Movies - TV
This Infamous Star Trek Episode Was Really A Sneaky Dig At NBC
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Often considered one of the worst episodes of "Star Trek," 1968’s "Spock's Brain" featured a story about a species of low-intelligence aliens that infiltrate the Enterprise.
It is later revealed that Spock's brain was required to power a nearby planet’s super-computer which could temporarily inject complex information and skills into people's heads.
The crew gives Spock's brainless body a temporary brain-like machine to pilot him via remote control. The episode is farfetched and silly, even by Trek standards.
In the oral history book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages," Trek writer David Gerrold discussed "Spock's Brain" being a wry satire of NBC executives.
Gerrold suspected that the episode's writer was trying to confront Gene Roddenberry's tendency to take "Star Trek" seriously to the point of it being no fun.
William Shatner also noted the episode's symbolism in his autobiography "Up Till Now," noting something was being stated outright in a story about a machine searching for a brain.