Star Trek Chickened Out on Its Most Controversial Twist (Which Launched Its Own Sci-Fi Film Series 40 Years Later)

Even though Star Trek was known for pushing boundaries – and sometimes included ideas that haven’t aged well – it was surprisingly difficult to actually get truly shocking or controversial stories on television. Gene Roddenberry and his writers often came up with plots designed to provoke strong reactions, but network executives usually preferred to play it safe. A good example is the episode featuring the immortal ‘Man from Earth,’ which ended up being much tamer than the original, more provocative version that was proposed.








