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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
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• 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)

User reviews 51

• peter-faizey
• Mar 4, 2009
• How many seasons does Star Trek: The Animated Series have? Powered by Alexa
• What year does this series take place in?
• September 8, 1973 (United States)
• United States
• StarTrek.com - Episode Guide
• Star Trek: TAS
• Filmation Associates
• Norway Productions
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 30 minutes

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Star Trek: The Animated Series

• View history
• Main Title Theme  file info (composed by " Yvette Blais " (Ray Ellis) and " Jeff Michael " ( Norman "Norm" Prescott , main partner of Lou Scheimer in the animation studio Filmation Associates )
• 2.1 Starring the voices of
• 2.2 Also starring the voices of
• 3.1 Season 1
• 3.2 Season 2
• 4.1 Origins
• 4.2 The first recordings
• 4.3 Emmy win
• 4.4 Questionable canon and reintegration
• 4.5 Production inconsistencies
• 5 Proposed CGI reworking
• 6 Related topics
• 7.2 Documentary
• 7.3 Home video formats
• 8 External links

Summary [ ]

On the television network NBC , 22 episodes of The Animated Series were aired between September 1973 and October 1974 . Reruns continued on NBC through 1975 . The series was produced by the experienced animation house Filmation and the episodes were scripted by professional science fiction and Star Trek writers, including Larry Niven , D.C. Fontana , David Gerrold , and Samuel A. Peeples .

Some of the stories were sequels to episodes from the original series, such as " More Tribbles, More Troubles " (the follow-up to " The Trouble with Tribbles "), " Once Upon a Planet " (a sequel to " Shore Leave "), and " Mudd's Passion " (the follow-up to " Mudd's Women " and " I, Mudd ").

With the exception of Ensign Chekov , all of the regular characters from the original series continued to appear, voiced by the original actors from that series (Chekov was absent to cut down on costs of hiring the voice actors, although Walter Koenig penned an episode of the series, " The Infinite Vulcan "). Dr. McCoy was a full commander, and Nurse Chapel was a full lieutenant . New characters, such as Arex and M'Ress , were also featured. The show was the most expensive animated show on the air at the time, primarily because six "name" actors from Star Trek: The Original Series provided the voices for their characters. Nearly all the aliens and guest characters were voiced by James Doohan , Nichelle Nichols , and Majel Barrett , although some actors reprised their roles from the original series. Leonard Nimoy ( Spock ) is the only actor to voice his character in every episode of TAS. James Doohan, however, voiced different characters in every episode of the series, but missed only one episode as Montgomery Scott , the episode being " The Slaver Weapon ".

Among the returning guest actors (and characters) were Mark Lenard (as Sarek ), Roger C. Carmel (as Harry Mudd ), and Stanley Adams (as Cyrano Jones ). Although the characters Amanda Grayson , Bob Wesley , Kyle , Kor , Koloth , and Korax returned in The Animated Series , their voices were provided by the aforementioned voice talents of Majel Barrett and James Doohan.

The show featured a handful of new technologies like the recreation room (later the idea was reused in TNG , where it was known as a holodeck ) and the aqua-shuttle . It also featured many non- humanoid alien species (and even some alien officers aboard the Enterprise ) who could not have been featured within the original series' budget.

Roddenberry was adamant that this show was Star Trek (i.e. the continuation of the original series) leading to it having the same title. The addition of The Animated Series to the title was not until years later.

The series, which lasted two years, could be viewed as the completion of the Enterprise 's five-year mission. D.C. Fontana personally viewed all 22 episodes as year four. StarTrek.com considers the seasons collectively to represent the fifth and final year of the mission. [1] (X)

Although at one point Paramount Pictures did not regard the animated series as canonical, with the release of The Animated Series DVD, the studio appears to have changed its stance, and is leaning towards the animated series being part of established Star Trek canon. [2] (X) [3] (X) [4] (X) References from the series have gradually become more accepted in other Star Trek series, most notably on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Lower Decks (see the " questionable canon " section below for the complete list of references). Gene Roddenberry said that if he had known there would be more live-action Star Trek in the future, the animated series would have been far more logical and "canonable," or he might not have produced the animated series at all.

A DVD collection of the complete series was released on 21 November 2006 for Region 1.

Starring the voices of [ ]

• William Shatner as Captain Kirk
• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Also starring the voices of [ ]

• George Takei as Sulu
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Majel Barrett as Chapel and M'Ress
• James Doohan as Scott and Arex

Episode list [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

TAS Season 1 , 16 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

TAS Season 2 , 6 episodes:

Background information [ ]

Origins [ ].

Former Original Series writer D.C. Fontana reported in the fanzine Star-Borne of 22 June 1972 that, " Paramount... [is] enormously impressed by the quantity (and quality) of fan mail they continue to receive. The possibility seems to be slowly developing of a Star Trek feature movie for theatrical release, aimed at becoming the new Star Trek television pilot… on the network front, NBC still expresses great interest in doing Star Trek in some form. Both NBC and Paramount continue to receive a great deal of mail and have had to assign secretaries for the sole job of answering it. " [5]

NBC's surprising complete turnaround (as it were they who had canceled the live-action precursor in 1969, purportedly for poor ratings performance) not only stemmed from the spectacular resurgence of the Original Series in syndication , but also from its own accounting department. Shortly before Fontana's report, NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one. Mystified by the success of a show in syndication they were convinced was a flop, they decided to run the original Original Series figures through their new system they and found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience, the male population between 18 and 45, but also that the series had been one of the most successful series the network had ever aired. The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives that they had slaughtered the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs, something that every Star Trek fan at the time could have told them. Hurriedly approaching Roddenberry to see if the series could be revitalized, it turned out to be unfeasible, as Paramount had only a few months earlier cleared out their warehouses from the vast majority of the remaining Star Trek production assets, they either being scrapped, given away or simply stolen. Recreating them, calculated at US$750,000, was deemed far too cost-prohibitive. It did however lead NBC to commission the creation of The Animated Series . ( Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before , pp. 51-52)

Roddenberry was not really interested in doing a Star Trek animated show, but had his mind set on an actual live-action resurrection of the the show. However, as Marc Cushman explained, " His ultimate goal was to get Star Trek back into [live-action] production. And he felt that the animated series, if it did really well, could bring that about. " ( The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek : "Saturday Morning Pinks")

Even though they did not produce the new series themselves, Paramount Pictures, possessing all rights and title to the Star Trek brand, was legally the owner of the new property.

The first recordings [ ]

The first recording session for the animated Star Trek series was in June 1973 (on or prior to the fourth of that month ). ( The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 143; Star Trek: Communicator  issue 119 , p. 32) This was with the entirety of the series' regular cast and was the first time they had reunited since production of the original series ended in January 1969 . The recording session was held at Filmation's studios in Reseda, California , where the performers recorded the first three scripts for the series (" Beyond the Farthest Star ", " Yesteryear ", and " More Tribbles, More Troubles "). ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 119 , p. 32)

Lou Scheimer reminisces about the cast, " The glorious thing was getting them all together for the first recording session […] It was a joyous occasion. " ("Drawn to the Final Frontier – The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series ", TAS DVD ) William Shatner recalls how he got into character; " [Kirk had] been locked away inside me for almost four years, but as soon as I opened my mouth to read his first line he was back. Slipping back into that character was like putting on a comfortable old sweatshirt; it fit. " ( Up Till Now: The Autobiography , p. 171)

On 4 June 1973, NBC publicly announced that the initial recording session had gone ahead. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 119 , p. 32)

Emmy win [ ]

In 1975, the animated series of Star Trek won a Daytime Emmy Award in the area of "Best Children's Series" for the 1974-1975 television season. Although Star Trek 's original series had repeatedly been nominated for Emmys, this was the first such award that the franchise actually won. It became also the only best-series Emmy ever won by Star Trek as of 2020. It beat out Captain Kangaroo and The Pink Panther . ( Star Trek: The Animated Series - special feature : "Drawn to the Final Frontier – The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series "; Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before , p. 57, et al. ) Incidentally, the series had already been nominated for the same award in its inaugural debut the year previously, [6] but lost out on that occasion to PBS 's Zoom .

The series essentially won the award on the basis of a certain episode. " When Filmation submitted Star Trek for the Best Children's Series Emmy, [' How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth '] is the episode they submitted, " explains David Wise , a co-writer of that installment. ("How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" audio commentary ) The episode's other co-writer, Russell Bates , comments, " [The episode] became the only credential submitted when Filmation received an Emmy nomination for the series, and thus was instrumental in the winning of a 1975 Emmy Award. " Bates also notes that the Emmy was not the only accolade that the episode attained. [7]

Shortly after Hal Sutherland and his family moved out of Los Angeles to Washington state , he received a call that informed him of the Emmy nomination. He remembers, " This was exciting news and I spread the word to all of our friends and neighbors in case Filmation picked up the Emmy. " As he learned prior to the event, it was to be presented in New York and Lou Scheimer decided to bring his own family to the festivities. [8] The ceremony was actually on a boat in the New York harbor. Lou Scheimer's son, Lane, heard a practice session, below-decks, of the announcements being rehearsed. The elder Scheimer reflects, " He said, 'Dad, don't worry, I just saw them down there and they said it was Captain Kangaroo ' [....] So I was sitting there, drinking wine, not worried, and [getting] half-plastered. " ( Star Trek Magazine Souvenir Special , p. 58) Scheimer also personally doubted that the animated Star Trek series was about to receive the award. He states, " I was absolutely certain we weren't going to win; there was no way that show could win because it really was not a kids' show. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , p. 68)

Hal Sutherland recalls tuning into the televised coverage of the event; " I remember gathering the family to watch the award ceremonies with me. I hoped to make them proud of what we had accomplished in some way. Sitting in front of the TV, I watched with anxiety as the nominations for best animated series came up […] The award envelope was opened and Star Trek was announced the winner for its category. " [9] Lou Scheimer (who says he was "a nervous wreck" at the time), also recollects the announcement; " Cyril Richard gets up there and says, 'And the best children's programming for Saturday morning is Star Trek and Lou Shimmer [ sic ]. I didn't know what to do. You cannot tell, but I was floating. " ( Star Trek Magazine Souvenir Special , p. 58) Hal Sutherland continues, " Lou stepped to the podium to make his acceptance speech. " [10] A transcript of that speech follows:

Lou Scheimer accepts the series' only Emmy

Lou Scheimer recalls the shock of having to collect the award; " I was totally flabbergasted when we did [win]. I didn't know what to say; I was not prepared. I was just aghast at the idea of being in front of all those people, waiting to hear me say something meaningful. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , p. 68)

Watching Lou Scheimer's acceptance speech was a very emotional experience for Hal Sutherland and he was enormously disgruntled that Scheimer thanked Norm Prescott rather than him. Although Sutherland never expressed his extreme disappointment to the award recipient, Scheimer finally apologized to Sutherland in 2004 . " He […] sorrowfully related to me an apology for his 'drunken' statement at the Emmy affair regarding his confusion between Norm and I and the production credits, " explained Sutherland. " We'd both carried that haunting memory all those many years, neither wanting to bring up the tender subject. We later kissed [and made up, putting the issue behind them]. " [11]

Lou Scheimer criticized the winning of the award, saying that – even though it was "the only Emmy I've ever gotten for a show" – it was inappropriate for the animated Star Trek to receive an award for a children's show, since the series was actually meant to be " a show for the entire family and anybody who was really a fan of the original live-action show. " ("Drawn to the Final Frontier – The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series ", TAS DVD ) Norm Prescott, on the other hand, considered the award to be a high point in Filmation's history. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 119 , p. 79) Both Filmation, in general, and the writers of "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth", were happy that the episode gained the series the award. David Wise reminisces, " We, Russell [Bates] and I, considered that an achievement. Filmation was thrilled and invited us to an Emmy party and all sorts of fun things like that. " ("How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" audio commentary) Gene Roddenberry regarded the award win as "the best proof" that the animated series had been "a fairly good job." ( The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , p. 20) D.C. Fontana was also "pleased" that the franchise had finally won an Emmy, later stating, " I was thrilled to death. " ("Drawn to the Final Frontier – The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series ", TAS DVD ) In their text commentary for series finale " The Counter-Clock Incident ", Michael and Denise Okuda describe the Emmy win as the series having been "honored." The book Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before (p. 57) refers to the win as "a fitting send-off" for the series.

Considering the efforts the writers, including Bates, put in to tell more mature stories akin to the main series, the win of a "children's" award turned out to be somewhat of a mixed blessing as it cemented the impression of Star Trek being an immature, superficial show for adolescents only at best in the minds of the non-fan society at large, which started to become wary of the emerging " Trekkie " phenomenon. It became a large part of the reasons why to date a substantial part of "Trekdom", Creator Gene Roddenberry included, continued to refuse to consider The Animated Series part of canon, as related hereafter. ( Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series , pp. 8 & 153) Most ironically, the six-episode second season of Star Trek: Short Treks , which only became nominated in 2020 for Star Trek 's fifth "major" Emmy Award, did include two animated episodes, " Ephraim and Dot " and " The Girl Who Made the Stars ", specifically intended for children.

Questionable canon and reintegration [ ]

According to Voyages of Imagination [ page number? • edit ] , the Animated Series was officially removed from canon at Gene Roddenberry's request in 1988, with the exception of some parts involving Spock's youth, from Fontana's episode " Yesteryear ". Roddenberry was partly motivated to do so because of his disappointment that the animated series did not bring about his ultimate goal of getting back Star Trek as a live-action production, as mentioned above . The removal from canon had already been confirmed previously by reference book author Mike Okuda in the introductions of his works. ( Star Trek Chronology  (2nd ed., p. vii); Star Trek Encyclopedia  (4th ed., vol. 1, p. introduction); [12] (X) ) Paramount Pictures has followed suit by elevating the request to policy, having officially declared the series non-canon. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (1st ed., p. iii))

Despite this request, Memory Alpha recognizes The Animated Series as a valid resource. There were also strong indications from the StarTrek.com (former) official website that TAS was unilaterally, yet formally, re-added to the official canon in 2006 by the franchise for the sole purpose of commercially promoting the occasion of the series' release on DVD that year. ( [13] (X) [14] (X) [15] (X) ; See also the content policy ).

Writers from later Star Trek series have integrated various references from the series into their works. Star Trek: Enterprise writer/producer Manny Coto once remarked, " They did some great stuff in the animated series and why not use some of that? " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 37, No. 2, p. 37) Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine writing staffer Ronald D. Moore likewise commented, " It's kinda cool to throw in the odd reference [to TAS] here and there. " ( AOL chat , 1998 ) The following references were used in subsequent series:

• The city of Shi'Kahr resurfaced on an okudagram in " The Emissary " called the "Shi-Kar Desert Survival, Vulcan", which was also a reference to Spock's kahs-wan . The city was again indirectly mentioned in " Fusion " in reference to the Shi'Kahr Academy , and later served as the namesake for the USS ShirKahr , seen but not mentioned in " Tears of the Prophets ". A Vulcan city which looks very similar to Shi'Kahr was shown in the new establishing shots used in the remastered version of " Amok Time ".
• An okudagram featured in " Eye of the Beholder " referenced the Sepek Academic Scholarship , which coincides with the name of a Vulcan child in " Yesteryear ".
• Vulcan's Forge was later referenced in " Change of Heart " and was the focus of a three-episode ENT arc: " The Forge ", " Awakening ", and " Kir'Shara ".
• Both Lunaport and the kahs-wan were mentioned in " The Catwalk ".
• The sehlat , which first appeared in "Yesteryear" in animated form, was recreated in CGI in ENT : " The Forge ".
• The nearby planet seen briefly behind Shi'Kahr made it into the original version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . For the director's cut it was decided to remove the planet (named Charis or T'Khut in the novel Spock's World ).
• The title of " healer " for a Vulcan physician was referred to for Healer Senva in " Prophet Motive ".
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country confirmed Kirk's middle name as "Tiberius", a name first revealed in " Bem ". The name had been used in novels , including in the preface to the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture .
• A chart of Federation space, seen in " Conspiracy ", contained references to solar objects first mentioned in TAS, including the planets Canopus III , Lactra VII , Omega Cygni , Phylos , and Kzin , and the stars Beta Lyrae and Pallas 14 .
• In the episode " Once More Unto the Breach ", Kor recalled his former vessel, the IKS Klothos , which was the ship he commanded in the " The Time Trap ". It was a D5 Klingon ship (where D5s were later shown in Enterprise ), rendered as a questionably-drawn D7, but in both cases it was commanded by Kor.
• The episode " Broken Link " referred to Edosian orchids , the episode " These Are the Voyages... " mentioned Edosian suckerfish , and there were several other Enterprise references to the Edosian slug – all homages to the Edosian Lt. Arex .
• Coincidental references which may or may not be attributed to terms first used in The Animated Series include Klingon Imperial Fleet (" The Time Trap ") and Starbase 23 (" The Terratin Incident ").
• Amanda 's maiden name, Grayson, was given in the series, and later established in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .
• The holodeck concept first appeared in " The Practical Joker ", and was later adopted into Star Trek: The Next Generation . The use of holograms was used in " Lethe ", showing that USS Discovery was equipped with similar technology during 2250s .
• The idea of an additional turbolift on the bridge first appeared in TAS, and ultimately adopted in the live-action franchise from Star Trek: Phase II onward.
• The act of entering the warp nacelles first appeared in TAS, and later appeared in the TNG episode " Eye of the Beholder " and in the ENT episode " The Catwalk ".
• In " The Counter-Clock Incident ", a race is shown that has a life span where individuals start out old and grow younger until death. Star Trek: Voyager later reused this idea in one of its episodes for a race of aliens .
• In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , two members of the Caitian species are seen, which FASA 's RPG sourcebook , Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update , identified as the same species as M'Ress .
• The robot grain ships from " More Tribbles, More Troubles " have later been established in the 2008 remastered TOS episodes " Charlie X " (manned version) and " The Ultimate Computer " (robot version) as belonging to the Antares -type of starships. Later to also appear as wreckage in the Lower Decks episode " Terminal Provocations ".
• Star Trek: Discovery confirmed Robert April from " The Counter-Clock Incident " to be an important Starfleet captain in the episode " Choose Your Pain " when Saru asks the ship's computer to list Starfleet's most decorated captains. He was later confirmed as the first captain of the USS Enterprise , preceding Christopher Pike , in " Brother ".
• Lower Decks also made a mention of Spock Two from " The Infinite Vulcan " in " Veritas " before featuring his skeleton in " Kayshon, His Eyes Open ".
• " Second Contact " introduced another Caitian, T'Ana , as a series' regular.
• " Envoys " included the Aurelian from " Yesteryear "and the Vendorian from " The Survivor ".
• " Much Ado About Boimler " introduced an Edosian character whose species was first featured through the series' regular Arex .
• " Mugato, Gumato " included the appearance of a Kzinti from " The Slaver Weapon ".
• " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers " depicted a total of five TAS species appearances, the aforementioned Caitian, Kzinti, Edosian, Aurelians, and a prominent return of several members of Em/3/Green's species , who first appeared in " The Jihad ".
• " Mining The Mind's Mines " included the appearance of Kukulkan from "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth".

Several non-canon productions have also made reference to TAS:

• A second exit for the bridge, referenced in Franz Joseph 's Star Fleet Technical Manual .
• DC Comics' writer Len Wein reintroduced M'Ress and Arex into the post- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home comics , and they were further developed by Michael Carlin and Peter David until that series went into hiatus.
• Some of the worlds and aliens in the series were included in the 1989 book called The Worlds of the Federation .
• Author Peter David later integrated M'Ress and Arex into his 24th century book series Star Trek: New Frontier , beginning with the novel Gateways #6: Cold Wars . They also appear in IDW's "New Frontier" comic miniseries, Turnaround , by David.
• The trilogy Crucible by David R. George III includes the plot from "Yesteryear" in its history.
• The IDW comic miniseries Star Trek: Year Four takes place during the TAS timeframe and features appearances by Arex and M'Ress.

Production inconsistencies [ ]

One unfortunate reality of an animated television series was the occasional color discrepancy.

The most notable color discrepancy was shown with several appearances of the color pink. Unknown to the rest of the production staff, director Sutherland was color-blind, so to him, pink was light gray. (" Drawn to the Final Frontier – The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series ", TAS DVD ) While true, Kaplan was not color-blind and was often conscientious of the color decisions being made.

The following images are examples of Irv Kaplan's personal color choices:

Reversed color variant

According to Bob Kline, " Pink equals Irv Kaplan. Irv was in charge of ink and paint, coloring the various characters and props (and he would do it himself in his office, he would sit down with a cel and paint it). He was also referred to by many people there as the purple and green guy. You'll see in a lot of scenes, purple and green used together – that was one of his preferences. He made dragons red, the Kzintis' costumes pink. It was all Irv Kaplan's call. He wasn't listening to anyone else when he picked colors, or anything. " ( Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series , p. 26)

Several other unintentional coloring issues also cropped up. Kirk's type 1 phaser had its color scheme reversed (black on silver/grey, instead of silver on black), and some shots featured characters wearing Starfleet uniforms of the wrong division or colors.

As a result of the use of recycled footage, there were also many instances of randomly misplaced characters and equipment. Recurring inconsistencies in this vein include the random appearance of Lt. Kyle in several transporter room scenes, close-up shots of Scott operating the transporter controls, the interchanged appearances with Uhura and M'Ress at the communications station, and the appearance of characters on the bridge while simultaneously appearing in another section of the ship or on the surface of a planet.

Another inconsistency that appears sometimes is Scott shown with the rank of captain, and Kirk with a unknown rank insignia.

The Animated Series also made substantial changes to set locations used in the original series:

• A second turbolift is installed on the bridge, next to the main viewscreen.
• The bridge stations are rounded, and form a perfect circle, instead of the hexagonal TOS bridge set.
• The access stairs to the upper level engineering deck (seen in TOS seasons 2 and 3) are gone.

One production glitch that was avoided from being televised was Uhura having white skin. " Someone in the paint department used Nurse Chapel's colors on Uhura, who turned Caucasian with the flip of a brush! " exclaims Malcolm C. Klein, a management and marketing consultant to Filmation. " Fortunately, that one was caught before the film reached the lab. " ( Starlog , Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 47)

On many other occasions, body parts on various characters would go missing. According to animator Bob Kline , " it was usually something the cameraman did on purpose or accident to keep the cel levels at six. You couldn't use more than six cel levels under the camera. " This was often completed to allow more animation to appear on screen, as any more than six cells would make the animation appear "muddier". ( Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series , p. 27)

Proposed CGI reworking [ ]

In 1998 , there were talks of TAS being re-worked with CGI animation. According to Mainframe Entertainment ( Reboot ):

“Mainframe proposes to produce a television series continuing the original adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701). The new series will reunite the original ‘young’ crew by the use of modern technology and production methods developed by Mainframe over the last 5 years.

The new series will incorporate a ‘virtual’ cast performing in 3D computer generated sets, bringing together the advantages of new technology with the sensibilities of traditional film making.

In the early Seventies, ‘Filmation’ produced 22 one-half hour traditionally animated episodes based on the original ‘STAR TREK’ franchise.

It is our intention to take these ‘Filmation’ episodes and use them as a starting point to craft the new series. By using the original recordings of the core cast, carefully re-working the scripts, and rerecording all incidental characters, we believe that it is possible to bring the storylines up to the high standards expected of a ‘STAR TREK’ series today.”

The project was never realized. [16]

Related topics [ ]

• TAS directors
• TAS performers
• TAS recurring character appearances
• TAS writers
• Star Trek Logs by Alan Dean Foster
• Undeveloped TAS episodes
• Star Trek: Final Frontier , a proposed but undeveloped animated series
• Star Trek: Lower Decks
• Star Trek: Prodigy
• These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 1 (1970-75) , February 2019
• Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series , September/October 2019

Documentary [ ]

• The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek : "Saturday Morning Pinks" ( The History Channel , 5 November 2021)

Home video formats [ ]

• Star Trek: The Animated Series on VHS
• Star Trek: The Animated Series on Betamax
• Star Trek: The Animated Series on LaserDisc
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  on DVD
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  on Blu-ray

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: The Animated Series at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at StarTrek.com
• The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series (X) at StarTrek.com
• The Animated Series Gets Real (X) at StarTrek.com
• DanHauserTrek.com – Guide to Animated Star Trek
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  at Ex Astris Scientia
• Star Trek: The Animated Series at the Internet Movie Database
• StarTrekAnimated.com – fan site
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

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Star Trek: The Animated Series

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Watch Star Trek: The Animated Series with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Tv news & guides, this show is featured in the following articles., series info.

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Star Trek: The Animated Series ' Must-Watch Episodes

It’s been a long road , friends, getting from here to there. A voyage, if you will , across Star Trek ’s brightest spots and darkest chapters , from the original classics to its latest discoveries . But all good things must come to an end, and our guide to the very best (or at least, enjoyably silly) that Star Trek has to offer is coming to an end in a suitably animated fashion.

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Yes, we might have just done Star Trek ’s latest primary addition to the franchise, (sorry Picard , you’ll get one when you’ve done a bit more boldly going ), but our final guide is going back all the way to 1973 for what is actually the second show in the Trek saga: Star Trek: The Animated Series . Featuring not just the returning vocal talents of much of the original series’ cast ( Walter Koenig did not return as Chekov, but did write for the show) and telling tales penned by many returning favorites from classic Trek ’s writing team, The Animated Series has long had a strange relationship with the franchise, despite its legacy as what is basically the continuation of the Enterprise ’s adventures.

Whether or not the series was actually deemed “canonical” to the Trek prime timeline was long debated. CBS eventually began acknowledging the show’s (often zany) contributions to Trek fiction by first incorporating it into its official database of the Star Trek website in 2007, and since seeding references to events and adventures that took place in the show in the likes of Short Treks and Discovery .

As part of our ongoing efforts to give you things to distract yourself in the moment of history in which we live, io9 has offered up weekly guides to the very best each Star Trek show has to offer. If you’re keen to follow our advice and help yourself to all the Star Trek , here are at least the highlights you can look forward to as you continue to boldly go absolutely nowhere outside.

Beyond the Farthest Star (Episode 1)— The Enterprise finds itself trapped in the orbit of a dying star...only to quickly discover that it is not alone.

Yesteryear (Episode 2)— At the behest of the Guardian of Forever, Spock returns to Vulcan, and back in time, to save his younger self from creating a divergent timeline.

One of Our Planets Is Missing (Episode 3)— A massive, planet-destroying cloud has entered Federation territory, and the Enterprise is tasked with saving colonists at the very edge of Starfleet’s reach.

The Lorelei Signal (Episode 4)— The male crew find themselves ensnared by the wiles of an all-female race of aliens, leading to Uhura and Nurse Chapel having to take command and save them.

More Tribbles, More Troubles (Episode 5)— Hell yes, it’s a sequel to “The Trouble With Tribbles”! Koloth and Cyrano Jones cross paths with the crew again, this time with even more tribble shenanigans.

The Infinite Vulcan (Episode 7)— A scientist from the Eugenics Wars and a species of hyperintelligent plants clone Spock, believing him to be the perfect template for a master species. Yes, this is the one with Lorge Spock .

Mudd’s Passion (Episode 10)— Harry Mudd returns, as the Enterprise arrests him for hocking love crystals to poor Federation miners. But when Nurse Chapel is given one of the crystals, her feelings for Spock overwhelm her.

The Slaver Weapon (Episode 14)— Spock, Uhura, and Sulu battle the feline Kzinti as they attempt to bring an artifact from an ancient spacefaring culture to Starbase 25. Fun fact: This is an adaptation of Larry Niven’s iconic short story “The Soft Weapon,” adapted for TAS by Niven himself!

Bem (Episode 2)— Ari bn Bem, a jerk alien from the planet Pandro, judges the Enterprise crew to see if the Federation is worthy of opening diplomatic lines with his people. As Kirk and Spock deal with his shenanigans on an away mission, Uhura once again finds herself commanding the Enterprise from orbit.

The Counter-Clock Incident (Episode 6)— While escorting the soon-to-be-retired Admiral Robert April— the original captain of the Enterprise —the crew is pulled into a negative universe that alters the flow of time, de-aging everyone.

Star Trek is available to stream, currently for free, on CBS All Access .

For more, make sure you’re following us on our Instagram @ io9dotcom .

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The 5 essential Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes every Trek fan should watch

Credit: CBS

With the debut of Star Trek: Lower Decks , the Trek franchise is launching its second ongoing animated series since 1973. Although we got a few animated Short Treks   one-offs in 2019, Lower Decks is the first time the Final Frontier has gone back to the cartoon zone since the '70s. And that begs the question:  Have you even seen the first animated Star Trek series?

Like any incarnation of Trek , Star Trek: The Animated Series has some episodes that limp around on impulse power and other episodes that hum along at warp speed. Not quite a kids’ show, and not exactly a hypothetical Season 4 of The Original Series , TAS can be a daunting show to jump into. Plus, if you just want to figure out what you missed, it might be hard to sort through some of the slower episodes. 

So, with that in mind, here are only the five most essential episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series. If you’ve seen these five episodes, you’ve assimilated the best of what the first animated Trek has to offer. And, if you watch the episodes on this list, you’ll 100 percent be better equipped to catch even more Trekkie deep-cuts on Lower Decks.

No spoilers for Lower Decks ahead. Mild spoilers ahead for Star Trek: The Animated Series.

05 . “The Counter-Clock Incident” (Season 2, Episode 6)

Who was the Captain of the Enterprise before Kirk? If you answered “Pike,” you’re not wrong, and if you answered “Archer,” you’re also not wrong, but that was a different Enterprise .

If you answered “April,” you are correct. Captain Robert April was the Captain of the NCC-1701 Enterprise  before Pike, who was, of course, before Kirk. In this episode of The Animated Series , Captain April and his wife Sarah April visit the Enterprise just before their retirement. This episode established that April did at least one five-year mission aboard the Enterprise from 2245 to 2250, prior to Pike taking command . Basically, this means that, yes, in current canon, the Enterprise was running around in the galaxy for over 10 years before the start of Discovery, which means that, yes, the ship is 20 years old by the time Kirk takes command.

Though April was never mentioned in any other Trek beyond this episode, his existence was firmly made canon in the Discovery Season 1 episode “Choose Your Pain,” in which Saru called up a list of Starfleet’s most decorated captains. Later, in the Discovery Season 2 episode “Brother,” an Easter egg in Pike’s service record indicated he was April’s first officer. Meaning, Pike has been on the Enterprise a long, long time, too. So, want to see the first Captain of the NCC-1701 Enterprise get into it? Here’s your chance. 

04 . “The Time Trap” (Season 1, Episode 12)

Other than “Journey To Babel,” in The Original Series , “The Time Trap” probably features the widest variety of classic Trek aliens at the same time. When the Enterprise is stuck in a pocket universe, Kirk has to briefly team up with his old Klingon nemesis Kor. At the time this episode aired, there had never been an episode of Star Trek that featured this many different kinds of starships. Because the titular “Time Trap” is basically a Bermuda Triangle in space, the episode gives you a kind of outer space graveyard for space ships. If you’re into Trek for the sweet spaceships, this is patient zero 

But, beyond that, “The Time Trap” is notable because it’s the only other canonical appearance of Kor until his reappearance in the DS9 episode “Blood Oath.” Back during the original run of Trek , there were plans to bring Kor back numerous times, but the actor John Colicos was never available. To be clear, he wasn’t available for this either and is voiced by James Doohan here, who you know better as Scotty.

03 . “The Pirates of Orion” (Season 2, Episode 1)

The writer of this episode, Howard Weinstein, was 19 years old when he sold the script. In a sense, this makes “The Pirates of Orion” the quintessential episode of The Animated Series . It was a Star Trek series that had to adhere to the standards of Saturday morning cartoons, but also be hip enough to work with the rest of Star Trek . So, what better story do you use to kick off your second season than a script written by a 19-year-old? 

The episode isn’t exactly deep or anything, but it’s all about Kirk fighting some Orions in order to get a drug that Spock desperately needs to survive. The Orions, recall, are the green-skinned folks, and since there’s an Orion on Lower Decks (Ensign Tendi, played by Noël Wells), it feels like a good time to brush up on the only episode of Trek to feature the Orions rocking their own space helmets.

02 . “The Slaver Weapon” (Season 1, Episode 14)

Unlike literally any other episode of Star Trek , “The Slaver Weapon” is actually a literary crossover into the larger canon of a different science fiction universe. Written by SF legend Larry Niven, “The Slaver Weapon” is actually an adaption of his short story “The Soft Weapon,” which you can read in his collection Neutron Star . For SF readers of the '70s, Niven was mega-famous, and his “Known Space” shared universe spans over a dozen books and several short stories. The concept of “the Slavers” — an ancient alien race that once ruled the galaxy — comes from these books and stories. Ditto for the cat-like baddies, the Kzinti, who make their one-and-only appearance in Trek canon in this episode.

Back in the '90s, the canonicity of The Animated Series was heavily debated, meaning it was tricky to know if the Kzinti “really” counted as canon. But, TAS is canon these days, and if the Robert April thing in Discovery didn’t make that clear to you, then how about this: Riker mentions having some “trouble with the Kzinti” in the Star Trek: Picard episode “Nepenthe.” Showrunner Michael Chabon wrote to author Larry Niven to specifically ask if referencing the Kzinti again in Picard was cool. Yes, it turns out, it was very cool.

01 . “Yesteryear” (Season 1, Episode 2)

If there’s only one episode you watch of Star Trek: The Animated Series , it has to be this one. Featuring the return of the Guardian of Forever time portal from “City on the Edge of Forever,” this episode is more famous for establishing several aspects of Spock’s childhood, all of which would directly influence Trek canon forever. Remember when those bullies picked on young Spock in the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot? Yep, that scene happened here first. Curious why Spock’s house looks the way it does in Discovery Season 2? Again, that’s established here. Even Ethan Peck’s audition for Spock subtly referenced  the alternate universe that is briefly created in this episode. 

Written by the legendary D.C. Fontana , “Yesteryear” is an essential Spock episode. Keep in mind, Fontana was the writer who gave Spock his complexity, depth, and family backstory. If “Yesteryear” had been an episode of the live-action original series, it may have been a fan favorite. It’s just as good as “Amok Time,” and maybe a little better than “Journey To Babel.” Watch it and weep.

Star Trek: The Animated Series is streaming exclusively on CBS All Access.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks to Conclude with Fifth and Final Season

The hit original animated series will arrive later this fall.

StarTrek.com

Star Trek: Lower Decks will conclude later this fall with its fifth and final season.

Series creator Mike McMahan and executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirm the news in a touching tribute to the series and its fans:

To the fans,

We wanted to let you know that this fall will be the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks . While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it’s no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built, and more than anything we all love love love Star Trek . We’re excited for the world to see our hilarious fifth season which we're working on right now, and the good news is that all previous episodes will remain on Paramount+ so there is still so much to look forward to as we celebrate the Cerritos crew with a big send-off.

Finally, thank you for always being so creative and joyful, for filling convention halls and chanting LOWER DECKS!" We remain hopeful that even beyond Season 5, Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and the whole Cerritos crew will live on with new adventures.

LLAP Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated comedy series that focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos . The crew residing in the “lower decks” of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome; Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid; D'Vana Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells; and Sam Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. The Starfleet characters that comprise the U.S.S. Cerritos ’ Bridge crew include Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis; Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O’Connell; and Doctor T’Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman.

The series is produced by CBS’ Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios’ animation arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth. Titmouse, the Emmy Award-winning independent animation production company, serves as the animation studio for the series.

Get Updates By Email

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks’ creator is turning Sega’s Golden Axe into an animated comedy

Comedy Central orders a 10-episode series from Mike McMahan, adapting the hack-and-slash classic

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Share All sharing options for: Star Trek: Lower Decks’ creator is turning Sega’s Golden Axe into an animated comedy

Sega’s arcade hack-and-slash beat-’em-up Golden Axe is being adapted for television. In something of an unexpected twist, that TV series will be an animated comedy. Mike McMahan ( Star Trek: Lower Decks , Solar Opposites ) and Joe Chandler ( American Dad! ) will co-write the first episode and executive produce the 10-episode series, Comedy Central announced Wednesday. The announcement came two days after Paramount revealed that season 5 of Lower Decks would be the series’ final installment.

Golden Axe heroes Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead will face down the evil Death Adder in the animated comedy, and they’ll be joined by an all-new character: inexperienced adventurer Hampton Squib, voiced by Community ’s Danny Pudi. Joining Pudi in the voice cast are Matthew Rhys ( The Americans ) as lightning-powered dwarf Gilius, Lisa Gilroy ( Jury Duty ) as fiery swordswoman Tyris, and Liam McIntyre ( Spartacus ) as the earthshaking Ax — who does not fight with an ax, and is described as “a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor.”

Comedy Central’s Golden Axe will feature another deep-cut character from the franchise: Chronos “Evil” Lait, voiced by Carl Tart ( Star Trek: Lower Decks ). Chronos is the black panther/human hybrid warrior from Sega Genesis sequel Golden Axe 3 , who was turned into a beastman by that game’s big bad boss, Damned Hellstrike. This is a game series with really good character names, folks.

Animation studio Titmouse, responsible for series like Big Mouth , Frog and Toad , The Legend of Vox Machina , and much more, is animating the Golden Axe series.

Golden Axe is one of several Sega adaptations in the works. The third Sonic the Hedgehog movie will hit theaters later this year (with Keanu Reeves joining the franchise as Shadow ), and a spinoff centered on Knuckles the Echidna drops on Paramount Plus in April. There’s also a Streets of Rage movie in the works , with John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad at the helm.

Sega has been trying for the better part of a decade to turn its video game properties into film and television projects . The company has previously announced adaptations of games like Shinobi and Rent-A-Hero , without much to show for it. But 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie appears to have accelerated Sega’s plans, with more projects finally coming to fruition.

Golden Axe is also being revived in video game form. At last year’s The Game Awards, Sega revealed modern iterations of its medieval fantasy beat-’em-up alongside new versions of Jet Set Radio , Crazy Taxi , Shinobi , and Streets of Rage .

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed for Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ to Conclude With Season 5 (EXCLUSIVE)

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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• ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed for Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ to Conclude With Season 5 (EXCLUSIVE) 7 days ago

“ Star Trek : Strange New Worlds,” currently in production on its third season, has been renewed by Paramount+ for Season 4. Meanwhile, “ Star Trek: Lower Decks ,” the first animated “Star Trek” comedy, will conclude its run on the streamer with its fifth season, which will debut in the fall.

Popular on Variety

“Lower Decks” charted brand new territory for “Star Trek” when it debuted in 2020, as both an animated comedy and a series that focused on the junior officers of the USS Cerritos: Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Set in the years following the feature film “Star Trek: Nemesis,” the series has included voice cameos from many beloved “Star Trek” alumni, like George Takei, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, John de Lancie, Will Wheaton, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor and Robert Duncan McNeill.

Given its premise, concluding “Lower Decks” make sense considering the main four characters all received promotions in Season 4. But in a message to fans, Kurtzman and executive producer and showrunner Mike McMahan left the turbolift doors open for continuing the characters’ stories following their time at the bottom of the Starfleet pecking order. 

The “Star Trek” TV universe, overseen by Kurtzman through his Secret Hideout production company and produced by CBS Studios, has enjoyed a robust expansion since “Star Trek: Discovery” first premiered in 2017. Along with “Strange New Worlds,” the made-for-television movie “Star Trek: Section 31” recently concluded production with star Michelle Yeoh, and the new series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” will begin shooting later this year.

“It has been incredibly rewarding to continue to build the Star Trek universe, and we’re so grateful to Secret Hideout and our immensely talented casts and producers,” said Jeff Grossman, executive vice president of Programming at Paramount+. “‘Strange New Worlds’ has found the perfect blend of action, adventure and humor. Similarly, ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ has brought the laughs with an ample amount of heart to the franchise across its four seasons. We can’t wait for audiences to see what is in store for the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos in this final season.”

“‘Lower Decks’ and ‘Strange New Worlds’ are integral to the ‘Star Trek’ franchise, expanding the boundaries of the universe and exploring new and exciting worlds,” said CBS Studios president David Stapf. “We are extraordinarily proud of both series as they honor the legacy of what Gene Roddenberry created almost 60 years ago. We are so grateful to work with Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers and the cast, crews and artists who craft these important and entertaining stories for fans around the world.”

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Screen Rant

Fallout season 2: how moldaver survived the great war answer teased by star.

Exclusive: Fallout star Sarita Choudhury teases that season 2 may reveal how her character Lee Moldaver managed to survive for over 200 years.

Fallout star Sarita Choudhury teases that season 2 may reveal how Moldaver survived for over 200 years. Prime Video's adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game franchise takes place in two timelines, starting in 2077 before the Great War began, and 219 years later in 2296. The Fallout cast and characters include Choudhury as Lee Moldaver, who is initially introduced as a Raider attacking Vault 33, though it is later revealed that she is actually Miss Williams and has been alive since before the bombs fell.

During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant , Choudhury teased that Fallout season 2 may reveal how Moldaver survived for over 200 years. The star says that she knows some of Moldaver's past but not all, and is hopeful that season 2 will address how she lived for as long as she did. Read her full comments below:

Having conversations with [Jonah Nolan, Graham Wagner & Geneva Robertson-Dworet], every actor wanted, they were the most coveted people when they came on set. I thought it was just me, but then I would see Kyle, like, "Ooh, Graham, Geneva, can I?" [Chuckles] And I was like, "Oh my god, we're all in this boat of these questions that are everything." To which Graham and Geneva could answer some, but on purpose, they couldn't answer all, and that's one of them. I know some, which I'm not allowed to say. But it was my main question, obviously. So, it would be yours, and hopefully it will be revealed if there is more life in Fallout.

More to come...