decided to create two new adaptations of the original movie pattern, one in fine bone china and one in stoneware. The stoneware, with its center medallion a logo of the starship USS Enterprise in gold and blue, is available for $24.99 for a three-piece place setting.

Or you can wait until July, when Pfaltzgraff offers 24th-Century dinnerware designed to commemorate the premiere year of the “Star Trek” spinoff TV series “Deep Space Nine.” It features a triangular dinner plate, saucer and a cup without a handle for non-Earthlings without fingers.