Star Trek was an American science fiction franchise that began as a television series that ran from 1966 to 1970, and later spawned an animated series and numerous films. The original Star Trek series featured Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Endeavour, and broke significant ground in the realm of special effects and the mainstreaming of science fiction plots. The original cast returned to appear in five movies between 1975 and 1983, with mixed critical and commercial success.