On this day in 1966, we first became acquainted with a little show called Star Trek. The first episode was “The Man Trap.” That’s the one where a creature kills by draining all the salt from the bodies of its prey. The creature can change its form and masquerade as anyone it chooses. If you look at its natural appearance below, you can see why it might want to do that.
Left: The salt creature from “The Man Trap” in its natural state.
Right: Fed up with William Shatner’s egomania, one of his castmates dons a disguise and tries to squash his swelled head.
Before all the Trekkies on the Internet start writing in to correct me, let me clarify that “The Man Trap” was the first episode to air, not the first one produced.
Below is a clip from a later episode, one of my favorites, “The Way to Eden.” In this one, a band of space hippies terrorizes the Enterprise. I’m a sucker for ’60s shows that have hippie episodes.
Space hippies jam on the Enterprise in “The Way to Eden,” Star Trek (Feb. 21, 1969)
Michael's TV Tray 