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Our 8 Favorite Cats from “Star Trek” (and Beyond)

The sci-fi series has had numerous iterations -- and lots of cats in space..

Last Updated on January 29, 2024 by Catster Editorial Team

Many of my fellow members of Generation X look back on things their families enjoyed and feel a sense of regret — or at least a sense of “Ugh, I can’t believe we were into that.” It’s a common side effect of growing up in the 1970s. Not me, though. I’ve always considered myself fortunate to grow up in a family that was into the good stuff. The first song I consciously remember recognizing, for example, was Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.” And by the time I was 7 years old, my two favorite TV shows were M*A*S*H and Star Trek .

And, of course, there were cats. We were a big cat family, and we still are, hence me cat-sitting for my brother and sister-in law , or taking my own cat Perdita with me when I visit my mother .

I also still enjoy all those elements of pop culture, particularly Star Trek , partially because of all the various cats in the various Treks over the years.

Indeed, there weren’t a whole lot of cats in science fiction until Star Trek came long; there’d been more of a fascination with monkeys, in movies such as Forbidden Planet and especially Robinson Crusoe on Mars , in which “Mona, the Woolly Monkey” got third billing in the trailer .

But Star Trek brought the focus to cats, where it belonged. Here are my favorites.

• Our 8 Favorite Cats from Star Trek

1. Sylvia, Star Trek , “Catspaw”

In the original series’ 1967 Halloween episode, Capt. Kirk & Co. encounter a haunted planet with all the trimmings, including but not limited to a spooky castle occupied by shape-changing aliens. They spend most of their time looking like human wizards or witches, though the latter also occasionally changes into a black cat just because she can. (Wouldn’t you?) When it’s time for the big action climax, she turns into a really, really big black cat. And speaking of shape-shifting alien women who turn into cats ÔǪ

2. Isis, Star Trek , “Assignment: Earth”

Actually, this one is more of a shape-shifting alien cat who can occasionally turn into a woman, and then mostly does it to mess with people’s heads. (Wouldn’t your cat?)

What’s interesting is that this episode was intended to be the pilot episode for a new television series, about the adventures of Isis and her raised-by-aliens human companion Gary Seven on Earth, but it didn’t sell. More’s the pity.

• 3. Lt. M’Ress, Star Trek: The Animated Series

The animated Star Trek could do things that the not-animated Star Trek couldn’t, like have a crewmember who was a sentient, bipedal cat by the name of Lt. M’Ress. She was from the planet Cait, because ÔǪ well, of course she was, and she had a tendency to purr/ululate between sentences.

The animated series fell out of favor (and out of the Star Trek canon) in the 1980s, particularly by the time Star Trek: The Next Generation hit the airwaves, but M’Ress always been significant for me. When I was very young in the late 1970s, the live-action as well as the animated Star Trek s were in reruns, and I didn’t differentiate between them.

I mean, I grokked that one was a cartoon and one wasn’t, but to me they were both legitimate Star Trek s, and that a cat was a valuable member of the crew made perfect sense at the time. And it still does. M’ress never appeared again after the animated series, but a fellow Caitian did appear in one of the movies, if you look closely .

4. The Kzinti, Star Trek: The Animated Series , “The Slaver Weapon”

Not all felinoid races were as peaceful as the Caitians, such as this more warlike race of sentient, bipedal cats. Though they were originally introduced in Larry Niven’s non- Trek stories in the late 1960s, they’re best known outside of sci-fi book clubs from this single appearance in the animated Star Trek .

The fearsomeness of the Kzinti in that episode is somewhat undone by their pink-and-purple uniforms, a result of director Hal Sutherland’s unfortunate color blindness.

A couple of non- Star Trek cats from the fallow period between The Animated Series and The Next Generation bear mentioning.

• 5. Jake, The Cat From Outer Space

Not until Snakes on a Plane had a movie so baldly stated its thesis in its title. It’s a cat, and it’s from outer space! Produced toward the end of Disney’s decade-long rut of dire live-action films, The Cat From Outer Space was the company’s first attempt to scramble onto the suddenly lucrative space-wagon created by Star Wars , but unfortunately, it’s just another banal Disney kiddie flick. The cat in question, Jake, communicates by telepathy, which solves a lot of budgetary issues but doesn’t make for a very compelling character. M’Ress had more depth than Jake ever would.

I remember getting dragged to see this as a 5-year-old, and even though I was the film’s target audience, it left me cold. (Maybe I was just bitter because I didn’t get to see Star Wars .)

• 6. Jonesy, Alien

Unlike Jake, Jonesy is a regular, nontelepathic domestic cat, which raises an important question: Just what is a regular, nontelepathic domestic cat doing on a mining ship in space? The answers: to provide plenty of opportunities for “Boo!” scenes, and to watch impassively as the humans get killed off.

Jonesy also gets credit for being one of the rare cats to make it to the end of a horror movie, and he even makes a cameo appearance in the sequel. (Warning: The above clip is a bit violent, though Jonesy doesn’t get hurt.)

Which brings us back to Star Trek , and 

• 7 and 8. Spot, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Chester, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Spot was Lt. Cmdr. Data’s pet cat on Star Trek: The Next Generation , and much like Jonesy in Alien , Spot managed to pull of the remarkable feat of surviving — not only making it from the television series to the movie Star Trek Generations , but surviving the destruction of the Enterprise itself. By his own account, actor Brent Spiner did not like working with the cat who played Spot , but you can’t tell from Spiner’s performance.

Not getting nearly as much screen time was the cat Chester , who appeared in only one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but he’s worth mentioning because he was a rescue. It’s reassuring to know that even in the 24th century, people are still fighting the good fight.

Because Star Trek wouldn’t have happened without the U.S. space program and all the hard work that led up to it, we can’t forget the real-life cats who paved the way:

• Weightless cats, Bioastronautics Research

They’re not in outer space — they’re on a Convair C-131, and they didn’t go higher than 12,000 feet — but they’re real cats from 1947, and they’re floating in zero gravity! It was part of a cruelty-free experiment in weightlessness by the U.S. Air Force’s Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories in 1947. (Here’s the full video , of which the cats are just a minute and a half.)

With all due respect to M’Ress and the others, these cats are the real heroes.

• 1. Sylvia, Star Trek, “Catspaw”
• 2. Isis, Star Trek, “Assignment: Earth”
• 4. The Kzinti, Star Trek: The Animated Series, “The Slaver Weapon”

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The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

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A Caitian is an intelligent felinoid species first appearing in Filmation's Star Trek: The Animated Series , and represented by the character of Lieutenant M'Ress , voiced by Majel Barrett . The character has been included in numerous licensed Star Trek novels and comics over the years. Alan Dean Foster 's Star Trek Logs adaptations of the episodes often included extra scenes and backstory featuring M'Ress and her family. The Logs also suggest that Caitians share distant ancestry with the kzin .

While two live-action Caitians were glimpsed as members of the Federation Council in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , it wasn't until the 2020 launch of the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks that another Caitian, Chief Medical Officer T'Ana (voice of Gillian Vigman ), made regular appearances. The shortness of Dr. T'Ana's tail is yet to be explained. Other Caitians have been seen in this series.

An unnamed juvenile Caitian slave appeared in the first few episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy .

Canon Information

More information about Caitians can be found at Memory Alpha . For a time (1989-1991), the canonicity of the animated series was put into limbo, while Filmation was being wound down and the rights issues for all of the company's back catalogue of productions were being clarified.

Additional information about Caitians in licensed tie-in media can be found at Memory Beta . Lincoln Enterprises used to sell a short biography of M'Ress (from the 1974 mail order catalog). [1] The licensed book Worlds of the Federation (1989) suggests that Caitians call themselves "Ferasa". Decipher's licensed roleplay gaming materials referred to the Caitians as "Regulans" by request of then-Paramount/Viacom Licensing.

In the absence of consistent official information, fans have been quite imaginative when building backstories for Caitians. For example, a 1976 fan article by Theresa Holmes , in Sehlat's Roar #1, named the race "Mrraneti" [2] and used references from the piece in her "The 'Les Mesdamoiselles Federation' Affair" serial in issues of Sehlat's Roar . The author said, "In presenting these thoughts on the physical, social and cultural aspects of the Mrraneti of Cait, I hope I have succeeded in conveying some of the essence of this mysterious people. If I have, that is enough for me." [3]

Curt Danhauser has been creating and uploading his own animated episodes in the distinctive style of Filmation. Several of these feature Caitians. [4] Go to Curt Danhauser's Guide to Animated Trek: New Episodes .

There is also keen interest in the Caitian species from various Furry fan groups and Star Trek cosplayers .

Kearstin Nicholson played a live-action M'Ress (right), opposite Wayne W. Johnson as Dawson Walking Bear , in a fanfilm by Glen L. Wolfe , Walking Bear, Running Wolf - A Star Trek Fan Production (Uploaded 5 January, 2018.) Both of these characters originated in Star Trek: The Animated Series .

Example Fanworks

• "Some Thoughts on the Mrraneti of Cait" article by Theresa Holmes in Sehlat's Roar #1.
• "Alien Cultures: The Caitians" in Atavachron issue V.2 N.1.
• "Make Way for M'Ress" article by Jordan Hoffman in One Trek Mind #61 (Uploaded 1 February, 2013).
• "Images of Flame: Cave of the Kzin" by Johanna T. Cantor in R & R #23. M'Ress has unique insights into the Kzinti which are crucial to the success of a mission. [5]
• "Lt. M'Ress at the Federation Masquerade" by Mary Gress in Warped Space #5. Written in character as M'Ress, with the Caitian describing the Masquerade at the 1975 Star Trek Lives! convention .
• "... Not Quite a Love Story" by Damon Hill in Future Wings issue #2, Future Wings Flypast . A touching vignette about M'Ress and her views on human crewmates.
• "The 'Les Mesdamoiselles Federation' Affair (Part 1)" by Theresa Holmes in Sehlat's Roar #1 .
• "Star Trek: Ocelot" - stories by Tim Holtorf at Star Trek Fan Fiction blog. [6] Concerning a completely Caitian crew on a starship captained by M’iaa T’Chall.
• "The Wrath of Ricardo Montalban" by Bill Hupe & Anne Hupe in Abode of Strife #3. A Caitian (sister of M'Ress) features in a serious Star Trek / Fantasy Island / The Price of the Phoenix fusion / crossover novel that asks, "What would have happened if the Enterprise returned to the Genesis Planet to find Khan reborn as Mr Rourke, and he has the staying power to raise Spock from the dead?"
• "Hoodwinked" by Ian McLean in Beyond Antares #18/19. In the weeks after Star Trek: The Motion Picture , several old friends return and a new Andorian first officer fills in for Spock on the USS Enterprise .
• "And Other Duties As Assigned: Special Delivery" by Mijan at The Introspective Geek blog. [7] A Caitian Ambassador gives birth on the USS Enterprise .
• "The Sins of the Fathers" by Jim Price in The Clipper Trade Ship #39/40. A M'Ress love story.
• " Beyond the Barrier " by CatalenaMara (aka Kathy Resch ) in California K/S #1 and Side by Side #23. The USS Enterprise and The Heart of Taenor , a Caitian ship, are on a joint mission to the galactic rim.
• " Within the Prism " by Kathy Resch in T'hy'la #1. The USS Enterprise crew explore an archaeological dig on a Caitian colony.
• "Samurai Kitty" by Paula Smith in Obsc'zine . A satirical vignette about M'Ress in heat on the Shore Leave planet.
• " You May Deny ", a novel by Jean L. Stevenson . After the death of Stonn, botanical scientist T'Pring is assigned to a survey/scoutship with a tightly knit Caitian-Human crew.
• "For Enterprise" by Steve Wilson in Vault of Tomorrow #11. Arex and M'Ress do their bit to help Kirk steal the Enterprise. [8]
• "First Contact" by Gerald Roberts (aka Anne Elizabeth Zeek ) in Time Warp #1 and The Compleat Zeek . The story of the Federation's first encounter with the Caitians gives an insight into why James T. Kirk is the way he is. (Revised extensively and reprinted in Rising Star .)

Fanfic Archives

• Caitians - Archive of Our Own
• Caitian Stories - Wattpad
• "The Caitian's Paw" by RaceCloud - Fanfiction.net
• Shiboline M'Ress - Archive of Our Own
• "Surefoot" by Deggsy - adult-fanfiction.org
• "Freighter Tales: The Misadventures of Mzzkiti" by Paul S. Gibbs & Bill Redfern. Starting out as an illustrated "Star Trek" parody in 1998, "Haul Trek: Misadventures of M'Iskiti" featured a Caitian and an Andorian as regulars. After Gibbs' death, Redfern voluntarily deemphasised the "Star Trek" elements and morphed their main character into Lieutenant Mzzkiti to avoid being ordered to Cease & Desist by Paramount. [9]
• Kail Tescar's original TAS comics in the Filmation art style.
• M'Ress fan art - Deviantart
• M'Ress fan art - Tumblr
• Star Trek animated characters by drakefenwick - Deviantart
• T'Ana fan art - Deviantart

M'ress the Caitian at the Masquerade , from Warped Space #5, 1975.

Caitian art from "The 'Les Mesdemoiselles Federation' Affair" by Theresa Holmes, Sehlat's Roar serial, 1976. (Thanks Randy Ash )

Inside page from Fleet #15, the "all art issue". Caitian by Mark Peters , 1977.

Caitian art by Jeff Sutton , from "The Wrath of Ricardo Montalban" in Abode of Strife issue #3, from, 1984.

Caitian featured on the front cover of Atavachron newsletter, issue V.2 N.1, 1986.

M'Ress cosplayer and Astrex members interviewed in Sydney, Australia, about The Firm's song, "Star Trekkin'", 1987.

Ian McLean 's customized M'Ress the Caitian action figure meets Playmates Toys' Sulu, 1996.

M'Ress the Caitian appears in a fan-made Starship Exeter online comic, Home is Not a Place , 2004. (Thanks Kail Tescar )

• Lieutenant M'Ress Character Info page by Curt Danhauser at their Definitive Guide to ST: TAS
• Caitian - Memory Alpha
• Caitian - Memory Beta
• Caitian - Star Trek Online Wiki
• M'Ress - Star Trek Expanded Universe
• The Starfleet Handbook, Issue #11: Kzinti, Caitians, Tholians (1977)
• Toon Trek: References to Filmation's Star Trek: The Animated Series in latter day Star Trek tie-ins
• ^ "Guide to Animated Star Trek - Biography of M'Ress" (Accessed 14 November, 2021) by Curt Danhauser .
• ^ "Some Thoughts on the Mrraneti of Cait" in Sehlat's Roar #1 (Accessed 14 November, 2021).
• ^ Sehlat's Roar #1 (Uploaded in blog format, 17 April, 2007).
• ^ Curt Danhauser's Guide to Animated Trek (Accessed 15 November, 2021.)
• ^ "Cave of the Kzin" (1989) by Johanna T. Cantor on 1001 Trek Tales website (Accessed 15 November, 2021).
• ^ Star Trek Fan Fiction blog (Accessed 14 November, 2021)
• ^ The Introspective Geek blog (Accessed 14 November, 2021)
• ^ "For Enterprise: A Star Trek Short Story" by Steven Howell Wilson on Taken Liberty blog (Uploaded 3 March, 2013).
• ^ A Rogues Gallery of Andorians blog (Accessed 14 November, 2021)
• Star Trek Species

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Watch ‘Star Trek: very Short Treks’ Debut “Skin A Cat”

| September 8, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 118 comments so far

As part of their celebration of the 50th anniversary of  Star Trek: The Animated Series  CBS Studios has launched a new series of (non-canonical) animated promotional spots in the style of TAS featuring characters voiced by familiar Star Trek celebs. From the mind of Casper Kelly ( Too Many Cooks ), Star Trek: very Short Treks celebrates the bold, the silly, and the unusual across the animated universe of Star Trek.

“Skin a Cat”

As teased earlier in the week , the first v ery Short Treks cartoon has been released as part of Star Trek Day 2023. It features the voices of comedian Pete Holmes and Ethan Peck as Spock.

Release schedule

The remaining four cartoons will be released weekly on Wednesdays through Oct. 4 at 10:00 A.M., PT/1:00 P.M., ET.

Sept. 13 – “Holiday Party” Sept. 20 – “Worst Contact” Sept. 27 – “Holograms, All the Way Down” Oct. 4 – “Walk, Don’t Run”

Keep up with news for the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Apparently I am the first to comment. Hmmm. It’s cute, not laugh out loud funny but cute.

I am VERY interested in whether this is considered (wait for it) CANON!

My answer would be, Canon, but not in a universe we ever heard of with NO danger or crossing over into the mirror/prime/Kelvin universe ever.

A very happy Star Trek Day to all!

They’re not canon. I updated the article to be explicit.

Several posters asked why these shorts weren’t canon and now we see why lol. They seem to be very silly and out there where literally anything can happen like the ship getting blown up. I actually thought this is the kind of thing Lower Decks was going to be like when it was originally announced, but happy it isn’t.

And happy Star Trek day to you too Matt!

Several posters asked why these shorts weren’t canon and now we see why lol. They seem to be very silly and out there where literally anything can happen like the ship getting blown up. 

As opposed to the non-silly, non-canon LOWER DECKS, where literally anything can happen, like God being a koala bear?

*”Non-silly, but canon”

Still can’t edit articles…

We don’t know if the Koala is God though, only that he helps balance the universe on his back and can see everything. Wow, maybe he is God now that I’m thinking about it? But you know how it goes, until someone definitively say he is God, we can’t just assume that, right?

And I’m an atheist, so believing in any God, Koala or not, is all non-canon in my book. ;D

I was actually hoping LDX would be more like this. Funny. It is supposed to be a comedy….

Yeeeeesss dude, I know, you don’t think LDS is funny. But I do. ;)

No way it could be. Kirk’s hair is parted on the WRONG side…pffft…:-)

“Spock, this is silly. This can’t be CANON!”

“How dare you!”

“Sorry, Ensign C’non.”

What a load of crap to bear the name “Star Trek”. Move along home is pure Shakespeare compared to this. I love it.

Move Along Home is so much more than Shakespeare :-)

Well, ummm, that was dreadful.

Glad I wasn’t the only one to think so! Instead of celebrating Star Trek’s inclusivity, the short POKED FUN at it. It seems like a short made by someone who hates Star Trek’s progressive attitude. Yuck!

That is exactly what came to my mind.

I’m really not sure how you’re getting that. I don’t think this really had any kind of message, good or bad.

No, it poked fun at people who mistake victimization and hyper-offendedness for inclusivity.

I share those values, but really don’t see much problem with making fun of the notion of inclusivity if it’s taken to such an extreme. There’s a lot these days to weep over, which makes being able to laugh at ourselves even more important.

I was hoping for something genuinely fun or cool in the style of TAS. That was painful to watch.

Whereas I thought this short was rip-roaring belly laugh funny (especially Ensign Knickers threatening to go to HR) — something LOWER DECKS hasn’t accomplished in four years.

My thoughts exactly. This little short did something LDX has failed at. Be funny.

Yeah, I mean, I am happy to see TAS acknowledged and to see M’Ress and Arex again, but makes zero sense why species who were taught at Starfleet Academy – on EARTH – would be unfamiliar with human idioms or take offense. Also, whoever the guy voicing Kirk was, he sounded nothing like him, more like a nervous wreck. Honestly, if you want to see a good parody of TAS, the short animated show bits of Space Heroes did a much better parody of that show, including not-Kirk always undermining not-Spock and slapping not-Chekov. :D

The character isn’t meant to be Kirk. Official voice-cast lists have him simply as “Captain,” played by comedian Pete Holmes… and he’s drawn to look like Holmes.

Genuinely three and a half minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Awful stuff.

I had a good chuckle. Thank you.

I think this was horrible. SNL kinda funny, but still horrible being an official Trek release. Canon or not, it’s nothing that deserves the official brandname on it.

It was very very funny, and the pearl clutching about “official Trek releases” sailed back when the Cerritos launched.

None of these projects are truly canon, in my mind, but at least this one wasn’t a waste of 3.5 minutes.

Well, the difference is, Lower Decks is still trying hard to prove it is canon. I mean after the crossover to live action, it probably is, though of course, that was with a show that completely broke canon about the Gorn, or Nurse Chapel and Spock, already…

I thought it was perfect honestly lol hardest a Trek production has made me laugh in a good long while

Well I laughed. And it was nice to have Peck voicing Spock. But it’s obvious these things won’t be for everyone.

Probably not for everyone but some people are going to get way too uptight about it.

I laughed. Looking forward to the others.

I actually kind of liked it. It knows what it wants to be, and is not trying pretend like it’s meant to be taken seriously like some of the stuff we are seen on the other series’

I don’t know if you can even call yourself a Star Trek fan without being uptight about something. ;D

Really looking forward to both the LDS and Riker shorts! I think those will be a lot of fun assuming they are not the same one.

“What if–Marvel Studios made Star Trek?”

It’d have obnoxious Marvel humor with every sentence being a joke even in dramatic situations.

Painfully bad a one sentence joke stretched way too far

Sorry but that was bad.

I did laugh at the Knickersonian. Then the joke went on too long. Animation was delightful though.

If you’re going to take on Star Trek, keep to it. Don’t let it fall apart into a crappy contemporary stand-up routine that happens to take place on the bridge.

All of a sudden people don’t to consider the “Trek silly stuff” to be canon? Given all the other silly and questionable stuff that we must accept as canon now, I say to P+ just be consistent and call all this stuff canon.

I frankly don’t see much of a difference other than this show not trying to hide behind a façade of seriousness like some of the other stuff.

Canon fodder.

No one’s forcing ‘we’ to accept anything as canon. We get that you don’t like LD. This isn’t meant to be canon. It’s a bit of fun. Something you seem incapable of and have to remind people of on EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE this site posts.

Paramount gets to state what is can on and what is not. And yes we must accept that because they are the arbiter of it.

Case closed. And BTW I never mentioned LD – you did.

“ Given all the other silly and questionable stuff ”. Please don’t take people for idiots. It’s crystal clear you’re referencing LD.

No, I’m not referencing that specifically. I’m referencing the entire body of work of Kurtzman franchise in the last year which is now trending towards silliness — we also got space zombies and Star Wars like crap in the ridiculously over-the-top Pic season three, and the we got musicals and animation mixed with live action in Strange New Worlds.

it’s multiple shows now that have this silliness issue – i’m commenting on the overall franchise trend and I’m not singling out one series.

There is silly like Bashir and Garak being stuck in a James Bond simulation playing against copies of their friends, who want to kill them – which is still a serious exploration of what real spy work is like, and how Garak thinks Bashir taking it lightly is insulting – almost coming down to one of them dying at the end. Or Q transporting everyone to Sherwood Forest, turning Picard into Erol Flynn Robin Hood – which still was a story about Picard not daring to let his feelings for Vash compromise his image as a stern captain, but how he is ready to take extreme risks for her. And then there is nonsense like the musical episode of Strange New Worlds, most of Lower Decks, and this, where everything is just done for a joke, without any real reason.

No one is FORCED to accept anything as canon. This is a TV show, not the U.S. Supreme Court.

The fake drama from some of you is hilarious here. If P+ says it’s canon, it’s canon. To me that means everybody’s forced to accept it because only P+ get to state what cannon is.

But okay, if this hurts your feelings to here is worded so directly, then don’t let me stop you from your fake outrage, lol

Fake drama? The only fake drama is from someone saying they’re FORCED to accept something as canon. As for hurt feelings, what are you even talking about?

By definition, the arbitrator of canon, in this case Paramount, gets to dictate what canon is for their properties. You don’t have to like it, and neither do I, but yeah, we have to accept it, because the final word on what is canon or not is with the studio. We don’t get to decide what canon is. So by the definition of the term we’re forced to accept what Paramount tells us is canon. If it makes you happy I will of course state the obvious that any individual can dismiss what P says, but they can’t do anything about it… so yeah it’s pretty much forced upon us, as I said.

And BTW, there was no way you can appeal this to someone at Paramount so you’re appealing to Supreme Court for relief analogy is DOA — canon determination is a dictatorship, with P having all the power to unilaterally make any canon pronouncement they want with no one being able to overule them— there is no appeal. Thus, as I said, it’s forced upon us.

Sure we have free will to ignore it — but it’s like driving over the speed limit continuously — It feels great and you think you’re doing your own thing but it doesn’t make a difference because their speed limit ain’t changing — it’s forced upon all drivers… however, in this case you can’t go to court and get a speeding ticket reversed — your just F’d into make believe personal head canon…lol

Umm… I don’t know what I just watched…

It’s called a “turd”, William.

I hope Paramount+ has a 7 day return policy with the company who made this episode, because that really sucked.

I am a HUGE fan of all that is Trek…

That being said, I watched again and I realized WHY this seems familiar: This is what Family Guy would do.

{something happens} Stewie: “This is worse than that time I was on Enterprise.”

(Cut a way to this EXACT skit with Brian as Kirk and Stewie as Spock, SAME script.)

Yeah, I was just having with the Canon thing but this is… well, it’s a Family Guy skit.

Yeah, this was about as unfunny as Family Guy humor is. (Was always more of a Simpsons fan)

It would be funnier/more absurd on FG.

Perhaps FG of 10 years ago…. Not so much now.

I enjoyed it (it was cute), but can we talk about Ethan Peck as Spock. When he first started talking, I seriously thought they had some actual Leonard Nimoy dialog in there. Where’s this Spock on Strange New Worlds (or is that part of the character growth)? More of this Spock, please!

Side note, I’ve noticed that someone else is using the moniker of “Sisko”, and even though I’ve been using “sisko” here since 2009 or thereabouts, does this mean I need to change my ‘name’? Can we even have a “Sisko” and a “sisko” here? Does it matter? I’m fine if I have to switch to captblsisko (which my 13 year old refuses to say properly, he says “cap t-b-l sisko”, seriously kid?). Just wondering what the protocol is since I’ve never seen this in the 14+ years this website has been around.

Not sure about more than one person using exactly the same name (and spelling), but there have certainly been a Phil and another phil posting here for some time. This site doesn’t require registration to comment but that probably also means you cannot “reserve” a handle for yourself.

I was asking more out of curtesy and to make things less confusing (not that I post here often enough for the daily folks to remember me).🙂

When he first started talking, I seriously thought they had some actual Leonard Nimoy dialog in there. Where’s this Spock on Strange New Worlds 

Seriously. This reminded me of his portrayal in DISCO season 2. Someone kidnapped that Spock and replaced him with Neelix-of-the-Dopey-Grin.

That was about as not funny as if they tried to be not funny. But it does show the absurdity of catering to the easily offended.

Well, that sucked.

It would have to improve just to say that it sucked.

This is off to a good start IMO. Maybe a bit repetitive, but it definitely got a laugh out of me. Looking forward to the rest of them (especially Aaron Waltke’s, since he’s my favorite Prodigy writer).

I just want to know what was going on with that Kirk. Did they lose the rights to the original TAS artwork?

I don’t think that was supposed to be Kirk. I think that was supposed to be Capt. Pete Holmes (or some captain other than Kirk that he’s playing) since it looked kind of like Pete Holmes.

Ok, I clearly don’t know who Pete Holmes is. Thanks.

I don’t either beyond the funny Batman and X-Men parodies he’s made.

That was VERY silly. I liked it.

I am nostalgic for the days when Paramount would not allow any Star Trek material to be released that might damage the brand name…

They weren’t too strict about it. Final Frontier slipped through.

Final Frontier was King Lear compared to this…

Well, yeah. Final Frontier is a movie that actually takes itself kind of seriously and is meant to be part of the Star Trek canon. This is a 3 minute comedic sketch that is just meant to be silly and is explicitly not part of the canon. The two really aren’t comparable.

Used to be, if it was FILMED Star Trek it WAS canon. When did that rule change?

It’s way too late for that. Discovery already did a fine job of damaging the brand name.

Hence my nostalgia for the olden days

Definitely agree about Discovery. That’s been a dumpster fire for 4 seasons now. 🙄

Meh. Hopefully there is at least one that means anything or has some heart or depth to it instead of just meaningless cr#p.

The throwback animation is great and the the joke is funny even thogh it’s completely ripped off from a similar sketch on scottish TV a couple of years back. Ironically it it’s just too long to be funny. It should’ve ended after the screw and the ass. That’s the punchline. Everything after that just goes on wayyyyyyyy too long.

But the concept is kinda interesting. Would be nice if they do something with it instead of just cheap jokes

Yes. That’s about the point where I felt the joke was wearing a bit thin. But it was still quite amusing. I just would love for the LDX writers to look at that and learn something.

So now it is final. This is what Trek has become. What a piece of shxt.

Loved it! Feels very Conan. Hilarious.

I enjoyed it. I think Kirk’s description of the woman needed to either be a little shorter, or go on for an absurdly long length of time. This length was just long enough for it to be boring, but not long enough to be ridiculous like Too Many Cooks. The different offended aliens were very funny though.

So…it’s the old “everyone’s offended, men are worthless, and woman has to save the day” tropes. *sigh* I know there’s a writer’s strike going on, but come on…..

Yeah, that was kind of embarrassing to even sit through. Those tropes are so…effing…tired. And seeing an emasculated captain was so much fun.

It was lampooning “everyone’s offended.” Not a trope.

Yes it was. Honestly I don’t see nearly enough of that. But perhaps its lack of being common contributes to it continuing to be funny.

I guess the Incel crowd didn’t like it.

Who was the target audience for this?

People with a sense of humor

This wasn’t funny, though.

It was, you just don’t have a sense of humor. You probably thought that show Frasier was funny.

This is canon….Kirk is on a holodeck simulator and someone has added all these weird characters in.

Head canon finds this acceptable :)

I literally couldn’t wait until that was over. Yikes.

I have to admit, after sitting on this one for a little while, it hasn’t held up quite as well for me as when I watched it. The first time watching it, it was basically a “dumb fun” type of episode, which admittedly went on for a bit too long. That, I’d be perfectly fine with. Not my favorite Trek by any means, and I can see how it wouldn’t be for everyone, but still fairly enjoyable to me.

However, I did eventually start to see the more problematic side of the short that others have pointed out. I actually don’t think it was intentional. I believe the whole “point” of the short was just “haha, Star Trek has crazy alien designs, and if these aliens knew more about stupid human idioms,” but the fact that one could very reasonably come away with a much more problematic interpretation of the short doesn’t really sit well with me.

I am admittedly still very much looking forward to the rest of these, I just hope the other writers are more thoughtful and careful about what they wrote. (At the very least, I’m fairly confident Aaron Waltke will know what he’s doing, based on what he’s done on Prodigy.)

I thought that was pretty funny, personally. I’m not sure THIS was the way to honor an animated-Trek anniversary, but hey, so be it.

Honor a cartoon? That’s pretty funny.

Your comments are as worthless as comments get, fella.

Go honor your cartoons 🤣🤣🤣

This was hilarious. Can’t wait to see the others. Make this a full time show to replace prodigy.

I thought it started great but then went on way too long. Funny but overdone IMO. Not really for me but it’s just supposed to be silly comedic stuff so wait to see what the next ones are like.

Waiting for Lower Decks and Arron Walke s episodes for sure. Bet both of those will be great!

They actually expended resources on that. Why? That was garbage.

All that did was cement why Lower Decks works: because it isn’t this.

I don’t see the point of this. It’s not funny, it’s not a good homage to The Animated Series. It’s not a good spoof of Star Trek in general. It’s not well-voiced. So what is this supposed to even be?

The guy who wrote this also wrote IDW’s The Scheimer Barrier comic which is also an incompetent piece of non-entertainment. I can’t imagine what Paramount was thinking when they allowed either of these things to exist.

Looking at what they let Secret Hideout do allowing this to happen had to be a mistake on their part.

This was easily the best Trek of the nu era. Therefore, it had to be an accident.

I’m still surprised they didn’t ask Gazelle Automations to make these since they did those awesome TNG and Voyager animated segments

Hear, hear, though I did enjoy this for what it is.

To the “I’m a liberal but…” crowd here saying that everyone is offended by everything now and we can’t say anything anymore.

Well, that’s lazy, tired, just not true and a Fox news talking point.

Yeah, otherwise, I didn’t find this funny or clever but to each their own.

That was appalling. Who commissioned this crap?

I wonder if this satire of ‘being offended’ will be considered offensive by those being satirized? Probably most definitely! haha.

This had more laughs in it than all the Lower Decks episodes combined.

Well done. If I had one criticism it would be they took the gag a tad too far. But yes… Decent work for a change.

Am I really the only one who found this hilarious? I was laughing the whole time. And it’s honestly good commentary too – in the same way that 98% of the comments on this website are descending on this as crap (and also taking it way too seriously), that’s kinda how the internet works these days – every little thing that shouldn’t be taken seriously or literally blows up into something ridiculous. So like, in my opinion this hit the nail on the screw: it was funny, and it had social commentary, and it served its purpose of being a light little romp.

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Western Animation / Star Trek: The Animated Series

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Star Trek: The Animated Series is an Animated Adaptation and the first Spin-Off from the original series , continuing the initial five-year mission.

Given the reality that it was produced by Filmation , the animation is typically the studio's ultra-cheap style. However, they more than made up for that with the presence of all of the original cast except Walter Koenig (Chekov), and the writers as well. The result is a show that might not have had the best animation, but still boasts spectacular imagery and believably non-human aliens that the original show could never depict, while still reasonably keeping to its artistic spirit. As a result, this series is the best example of the Animated Adaptation concept in The Dark Age of Animation , and was so good that it won the franchise's first ever Emmy Award.

The Animated Series remains the shortest-lived series of the Star Trek franchise, with just 22 episodes airing over a 13-month period in 1973-74 on NBC . It was also the last Trek series to air in first-run on network television until Star Trek: Voyager debuted in 1995 on UPN . The franchise would not return to the medium of animation again until the release of Star Trek: Lower Decks in 2020.

However, the franchise creator, Gene Roddenberry , later insisted that the animated show be kept out of continuity since he never anticipated that Star Trek would later be revived in live action on such a scale as would happen, with the film series and The Next Generation . Still, many fans insisted that at least the best episode, " Yesteryear ", be counted, considering that it gives a valuable look into Spock's youth and character as well as the planet Vulcan, as told by the most authoritative voice on the matter, D.C. Fontana. Because of the information about Vulcan presented in the show, as well as the introduction of the Holodeck and Kirk's middle name, and the fact that many of the Star Trek writers and actors were involved with the production, many fans consider it a part of their personal Star Trek Canon , depicting the final two years of Enterprise's five year mission. In addition, the producers of Star Trek: Enterprise used numerous references from this series. The Star Trek Expanded Universe , already having less of a need to adhere to strict canon, even went so far as to revive the series' Sixth Ranger alien crew members, Cat Girl Lt. M'Ress and tri-symmetrical Lt. Arex .

CBS declared this series full canon around the time they released it on DVD.

The title used here and on the DVD release is a retronym , as the show originally aired as simply Star Trek . It's also known by the more ponderous title of The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek .

In 2018, IDW Publishing used this series for a Crossover with The Transformers , entitled Star Trek vs. Transformers . Read more about tropes pertaining to that particular story on that page.

To celebrate the show's 50th anniversary, a series of Short Treks produced and animated by the Lower Decks team were produced. These shorts veer towards Affectionate Parody territory as opposed to the original series, with the Enterprise crew being put into more outlandish situations.

This series provides examples of:

• AI Is A Crap Shoot : The planetary computer in " Once Upon a Planet ", as a result of the Caretaker's death in the time since the Original Series episode " Shore Leave ". It creates things like the Queen of Hearts and dangerous animals when nobody is thinking about them, and it captures Uhura.
• Alternate Universe : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has a world in which practicing magic is the norm and "The Counter-Clock Incident" has a universe in which everything works backwards, including aging.
• Ancient Astronauts : Kukulkan in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth". He visited Earth in the distant past and was the basis for the Mayan god of the same name, the Toltec god Quetzalcoatl, and the Chinese dragons.
• Animal Motifs : Lieutenant M'Ress has a cat smile constantly, due to her cat-like anatomy.
• Animated Adaptation : The best example thereof in the 1970s.
• Animation Bump : A slight example took place in the second season, firstly due to them already having a lot of stock animation from the first season that they were able to re-use, thus letting them give more time and attention to the new animation, and secondly due to first season director Hal Sutherland — whose color-blindness resulted in him often going with muted purple-pink color schemes for episode he directed — being replaced by Bill Reed, who gave the show a somewhat more vibrant visual style.
• Apocalyptic Log : "Beyond the Farthest Star". The dead ship's log entry/warning.
• The Enterprise's computer shuts off the gravity in "The Practical Joker."
• The fortress in "The Jihad" loses its gravity when the questers try to get at the MacGuffin in its center.
• "Ass" in Ambassador : The title character in "Bem". He swaps out Kirk's and Spock's communicators and phasers for counterfeits, runs off from the landing party, doesn't even bother separating himself to escape when he is first captured, and leaves Kirk and Spock in their wooden cages when he does manage to escape.
• Asteroid Thicket : In " The Pirates of Orion ", the Enterprise pursues the Orion ship into one.
• The episode "Mudd's Passion" features two gigantic rock-like creatures who attack Mudd, Chapel, Kirk, and Spock on a desert world, then begin fighting each other after Kirk uses some of Mudd's love crystals to befriend one of the behemoths. "The Ambergris Element" features a massive tentacled sea serpent creature as the top predator and main threat on the water world Argo.
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal : Lt. M'Ress, who wears a full Starfleet uniform, except for footwear. Justified because she has digitigrade paws (meaning she walks on her toes).
• Bathtub Mermaid : In "The Ambergris Element" Kirk and Spock fall victim to a sur-snake while exploring the planet Argo, and are rescued by the natives, who convert them to water-breathers to make recuperating easier. Unfortunately, while this saves their lives and restores their health, Kirk and Spock must reside in a room-sized water tank aboard the Enterprise. This doesn't sit well with Captain Kirk: Kirk : I can't command a ship from inside an aquarium.
• Being Watched : Episode "Beyond the Farthest Star". While the Enterprise landing party is on board the alien ship, Dr. McCoy says being on the ship gives him the creeps and that he feels like something's watching them. He's right: there's an intangible alien being on the ship that's trying to return to the Enterprise with the team.
• Big Dumb Object : "Beyond The Farthest Star" featured an alien podship a mile long and 300 million years old whose pods were exploded from the inside. The ship's insectoid crew left behind only a message warning of an invasive being that forced them to self-destruct rather than bringing it to their homeworld, which the mains take down fairly easily. The same ship (or a very similar one) is a level in the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary point-and-click adventure game. Instead of the invader it is occupied only by the trader called Mudd, who has legally established salvage rights. The cause of its destruction is not discovered, but there are plenty of pirates in the area.
• Big Red Button : "Beyond The Farthest Star". The auxiliary warp drive controls are activated with a red button. Kirk presses it to send the Enterprise on a desperate slingshot maneuver to escape the dead star's gravity and get rid of the alien intruder.
• Bowdlerise : By German TV station ZDF .
• Briar Patching : In " The Practical Joker ", passing through an energy field causes the Enterprise computer to play jokes on the crew. Captain Kirk pretends to be scared of the field and tricks the deranged computer into taking the ship through the field again , which reverses the effect that made the computer go bonkers.
• Sulu does the same at the end of "The Infinite Vulcan."
• Broad Strokes : The timeframe this series depicts is an accepted part of Star Trek lore, but the actual details have been rearranged since.
• Build Like an Egyptian : Kukulkan's city in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth" has the Mayan pyramids.
• Canon Discontinuity : The series was declared non-canon by Gene Roddenberry himself, with the sole exception of the episode "Yesteryear". (Until CBS later declared the whole thing canon, anyway.)

• Cat Folk : The Caitian Lieutenant M'Ress, as well as the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon". Some of the Expanded Universe material around it suggests that the Caitian relationship to the Kzinti is essentially the same as the one between the Vulcans and the Romulans, only with the ones that left (the Caitians) being the "good guys" that ended up part of the Federation and the ones that stayed (the Kzinti) as the militaristic bad guys with historic conflicts with the Federation (and possibly with some ill-advised genetic engineering on the part of the Kzinti).
• Episodes like "The Slaver Weapon," "The Infinite Vulcan," and "The Lorelei Signal" give Sulu and Uhura more to do than they usually got on the Original Series.
• Chekhov's Gun : In "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth", Dr. McCoy 's medical kit provides a hypo to calm the Capellan Power Cat.
• Children Are Cruel : In " Yesteryear ", we get our first glimpse at Spock's childhood... and it's not pretty.
• Clone Angst : In " The Infinite Vulcan ", the giant clone of Spock experiences an existential crisis when he realizes he is quite out of scale with the Enterprise and everything he is familiar with. He ultimately elects to remain on the planet.
• Comic-Book Adaptation : IDW's Star Trek vs. Transformers used the character designs from the Animated Series, to bettter blend in with the animated characters from The Transformers. It was a good choice, and the characters look surprisingly natural standing next to each other.
• As in "Journey To Babel," the Orions are again depicted as pirates in "The Pirates of Orion," though their name is pronounced "OR-ee-on" throughout the episode for some reason. Also, they're depicted as blue-skinned here rather than green. note  In "Journey to Babel," the only male Orion we meet in TOS is disguised as a blue-skinned Andorian. In "The Menagerie" and "Whom Gods Destroy" we only see female Orions. In other appearances since the original series, we see male Orions as well, and they are green.
• Contrived Coincidence : "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth". If Ensign Walking Bear hadn't been on the bridge, Kukulkan would have destroyed both the Enterprise and the entire human race.
• Creator In-Joke : Captain Robert T. April in "The Counter-Clock Incident". April was the original name for the character that eventually became Kirk.
• Crossover : One episode was a nearly 1:1 adaptation of a Known Space short story, save for Kirk and the gang as the heroes ; specifically "The Soft Weapon," called here "The Slaver Weapon." The belligerent, lynx-like Kzinti find a shape-shifting Swiss-Army Weapon that looks like a watermellon on a pistol grip, and try to use it to start a fifth man/kzin war.
• Darker and Edgier : Than most other cartoons on television at the time. The Animated Series tended to work with the same style of cerebral stories that the previous live-action series did, and references to death were not glossed over at all . In fact, "Yesteryear" deals with a child version of Spock losing his beloved pet , and the "death words" weren't glossed over or replaced with Lighter and Softer equivalents. This has helped the series gain a strong following within the Star Trek fan community, as well as with the creative staffs involved with the franchise.
• Detachable Lower Half : The title character in "Bem" has the ability to separate his body into different parts.
• Detachment Combat : The title character in "Bem" was a colony creature who could separate his head, upper torso, and lower torso (at least).
• Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu? : In "Once Upon a Planet", several characters end up roasting marshmallows with the dragon that was trying to kill them a few minutes earlier.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has James T. Kirk defeating Satan! (Or at least a being claiming to be him as part of a Secret Test of Character .) For an added bonus, they become friends at the end .
• Dolled-Up Installment : "The Slaver Weapon", from Larry Niven 's " The Soft Weapon ".
• Doomed Defeatist : Subverted with M-3-Green in "The Jihad", who despite calling their mission "mad" and saying "We're all going to die", makes to the end alive.
• Empowered Badass Normal : Kirk (and a few others) gain magical abilities in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
• In "Bem", one of these was protecting a primitive species from outside interference.
• Energy Ring Attack : One episode has a Klingon warship test out a stasis field ray against the Enterprise. When fired, concentric circles engulf the Enterprise, immobilizing it. The stasis ray is also fired at two supply drones that the Enterprise was escorting.
• Everyone Is a Super : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has beings who have the ability to practice magic.
• Expressive Ears : The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon" lay their ears back when angry..
• Expospeak Gag : Between Spock and McCoy . McCoy : Why couldn't you have just said [x]? Spock : I believe I just did.
• Extreme Close-Up : Used frequently, often with the speaking character's mouth out of frame (presumably to save on animation costs)
• Fainting : Kirk does something akin to the exhaustion- or anemia-based variety in "Albatross" when The Plague kicks in. Luckily, Spock is there to catch him. Also, in "Pirates of Orion", the first sign that something is seriously wrong with Spock happens when he collapses suddenly.

• Fish People : "The Ambergris Element" features fish-like aliens who can only breath underwater.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The inhabitants of Megas-Tu do this for their own bodies and their planet's surface for the benefit of the Enterprise crew.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum : "Life-support belts" that allow the crew to survive in vacuum without spacesuits only ever appear in this series.
• Fountain of Youth : The reverse-entropy universe in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
• Four-Fingered Hands : Spock, in a blooper in "Yesteryear".
• Freudian Trio : Just like the live-action version, we have Kirk , Spock , and McCoy .
• Friendless Background : "Yesteryear" lets us see Spock having this. His agemates torment him endlessly for being "a Terran" and Sarek, who expects his son to act like a Vulcan, is disappointed by Spock reacting to their teasing.
• Giant Flyer : "The Infinite Vulcan" and "The Eye of the Beholder" featured flying plant creatures called Swoopers.
• Girl's Night Out Episode : In "The Lorelei Signal", Uhura and Chapel have to lead an all-female rescue team due to the planet's inhabitants' ability to drain men of their Life Energy .
• God Guise : Keniclius 5 with the Phylosians in "The Infinite Vulcan", and Kukulkan by the ancient Mayans in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth".
• Haunted Technology : The Enterprise computer gains a prankster personality in "The Practical Joker".
• Healing Hands : "The Infinite Vulcan". Spock's clone revives his original with a mind meld. Because of the difference in scale (the clone is a giant), he uses just one fingertip.
• High-Tech Hexagons : "Beyond the Farthest Star". The Enterprise crew discovers a highly advanced alien ship in orbit around a dead star. The alien ship's interior structure is made up of interlocking hexagons.
• Holodeck Malfunction : "The Practical Joker" includes a proto-holodeck in the Enterprise's rec room long before TNG's . McCoy , Uhura, and Sulu are trapped in it when the Enterprise computer gains a trickster mentality.
• Hollywood Psych : "Mudd's Passion" mixes up two types of love: friendship and eros.
• Human Aliens : Although there are still a fair few, this show takes advantage of the animated format to avert the trope whenever they can and come up with more divergent alien designs.
• Humanity on Trial : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu." Humanity is put on trial by the Megans, for the crime of being xenophobic jerks. The trial is actually for "humanity and those who would aid them" in order to account for the nonhuman crew members. Humanity initially has its sentence suspended because it is concluded that they do not pose a threat to the Megans since it is nearly impossible to locate the Megan homeworld. Humanity is found not guilty after Kirk risks his life to protect a Megan who had been sentenced to a Fate Worse than Death for associating with humanity. When asked why they didn't just use the Enterprise's records to discover for themselves that humans were capable of things like a Heroic Sacrifice , the Megans reply the records could have been faked.
• Improbably High I.Q. : The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder". A six-year-old Lactran has an IQ in the thousands.
• In Space, Everyone Can See Your Face : Life-support belts take this to its logical extreme—the production team doesn't have to draw spacesuits, but can simply use its normal character models with a belt and a glowing outline.
• Indy Hat Roll : In "Once Upon a Planet", Kirk leaps through a sliding rock door in the side of a mountain just before it closes.
• Insectoid Aliens : The episode "Beyond The Farthest Star" has the Enterprise encounter an alien spacecraft orbiting a lifeless planet at the edge of the galaxy. Its organic shape resembles the chambers and tunnels of an ant colony, and its metal hull isn't rolled or cast, it's been drawn into filaments and spun like spider silk. When the landing party attains the ship's command section, they activate an Apocalyptic Log which shows the insectoid captain on a viewscreen.
• Instant A.I.: Just Add Water! : The planetary computer in "Once Upon a Planet" develops artificial intelligence on its own.
• Intelligent Gerbil : The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", and the Caitian M'Ress.
• It Belongs in a Museum : Sulu in "The Slaver Weapon". Spock sets him straight.
• Just Between You and Me : In "The Jihad", after Charr is revealed as The Mole , he reveals his plan to start a holy war between his people, the Skorr, and the rest of the galaxy.
• The Ken Burns Effect : Just as the live action series would often come back from a commercial break to have Kirk deliver his "Captain's Log" to a stock shot of the Enterprise floating above the Planet of the Week , the animated series would have Kirk deliver the log as we slowly pan across a background painting of an exotic alien landscape.
• Life Drinker : "The Lorelei Signal". The women of the planet Taurus II drain the Life Energy of men to maintain their youth, causing Rapid Aging in the men.
• Limited Animation : Filmation 's Signature Style . Lacking much range in facial expression, the onus was on the voice cast to convey the characters' emotions, which (being made up of mostly Original Series alumni) they largely succeeded.
• Losing Your Head : The title character in "Bem" has the ability to separate his body parts.
• Lost Colony : Terra Ten in "The Terratin Incident"... only it wasn't really lost—just shrunken to an extremely tiny size.
• Lotus-Eater Machine : In "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth", the animals in Kukulkan's zoo believe that they are living in their natural environment, a hallucination generated by Kukulkan's machines.
• Louis Cypher : Lucien claims to have been Satan, in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
• Love Potion : "Mudd's Passion". Mudd himself thought it was Snake Oil , and is shocked to find out it works.
• Mage Species : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" features aliens who are able to practice magic (unusual in a science fiction series).
• Meaningful Name : Bem, which means "Bug-Eyed Monster" in SF fandom.
• Mega Neko : The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", as well as Lieutenant M'Ress.
• Merlin Sickness : Inhabitants of the alternate universe in "The Counter-Clock Incident" age backwards.
• Mobile Fishbowl : "The Ambergris Element". At the end of the episode, two Aquans (aliens who can only breathe water) are shown on the bridge of the Enterprise wearing water-filled helmets on their heads.
• The Mole : Charr in "The Jihad" reveals himself as the person behind the theft of the Soul of the Skorr.
• Morph Weapon : The titular device in "The Slaver Weapon" can turn into a a telescope, a personal rocket sled, a tiny computer, and an energy-beam weapon of a power never before seen. Among other things.
• My Future Self and Me : Spock uses the Guardian of Forever to travel back in time and meet himself as a child in "Yesteryear."
• Mysterious Middle Initial : It was actually in this show that Kirk's middle name was first revealed to be Tiberius, though it wouldn't officially enter canon until the sixth film .
• Neglectful Precursors : The Slavers' stasis boxes.
• No MacGuffin, No Winner : In the end of "The Slaver Weapon", both the Starfleet personnel and the Kzinti renegades want to get the titular Lost Technology because of its awesome power: a beam that causes total conversion of matter into energy . Sulu: It would have looked nice in some museum. Spock: It never would have reached a museum, Lieutenant. There was too much power in that one setting. If not the Kzinti, the Klingons or some other species would have tried to possess it.
• Non-Malicious Monster : The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder" put the crew of the Enterprise in a massive People Zoo , but Spock quickly catches on they legitimately are so intelligent they don't realize humans are sentient beings. They let the crew go once Kirk figures out how to communicate with them.
• No One Gets Left Behind : Kirk and Spock in "The Jihad" when the Vulcan gets thrown from a vehicle into the path of a lava flow.
• Novelization : All of the animated episodes were novelized by Alan Dean Foster for a series of books published as the Star Trek Log series, 10 in total. Initially, Foster adapted three storylines per book in novella format. The last few books, however, saw the writer take some of the 25-minute teleplays and expand them considerably into full-length standalone novels.
• Now Do It Again, Backwards : How the computer is repaired in "The Practical Joker"—Kirk tricks it into taking the Enterprise back through the Negative Space Wedgie the other way, by pretending to be scared of it.
• Ocean Punk : "The Ambergris Element" took place on the water world Argo.
• Opening Narration : An animated version of the one in Star Trek: The Original Series .
• Patchwork Map : Justified in "The Eye of the Beholder". On the planet Lactra VII the Enterprise crew finds deserts right next to forests, and Mr. Spock comments on how unnatural it is. It's eventually revealed that the alien Lactrans did it to make their planet a giant zoo.
• Patchwork World : In "The Eye of the Beholder", the planet Lactra VII had a series of different environments right next to each other, such as a desert next to a forest, each with appropriate animal and plant life. The Enterprise crew eventually discovered that they were deliberately created as part of an open air zoo.
• People Zoo : The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder" capture the landing party and put them in their zoo.
• Planet Eater : "One of Our Planets Is Missing" features a space cloud that eats planets.
• Pleasure Planet : "Once Upon A Planet" featured the same planet that first appeared in the Star Trek TOS episode " Shore Leave ".
• Portal to the Past : The Guardian of Forever returns from the Original Series episode " The City on the Edge of Forever " to provide a portal to Vulcan's past in " Yesteryear ".
• Power Perversion Potential : In "The Magicks of Megas-Tu," Sulu uses the magic of Megas-Tu's plane of existence to summon a beautiful woman... who transforms into Lucien when he goes to make out with her.
• Precision F-Strike : A quite mild example from "The Magicks Of Megas-tu," when Asmodeus describes the Earth from where the Enterprise crew came as "hellish."
• Pre-emptive Declaration : In "Albatross", when a native from the planet that put McCoy on trial follows them. Kirk: Besides, he'll be sure to take advantage when he sees that we've carelessly left our shuttle bay door open. Uhura: But we didn't, sir. Kirk: Oh yes. See to that little oversight, will you, Mr. Sulu?
• Pretending to Be One's Own Relative : In the episode "Yesteryear", Spock goes back in time to his own childhood and pretends to be a cousin named Selek.
• Psychic Static : Used to defeat the Kzinti telepath in "The Slaver Weapon".
• The Quest : The hunt for the "Soul of Alar" artifact in "The Jihad".
• Rapid Aging : What the Life Energy draining by the women of Taurus II does to men in "The Lorelei Signal".
• Real Men Wear Pink : The Klingons in "The Practical Joker" and the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", courtesy of a colorblind director.
• Reality Is Out to Lunch : The planet Megas-Tu in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" is in a part of the universe where reality breaks down. One character has their arm break off of their body and drift away.
• Reality Warper : The inhabitants of the title planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" can bring anything into existence with but a thought. While they were on Earth they were considered to be witches and magicians due to their powers.
• Recycled Soundtrack : Well, duh, it's Filmation. While yes, this was also done on The Original Series , it definitely wasn't to the same extent.
• Replacement Goldfish : Carter Winston (actually a shape shifting alien).
• Ret-Gone : Spock in "Yesteryear" is temporarily Ret Gone until he creates a Stable Time Loop preventing his death as a child.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory : Only Spock and Kirk remember the original timeline in "Yesteryear".
• Rite of Passage : The Vulcan kahs-wan in "Yesteryear", an ordeal in which Vulcan children must survive in the desert for 10 days by themselves with no supplies to prove their courage and strength. For young Spock, it becomes even more when his companion sehlat, I-Chaya, who had followed him against his wishes, was mortally wounded and the attending vet could only give Spock two choices, an extended life in agony or putting him out of his misery; Spock made the mature and logical choice to put him down.
• Robo Speak : Any computer voice done by James Doohan.
• Sequel Episode : "Mudd's Passion" is a sequel to "I, Mudd", "More Tribbles, More Troubles" is a sequel to "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Yesteryear" is a sequel to "The City on the Edge of Forever", and "Once Upon a Planet" is a sequel to "Shore Leave".
• Sdrawkcab Name : The retlaw plant in "The Infinite Vulcan" (named after Walter Koenig , the episode's author), and the planet Arret in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
• "Beyond The Farthest Star". An evil Energy Being is trapped in a 300 million year old starship orbiting a black hole.
• Played with by the eponymous weapon in "The Slaver Weapon". Spock and Sulu discuss the potential for such a weapon to destabilize the entire galaxy if it were to fall in to the wrong hands; however, the weapon is self-aware to the extent that it can determine that it's not being handled by an authorized user and self-destructs when the Kzinti try to activate it .
• Secret Test : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The Megans test the Enterprise crew to verify their good intentions.
• Self-Destructing Security : "The Slaver Weapon". The title device tricks the Kzinti into using a self-destruct setting to destroy it—and them.
• Self-Guarding Phlebotinum : In the episode "The Jihad", the Soul of the Skorr is protected by a force field.
• Shock and Awe : The Capellan Power Cat in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" can generate and launch massive amounts of electricity in lightning bolts so powerful they leave visible damage on the floor and walls and would have roasted Kukulkan to cinders if Kirk hadn't tranquilized it.
• Shoot the Dog : Young Spock is forced to make this choice in "Yesteryear" when his pet sehlat, I-Chaya, takes an attack for him. The local healer tells him that he can save I-Chaya, but the creature's venom would leave him in constant pain. Spock chooses the Mercy Kill .
• Sickeningly Sweethearts : Spock behaves this way toward Nurse Chapel for a large part of "Mudd's Passion", because he's reacting to a Love Potion .
• Single-Biome Planet : A Volcano Planet in "The Jihad", an Ice Planet in "The Slaver Weapon" and a Water Planet in "The Ambergris Element".
• Harry Mudd in "Mudd's Passion", though he is unaware that the Love Potion he's peddling actually works.
• Cyrano Jones in "More Tribbles, More Troubles" tries to convince the Enterprise crew that his new breed of tribble is harmless, without the Explosive Breeder properties of the original. (Instead, they grow so large, they eventually explode into a pile of tribbles anyway).
• Space Pirates : "The Pirates of Orion", complete with a pirate spaceship
• Starfish Aliens : Edosians, Vendorians, Phylosians, Lactrans, and M/3/Green. The production team was clearly thrilled to not have to worry about budget constraints when designing the aliens, to the point that they probably went overboard with it. (Also, if the aliens naturally fly, swim, or slither, you don't have to animate them walking. )
• Steal the Surroundings : In "The Terratin Incident", an entire miniaturized city is beamed aboard the Enterprise in order quickly to save the inhabitants from impending doom.
• Stock Sound Effects : Aside from the time it once used a Godzilla roar, it also replaced the typical red alert with the one from a single episode of the show this spun-off from.
• Swiss-Army Weapon / Talking Weapon : "The Slaver Weapon" has the titular device. It can function as a communicator, a laser, an energy-absorber, a ballistic weapon, a monosword, and has a total conversion setting. It even tells the K'zinti pirates which setting is its most powerful. (Too bad this was a Batman Gambit .)
• Tie-In Novel : Alan Dean Foster wrote adaptations of the episodes, and many Trek novels reference it.
• Temporal Paradox : "Yesteryear" revolves around a Reverse Grandfather Paradox in which Spock prevents his own death as a child. He doesn't do it quite right this time around, resulting in a slightly revised timeline when he gets home. Originally, his pet had lived. This time, he arrives a moment late, and the pet dies.
• The Time Traveller's Dilemma : It's unknown what happens to Thelen the Andorian (who replaced Spock as Science Officer) after the timeline is fixed in "Yesteryear".
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill : "The Slaver Weapon", a hand weapon capable of generating a Hiroshima-like detonation complete with shockwave!
• Title: The Adaptation : As noted, however, this is only the case for the re-releases. It originally aired just as "Star Trek," with no subtitle.
• Trap Is the Only Option : Hints of this in "The Pirates of Orion". McCoy and Scotty are suspicious when the Orion captain asks Kirk to beam down to an asteroid to get the medicine he and his crew stole. Kirk agrees that it's dangerous, but he also knows that "without it, Spock doesn't have a chance."
• 20 Minutes into the Future : Thanks to a blooper involving the mustached Lt Kyle, one shot of Scotty working the transporter momentarily showed him with a mustache, five years before his live action mustache's debut in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .
• Two of Your Earth Minutes : "The Lorelei Signal". Every 27 years, a starship is lured to a planet where female aliens drain the Life Energy of the male crew members. While explaining the situation to Lieutenant Uhura: Head Female Theela: To survive we must vitalize each 27 years of your time.
• Vengeful Vending Machine : "The Practical Joker". After the Enterprise passes through a mysterious energy field, the ship's computer starts playing practical jokes on the crew. When Scotty tries to obtain a sandwich from the food synthesizer, it sprays food all over him, including a custard Pie in the Face .
• "Well Done, Son" Guy : In "Yesteryear" Spock wants to prove to his father Sarek that he is a true Vulcan by undergoing the Kahs-wan Rite of Passage .
• Where the Magic Went : The Episode " The Magicks of Megas Tu " reveals that the denizens of Megas Tu (an alternate dimension that runs on magic rather than traditional physics) visited Earth long ago, giving rise to all manner of stories about magical beings, before fleeing when the witch trials started up. In particular, the jolly Satyr-like guy named Lucien who befriends the Enterprise crew? That dude was the inspiration for Satan .
• Who Wants to Live Forever? : In "The Lorelei Signal", the women of the second planet of the Taurean system neither age nor die. However, any men on the planet die quickly. They must lure humanoid males to their planet once every 27 years and drain them of their Life Energy in order to survive. They can't escape their planet and they can't even have children.
• Winged Humanoid : The Skorr, a race of bird-people who were the focus of the episode "The Jihad".
• Wise Serpent : " How Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth " has the Enterprise encounter a starship shaped like a winged serpent. This alien ship is piloted by an actual winged serpent named Kukulkan, who visited Earth thousands of years earlier . Kukulkan guided the early Mayans out of tribalism, and into civilization and academia. He's pleased that his name and legacy are remembered, but still regards humans as childlike: inept and immature, still needing his guidance.
• Wizard Duel : Kirk takes on Asmodeus, the leader of the Megans in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" despite being hopelessly outclasssed.
• World of Chaos : The planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", and the so-called "Mad Planet" in "The Jihad".
• Wrongly Accused : In "Albatross", McCoy is falsely accused of indirectly killing people of a plague they weren't cured of.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside : This occurs in the titular area in "The Time Trap".
• You Are in Command Now : Lt. Uhura in "The Lorelei Signal", something which never happened on the live-action show.
• You Can See That, Right? : Kirk to Spock in "The Time Trap" when the Klingon battlecruiser disappears.
• You Won't Feel a Thing! : In the episode "The Pirates of Orion"... McCoy : [about to give an injection] This won't hurt a bit, Spock. Spock: An unnecessary assurance, doctor, in addition to being untrue. McCoy : That's the last time I waste my bedside manner on a Vulcan.

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STAR TREK: very SHORT TREKS comes from creative consultant Casper Kelly, best known for the viral smash hit “Too Many Cooks” and his work on STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS and Adult Swim.   The first animated spot will launch on Star Trek Day, Sept. 8, exclusively on StarTrek.com and the official Star Trek YouTube channel, with four additional animated spots rolling out weekly on Wednesdays through Oct. 4 at 10:00 A.M., PT/1:00 P.M., ET.

Along with returning  Trek actors Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Doug Jones (Saru), and Armin Shimerman (Quark), other legacy and current-day stars reprising their roles in the new shorts include Ethan Peck (Spock), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura), Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker), Bruce Horak (Hemmer), Noël Wells (D’Vana Tendi), and George Takei (Hikaru Sulu).

(The trailer above also features Neelix from  Star Trek: Voyager , but actor Ethan Phillips isn’t credited in the official press release — so it’s not known yet who will be voicing that character.)

The studio has also released a poster to accompany  The Animated Celebration , featuring not only the original TAS  Enterprise crew and series-adjacent aliens, but characters from the  Discovery animated  Short Treks ,  Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: The Next Generation ,  Star Trek: Lower Decks, and  Star Trek: Prodigy

(The  Prodigy gang are included in this artwork because while Paramount+ may have removed the show from its streaming service, CBS Studios is the producer and owner of the property, rightfully keeping it represented with the rest of the Star Trek franchise.)

In addition to the shorts, Casper Kelly will also release a new comic from longtime  Star Trek collaborator IDW Publishing called  Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents ‘The Scheimer Barrier’ —  this was previously announced in detail in July.

The first issue will be released on StarTrek.com on September 8 as well, with physical copies coming to the IDW Publishing booth at New York Comic Con in October. Subsequent issues of The Scheimer Barrier will arrive each Wednesday along side the  VERY Short Treks on StarTrek.com.

Check back to TrekCore for the latest news on  Star Trek’s animated adventures!

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Animated generations meet in the final very short trek spot, “walk, don’t run”, it’s one simulation after another in “holograms all the way down,” the new very short trek from prodigy’s aaron waltke, riker and crusher make worst contact in the latest very short trek, search news archives, new & upcoming releases, featured stories, lost-for-decades original star trek uss enterprise model returned to roddenberry family, star trek: lower decks cancelled; strange new worlds renewed for season 4, our star trek: discovery season 5 spoiler-free review.

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Exploding kittens trailer: tom ellis' god stuck in cat's body faces off against feline satan.

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30 Best TV Shows On Netflix Right Now (May 2024)

The conners season 6 ben twist sets up roseanne’s decades-long plot hole resolution, star trek: ds9 guest star was almost tng's captain picard.

• Former Lucifer star Tom Ellis plays God in a cat's body facing off against Satan.
• The animated show Exploding Kittens follows Heaven and Hell's eternal conflict.
• The show premieres in July on Netflix, with a voice cast including Sasheer Zamata and Suzy Nakamura.

The trailer for the Netflix animated show Exploding Kittens has former Lucifer star Tom Ellis playing God while stuck in a cat's body — and he's facing off against Satan. Hailing from creators Shane Kosakowski and Matthew Inman, Exploding Kittens follows the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell in a unique way, putting the charmingly devilish Ellis on an entirely new side of the battle.

Netflix has now released the Exploding Kittens trailer, previewing the animated comedy that premieres in July. Check it out below:

The footage touches on God's story as he gets turned into a cat. While initially believing that his good deeds will get him back to his original form, he eventually starts to care for humans as Beelzebub — also in a cat's body — enters the picture. The trailer ends with God determined to stop the devil.

Exploding Kittens Explained (In Detail)

It's also a mobile game..

Given that Earth is in bad shape, God is sent back down to reconnect with humans except he'll be doing it as a chubby house cat.

According to summaries of the animated series, God is getting a failing performance review in Exploding Kittens . Given that Earth is in bad shape, God is sent back down to reconnect with humans, except he'll be doing it as a chubby house cat. During God's time on Earth, he moves in with a dysfunctional family and tries to help them solve their problems. But, in practice, he spends more time battling the cat next door. That cat turns out to be none other than the Antichrist. The battle between good and evil is waged, between Godcat (Ellis) and Devilcat ( Saturday Night Live and Home Economics star Sasheer Zamata).

With a cast that also includes Suzy Nakamura, Mark Proksch, Ally Maki, and Kenny Yates, Netflix's adult animated show has the distinction of being the first time that Netflix developed a TV show and a mobile video game simultaneously. The game launched earlier this year, though the source material goes back to a card game created by Elan Lee and Matthew Inman.

From classics like Gilmore Girls and Seinfeld to twisty sci-fi like Stranger Things, the best shows on Netflix have something for everyone.

The duo will also executive produce Exploding Kittens , which hails from Bandera Entertainment, which was founded by King of the Hill co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels. Given the pedigree involved and the vocal talent, this unique adaptation will be one to watch for when it debuts in just a few months.

Source: Netflix

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Published Sep 8, 2023

Top 10 Animated Star Trek Episodes

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Beginning in 1973, Star Trek began its foray into the world of animation. Now, exactly 50 years later today, the continuing adventures of Starfleet have firmly affixed themselves within this beloved medium, bringing exciting stories to the fore and introducing an entirely new generation of fans to the wonders of the final frontier. Granted, Star Trek is a world many feel shines best in live-action.

Does this then mean that the animated offerings of the starship Enterprise and its contemporaries are somehow inferior? Not by a long shot! In celebration of Star Trek: The Animated Celebration , what follows now is a look at 10 of the best animated Star Trek episodes to date. While they may be slightly smaller in scope then their live-action counterparts, each has been carefully chosen for its ability to both embrace the confines of animation, while still holding true to the ideals that have defined the Star Trek franchise for the last 57 years.

Did your favorite make the list? Let’s take a look and find out...

10. The Pirates Of Orion

"The Pirates of Orion"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Season 2, Episode 1 Originally airing on September 7th, 1974, this Season 2 premiere of Star Trek: The Animated Series sees Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise battling Orion pirates who’ve attacked a Federation vessel carrying medicine needed to cure a fatally ill Spock. With some robust writing courtesy of a young Howard Weinstein, the story does a nice job of keeping viewers on their toes as the malicious marauders look for a way to outsmart our heroes without jeopardizing the status of their home planet. Add to this a healthy dose of McCoy/Spock banter, alongside some strong design choices for the primary antagonists, and you’ve got an episode that’s a near perfect blend of Star Trek and early 70’s animation. It’s not particularly deep or profound, but it holds well to the values of its live-action predecessor and is a really fun way to spend 24 minutes.

9. The Slaver Weapon

"The Slaver Weapon"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Season 1, Episode 14 Hitting the airwaves on December 13, 1973, this episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series hails from science fiction icon Larry Niven and focuses on a group of Kzinti attempting to unlock the secrets of an ancient Slaver weapon. Exploring themes of race superiority, societal roles, and the dangers associated with digging up the past, this episode remains unique in that it actually serves as animated adaption of Niven’s 1967 short story, “The Soft Weapon”. Thus, both the Slavers and cat-like Kzinti are concepts explored within the author’s past body of work.

In addition to thrusting a spotlight on Spock’s leadership capabilities, the episode also marks the only official appearance of the Kzinti in Star Trek canon to date – although, they were mentioned by Riker in the Star Trek: Picard episode “Nepenthe," making them an official part of franchise lore some five decades later.

8. The Stars At Night

"The Stars at Night"

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 3, Episode 10 Gracing television screens on October 27, 2022, this Season 3 episode of Star Trek: Lower Deck s sees the crew of the Cerritos attempting to prove their worth in a mission race against a new class of drone. Tackling themes of corruption and greed, this episode uniquely admits not everyone in Starfleet is squeaky clean, while also lifting a curtain on the downfalls of artificial intelligence.

In addition, we also get some Indiana Jones-style shenanigans, upsetting revelations about Rutherford’s past, Shaxs living out his ultimate fantasy, and a surprise arrival by the cavalry! New is not always better and this episode proves it in a way that only Lower Decks could!

7. Kobayashi

"Kobayashi"

Star Trek: Prodigy - Season 1, Episode 5 While I’ll be the first to admit Star Trek: Prodigy didn’t initially strike the same sort of chord with me as other shows on this list, it was this episode in particular that made me sit up and take notice of just how special the series really was! Released on January 26, 2022, “Kobayashi” is written by Aaron Waltke and features a two-fold story that focuses on both Dal and Gwyn respectively.

Brimming with beautiful animation, humor and strong voice work, this episode fills out some much needed backstory regarding Gwyn’s past, while also taking a rather amusing route that sees Dal attempting (repeatedly!) to beat Starfleet’s famed no-win scenario. It’s a really fun episode overall, one that ticks all the boxes and features a number of surprise cameo appearances and Easter eggs that longtime fans of the franchise are sure to appreciate.

6. No Small Parts

"No Small Parts"

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 1, Episode 10 Written by Mike McMahan and airing on October 8, 2020, this episode of Lower Decks crams some great stuff into its 24 minute runtime. Badgey returns and Peanut Hamper makes her debut. There are nods to everything from Star Trek: The Animated Series to Remco’s much-maligned Spock helmet. Rutherford plays hero, Mariner can’t escape the shadow cast by her family name, and Shaxs makes the ultimate sacrifice. Oh, and it’s all topped off by a surprise rescue from Captain Riker and the crew of the Titan ! There are Pakleds, fisticuffs a plenty, and even Landru makes an appearance.

Look, full disclosure here, I love Lower Decks – and this episode is not only one of the best from the series overall, but essential viewing for those looking to delve into the very best that the animated side of the final frontier has to offer!

5. Supernova, Part 1

"Supernova, Part 1"

Star Trek: Prodigy - Season 1, Episode 19 An episode that proves just how badly we need a second season of the show, this first chapter of a two-part finale aired on December 22, 2022 and sees the crew of the Protostar facing off against a fleet of Federation ships that will soon find themselves in the cross-hairs of the Living Construct.

Told against the backdrop of a seemingly dire situation, and featuring some of the best ship combat scenes in recent years, it’s a wonderful start to a worthy finale that allows each of the characters to shine while also reminding viewers that friends can accomplish amazing things when they work together. Gwyn’s leadership capabilities remain an episode highlight, while the final exchange with her father is plenty emotional and certain to bring a tear to the eye. Throw in a dash of childlike excitement courtesy of Jankom Pog coupled with an ending that leaves you wanting more and you’ve got one of the strongest Star Trek stories to grace the world of animation to date!

4. Supernova, Part 2

"Supernova, Part 2"

Star Trek: Prodigy - Season 1, Episode 20 Let me begin by saying that if, for some reason, we don’t end up getting a second season of Star Trek: Prodigy , this final episode of its inaugural outing, which originally aired on December 29, 2022, is exactly how you’d want things to end. More than just a group of outsiders, it’s clear to see just how much these characters have grown over the span of 20 episodes and everyone ends up in a good place come the end – although, perhaps not where you’d necessarily expect.

Kevin and Dan Hageman craft a truly satisfying “end” that comes to fans wrapped up in a nice, big bow – complete with a length of ribbon representing some of the plot threads that could still be picked up if the powers that be decide to move forward with a second season. Janeway’s final monologue is top-tier and I have to take my hat off to the fact that this is yet another piece of Star Trek media that succeeded in making us care about an artificial life form in a way I never thought possible. Bottom line, this is a great “conclusion” to a great show.

"wej Duj"

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 2, Episode 9 Ever wonder how other species in the galaxy spend their downtime? Then you’ll need to check out this fun episode of Lower Decks which originally aired back on October 7, 2021. While the majority of this episode focuses on Boimler attempting to find himself a Bridge buddy, it also features an expertly crafted three-pronged narrative that not only introduces some classic aliens into the mix, but seamlessly advances the overall plot of Season 2 toward its end. Witnessing the parallels between three different species is amusing to say the least, and it all ends up spearheading toward one of the finest season finales to date! The pacing is perfect, the writing strong. Plus, the scene that rolls during the end credits serves as a rather ingenious reminder as to why we need a show like Lower Decks now more than ever!

2. First First Contact

"First First Contact"

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 2, Episode 10 Proving that Starfleet never backs down from a challenge, this Season 2 finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks is a big one that sees the Cerritos attempting to save a fellow ship caught in a gravity well. Featuring perfect pacing coupled with moments of tension and genuine emotion, the episode is almost cinematic in scope and demonstrates that even the fleet's goofiest chapter, which aired this episode back on October 14, 2021, is capable of tackling a dramatic plot that holds true to Gene Roddenberry's original vision. Rich with themes of friendship, family, and a major twist ending certain to have you crying out for more, it's not only a gold standard in Star Trek animation, but the living embodiment of Cerritos Strong!

1. Yesteryear

"Yesteryear"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - Season 1, Episode 2 While it may not feature the humor of Lower Decks or the beautiful animation of Prodigy , this classic episode from September 1973 will always remain my top choice for the best animated Star Trek episode of all time. Written by the legendary D.C. Fontana, “Yesteryear” is not only an essential piece of Star Trek animation, but one that would go on to influence the future of franchise canon for 50 years!

An emotionally charged time-travel tale that looks back upon Spock’s childhood, it deals with themes of growing up and loss in a way guaranteed to pull at the heartstrings while once again reminding us that our favorite Vulcan is perhaps far more human than we know. Seriously, if you only watch one animated episode of Star Trek , make it “Yesteryear.” It’s not only a masterpiece in its own right, but an important part of franchise history that proves powerful storytelling is not limited to a single medium.

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John DeQuadros (he/him) is a professional toy photographer and freelance writer based out of Ontario, Canada. In addition to StarTrek.com, he contributes to a range of pop culture outlets including Toy Tales Canada, 8-Bit Pickle, Kaiju Ramen, Retro Format & Toy Collectr Magazine. Find John across numerous social media platforms at @RipRocketPix.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix outside of markets including Canada where it is available on CTV.ca and the CTV App, France on France Televisions channels and Okoo, in Iceland on Sjonvarp Simans Premium, as well as on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Prodigy is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (episode)

• View history
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Title, story, and script
• 4.2 Cast and audio
• 4.3 Production
• 4.4 Continuity
• 4.5 Reception
• 4.6 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring the voices of
• 5.2 Also starring the voices of
• 5.3 Background character
• 5.4 References
• 5.5 External links

Summary [ ]

Soon, the Enterprise encounters an alien vessel that is approaching on the same course as the probe. It is twice the size of the Enterprise , surrounded by an immense energy field and composed of crystalline ceramic . A globular force field encompasses the Federation vessel. The alien ship probes the Enterprise , then the surrounding energy pattern shifts and transforms itself into the shape of a large feathered serpent, which Ensign Walking Bear , an Enterprise helmsman , recognizes as Kukulkan .

Upset over being forgotten by Earthlings, Kukulkan gives the crew one chance to redeem themselves because one crewman did not forget him. Kukulkan states that if they fail him again, all of their kind shall perish. When asked, Walking Bear tells Captain Kirk that he is a Comanche and has studied his background. The ship bears a strong resemblance to a god of ancient Mayan and Aztec legends. The Mayans had a legend of a winged serpent god who came from the skies. They could conceivably be dealing with a space traveler who visited Earth in early times and was the basis for such legends. As Kirk ponders why Kukulkan would want to destroy them, McCoy disappears from sickbay and Scott vanishes from engineering . On the bridge, as Kirk asks Walking Bear more about the ancient legends of Kukulkan, the helmsman too disappears. After that, Kirk vanishes as well, leaving Spock in command of the Enterprise .

Inside the other ship, Kirk asks Walking Bear if legend says what happened to Kukulkan. The ensign tells him no, only that he left and promised to return one day. Kirk surmises that the space probe was his. Kukulkan says, " Now I have shown you the seeds I have sown before. Learn from them. Find their purpose if you can. Only then will I appear before you. " If they fail, the crew of the Enterprise will all perish.

The four crew members are transported to an Earth-like city filled with many cultures that appears to be one gigantic riddle, as Kirk points out. Walking Bear tells Kirk that Kukulkan gave the Mayans a remarkably accurate calendar and instructed them to build a city according to its cycles. When the city was finished, Kukulkan was supposed to return. The Mayans built their city and waited. Kukulkan never appeared. Kirk reasons that he must have visited several ancient people on Earth but each one only used part of his knowledge to build their cultures. If no one built this city exactly right, that is why Kukulkan never came back. The city is the key. It must contain some sort of signaling device.

Kirk decides that it must be the pyramid in the center of the city that may be the key to figuring out the riddle. He climbs it and gets McCoy, Scott, and Walking Bear to turn the heads of the serpent statues to all strike a certain space on the pyramid. When they accomplish the task, Kukulkan appears as the winged serpent, alleging to be their master. He claims they strayed from the path he set. Kirk claims he doesn't know him so Kukulkan will teach him. Transported to an ominous "life-room," the crew members notice a variety of creatures from around the galaxy, all in small cages. There is even a ferocious, but now peaceful, Capellan power-cat .

Kukulkan says they are contented. Each creature's mind thinks that it is on its own world, created by Kukulkan's machinery . They are his only companions, his children to be shown how to live. Kirk says, " If children are made totally dependent on their teachers, they will never be anything but children. " Kukulkan has had enough. Despite what he has shown them, they still cling to their disobedient ways. Kirk explains that they cannot accept Kukulkan as their master, despite his contributions to mankind.

On the Enterprise , Spock discovers a way to break the energy field surrounding the ship, distracting Kukulkan from the other crewmen. Kirk and McCoy remove a large tube connected to the Capellan power-cat's cage which keeps its mind at rest. The cat awakens and this causes it to break out of its cage with its naturally produced electricity . The power-cat barges around the room and causes the other animals to be released from their cages, thereby creating a chaos which Kukulkan is unable to control. The power-cat traps Kukulkan, which forces him to reveal himself as a mortal. Kirk saves Kukulkan and thus teaches him a valuable lesson about Human survival. Kukulkan leaves as an old, broken mortal, and Kirk decides that the price of infinite knowledge is too high to pay. McCoy reminds them of a line from Shakespeare 's King Lear , " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. "

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2270

Memorable quotes [ ]

" You will be given one chance to succeed where your ancestors failed. Fail me again and all of your kind shall perish! "

" You don't deserve it yeoman, but you're getting a few days bed rest. "

" This city is one gigantic riddle. "

" Intelligent life is too precious a thing to be led by the nose. "

" Vulcan was visited by alien beings. They left much wiser. "

" Just once, I wish he'd let us use the stairs. "

Background information [ ]

Title, story, and script [ ].

• Although co-writer Russell Bates had pitched several never-produced plots to Star Trek: The Animated Series regarding parasites and had also written such a script (entitled " The Patient Parasites "), Dorothy "D.C." Fontana – the series' associate producer and story editor – much preferred the idea of receiving from him a story based on the fact that he is a Kiowa Native American. ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) Bates remembered, " She had always wanted to see [...] a story about 'the little men from the stars' that Native Americans note in their legends. " [1]
• It was hoped that the addition of co-writer David Wise to the script-writing process – he having been an animator in his pre-teen years – might help Russell Bates by adding a useful perspective to his next teleplay attempt. Bates offered, " I felt that if we combined what he knew of animation and what I knew of TV writing, we might just find the story Dorothy wanted. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• David Wise learned of Dorothy Fontana's requirements for the story. He reflected, " We went in to meet with Dorothy, and she made it very clear that she was interested in the fact that Russell was a full-blood Kiowa Indian and that that should somehow play into the story, that Russell should, in essence, write from his background. " Although Bates was adamant that they continue writing narratives that featured parasites, Wise urged him to instead focus the plot on the particular element that Fontana wanted in the story. Wise recalled, " I said, 'Russell, it's obvious we've gotta do an American-Indian theme story here. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• The character of Walking Bear was reused in this episode, having originally appeared in "The Patient Parasites". This episode features him more prominently than that script did and also gives him a unique personality. " He was lifted out [of 'The Patient Parasites'] and later became pivotal to 'Serpent's Tooth', " noted Russell Bates. ( The New Voyages 2 )
• This episode was influenced by the death of Gene L. Coon , with whom Russell Bates had had a close professional friendship. " I made up my mind then that my next try at The Animated Star Trek would be an honor and a tribute to Gene Coon's memory, " Bates recollected. He deliberately modeled this episode on TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ", not only as an intentional homage to Coon – since that installment was both produced and written by him – but also because it was one of Bates' favorites from the installments that Coon wrote. [2]
• As this episode's development progressed, the writers selected a working title for it. " The original title of this, when we started, " remarked David Wise, " was 'The Thunderbird', which came from a North American Indian legend as opposed to a Central or South America Indian legend. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) Russell Bates took credit for calling the story "The Thunderbird" and said that, as the writers set to work on the plot, they used "the legends of my people as its basis." [3] Though the story initially drew on the Plains Indian legends of the Thunderbird, the writers discovered, while the narrative evolved, that the specific deity featured in the outing should be a more familiar figure in Indian lore. ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27) Bates remembered, " As we worked, I realized that the same legends are more well known as being the winged dragon -like beings of the Aztecs , Toltecs , and the Mayans . " [4] He elaborated, " There were three likely candidates: Varicocha of the Peruvian Incas, Quetzalcoatl of the Toltecs and Aztecs, and Kukulkan of the Mayas. We picked the latter because Kukulkan had that hard 'k' ring to it and my tribe, the Kiowas, were discovered to be related to the Mayas. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27) The alteration of the story being centered on Kukulkan was a gradual progression. [5]
• The plot point about Kukulkan actually being an alien lifeform was inspired by the Erich von Däniken book Chariots of the Gods? , especially claims like Indian sites in Peru having actually been created by aliens as methods of communication. David Wise explained, " We thought, 'Well, there's science fiction and Indians in one package.' " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Russell Bates gave the alien influence of Kukulkun a worldwide form. " I always had been outraged that Europeans said the vast cities in Central and South America could not have been built by the 'savages,' " Bates commented. " They had to have had help: the Egyptians , or the Chinese , or the Phoenicians, or even the Atlanteans came, taught the poor Indians how to build their civilization, and that's how it all happened. Horse breath! So, the story about Kukulkan became that Kukulkan visited ALL races of mankind, taught them his knowledge, and then departed. Now the story said that NOBODY on Earth invented a damned thing! They all got their knowledge from somebody else! " [6] Similarly, by having Kukulkan state that he visited the planet's Mayan and Aztec cultures, each of which developed in different centuries, the writers suggested that Kukulkan was on Earth for several hundred years.
• Kukulkan's ship was originally envisioned as serpent-shaped, looking identical to the Mayan god. ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27; TAS DVD audio commentary )
• When this installment did not make it into the selection of episodes for the animated series' first season , Russell Bates and David Wise resumed their regular lifestyles, with Bates taking a bus back to his hometown of Oklahoma. After a period of about eight months, Wise learned that the episode idea was finally wanted for the series. He recollected, " I got a call from Marc Richards [...] saying, 'We read your story, and we want you to do the script.' So we got Russell, that night, on a bus back from Oklahoma, and immediately – I mean, within 48 hours – we were in his [Marc Richards'] office at Filmation , getting ready to go. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) The script was commissioned in May 1974 . ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• Russell Bates and David Wise were not the only production staffers who influenced the writing of the episode's teleplay. Wise recalled, " When we went to script, we were given notes by Gene Roddenberry on an audio cassette [...] and there were just a couple of notes, they were very minor, and they were the only notes we received on the entire episode [....] There were two of them and they were sort of cultural. And one of them was, he thought it was egotistical of Kukulkan to have a ship look like himself. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) Russell Bates added, " Mr. Roddenberry felt that this smacked of the worst of Flash Gordon -pulp SF, in the manner of Viking ships rowing through space. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• As both Russell Bates and David Wise felt very strongly about portraying the feathered serpent-god in space, they came up with a solution. ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) " I really wanted that dragon ship, " Bates mused, " so we got around it by giving Kukulkan a sophisticated but artfully designed ship. While it held the Enterprise captive, an electronic image of Kukulkan himself was projected over the ship. This gained approval. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27) Another way that the writers dealt with Gene Roddenberry rejecting their idea of having the ship look like Kukulkan was by coming up with the idea that the vessel had a cloaking device. The writers were initially concerned that they couldn't accurately describe the vessel's initial decloaked appearance, however, prior to it transforming into Kukulkan's likeness. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Gene Roddenberry's other note concerned the deity's attitude. " He said [...] 'Intelligent life is too precious to be led by the nose,' " offered David Wise. Impressed with this line, the writers chose to include it in the actual episode. Wise concluded, " It was our way of sucking up to the boss, basically. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• The writing duo, now equipped with Gene Roddenberry's notes, began scripting the episode. Recalled David Wise, " It was an absolute fifty-fifty collaboration [...] We would take turns at the typewriter, and one would talk and the other would type and then we'd switch. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Although the episode's first act ends with Captain Kirk deciding to investigate where the pyramid came from, the act was originally written with a different conclusion, which was the appearance of Kukulkan at the top of the pyramid. David Wise once noted that, if the original act ending (which he and Russell Bates wrote) had been used, the middle act would have only been approximately three and a half minutes long. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• One scene that was a struggle to write was the first of the second act, wherein Uhura worries about the captives from the Enterprise and Spock then orders her to return to her duties, continuing their attempt to free the starship from Kukulkan's vessel. Originally, Uhura was to have made a verbal comeback at the end of the scene. David Wise explained, " Our original idea was wouldn't this be a great opportunity to have Uhura finally really zing Spock, because [...] [in the original series ] Spock lords it over her from time to time [...] So we spent almost two hours trying to come up with a line, just a great, you know, zinger line for Nichelle Nichols to say. And we couldn't come up with a good one. " As the writers were in a rush to continue scripting the episode, they decided to add a temporary line, known as a "slug line." Wise noted, " I typed under Uhura's speech, 'Pointy eared fool!' And then she whirls around and goes back to her duties. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• David Wise was conscious of the amount of time it took to show the Enterprise officers turning the serpent-like, movable heads to face the pyramid. He felt a need to speed through the sequence, as it basically involved the same action done four times. The writers intended the pyramid and movable heads to be a form of subspace communication device. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Because of his work on this episode, David Wise ended up having to watch many installments of the original Star Trek series. The same series influenced the conception of the menagerie of aliens in Kukulkan's supervision. " When Russell and I wrote this scene, " said David Wise, " we wanted to have [...] animals, various life forms, from earlier episodes of the live action Star Trek [....] They were supposed to be reference, the various menagerie of characters who had appeared in earlier Star Trek s. " These aliens included a couple of tribbles (which had not only appeared in TOS but also in the first season TAS episode " More Tribbles, More Troubles ") in one cage and a Horta in another. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• The Capellan power-cat was conceived as a ferocious and wild animal that the writers could use to pose a danger to Kukulkan and that the Enterprise officers could then deal with, influencing Kukulkan to finally realize that Humans were possibly more mature and capable than he had thought. The writers took inspiration for the creature from an orange tiger-striped cat named Nick, which was owned by David Wise. It had a deceptively grumpy exterior but a secretly lovable core to his character. " Basically, he sort of walked across the floor, " recalled Wise, " and Russell and I both looked at him and went, 'There's our animal.' And we came up with this idea of a combination between, in essence, a lion and an electric eel , which sounds reasonably science-fictional. " Concerning the episode's final view of the power-cat (calmly licking a paw), Wise remarked, " That's my cat right there. That is the embodiment of Nick right there. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• An uncertain David Wise attributed Spock's line, " They left much wiser, " to Russell Bates. The line was meant to be an indirect reference to Humans who went to Vulcan . ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• As this episode's conclusion implies, the writers took the title that was eventually used for the outing from a Shakespeare quote: " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. " This quotation is from King Lear , Act I, Scene 4. David Wise explained, " We thought, 'It's Star Trek . Yeah, it's suitably pretentious to end on a quote from Shakespeare.' And we had come up with the title originally, and then we thought, 'Well, we've got to work the quote into the story to explain the title' [....] We figured we had to work it into the script, and it fit very nicely [....] I think we got the title and the quote probably from looking it up in a Bartlett's Famous Quotations [sic] book. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• The writers had to submit the script fairly quickly. " We wrote the script in the course of about two weeks, I think, " David Wise reckoned. ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) The teleplay was completed just prior to 4 June 1974 . ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27) However, the writers forgot to remove Uhura's slug line to Spock. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Additionally, Filmation at first had an issue with the way Kukulkan's temperament was scripted. " The studio felt that Kukulkan was portrayed as far too threatening and powerful, an angry god-figure, " explained Russell Bates. " But by softening dialogue, we managed to rescue all of the action. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• David Wise felt that, miraculously, everything in this installment, apart from some aspects that were botched during production, was "almost word-for-word" the script that he wrote with Russell Bates. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )

Cast and audio [ ]

• For this episode, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley recorded their vocals separately from the rest of the cast. ( TAS DVD audio commentary ) Shatner's absence from the group recording was because he was in New York at the time. ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27) Russell Bates and David Wise were present at the recording session that involved most of the performers. ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27; TAS DVD audio commentary )
• The writers were consulted to advise James Doohan on his portrayal of Walking Bear, for which Doohan needed to know the character's age. " We talked it over and decided he was around 22 or 23 years old, " explained Russell Bates. " Then, amazingly, in his voice, James Doohan became someone 22 or 23. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• The issue of the slug line that the writers wrote for Uhura to say to Spock arose during the group recording session. Regarding Nichelle Nichols' reaction to the slug line, David Wise reflected, " When we got to the recording session, and we got to that part of the script [...] she doesn't read it out loud. She just reads it, you know, in her head and looks up and goes, 'Am I really supposed to say that?' " With panicked speed, Wise and Bates quickly clarified to the actress that she was not actually meant to say the line, telling her to forget she had even seen it. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Because neither David Wise nor Russell Bates were at William Shatner's recording session, the writers were unable to monitor his pronunciation of Kukulkan's name (as KOO-kool-con). Consequently, Shatner mispronounces the moniker as "Kuklakan" (KOOK-lah-con) throughout the episode, despite the other characters pronouncing the name correctly. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )

Production [ ]

• According to Russell Bates, this episode had a group of artists that was unusual for the animated Star Trek series. " Filmation used a crew of Japanese artists to do 'Serpent's Tooth,' " Bates stated, " to help finish out a contract for their feature, 'Journey Back To Oz'. " [7]
• According to a slightly unsure David Wise, the episode's production was of considerable expense. " My understanding was that they actually went pretty over budget on this show, " Wise said. He found that to be "funny" because the animation required for the installment consisted, almost entirely, of talking rather than action sequences. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Due to the concern that David Wise and Russell Bates had about accurately describing the initial decloaked appearance of Kukulkan's ship, Wise drew an illustration on which Filmation based the look of the vessel in that state. ( TAS DVD audio commentary )

Continuity [ ]

• Including TOS : " The Cage ", this episode marks the 100th appearance of Spock.
• The presence of Ensign Walking Bear in this installment means it was the first episode to feature the appearance of a Native American starship crew member on Star Trek .
• Prior to the introduction of the Capellan power-cat here, the planet Capella IV appeared in TOS : " Friday's Child ". This outing, the penultimate installment of the animated Star Trek series, is the first of two consecutive episodes that feature a Capellan lifeform, as a Capellan flower appears in series finale " The Counter-Clock Incident ".

Reception [ ]

• 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. " 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. "  [8] Although Star Trek 's original series had repeatedly been nominated for Emmys, this was the first such award that the franchise actually won, and the only best-series Emmy it has ever won (it beat out Captain Kangaroo and The Pink Panther) . ("Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series ", TAS DVD ; Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before , p. 57, et al. )
• This episode received top ratings for a children's show, and got favorable comments and mail. ( The New Voyages 2 ) Russell Bates remarked, " The episode got great reviews from fans and teachers and children. " [9]
• Even though this outing did not make the first-season cut of episodes, there was one notable success at that point. David Wise later proudly stated, " Dorothy [Fontana] liked it very much. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Russell Bates and David Wise found William Shatner's repeated mispronunciations of Kukulkan's name to be very humorous. They commonly referred to it as "Kuklakan and Ollie," believing that the animated version of Kukulkan looks similar to the hand-puppet of the dragon Ollie from the 1950s television series Kukla, Fran and Ollie . ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Years later, David Wise admitted to being highly proud, for the most part, of this installment. He stated that the initial decloaked appearance of Kukulkan's vessel looks "much better" than how his own drawing of the craft looked, and enthused, " It's a pretty darn cool-looking ship they [Filmation] came up with. " He believed that the concept of the vessel having a cloaking device "worked out very well." He opined that the scene between Uhura and Spock that, at one time, included a slug line ultimately "plays okay." He noted a similarity between the Gate of Chinatown and the Gate to Kukulkan's city that he found to be "cute," and thought that the action inside the city, with the Enterprise officers turning the serpent-heads towards the pyramid, "is very well executed." He believed that the appearance of Kukulkan "is really effective," and stated that, although he was of the opinion that much of the animation is "terribly cheap-looking," the animated depiction of the Mayan god "really works." He was also pleased with the final version of Kukulkan's zoo. " What they came up with here is quite good, " Wise declared. " These are some nifty aliens. " In addition, Wise was particularly pleased with two lines of dialogue from this episode, saying that he loved McCoy's comment, " Just once, I wish he'd let us use the stairs, " and describing Spock's remark, " They left much wiser, " as "one of the all-time great Spock lines." Wise was, however, dissatisfied that the episode's first act does not end with Kukulkan appearing at the top of the pyramid. " It's unfortunate that we couldn't time it out to work right, but that often happens, " he observed. Summing up his feelings about the episode, Wise said, " My hope is that we did some honor to [the original Star Trek series] [...] with this episode [....] It's nice that it was, I think, really a very good script. I'm very proud of it. I don't say that about a lot of what I wrote, but I say it about this one, and I'm sure that Russell [Bates] is very proud of it as well [....] I see this episode from time to time and I still enjoy it. " ( TAS DVD audio commentary )
• Russell Bates described the experience of working on the episode as "one of the best set of adventures I ever have had." He also found the installment to have been highly successful. " I got it all in one story: write for Star Trek , write that Native American story that Dorothy had sought, write a story that vindicated my people's history, and write to honor [Gene L. Coon]. " [10] He was pleased with the look of Kukulkan's ship in the form of its controller too, enthusing, " I feel that it became a very striking visual. " ( Starlog issue #159, p. 27)
• The editors of Trek magazine collectively scored this episode 1 out of 5 stars (a rating that they termed "poor"). ( The Best of Trek #1, p. 112)
• In The Star Trek Files magazine, John Peel critiqued, " Yes, you have all seen this before. It's a remake of 'Who Mourns for Adonais?' from the live-action show. As it goes, it is quite a good remake, but did we need one? Too often, the crew of the Enterprise has run into the same old gods of mythology, and refused their offer of help in exchange for a various forms of worship. It's the story as before again, with nothing at all fresh to recommend it this time. " ( The Star Trek Files: The Animated Voyages End , p. 47)
• In the unofficial reference book Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide to the Entire Trek Saga (p. 108), co-writer Mark A. Altman rates this episode 2 and a half out of 4 stars (defined as "average") while fellow co-writer Edward Gross ranks the episode 1 and a half out of 4 stars (defined as "poor").
• In Star Trek Magazine 's "Ultimate Guide" ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 163 , p. 27), this episode was rated 3 out of 5 Starfleet arrowhead insignias.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release ( CIC Video ): Volume 7 , catalog number VHR 2557, 17 February 1992
• As part of the The Animated Series DVD collection
• As part of the The Animated Series Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring the voices of [ ].

• William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Also starring the voices of [ ]

• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Walking Bear

Background character [ ]

• Enterprise yeoman

References [ ]

" all hands "; ancestor ; " as soon as possible "; " as yet "; " at a time "; Aztec ; battle stations ; beast ; bed rest ; " Bones "; brown multi-legged creature ; brown-furred creature with six limbs ; cable ; cage ; Capellan power-cat ; captivity ; carving ; casualty report ; central power source ; century ; chance ; charge ; children ; Chinese dragon ; city ; clay ; clue ; Comanche ; commander ; communicator ; companion ; contact ; corner ; course ; course projection ; creature ; crystalline ceramic ; culture ; cycle ; damage report ; date ; day ; design ; destruction ; disrupted matter ; dragon ; dream ; Earth ; Earth's system ; Egyptian ; elasticity ; energy amplification system ; energy field ; engine pattern ; engine ; ensign ; environment ; evasive action ; evil ; experiment ; fact ; Federation ; fire ; flexibility ; fool ; frequency ; globular force field (aka force globe ); gateway ; " give me a hand "; God (aka deity ); " good heavens "; green blob-like creature ; green creature with yellow spots ; green six-legged creature ; green three-eyed creature ; hailing ; hand ; hate ; head ; homeworld ; hypo ; Human history ; impulse power ; identification ; infant ; injury ; intelligence ; intelligent life ; " in the end "; " in your midst "; jungle ; key ; King Lear ; kitten ; knowledge ; Kukulkan's city ; Kukulkan's machinery ; Kukulkan's probe ; Kukulkan's ship ; Kukulkan's species ; Kukulkan's zoo ; " led by the nose "; legend ; library computer ; lieutenant ; light year ; line ; long-armed red creature ; main screen ; master ; Mayan (aka Mayas ); Mayan calendar ; Mayan city ; medical kit ; mind ; name ; Native American ; obelisk ; " of course "; opinion ; orange ball-shaped creature ; order ; overheating ; path ; peace ; phaser ; place ; plant-like creature ; price ; propulsion system ; purple reptilian creature ; purple-furred creature ; pyramid ; quadrant ; Quetzalcoatl ; ramming ; reason ; reddish-pink plant-like creature ; riddle ; right ; savage ; score ; seam ; second ; self-defense ; self-destruct ; self-hatred ; sensor ; serpent ; Shakespeare, William ; signaling device ; size ; sky ; space ; space traveler ; species ; speed ; spiral evasive course ; stairs ; standard greeting ; Starbase 21 ; Starfleet ; star system ; status report ; sublight ; sun ; " take advantage of "; teacher ; thing ; thousand ; time ; Toltec ; tooth ; tower ; tractor beam ; tranquilizer ; violence ; volt ; Vulcans ; Vulcan (planet) ; wall ; warp catapult effect ; warp engine ; warp factor ; warp power ; warrior ; weapon ; " wee "; " what the devil "; world ; yellow alert ; yeoman ; yellow creature ; yellow feline creature ; yellow flower-like creature ; zoo

External links [ ]

• "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" at StarTrek.com
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth " at Wikipedia
• " Saturday Morning Number Eleven " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth " at the Internet Movie Database