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    September 8, 1966: The Original Star Trek Television Series Premiers on NBC

    Major DanBy Updated:78 Comments3 Mins Read

    A Brief History

    On September 8, 1966, Americans in love with science fiction were treated to the most iconic space-oriented television show of all time when Star Trek made its debut on NBC.

    Digging Deeper

    In the days before cable or satellite television, VHS or DVDs, Americans usually only had 3 television channels to choose between.  Better-equipped households might also have gotten the PBS station on ultra high frequency (UHF) television.  TV shows were a much bigger deal in those days, with each show having much less competition than now.

    Detailing the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Enterprise, the original Star Trek ran for three seasons, though it was nearly cancelled during its second season, however, public outcry kept the show around for its third and final season. The original series was followed by a short-lived animated series and 6 feature films that had mostly the same characters and actors playing them.  

    Other more recent television versions included Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise.  All in all, well over 700 episodes aired.  Another 4 feature films based on Star Trek: The Next Generation have been made, as well as 2 more films based on the original series as a “reboot.” A third “reboot” film is planned for 2016.  So far 6 television series independent of the franchise and several independent Star Trek films called “fan films” have also been made.

    The Star Trek phenomenon also spawned comic books, magazines, novels, all sorts of toys and games, logo T-shirts and sweat shirts, Halloween costumes and 2 traveling exhibits of memorabilia. The merchandising franchise is owned by CBS and is worth billions of dollars.  There was even a Star Trek-themed attraction in Las Vegas from 1998 to 2008.  Star Trek conventions bring special appearances by the old actors and are attended by thousands of fans called “Trekkies.”

    Needless to say, anything this popular also draws spoofs and skits galore, even as far away as Germany!  Please watch the above Youtube video for  an example of this. 

    History and Headlines Fact: The original series exposed American audiences to the first interracial kiss on a television show.

    The original Star Trek series has become the most persistent cult favorite television show, and the actors from that series have become icons: William Shatner (Capt. Kirk); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); DeForest Kelly (“Bones”); George Takei (Mr. Sulu); Patrick Doohan (“Scotty”); Walter Koenig (Chekov); and Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) have become as familiar to Americans as family members.

    Question for students (and subscribers): How has Star Trek touched your life?  Did you play with Star Trek toys or carry a Star Trek lunch box to school?  Did you use the “Vulcan death grip” on your little brother?  When was the last time you ordered someone to “Beam me up, Scotty!”?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    For another interesting event that happened on September 8, please see the History and Headlines article: “Infamous Pardons.”

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Block, Paula, Terry Erdmann, et al.  Star Trek: The Original Series 365.  Harry N. Abrams, 2010.

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    Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

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    <span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="4762 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=4762">78 Comments

    1. MB on

      It’s crazy that just in the 1960’s there were only 3 channels, in now a days we could over 1,000+ channels as well as all sorts of movies.Crazy how much technology has advanced.

      Reply
    3. Amber Moore on

      It’s interesting that it was so hard to keep Star Trek running as a television show, even though it was very popular. I guess at that time there was more money going into production than was coming in from viewers and so on.

      Reply
    11. Morgan on

      SyFy fan fiction has always been around and it started becoming popular with the Twilight Zone but personally I think it really took off and people knew about it once Star Trek appeared.

      Reply
    17. Michaela Ping on

      I’ve seen the new Star Trek movies and my mom has seen the old versions. We bond over how the same franchise is still going strong today!

      Reply
    19. MM on

      I never truly got into Star Trek, but I am not surprised how much money they made off this movie! This is still a classic today.

      Reply
    20. MT on

      As a huge Star Trek fan this was very interesting to learn about. I have watched everything from the original series to the newest movie and everything in between.

      Reply
    22. Diana Minich on

      I love watching Star Trek. I have watched every TV episode and all the movies. There are re-runs on TV everyday. Big fan!

      Reply
    23. Jennifer Maurer on

      I have never watched a full episode of Star Trek, nor have I seen any of the movies. It just wasn’t something I’ve ever enjoyed.

      Reply
    24. Lydia Ott on

      I have seen Star Trek on TV before but I never found it entertaining. Maybe it is something you have to start by watching the first episode to get into watching it.

      Reply
    29. Brandon Wagner on

      The most surprising thing about this article was that Star Trek is the most popular cult television and Star Wars was not.

      Reply
    32. Ben McClay on

      Overall, I have never really considered myself a star trek fan. I had a friend in high school who was a pretty big fan and would probably enjoy reading this article.

      Reply
    33. Rose Jepson on

      I always got Star Trek and Star Wars mixed up, which might be terrible to say, but I just never was too much of a fan of either of them. It’s fascinating how popular Star Trek became and how much money was earned.

      Reply
    35. Shannon Read on

      Being completely honest I have never watched Star Trek and probably never will. I do find it interesting how popular this franchise is as a whole even today.

      Reply
    36. Jingshan Jiang on

      The movie of Star Trek was too old for me. I have only watched the poster. The screenwriter was great. The movie was very famous at that time.

      Reply
    37. Shuling He on

      I never hear about Star Trek maybe I was not born in the US. But it should be so much memories for people grew up in the US.

      Reply
    38. Audrey Manahan on

      Star Trek is definitely a favorite in the U.S. I feel like almost everyone knows what Star Trek is even if they have never seen it.

      Reply
    42. Kristin Fellure on

      I did not realize that this show was so popular. I also did not know that it contained the first interracial kiss.

      Reply
    43. Keagan Frey on

      I love sci-fy and a ton of the movies and shows. I knew that Star Trek was popular but I never realized that it was as big of a show that it was.

      Reply
    44. Travis Tarnowski on

      I always watched Star Trek with my older brother. He was way more into Sci-fi, and Star Trek. But I loved it, it was really cool when I watched it. It is also a great memory.

      Reply
    46. Alexis Dykes on

      I’ve never been interested in Star Trek or Star Wars, so I guess I didn’t realize just how big of a craze it was!

      Reply
    51. Kay McCargish on

      I grew up on Star Trek! My brother and I were big fans. A quote I still use is “he’s dead Jim”, as said by Bones. “Trouble with Tribbles” was my favorite because it was such a silly storyline.

      Reply
    53. Cara Zang on

      I enjoyed these shows when I was younger! I love how we are still able to watch them on netflix and as reruns on some stations!

      Reply
    54. Christie Benton on

      At my grandmother’s we had a Star Trek projector with those little disks you put in and you could turn to see on the wall. I spent many Saturday afternoons watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.

      Reply
    59. Dan Fidoe on

      I never watched Star Trek or had any Star Trek toys. That is one major show that I never got into or any of my family ever got into. I always have thought that the show was cheesy. I did like Shatner on Rescue 911 growing up though.

      Reply
    60. Jeffrey Keenan on

      Star Trek has achieved great fame, I know several people whom are obsessed with the show/movies. Personally I have never seen a single episode of this show.

      Reply
    61. Kacey Kovac on

      I have never personally watched Star Trek, but I will say that Star Trek is considered one of the best sci-fi classics of all time!

      Reply
    62. John Milton on

      I loved watching Star Trel, however, I am more of a Star Wars fan. I did not know Star trek was the series that had the first kiss on t.v.

      Reply
    63. Jared Good on

      I never got into Star Trek but they say it was one of the best sci fi shows. My dad watched them all and has all on tapes so I heard all about it

      Reply
    64. Shaun Emerick on

      Star Trek really is an iconic TV series that has even inspired other shows such as StarGate. The fact that the series is still worth billions of dollars today, owned by CBS, and is compared to even Star Wars speaks volumes about the series.

      Reply
    66. Shannon Smith on

      I never realized that the actual shows that were played on television were not as many as today. I am not a fan of Star Trek but I could see why so many people loved it. They did not have much to choose from.

      Reply
    67. Misty Prosser on

      I have never seen Star Trek not my type of show, I know that trekkies are very dedicated to the series though.

      Reply
    68. Adrian Lewers on

      I never watched the tv shows but I really enjoyed the new movies that recently came out. My uncle used to do the Vulcan death grip to our heads…it’s just something he did and we laughed.

      Reply
    69. Megan on

      Growing up my dad always watched the t.v. shows, but I never paid attention. I have been wanting to watch the newer movie that came out.

      Reply
    70. Nakia Bridges on

      I actually never watched Star Trek was never my type of show, but I know it was and still is a popular show.

      Reply
    72. KIMBERLY KESTNER on

      I remember this being popular with my older brothers when I was growing up. I still get the characters all mixed up. I am not a huge science fiction fan.

      Reply
    73. Yang Shao on

      As I looking at this interesting article, this is similar to the star war film that made in nowadays.

      Reply
    76. NN on

      Star Trek really is an iconic TV series. The fact that the series is still worth billions of dollars today, and is compared to even Star Wars speaks volumes about the series.

      Reply
    77. HD on

      I never really realized how popular Star Trek was. I have never seen the series nor did I read the comics or have any Star Trek toys.

      Reply
    78. MC on

      I have watched Star Trek a few times with my dad before because he really enjoys it, but I never knew that it dated back so early with the original series. And it was almost cancelled! Many people would have been disappointed.

      Reply

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