1. James T. Kirk Shot in the Back by Tolian Sorin Over a Matter of 80 Dollars
While this one doesn't really qualify as something you never got to see (since the footage is widely available online, it was released on DVD, and if you've read the entirety of this article, there's a strong likelihood you've seen it already), but it makes the top of this list by virtue of being the most ill-conceived, poorly-executed, utterly wrongheaded thing that ever almost made it into the final cut of a Star Trek production. The original script of Star Trek Generations had Captain Kirk meeting his demise by being shot in the back and....well, dying. As one might expect, director David Carson and actor William Shatner both had strong misgivings about the iconic Kirk character suffering such an ignominious fate, but Paramount executives insisted the scene be shot as scripted, and so it was. It was not until test-screening audiences howled in outraged disapproval that the studio execs were persuaded to authorize a rewrite of the scene, which then had to be reshot at an expense of $5 million in a two-week pickup shoot that wrought havoc on an already cramped post-production schedule. The end result? Kirk avoids an ignoble coward's death by... getting a bridge dropped on him. Oh my. Which other unmade Star Trek stories do you wish had been made? Share your own picks in the comments thread below.
Recovering print journalist, writing professionally since 1991, polluting the internet and wasting the world's bandwidth since 1995. Board-certified Doctor of Memetics and Trollology, offering free consultations to qualified patients.
