25 WORST Episodes Of Star Trek EVER
12. The Alternative Factor - TOS
Two versions of the same man from two different universes collide and the Enterprise is dragged between them.
Sounds alright, doesn't it? So how did this go so wrong?
There were a number of issues. John Drew Barrymore (yes, HER Dad) was cast as the two men, Lazarus, but on the morning filming was supposed to start, he didn't show up and Robert Brown was rapidly cast instead. With no time to prepare for the role, the man simply doesn't deliver. Having said that, there wasn't an awful lot for him to work with.
The script was all over the place. The idea above gets lost in the drudgery of the episode. The truth is - nothing really happens in the episode. A man arrives and goes home effectively sums the episode up nicely. The rest of the crew are merely set dressing and both James Doohan and George Takei get to escape with their dignity unscathed as their characters don't appear in the episode.
Originally featuring very weak effects, these were updated for the remastered editions. What does that show? That, to be frank, you can put a bad gift in the nicest box with the nicest wrapping paper - it's still a bad gift and the inevitable return is on the horizon.