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Star Trek: The Animated Series

The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 51 User reviews
• 21 Critic reviews
• 2 wins & 3 nominations

Episodes 22

Photos 1676.

• Captain James Tiberius Kirk

• Mister Spock …

• Nurse Chapel …

• Aquan Harvester …
• Orion ensign …

• Carter Winston …

• Cyrano Jones

• Harcourt Fenton Mudd

• Young Sepek
• Young Spock
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia According to Lou Scheimer there were never any ego problems between the cast members during recording sessions, although William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had a tendency to count their characters' lines and complain when one of them had too many more than the other.
• Goofs Nurse Chapel's chest insignia is the standard oval-within-a-circle symbol for the Sciences division. However, in the live Star Trek (1966) , her uniform was unique in that she wore a red cross in place of that symbol.
• Connections Featured in The NBC Saturday Morning Preview Revue (1974)

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• Mar 17, 2007
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• September 8, 1973 (United States)
• United States
• StarTrek.com - Episode Guide
• Star Trek: TAS
• Filmation Associates
• Norway Productions
• Paramount Television
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• Runtime 30 minutes

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Star Trek: The Animated Series

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Star Trek: The Animated Series  ( ST: TAS ), originally aired as  Star Trek  and as  The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek , is an American animated science fiction television seriescreated by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 8, 1973 to October 12, 1974 on NBC, spanning 22 episodes over two seasons. The second series in the  Star Trek franchise, it is the first sequel to  Star Trek: The Original Series . Set in the 23rd century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS  Enterprise  as it explores the Milky Waygalaxy.

After the cancellation of  The Original Series  in 1969, the live action show proved popular in syndication and generated significant fan enthusiasm. This resulted in Roddenberry's decision to continue the series in animated form. Much of the original cast returned to provide voice-overs for their characters. Show writers David Gerrold and D. C. Fontanacharacterized  The Animated Series  as effectively being a fourth season of  The Original Series . The adventures of the characters were continued in cinematic form, the first being the 1979 film  Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

The Animated Series  was the original cast's last episodic portrayal of the characters until the "cartoon-like" graphics of the  Star Trek: 25th Anniversary  computer game in 1992 [4]  as well as its sequel  Star Trek: Judgment Rites  in 1993. Both appeared after the cast's final film together,  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , released in December 1991.  The Animated Series  was critically acclaimed and was the first  Star Trek  series to win an Emmy Award when its second season won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment – Children's Series. [5]

• 2 Voice casting[edit]
• 3.1 Season 1 (1973–1974)[edit]
• 3.2 Season 2 (1974)[edit]
• 4 Novelties in the series[edit]
• 5 Canon issues[edit]
• 6 Reception[edit]
• 7 Home media[edit]

Contents [ ]

Voice casting[edit] [ ].

The Animated Series  featured most of the original cast voicing their characters. The major exception was the character of Pavel Chekov(Walter Koenig), who did not appear in the series because the series' budget could not afford the complete cast. He was replaced by two animated characters who made semi-regular appearances: Lieutenant Arex, whose Edosian species had three arms and three legs; and Lieutenant M'Ress, a female Caitian. Besides performing their characters Montgomery Scott and Christine Chapel, James Doohan and Majel Barrett also performed the voices of Arex and M'Ress, respectively.

Initially, Filmation was only going to use the voices of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Doohan and Barrett. Doohan and Barrett would also perform the voices of Sulu and Uhura. Nimoy refused to voice Spock in the series unless Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were added to the cast—claiming that Sulu and Uhura were of importance as they were proof of the ethnic diversity of the 23rd century and should not be recast. Nimoy also took this stand as a matter of principle, as he knew of the financial troubles many of his  Star Trek  co-stars were facing after cancellation of the series. [6]

Koenig was not forgotten, and later wrote an episode for the series, becoming the first  Star Trek  actor to write a  Star Trek  story. Koenig wrote "The Infinite Vulcan", which had plot elements from the original  Star Trek  episode "Space Seed" blended into it.

As is usual with animation projects, the voice actors did not perform together but recorded their parts separately to avoid clashing with other commitments. For example, William Shatner, who was touring in a play at the time, recorded his lines in whatever city where he happened to be performing and had the tapes shipped to the studio. Doohan and Barrett, besides providing the voices of their  Original Series  characters and newcomers Arex and M'Ress, performed virtually all of the "guest star" characters in the series, except for a few notable exceptions such as Sarek, Cyrano Jones and Harry Mudd, who were performed by the original actors from  The Original Series . Other occasional guest voice actors were also used, including Ed Bishop (Commander Straker on  UFO ) who voiced the Megan Prosecutor in "The Magicks of Megas-tu", and Ted Knight who voiced Carter Winston in "The Survivor". Nichelle Nichols also performed other character voices in addition to Uhura in several episodes, including "The Time Trap" and "The Lorelei Signal".

Episodes[edit] [ ]

Season 1 (1973–1974)[edit] [ ], season 2 (1974)[edit] [ ].

The characters of  TAS .

Similar to most animated series of the era, the 22 episodes of  TAS  were spread out over two brief seasons, with copious reruns of each episode. The director of the first season (16 episodes) was Hal Sutherland and Bill Reed directed the six episodes of season two.

All of this series' episodes were novelized by Alan Dean Foster and released in ten volumes under the  Star Trek Logs  banner. Initially, Foster adapted three episodes per book, but later editions saw the half-hour scripts expanded into full, novel-length stories.

Star Trek: The Animated Series  was the only  Star Trek  series not to be produced with a cold open ("teaser"), instead starting directly with the title credits sequence. However, some overseas versions of the original live action series, such as those aired by the BBC in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, were edited to run the teaser after the credits.

The series' writing benefited from a Writers Guild of America, East strike in 1973, which did not apply to animation. [7]  A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well-known science fiction authors:

• "More Tribbles, More Troubles" was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" from the original series. Here Cyrano Jones is rescued from the Klingons, bringing with him a genetically altered breed of tribbles which do not reproduce but do grow extremely large. (It is later discovered that these are really clusters of tribbles who function as a single tribble, and it is decided that the large numbers of smaller tribbles are preferable to the larger ones.) The Klingons, because of their hatred of tribbles, are eager to get Jones back because he stole a creature they created: a predator called a "glommer" that feeds on tribbles.
• "Yesteryear" is a time-travel episode in which Mr. Spock uses "The Guardian of Forever", a time gateway from the original series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", to travel back to his own childhood. This is the only animated  Trek  episode written by original series and later  Next Generation  writer D. C. Fontana. This was the first actual appearance of Spock's pet sehlat, first mentioned in "Journey to Babel" and finally named I-Chaya in this episode. One element from  Yesteryear  that has become canon by depiction within  Star Trek: The Original Series  is the Vulcan city of ShiKahr, depicted in a background scene wherein Kirk, Spock and McCoy walk across a natural stone bridge (first depicted in  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ) in the remastered "Amok Time". Elements of Spock's childhood from "Yesteryear" are also referenced in the  Star Trek: The Next Generation  episode "Unification" as well as the 2009  Star Trek  feature film.
• Larry Niven's "The Slaver Weapon", adapted from his own short story "The Soft Weapon". It includes some elements from his  Known Space  mythos such as the Kzinti and the Slavers. This is the only Kirk-era television or movie story in which Kirk did not appear. This episode is also the only animated one in which characters are shown dying or being killed.

Actor George Takeiautographing an original animation cel from the series at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

Novelties in the series[edit] [ ]

In the original  Star Trek  series, the title character was given the name James T. Kirk. It was not until the animated series that writer David Gerrold replaced the "T", giving us Captain James Tiberius Kirk. It was purely coincidental that he chose "Tiberius" (on Gene Roddenberry's first series  The Lieutenant , the principal character was William Tiberius Rice). According to Gerrold, he had been influenced by  I, Claudius , and had approached Roddenberry with his choice of middle name, but it was not until 2014 that he learned of its earlier use. [8]

The animated series introduced a three-armed, three-legged alien member of the bridge crew with a long neck named Arex and a cat-like alien crew member named M'Ress.

The USS  Enterprise  in this series, while supposedly the same ship as from the original series, had a holodeck similar to the one later seen in  Star Trek: The Next Generation , which was set about eighty years later. It only appeared once, in Chuck Menville's "The Practical Joker", and was known as the "Rec Room". This feature was originally proposed for the original series [9]  but was never used.

A personal force field technology known as the life support belt was seen only in  Star Trek: The Animated Series . In addition to supplying the wearer with the appropriate atmosphere and environmental protection, it permitted the animators to simply draw the belt and yellow glow around the existing characters, instead of having to redraw them with an environmental suit. A version of the life support belt later appeared in an early  Star Trek: The Next Generation  novel,  The Peacekeepers , where they were referred to as "field-effect suits".

The episode "The Lorelei Signal" provides a rare instance in early  Star Trek  in which a female took temporary command of a starship. Due to the male crew members being incapacitated, Uhura assumes command of the  Enterprise  from Scotty. Other instances occurred on the first and last adventures filmed in the original series:

• "The Cage", in which Number One took command after the abduction of Captain Christopher Pike, and
• "Turnabout Intruder", in which Dr. Janice Lester took over the body of Captain Kirk and assumed command.

"The Lorelei Signal" and "The Infinite Vulcan", the latter written by Walter Koenig, are rare occurrences where Captain Kirk comes close to actually saying, "Beam me up, Scotty" (long erroneously believed to be a  Star Trek  catchphrase), when he commands "Beam us up, Scotty".  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  arguably comes closer to it by having Kirk say "Scotty, beam me up".

An anti-pollution public service announcement was created for non-profit Keep America Beautiful featuring the  ST: TAS  characters and original cast voices. In the ad, the  Enterprise encounters the "Rhombian Pollution Belt". [10]  The ad ran during Saturday morning network programming during the series' run.

The animated series also dispensed with the original series' theme music, composed by Alexander Courage, in favor of a new theme credited to Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael (actually Filmation composer Ray Ellis, working under a pseudonym). This has never been publicly explained; one possible explanation is that the producers wished to avoid having to pay royalties for using the original theme.

Canon issues[edit] [ ]

Main article: Star Trek canon

At the end of the first season of  Star Trek: The Next Generation , all licenses for  Star Trek spin-off fiction were renegotiated, and the animated series was essentially "decanonized" by Gene Roddenberry's office. Writers of the novels, comics and role-playing games were prohibited from using concepts from the animated series in their works. [11]  Among the facts established within the animated series that were called into question by the "official canon" issue was its identification of Robert April as the first captain of the USS  Enterprise  in the episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".

The  Star Trek Chronology  by production staffers Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda does not include the animated series, but does include certain events from "Yesteryear" and acknowledges Robert April as first captain of the  Enterprise . [12]  The timeline in  Voyages of the Imagination  dates the events of the series to 2269–2270, assuming the events of the show represented the final part of Kirk's five-year mission, and using revised Alan Dean Foster stardates. In the updated October 1999 edition of their book:  The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future , Michael and Denise Okuda state that:

David Gerrold, who contributed two stories to  TAS , stated in an interview his views on the canon issue:

Writer-producer D. C. Fontana discussed the  TAS  Canon issue in 2007:

Since Roddenberry's death in 1991, and the subsequent exit of Richard H. Arnold (who vetted the licensed tie-ins for Roddenberry's  Star Trek  office at Paramount during its later years), there have been several references to the animated series in the various live-action series. In the  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  episode "Once More Unto the Breach", Kor referred to his ship, the  Klothos , which was first named in the  TAS  episode "The Time Trap". Other  DS9 episodes to make reference to the animated series include "Broken Link", where Elim Garakmentions Edosian orchids (Arex is an Edosian) and "Tears of the Prophets" where a  Miranda -class starship is called the USS  ShirKahr  (sic) after ShiKahr, the city from "Yesteryear". In the episode "Prophet Motive" where the title of healer is resurrected from "Yesteryear" as well. Vulcan's Forge is also mentioned in "Change of Heart", in which Worf wants to honeymoon there with Jadzia Dax, as well as in episodes "The Forge", "Awakening" and "Kir'Shara" from  Star Trek: Enterprise .

The  Star Trek: Enterprise  episodes "The Catwalk" and "The Forge" included references to "Yesteryear", the latter featuring a CGI rendition of a wild sehlat. The remastered Original Series episode "Amok Time" featured ShiKahr in the background as Spock beams up at the episode's ending, [16]  and the remastered version of "The Ultimate Computer" replaced the  Botany Bay -style  Woden  with an automated grain carrier from "More Tribbles, More Troubles".

The 2009 film  Star Trek  also references "Yesteryear", featuring a nearly identical scene in which a young Spock is confronted by several other Vulcan children, who bully and provoke him for being part human.

The 2017 series  Star Trek: Discovery  episode "Context is for Kings" has Spock's foster sister Michael Burnham state that their mother Amanda read  Alice in Wonderland  to them as children, as in the episode "Once Upon a Planet." [17]  The second season episode "Light and Shadows" expands on Amanda's reasons for doing so.

Carter Winston, from "The Survivor", has a small but important role late in the 1984 tie-in novel  The Final Reflection  by John M. Ford. In recent years, references to  The Animated Series  have also cropped up again in the licensed books and comics. M'Ress and Arex, characters from the animated series, appear in the  Star Trek: New Frontier  novels by Peter David, in which M'Ress and Arex are transported through time to the 24th Century, and are made officers on board the USS  Trident . (David's previous use of these characters, in TOS movie-era comics published by DC Comics, had been ended by Gene Roddenberry's office.) [18]

A race introduced in the episode "The Jihad", represented by a character named M3 Green, is named the Nasat in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers e-book novellas. These stories feature a regular Nasat character, P8 Blue. The Vulcan city of ShiKahr also appears in many books. Paula Block, then of CBS Consumer Products, was responsible for approving proposals and all completed manuscripts for the licensed media tie-ins and granted many such uses of  TAS material since Roddenberry's death.

Amarillo Design Bureau has—as part of its license for the Star Fleet Universe series of games—incorporated many aspects of  The Animated Series  into its works, not least being the inclusion of the Kzinti, although in a modified form. In addition FASA used elements from  The Animated Series  in its sourcebooks and modules for its  Star Trek  role-playing game.

Star Trek: Enterprise  producer Manny Coto has commented that had the show been renewed for a fifth season, the Kzinti would have been introduced. [19]  Starship designs were produced which closely resemble the Kzinti/Mirak ships from the  Star Fleet Universe , a gaming universe that includes the boardgame  Star Fleet Battles  and its PC analogue  Star Fleet Command .

On June 27, 2007,  Star Trek 's official site incorporated information from  The Animated Series into its library section, [20]  clarifying, finally, that the animated series is part of the  Star Trek canon. Both David Gerrold and D. C. Fontana have stated that the animated series is essentially the fourth season that fans wanted originally. [21]

Reception[edit] [ ]

Star Trek: The Animated Series  was named the 96th best animated series by IGN. They declared that although the series suffered from technical limitations, its format allowed the writers far greater freedom and creativity than was possible in the original live-action series. [22]

The comic  Star Trek vs Transformers  was inspired by the animated series, and takes place in a similar universe. [23]

In 2019, CBR ranked all the seasons  Star Trek  television shows, placing Season 1 of TAS at 23, and season 2 at 24. [24]  At this time there was 31 season of  Star Trek  TV overall. [25]

Home media[edit] [ ]

• The complete series was first released in the United States on eleven volumes of VHStapes in 1989. In the United Kingdom, CIC Video released the complete series on seven volumes (1x4 episodes and 6x3 episodes) on PAL VHS in 1992. Although CIC-Taft Australia negotiated an Australasian release, they did not proceed with their plans.
• A boxed set of the complete series on LaserDisc was released for the US market in 1990, then re-released in 1997.
• A Region 1 DVD box set of the series was released on November 21, 2006, and has since been released internationally for other Regions. Each episode on CBS DVD/Paramount Home Entertainment’s Complete Series DVD release of  Star Trek: The Animated Series  (aka  The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek ) was presented in its original network television format and original airdate order - uncut and unedited - and also remastered and restored in 1080p HD and full-color with remastered and remixed 5.1 surround sound and restored original mono audio. It was also the last series of Paramount's  Star Trek  television franchise to be released to DVD.
• A Blu-ray release in HD was released as part of the  STAR TREK 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection  in the United States on September 6, 2016.
• A stand-alone Blu-ray release was released on November 15, 2016.

• 1970s television shows
• Science Fiction
• Animated Television Shows

Star Trek: The Animated Series

• View history

After the cancellation of The Original Series ( TOS ) in 1969, the live action show proved popular in syndication and generated significant fan enthusiasm. This resulted in Roddenberry's decision to continue the series in animated form. Much of the original cast returned to provide voice-overs for their characters. Show writers David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana characterized The Animated Series as effectively a fourth season of The Original Series (which would effectively make the second season of TAS the fifth season of TOS .) After the conclusion of The Animated Series , the adventures of the characters continued in live-action theatrical films, the first being the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

The Animated Series was the original cast's last episodic portrayal of the characters until the "cartoon-like" graphics of the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary computer game in 1992 [4] as well as its sequel Star Trek: Judgment Rites in 1993. Both appeared after the cast's final film together, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , released in December 1991. The Animated Series was critically acclaimed and was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award when its second season won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment – Children's Series. [5]

• 1 Initial proposal
• 2 Production
• 4 Development
• 5 Novelties in the series
• 6 Canon issues
• 7 References to The Animated Series in other Star Trek series
• 8 Home media
• 9 Reception
• 10 See also
• 11.1 Bibliography
• 12 External links

Initial proposal [ ]

Lou Scheimer of Filmation was in talks with Star Trek producer Paramount Television , TV network NBC , and creator Gene Roddenberry to create an animated spin-off series while The Original Series was still on the air, during its third season (1968–69). [6] Paramount's director of special programming Philip Mayer and Filmation writer/animator Don R. Christensen worked together to create a proposal for a series which would target a young audience and have an educational spin. The main cast of Star Trek: The Original Series would train the teenage crew of a ship called Excalibur about space exploration; the new teenage crew included a Vulcan named Steve, an African-American boy named Bob, and a Chinese boy named Stick. [6]

However, due to the bitter relationship between Roddenberry and Paramount at the time, Scheimer was not able to get the two parties talking to each other in order to agree on a deal for several years. During this time, the project in its original form was phased out. [6]

Production [ ]

A deal was finally reached in early 1973, and publicly announced in early March 1973. Because of NBC's strong interest in the series, Roddenberry and Filmation were allotted very generous terms: a guaranteed minimum of two seasons with a combined 22 episodes, a budget of $75,000 per episode, and full creative control in Gene Roddenberry's hands. [6]

Roddenberry and Filmation agreed that the series should be for all ages, rather than the children-oriented approach of the original proposal, and at Roddenberry's suggestion The Original Series script editor D.C. Fontana was hired as the series' story editor and associate producer. [6] Despite the meager payment for writers ($1,300 per script, with no residuals), the opportunity to write a Star Trek episode without the special effects limitations of live action proved appealing, and many of The Original Series writers joined the staff. [6] Fontana steered the series away from the romantic and sexual elements of The Original Series , as she felt children would not be interested in them and she wanted The Animated Series to appeal to children as well as adults. [6]

The Animated Series featured most of the original cast voicing their characters. The major exception was the character of Pavel Chekov ( Walter Koenig ), who did not appear in the series because the series' budget could not afford the complete cast. [6] He was replaced by Lieutenant Arex , whose Edosian species had three arms and three legs; Lieutenant M'Ress, a female Caitian, sometimes stood in for Uhura as communications officer. Besides performing their characters Montgomery Scott and Christine Chapel , James Doohan and Majel Barrett also performed the voices of Arex and M'Ress, respectively.

Initially, Filmation was only going to use the voices of William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Doohan and Barrett. Doohan and Barrett would also perform the voices of Sulu and Uhura . Nimoy refused to voice Spock in the series unless Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were added to the cast, claiming that Sulu and Uhura were proof of the ethnic diversity of the 23rd century and should not be recast. Nimoy also took this stand as a matter of principle, as he knew of the financial troubles many of his Star Trek co-stars were facing after cancellation of the series. [7] According to Scheimer, when Nimoy pointed out that the casting would cut the only two minority actors from the series, "We were horrified at our unintended slight, made all the worse because we were the one studio who had been championing diversity in its output." [6] Koenig was not forgotten, as Filmation were able to assuage Nimoy's complaints on his account by buying a script from Koenig for one episode (" The Infinite Vulcan "). [6]

Voice recording began in June 1973, with the first three episodes recorded as an ensemble, i.e. all the voice actors for the episode in the room at the same time. [6] Later episodes used the more typical model of recording the voice actors separately to work around their other commitments. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, who were both touring in plays at the time, recorded their lines in whatever city they happened to be performing in and had the tapes shipped to the studio. [6] Doohan and Barrett, besides providing the voices of their Original Series characters and newcomers Arex and M'Ress, performed virtually all of the "guest star" characters in the series, with exceptions such as Sarek , Cyrano Jones and Harry Mudd , who were performed by the original actors from The Original Series . Other guest voice actors included Ed Bishop , who voiced the Megan Prosecutor in " The Magicks of Megas-tu ", and Ted Knight , who voiced Carter Winston in " The Survivor ". Nichelle Nichols performed character voices in addition to Uhura in several episodes, including " The Time Trap " and " The Lorelei Signal ".

Don Christensen, creator of the original proposal, remained involved as art director. Other animation staff included Reuben Timmins (who oversaw all shots involving the Enterprise ) and a young Bob Kline. The animators rotoscoped the animations for the Enterprise and the original cast from 35 mm film footage of The Original Series . [6] The chevrons were enlarged to make them easier to animate, but otherwise the crew's uniforms were unaltered from The Original Series . [6] Due to the hiring of nearly the entire regular cast of the original show, little money was left in the budget for the animation, so Filmation cut costs by using stock footage and shortcuts such as having a character put a hand to their mouth while speaking (thus eliminating the need to animate the lips) and silhouetting characters in action. [6]

The animated series dispensed with the original series' theme music, composed by Alexander Courage , in favor of a new theme credited to Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael, but actually written by Filmation composer Ray Ellis . Ellis used the pseudonym Yvette Blais (the maiden name of his wife) due to complications with royalties and publishing companies, while Jeff Michael is a pseudonym for producer Norm Prescott , who received a pseudonymous credit and a cut of the royalties on all of Filmation's music as part of a standard deal for the time. [6] Writing on Facebook 's Starlog Magazine official page in March 2021, Gerrold revealed that the reason for this was a longstanding feud between Courage and Roddenberry over residual payments for airings of Star Trek: TOS episodes using the original theme: "When Courage turned in the original music, Roddenberry added his own lyrics to it, thereby depriving Courage of half his residuals. Courage never forgave Roddenberry and refused to give permission for the reuse of the theme. That's why new music was written for the animated series and again for the movies." [8]

Episodes [ ]

Main: List of Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes

Development [ ]

Similar to most animated series of the era, the 22 episodes of TAS were spread out over two brief seasons, with copious reruns of each episode. The director of the first season (16 episodes) was Hal Sutherland and Bill Reed directed the six episodes of season two, though the first four episodes of season two erroneously credit Sutherland. [6]

All of this series' episodes were novelized by Alan Dean Foster and released in ten volumes under the Star Trek Logs banner. Initially, Foster adapted three episodes per book, but later editions saw the half-hour scripts expanded into full, novel-length stories.

Star Trek: The Animated Series was the only Star Trek series not to be produced with a cold open ("teaser"), instead starting directly with the title credits sequence. However, some overseas versions of the original live action series, such as those aired by the BBC in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, were edited to run the teaser after the credits.

The series' writing benefited from a Writers Guild of America, East strike in 1973, which did not apply to animation. A few episodes were written by well-known science fiction authors:

• " More Tribbles, More Troubles " was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his episode " The Trouble with Tribbles " from the original series. Here Cyrano Jones is rescued from the Klingons , bringing with him a genetically altered breed of tribbles which do not reproduce but do grow extremely large. (It is later discovered that these are really clusters of tribbles who function as a single tribble , and it is decided that the large numbers of smaller tribbles are preferable to the larger ones.) The Klingons, because of their hatred of tribbles, are eager to get Jones back because he stole a creature they created: a predator called a "glommer" that feeds on tribbles.
• " Yesteryear " is a time-travel episode in which Mr. Spock uses "The Guardian of Forever", a time gateway from the original series episode " The City on the Edge of Forever ", to travel back to his own childhood. This is the only animated Trek episode written by original series and later Next Generation writer D. C. Fontana . This was the first actual appearance of Spock's pet sehlat, first mentioned in " Journey to Babel " and finally named I-Chaya in this episode. One element from Yesteryear that has become canon by depiction within Star Trek: The Original Series is the Vulcan city of ShiKahr, depicted in a background scene wherein Kirk, Spock and McCoy walk across a natural stone bridge (first depicted in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ) in the remastered " Amok Time ". Elements of Spock's childhood from "Yesteryear" are also referenced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " Unification " as well as the 2009 Star Trek feature film.
• Larry Niven 's " The Slaver Weapon ", adapted from his own short story "The Soft Weapon". It includes some elements from his Known Space mythos such as the Kzinti and the Slavers . This is the only Kirk-era television or movie story in which Kirk did not appear. This episode is also the only animated one in which characters are shown dying or being killed.

Novelties in the series [ ]

In the original Star Trek series, the main character was given the name James T. Kirk . It was not until the animated series that writer David Gerrold expanded on the "T", establishing Kirk's middle name as Tiberius. By coincidence, on Gene Roddenberry's first series The Lieutenant , the principal character was William Tiberius Rice. According to Gerrold, he had been influenced by I, Claudius , and had approached Roddenberry with his choice of middle name, who agreed; Gerrold did not learn about the earlier use of the name until 2014. [9]

The animated series introduced a three-armed, three-legged alien member of the bridge crew with a long neck named Arex and a cat-like alien crew member named M'Ress. According to Roddenberry, budget limitations would have made it impossible for either alien species to appear in a live action series of the time. [6]

The USS Enterprise in this series, while supposedly the same ship as from the original series, had a holodeck similar to the one later seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation , which was set about eighty years later. It only appeared once, in Chuck Menville's "The Practical Joker", and was known as the "Rec Room". This feature was originally proposed for the original series [10] but was never used.

A personal force field technology known as the life support belt was seen only in Star Trek: The Animated Series . In addition to supplying the wearer with the appropriate atmosphere and environmental protection, it permitted the animators to simply draw the belt and yellow glow around the existing characters, instead of having to redraw them with an environmental suit. A version of the life support belt later appeared in an early Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, The Peacekeepers , where they were referred to as "field-effect suits".

The episode " The Lorelei Signal " provides a rare instance in early Star Trek in which a woman took temporary command of a starship. Due to the male crew members being incapacitated, Uhura assumes command of the Enterprise from Scotty. Other instances occurred on the first and last adventures filmed in the original series:

• " The Cage ", in which Number One took command after the abduction of Captain Christopher Pike , and
• " Turnabout Intruder ", in which Dr. Janice Lester took over the body of Captain Kirk and assumed command.

"The Lorelei Signal" and " The Infinite Vulcan ", the latter written by Walter Koenig, are rare occurrences where Captain Kirk comes close to actually saying, " Beam me up, Scotty " (long erroneously believed to be a Star Trek catchphrase ), when he commands "Beam us up, Scotty". Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home arguably comes closer to it by having Kirk say "Scotty, beam me up".

An anti-pollution public service announcement was created for non-profit Keep America Beautiful featuring the ST: TAS characters and original cast voices. In the ad, the Enterprise encounters the "Rhombian Pollution Belt". [11] The ad ran during Saturday morning network programming during the series' run.

Canon issues [ ]

At the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation , all licenses for Star Trek spin-off fiction were renegotiated, and the animated series was essentially "decanonized" by Gene Roddenberry 's office. Writers of the novels, comics and role-playing games were prohibited from using concepts from the animated series in their works. Among the facts established within the animated series that were called into question by the "official canon" issue was its identification of Robert April as the first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".

The Star Trek Chronology by production staffers Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda does not include the animated series, but does include certain events from "Yesteryear" and acknowledges Robert April as first captain of the Enterprise . The timeline in Voyages of the Imagination dates the events of the series to 2269–2270, assuming the events of the show represented the final part of Kirk's five-year mission, and using revised Alan Dean Foster stardates. In the updated October 1999 edition of their book: The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future , Michael and Denise Okuda state that:

David Gerrold , who contributed two stories to TAS , stated in an interview his views on the canon issue:

Writer-producer D.C. Fontana discussed the TAS Canon issue in 2007:

References to The Animated Series in other Star Trek series [ ]

Since Roddenberry's death in 1991, and the subsequent exit of Richard H. Arnold (who vetted the licensed tie-ins for Roddenberry's Star Trek office at Paramount during its later years), there have been several references to the animated series in the various other Trek series. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Once More Unto the Breach ", Kor referred to his ship, the Klothos , which was first named in the TAS episode " The Time Trap ". Other DS9 episodes to make reference to the animated series include " Broken Link ", where Elim Garak mentions Edosian orchids (Arex is an Edosian) and " Tears of the Prophets " where a Miranda -class starship is called the USS ShirKahr (sic) after ShiKahr, the city from "Yesteryear". In the episode " Prophet Motive " the title of healer is resurrected from "Yesteryear" as well. Vulcan's Forge is also mentioned in " Change of Heart ", in which Worf wants to honeymoon there with Jadzia Dax , as well as in episodes " The Forge ", " Awakening " and " Kir'Shara " from Star Trek: Enterprise .

The Star Trek: Enterprise episodes " The Catwalk " and " The Forge " included references to " Yesteryear ", the latter featuring a CGI rendition of a wild sehlat. The remastered Original Series episode " Amok Time " featured ShiKahr in the background as Spock beams up at the episode's ending, [15] and the remastered version of " The Ultimate Computer " replaced the Botany Bay -style Woden with an automated grain carrier from " More Tribbles, More Troubles ".

The 2009 film Star Trek also references "Yesteryear", featuring a nearly identical scene in which a young Spock is confronted by several other Vulcan children, who bully and provoke him for being part human.

The 2017 series Star Trek: Discovery episode " Context Is for Kings " has Spock's foster sister Michael Burnham state that their mother Amanda read Alice in Wonderland to them as children, as in the episode " Once Upon a Planet ." [16] The second season episode "Light and Shadows" expands on Amanda's reasons for doing so.

The 2021 series Star Trek: Lower Decks episode " I, Excretus " features a Pandronian drill administrator named Shari yn Yem, the first Pandronian in the history of Trek to appear outside of TAS. The race was introduced in TAS episode "Bem" .

Carter Winston, from " The Survivor ", has a small but important role late in the 1984 tie-in novel The Final Reflection by John M. Ford . In recent years, references to The Animated Series have also cropped up again in the licensed books and comics. M'Ress and Arex , characters from the animated series, appear in the Star Trek: New Frontier novels by Peter David , in which M'Ress and Arex are transported through time to the 24th Century, and are made officers on board the USS Trident . (David's previous use of these characters, in TOS movie-era comics published by DC Comics , had been ended by Gene Roddenberry's office.) [17]

A race introduced in the episode " The Jihad ", represented by a character named M3 Green, is named the Nasat in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers e-book novellas. These stories feature a regular Nasat character, P8 Blue . The Vulcan city of ShiKahr also appears in many books. Paula Block, then of CBS Consumer Products , was responsible for approving proposals and all completed manuscripts for the licensed media tie-ins and granted many such uses of TAS material since Roddenberry's death.

Amarillo Design Bureau has—as part of its license for the Star Fleet Universe series of games—incorporated many aspects of The Animated Series into its works, not least being the inclusion of the Kzinti , although in a modified form. In addition FASA used elements from The Animated Series in its sourcebooks and modules for its Star Trek role-playing game .

Star Trek: Enterprise producer Manny Coto has commented that had the show been renewed for a fifth season, the Kzinti would have been introduced. [18] Starship designs were produced which closely resemble the Kzinti/ Mirak ships from the Star Fleet Universe , a gaming universe that includes the boardgame Star Fleet Battles and its PC analogue Star Fleet Command . The Kzinti were referenced in dialog in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Nepenthe", which marked their first canon on-screen mention since The Animated Series .

On June 27, 2007, Star Trek ' s official site incorporated information from The Animated Series into its library section, [19] with many pointing to this as evidence that the animated series is canon, though this has not been officially confirmed. Both David Gerrold and D. C. Fontana have stated that the animated series is essentially the fourth season that fans wanted originally. [20]

Home media [ ]

• The complete series was first released in the United States on eleven volumes of VHS tapes in 1989. In the United Kingdom, CIC Video released the complete series on seven volumes (1x4 episodes and 6x3 episodes) on PAL VHS in 1992. Although CIC-Taft Australia negotiated an Australasian release, they did not proceed with their plans.
• A boxed set of the complete series on LaserDisc was released for the US market in 1990, then re-released in 1997.
• A Region 1 DVD box set of the series was released on November 21, 2006, and has since been released internationally for other Regions. Each episode on CBS DVD/Paramount Home Entertainment’s Complete Series DVD release of Star Trek: The Animated Series (aka The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek ) was presented in its original network television format and original airdate order - uncut and unedited - and also remastered and restored in 1080p HD and full-color with remastered and remixed 5.1 surround sound and restored original mono audio. It was also the last series of Paramount's Star Trek television franchise to be released to DVD.
• A Blu-ray release in HD was released as part of the STAR TREK 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection in the United States on September 6, 2016.
• A stand-alone Blu-ray release was released on November 15, 2016.

Reception [ ]

In 1975, Star Trek: The Animated Series won an Emmy. [21] The series is noted for the voice acting of actress Majel Barrett , who voiced various characters and the main computer. [21] Majel also had roles in the live-action series for voice acting, but also as Number One , Nurse Christine Chapel , and Lwaxana Troi .

Through both seasons, Star Trek: The Animated Series faced the reverse situation of The Original Series with regard to its popularity: ratings were high, but skewed away from the young children which Saturday morning advertisers were trying to reach, being more popular with adults and older children. [6]

Star Trek: The Animated Series was named the 96th best animated series by IGN . They declared that although the series suffered from technical limitations, its format allowed the writers far greater freedom and creativity than was possible in the original live-action series. [22] In 2019, CBR ranked all 31 seasons of Star Trek television shows, placing season 1 of TAS at 23rd, and season 2 at 24th. Similarly to IGN, they commented that "The animation is definitely limited by today's standards, but the idea of an animated Star Trek makes perfect sense, since concerns over budget and scope would be very different. Although only two seasons long, we were given some memorable moments." [23]

The comic Star Trek vs Transformers was inspired by The Animated Series , and takes place in a similar universe. [24]

In 2016, in a listing that included each Star Trek films and TV series separately, The Animated Series was ranked 11th by the L.A. Times . [25]

In 2019, Moviefone ranked The Animated Series the seventh best out of seven Star Trek TV series. [26]

See also [ ]

• List of animated spin-offs from prime time shows

References [ ]

• ↑ Animated Star Trek: Series Background . DanHauserTrek.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2017.
• ↑ Idiotbox Watcher (September 7, 2016). 'Star Trek'...True Space Oddity . Movie Pilot. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016.
• ↑ Woolery, George (1983). " Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series ". Scarecrow Press. Retrieved on March 22, 2020.
• ↑ Star Trek: 25th Anniversary – Review – Adventure Classic Gaming – ACG – Adventure Games, Interactive Fiction Games – Reviews, Interviews, Features, Previews, Cheats, Galleries, Forums . Adventure Classic Gaming. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013. Retrieved on May 5, 2013.
• ↑ Star Trek . IMDb.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved on June 29, 2018.
• ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 Mangels, Andy (Summer 2018). Star Trek: The Animated Series . TwoMorrows Publishing . Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved on October 28, 2020.
• ↑ Takei, George. " To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei ". Pocket Books.
• ↑ Gerrold, David (March 3, 2021). " "12 Fascinating Facts About 'Star Trek: The Animated Series," comments section ". Facebook. Retrieved on March 6, 2021.
• ↑ Silverman, D. S. (2015). Always bring phasers to an "animated" canon fight: Star Trek's animated adventures on Saturday mornings. In D. Brode & S. Brode (Eds.) Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek: The original cast adventures. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
• ↑ see, e.g., Gerrold, The World of Star Trek
• ↑ Lost PSA: Star Trek TAS for Keep America Beautiful! . YouTube (June 14, 2010). Archived from the original on November 11, 2021.
• ↑ Michael & Denise Okuda, The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future , Updated and expanded edition, October 1999, Pocket Book (a division of Simon and Schuster), p. iii
• ↑ Star Trek: The Animated Series . Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved on December 5, 2007.
• ↑ D.C. Fontana On TAS Canon (and Sybok) . TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved on June 28, 2008.
• ↑ ShiKahr (background image) . TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved on May 5, 2013.
• ↑ 'Star Trek: Discovery' References Spock And 'The Animated Series' . ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved on March 8, 2019.
• ↑ Star Trek , Series II issue #1 lettercol, DC Comics, September 1989
• ↑ " Star Trek: Enterprise ". Memory Alpha. Retrieved on December 29, 2007.
• ↑ The Animated Series Gets Real . StarTrek.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 16, 2020.
• ↑ Silverman, D.S. (2015). "Always Bring Phasers to an 'Animated' Canon Fight: Star Trek ' s Animated Adventures on Saturday Mornings". In D. Brode & S. Brode (Eds.) Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek : The Original Cast Adventures . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
• ↑ 21.0 21.1 Burton, Bonnie. Star Trek: Lower Decks have you excited? Give the '70s cartoon a try . CNET. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved on June 26, 2019.
• ↑ 96, Star Trek: The Animated Series . IGN (January 23, 2009). Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved on January 23, 2009.
• ↑ Every Star Trek Season of TV Ever, Ranked from Worst to Best . CBR (January 4, 2019). Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved on March 26, 2019.
• ↑ Archived copy . Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved on August 1, 2018.
• ↑ Bernardin, Marc. Ranking every 'Star Trek' movie and TV series from first to worst . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved on July 12, 2019.
• ↑ Pirrello, Phil. Every Star Trek Series, Ranked From Kirk to Picard . Moviefone. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved on July 12, 2019.

Bibliography [ ]

• Alexander, David (February 16, 1995). " Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry ". Roc.
• Ayers, Jeff (2006). " Voyages of the Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion ". Pocket Books.
• Okuda, Mike (1996). " Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future ". Pocket Books.

External links [ ]

• Official website
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at Paramount Plus
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at Memory Alpha
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at Memory Beta
• StarTrekAnimated.com
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at TrekCore.com
• Star Trek, the Forgotten Frontier: 1970s Animation , The New York Times DVD review
• 1 Dora the Explorer (2024 reboot)
• 2 Derek Morgan
• 3 Jack Reacher (Character)

Star Trek: The Animated Series

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Star Trek: The Animated Series (also known as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek Template:Fact ) is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s. The animated series was aired under the name Star Trek , but it has become widely known under this longer name (or abbreviated as ST: TAS or TAS ) to differentiate it from the original live-action Star Trek . The success in syndication of the original live action series and fan pressure for a Star Trek revival led to The Animated Series from 1973-1974, as the source of new adventures of the Enterprise crew, the next being the live-action feature film 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture . TAS was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award . [1]

• 1 Production
• 2 Broadcast history
• 3 Voice casting
• 5 Influence on later Star Trek and Filmation series
• 6 Novelties in the series
• 7 Canon issues
• 8.1 Ratings
• 9 Video and DVD releases

Production [ ]

The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 on NBC , airing a total of twenty-two half-hour episodes. An early Filmation proposal for this series had children assigned to each of the senior officers as cadets, including a young Vulcan for Mr. Spock. According to interviews with Norm Prescott , Paramount offered Roddenberry a substantial sum of money to abandon creative control of the project and let Filmation proceed with their "kiddy space cadet" idea. Roddenberry refused. Filmation would later develop the idea into its own original live action program, Space Academy , in 1977.

The writers of the animated series used, essentially, the same writers' guide that was used for the live-action Star Trek: The Original Series . (A copy of the " series bible ", as revised for TAS , is held in the science fiction research collection at the Samuel Paley Library , Temple University , Philadelphia .)

While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and believable non-humanoid aliens, budget constraints were a major concern and the animation quality was generally only fair, with very liberal use of stock shots (as was often the case with many of Filmation's shows). There were also occasional mistakes, such as characters appearing on screen who were elsewhere, or a character supposed to appear on the bridge's main viewing screen, but then appeared in front, indicating bad ordering of animation plates. These were typically isolated errors however. Occasionally, though, parts of episodes would be animated at a near-theatrical quality level.

Broadcast history [ ]

Airing on NBC , the series premiered on September 8, 1973 and was broadcast until October 12, 1974, although only twenty-two episodes were produced. The series aired Saturday mornings at 10:30am Eastern/9:30am Central in 1973 and at 11:30am Eastern/10:30am Central the following year.

The series was later shown in reruns on Nickelodeon in the 1980s and on the Sci Fi Channel in the 1990s as part of Sci Fi Cartoon Quest .

Voice casting [ ]

The series featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters, except for Pavel Chekov ( Walter Koenig ), who was omitted because the show's budget could not afford the complete cast. He was replaced by two animated characters who made semi-regular appearances: Lieutenant Arex , whose Edosian species had three arms and three legs; and Lt. M'Ress , a female Caitian . James Doohan , and Majel Barrett , besides performing their characters Montgomery Scott and Christine Chapel , performed the voices of Arex and M'Ress, respectively.

Initially, Filmation was only going to use the voices of William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan and Majel Barrett . Doohan and Barrett would also perform the voices of Sulu and Uhura. Leonard Nimoy refused to sign up to lend his voice to the series unless Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were added to the cast — claiming that Sulu and Uhura were of importance as they were proof of the ethnic diversity of the 23rd century and should not be recast. [2]

Koenig was not forgotten, and later wrote an episode of the series, becoming the first Star Trek actor to write a Star Trek story. Koenig wrote " The Infinite Vulcan ", which had plot elements of the original Star Trek episode "Space Seed" blended into it.

As is usual for animation, the voice actors did not perform together but recorded their parts separately to avoid clashing with other commitments. For instance, William Shatner , who was touring in a play at the time, would record his lines in whatever city he happened to be in and have the tapes shipped to the studio. Doohan and Barrett, besides providing the voices of their Original Series characters and newcomers Arex and M'Ress, performed virtually all of the "guest star" characters in the series, except for a few notable exceptions such as Sarek , Cyrano Jones and Harcourt Fenton Mudd , who were performed by their original actors from The Original Series . Occasional other guest voice actors were also used, such as Ed Bishop (Commander Straker on UFO ) who voiced the Megan Prosecutor in " The Magicks of Megas-tu ", and Ted Knight (Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show ) who voiced Carter Winston in " The Survivor ". Nichelle Nichols also performed other character voices in addition to Uhura in several episodes, including " The Time Trap " and " The Lorelei Signal ".

Episodes [ ]

The characters of TAS .

The 22 episodes of TAS were spread out over two brief seasons, with copious reruns of each episode. Most were directed by Hal Sutherland .

All the episodes of this series were novelized by Alan Dean Foster and released in ten volumes under the Star Trek Logs banner. Initially, Foster adapted three episodes per book, but later editions saw the half-hour scripts expanded into full novel-length stories.

Star Trek: The Animated Series was the only Star Trek series to not feature a cold open ("teaser") and started directly with the title sequence (although some overseas versions of the original live action series, such as that run by the BBC in the U.K. in the 1960s and 1970s, ran the teaser after the credits). Template:Clarify

The writing in the series benefited from a Writers Guild of America, East strike in 1973, which did not apply to animation. [3] A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well-known science fiction authors:

• " More Tribbles, More Troubles " was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his famous episode " The Trouble With Tribbles " from the original series. Here Cyrano Jones is rescued from the Klingons , bringing with him a genetically-altered breed of tribbles which do not reproduce but do grow extremely large. (It is later discovered that these are really clusters of tribbles who function as a single tribble, and it is decided that the large numbers of smaller tribbles are preferable to the larger ones.) The Klingons, due to their hatred of tribbles, are eager to get Jones back because he stole a creature they created: a predator that feeds on tribbles. This episode was originally written with the intention of being an episode of the live-action original series, but this was vetoed by Fred Freiberger who wanted serious sci-fi episodes instead. Template:Citation needed
• " Yesteryear " is a time-travel episode in which Mr. Spock uses " The Guardian of Forever ", a time gateway from the original series episode " The City on the Edge of Forever ", to travel to his own childhood past. This is the only animated Trek episode written by original series and later Next Generation writer D. C. Fontana . This was the first actual appearance of Spock's pet sehlat , first mentioned in " Journey to Babel " and finally named I-Chaya in this episode.
• Larry Niven 's " The Slaver Weapon ", adapted from his own short story "The Soft Weapon". It includes some elements from his Known Space mythos such as the Kzinti and the Slavers . This is the only Kirk-era TV or movie story in which Kirk didn't appear. This episode also has the distinction of being the only animated episode where anyone dies or is killed onscreen.
• " The Magicks of Megas-tu ", by Larry Brody , sends the Enterprise to the center of the galaxy. Its crew find themselves befriended by a devil-like alien named Lucien, whom they must defend against accusations that he has brought evil to the world of Megas-tu.

Influence on later Star Trek and Filmation series [ ]

Scotty faces problems with the food replicator in the "Rec Room" or holodeck .

The USS Enterprise in this series, while supposedly the same ship as from the original series, had a holodeck very similar to the one introduced on Star Trek: The Next Generation , which was set approximately eighty years later. It only appeared once, in Chuck Menville's "The Practical Joker" and was known as the "Rec Room". This feature was originally proposed for the original series (see, e.g., Gerrold, The World of Star Trek ) but was never used.

Filmation later went on to produce the hit He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-85), which occasionally used modified character and set designs from Star Trek: The Animated Series , mostly as background material. ( He-Man and the Masters of the Universe also had several Trek -similar stories, most notably "The Arena", which is very similar to Star Trek: The Original Series' s first season episode, "Arena"). Later series also shared many of the stock sound effects from both Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: The Original Series . Filmation also recycled some of the background music for Star Trek: The Animated Series in their later shows Shazam! , Tarzan and the Super 7 and Sport Billy . (Some of the music had already been reused from the previous season's The Brady Kids and the Treasure Island feature, and were shared with that season's Lassie's Rescue Rangers ).

In addition, a few story and character elements that were introduced in the animated series were incorporated into subsequent live-action productions:

• Kirk's middle name, Tiberius, was first introduced in "Bem" , then subsequently referred to in several Star Trek novels (most notably the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Roddenberry). The name was conclusively established as part of the Trek canon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .
• Amanda 's maiden name, Grayson.
• A second exit for the bridge, referred to in Franz Joseph 's Star Fleet Technical Manual and seen in the refitted Enterprise and the NCC-1701-A from the first six Star Trek movies.
• The kahs-wan ritual Spock endures in "Yesteryear".
• Klingon commander Kor 's command of the battlecruiser Klothos .
• Doctor Phlox uses Edosian slugs in his medical bay, and Chef once served up Edosian sucker fish, similar to Earth's catfish, as a meal, in the series Star Trek: Enterprise . They come from the same planet as Lieutenant Arex, as do Edosian orchids mentioned by Elim Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• The Vulcan city, ShiKahr, has been referred to in multiple series (sometimes misspelled "ShirKahr"), and can be seen in an episode of Enterprise . A Vulcan city which looks very similar to the ShiKahr of Star Trek: The Animated Series was shown in the new CGI establishing shots used in the special edition of " Amok Time ".
• Some of the worlds and aliens in the series were included in the 1989 book called Star Trek: The Worlds of the Federation .
• Some of Sarek's dialog from "Yesteryear" , and young Spock being bullied by Vulcan classmates, are given homage in the 2009 feature film, Star Trek .

Novelties in the series [ ]

A personal force field technology known as the life support belt was seen only in Star Trek: The Animated Series . In addition to supplying the wearer with the appropriate atmosphere and environmental protection it permitted the animators to simply draw the belt and yellow glow around the existing characters, instead of having to redraw them with an environmental suit. A version of the life support belt later appeared in an early Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, The Peacekeepers , where they were referred to as "field-effect suits".

The episode " The Lorelei Signal " provides a rare instance in early Star Trek in which a female took (temporary) command of a starship. Due to the incapacitation of the male members of the crew, Uhura assumes command of the Enterprise from Scotty. Other instances occurred on the very first and very last adventures ever filmed of the original series:

• " The Cage ", in which Number One took command after the abduction of Captain Christopher Pike, and
• " Turnabout Intruder ", in which Dr. Janice Lester took over the body of Captain Kirk and assumed command.

"The Lorelei Signal" and " The Infinite Vulcan ", the latter written by Walter Koenig, are rare occurrences where Captain Kirk comes close to actually saying, " Beam me up, Scotty " (long erroneously believed to be a Star Trek catch phrase ), when he commands "Beam us up, Scotty." Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home arguably comes closer to it by having Kirk say "Scotty, beam me up".

Canon issues [ ]

At the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation , all licenses for Star Trek spin-off fiction were renegotiated and the animated series was essentially "decanonized" by Gene Roddenberry 's office. Writers of the novels, comics and role-playing games were prohibited from using concepts from the animated series in their works. [4] Among the facts established within the animated series that were called into question by the "official canon" issue was its identification of Robert April as the first captain of the USS Enterprise in the episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".

The Star Trek Chronology by production staffers Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda does not include the animated series, but does include certain events from "Yesteryear" and acknowledges Robert April as first captain of the Enterprise . [5] The timeline in Voyages of the Imagination dates the events of the series to 2269-2270, assuming the events of the show represented the final part of Kirk's five-year mission, and using revised Alan Dean Foster stardates.

Since Roddenberry's death in 1991 and the consequent firing of Richard H. Arnold (who vetted the licensed tie-ins for Roddenberry's "Star Trek Office" at Paramount during its later years), there have been several references to the animated series in the various live-action series. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Once More Unto the Breach ", Kor referred to his ship, the Klothos , which was first named in the TAS episode " The Time Trap ". Other DS9 episodes to make reference to the animated series include " Broken Link ", where Elim Garak mentions Edosian orchids (Arex is an Edosian) and " Tears of the Prophets " where a Miranda class starship is called the USS ShirKahr (sic) after Shikahr, the city from "Yesteryear". David Gerrold , who contributed two stories to TAS, stated in an interview his views on the canon issue:

Template:Quotation

Writer-producer D. C. Fontana discussed the TAS Canon issue in 2007:

More DS9 references to the animated series include the episode " Prophet Motive " where the title of healer is resurrected from "Yesteryear" as well. Vulcan's Forge is also mentioned in " Change of Heart ", in which Worf wants himself and Jadzia Dax to honeymoon there.

The Star Trek: Enterprise episodes " The Catwalk " and " The Forge " included references to " Yesteryear ", the latter featuring a CGI rendition of a wild sehlat . The remastered Original Series episode " Amok Time " featured Shikahr in the background as Spock beams up at the episode's end. [6]

Carter Winston, from " The Survivor ", has a small but important role late in the 1984 tie-in novel The Final Reflection by John M. Ford . In recent years, references to The Animated Series have also cropped up again in the licensed books and comics. M'Ress and Arex , characters from the animated series, appear in the Star Trek: New Frontier novels by Peter David , in which M'Ress and Arex are transported through time to the 24th Century, and are made officers on board the USS Trident . (David's previous use of these characters, in TOS movie-era comics published by DC Comics , had been prevented by Gene Roddenberry's office. [7] )

A race introduced in the episode " The Jihad ", represented by a character named M3 Green, is named the Nasat in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers e-book novellas. These stories feature a regular Nasat character, P8 Blue . The Vulcan city of ShiKahr also appears in many books. Paula Block , then of CBS Consumer Products , was responsible for approving proposals and all completed manuscripts for the licensed media tie-ins, and granted many such uses of TAS material since Roddenberry's passing.

Amarillo Design Bureau has Template:Mdashas part of its license for the Star Fleet Universe series of games Template:Mdashincorporated many aspects of The Animated Series into its works, not least being the inclusion of the Kzinti , although in a modified form. In addition FASA used elements from The Animated Series in its sourcebooks and modules for its Star Trek role-playing game .

Star Trek: Enterprise producer Manny Coto has commented that had that show been renewed for a fifth season, the Kzinti would have been introduced. [8] Starship designs were produced which closely resemble the Kzinti/ Mirak ships from the Star Fleet Universe , a gaming universe that includes the boardgame Star Fleet Battles and its PC analogue Star Fleet Command .

On June 27, 2007, Star Trek 's official site incorporated information from The Animated Series into its library section. [9] , maintaining the fact that TAS is canon.

Reception [ ]

Star Trek: The Animated Series was named the 96th best animated series by IGN . They declared that although the series suffered from technical limitations, its format allowed the writers far greater freedom and creativity than was possible in the original live-action series. [10]

Ratings [ ]

This was Filmation's only hit series on NBC. The eight other shows ( The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty , Archie/Sabrina Hour , Young (Space) Sentinels , Fabulous Funnies , Batman & The Super 7 , Kid Super Power Hour With Shazam , and Sport Billy ) lasted one season or less. The New Adventures of Flash Gordon lasted two seasons.

The animated series was, according to the Nielsen ratings , not popular enough with young children. According to series' producers it was intended to be enjoyed by the entire family. Although the accuracy of the ratings system conducted by the ACNielsen company has been vehemently disputed by its supporters and detractors since their first implementation, these results have been cited by fans and critics as justification for the show's brief run of only 22 episodes. However, in the 1970s, very few animated series went beyond a few seasons as it was usually more profitable to start a new series. The series did receive critical acclaim and a Daytime Emmy award, the first such award for the franchise. According to both Roddenberry and an NBC press release, this was the justification for six additional episodes being ordered by the network for the series' second season.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

Region 1 DVD Set

• The complete series was first released in the USA on eleven volumes of VHS tapes in 1989. For UK, seven volumes (1x4 episodes and 6x3 episodes on PAL VHS ) from CIC Video completed the series (Released in 1992 in the UK). Although CIC-Taft Australia negotiated an Australasian release, they did not proceed with their plans.
• A boxed set of the complete series on laserdisc was released for the US market in 1997.
• A Region 1 (USA) DVD box set of the show was released on November 21, 2006, and has since been released internationally for other Regions. It was the last series of Paramount's Star Trek television franchise to be released to DVD.
• ↑ Star Trek: TAS - Awards
• ↑ Template:Cite book
• ↑ http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/amoktime/new_spock_beamout.jpg
• ↑ Star Trek , Series II issue #1 lettercol, DC Comics, September 1989
• ↑ The Would-Be Season 5
• ↑ The Animated Series Gets Real
• ↑ Template:Cite web
• 1 Willard Decker
• 2 Star Trek: The Animated Series

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Star Trek: The Animated Celebration

Celebrate 50 years of animation across the Star Trek universe

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration is a salute to the 50th anniversary of  Star Trek ’s first foray into animation,  Star Trek: The Animated Series . The first of five very Short Treks debuted on Star Trek Day 2023 along with the first chapter of a new comic book!

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Kicks Off with First 'very Short Treks'

The first of five 'very Short Treks' debuts has arrived

Final Chapter!

Now available - Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier , Chapter 4. Physical copies will be available at New York Comic Con in October.

Latest Animation News

We honor the 50 year anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series.

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In celebration of its 50th anniversary, let's revisit some character designs, sketches, promo art, and more!

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Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, Sep 7 - 9, 2023, Hunt Valley, MD

How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

The full star trek timeline, explained..

Ever since 1966’s premiere of the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the entertainment world has never been the same. This franchise that has boldly gone where no property has gone before has captured the hearts and minds of millions around the world and has grown into a space-faring empire of sorts filled with multiple shows, feature length films, comics, merchandise, and so much more. That being said, the amount of Star Trek out in the world can make it tough to know exactly how to watch everything it offers in either chronological or release order so you don’t miss a thing. To help make things easier for you, we’ve created this guide to break down everything you need to know about engaging with this Star Trek journey.

It used to be a bit trickier to track down all the Star Trek shows and movies you’d need to watch to catch up, but Paramount+ has made it a whole lot easier as it has become the home of nearly all the past, present and future Star Trek entries.

So, without further ado, come with us into the final frontier and learn how you can become all caught up with the adventures of Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Spock, Pike, Archer, Burnham, and all the others that have made Star Trek so special over the past 56 years.

And, in case you're worried, everything below is a mostly spoiler-free chronological timeline that will not ruin any of any major plot points of anything further on in the timeline. So, you can use this guide as a handy way to catch up without ruining much of the surprise of what’s to come on your adventure! If you’d prefer to watch everything Star Trek as it was released, you’ll find that list below as well!

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

• How to Watch Star Trek by Release Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

Star Trek: Enterprise is the earliest entry on our list as it takes place a hundred years before the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series. The show aired from 2001 to 2005 and starred Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, the captain of the Enterprise NX-01. This version of the Enterprise was actually Earth’s first starship that was able to reach warp five.

While the show had its ups and downs, it included a fascinating look at a crew without some of the advanced tech we see in other Star Trek shows, the first contact with various alien species we know and love from the Star Trek universe, and more.

2. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 1 and 2 (2256-2258)

This is where things get a little bit tricky, as the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery take place before Star Trek: The Original Series but Seasons 3 and 4 take us boldly to a place we’ve not gone before. We won’t spoil why that’s the case here, but it’s important to note if you want to watch Star Trek in order, you’ll have to do a bit of jumping around from series to movie to series.

As for what Star Trek: Discovery is, it's set the decade before the original and stars Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham, a Starfleet Commander who accidentally helps start a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. She gets court-martialed and stripped of her rank following these events and is reassigned to the U.S.S Discovery.

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also begins before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series and is set up by Star Trek: Discovery as its captain, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, makes an appearance in its second season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Pike first appeared in the original failed pilot episode “The Cage” of Star Trek: The Original Series and would later become James T. Kirk’s predecessor after the original actor, Jefferey Hunter, backed out of the show.

Fast forward all these years later and now we get to learn more about the story of Christopher Pike and many other familiar faces from The Original Series alongside new characters. It’s made even more special as the ship the crew uses is the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, the very same that would soon call Kirk its captain.

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

The fourth Star Trek series or movie you should watch in the order is the one that started it all - Star Trek: The Original Series . Created by Gene Roddenberry, this first Star Trek entry would kick off a chain reaction that would end up creating one of the most beloved IPs of all time. However, it almost never made it to that legendary status as its low ratings led to a cancellation order after just three seasons that aired from 1966 to 1969. Luckily, it found great popularity after that and built the foundation for all the Star Trek stories we have today.

Star Trek: The Original Series starred William Shatner as James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock, but the rest of the crew would go on to become nearly as iconic as they were. As for what the show was about? Well, we think Kirk said it best during each episode’s opening credits;

“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 civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

While Star Trek: The Original Series may have been canceled after just three seasons, its popularity only grew, especially with the help of syndication. Following this welcome development, Gene Roddenberry decided he wanted to continue the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 in animated form, and he brought back many of the original characters and the actors behind them for another go.

Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and told even more stories of the Enterprise and its adventures throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

The first Star Trek film was a very big deal as it brought back the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series after the show was canceled in 1969 after just three seasons. However, even it had a rough road to theaters as Roddenberry initially failed to convince Paramount Pictures it was worth it in 1975. Luckily, the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and other factors helped finally convince those in power to make the movie and abandon the plans for a new television series called Star Trek: Phase II, which also would have continued the original story.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James T. Kirk was now an Admiral in Starfleet, and certain events involving a mysterious alien cloud of energy called V’Ger cause him to retake control of a refitted version of the U.S.S. Enterprise with many familiar faces in tow.

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture written, but Paramount turned it down after the reception to that first film was not what the studio had hoped for. In turn, Paramount removed him from the production and brought in Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards to write the script and Nicholas Meyer to direct the film.

The studio’s decision proved to be a successful one as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered by many, including IGN, to be the best Star Trek film. As for the story, it followed the battle between Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise vs. Ricardo Montalban’ Khan Noonien Singh. Khan is a genetically engineered superhuman and he and his people were exiled by Kirk on a remote planet in the episode ‘Space Seed’ from the original series. In this second film, after being stranded for 15 years, Khan wants revenge.

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock continues the story that began in Wrath of Khan and deals with the aftermath of Spock’s death. While many on the U.S.S. Enterprise thought that was the end for their science officer, Kirk learns that Spock’s spirit/katra is actually living inside the mind of DeForest Kelley’s Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strange ever since the death of his friend. What follows is an adventure that includes a stolen U.S.S. Enterprise, a visit from Spock’s father Sarek, a run-in with Klingons, and so much more.

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

While it is undoubtedly great that Kirk and his crew saved Spock, it apparently wasn’t great enough to avoid the consequences that follow stealing and then losing the Enterprise. On their way to answer for their charges, the former crew of the Enterprise discover a threat to Earth that, without spoiling anything, causes them to go back in time to save everything they love. The Voyage Home is a big departure from the previous films as, instead of space, we spend most of our time in 1986’s San Francisco.

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier once again brings back our favorite heroes from Star Trek: The Original Series, but it’s often regarded as one of the weakest films starring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. In this adventure, our crew’s shore leave gets interrupted as they are tasked with going up against the Vulcan Sybok, who himself is on the hunt for God in the middle of the galaxy.

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the final movie starring the entire cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, and it puts the Klingons front and center. After a mining catastrophe destroys the Klingon moon of Praxis and threatens the Klingon’s homeworld, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon is forced to abandon his species' love of war in an effort to seek peace with the Federation. What follows is an adventure that calls back to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall and serves as a wonderful send-off to characters we’ve come to know and love since 1966, even though some will thankfully appear in future installments.

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

After you make it through all six of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, it’s time to start what many consider the best Star Trek series of all time - Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series, which starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, ran from 1987 through 1994 with 178 episodes over seven seasons.

There are so many iconic characters and moments in The Next Generation, including William Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher, and many of these beloved faces would return for Star Trek: Picard, which served as a continuation of this story.

While we are once again on the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this story takes place a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. However, there may just be a few familiar faces that pop up from time to time.

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

While Star Trek Generations is the first film featuring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, it also features a team-up that many had dreamed of for years and years between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain James T. Kirk.

Our heroes are facing off against an El-Aurian named Dr. Tolian Soran, who will do whatever is necessary to return to an extra-dimensional realm known as the Nexus. Without spoiling anything, these events lead to a meeting with these two legendary captains and a heartfelt-at-times send-off to The Original Series, even though not every character returned that we wished could have.

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

Star Trek: First Contact was not only the second film featuring the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it also served as the motion picture directorial debut for William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes. In this film, the terrifying Borg take center stage and force our heroes to travel back in time to stop them from conquering Earth and assimilating the entire human race.

This movie picks up on the continuing trauma caused by Jean-Luc Picard getting assimilated in the series and becoming Locutus of Borg, and we are also treated to the first warp flight in Star Trek’s history, a shout-out to Deep Space Nine, and more.

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

Star Trek: Insurrection, which unfortunately ranked last on our list of the best Star Trek movies, is the third film starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew and followed a story involving an alien race that lives on a planet with more-or-less makes them invincible due to its rejuvenating properties. This alien race, known as the Ba’Ku, are being threatened by not only another alien race called the Son’a, but also the Federation. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew disobey Federation orders in hopes to save the peaceful Ba’Ku, and while it sounds like an interesting premise, many said it felt too much like an extended episode of the series instead of a big blockbuster film.

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

The final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie is Star Trek: Nemesis , and it also isn’t looked at as one of the best. There are bright parts in the film, including Tom Hardy’s Shinzon who is first thought to be a Romulan praetor before it’s revealed he is a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but it also features a lot of retreaded ground. There are some great moments between our favorite TNG characters, but it’s not quite the goodbye many had hoped for. Luckily, this won’t be the last we’ll see of them.

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the fourth Star Trek series and it ran from 1993 to 1999 with 176 episodes over seven seasons. Deep Space Nine was also the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but instead with Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Furthermore, it was the first series to begin when another Star Trek Series - The Next Generation - was still on the air.

The connections between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine don’t end there, as there were a ton of callbacks to TNG in Deep Space Nine, and characters like Worf and Miles O’Brien played a big part in the series. Other TNG characters popped up from time to time, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and certain Deep Space Nine characters also showed their faces in TNG.

Deep Space Nine was a big departure from the Star Trek series that came before, as it not only took place mostly on a space station - the titular Deep Space Nine - but it was the first to star an African American as its central character in Avery Brooks’ Captain Benjamin Sisko.

Deep Space Nine was located in a very interesting part of the Milky Way Galaxy as it was right next to a wormhole, and the series was also filled with conflict between the Cardassians and Bajorans, the war between the Federation and the Dominion, and much more.

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series and it ran from 1995 to 2001 with 172 episodes over seven seasons. Star Trek: Voyager begins its journey at Deep Space Nine, and then it follows the tale of Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Kathryn Janeway (the first female leading character in Star Trek history!) and her crew getting lost and stranded in the faraway Delta Quadrant.

The episodes and adventures that follow all see the team fighting for one goal: getting home. Being so far away from the Alpha Quadrant we were so used to letting Star Trek be very creative in its storytelling and give us situations and alien races we’d never encountered before.

That doesn’t mean it was all unfamiliar, however, as the Borg became a huge threat in the later seasons. It’s a good thing too, as that led to the introduction of Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, a character who would continue on to appear in Star Trek: Picard and become a fan favorite.

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

Star Trek: Lower Decks debuted in 2020 and was the first animated series to make it to air since 1973’s Star Trek: The Animated Series. Alongside having that feather in its cap, it also sets itself apart by choosing to focus more on the lower lever crew instead of the captain and senior staff.

This leads to many fun adventures that may not be as high stakes as the other stories, but are no less entertaining. There have already been three seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the fourth season is set to arrive later this summer.

The series is also worth a watch as it is having a crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that will mix the worlds of live-action and animation.

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

Star Trek: Prodigy was the first fully 3D animated Star Trek series ever and told a story that began five years after the U.S.S. Voyager found its way back home to Earth. In this series, which was aimed for kids, a group of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship called the U.S.S. Protostar and attempt to make it to Starfleet and the Alpha Quadrant from the Delta Quadrant.

Voyager fans will be delighted to know that Kate Mulgrew returns as Kathryn Janeway in this animated series, but not only as herself. She is also an Emergency Training Holographic Advisor that was based on the likeness of the former captain of the U.S.S. Voyager.

The second season of Star Trek: Prodigy was set to arrive later this year, but it was not only canceled in June, but also removed from Paramount+. There is still hope this show may find a second life on another streaming service or network.

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Star Trek: Picard is the… well… next generation of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it brings back not only Partick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, but also many of his former crew members from the beloved series. The story is set 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis and we find Picard retired from Starfleet and living at his family’s vineyard in France.

Without spoiling anything, certain events get one of our favorite captains back to work and take him on an adventure through space and time over three seasons and 30 episodes.

The show had its ups and downs, but the third season, in our opinion, stuck the landing and gave us an “emotional, exciting, and ultimately fun journey for Jean-Luc and his family - both old and new - that gives the character the send-off that he has long deserved.”

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

While Star Trek: Discovery begins around 10 years before Star Trek: The Original Series, the show jumps more than 900 years into the future into the 32nd Century following the events of the second season. The Federation is not in great shape and Captain Michael Burnham and her crew work to bring it back to what it once was.

Star Trek: Discovery is set to end after the upcoming fifth season, which will debut on Paramount+ in 2024.

How to Watch Star Trek by Order of Release

• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966 - 1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973 - 1974)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1984)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 - 1994)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: Voyager (1995 - 2001)
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001 - 2005)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• Star Trek: Discovery (2017 - Present)
• Star Trek: Picard (2020 - 2023)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020 - Present)
• Star Trek: Prodigy (2021 - TBA)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022 - Present)

For more, check out our look at the hidden meaning behind Star Trek’s great captains, why Star Trek doesn’t get credit as the first shared universe, if this may be the end of Star Trek’s golden age of streaming, and our favorite classic Star Trek episodes and movies.

In This Article

IGN Recommends

• View history
• 1 Starfleet career
• 2.3 Montgomery Scott
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2 Background information
• 3.3 Apocrypha
• 3.4 External links

Starfleet career [ ]

M'Ress' primary role on the Enterprise was that of the relief communications officer , a role she fulfilled in the absence of Lieutenant Uhura . Her duties included activating intership and intraship communications, as well as the activation of any alert signals ordered by the Captain. Occasionally M'Ress, as with Uhura, also acted as temporary science officer when first officer Commander Spock was part of landing parties or on away missions .

In 2269 , M'Ress operated the communication channels for Captain Kirk when he was contacted by a Romulan commander whose battle cruisers had intercepted the Enterprise for violating the Neutral Zone . ( TAS : " The Survivor ")

M'Ress at the communications station

During the Enterprise 's visit to the Shore Leave Planet , later that year, M'Ress was key in coordinating between Captain Kirk's landing party and the duty officer , Lieutenant Commander Scott . Among the messages she coordinated was a notice to the crew that all shore leaves were canceled until further notice, when it was determined that the planet's master computer had malfunctioned. During the attempted recovery of Uhura, who had been taken hostage, M'Ress arranged for the transport of a phaser bore . As the rescue attempt continued, M'Ress coordinated between the shuttlebay and Scott, relaying notice of the emergency rescue party's attempted shuttlecraft launch. When it was finally realized that the planet was somehow responsible for the ship's malfunctions, M'Ress became concerned about the change in the planet's behavior – from providing fun and amusement to hostility. When Scott tried to maneuver the ship from orbit, he requested a printout of the guidance computer 's last orders. In reviewing the orders, she noted that something was very strange, and that the only reason why the new orders were not being carried out was because Lieutenant Arex had had all the engine controls manually locked. As the Enterprise crew continued their attempt to rescue the landing party, M'Ress reported that communications remained jammed. Once the situation on the surface was resolved, and communications were restored, M'Ress passed along word from Kirk that shore leave was to commence immediately. ( TAS : " Once Upon a Planet ")

She was again on duty on the bridge when Harry Mudd was taken aboard the Enterprise from Motherlode . She monitored ship-to-shore communications with the rescue party after Mudd had taken Christine Chapel hostage. When Spock beamed down to the surface of the planet to help Kirk find Mudd and Chapel, M'Ress also manned the main science station , for Spock, to keep track of the whereabouts of Spock and Kirk. ( TAS : " Mudd's Passion ")

During the Enterprise 's visit to Lactra VII , M'Ress was stationed on the bridge when a Lactran youth , who had been inadvertently beamed on board the ship, came onto the bridge. M'Ress was initially startled by the creature's sudden appearance. She then inquired what she wanted everyone to do after the Lactran had picked Scott up. She and the rest of the crew left the bridge while Scott attempted to communicate with the creature. ( TAS : " The Eye of the Beholder ")

M'Ress continued duty as the relief communications officer in 2270 , where she was stationed when Uhura was temporarily in command of the bridge during the Enterprise 's mission to Delta Theta III . ( TAS : " Bem ")

M'Ress was again on the bridge later that year, when the Enterprise 's computer fell under the influence of an energy field . As the crew of the ship fell victim to numerous practical jokes , M'Ress noticed fog emerging from the turbolift door. When she pointed out the anomaly, Kirk – who suspected her observation was another practical joke – told her, "Really, M'Ress, you're going to have to be a little more clever than that." M'Ress later reported McCoy , Sulu , and Uhura were still in the recreation room and not responding to the captain's call to stations. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

M'Ress is offended by a comment made by her commanding officer

During an account that was anything but canon detailing an attack on the Enterprise by several D7 class battle cruisers ; moments before the ship was destroyed by the Klingons , the captain of the Enterprise told Spock that he knows what to do. Spock asks him how they should go about it, since their warp drive and impulse drive was down, making retreat an impossibility. The captain then tells Spock "there's more than one way to skin a cat ."

M'Ress immediately turns around from her console , looking at her commanding officer , clearly offended by what he had said. The captain then apologizes to her, not meaning anything by it. She then extends her claws and asks him how he would feel if she said "there's more than one way to disembowel a Human ." The captain continues trying not to offend her, only to end up offending many other crewmembers on the bridge . Due to being distracted by everyone's resistance to his use of figures of speech , he was unable to properly give his orders to get them away from the Klingons, and as a result, the ship was destroyed. ( VST : " Skin a Cat ")

M'Ress with Arex, Scotty and Tendi

Another account that described a nonsensical setting in which the crews of the Enterprise and the USS Cerritos were actors in their own cartoon shows , a party was being celebrated on the bridge of the Enterprise in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of their show . Unfortunately, the fun turns into an argument when the TOS era crew became offended by a remark that Tendi made, which implied that there show wasn't as good as her show. M'Ress was offended when Tendi told her that their animation was a little stiff. M'Ress then told Tendi that "maybe you guys move around too much; you ever think of that?" At one point Scotty and Arex took their pants off to mimic the orgy scene from Tendi's cartoon and M'Ress took off her bra and they all ran around in circles on their bridge pretending to have an orgy.

Tendi asked them to put their pants back on, and then she told them what she meant to say was that she's standing on the shoulders of giants . M'Ress was offended by this metaphor since it implied that they were to be pack mules . The argument continued until William T. Riker with his trombone and Hikaru Sulu with his keyboard exited the turbolift and stepped onto the bridge. They once they realized that there was an argument instead of a party going on they decided to tell them that love was the answer. They even decided to play their own brand of music to celebrate. M'Ress joined in playing a tambourine . However, the party was interrupted by an attack from another fleet of Klingon D7 class battle cruisers, which caused an explosion on the bridge. ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

A photo of M'Ress

In 2381 , a framed photograph of M'Ress was among several others displayed on the walls of a bar on Starbase 25 . ( LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

Relationships [ ]

M'Ress and Arex share lunch

In 2270, M'Ress shared lunch in the mess hall with Arex , who invited Scott to join them, but Scott declined because he was just going to grab a sandwich and get back to work. At the time, however, the ship's computer was under the influence of an energy field, which caused the food synthesizer to go haywire. Observing the resulting effect, a mountain of food piling up at Scott's feet, M'Ress began to laugh, apologetically, before Scott accused the two of causing the practical joke. When Arex defended himself and M'Ress, Scott told them to tell that to the captain, because he was going to put the two on report for the incident. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

In 2269, upon hearing Spock 's passion-filled request to accompany an away team to rescue Christine Chapel , she responded to Montgomery Scott 's surprised reaction, " Spock? In love? " by agreeing with the engineer 's disbelief: " I can't imagine. " ( TAS : " Mudd's Passion ")

Montgomery Scott [ ]

M'Ress and Scott

M'Ress had a brief romantic interest in Scott, while the ship was under the influence of Harry Mudd 's love potion which had inadvertently spread through the ship's ventilation system . M'Ress' interest in Scott came in response to a joke he had made, to which she replied, " You're funny, and very attractive for a Human . " Once the effects of the potion wore off, and Scott began to complain of a " hangover to shame all previous hangovers, " M'Ress snarled, " Not so loud, you fool. " In response, Scott snapped back, stating, " Yeah, well, all of a sudden, I don't like you much, either. " ( TAS : " Mudd's Passion ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Survivor "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " Bem " (no lines)
• " The Practical Joker "
• LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers " (photograph)
• " Skin a Cat "
• " Walk, Don't Run "

Background information [ ]

The voice of M'Ress  file info was provided by Majel Barrett in Star Trek: The Animated Series , and by Cristina Milizia in Star Trek: very Short Treks .

In the final draft script of " Mudd's Passion ", M'Ress was described as "a felinoid female, delicate, sleek, reminding one of an Earth Siamese or Abyssinian cat." The same script went on to say, " Her fur is a soft cream color; her voice has a distinctive purr in it. "

According to M'Ress' Lincoln Enterprises biography , she graduated from Starfleet Academy "three years ago", specializing in communications and computer translator systems. She quickly rose in rank to lieutenant in a mere two years after graduation. Prior to her assignment on board the Enterprise , she had served aboard a scout and the USS Hood . The same biography states that M'Ress was close friends with Uhura and Nurse Chapel . In her spare time, she pursued her interests in Federation and galactic planetary histories , including the areas of anthropology and archaeology . Her artistic interests included writing free-form poetry and performing in the ship's small theater company.

Apocrypha [ ]

Peter Pan Records rendition

In the Star Trek: New Frontier novels , her full name is given as Shiboline M'Ress .

M'Ress appeared in the Peter Pan Records story entitled " Passage to Moauv ". However, in the comic that accompanied the record, she was shown with green hair, blue skin, and no feline features.

She also appeared briefly in the novels The Galactic Whirlpool and Provenance of Shadows . She later made several appearances in the first volume of DC's Star Trek comics , which was set after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and, after a time jump into the 24th century, became a regular character in the New Frontier novel series.

M'Ress tires of talking

In the DC Comics series, from " The Stars in Secret Influence " to " Haunted Honeymoon ", Hikaru Sulu and M'Ress have a brief relationship.

The novels and comics provide the following information about her family:

• M'Mar is her mother
• M'Nault is her sire (" The Ambergris Element " novelization in Star Trek Log 5 )
• M'Nass is her little sister
• M'Rest and M'Sitt are her brothers

She is briefly referenced in The Face of the Unknown as being Uhura's trainee, indicating that her assignment to the Enterprise predated Arex's, as his transfer was imminent, but had not yet happened by the end of the novel.

External links [ ]

• M'Ress at StarTrek.com
• M'Ress at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• M'Ress at Wikipedia
• 3 Ancient humanoid

Screen Rant

Who is callum keith rennie star trek: discovery’s captain rayner actor explained.

Renowned science fiction actor Callum Keith Rennie leads the USS Antares as Captain Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery's fifth and final season.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

• Callum Keith Rennie debuts in Star Trek: Discovery as the Kellerun Captain Rayner.
• Known for his role as Leoben Conoy in Battlestar Galactica, Callum Keith Rennie brings depth and experience to Star Trek: Discovery's final season.
• Rennie's role as Captain Rayner adds connection and nostalgia to Star Trek: Discovery, overlapping with Battlestar Galactica

Accomplished actor Callum Keith Rennie joins the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery . Star Trek: Discovery season 5 sends Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery on a hunt for an ancient technology with the power to create life itself. Introducing Callum Keith Rennie as Captain Rayner, a strait-laced and commanding character of alien origin , Discovery season 5 sets the stage for a gripping showdown and sends Burnham and the USS Discovery and the USS Antares commander on an epic quest for an ancient treasure.

Perhaps best recognized for his standout roles in Battlestar Galactica and Californication , Callum Keith Rennie joins the Star Trek: Discovery cast for their last adventure, delivering a wealth of experience from earlier genre-defining roles. Rennie’s portrayal of Captain Rayner reportedly promises an intriguing counterpoint to Burnham underscoring Rayner's great potential with a mysterious backstory set to unfold over the course of the show’s fifth season. With the revelatory Captain of the USS Antares looking very much to be a vital – perhaps pivotal – addition to Starfleet’s impressive body of commanding officers, here’s a look at the award-winning Callum Keith Rennie.

Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show

Callum keith rennie plays captain rayner in star trek: discovery, captain rayer is callum keith rennie's first appearance in the star trek franchise.

Callum Keith Rennie joins Star Trek: Discovery season 5 as Captain Rayner, the fierce commander of the USS Antares . Driven and dedicated to his mission, Rayner draws distinction between himself and his crew. A member of a little-known species first introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Captain Rayner is a Kellerun , and his backstory is crucial to his mission and character. Described as gruff, tough, and intelligent, Rayner is a war hero struggling to acclimate to peace post-Burn, but dedicated to serving the greater good. In search of a hidden, ancient power source, Rayner's challenging and somewhat antagonistic relationship with Captain Burnham echoes a brash, if benevolent, professional demeanor.

Callum Keith Rennie is a UK-born Canadian veteran actor with an impressive 25-year career history in movies and television.

Best known for his roles as Leoben Conoy in Battlestar Galactica and Lew Ashby in Californication , Callum Keith Rennie is a UK-born Canadian veteran actor with an impressive 25-year career history in movies and television. Regularly cast in antagonistic roles, Callum Keith Rennie’s first international recognition came from his casting as Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski in Due South . Rennie’s varied roles and character portrayals reflect his artistic interests, with the actor also starring in The Umbrella Academy, Marvel's Jessica Jones, The X-Files, Impulse, The Firm, 24, The Butterfly Effect, Jigsaw, Case 39, Memento, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Fifty Shades Freed.

Kelleruns first appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , season 2, episode 13 - "Armageddon Game."

Callum Keith Rennie In Star Trek: Discovery Is A Battlestar Galactica Crossover

A battlestar galactica miniseries, 4 seasons & a television movie aired between 2003-2009.

Callum Keith Rennie’s casting in Star Trek: Discovery follows his success as the ambiguous, obsessive Leoben Conoy in Syfy's Battlestar Galactica created by Ronald D. Moore. Introduced in the 2003 miniseries as an arms dealer, Rennie’s Conoy was initially a guest character in the show’s first two seasons, graduating to a series regular in the third and fourth. Adeptly portraying multiple iterations of the Cylon model Number Two , Rennie brought a philosophical complexity to the manipulative and important character , in turn posing a significant risk to the Cylon and Human factions. Rennie’s rich performance played with themes of identity and morality, adding layers of exploratory character depth and enigmatic ambiguity to the series.

There is a degree of overlap with Callum Keith Rennie’s compelling casting in both high-profile science fiction shows, echoing multiple crossovers between Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica . Many actors appear across the franchises, inspiring characters, reflecting the longstanding history of similarities originally stemming from showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Recognized for his compelling portrayal of the Cylon model Number Two, Callum Keith Rennie brought nuance and intensity to Battlestar Galactica – traits that also resonate with Star Trek: Discovery 's Captain Rayner. The characters’ similarities underscore the enduring join between the two series , with Rennie’s inclusion in both lending familiarity, nostalgia, and a sense of connection.

Star Trek: Discovery is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Battlestar galactica.