Trivia / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S06E13 "Far Beyond the Stars"

• Directed by Cast Member: An especially notable occurrence, given that cast members on Trek shows rarely directed episodes in which their character had a lot to do (it was simply too much work for one person). For this one, the producers decided that only an African-American director could really understand the themes of the episode, so Avery Brooks was allowed to do it.
• Reality Subtext: Willie Hawkins always being seen in such a good mood, in contrast to the usually dour and not-so openly chatty Worf, wasn't coincidental; Michael Dorn was really enjoying the fact that he didn't have to wear his usual Klingon makeup.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Damar was supposed to have a counterpart in the 1950s, but unfortunately, Casey Biggs was unavailable. Luckily, he did appear in the sequel, "Shadows and Symbols".
  • The producers toyed with having the final scene of the entire series fade into Benny finishing a story titled "Deep Space Nine". They also mused about ending with a scene of Benny directing an episode of a TV show called Deep Space Nine, but worried about the Recursive Canon problems that would create.
  • The first draft script had numerous differences from the final version:
    • Instead of being a vision given to Benjamin Sisko by the prophets, Jake Sisko was apparently sent back in time to the 1950s, only to find out at the end of the story that the whole thing had been a simulation he was given by some aliens in order for them to understand the concept of bigotry. This aspect of the story was completely jettisoned, due to the producers feeling it was the kind of story that would have been more at home on TNG or Voyager than this show.
    • Jake being apparently sent back in time meant Jimmy was absent from the 1950s scenes. It was originally going to be Willie Hawkins who was shot dead by the racist police officers — in this version Willie was in a relationship with a white woman, whose neighbors falsely accused him of domestic abuse, leading to the police showing up and shooting him on sight.
    • The magazine's owner accused Benny Russell of being a Communist sympathizer in order to justify firing him. This was deleted partly because the producers thought the episode's politics were complicated enough without bringing the Red Scare into the equation, and partly to make the point that back in the 1950s, a business owner could fire an employee purely because of his race and get away with it scot-free.
    • The ending showed Herbert Rossoff paying on Benny's behalf for the story to be published, resulting in it initially selling next to nothing, but eventually becoming a Sleeper Hit during the Civil Rights era. The change in the framing story resulted in this aspect being cut out.

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