10 Most Paused Star Trek Moments

10. Great Bird Of The Galaxy

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1, Episode 3

Gene Roddenberry, as we all well known, not only created Star Trek but was one of the main reasons for its early success. Less well known though is that this led to him getting the nickname 'The Great Bird of the Galaxy'. Even lesser well known than that is that he makes an appearance as this avian innovator in The Next Generation. Sort of.

In the episode The Naked Now - a remake/sequel to the Original Series' episode The Naked Time where everyone contracts a virus that makes them incredibly horny - Data is assigned to review some Starfleet records, where he comes across the image above. Here, Roddenberry's head is grafted to the body of a bird; an image designed by Michael Okuda and included as a joke.

The image is barely visible for a second on-screen and remains the only time that Roddenberry has appeared, in any form, in the franchise at all. The Star Trek Encyclopedia did contain an image of him in uniform, stating that he was Captain Robert April, the very first captain of the Starship Enterprise, though this never made it to screen.

The Great Bird of the Galaxy appears only once in this episode and it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.