In 1965, NBC debuted a new science fiction television series, unlike anything that the viewing public had ever seen before. In the three seasons that Star Trek was on the air, fans were taken aboard the starship U.S.S. Enterprise to join Captain James T. Kirk and his stalwart crew in adventures across the stars. Executive Producer and Series Creator Gene Roddenberry worked with Production Designer Matt Jeffries to create the most believable depiciton of futuristic space travel ever seen on television. The silly finned rockets and flying saucers that TV had produced in the past would be replaced by a wholly original starship, and sets that reflected the complexity and power of such an enormous and powerful vessel. The crowning jewel of these sets was the circular command bridge, from which Captain Kirk and his senior officers would run the ship's operations. The bridge served as the primary stage on which most of the drama of the series unfolded. Nearly every episode began and ended on the bridge, and many were set almost entirely within its walls. The bridge of the Enterprise is centered around the Captain's chair, which sits on the raised platform known as the "command module" directly behin the console housing the Helm and Navigator's controls. At the front of the bridge is the main viewer, used to display external views or graphic displays. Aft and Port of the Captain's chair is the entrance to the turbolift, essentially a "super elevator" that can convey crew to nearly any other location in the ship. This was the only entrance and exit to the bridge. Arranged around the outer rim of the bridge are eight work stations, each with a specialized function, controlling various crucial aspects of the Enterprise's systems.