10 Most Controversial Star Trek Episodes
6. Patterns Of Force
Patterns Of Force was banned for two decades in Germany, owing to the liberal use of NAZI imagery and iconography in the episode. The Third Reich is described as 'the most efficient' society to have ever existed, which also contributed to the ban.
In typical Original Series style, the episode is as subtle as a brick to the face, with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy donning the SS uniforms. The episode was banned from being broadcast by German television stations such as the public ZDF network and the private Sat 1 network as well. The episode wouldn't be broadcast publically in the country until 2011, forty-three years after the episode was released, though a dubbed version was shown on German Pay TV in 1996.
German law states that Nazi imagery and costumes can only be depicted in certain educational and artistic contexts, a law that is still in force as of the writing of this article. Star Trek does fall under this artistic context, though even this definition has led to major discussions between artists and German authorities.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both had Jewish backgrounds and when a photographer was invited to set, Nimoy flat refused to have any promotional images of him in Nazi garb taken.