Having squandered money on a series of failed pilots over the course of the early 1960s, Desilu had become severely cash-poor and was desperate to regain its past success. Although NBC rejected the first pilot, its executives were impressed favorably enough to commission an unprecedented second pilot, which the network picked up for the 1966–67 season. "Star Trek" premiered on September 8, 1966. "Star Trek's" end credits listed the show as "A Desilu Production in association with Norway Corporation" for the entire first season, followed by the credit "Executive in charge of production, Herbert F. Solow." But when Desilu and Paramount merged midway through the second season, this became "A "Paramount" Production in association with Norway Corporation," which was how it stayed for the remainder of the program's run. In the third season, the end credit "Douglas S. Cramer, Executive Vice President in charge of production" followed this listing.