My first introduction came from an episode of Reading Rainbow in which LeVar Burton takes the viewer on a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the props and special effects work on this other show he’s on called Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched whatever the next episode was after that airing. According to IMDB, that episode aired August 15th, 1988, so it likely was a rerun from the 1987 season.
They did lower decks wrong when they cancelled it.