10 Star Trek: TNG Facts You Probably Didn't Know

In 1989, TNG decided to try something unheard of for TV. They began to accept unsolicited scripts from amateur writers. The official policy was that anyone could send in up to two scripts. Afterwords, they would need an agent to get eyes on their work. TNG received over 10,000 submissions, but only a handful were accepted.

One of the most famous spec scripts that made it to air was Yesterday's Enterprise. The original script by Trent Christopher Ganino was the starting point. It was then sent to be reworked by the in-house writers.

The writers ended up having to work over Thanksgiving weekend in order to get it finished in time for filming. In an interview about this, writer Ira Steven Behr said, laughing, "That pissed everyone off to no end ... but that was the job." The hard work was worth it, and the creative original idea became the base of a well-regarded episode.

In the end Paramount decided that the open submission policy was more risk than it was worth. They were having issues with people claiming plagiarism and suing, but in the years it existed, some bright new writers got their break.