The series that launched a television and film dynasty lasting 40+ years, Gene Roddenberry's debut was a landmark in television programming and unequaled cultural phenomenon.

Appearing in 1966, it was far from an instant success. In fact it was in danger of cancellation after even its first season. Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy), whose Desilu production company backed the show, has been credited with single-handedly saving it by using all of her influence, contacts, and powers of persuasion to convince NBC to give it another chance. During its second season the show's audience gradually grew, but it was never enough to please NBC, who always had its eye on the show's high production costs. Threatened with cancellation once again, a letter-writing campaign mounted by its fans saved the show from the network axe, but NBC did even worse than cancel it - they cut its production budget and moved it to the Friday night 'death slot', hoping for the show to die a natural death instead. By the end of the third season, with mediocre ratings and production values far less than previous seasons, the show was canceled.

Run in syndication throughout the 1970s, the show then reached a broader audience and took on a new life, spurring additional television shows, cartoons, books, and films, while making the original cast household names and cultural icons.

Although occasionally campy and with sets and special effects obviously 'old school', the original series still holds up as pure science fiction goodness. Since the show used a variety of writers and directors throughout its three seasons, the flavor of the show varies on almost a per-episode basis. Taken as a whole, the series runs the entire gamut of styles and techniques, with episodes alternating between being action-packed, cerebral, sexy, suspenseful, and sometimes even downright silly.

Many people familiar with the later series of The Next Generation, Voyager, or Enterprise, or who have seen the subsequent feature films and gotten spoiled with expensive sets and special effects, may not really 'get' the appeal of the original show. But fans of good stories and those who can appreciate good imagination should be able to see past the show's dated sets, and to appreciate it for what it is - the first of its kind.

There are multiple editions of the series available on DVD, some with the original effects and others as a revamp of the entire series, where original effects were replaced with modern day computer-generated graphics. Diehard fans of the original series have found the revamp to be an insult, with the obvious computer-generated graphics taking away from what made the show unique and classic. However, those brought up on computer graphics may prefer it.