I just discovered Star Trek's forgotten spin-off lasted way longer than expected

Imagine tuning into your favorite sci-fi series and suddenly, it feels like you’re watching something completely different. That’s exactly what happened with the Star Trek episode Assignment: Earth, a curious detour from the usual adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew.

Instead of phasers and Klingons, we got a mysterious man with a black cat, secret missions, and a ton of James Bond-style gadgets. And believe it or not, this wasn’t a glitch; it was a test run for a spin-off show that never got off the ground.

The episode first aired on March 29, 1968, as part of Star Trek’s second season finale. By then, the show had already been canceled once and was barely holding on, saved by a passionate fan campaign.

To mix things up, the creators threw in a twist: The Enterprise travels back in time to the year 1968, a big jump for “historical research,” according to Captain Kirk. But that’s not all. While hiding out in Earth’s orbit, they detect an unusual transporter signal coming from the planet. Someone else is time-traveling, and it’s not someone from Starfleet.

A transporter beam suddenly materializes on the Enterprise, delivering a sharp-suited, mysterious man with a black cat. His name? Gary Seven, played by Robert Lansing. And no, he’s not your regular human. Gary claims to be from the 24th century, which is even farther ahead than where Kirk comes from.

He also introduces himself with a code: Supervisor 194. Sounds official, right? But Kirk isn’t convinced. After all, Gary is talking about hijacking nuclear missiles, which is not exactly the best way to earn trust.

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The plot of Assignment: Earth

So what’s Gary doing in 1968? He says he’s on a mission to stop Earth from destroying itself during the Cold War. His orders? Take control of a U.S. nuclear missile before a military error sparks World War III. Of course, Kirk and Spock can’t just let this guy roam free, especially when he’s toying with weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, Gary has a base of operations: a New York City office complete with a vault-turned-portal, a supercomputer, and a secretary named Roberta Lincoln, played by Teri Garr. Roberta has no idea what’s going on at first, but soon becomes Gary’s reluctant partner-in-crime-fighting.

Gary doesn’t just talk the talk. He’s equipped with some sci-fi gadgets that would make even James Bond jealous:

A small tool that looks like a fancy pen but can do pretty much everything. Need to unlock a door, hypnotize someone, or hack into computers? The Servo does it all.

Hidden behind a wall safe, this is Gary’s transportation device that lets him zip around Earth instantly. Think of it like a time-traveling elevator.

Gary communicates with a high-level AI in his office, which feeds him mission updates. It even scolds him when he falls behind schedule. A literal backseat driver.

Gary reveals he’s part of a larger organization from the future that sends agents to key points in history to prevent disasters. Basically, he’s a time cop, ensuring humanity doesn’t wipe itself out too soon.

What’s fascinating is that the episode hints at a whole bureaucracy of time travelers, complete with rankings, supervisors, and assignments. It's a rich world-building concept that, sadly, never got fully explored.

While Kirk and Spock are in the episode, make no mistake, this is Gary Seven’s story. The focus shifts away from the familiar Star Trek crew and spends most of the time following Gary, Roberta, and Isis the cat. In fact, Kirk and Spock are more like supporting characters.

What’s going on here? Simple. This episode was what Hollywood calls a backdoor pilot, a way to sneak in the first episode of a new show inside an existing one. Creator Gene Roddenberry had been cooking up a spin-off featuring Gary Seven and used Star Trek as the launchpad.

The plan? If Star Trek got canceled (which seemed likely), they could jump straight into Assignment: Earth as a brand-new series.

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Why the series didn’t happen

Just as Gary Seven prepared to take off into TV land, something unexpected happened: Star Trek got saved. Thanks to a massive fan letter campaign, NBC renewed the show for a third season. That meant the network didn’t need a replacement series anymore, so Gary’s show was quietly shelved.

Even though the TV show never happened, Gary Seven found new life in Star Trek’s expanded universe.

He popped up in several issues over the years, keeping his time-traveling adventures alive.

From 2001 to 2006, author Greg Cox wrote a trilogy that connected Gary Seven to Khan Noonien Singh, one of Star Trek’s most iconic villains. The books dive deep into how Gary and Roberta tried to stop the rise of superhumans like Khan during the chaotic Eugenics Wars, a secret history that explains how the world spiraled toward destruction.

Years later, in 2022, Gary Seven made a quiet comeback. Well… sort of. In an episode of Star Trek: Picard, we learn that his organization, the Supervisors, still exists. It’s a small nod, but one that made longtime fans cheer.

Assignment: Earth has always divided fans. Some loved its mystery and futuristic spy vibe. Others felt it didn’t belong in Star Trek at all. But over time, it’s become a cult favorite, especially among those who love alternate timelines and “what-if” scenarios.

In the end, Assignment: Earth is a weird and wonderful blip in the Star Trek universe. It started as a spin-off that never was, but somehow lived on through books, comics, and fan love. Gary Seven may not have gotten his own series, but his legacy proves one thing: good sci-fi ideas never really die. They just travel through time.

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