FACT: The title of the show is Star Trek

It was because the sequel was decided it would be Number 5 and Lucas retconned Star Wars to IV. Because he decided that the saga would be Star Wars, like Flash Gordon or Batman, then each episode would need its own name, so Star Wars became Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.

Tah-dah!

But, yeah, I usually refer to it as "Star Wars".

"A New Hope" was added for the 1981 theatrical re-release, a little over a month before "The Empire Strikes Back" would be released.

I don't recall it ever being referred to as a New Hope by fans or critics until the 90's.

Its a necessity, surely?

If you said to someone 'I watched Star Trek last night', they would inevitably ask you which film, series etc.

And if you watched the original series last night, you would reply 'The original series', would you not?

It was the hook Roddenberry used to sell the series. It was referring directly to the show Wagon Train. Wagon Train was an anthology show; that meant while it had a regular cast, the attention was on the guest star for each episode and the story revolved around the guest star. In the sixties, anthology shows were the most prestigious programs; considered superior to shows without guest stars or that told a single story over a season (not at all common at the time.).

His original intent was that Star Trek would be similar; a regular cast with featured guest stars. It wandered from that ideal fairly quickly.Though guest stars would continue to be important, the story was focused more on the regular cast, especially on what would become the Big Three of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

Author of the Sodality Universe
The Road from Antioch
In the Markets of Tyre
Flight to Lystra
The Theater at Ephesus (coming soon)
The Council on Jerusalem (coming 2023)