Star Trek: The Animated Series Star Trek: The Animated Series 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 series created 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 "". 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
Star Trek: The Original Series had a "quality audience" including "upper-income, better-educated males", and other NBC shows had lower overall ratings. The show was unusual at the time in its serious discussion of contemporary societal issues in a futuristic context, unlike "Lost in Space" which was more "campy" in nature. The enthusiasm of "Star Trek"s viewers surprised NBC. The network had already received 29,000 fan letters for the show during its first season, more than for any other except "The Monkees". When rumors spread in late 1967 that "Star Trek" was at risk of cancellation, Roddenberry secretly began and funded an effort by Bjo Trimble,