In what year did the original Star Trek series premiere? It premiered in 1966. The series, created by Gene Roddenberry, debuted on NBC in the United States on September 8, 1966, with the episode “The Man Trap.” It followed the crew of the USS Enterprise during a five-year mission of exploration under Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner.
The show was produced by Desilu Productions and starred Leonard Nimoy as Spock and DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. Although the U.S. premiere is usually treated as the show’s launch date, Canadian viewers saw the program two days earlier, on September 6, 1966, through the CTV network. That small broadcast-history detail can cause confusion when sources list different premiere dates.
Star Trek initially received modest ratings and was nearly canceled more than once, but organized fan campaigns helped keep it on the air. It ultimately ran for three seasons, ending in 1969, and later became a major cultural phenomenon through syndication, films, and spin-off series.