David Gerrold, the reknowned science fiction writer and author of the classic Star Trek episode, The Trouble With Tribbles, has announced on his Website that preparations are underway for the release of the StarTrek Animated Series on DVD.  Gerrold wrote a follow-up to his famous Tribbles episode ('More Tribbles, More Troubles') for the animated series, which lasted for only 22 episodes in the early 1970s in spite of the fact that in addition to Gerrold, it featured superb writing from D.C. Fontana, Stephen Kandel, Chuck Menville, Len Janson and Walter Koenig (yes, Chekov wrote a script, 'The Infinite Vulcan').  The Star Trek Animated Series was one of the few American attempts at animation for adults as well as children -- though the series was relegated by NBC to Saturday mornings, it was originally intended for primetime.

So it is good news for pop culture retailers that the Star Trek Animated Series, which has previously been released on VHS and laser disk, will make it to DVD.  Though the animation was limited, the concepts and story ideas were often close to the level of the original series, which represented a major breakthrough for science fiction on American television.