How the Star Trek brand was saved by a Saturday morning cartoon

TVAnimation

Jul 1

When the original show was cancelled, Star Trek was going to come back a cartoon—and everyone was scared it would ruin everything.

A new YouTube episode from Retro Central does a great job of outlining the whole story behind the shaky beginnings—and the surprising victory—of the 1974 show Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Following the cancellation of the original Star Trek series in 1969, it was thought that the whole brand was done. But once the show hit syndication, the fandom exploded. Now playing at more convenient times of day, and more days of the week, the reruns of the show were now so much easier to watch.

The plans for an animated follow-up meant there were possibilities to continue—and even expand—the official storytelling for the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

But early in the process, there were lots of people afraid a cartoon would ruin everything.

As one of the new show’s producers, Dorothy Fontana AKA D.C. Fontana was determined to continue Star Trek’s mission—which meant an intrepid approach to subjects like death. Because the team wanted the show to hit adults as well as children.

One great example came as early as the second episode: “Yesteryear.” Written by Fontana—who had also written for the original series, “Yesteryear” one isn’t just the best episode of the ST:TAS series—it’s also one of the best Star Trek episodes ever.

Hosted by ST:TNG’s Gates McFadden, Exploring Star Trek’s Lost 1970s Cartoon talks about…

How they got (most of) the original cast back together—including some surprising decisions.
When the original show’s blueprints helped make it all look official.
Why the staff pulled together a surprising list of writers for the show.

Ultimately—Exploring Star Trek’s Lost 1970s Cartoon explains why fans were so against the idea of a cartoon show. And how, when it finally got made, the show made such a great impact.

Exploring Star Trek’s Lost 1970s Cartoon

How to watch Star Trek: The Animated Series

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About Star Trek: The Animated Series

The animated continuation of the original 1960s Star Trek TV show, Star Trek: The Animated Series launched on Saturday mornings in 1973. Featuring most of the same characters as the original live action show, the cartoon was a science fiction series set in the 23rd century, continuing the mission of the starship Enterprise as it explored the galaxy.

Adding 22 episodes over two seasons, the Star Trek cartoon actually made it easier to show stuff that was harder to do (back then) in live action. Like, for example, show lava. Or more complicated aliens. Or add cast members who weren’t human.

What helped a great deal was how the original characters were voiced by the original actors.

And, as a producer, D.C. Fontana was able to pull back in some great writers for the show—including some who had written for the original series (like David Gerrold), plus notable science fiction authors (like Larry Niven).

Despite the original doubts, Star Trek: The Animated Series came out pretty well. As such, the animated Star Trek can essentially be considered the fourth season of the original show.

In fact, the show was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award! Its second season received the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment—Children’s Series.

And the original actors did finally get to appear again as the characters on screen—in 1979, for movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

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Chris Well

Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.

https://chriswell.substack.com/