My earliest memories were trying to watch TOS and TAS through the non-cable, rabbit ear TV reception of the mid to late 70s. Also, two of the people in my household were not scifi fans so my older sis and I had to struggle to watch it till I got my own TV. She was the one that got me into scifi in general. I didn't become a full fledged Trekkie till 1983 though. I recorded episodes on analog audio tapes, I listened to STII and III on audiotapes from movie booklets before I saw the movies themselves. I watched the show on my little 13" b&w tv then a 13" color TV by about 1982-83.
If Star Trekkin' counts, then that was my first experience of Trek. Otherwise it was watching TAS as part of my Saturday morning cartoon line-up. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't what made me a fan of the show. That didn't happen until I started watching TNG around '91 or '92. Then one summer Sky started running TOS when they ran out of TNG, so I watched that and was surprised to find it enjoyable, too.
A Wednesday evening in 1967, the spring of my first grade year of school, running home from a friend's house 2 blocks away. I came in the door, ready for dinner, and Trek was on TV. I stopped, fascinated, to see what it was. After a few seconds my dad told me to change the channel and wash up. I tried to catch it when I could, but it wasn't until later in reruns that I could see what had caught my attention years before.
I was born in '65 and probably watched a few episodes in first run, but the show likely didn't sink in until I saw it in reruns. I do remember nightmares about "The Doomsday Machine." Most monsters one can run away from, at least for a little while. The DM could get you anywhere. Also, my dad was a high school English teacher and taught a special class using sci-fi literature. The class viewed a few TREK episodes, too, among which was "The Enemy Within." I remember playing with a reel-to-reel VTR from the school, crawling through the phaser shot frame-by-frame.
I must have been 7 years old, because my first exposure was a prime-time showing of "The Lights of Zetar" on NBC. When the woman dies on Memory Alpha, it was pretty scary, even on a b&w TV. I didn't like it. But by a year or so later I was watching the syndicated reruns and eating it up.
When I was five I met a my life-long best friend. Him and his brothers were really into Star Trek. The first episode I ever saw was TOS "Devil in the Dark". They had rented it from a local rental that carried dozens of tapes. I wasn't sold immediately, but maybe year later I watched a few rerun episodes of TNG in a hotel room I was staying in for a soccer tournament. I immediately got hooked and haven't stopped loving Trek.
Best of Both Worlds, Pt 1, when it first aired. Back then I was too young to really get into it, but I latched onto it a few years later, in syndication between seasons 6 and 7, then I watched season 7 new.
My first experience was when I was pre-K in the early 1970's. One afternoon, I was switching between our three UHF network channels, and I tuned into Vanna tied to the pedestal, being tortured by the rays. Needless to say, that made quite an impression on me. I finished out the episode and picked up the basics of Kirk, transporters, phasers, and the ship. Haven't looked back. Funny, I was just thinking about that tonight before I saw this thread—how it all began for me.
It's all my Trekkie Mum's fault. She sat me down to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation on it's UK debut in I think 1990. I'm sure she's regretted it ever since!
It was a Sunday in the summer of 2007. They were playing episodes of TOS-R and I had missed it but I caught the theme song and wanted to watch this "Old Scifi Series" and the next week I was hooked.
The Best of Both Worlds, Part I the morning that Part II premiered. I saw Star Trek episodes and movies before that, but that's the first one I really remember.
When I was about ten and living over on the continent, I was watching TV and something weird called "Raumschiff Enterprise" (Spaceship Enterprise, i.e. the original Star Trek) came on. I was about to turn it off because I was decidedly not a sci-fi kid; anything with aliens and spaceships just wasn't my thing. Then at my parents' prompting I watched it anyway. All I remember is Spock with his funny ears arguing with the captain about logic - and that could have been any episode! (And I remember thinking: "why the hell is everyone going around wearing pyjamas in the future?")
I grew up on the re-runs of TOS in the 80s. My parents (mostly my dad, my mom was more of a Dr. Who fan) used to watch it. I can't remember the first episode I ever saw, but I do remember faking being sick so I wouldn't have to go to church so I could watch it one Sunday evening
As a matter of fact, about 3 weeks ago. I finally got around to watching the Star Trek movie (alternate reality) and loved it. So I began watching TOS about 2 weeks ago and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm a little mad at myself for not giving Star Trek a chance earlier though.
I watched TOS when it first aired in the 60s. I can't recall if I saw the pilot then or if it was in syndication when I saw the pilot. Spock was my first crush. My kids were in elementary school when TNG came out. Star Trek is one of the strongest bonds that exist in our family. If there's ever a lull in any family gathering, we can always talk/debate Trek. My 13 year old granddaughter is third generation Trek, and she loves it as much as the rest of us. Enterprise became my favorite. Voyager for my daughter. TNG is the favorite of my son and granddaughter. So we have a lot to debate, not to mention all the movies.
I remember to this day the first time I ever saw Star Trek; it scared the crap out of me, lol. It was when the episode "Charlie X" first aired and when the girl with no face came around the corner; it scared me to death!! I had nightmares about that for years, lol, but it also hooked me and I have been a life-long Trek fan since then. During syndication in the early 1970's myself and my best friend would watch the episodes (which came on every day at 5:00 PM) and make detailed (or as detailed as we could) drawings of the sets, props, etc., I still have that notebook which is really interesting to browse through and I'm still doing detailed drawings to this day, lol. Some things never changes Check out my site and you will see what I mean, lol !!!
As a little kid growing up in rural New York where we got three channels, I wasn't exposed to Trek until the age of eight at my grandparent's house when I saw some episodes of Next Gen during its initial run (I think it had hit syndication at the time, because their local Fox channel showed it every night). Once we moved to New Jersey and GOT the channels that showed Trek, I was completely and utterly hooked for life. On top of that, a great aunt of mine had recorded the 25th Anniversary TV special onto a VHS tape that contained the "Viewers Choice Top Ten Original Star Trek Episodes". It was through that tape that I got to know the original crew.
You too huh??? I was around the same age watching it back in 1960s with my dad. That planet eating machine with the sparkler scared the hell out of me.