Today in Star Trek history: Star Trek premiered in 1966

Title card from Star Trek’s first aired episode, “The Man Trap”

Last week in history, we remembered the end of an era. This week however, we’re celebrating the beginning of one. It’s Star Trek Day, and you know what that means: 55 years ago today, Star Trek premiered. And 48 years ago today, Star Trek premiered.

Wait, what?

It was an ordinary Thursday in September 1966 when science fiction fans sat down in front of their television sets to watch the first episode of a new television series. The episode was “The Man Trap” and, although it was actually the fifth episode filmed, it was one of three episodes that were ready for broadcast. The other two were “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “Charlie X,” but it was decided that “The Man Trap” was the best choice of the three to show off the series’ concept to a new audience.

The first thing the public saw when they tuned in was the bridge of the USS Enterprise, with Spock, Uhura and Leslie manning the stations. Then, on a planet, three people appeared, seemingly from nowhere. The next hour contained a salt-sucking, shapeshifting monster, a plant named Beauregard, some sort of hand weapon called a “phaser,” people beaming all over the place, tricorders, a black woman in a position of respect on the bridge and a pointy-eared Vulcan. It was completely unlike anything the audience had seen before and for many, it began a lifelong obsession.

Three years and several battles with the network later, Star Trek was cancelled. And in the Mirror Universe, that might have been the end of it. But it turns out that the series and its fans in this universe are not to be ignored and, 4 years after it’s cancellation, Star Trek premiered on television again. September 8, 1973 was a Saturday and that morning, children across the country sat down to watch Star Trek - in animated form.

Not just children, though. Trek fans of all ages and walks of life celebrated the new series. All the characters were there (except Chekov) and voiced by the actors who had brought them to life in the live-action series. The episode plots, although only half the length of the previous series, were just as rich and thought-provoking. If you were in most of the United States, you would have seen the episode “Beyond the Farthest Star”. However, in Los Angeles, California, George Takei was running for District Councilman and if that episode, featuring Sulu, had aired that day, all the other candidates would have demanded equal air time. Therefore, the first and second episodes were swapped in LA and “Yesteryear” was shown instead.

Star Trek Day may be scheduled for the anniversary of the first time Trek hit television screens, but it is a celebration of the franchise as a whole. Two Trek series premiered on this day, 7 years apart, but there have been 7 additional series, 13 movies and 10 Short Treks, not to mention a plethora of books, games, comics, merchandise and more of everything on the way. Its delightful characters, important messages and wonderful sense of exploration and discovery are what make it such an enduring franchise and why so many of us have been lifelong fans. Happy birthday, Star Trek. Here’s to another 55 years!