10 False Star Trek Facts You Probably Still Believe
6. The Next Generation Was The First Spin Off Series
When the Original Series was cancelled in 1969, despite valiant effort by the fans to keep it alive, Star Trek faced an uncertain future. The convention circuit however is most directly responsible for keeping the show in peoples' minds, as their wild popularity took almost all of those initial attendees by surprise.
The Original Series continued to see interest and success through its syndicated runs. This convinced Gene Roddenberry to successfully push for a return for this crew in the form of this cartoon. Much of the original cast returned and in fact Leonard Nimoy made the inclusion of Nichelle Nichols and George Takei a condition of his return. The only voice who was left out was Walter Koenig, though he thankfully was not forgotten and was able to pen a script for the series.
Though somewhat forgotten today, as the films and subsequent series have become vastly more popular, this entry was in fact critically acclaimed and was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award. Writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold consider this series to be the fourth season of the Original Series that had never had the chance to be produced.
Elements of the show would later go on to be establish in canon. In Deep Space Nine, Kor mentions his ship from the episode The Time Trap, not to mention the Vulcan Forge appearing prominently in Enterprise's fourth season.
It may not have received the popularity of the Next Generation but the Animated Series was the first true spin off series.