On September 8, 1966, Gene Roddenberry’s maiden Enterprise crew began its mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Though the show never ranked better than No. 52 in the TV ratings, it became a cult classic and was nominated in its first two seasons for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series.

Star Trek was canceled after three seasons, its last episode airing on June 3, 1969. After its cancellation, it’s fan devotion became even more fierce, spawning fan conventions and developing into five additional television series (one was canceled before it aired), one animated series, and ten films. These six series add up to a total of 726 episodes that played over twenty-two television seasons, placing it only second to Doctor Who as the most prolific science fiction series in history.

After Star Trek: The Original Series ended in 1969, the world waited 18 years for the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which featured Jean-Luc Picard at the helm of what was once Captain James T. Kirk’s prized ship. This time around, the series enjoyed more success, running seven seasons before ending on May 23, 1994 and being nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series and winning a Peabody Award for Outstanding Television Programming.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001), and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005) followed the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, each boasting a significant fan base. Clearly, though it could not have been foreseen 41 years ago, Star Trek has become one of the most important sci-fi series in the history of the genre.