What Star Trek episode made the biggest impression on Rod Roddenberry?

Rod Roddenberry shared his favorite Star Trek episode

As Gene Roddenberry’s son, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry grew up mired in the phenomena that is Star Trek. On a recent Reddit AMA, he said he was ultimately a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation (he worked as a production assistant on the show), but when asked what his personal, all-time favorite episode of the franchise was, he didn’t point to a TNG episode but one from Star Trek: The Original Series that is actually series star William Shatner’s favorite.

In answering the question, Roddenberry, who is the executive producer of Discovery, Short Treks, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and the upcoming Strange New Worlds, said “The Devil in the Dark” made the biggest impression on him when he was first introduced to The Original Series.

"I was blown away with the antagonist, a rock monster, who turned out to simply be misunderstood and it was a mother protecting its young and the humans unknowingly were killing its children. I love the twist recognizing that we were the devil in the dark."

The Star Trek episode, “The Devil in the Dark,” has long been a fan favorite

Reception for this episode has always been positive for the most part as it has ranked high in best episode lists as well as essential episode lists from places like Empire, Business Insider, and Collider. Fans

Written by Gene Coon, “The Devil in the Dark” also has the distinction of being the first where Dr. McCoy issues one of his famous lines. “I’m a doctor not a…” In this case, it was “I’m a doctor not a bricklayer.” It was also the episode where NBC announced the renewal of the series for season two on March 9, 1967.