Assignment: Earth

Stardate not given: After warping back in time to the late 20th century for a glimpse of Earth’s past, the Enterprise intercepts a mysterious man who simply calls himself Gary Seven. Although Gary and his ever-present black cat Isis appear like inhabitants of the 20th century, Gary knows what kind of ship he is on and recognizes Spock as a Vulcan, and ascertains that the Enterprise is from the 23rd century. Gary Seven evades security officers and resumes his journey to Earth. Kirk and Spock assume 20th century disguises and pursue him, finding that Gary is a time traveler from the future who is here to influence Earth’s history – but whether or not his influence will be benign is another question altogether.

teleplay by Art Wallace
story by Gene Roddenberry and Art Wallace
directed by Marc Daniels
music not credited

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Robert Lansing (Gary Seven), Teri Garr (Roberta Lincoln), Don Keefer (Cromwell), Lincoln Demyan (Sergeant), Morgan Jones (Col. Nesvig), Bruce Mars (First Policeman), Ted Gehring (Second Policeman), Paul Baxley (Security Chief)

Notes: At the time Assignment: Earth was written, Gene Roddenberry was uncertain that Star Trek would make it to a third season. Indeed, there was every indication that it wouldn’t, though a major fan letter-writing campaign to NBC helped save the show. In any case, Roddenberry was hedging his bets for future employment by trying to create a series based on Gary Seven, Isis and Ms. Lincoln – making this the first attempt at a Star Trek spinoff.