Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 8, 2016
"The Man Trap" was the first episode to be broadcast in the American science fiction television series Star Trek, although it was the sixth to be filmed. It aired on NBC on September 8, 1966. The story was assigned to George Clayton Johnson; his first draft was entitled "Damsel With a Dulcimer", incorporating elements from his Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying". Series creator Gene Roddenberry, producer Robert H. Justman and story editor John D. F. Black all tweaked elements of the episode. The story, part of Roddenberry's original Star Trek pitch to the studio, was chosen for the first broadcast episode because the studio liked its horror-based plot. "The Man Trap" placed first in the timeslot with a Nielsen rating of 25.2 percent for the first half-hour and 24.2 for the remainder. After broadcast, reviewers criticized the violent scenes but praised the acting. More recent appraisals have been mixed; praise has been given to the plot and diverse cast, but Hollywood.com listed it among the worst episodes of the series. The creature, created by Wah Chang and William Ware Theiss, has been dubbed the "salt vampire" by fans. (Full article...)