Majel Barrett was technically the first to portray an Orion, as she was used for the makeup test.
this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2026
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Give me all youve got, im watching TOS for the first time and nearly done with s2
Ok, here's some random trivia in no particular order:
You might already know this popular one, but Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel, and the first officer in the pilot with Pike) is Gene Roddenberry's wife. She went on to play Troi's mother in TNG and is the voice for the ship's computer.
In season 3, see if you can spot when Spock suddenly wears something marketable and makes a point to talk about it, lol. It was controversial at the time and Nimoy was reportedly annoyed at first.
Also in S3, there is a "backdoor pilot" episode for a spinoff that never happened. They claim that it was not inspired by Doctor Who, but it seems suspiciously similar to me.
Also in S3, they were working on a tighter schedule and started getting more experimental with the camera work and direction. Some of it lands, some of it doesn't. You'll probably notice that some episodes feel different.
I don't remember which seasons the episodes are in, but Diane Muldaur plays two different roles in TOS. If you've seen TNG, be on the lookout for a young Dr. Pulaski.
Also, Star Trek was nearly cancelled early on due to the expense of it and concern that it wouldn't have broad enough appeal, but Lucille Ball herself saw the potential and said to keep it.
In season 3, see if you can spot when Spock suddenly wears something marketable and makes a point to talk about it, lol. It was controversial at the time and Nimoy was reportedly annoyed at first.
I was going to guess it was this https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Space_fun_helmet
All I can think of is the neural stimulator thing from "Spock's Brain", but I doubt that was necessarily exceptionally "marketable".
Haha, that helmet has to be one of the most insane attempts at a show tie-in toy ever. It had nothing to do with Star Trek!
Majel Barrett also appeared in an episode of Babylon 5 as a show of good will because of the intense fueding between the B5 and DS9 fandoms. (IDK, this beef was a thing back then. 🤷♂️)
Oh damn I knew Lwaxana Troi was the computer but somehow I missed the rest of that one.
Thanks!
Also fun fact the last episode of the series is so cringe it will make you want to crawl out of your skin.
Yeah, that one was definitely a product of its time... Lol
Putting my thoughts under a spoiler tag since OP hasn't watched it yet:
Tap for spoiler
Context and how I choose to watch it: It seems so foreign to us now, but it wasn't an uncommon sentiment felt by some extremely driven women in that time who knew that they weren't being given a fair opportunity. The jealousy, frustration, and even the resentment that Dr. Lester felt toward Captain Kirk mirrored how many female professionals felt. They had been passed over, not given the chance to prove themselves or gain important experiences, and they realized that change was not going to happen quickly enough for this to be rectified on their career timelines.
In the episode, this drove Dr. Lester to do something reckless, believing she could cut the line and successfully jump right into the captain role if she switched bodies with Kirk. I don't think she failed because she was a woman, but rather because she did not have the experiences necessary to become an effective captain. My beef with the episode is that this dynamic shouldn't even make sense in the Star Trek universe, but it was written in the 1960s. We no doubt have similar blindspots today that people will cringe at 60 years from now.
spoiler
Yeah I agree but the whole episode comes off that she is unstable because she I a woman. The whole episode is kirk putting her back in her place and the pity he shows to her at the end really drives that home.
The series was slated for cancellation during the second season, but fan reaction to the graphic sex scene between Spock/Kirk in the season finale led to it being picked up for another season.
"Unnecessary"