Star Trek: The Animated Series (or TAS) is often overlooked by the public, getting lost among all the whites noise that accompanies the franchise. Yet it is a surprisingly good series with a distinguished writing pedigree. The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 on NBC. A total of twenty-two half-hour episodes were produced set in the same timeline and universe as the original series. Often characters and situations that had featured in the live action show re-appeared and where expanded upon, such as Harry Mudd, the Guardian of Forever and of course Tribbles.