Star Trek:
The Animated Series

Series 1
1973 - 1974
The fans of Star Trek were crying out for Trek to come back to the screens and the actors wanted it too.  However,  budgets were tight and the network was fed up of dodgy Star Trek special effects.  The answer was to write and film an animated series.  This allowed the creators to come up with some wild aliens.

Most of the voices were provided by the original cast members. For some reason Chekov (Walter Koening) did not feature in these animated episodes and so his role on the bridge was replaced by a bizarre looking alien called Lt. Aris.

To make up for unavailable speakers and to make the budget stretch further, dedicated James Doohan (Scotty) played the parts of various aliens and additional Starfleet characters.

Paramount do not consider the Animated Series to be a part of the official star trek timeline, yet it fits perfectly into the chronology between the end of Season 3 and the Motion Picture.

Furthermore, according to Trek insider and writer, Bjo Trimble, Gene Roddenberry was personally involved in the project and put the leading Star Trek writers and producers in the driving seats.

Also, if the animated episodes are not official, then why are they included on the Official Star Trek website, Paramount?!

Official or not, the animated series of Star Trek proves to be entertaining and thought provoking. The sci-fi concepts really are Star Trek at its best and far more dramatic and impressive, due to alien diversity and special effects that could not be achieved on the real-life show.

Furthermore, the animated series introduced some wonderful concepts in Star Trek. These concepts include the Enterprise Captain before Pike (Captain Robert April), the idea of a tribble predator and the line "Beam me up Scotty" was actually used, so don't let people tell you otherwise!

It is a shame that the Animated Series is not taken more seriously as being a series of Star Trek.

 
1 Beyond the Farthest Star The Enterprise comes across a ship, which is possessed by an evil shapeless alien, which soon takes control of the Enterprise.
2 Yesteryear By using the Guardian of Forever, Kirk, Spock, and the historian Erikson explore the planet Orion's past. However, upon returning to the present, no one seems to recognize Mr. Spock.
3 One of Our Planets is Missing The Enterprise discovers a giant space machine responsible for destroying planets. The crew must stop it before it destroys every planet in the galaxy and beyond.
4 The Lorelei Signal Spock falls victim to siren-like hallucinations on a planet, as had many Klingon crews every 27 years prior.
5 More Tribbles, More Troubles Cyrano Jones returns and with him comes more tribbles. These tribbles are genetically enhanced not to reproduce, but manage it anyway! This episode introduces a tribble predator.
6 The Survivor The Enterprise crew encounter an evil shape-shifter whose real appearance is a terrifying squid-like being.
7 The Infinite Vulcan After various bizarre happenings on a planet, Spock is cloned for quasi-evil purposes. Interestingly, this enjoyable episode was written by Walter Koening.
8 The Magicks of Megas-Tu While investigating the theory of creation at the centre of the galaxy, the Enterprise crew encounter a race of super beings.
9 Once Upon A Planet The Enterprise return to the famous 'shore leave' planet where things have got even nastier.
10 Mudd's passion The crew once again encounter loveable rogue, Harry Mudd. This time, Harry's interests lie in Nurse Chapel.
11 The Terratin Incident After receiving a distress call, the Enterprise help the inhabitants of a planet escape volcanic activity.
12 The Time Trap The ship is captured by a time trap while investigating the phenomenal Delta Triangle in space where many ships have mysteriously vanished. The crew are forced to work alongside, Klingons, Romulans, Gorn, Andorians and all manner of other alien beings.
13 The Ambergris Element The crew attempt to save aquatic humanoids from seismic activity on their ocean planet.
14 Slaver Weapon While on a shuttlecraft mission, Enterprise crewmembers are attacked for their cargo: a stasis box.
15 The Eye of the Beholder Spock, Kirk and other crewmembers are kidnapped by giant slugs and forced to be exhibits in a zoo. A wonderful episode.
16 The Jihad Kirk and Spock end up getting involved in a religious war over sacred artefacts. Plenty of diverse alien cultures in this interesting episode.
17 The Pirates of Orion Spock falls victim to a terrible disease and Kirk must do battle with space pirates in order to save his friend.
18 Bem The crew deal with an alien ambassador called Bem who can take his body to pieces. A highly entertaining sci-fi episode.
19 The Practical Joker After being infected with an unusual agent from the Romulan Neutral zone, the malfunctioning computer plays practical jokes on the crew.
 
20 Albatross Dr. McCoy is imprisoned by aliens who believe he is responsible for mass slaughter.
21 How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth An alien vessel is encountered which disguises itself as a terrifying serpent from Aztec myth.
22 The Counter-Clock Incident The Enterprise transports Commodore Robert April, former Enterprise Captain to a conference on Babel.