Star Trek : The Animated Series Star Trek : The Animated Series , originally and formally titled Star Trek and The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry ' s " Star Trek " , was a continuation of the voyages of the , previously featured in . Summary . On the television network NBC , 22 episodes of " The Animated Series " were aired between and . Reruns continued on NBC through . The series was produced by the experienced animation house Filmation and the episodes were scripted by professional science fiction and " Star Trek " writers , including Larry Niven , D . C . Fontana , David Gerrold and Samuel A . Peeples . Some of the stories were sequels to episodes from the original series , such as ( the follow - up to ) , ( a sequel to ) , and ( the follow - up to and ) . With the exception of Ensign Chekov , all of the regular characters from the original series continued to appear , voiced by the original actors from that series ( Chekov was absent to cut down on costs of hiring the voice actors , although Walter Koenig penned an episode of the series , ) . Dr . McCoy is a full commander , and Nurse Chapel is a full lieutenant . New characters , such as Arex and M ' Ress , were also featured . The show was the most expensive animated show on the air at the time , primarily because six " name " actors from provided the voices for their characters . Nearly all the aliens and guest characters were voiced by James Doohan , Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett , although some actors reprised their roles from the original series . Leonard Nimoy ( Spock ) is the only actor to voice his character in every episode of TAS . James Doohan , however , voiced different characters in every episode of the series , but missed only one episode as Montgomery Scott , the episode being . Among the returning guest actors ( and characters ) were Mark Lenard ( as Sarek ) , Roger C . Carmel ( as Harry Mudd ) , and Stanley Adams ( as Cyrano Jones ) . Although the characters Amanda Grayson , Robert Wesley , Kyle , Kor , Koloth and Korax returned in " The Animated Series " , their voices were provided by the aforementioned voice talents of Majel Barrett and James Doohan . The show featured a handful of new technologies like the recreation room ( later the idea was reused in TNG , where it was known as a holodeck ) and the aqua - shuttle . It also features many non - humanoid alien species ( and even some alien officers aboard the " Enterprise " ) who could not have been featured within the original series ' budget . With the release of " The Animated Series " DVD , the studio appears to have changed its stance , and is leaning towards the animated series being part of established " Star Trek " canon . Previously , " The Animated Series " was not considered part of established " Star Trek " canon by Paramount Pictures . References from the series have gradually become more accepted in other " Star Trek " series , most notably on " " and " " ( see the " questionable canon " section below for the complete list of references ) . Gene Roddenberry said that if he had known there would be more live - action " Star Trek " in the future , the animated series would have been far more logical and " canonable , " or he might not have produced the animated series at all . The series , which lasted two years , could be viewed as the completion of the " Enterprise " s five - year mission . D . C . Fontana personally views all 22 episodes as year four . StarTrek . com considers the seasons collectively to represent the fifth and final year of the mission . A of the complete series was released on for Region 1 . Episode list . Season 1 . TAS Season 1 , 16 episodes : Season 2 . TAS Season 2 , 6 episodes : Background information . Origins . Former " Original Series " writer D . C . Fontana reported in the fanzine " Star - Borne " of that , " " Paramount . . . [ is ] enormously impressed by the quantity ( and quality ) of fan mail they continue to receive . The possibility seems to be slowly developing of a Star Trek feature movie for theatrical release , aimed at becoming the new Star Trek television pilot . . . on the network front , NBC still expresses great interest in doing Star Trek in some form . Both NBC and Paramount continue to receive a great deal of mail and have had to assign secretaries for the sole job of answering it . " " NBC ' s surprising complete turnaround ( as it were they who had canceled the live - action precursor in 1969 , purportedly for poor ratings performance ) not only stemmed from the spectacular resurgence of the " Original Series " in syndication , but also from its own accounting department . Shortly before Fontana ' s report , NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one . When they ran the original " Original Series " figures through their new system they found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience , the male population between 18 and 45 , but also that the series had been one of the most successful series the network had ever aired . The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives that they had slaughtered the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs , something that every " Star Trek " fan at the time could have told them . Hurriedly approaching Roddenberry to see if the series could be revitalized , it turned out to be unfeasible , as Paramount had only a few months earlier cleared out their warehouses from the vast majority of the remaining " Star Trek " production assets , they either being scrapped , given away or simply stolen . Recreating them , calculated at US $ 750 , 000 , was deemed far too cost - prohibitive . It did however lead NBC to commission the creation of " The Animated Series " . ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , pp . 51 - 52 ) Even though they did not produce the new series themselves , Paramount Pictures , possessing all rights and title to the " Star Trek " brand , was legally the owner of the new property . The first recordings . The first recording session for the animated " Star Trek " series was in June 1973 ( on or prior to the fourth of that month ) . ( " The Star Trek Compendium " , 4th ed . , p . 143 ; ) This was with the entirety of the series ' regular cast and was the first time they had reunited since production of the original series ended in January 1969 . The recording session was held at Filmation ' s studios in Reseda , California , where the performers recorded the first three scripts for the series ( , and ) . ( ) Lou Scheimer reminisces about the cast ; " " The glorious thing was getting them all together for the first recording session [ . . . ] It was a joyous occasion . " " ( " Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of " Star Trek : The Animated Series " " , ) William Shatner recalls how he got into character ; " " [ Kirk had ] been locked away inside me for almost four years , but as soon as I opened my mouth to read his first line he was back . Slipping back into that character was like putting on a comfortable old sweatshirt ; it fit . " " ( " " , p . 171 ) On 4 June 1973 , NBC publicly announced that the initial recording session had gone ahead . ( ) Emmy win . In 1975 , the animated series of " Star Trek " won a Daytime Emmy Award in the area of " Best Children ' s Series " for the 1974 - 1975 television season . Although " Star Trek " s original series had repeatedly been nominated for Emmys , this was the first such award that the franchise actually won . ( " Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of " Star Trek : The Animated Series " " , ; " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , p . 57 , " et al . " ) This was also the only best - series Emmy ever won by " Star Trek " . It beat out " Captain Kangaroo " and " The Pink Panther " . ( " Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of " Star Trek : The Animated Series " " , ) The series essentially won the award on the basis of a certain episode . " " When Filmation submitted " Star Trek " for the Best Children ' s Series Emmy , [ ' How Sharper Than a Serpent ' s Tooth ' ] is the episode they submitted , " " explains David Wise , a co - writer of that installment . ( " How Sharper Than a Serpent ' s Tooth " audio commentary ) The episode ' s other co - writer , Russell Bates , comments , " " [ The episode ] became the only credential submitted when Filmation received an Emmy nomination for the series , and thus was instrumental in the winning of a 1975 Emmy Award . " " Bates also notes that the Emmy was not the only accolade that the episode attained . Shortly after Hal Sutherland and his family moved out of Los Angeles to Washington state , he received a call that informed him of the Emmy nomination . He remembers , " " This was exciting news and I spread the word to all of our friends and neighbors in case Filmation picked up the Emmy . " " As he learned prior to the event , it was to be presented in New York and Lou Scheimer decided to bring his own family to the festivities . The ceremony was actually on a boat in the New York harbor . Lou Scheimer ' s son , Lane , heard a practice session , below - decks , of the announcements being rehearsed . The elder Scheimer reflects , " " He said , ' Dad , don ' t worry , I just saw them down there and they said it was " Captain Kangaroo " [ . . . ] So I was sitting there , drinking wine , not worried , and [ getting ] half - plastered . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Souvenir Special " , p . 58 ) Scheimer also personally doubted that the animated " Star Trek " series was about to receive the award . He states , " " I was absolutely certain we weren ' t going to win ; there was no way that show could win because it really was not a kids ' show . " " ( ) Hal Sutherland recalls tuning into the televised coverage of the event ; " " I remember gathering the family to watch the award ceremonies with me . I hoped to make them proud of what we had accomplished in some way . Sitting in front of the TV , I watched with anxiety as the nominations for best animated series came up [ . . . ] The award envelope was opened and " Star Trek " was announced the winner for its category . " " Lou Scheimer ( who says he was " a nervous wreck " at the time ) , also recollects the announcement ; " " Cyril Richard gets up there and says , ' And the best children ' s programming for Saturday morning is " Star Trek " and Lou Shimmer [ " sic " ] . I didn ' t know what to do . You cannot tell , but I was floating . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Souvenir Special " , p . 58 ) Hal Sutherland continues , " " Lou stepped to the podium to make his acceptance speech . " " A transcript of that speech follows : Lou Scheimer recalls the shock of having to collect the award ; " " I was totally flabbergasted when we did [ win ] . I didn ' t know what to say ; I was not prepared . I was just aghast at the idea of being in front of all those people , waiting to hear me say something meaningful . " " ( ) Watching Lou Scheimer ' s acceptance speech was a very emotional experience for Hal Sutherland and he was enormously disgruntled that Scheimer thanked Norm Prescott rather than him . Although Sutherland never expressed his extreme disappointment to the award recipient , Scheimer finally apologized to Sutherland in . " " He [ . . . ] sorrowfully related to me an apology for his ' drunken ' statement at the Emmy affair regarding his confusion between Norm and I and the production credits , " " explained Sutherland . " " We ' d both carried that haunting memory all those many years , neither wanting to bring up the tender subject . We later kissed [ and made up , putting the issue behind them ] . " " Lou Scheimer criticized the winning of the award , saying that – even though it was " the only Emmy I ' ve ever gotten for a show " – it was inappropriate for the animated " Star Trek " to receive an award for a children ' s show , since the series was actually meant to be " " a show for the entire family and anybody who was really a fan of the original live - action show . " " ( " Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of " Star Trek : The Animated Series " " , ) Norm Prescott , on the other hand , considered the award to be a high point in Filmation ' s history . ( ) Both Filmation , in general , and the writers of " How Sharper Than a Serpent ' s Tooth " , were happy that the episode gained the series the award . David Wise reminisces , " " We , Russell [ Bates ] and I , considered that an achievement . Filmation was thrilled and invited us to an Emmy party and all sorts of fun things like that . " " ( " How Sharper Than a Serpent ' s Tooth " audio commentary ) Gene Roddenberry regarded the award win as " the best proof " that the animated series had been " a fairly good job . " ( " " , p . 20 ) D . C . Fontana was also " pleased " that the franchise had finally won an Emmy , later stating , " " I was thrilled to death . " " ( " Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of " Star Trek : The Animated Series " " , ) In their text commentary for series finale , Michael and Denise Okuda describe the Emmy win as the series having been " honored . " The book " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " ( p . 57 ) refers to the win as " a fitting send - off " for the series . Questionable canon . According to " Voyages of Imagination " , the " Animated Series " was officially removed from canon at Gene Roddenberry ' s request in 1988 , with the exception of some parts involving Spock ' s youth , from Fontana ' s episode . This had already been confirmed previously by reference book author Mike Okuda in the introductions of his works . ( ; ; ) Paramount Pictures has followed suit by elevating the request to policy , having officially declared the series non - canon . ( ) Despite this request , Memory Alpha recognizes " The Animated Series " as a valid resource . There are also indications from the official website that TAS was re - added to the official canon by the official franchise on the occasion of the series ' DVD release in 2006 . See also the . Writers from later " Star Trek " series have integrated various references from the series into their works . " Star Trek : Enterprise " writer / producer Manny Coto once remarked , " " They did some great stuff in the animated series and why not use some of that ? " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 37 , No . 2 , p . 37 ) and " " writing staffer Ronald D . Moore likewise commented , " " It ' s kinda cool to throw in the odd reference [ to TAS ] here and there . " " The following references were used in subsequent series : Several non - canon productions have also made reference to TAS : Production inconsistencies . One unfortunate reality of an animated television series was the occasional color discrepancy . The most notable color discrepancy was shown with several appearances of the color pink . Unknown to the rest of the production staff , director Sutherland was color - blind , so to him , pink was light gray . The following images were unintentionally featured in the color pink : Several other unintentional coloring issues also cropped up . Kirk ' s type - 1 phaser had its color scheme reversed ( black on silver / grey , instead of silver on black ) , and some shots featured characters wearing Starfleet uniform s of the wrong division or colors . As a result of the use of recycled footage , there were also many instances of randomly misplaced characters and equipment . Recurring inconsistencies in this vein include the random appearance of Lt . Kyle in several transporter room scenes , close - up shots of Scotty operating the transporter controls , the interchanged appearances with Uhura and M ' Ress at the communications station , and the appearance of characters on the bridge while simultaneously appearing in another section of the ship or on the surface of a planet . Another inconsistency that appears sometimes is Scotty shown with the rank of Captain , and Kirk with a unknown rank insignia . " The Animated Series " also made substantial changes to set locations used in the original series : One production glitch that was avoided from being televised was Uhura having white skin . " " Someone in the paint department used Nurse Chapel ' s colors on Uhura , who turned Caucasian with the flip of a brush ! " " exclaims Malcolm C . Klein , a management and marketing consultant to Filmation . " " Fortunately , that one was caught before the film reached the lab . " " ( " Starlog " , Vol . 2 , No . 6 , p . 47 )