I love vintage Star Trek commercials. I recently digitized a VHS tape of old Trek content owned by fan David Penn. I’ve written about the blooper reels and a Star Trek V phone game from that tape. Today’s post offers up four commercials from 1966 — and an odd story about NBC’s promotional tactics.

The first two commercials are previews, telling viewers about this great new NBC show. The network promised Star Trek would be “The first adult space adventure” — a clear contrast to Lost in Space, which hit the airwaves one year earlier. 

These are the promo spots people endured almost 60 years ago, as they waited to get back to Bonanza, The Virginian, and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.

Coming to Fridays this fall

---

Galaxy premiere, September 15, 1966

Wait, September 15? Yes, sort of. Scroll down for an explanation.

---

“Trackless journey” season promo

---

Next Voyage: Where No Man Has Gone Before

A story of two premiere dates

The second video above promised Star Trek would premiere on September 15, but we all know the first Trek episode aired in America on September 8, right? (And two days earlier in Canada.) Yes, that’s correct. But so is the September 15 date, sort of.

NBC held what it called NBC Week beginning on Saturday, September 10. That’s when its new shows first aired, and an ad in TV Guide promoted Star Trek‘s “Galaxy Premiere!” on September 15.

Also, an article in the Boston Herald promised that “Star Trek, an hour-long drama…will debut Thursday, Sept. 15, at 8:30 p.m.”

Article from the site WendyLovesJesus

So what gives? The Man Trap was on screens one week earlier, and it was Trek’s second episode, Charlie X, that aired September 15. And here is the proof, from the Northern California edition of TV Guide. (Click on pics for bigger versions.)

It seems NBC called the broadcast of Charlie X the show’s premiere, even though it simply wasn’t. The page above from September 8 uses the term “Advance Premiere” for The Tammy Grimes Show and That Girl, and I guess Star Trek was in the same category.

But in addition to “advance premiere” being an oxymoron, this seems an odd way to build buzz for a new show. NBC bought promo space to convince viewers to watch Star Trek on September 15, and those people who listened to the network’s own statements would have missed the first episode. I bet many did.

At least the network paid for some nice artwork.