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Through multiple TV series, even more movies, and innumerable off-shoot properties and fan versions, Star Trek has become a cultural juggernaut and science fiction touchstone. But for all the canon that now exists, it still all goes back to the original series in the 1960s.
Hitting the airwaves in September 1966, the original series (or TOS for OGs) launched the crew of the Enterprise into the hearts of sci-fi lovers from coast-to-coast and started what would be one of the most fervent fan-bases ever. Gene Roddenberry's series' run went on for three seasons – the final one thanks to an impassioned letter-writing campaign – and nearly 80 episodes before wrapping up in 1969. Yet, even as fans grew to love the swagger of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), the logical deadpan of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and the weird quirks of Dr. McCoy – not every episode of that original run is gold. Or, as Fry put it in a Trek-themed episode of Futurama in 2002: "79 episodes. About 30 good ones."
Out of those 30 or so episodes there are sure-fire classics – like Season 2's "Mirror, Mirror" (aka the one where evil Spock has a goatee) and Season 1's "Space Seed" (aka the one that introduced us to Khan) – but there are also few that fly further below the radar than they should. With J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness hitting theaters this week, we felt it was time to look at some of the unsung heroes of *Star Trek'*s early days, from Tribble troubles to the first time the Enterprise encountered the Romulans.