"Discover how a series of non-canonical YouTube shorts redefined the boundaries of Star Trek humor and animation for the 50th anniversary of the first animated spin-off."
Star Trek: Very Short Treks arrived as a chaotic, loving tribute to the franchise’s 50-year history of animation. While brief, its impact on the Star Trek community was significant, proving that the brand could embrace self-parody without losing its core identity. By utilizing the 1970s aesthetic of The Animated Series, it bridged generations of viewers. The show’s legacy lies in its bold rejection of canon, allowing legendary characters to engage in absurd scenarios that traditional series would never permit. It remains a unique artifact of the streaming era, demonstrating that even a massive intellectual property can find success in bite-sized, experimental formats. As the universe continues to expand, fans should set a digital alert for potential revivals or new animated experiments that might suddenly appear on the horizon.
| Watched? | # | Air Date | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Sep 08, 2023 | Skin a Cat | |
| E2 | Sep 13, 2023 | Holiday Party | |
| E3 | Sep 20, 2023 | Worst Contact | |
| E4 | Sep 27, 2023 | Holograms All The Way Down | |
| E5 | Oct 04, 2023 | Walk, Don’t Run |
Production Type: Promotional Miniseries
Star Trek: Very Short Treks is a standalone Promotional Miniseries designed as a completed, finite historical narrative. Developed as a celebratory tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of the original animated series, this production utilized a distinct, minimalist animation style reminiscent of the 1970s era. The project was conceived as a limited run of five brief segments, focusing on non-canonical, satirical vignettes that brought together various characters from across the franchise timeline for a specific marketing milestone.
The production scale was intentionally small, prioritizing comedic brevity and nostalgic aesthetic over long-form serialized storytelling. By design, the series served as a curated event rather than an ongoing narrative venture, concluding once its scheduled release window for the anniversary celebration was met. Its finite nature allowed the creators to experiment with absurdist humor and cross-generational character interactions that would not fit within the standard parameters of the primary Star Trek television entries.