Television Review: Assignment: Earth (Star Trek, S2X26, 1968)

Assingment: Earth (S02E26)

Airdate: March 29th 1968

Written by: Art Wallace & Gene Roddenberry
Directed by: Marc Daniels

Running Time: 50 minutes

The 1990s are often hailed as the golden age of Star Trek, a period marked by the enduring success of The Next Generation and its three subsequent spin-offs—Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise—each maintaining thematic coherence and quality despite their distinct approaches. This trajectory, however, was not unforeseen. Gene Roddenberry, the original creator of Star Trek, had long dreamed of expanding his universe into a franchise long before the 1960s series even aired. His vision for a sequel series, Assignment: Earth, conceived as a standalone show during the development of The Original Series (TOS), ultimately failed to materialise. The TOS Season 2 finale of the same name offers a glimpse into this unrealised ambition, revealing both Roddenberry’s creative aspirations and the reasons they faltered. The episode’s convoluted origins and uneven execution underscore the gap between Roddenberry’s grand plans and the practical constraints of 1960s television.

The episode opens with the USS Enterprise undertaking a time-travel mission to 1968 Earth for historical research. This mundane objective is abruptly disrupted when a mysterious figure, Gary Seven (Robert Lansing), hijacks the ship’s transporter from an unspecified planet and beams aboard. When Seven descends to 1960s New York, Captain Kirk and Spock follow him, fearing his actions might destabilise the timeline. Seven aims to sabotage a U.S. rocket launch carrying a nuclear warhead, an event that could trigger a catastrophic explosion and World War III. Complicating matters, Seven discovers his assigned agents have died, forcing him to recruit Roberta Lincoln (Teri Garr), a young secretary at his office front, as an impromptu ally. Roberta, initially unaware of Seven’s true identity and mission, soon becomes entangled in his covert operations, grappling with ethical dilemmas and generational divides.

Assignment: Earth began life not as a Star Trek episode but as the pilot for a proposed standalone series. Conceived in 1965—before Star Trek itself was greenlit—the show would have centred on Gary Seven, a spy from the 22nd century tasked with observing and subtly influencing 20th-century Earth. When Star Trek was renewed for a second season, Roddenberry reworked the script into a “backdoor pilot” for the spin-off, embedding it within the TOS framework. The episode’s structure mirrors this dual purpose: the Enterprise crew serves as little more than observers, while Seven and Roberta dominate the narrative. NBC, however, rejected the spin-off pitch, leaving the episode as a curious footnote. Its convoluted origins explain its disjointed tone, as it attempts to satisfy both TOS fans and potential recruits for a new show.

When evaluated purely as a TOS instalment, Assignment: Earth falters. The premise—that Starfleet would risk time travel for “historical research”—strains credibility, especially given the Enterprise’s earlier time-travel episodes, such as The City on the Edge of Forever, which treated the concept with far greater gravity. The script, co-written by Roddenberry and Art Wallace, prioritises setting up the spin-off over character development. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are reduced to passive observers, their roles limited to occasional dialogue and mild suspense. Meanwhile, Gary Seven and Roberta’s mission unfolds independently, rendering the Enterprise crew almost superfluous. This imbalance undermines the episode’s dramatic stakes, as the protagonists are sidelined in favour of a subplot that never fully integrates into the broader Star Trek ethos.

Detached from its TOS context, Assignment: Earth resembles a typical 1960s spy-fi series, blending espionage tropes with sci-fi elements. Gary Seven, portrayed with cool detachment by Lansing, is a compelling enigma: a man centuries ahead of his time, yet constrained by protocols that demand secrecy. His partnership with Roberta Lincoln—a sassy, sceptical young woman whose arc mirrors the era’s countercultural values—hints at rich character dynamics. Teri Garr’s performance, energetic and sharp-witted, gives Roberta a vitality that contrasts with the episode’s clunky dialogue. The script also touches on generational divides, with Roberta dismissing anyone over 30 as untrustworthy—a nod to the era’s youth-centric rebellions. These elements, while unevenly executed, suggest a project that might have thrived in a dedicated series.

Marc Daniels’ direction is serviceable, leveraging limited resources to create a functional, if unremarkable, visual experience. The episode’s budget constraints are evident in its reliance on stock footage for the rocket launch and sparse sets, but Daniels compensates with brisk pacing and tight editing. The transporter effects, though dated, hold up for the time, and the scenes in 1960s New York evoke a period authenticity. Lansing’s performance as Gary Seven, however, elevates the production, his calm authority lending gravitas to the character’s enigmatic nature.

One of Assignment: Earth’s most intriguing aspects is its eerie prescience. The script mentions 1968 as a pivotal year marked by “assassination and coup in Asia”—a line that chillingly foreshadowed the real-world assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the 1968 coup in Iraq that brought Saddam Hussein to power. This coincidence, unintended by the writers, underscores the episode’s accidental relevance. While Roddenberry’s team could not have foreseen these events, the script’s vague references to global instability struck a nerve with contemporary audiences, lending the narrative an unsettling realism.

Despite its potential, Assignment: Earth remains a niche entry in Star Trek lore. Roddenberry, perhaps embarrassed by its commercial failure, never revisited the concept, though Gary Seven resurfaced in non-canon novels and comics. It took over 50 years for his name to appear again, in Star Trek: Picard’s Fly Me to the Moon, a fleeting nod that barely scratched the surface of his backstory. For most fans, the episode is a curiosity—a reminder of Roddenberry’s ambition and the era’s creative limitations. Its blend of spy drama and sci-fi, while uneven, offers a fascinating glimpse into an alternate Star Trek universe, one that might have thrived had 1960s television audiences been more receptive to its blend of genres and themes.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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