What was the first aired episode of Star Trek: The Original Series?

The first aired episode of Star Trek: The Original Series was “The Man Trap.”

NBC broadcast “The Man Trap” in the United States on September 8, 1966, making it the first episode American viewers saw. The story follows Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew as they investigate a remote settlement where a shape-shifting creature is killing people to obtain salt. George Clayton Johnson wrote the episode, and Marc Daniels directed it.

The broadcast order can be confusing because “The Man Trap” was not the first episode produced. It was the sixth episode filmed, while “The Cage” was the original pilot and “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was the second pilot. NBC selected “The Man Trap” partly because its horror-oriented story seemed likely to attract viewers. The choice established the series’ broadcast launch even though other episodes had been made earlier.

There is also a regional wrinkle: Canadian television aired the episode on September 6, 1966, two days before the NBC premiere. In standard American Star Trek history, however, “The Man Trap” is identified as the series’ first broadcast episode.