In celebration of the day, we're highlighting some new collectibles, merch, and more from our partners to build your collection. Plot a course and check out these incredible finds!

Special 'Star Trek Day' Merchandise and Sale - On September 8, fans can use the code “STARTREKDAY” for 25% off sitewide at Shop.StarTrek.com, which includes a curated Star Trek Day and Star Trek: Animated Series collections.

Special 'Star Trek: The Animated Series' Merchandise and Sale - On September 8, fans can use the code “STARTREKDAY” for 25% off sitewide at Shop.StarTrek.com, which includes a curated Star Trek Day and Star Trek: Animated Series collections.

Star Trek: The Animated Series (Amazon) - In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Star Trek's first animated series arrives on Digital for the first time!

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 T-shirt Collective Collection Set (Titmouse) - AHOY ENSIGNS! Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 is preparing for launch, and that can only mean one thing — NEW SHIRTS! 11 original tees, crafted with Vulcan precision and Human design flare, the Star Trek: Lower Decks Shirt Collective is the most high-ranked organization in all of Starfleet. And best of all, anyone can join. Pre-orders begin Thursday, August 31st at 12am. That's the first waking minute of 8/31. Orders are open until September 14th at noon.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Figures (Mondo) - Introducing the first wave of EXO-6's new line of 7" tall interchangeable statues, sculpted by Jim Maddox, inspired by Star Trek: Lower Decks! Badgey's release will be a 2-pack expressing his erratic behavior (his homicidal mode and seemingly innocent mode), and will be in-scale with the human figures. Ensign Brad Boimler's statue comes with a set of interchangeable arms and heads, and Ensign Beckett Mariner's statue comes with an extra set of arms, all to allow collectors to display them in various poses and emotions. These figures are available for pre-order Friday (9/8) at 12PM CT only on The Drop.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Cadet Boots (Fluevog Shoes) - For those with dreams of joining Starfleet (or expanding their mission-ready wardrobe), we have news that’s bound to send you over the Earth’s moon. The Cadet — a brand new ankle boot joining the official Fluevog x Star Trek: Strange New Worlds collection and an essential future part of your Starfleet training attire — now available for pre-order until September 15!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition Vinyl Record (Enjoy the Ride Records) - Jerry Goldsmith's iconic score to the 1979 film has been restored, remixed, and mastered. With over 80 minutes of music, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition is available on vinyl for the first time in this definitive assembly. Pressed on 2xLP 140g colored vinyl and housed in a high gloss gatefold jacket with black poly-lined inner sleeves, there is also a double-sided full-color insert nestled inside. The 3 color options will be available at www.EnjoyTheRideRecords.com on sale Star Trek Day (9/8) @ Noon ET while the Blue/White split is a Mondo exclusive.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - A Stitch in Time Audiobook (Simon & Schuster) - Written and narrated by actor and director Andrew J. Robinson, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: A Stitch in Time is an unique and intense tale following Elim Garak, the character Robinson portrayed throughout the television series' seven-season run, as he attempts to stitch the ravaged society of Cardassia back together. Listen to an excerpt!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds-inspired Apparel (Heroes & Villains) - Enjoyed the series' sophomore season? Rep your favorite episode with these new Strange New Worlds-inspired designs!

Star Trek Explorer Magazine Subscription (Titan) - Pick up Star Trek Explorer #8 on newsstands this Tuesday, 9/12, or gift a loved one a subscription to Star Trek Explorer so they can get all the inside scoop year-round! Our friends over at Titan have a special Star Trek Day offer of 4 issues for $24.99 (a savings of $14.97). Valid through Friday, 9/15.

Star Trek Adventures - Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide (Modiphius) - The Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide expands upon the core Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game experience by providing detailed advice on creating junior officers and using them to tell amazing Star Trek-style stories with the fun, irreverent tone presented in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series (Simon & Schuster) - The first and only guide to the beloved and star-studded Star Trek: The Animated Series, the in-canon (mostly) continuation of the iconic Star Trek: The Original Series.

Star Trek x Amazon T-Shirt Club Subscription (Amazon, U.S. only) - Every Star Trek T-shirt Club box contains a curated Star Trek t-shirt created for the ultimate fan! T-Shirt Club is a monthly subscription which offers an exclusively designed t-shirt every month, delivered right to your door. Each design celebrates the entirety of the Star Trek universe, featuring designs of your favorite characters, ships and scenes across the Final Frontier.

Celebrate Star Trek Day 2023 with These Out of This World Finds

'Walk, Don't Run' | Star Trek: very Short Treks - 105

In "Walk, Don't Run," when the old guard meets the new, sensitivities flare!

From the mind of Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks, Star Trek: Short Treks), Star Trek: very Short Treks celebrates the bold, the silly, and the unusual across the animated universe of Star Trek.

Star Trek: very Short Treks - "Walk, Don't Run" Credits:

Produced By: Awesome Inc
Created By: Casper Kelly
Executive Producers: Casper Kelly & Ashley Kohler
Supervising Producer: Brandon Betts
Producer / Director: Aaron Hawkins

Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Noël Wells (D'Vana)
Carlos Alazraqui (Scotty)
Cristina Milizia (M'Ress)
George Takei (Sulu)
Jonathan Frakes (Riker)

It sounds like an insult, but it's a compliment!

Star Trek: very Short Treks - 'Walk, Don't Run'

Behind-the-Scenes of Star Trek: very Short Treks

Go behind-the-scenes of Star Trek: very Short Treks with the creative team from Awesome Inc.

'Holiday Party' | Star Trek: very Short Treks - 102

In "Holiday Party," it’s a First Contact Day celebration and Spock is in charge of the entertainment.

Star Trek: very Short Treks - "Holiday Party" Credits:

Produced By: Awesome Inc
Created By: Casper Kelly
Executive Producers: Casper Kelly & Ashley Kohler
Supervising Producer: Brandon Betts
Producer / Director: Aaron Hawkins
Written By: Claire Friedman
Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Bruce Horak (Hemmer)
Ethan Peck (Spock)
Bonnie Gordon (Communications Officer, Engineer, Crying Ensign) 
Eric Bauza (Red Shirt, Lieutenant, Ensign) 
Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura) 
Gia Sandhu (T'Pring) 
Doug Jones (Saru)

What happens when you ask a Vulcan to run the entertainment at a party?

Star Trek: very Short Treks - 'Holiday Party'

'Holograms All the Way Down' | Star Trek: very Short Treks - 104

In "Holograms All the Way Down," it's Holodecktastic!

Star Trek: very Short Treks - "Holograms All the Way Down" Credits:

Produced By: Awesome Inc
Created By: Casper Kelly
Executive Producers: Casper Kelly & Ashley Kohler
Supervising Producer: Brandon Betts
Producer / Director: Aaron Hawkins
Written By: Aaron Waltke

Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Connor Trinneer (Trip)
Jonathan Frakes (Riker)
Armin Shimerman (Quark)
Noël Wells (D'Vana)
Angus Imrie (Zero)
George Takei (Sulu)
Doug Jones (Saru)
Bruce Horak (Hemmer)
Ethan Phillips (Neelix)
Bonnie Gordon (Computer)

Star Trek: very Short Treks - 'Holograms All the Way Down'

Official Trailer | Star Trek: very Short Treks

From the mind of Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks, Star Trek: Short Treks), Star Trek: very Short Treks celebrates the bold, the silly, and the unusual across the animated universe of Star Trek. Here's everything you need to know about Star Trek: very Short Treks!

The first Star Trek: very Short Treks will launch on Star Trek Day, September 8, exclusively on StarTrek.com and the official Star Trek YouTube channel.

'Skin A Cat' | Star Trek: very Short Treks - 101

In "Skin A Cat," a dire Klingon attack is further complicated by poor word choice.

Star Trek: very Short Treks - "Skin A Cat" Credits:

Produced By: Awesome Inc
Created By: Casper Kelly
Executive Producers: Casper Kelly, Ashley Kohler
Supervising Producer: Brandon Betts
Producer / Director: Aaron Hawkins
Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Ethan Peck (Spock)
Pete Holmes (Captain)
Cristina Milizia (Knickersonian, Dream Woman, M'Ress)
Bonnie Gordon (Computer)
Eric Bauza (Antedian, Ass Face, Screwhead)

Captain, might we suggest avoiding figures of speech...

Star Trek: very Short Treks - 'Skin A Cat'

'Worst Contact' | Star Trek: very Short Treks - 103

In "Worst Contact," First Contacts, like first dates, can be awkward.

Star Trek: very Short Treks - "Worst Contact" Credits:

Produced By: Awesome Inc
Created By: Casper Kelly
Executive Producers: Casper Kelly & Ashley Kohler
Supervising Producer: Brandon Betts
Producer / Director: Aaron Hawkins
Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Jonathan Frakes (Riker)
Dana Snyder (Bragu)
Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher) 
Sarah Sherman (Mucara)

Star Trek: very Short Treks - 'Worst Contact'

Ahead of its 50th anniversary, we're revisiting archival assets from Star Trek: The Animated Series released as part of the Roddenberry Vault's 366 Project, which celebrated Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his enduring creation.

Go behind-the-scenes of an array of TAS concept art designs depicting characters and ships, sketches, scripts, promo art, and more!

From the Vault | Star Trek: The Animated Series Concept Art, Scripts, and More

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Lt. M'Ress and Lt. Arex promotional art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Captain Kirk and Spock promotional art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Captain Kirk promotional art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Captain Kirk concept art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Spock promotional art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Spock concept art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - D.C. Fontana's correspondence to the LA Times regarding the series' tone

Star Trek: The Animated Series - "No Space to Grow and No Place to Go" (unproduced) script written by Don Sandburg

Star Trek: The Animated Series - "The Infinite Vulcan" storyboards

Star Trek: The Animated Series - character concept art from "The Lorelei Signal"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Aleek-Om concept art from "Yesteryear"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - "The Pirates of Orion" storyboards

Star Trek: The Animated Series - "The Survivor" script with notes from Gene Roddenberry

Star Trek: The Animated Series - "The Survivor" script

Star Trek: The Animated Series - disabled ship concept art from "The Survivor"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Klingon battlecruiser concept art

Star Trek: The Animated Series - robot grain ship concept art from "More Tribbles, More Trouble"

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, let's revisit some character designs, sketches, promo art, and more!

Animator and supervising director Barry Kelly details Season 4's opening episodes, how the series fits in Star Trek's legacy, and more!

WARP FIVE: Lower Decks Pays Tribute to 50 Years of Star Trek Animation, Voyager, and Bone Drinking Creatures

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

In conjunction with Star Trek: The Animated Celebration, which celebrates 50 years of Star Trek animation, fans of the franchise were treated to the return of our favorite lower deckers with the Season 4 premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks!

This season, an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn’t important enough for stuff like that. Instead, Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, and Sam Rutherford all face their greatest challenge yet — getting promoted!

Ahead of the premiere, StarTrek.com had the opportunity to chat with the series’ animator and supervising director Barry Kelly on the benefits of animated storytelling versus live-action, designing everyone’s new favorite bone drinker, being part of Star Trek’s rich animated history, and more!

When Star Trek: The Animated Series premiered 50 years ago, it afforded the franchise opportunities to explore strange new worlds and seek out new lifeforms that would have been constrained with the realities of a live-action production.

“The beauty of animation is just how flexible the medium is,” shares Kelly. “The more reduced of a medium you get- let’s say it goes from live-action film where it’s super big with its too big to fail attitude, you’ve got to be pretty safe. Then you scale down to TV where you got a longer format, and you can get a little bit riskier. Animation is in the middle of all those worlds where, because it’s hand-drawn, you can create the world you want to see, you’re at the limits of what the artists and time are capable of.”

Kelly sees this flexibility extending to publishing, adding, “You reduce it down more, then there’s comics books where you can get even crazier with the stories because it's less expensive, creative-wise. You go down to novels where it's just print on paper, and you can get even more creative because of how much less expensive the production gets. But animation, to me, has just been in that sweet spot in the middle of all those; that is a good medium that can go to any genre or go to any space we need. It can be scary, it can be funny, it can be heartfelt, it can be annoying. We can make you really annoyed with characters just to make you, in turn, love them — make them a heel to turn them into a hero.

Kelly has been part of Star Trek: Lower Decks since its first season. The series has largely been a love letter to the franchise as a whole while offering fans a look to unexplored areas of Starfleet that don’t involve flagship starships or heroic, larger-than-life bridge crews. In the fourth season’s premiere episode, “Twovix,” Lower Decks pays tribute to Star Trek: Voyager.

Speaking to his experience with Titmouse’s approach to animation, and how it incorporates the franchise’s rich history and distinct looks, Kelly reveals, “We just try to embrace the different styles and try to make them work with each other.” 

“In my head, I don't want you to look at the Cerritos or look at a live-action ship on a live-action show and think in Lower Decks, ‘Oh, it's going to look like a zany cartoon version of it.’ I want you to look at it and say, ‘Oh, that's the ship, that's the Enterprise-D. That's exactly what it looks like,’” adds Kelly, detailing the line the animators adhere to. “Even though it's an illustrated, I want you to feel like, ‘Oh, that's the ship from that live-action show.’ Likewise, if the Cerritos, let's say, ever showed up in live-action, you'd be like, ‘Oh, that's it.’ Even though it'll probably have more texture and more lens flares and more detail and more fidelity and all that stuff, it'll still look like, ‘Oh, that's the thing from the cartoon.’ That's exactly it.”

Summing up their north star, Kelly states, “I just want you to be able to see something and recognize it instantly. Even if it's a translated version of it's still an iconic version that you- It's like comic book characters. Anytime I draw one, I'm trying to make the most iconic version of it so that when you look at it, boom, you know who it is, and you don't have to question. Clarity is key. Clarity is what we're striving for in what the characters are doing, what the characters look like, who they are, what their motivation is. Clarity is always our best friend that we're trying to be better friends with, if that makes sense.”

Designing Star Trek’s Cuddliest Yet Deadliest Creature

In the fourth season’s second episode, “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee,” while Ransom, Mariner, and Gary are on an away mission at a menagerie, we’re introduced to the cute and fluffy Moopsy. Unfortunately for all present, Moopsy is freed from its cell, and especially unfortunate for our Starfleet officers, the menagerie’s curator failed to mention that everything at the menaj is incredibly dangerous. How dangerous, you ask? Well, far more dangerous than the Swamp Gobblers because Moopsy drinks your bones!

What is the animators’ approach to designing creatures and/or characters that haven’t yet existed in the franchise? Kelly explains, “To the strength of Mike [McMahan] and the writers, a lot of the descriptions are great. When you get a script or even when you’re writing a script, how much direction do you give in the action lines? They’re pretty great at staying general in a good way so that it tells us just enough that the story needs, and we can take it from there and inspire it visually.”

For Moopsy specifically, Kelly recalls, “With that one, in my head, I’m like, ‘I just want to make a Star Trek Pokémon.’ I want to make to make the cutest little… I’m a nerd. I love toys and figures so it’s almost like when you give me something like Moopsy, I want to make something that, I just want to make it look like I can eat it. I want to bite it. It’s tactile. It’s like a lot of great Pokémon designs or cute emoji designs. You want to make something that feels like you could touch it and eat it, like it’s candy or something. Moopsy is a perfect example of that.”

“Some of our robot AI characters are like that,” adds Kelly. “There's a lot of things that we can make those characters do that the live-action shows can't. That's where we really push the medium, so that we can make the design something that you couldn’t probably translate into live-action. It'd probably be really scary and really creepy, but we can make the cuter graphic iconic version of it and make it cute when we need it to be cute and make it scary when we want it to be scary.”

As a self-professed nerd, Kelly would never forget his first contact. That’s because at the tender age of five years old, it was a traumatizing experience.

Shedding light on his statement, Kelly shares, between laughs, “It’s an awful memory; it’s really hard. I'm pretty sure when I saw Wrath of Khan, I knew who Spock was. My brother was watching it, and on this same day, we had just watched Transformers: The Movie, and I watched Optimus Prime die. Then we watched Wrath of Khan after, and it was my first time seeing it. My brother had seen it. We just rented both, because it's what I wanted, and we watched it. I knew who the characters were. I remember understanding what's going on, and my first real emotional connection, heart element was Spock dying. It was one of the saddest things I'd ever seen, and it was on the back of Optimus Prime dying. I'm like, ‘How could this day get any worse? You telling me Spock dies?’”

How did he process this heart-wrenching double feature as a kid? “I didn't really have a context, but I understood the moment,” reflects Kelly. “It was one of the first times I understood that, probably what death meant to a character, and how to respond with it and how to move on — that death happens and there's 10 minutes, 12 minutes of the movie left after that. William Shatner's performance is incredible in it; Leonard Nimoy's performance is incredible it. It broke my heart, and I've watched that movie. The Motion Picture has grown in my heart as probably my favorite Star Trek movie since then, but Spock dying in Wrath of Khan is a very triggering childhood memory, because it was two heroes dying in the same day — one animated and one Star Trek.”

On Being Part of Star Trek Animation’s 50 Years Legacy

Closing out the conversation, Kelly notes, “It's an honor to be a part of the TAS legacy. I love that old cartoon. It's definitely for adults, and even though it's very rudimentary, that old cartoon, they were still able to do things the live-action shows couldn't; even though it was limited, and they held cells and stuff like that for acting, and they couldn't go too crazy. But that old show, it's a pretty awesome concept to know that they tried to make those scripts that didn't make it to the live-action world and made animated versions of them. That's awesome. I would love to continue doing that. If we can make more Star Trek shows and continue making Lower Decks, that would be a dream.”

“Seven and a movie,” pitches Kelly. “Let's keep asking for seven and a movie. Let's get the TNG sprawl. Let's get that going!”

WARP FIVE: Lower Decks Pays Tribute to Star Trek Animation, Voyager, and Bone Drinking Creatures

Aaron Harvey shares little known facts from the franchise's first animated series.

Unearthing Secrets from the Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series celebrated its golden anniversary this past summer.

To commemorate its 50 years milestone, StarTrek.com sat down with Aaron Harvey, the co-author of Star Trek: The Official Guide to The Animated Series, to share some little known facts about the making of The Animated Series, which detailed further explorations from the starship Enterprise, as well how the series kept Star Trek in the public consciousness following The Original Series' cancellation.

Harvey credits Fred Bronson, the studio publicist who would eventually write an episode for the second season, as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, for keeping Star Trek alive in the public consciousness by securing steady press.

As Harvey explains, with the release of the cartoon coming out Saturday morning, Bronson treated the series as a "regular evening nighttime show" in his press releases. "If you saw something in the newspaper, you'd read it," notes Harvey. "It might be like, 'Oh, this is a cool episode coming up,' but it's for a cartoon on Saturday mornings. That was really interesting."

With the lack of promotional items and toys on shelves, Harvey also points to fan conventions, which were starting to crop up around that time.

"Dorothy [Fontana] went around and showed the storyboards before the show aired," says Harvey. "She did that just to generate hype. It really, in the fans' minds, kept it fresh. That along with the reruns that were happening."

Reruns for both the original and animated series ran into the '70s and the '80s. Harvey calls out syndication on Nickelodeon for helping kids of the new era discover it.

It reran into the seventies through, and then later in the eighties, it was on Nickelodeon, so kids of that era discovered it.

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration recognizes not only The Animated Series but also 50 years of Star Trek animation.

Reflecting on Star Trek: The Animated Series, followed by two additional animated shows — Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy — and animated shorts — Star Trek: very Short Treks, Harvey revels, "I don't think I could have every thought about that in my wildest dreams that would happen, but the fact that so many little things from TAS have made their way into live-action, and now with the animated shows. Lower Decks is a love letter to TAS sometimes."

Harvey believes there are lots of people who have a "really fond memory" of the animated series, "I think the people who are now working on Star Trek were kids back then, and they have [The Animated Series] in the back of their minds."

"What's interesting is if [The Animated Series] was being made today, [D.C. Fontana] would be the showrunner, essentially," states Harvey. "Filmation was a very regimented company where if you wanted to talk to the art director, and you were a colorist, you would send a memo to your boss that would ask the question, and then either you get a memo back, or you'd be like, 'Oh, yes, you can have a meeting now.' The fact that people would come to Dorothy and show her stuff was a little bit beyond the normal process, but she was also very matter of fact."

"If something was drawn wrong, she would tell you," continues Harvey. "It was, 'Nope, this is not how that looks.' They had to crank these shows out pretty quickly. Sometimes, they had to reach a point where they would come in, 'Dorothy, if the show is going to make it on the air when we want it to be, you're going to have to say it's done.' It's a difficult process, of like, 'Okay, it's finished.' I just really admired her ability to do all of this."

"In a time when women were not showrunners, she was," Harvey concludes. "D.C. Fontana, some people didn't know she was Dorothy Fontana. I just have a lot of respect, and I kind of wish that I could have been there to see that happening."

D.C. Fontana's correspondence letter to the LA Times

Harvey gives us insight to Fontana's infamous correspondence letter to the Los Angeles Times.

"Before the show aired, newspapers were talking about the show," says Harvey. "All of them were, 'It's a Saturday morning show.' It's all, 'Kiddie this, kiddie that.'"

"The one thing that Dorothy always said was, 'This is not a kiddie show,' Harvey adds. "'It's Star Trek just like any normal Star Trek.' It's just a little bit shorter and in a different form. She had a very pointed letter to the L.A. Times that corrected that."

"There's a huge difference as far as how the show was put together," remarks Harvey on the evolution of the animation style then and now. "One of the reasons I also like the show is it's all hand done. Everything's drawn by hand. They pioneered a process where they took drawings and photocopied them onto cells, and then colored them in, so they could have preset actions running." 

"We always make this joke, 'Oh, you've seen that same scene over and over again.'" shares Harvey. "About 30% of each episode was just something you'd seen before, but it allowed them to move much faster."

"Between 6 weeks and 12 weeks was how long it took from beginning to end to have this thing out the door," Harvey details. "For Dorothy, that was incredibly slow because they could shoot a TV show in six or seven days, and the next month, it could be on the air. There was an adjustment to get to that. As Dorothy would be writing, you would have people doing storyboards to show what it would look like. Once the script was locked down, you'd have voiceovers starting recording, and at the same time, they would go to the make model sheets and layouts. Basically, this was showing the other artist, this is what the person looks like on this end, this is what they look like if they're turned over here. It allows the consistency between all of the drawings. Once that happened, you could move into actually starting to do animation, essentially."

"You would have somebody pencil draw the characters, and one frame at a time, one 24th of a second is one frame," he says. "I can't imagine doing that. With a computer, it already feels slow. I cannot imagine doing this by hand. They would do that, then they would photocopy it, and then it would be sent to the colorist, which was their own separate little group. They were just supposedly a really fun group." 

They would start doing the painting, and once that was all put together, they would start to take photos of them to put onto film. Each of the celluloid sheets had little notches in them that allowed you to put it onto this machine. It was always in the same spot every time. Even though they did that, you can kind of still see, every once in a while, things move around. They're not supposed to. There were also only so many layers you could use before the colors started changing. Sometimes, you'll see a missing leg or something like that. It's not always a blooper, it's just that they only had so many cells that they could use."

"If they wanted to have an animation on top of whatever was happening, sometimes they'd have to sacrifice something that maybe nobody will see this," states Harvey. "At one point, Scotty's doing something and he has no legs. He's just a floating torso. For me, that's part of the charm. It's just the idea that this wasn't just like, 'Oh, we're being caught careless.' It was, 'We have to make a decision on how we're going to do this.' That was the process. That's a very abbreviated version of that process.

Harvey recalls a conversation he had with William Simpson who played Young Spock in "Yesteryear," who shared his experience auditioning for the role.

"He was nervous," says Harvey. "He didn't quite know what was going on. He'd been in the business, but didn't know that specific studio. He got the lines, and said, 'I-Chaya,' which is not how it's actually pronounced. Dorothy reinforced that a couple of times, 'It was a much more beautiful way of saying it the way I wrote it.' Sorry, Dorothy, but everybody knows it as 'I-Chaya' now."

"This was all because William Simpson said it that way," Harvey explains. "You'd think, 'Oh well, that's no problem. Just have him record it.' When they called him up to tell him he got the gig, they told him they were just going to use the audition tape. Everything you hear in there is just him coming in, and just off the top of his head riffing. It gives it a little bit more of a realistic quality. It also made him feel very young Spock. This made everybody redo their lines to be 'I-Chaya.' I thought that was hilarious. I love those little stories."

When Harvey and his co-writer Rich Schepis were going through material for their book on The Animated Series, they noticed some of the scripts and info sheets said "Episode 23."

"There are 22 episodes of the show," says Harvey. "We were convinced for a short period of time that we had found some missing episode somewhere that wasn't shot or whatever."

"I spent a week trying to go online, and there were other ones that were pitched that were never made, but these were not those," Harvey continues. "I talked with Bob Kline, who was the original storyboard artist. It's great to have him as a resource still. I went to him, 'What is this episode?'"

"He explains, 'Oh, Bem was in Season 1, and then they moved it to Season 2, and then they just never renumbered it,'" Harvey recalls. "It goes to 13, even though there's 16. The 23rd episode didn't exist. There was just an extra empty space in one of the seasons.

He's like, "Oh, no, BEM was in season one, and then they moved it to season two, and then they just never renumbered it." It goes to 13, even though there's 16. Yeah, so it's just the 23rd episode didn't exist. It was just, there's an extra empty space in one of the seasons. Then when it actually went to film and went out into the world, it was renumbered to 22. Internally, all the paperwork has it as a 23rd episode."

Harvey reflects on the symbiotic relationship between Star Trek and its fandom, by highlighting how both I-Chaya and the Kzinti were fan art-inspired.

"One thing that was interesting for that time period compared to today is that they took fan suggestions a lot more readily than they would today," says Harvey. "Both the Kzinti and the sehlat were inspired by fan art."

"With the sehlat, they got the artist's permission," Harvey details. "They told her they wanted to use her as sort of the basis. It changed from what she had drawn. It was really interesting to find out that there was that fan interaction. It just goes to the heart of Star Trek, where fans are a big part of the show, and they literally are part of the show sometimes."

Designing New Shuttles for "The Ambergris Element"

The Animated Series introduced several multipurpose vehicles.

Highlighting how TAS' influence is still seen today, Harvey shares, "In 'The Ambergris Element,' they had an underwater shuttle. Whenever the show did something specific, they'd have a vehicle for it. They go underwater with this aqua-shuttle. Then, you flash-forward 50 years to Prodigy, and they have their own version of the aqua-shuttle. It didn't look the same, but it was called that."

"I liked the fact that there was some continuity throughout," says Harvey. "In Prodigy, they also had an Aurelian as Chakotay's first officer. It's nice to see that every new iteration of Star Trek, animated or not, seems to have a nod to TAS somewhere in there."

Harvey notes there are a lot of Star Trek firsts that many wouldn't think originated from The Animated Series.

In "The Practical Joker," we have our first holodeck episode. However, it was then referred to as the Rec Room. "It was just a room that could create environments," says Harvey. "It didn't have the ability to have people and anything that. It was also the first holodeck malfunction episode."

In "Bem," this was the first time we heard Kirk's middle name, Tiberius. Other familial things we learned from The Animated Series includes Spock's mother's last name, Amanda Grayson, and the name of McCoy's daughter, Joanna.

"[TAS] is also the first time that you see a Klingon vessel shoot from the front, it was a test weapon that they were doing," says Harvey. "I'd like to think that's what led to ones in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture actually doing that. Somebody looked back at that and like, 'Oh, that's where they shoot from.'" 

"This is not necessarily a first, but I kind of feel like it is," Harvey adds. "When you see 'The Magicks of Megas-tu,' that's essentially Q. He snaps his fingers, it flashes. He loves humanity; he puts humanity on trial in the show. It's just a condensed version of early Q. That was crazy to me."

StarTrek.com: What was your first contact with Star Trek?

Aaron Harvey: My first contact with Star Trek was through my grandfather. He worked at Lockheed, so everything in our house was aviation. We were living with them at the time, so there was pictures of Starfighters on the side of the wall, which is great because they were also in TOS. I would sit on his lap and we would watch the just-then new reruns at that point. That was a lot of fun. I would also watch The Animated Series with him on Saturday mornings.

Aaron Harvey: My favorite character has to be The Doctor. He's so great. Robert Picardo's very interested in science, and he works at the Planetary Society, so there's also the real life spillover. I like his journey that he started off as just a basic hologram, and then he became sentient, and we were talking about hologram rights at the end of the show. 

Because of my heart transplant, I always liked Dr. Pulaski, and just that she did a heart transplant for Picard. But also, I kind of enjoy the black sheep of franchise, like the TAS has never been super popular, but Pulaski was never popular either. I've always liked her.

Aaron Harvey: Overall, I really loved "Blink of an Eye." It's just where they were stuck in orbit around a planet who was out of time, and time was going by super fast on the planet. You got to see the evolution of society. They had these, just the fun run-ins. They beam The Doctor down, and they beam him right back up, but in that time period, he's lived like five years and had a wife, apparently, all these really interesting things that we never saw.

They have a point where they have little kids talking about action figures. The guy says, "When I was a kid, I had the duplicates as well." I'm like, "Is that the Mirror Universe version of Voyager or something?" They didn't know who they were, but I just love the idea that a society created Playmates action figures.

StarTrek.com: What was it about The Animated Series that spoke to you?

Aaron Harvey: I'm a person who really enjoys the black sheep of a family, or finding that thing that nobody pays attention to.

StarTrek.com: What does Star Trek mean to you?

Aaron Harvey: It means a positive future. There's so few things that you can watch in science fiction that shows things turning out okay. I just sometimes feel like it's a self-fulfilling prophecy with all of these dystopian shows. If we could just try and concentrate on the positive, and the idea that people can get along. It doesn't mean that you have to be bland, and you don't have to all be one monoculture. It's just that you accept other people's differences and celebrate them.

Jerry O'Connell hosts the fourth annual 'Star Trek Day' with a special program!

Paramount Invites Fans to a Special Global 'Star Trek Day' Celebration on September 8

Join Paramount+, the CBS Television Network, CBS Studios and fans from around the world for the annual Star Trek Day global celebration on Friday, September 8. This year’s special program is hosted byStar Trek: Lower Decks’ Jerry O’Connell on Paramount+ and features special Star Trek: Lower Decks screenings across the U.S., the UK, and Canada in anticipation of the upcoming fourth season, special airings of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on CBS and more.

Additional information on “Star Trek Day” programming and initiatives can be found at StarTrek.com/Day.

On Sept. 8, 1966, Star Trek debuted for the first time on television with “The Man Trap.” On that day, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry introduced audiences to a world that championed diversity, inclusion, acceptance and hope. Fifty-seven years later, Paramount honors this important day and the franchise’s enduring legacy by providing fans with a memorable way to enjoy and celebrate all things Star Trek.

Additional information on Paramount’s Star Trek Day global celebration and initiatives is below:

STAR TREK DAY SPECIAL PROGRAM, HOSTED BY JERRY O’CONNELL

On September 8, fans worldwide can watch the “Star Trek Day” special program, hosted by Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Commander Jack Ransom, himself, Jerry O’Connell. A salute to the franchise, the special program will include segments that look back at memorable moments over the past 57 years; commemorate 50 years of Star Trek animation; pay tribute to Star Trek: Discovery, ahead of its final season; provide an exclusive sneak-peek clip from the upcoming fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks; and commemorate many other moments that highlight Star Trek’s legacy.

WHERE TO WATCH THE STAR TREK DAY SPECIAL PROGRAM

The Star Trek Day special will be available to watch for free globally on:

YouTube (Paramount+ and Star Trek Official pages)

Facebook (@StarTrekOnPPlus and @StarTrek)

In the U.S., the special will be available to stream on:

Pluto TV (Paramount+ Picks, STAR TREK, More STAR TREK and Pluto TV Sci-Fi channels)

The special will also air on select local CBS affiliates, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Fave TV and Smithsonian.com.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS SPECIAL AIRINGS ON CBS

The CBS Television Network will broadcast the first two episodes of the hit Paramount+ original series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with back-to-back special airings, beginning at 8 pm ET/PT.

“Strange New Worlds” (Episode 101, Series Premiere) –
When one of Pike’s officers goes missing while on a secret mission for Starfleet, Pike (Anson Mount) has to come out of self-imposed exile. He must navigate how to rescue his officer, while struggling with what to do with the vision of the future he’s been given.

Teleplay by Akiva Goldsman; story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet; directed by Akiva Goldsman

“Children of the Comet” (Episode 102) –
While on a survey mission, the U.S.S. Enterprise discovers a comet is going to strike an inhabited planet. The crew tries to re-route the comet, only to find that an ancient alien relic buried on the comet’s icy surface is somehow stopping them. As the away team tries to unlock the relic’s secrets, Pike (Anson Mount) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) deal with a group of zealots who want to prevent the U.S.S. Enterprise from interfering.

Written by Henry Alonso Myers & Sarah Tarkoff; directed by Maja Vrvilo 

STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION – STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS SPECIAL SCREENINGS

The animated universe of Star Trek began 50 years ago on September 8, with Star Trek: The Animated Series. This Star Trek Day commemorates the 50th anniversary with an evening of cartoon comedy, including four specially selected episodes of the hit animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Fans can attend these exclusive, free promotional screenings and experience the brand-new season of Star Trek: Lower Decks on the big screen. The day is jam-packed with sneak peeks and surprises, free concessions, giveaways and more! This is a can’t-miss event for long-time fans of Star Trek and adult animation across the U.S., Canada and the UK.

All screenings are free to attend, and fans can register at STAR TREK ANIMATED CELEBRATION SCREENINGS on Thursday, August 24, at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET. The special Star Trek: Lower Decks fan screenings will take place in Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Vancouver, Calgary and London.

SPECIAL STAR TREK DAY MERCHANDISE AND SALE

On September 8, fans can use the code STARTREKDAY for 25% off sitewide at Shop.StarTrek.com, which includes curated Star Trek Day and Star Trek: The Animated Series collections.

Plus, read the final chapter of the tie-in comic!

Star Trek: very Short Treks Debates the Merits of Holoprograms

Star Trek: very Short Treks Debates the Merits of Holoprograms with 'Holograms All the Way Down'

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration continues with the latest installment of Star Trek: very Short Treks and the final chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER!

In the penultimate very Short Treks, "Holograms All the Way Down, it's Holodecktastic!

In order of appearance, "Holograms All the Way Down" features cast Connor Trinneer (Trip), Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Noël Wells (D'Vana), Angus Imrie (Zero), George Takei (Sulu), Doug Jones (Saru), Bruce Horak (Hemmer), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), and Bonnie Gordon (Computer).

In the final chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER, from critically-acclaimed writer and director Casper Kelly and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Jonathan Case, mad scientist Fontana forces Kirk and company to battle other beloved Federation crew members from The Next Generation all the way to Lower Decks in the brawling death match of the millennium! How can our heroes possibly survive this horrifying gladiator game when the referee has limitless godlike powers? Find out in the thrilling conclusion of this comic book celebrating the 50-year anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Mad scientist Fontana forces Kirk and company to battle other beloved Federation crew members from The Next Generation all the way to Lower Decks in the brawling death match of the millennium! How can our heroes possibly survive this horrifying gladiator game when the referee has limitless godlike powers? Find out in the thrilling conclusion of this comic book celebrating the 50-year anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier - Chapter 4

Star Trek: very Short Treks pays tribute to the series that kicked off Star Trek's animated legacy — Star Trek: The Animated Series — while incorporating all corners of the Star Trek universe in a fun and irreverent manner. Star Trek: very Short Treks comes from Casper Kelly, best known for the viral smash hit Too Many Cooks and his work on Star Trek: Short Treks and Adult Swim. Star Trek: very Short Treks is produced by Awesome Inc. Casper Kelly and Ashley Kohler serve as executive producers; Brandon Betts as supervising producer; and Aaron Hawkins as producer/director. "Holograms All the Way Down" is written by Aaron Waltke.

Plus, read the second chapter of the tie-in comic!

Star Trek: very Short Treks Invites You to a Holiday Party This Week

Last week, the Star Trek: The Animated Celebration kicked off with the first installment of Star Trek: very Short Treks and first chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER!

In the second very Short Treks, "Holiday Party, it’s a First Contact Day celebration and Spock is in charge of the entertainment.

In order of appearance, "Holiday Party" features cast Bruce Horak (Hemmer), Ethan Peck (Spock), Bonnie Gordon (Communications Officer, Engineer, Crying Ensign), Eric Bauza (Red Shirt, Lieutenant, Ensign), Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura), Gia Sandhu (T'Pring), and Doug Jones (Saru).

In the second chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER, from critically-acclaimed writer and director Casper Kelly and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Jonathan Case, mad scientist Fontana plops Kirk, Spock, and company in a strangely familiar American high school in the middle of a strangely familiar love triangle between Artie, Bessie, and Verona. The crew must now tangle with a mad scientist and teen emotions…while searching both river and dale to find a way back to their own universe!

The celebration of the 50-year anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series continues as the mad scientist Fontana plops Kirk, Spock, and company in a strangely familiar American high school in the middle of a strangely familiar love triangle between Artie, Bessie, and Verona. The crew must now tangle with a mad scientist and teen emotions…while searching both river and dale to find a way back to their own universe!

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier - Chapter 2

Star Trek: very Short Treks pays tribute to the series that kicked off Star Trek's animated legacy — Star Trek: The Animated Series — while incorporating all corners of the Star Trek universe in a fun and irreverent manner. Star Trek: very Short Treks comes from Casper Kelly, best known for the viral smash hit Too Many Cooks and his work on Star Trek: Short Treks and Adult Swim. Star Trek: very Short Treks is produced by Awesome Inc. Casper Kelly and Ashley Kohler serve as executive producers; Brandon Betts as supervising producer; and Aaron Hawkins as producer/director. "Holiday Party" is written by Claire Friedman.

Plus, read the penultimate chapter of the tie-in comic!

Star Trek: very Short Treks Welcomes A New Species to the Federation in 'Worst Contact'

Star Trek: The Animated Celebration continues with the latest installment of Star Trek: very Short Treks and the third chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER!

In the third very Short Treks, "Worst Contact, we're reminded First Contacts, like first dates, can be awkward.

In order of appearance, "Worst Contact" features cast Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Dana Snyder (Bragu), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher), and Sarah Sherman (Mucara).

In the third chapter of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS THE SCHEIMER BARRIER, from critically-acclaimed writer and director Casper Kelly and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Jonathan Case, the mad scientist Fontana collides a hapless Kirk and Spock with a rapid succession of other Star Trek crews from past, present, and future in a bit of diabolical fun! Will our heroes be able to survive?