Why Star Trek's First Female Writer Wanted Her Name Removed From One Episode's Credits
Throughout her run writing for "Star Trek," D.C. Fontana penned some of the best episodes of "The Original Series" ... and one she didn't even want to be associated with. Fontana was the first female writer hired on the original "Star Trek" series that aired from 1966 to 1969 on NBC. After she wrote the original script for "The Enterprise Incident," she disapproved of the rewrites, which contributed to her decision to step away from the show.
The Season 3 Episode 2 story features a strategic seduction scene between Spock and a Romulan commander solely for Spock to get information from her. "Any Romulan worth her salt would have instantly suspected Spock because they are related races," Fontana told Cinefantastique. Along with this, Fontana disapproved of the size of Kirk's cloaking device, which was supposed to be concealable. "There were a lot of little things that were changed, but my biggest objection... is the scene between Spock and the woman because I really did not believe it."
There was more than one issue that led to D.C. Fontana leaving Star Trek
Despite most of her original script being heavily rewritten, D.C. Fontana is credited as a writer for "The Enterprise Incident," along with Arthur H. Singer. "I wanted to take my name off it. Gene talked me out of it, but I ended my contract shortly thereafter," Fontana revealed. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek," had been working with Fontana for some time before she threw in the towel. She had been his secretary before he hired her as a story editor on the series.
The massive rewrite of "The Enterprise Incident" wasn't the only thing that fueled Fontana's decision to leave the show. Roddenberry "had gotten weird," Fontana said in an interview with Future, Science Fiction Digest. "He was acting strangely. Got into quarrels with people. It caused a lot of unhappiness. So I decided that I would fulfill my contract ... and then was out of there." Citing burnout and frustration with NBC, Roddenberry also stepped away from "TOS" during its third and final season, though he retained executive producer status.
Fontana returned to the "Star Trek" universe periodically throughout her impressive writing career. She later worked on "Star Trek: The Animated Series," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."