Why Fans Say the Last Episode of Original ‘Star Trek’ Is Also the Worst
Considering all the Star Trek movies and TV shows that have teleported onto screen the past half century — including several hit films featuring the original cast — you might be surprised to learn that the original Star Trek TV series ended in cancellation after just three seasons in 1969.
And Trekkies should thank their lucky stars the original series’ final episode wasn’t the last onscreen voyage of the starship Enterprise. In that episode, Season 3’s “Turnabout Intruder,” airing June 3, 1969, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew rescue Dr. Janice Lester (guest star Sandra Smith) from a deadly archaeological expedition on the planet Camus II, only for Lester to take over Kirk’s body and try to assert command of the starship.
With the 56th anniversary of the series finale upon us, here are fun facts about that infamous installment.
1 “Turnabout Intruder” was preempted by Eisenhower’s death
M. McNeill/Fox Photos/Getty Images
NBC originally scheduled the episode to air on March 28, 1969, two weeks after the previous episode, the acclaimed “All Our Yesterdays,” according to StarTrek.com. But former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower died that day, and so NBC preempted that night’s Star Trek episode, and ended up holding it until June 3, 1969.
2William Shatner had the flu during filming
In the book Star Trek Lives!, superfan Joan Winston recounts watching Shatner battle through flu symptoms to film “Turnabout Intruder” — and several takes of the shot of “Kirk” (Lester in Kirk’s body) carrying “Lester” (Kirk in Lester’s body) to the couch and strangling her. On the sixth take, Shatner actually dropped Smith, but she bounced off the foam rubber of the couch and wasn’t harmed.
3 Moving crews were deconstructing the set during the production of the episode
Everett Collection
In the same book, Winston recalls sitting around with the Star Trek cast and crew during the filming of “Turnabout Intruder” and hearing “noise filtering through from Stage 9.” That noise turned out to be a moving crew “dismantling the permanent sets for storage.”
“‘There goes the bridge,’ someone said softly,” Winston wrote. “‘There goes the transporter.’”
4 The character Lt. Lemli is a nod to Shatner’s daughters
In “Turnabout Intruder,” Roger Holloway’s Star Trek character finally got a name — Lt. Lemli — and two words of dialogue — “Aye, sir” — after dozens of episodes in the background.
As StarTrek.com reports, Shatner had a vanity license plate reading “LEMLI” at the time — it was a combination of the names of his daughters, Leslie, Melanie and Lisabeth. The actor also had a production company called Lemli Productions, which produced his 1994 sci-fi TV series TekWar.
5 Fans consider it one of the worst episodes of the whole franchise
Hollywood.com declared “Turnabout Intruder” the worst episode of the original Star Trek series, saying it’s “a dispiritingly sexist commentary on gender roles.” Even StarTrek.com notes it is an “inelegant ending … and, in the view of pretty much everyone, a rather sexist installment for such a progressive series.”
Attendees of the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in 2016 rated “Turnabout Intruder” the fourth-worst episode of the entire franchise, per CNET, and Screen Rant echoed that placement in the franchise’s hall of shame in the following year.
6 Shatner was slated to direct the next episode
Paramount/Courtesy: Everett Collection.
After “Turnabout Intruder,” the cast and crew were scheduled to film a 25th episode for Season 3, one titled “The Joy Machine,” with Shatner in the director’s chair, according to Collecting Trek. And in Star Trek Lives!, Winston recalls seeing Star Trek creator Roddenberry telling a crestfallen Shatner that NBC had passed on any additional episodes past Episode 23.
Theodore Sturgeon wrote the original draft of “The Joy Machine,” and Meyer Dolinsky gave the script a rewrite, according to Forgotten Trek. Sci-fi writer James E. Gunn turned the script into a novelization that hit shelves in 1996.
7 Star Trek: The Next Generation gave a nod to the episode’s legacy
Paramount/Courtesy:Everett Collection.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Legacy,” Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) records in his captan’s log that the Enterprise bypassed a scheduled archeological survey of Camus II.
An archeological survey of Camus II, of course, is where the action of “Turnabout Intruder” begins. And StarTrek.com reports Star Trek: The Next Generation was knowingly paying tribute to the original Star Trek’s 79-episode run as the successor show surpassed that record: “Legacy” marked TNG’s 80th episode.
Remind 
Glamour Goddesses
May 2025
Marilyn Monroe’s iconic wind-aided dress. Audrey Hepburn’s little black gown. Jean Harlow’s form-fitting costumes. Celebrate the lushest Hollywood looks among the stars.
Buy This Issue