10 Star Trek Episodes That Paid Off WAY Later
6. Elementary, Dear Data
Elementary, Dear Data is almost as pure a comedy episode as it's possible to get - while the ship is still in very real danger. Daniel Davis delivers a stellar performance as Professor Moriarty, while Diana Muldaur is excellent as Dr. Pulaski as well. However, the best moment of the episode probably must go to Worf's sudden jump as Picard pops his top hat.
However, this episode makes this list with the shortest payoff time, with only four seasons between it and Ship In A Bottle, but with the largest behind-the-scenes reason for the delay. When this episode was in production, the producers believed that Sherlock Holmes was in the public domain. After the episode aired, the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle got in touch to inform them that this was not the case and that they would need recompense for any future depictions of the characters.
This killed the plans for rapid sequels and left Moriarty in cybernetic limbo. By the time that Ship In A Bottle was produced, the delay was actually noted on-screen, along with a reference to Pulaski, though not by name. This would be the final reference to her character to date.