“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

These familiar words are part of the intro to Star Trek, the 1966-1969 series that defined and inspired sci-fi for decades. But it’s not the first intro that creator Gene Roddenberry wrote.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the first draft reads, “This is the story of the United Space Ship Enterprise. Assigned a five year patrol of our galaxy, the giant starship visits Earth colonies, regulates commerce, and explores strange new worlds and civilizations. These are its voyages … and its adventures.”

Wheh. Thank the Organians that Roddenberry had a second draft. The intro we know and love is about a journey. The first draft was about ... regulating commerce. Yeah, that’s exciting.

This isn’t the only tweak to Star Trek’s theme. Roddenberry had written lyrics to Alexander Courage’s theme song, only to discard them. It seems he created them only to cut into Courage’s profits.

The familiar intro was edited to become more inclusive to women and other Federation members, swapping “no man” to “no one” as of 1987, with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation. As for the original crew, “no one” was used as an outro in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

What do you think about the first draft of Star Trek's intro?