<P> Star Trek: The Animated Series, produced by Filmation, ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 . Most of the original cast performed the voices of their characters from The Original Series, and many of the writers who worked on The Original Series, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, and Paul Schneider, wrote for the series . While the animated format allowed the producers to create more exotic alien landscapes and life forms, animation errors and liberal reuse of shots and musical cues have tarnished the series' reputation . Although it was originally sanctioned by Paramount, which owned the Star Trek franchise following its acquisition of Desilu in 1967, Gene Roddenberry often spoke of TAS as non-canon . Star Trek writers have used elements of the animated series in later live - action series and films, and as of June 2007, TAS has references in the library section of the official Startrek.com web site officially bringing the series into the franchise's main canon . </P> <P> The Animated Series won Star Trek's first Emmy Award on May 15, 1975 . Star Trek: TAS briefly returned to television in the mid-1980s on the children's cable network Nickelodeon . Nickelodeon's Evan McGuire greatly admired the show and used its various creative components as inspiration for his short series called Piggly Wiggly Hears a Sound which never aired . Nickelodeon parent Viacom would purchase Paramount in 1994 . In the early 1990s, the Sci - Fi Channel also began rerunning TAS . The complete TAS was also released on Laserdisc format during the 1980s . The complete series was first released in the U.S. on eleven volumes of VHS tapes in 1989 . All 22 episodes were released on DVD in 2006 . </P> <P> Star Trek: The Next Generation, also known as "TNG", takes place about a century after The Original Series (2364--2370). It features a new starship, Enterprise - D, and a new crew led by Captain Jean - Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Some crewmembers represent new alien races, including Deanna Troi, a half - Betazoid counselor played by Marina Sirtis . Michael Dorn plays Worf, the first Klingon officer in Starfleet, alongside Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, LeVar Burton as chief engineer Geordi La Forge, the android Data portrayed by Brent Spiner, and Dr. Crusher's son Wesley Crusher played by Wil Wheaton . The show premiered on September 28, 1987, and ran for seven seasons, ending on May 23, 1994 . It had the highest ratings of any of the Star Trek series and became the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original run, allowing it to act as a springboard for ideas in other series . Many relationships and races introduced in TNG became the basis of episodes in Deep Space 9 and Voyager . During its run it earned several Emmy awards and nominations--including a nomination for Best Dramatic Series during its final season--two Hugo Awards and a Peabody Award for Outstanding Television Programming for the episode "The Big Goodbye". </P> <P> Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as "DS9", takes place during the last years and the immediate post-years of The Next Generation (2369--2375) and aired for seven seasons, debuting the week of January 3, 1993 . Like Star Trek: The Next Generation, it aired in syndication in the United States and Canada . Unlike the other Star Trek series, DS9 takes place primarily on a space station rather than aboard a starship . </P>

Actors who got their start on star trek