History Trivia / StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden

* CreatorBacklash: Creator/JamesDoohan said this was the only ''Original Series'' episode he didn't like. Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand from season one) likewise likened it to [[Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain "Spock's Brain"]] as one of the worst the show ever aired. Creator/WalterKoenig thought it was out of character for the youthful Chekov to act as an "establishment-loving conservative," in contrast to the hippies, and called it a low point for his character. Creator/DCFontana was unhappy with the rewrite of her original script, and requested to be credited under her pseudonym "Michael Richards". This is the episode that was changed so much she got fed up and left the show.

* NamesTheSame: The "Michael Richards" who wrote this episode was Creator/DCFontana under her pen name, not [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Cosmo Kramer.]]

* PropRecycling: The space cruiser ''Aurora'' is the Tholian spaceship model from "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb The Tholian Web]]", with a pair of nacelles added.

* NamesTheSame: The "Michael Richards" who wrote this episode was regular ''Trek'' writer D.C. Fontana under her pen name, not [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Cosmo Kramer.]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The fact that the episode features space hippies is enough to date it to the late sixties.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The original concept for this episode, by D.C. Fontana, was entitled "Joanna" and was to have introduced Joanna [=McCoy=], Bones' daughter (whom Fontana and Creator/DeForestKelley had created between production of the first two seasons), who was to have been college-aged and (inevitably) fallen in love with Kirk, driving a rift between the two friends; the episode was intended as an allegory of the "generation gap" which was being widely discussed at the time.[[note]]Between the Baby Boomers, the eldest of whom were in their early twenties and would have been about Joanna's age (and who were also ''Star Trek''[='=]s core audience), and their parents, whom we now call the Greatest Generation, who had fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and were middle-aged (and gradually losing their dominance over American culture -- Boomers would take over by TheSeventies).[[/note]] The episode would have also established Bones as having been divorced (acrimoniously) from Joanna's mother, which was reused for ''Film/StarTrek2009''. It only got as far as the outline stage before the story was radically rewritten under the regime of showrunner Fred Freiberger and story editor Arthur Singer. The changes to the script, particularly the removal of Joanna from the story (her part was transformed into that of Irina Galliulin, and her romance with Kirk transferred over to one with Chekov), led to Fontana asking to be credited under [[MoustacheDePlume the pseudonym Michael Richards.]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The original concept for this episode, by D.C. Fontana, was entitled "Joanna" and was to have introduced Joanna [=McCoy=], Bones' daughter (whom Fontana and Creator/DeForestKelley had created between production of the first two seasons), who was to have been college-aged and (inevitably) fallen in love with Kirk, driving a rift between the two friends; the episode was intended as an allegory of the "generation gap" which was being widely discussed at the time.[[note]]Between the Baby Boomers, the eldest of whom were in their early twenties and would have been about Joanna's age (and who were also ''Star Trek''[='=]s core audience), and their parents, whom we now call the Greatest Generation, who had fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and were middle-aged (and gradually losing their dominance over American culture -- Boomers would take over by TheSeventies).[[/note]] The episode would have also established Bones as having been divorced (acrimoniously) from Joanna's mother, which was reused for ''Film/StarTrek2009''. It only got as far as the outline stage before the story was radically rewritten under the regime of showrunner Fred Freiberger and story editor Arthur Singer. The changes to the script, particularly the removal of Joanna from the story (her part was radically rewritten into that of Irina Galliulin, and her romance with Kirk transferred over to one with Chekov), led to Fontana asking to be credited under [[MoustacheDePlume the pseudonym Michael Richards.]]

* CreatorBacklash: Creator/JamesDoohan said this was the only ''Original Series'' episode he didn't like. Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand from season one) likewise likened it to [[Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain "Spock's Brain"]] as one of the worst the show ever aired. Creator/WalterKoenig thought it was out of character for the youthful Chekov to act as an "establishment-loving conservative," in contrast to the hippies, and called it a low point for his character. D.C. Fontana was unhappy with the rewrite of her original script, and requested to be credited under her pseudonym "Michael Richards". This is the episode that was changed so much she got fed up and left the show.
* DawsonCasting: Charles Napier and Phyllis Douglas were both thirty-two at the time, playing "Space Hippies", most probably in their early twenties.

* NewAgeRetroHippie: In this episode, Spock is shown as being sympathetic to the hippies and secretly sharing their idealism. Bjo Trimble, an unofficial and official publicist for ''Star Trek'' over the years, says the show always had a substantial hippie following, based on Mr. Spock and the realization that "he didn't belong anywhere"[[note]]Nimoy confirmed this in 1968 and famously said [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1fbSDjD9txY/URp3qbzimTI/AAAAAAAAC0A/OmjchT0vY1M/s1600/spock_teen_outcast_1.jpg Spock created]] [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GyqmQJI94Ac/URp3dYXnr-I/AAAAAAAACz4/3agoGQZpNaY/s1600/spock_teen_outcast_2.jpg a place for himself]] in the galaxy simply by being so brilliant and useful that he would be welcome anywhere.[[/note]]. Many fans gave themselves new names or nicknames that reflected both Vulcan and hippie elements.
--> ''It is my sincere wish that you do not give up your search for Eden. I have no doubt but that you will find it, or make it yourselves.''
* PlayingAgainstType: Laid back musician Adam is a quite shocking departure for Charles Napier, who almost always played stiff military types. He would even come back to the franchise as exactly that in ''Deep Space Nine''!