Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series season 1 & 2, aired in 1973-4
I don’t usually review shows that I don’t watch all of but since I’m doing a big Star Trek rewatch I’ll mention this one. It was just called Star Trek when it aired but everyone calls it Star Trek: The Animated Series to distinguish it from its predecessor.
There are 22 episodes and they are half an hour each. The Original Series cast reprise their roles voicing their characters, with the exception of Walter Koenig as Chekov — although he wrote one episode. In addition, James Doohan and Majel Barrett often provide voices for guest characters.
Two new Enterprise crew members, the cat-like M’Ress and the 3-limbed Arex, became beloved and show up in some comics and books.
The music is so repetitive that it will drive you crazy. The animation is a not-very-animated style but does feature some nice looking alien environments.
I’ve seen a few episodes. If I were to watch all of them I would likely give it between a 2 and 3 out of 5.
The episode “The Lorelei Signal” is silly overall but does have the virtue of having Uhura take command of the ship as well as lead a very successful away team. “Yesteryear” is the episode most referenced in other places, as it features Spock using the Guardian of Forever to go back in time to save his younger self.
Created by Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek).