In an article published in Science-Fiction Studies, "Star Trek in the Vietnam Era,"
scholar H. Bruce Franklin has argued that the original Star Trek series (aired from
1966 to 1969) mirrored growing American disillusionment with the Vietnam War,
focusing on four episodes which he claims "dramatize a startling and painful
transformation in the war's impact on both the series and the nation" (25). In "The
City at the Gate of Forever" (broadcast April 6, 1967), a crucial script change
argued that antiwar movements only served to improve the chance of an enemy
victory. "A Private Little War" ( February 2, 1968) showed Kirk re-enacting
President Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam War policy on another planet, but gave
prominent attention to Doctor McCoy's vehement objections. "The Omega Glory"
( March 1, 1968) presented an alternate Earth devastated by war between Americans
and Asians, reflecting disillusionment with the war after the Tet offensive. And
"Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" ( January 10, 1969) concerned a planet that
annihilates itself in a racial conflict inspired in part by foreign wars. Thus, Franklin
maintains, the producers of the series visibly moved from an endorsement of the
Vietnam War to ambivalent concern about the war and finally to outright opposi-
tion to the war.

However, there is first of all one fact which significantly undermines Franklin's
chronological analysis: The clearly antiwar script for "The Omega Glory" was
written by Gene Roddenberry in June 1965--as one possible script for the second
Star Trek pilot--well before the two openly or mixed pro-war episodes cited by
Franklin. Perhaps he could find political significance in the decisions to not film
the episode in 1966, when support for the Vietnam War was still strong, and to
finally film the episode in 1968, when support for the war was weakening. How-
ever, there is no evidence that either the producers of Star Trek or NBC executives
ever argued for or against filming a given script for strictly political reasons. A
more likely explanation is that "The Omega Glory" was simply regarded as a weak

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