Star Trek: Discovery: Rachael Ancheril’s mom helped save Star Trek

Rachel Ancheril plays Commander Nhan on Star Trek: Discovery, and her mom was instrumental in keeping the original series on the air

Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled at the end of the second season, leading to a flurry of letters from fans protesting the action. Bjo and John Trimble spearheaded the letter-writing campaign after the notification, calling on all fans to help keep the series on the air. Rachel Ancheril’s mom was one of those fans. In fact, Star Trek: Discovery‘s Ancheril calls her mom a “super fan” of the original series.

"“My grandparents told this story, My mom was one of the people who wrote a letter to tell NBC not to cancel the original Trek. When I was a kid, she had this pink suitcase she would take out that had all her treasures in it, including autographs from all the original Trek actors on their headshots. I wonder where that suitcase is now!”"

What most fans don’t know is that Harlan Ellison, the writer behind The City on the Edge of Forever, organized a letter campaign, too, when the series was threatened with cancellation after the first season. It wasn’t well-publicized, but it obviously worked just not for long. Fortunately, the Trimbles were there to pick up the slack when season two was announced as the last season.

Bjo Trimble and her husband had become good friends with Gene Roddenberry and were even able to visit the set several times. In fact, they were there when they got the news about the cancellation. Bjo and her husband called Roddenberry to ask if he was okay with them trying to save the show. Of course, Roddenberry was, and a massive campaign was born that gave fans another season of the original series, and had that not have happened, it’s doubtful that Star Trek: Discovery or any of the other properties would exist. So Ancheril, even though her role may be ending, really does have her mom (and the legions of fans who got cramps in their hand from writing so many letters) for her role on the series. And Ancheril isn’t the only one who is grateful.