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Algernon_Asimov’s guide to The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series (previously ‘The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek’) is the unloved and rejected stepchild of Star Trek series. For decades, it wasn’t even considered canon. However, after CBS’ acquisition of the rights to TAS in 2006, they incorporated all of its episodes and elements into their canon articles on StarTrek.com, thus making it officially canon. (Although, this might simply have been due to the fact that they released the DVD box set of the series that year, and wanted to encourage people to buy it…)

Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, it was made for children’s television. But, it was produced by Gene Roddenberry and Dorothy (D.C.) Fontana, two of the main creative talents behind the original series. It was voiced by (most of) the actors from the original series. Many of the writers had also written episodes for the original series. And, some of its episodes are better than some episodes from the original series. For all its faults, it’s still Star Trek. It deserves our attention, as much as any of the other series.

Beyond The Farthest Star (1x01)

Production number: 22004

Summary: “Kirk’s crew come across an ancient derelict vessel, but something is still living inside it.”

Rating: Engage!

Points of interest:

This first episode of the new series was written by Samuel A Peeples, who also the (second) pilot of the original series, ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’.

The crew have personal lifebelts which are humanoid-shaped forcefields (instead of using spacesuits). This series is the only series that uses these lifebelts: they are never referred to in any Star Trek series - but they’d be handy devices. Imagine the fight scene on the deflector dish in ‘First Contact’ if Picard and Worf weren’t wearing spacesuits!

The Enterprise is out “beyond the fringe of the galaxy”, “mission: star charting”.

The science is not strong in this episode: we have a star with negative mass, which attracts the Enterprise more strongly, whereas negative mass should actually repel other mass; there’s a reference to a civilisation which existed three hundred millions years ago, “before life existed on Earth”, when life has has existed on Earth for billions of years (maybe Kirk meant before Human life…?).

However, it takes good advantage of the new medium of animation: there’s an alien ship unlike any we’ve seen before (and unlike most we’ve seen since); there’s a three-armed crewman of a new species at the navigation console on the bridge.

Yesteryear (1x02)

Production number: 22003

Summary: “Spock travels back in time to prevent his own demise during his youth on Vulcan.”

Rating: Engage!

Points of interest:

This episode was written by Dorothy (D.C.) Fontana, who was story editor during the first two seasons of the original series. She wrote a few classic episodes, including ‘Journey to Babel’, which ‘Yesteryear’ builds on.

This episode contains a number of firsts:

• It’s the first time we see the planet of Vulcan (what we saw in ‘Amok Time’ was just one ceremonial arena).
• It’s the first time we see that great big round non-moon object in Vulcan’s sky. (It seems that both Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana wrote “NO MOON!” on the preliminary sketches they were shown… and were ignored.)
• It’s the first time we see a sehlat.
• And… more importantly, it’s the first time that anyone acknowledges that Vulcans do actually have emotions. Until this time, it’s been assumed or implied, at best.

It’s interesting to note that Spock, despite the stereotype that Vulcans can’t lie, does actively lie about his identity in the past: he tells his father that’s he’s a cousin, and his name is Selek.

It’s a great episode, and essential viewing for any Star Trek fan.

A weekly episode discussion about this episode in /r/StarTrek.

One of Our Planets is Missing (1x03)

Production number: 22007

Summary: “The Enterprise crew learns that a massive, planet-destroying cloud has entered Federation space.”

Rating: Just for fun

Points of interest:

This was actually the first animated episode produced; the standard episode order is based on the order the episodes aired.

This is the first time that Lieutenant Arex speaks - he’s the three-armed, three-legged Edosian who sits at Navigation in Chekov’s place.

The Enterprise gets swallowed by the planet-eating cloud, and Captain Kirk has to decide whether to kill a possibly intelligent being to save a planet of over eighty million people.

A weekly episode discussion about this episode in /r/StarTrek.

The Lorelei Signal (1x04)

Production number: 22006

Summary: “The Enterprise is drawn to a planet populated solely by women who dominate the male crew members’s minds to the point where Uhura must assume command to rescue them.”

Rating: Just for fun

Points of interest:

Lieutenant Uhura takes command of the Enterprise for the only time in any series or movie.

Nichelle Nichols voices the Enterprise’s computer - probably to prevent Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel talking to herself as the computer! In fact, because of the high number of female characters, both Nichols and Barrett do a lot of work in this episode (there were no guest stars).

Captain Kirk says “Beam us up, Scotty” in this episode - which is the closest he ever comes to saying the classic phrase “Beam me up, Scotty.” (He does say “Beam me up” and “Scotty, beam me up” at other times.)

The writer of this episode, Margaret Armen, also wrote three episodes in the original series, and another animated episode.

More Tribbles, More Troubles (1x05)

Production number: 22001

Summary: “While escorting a shipment of grain to Sherman’s Planet, the Enterprise encounters three “old friends:” Koloth, Cyrano Jones - and tribbles!”

Rating: Just for fun

Points of interest:

This was written by the same writer who wrote the original tribbles episode: David Gerrold. Gerrold managed to get himself drawn in as a cameo appearance (he’s the unknown Ensign in the transporter room).

Also returning was the actor who played Cyrano Jones (although Koloth was played by James Doohan).

It’s a light bit of fun, but it’s good fun.

It also has one of my favourite lines of the series, from Scotty to Kirk: “But we’ve got tribbles on the ship, quintotriticale in the corridors, Klingons in the quadrant… it can ruin your whole day, sir!”

The Survivor (1x06)

Production number: 22005

Summary: “The Enterprise encounters the ship of a noted Federation philanthropist, missing for nearly five years, near the Romulan Neutral Zone.”

Rating: meh

Points of interest:

This is the first appearance of Communications Officer Lieutenant M’Ress, a female Caitian (she’s a feline humanoid). She is voiced by Majel Barrett.

And, while Uhura doesn’t say or do anything in this episode (her function is filled by M’Ress), Nichelle Nichols voices the guest female role of Security Officer Lieutenant Anne Nored. Quite confusing!

I was a little disappointed that they used the Klingon Birds-of-Prey for the Romulans rather than the Romulans’ own Warbirds.

The Infinite Vulcan (1x07)

Production number: 22002

Summary: “A species of intelligent plants, led by a clone of a Eugenics Wars-era scientist, clones Spock with the intentions of creating a master race to keep the peace.”

Rating: Engage!

Points of interest:

This is the only Star Trek episode ever written by a main cast member: Walter Koenig. Even though Keonig wasn’t included as one of the voice actors in this series due to budget constraints, he was still asked to contribute a script (Gene Roddenberry had seen another screenplay that Koenig was working on, and was impressed). Keonig auditioned to voice the guest character role, but was rejected (this character, like many many other guests characters in the series, was voiced by James Doohan). Koenig still managed to write himself into the show in a subtle way: the plant that Sulu discovers is called a “retlaw”, which is “Walter” spelled backwards.

Captain Kirk says “Beam us up, Scotty” again in this episode: the second and last time he says this phrase. (See also ‘The Loelei Signal’.)

We meet another refugee from the Eugenics Wars - one of the genetic scientists.

This episode includes only the second reference to the Vulcan IDIC.

And… we see Spock do a “Vulcan mind-touch” with himself!