Entertainment
Star Trek Creator Secretly Appeared In One Episode, And Nobody Noticed
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Gene Roddenberry is rightfully considered one of the most visionary creators in television history. He brought us Star Trek: The Original Series, kickstarting a franchise that has lasted over 60 years through various movies and spinoff shows. Through the medium of sci-fi, Roddenberry explored major issues ranging from Civil Rights to Cold War tension. In fact, he put almost everything into the first Star Trek show except for himself.
Unlike his wife, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry never gave himself a major role in any Star Trek project. This is why you never see his face onscreen at any point. However, what most fans don’t realize is that Roddenberry secretly made a single, uncredited appearance in one episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. In “Charlie X,” the second episode ever broadcast on TV, he served as the voice of the galley chef aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Talking Turkey With Captain Kirk
“Charlie X” is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series that would arguably be more at home in The Twilight Zone. The Enterprise rescues a 17 year old who is the sole survivor of a crashed ship. The boy soon exhibits extreme powers of telepathy and transmutation, which take a sinister turn when he does things like make people who annoy him disappear from reality. Captain Kirk and his crew are unable to contain the boy, but the godlike aliens who gave Charlie his powers eventually show up and take custody of the dangerous young man.
Based on that description, you’re probably wondering why the heck the Enterprise galley chef even pops up in the episode. “Charlie X” takes place on Thanksgiving, and Captain Kirk wants his crew (who are almost entirely human) to get into the holiday spirit. Earlier in the episode, he tells Charlie that if the crew “has to eat synthetic meat loaf, I want it to look like turkey.” Later, the galley chef talks to Kirk over the ship’s intercom and tells him that even though he put meatloaf in the oven, it has been replaced with actual turkey meat. Charlie laughs, effectively cutting off their conversation.
Making Way For A Woman At Warp
It’s a very short interaction, one that is meant to subtly underscore Charlie’s reality-warping powers. We see the chef at one point, who is played by an unknown actor who doesn’t speak. When the chef speaks over the intercom with Kirk, he is voiced by Gene Roddenberry, making his one and only appearance in a Star Trek episode. William Shatner may have actually acknowledged this cameo on screen, calling the man “chief” instead of “chef.”
The fact that this is Gene Roddenberry’s only onscreen appearance in Star Trek is ironic because his wife became a mainstay actor throughout the franchise. Majel Barrett Rodenberry played Number One in the original pilot episode and Nurse Chapel in The Original Series. She also voiced the ship’s computer in The Original Series and The Next Generation and many other roles (including Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson) in The Animated Series. For fans of the Golden Age of Star Trek, though, Majel will always be best known as Lwaxana Troi, mother to beloved TNG character Deanna Troi.
Gene Avoided The Screen
As for Gene Roddenberry, he never appeared onscreen in any future Star Trek shows or movies. However, later creators did their best to retroactively make him a part of franchise history. In reference books like the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek Chronology, you can see a Photoshopped image of Roddenberry in an older-style Original Series uniform under the listing for Robert April. April is the very first Captain of the Enterprise (before Captain Pike took command) and is played by Adrian Holmes in Strange New Worlds.
We may never know exactly why Gene Roddenberry voiced the lowly, one-off character of the chef in “Charlie X.” In the early days of the show, it might have simply been easier to have him voice the character in the one scene than to hire an entirely new actor. At any rate, this has always been one of the best early episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. But the fact that it represents Roddenberry’s one and only appearance in any version of Trek makes this episode a bona fide part of franchise history.
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NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 2, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: A Pittsburgh Athlete
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Green: Seen on an MLB Scorebug
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Blue: Teams in the PWHL Playoffs
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Purple: Horse Racing Triple Crowns
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #585 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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A Pittsburgh Athlete: PANTHER, PENGUIN, PIRATE, STEELER
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Seen on an MLB Scorebug: COUNT, INNING, OUTS, SCORE
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Teams in the PWHL Playoffs: CHARGE, FLEET, FROST, VICTORIE
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Horse Racing Triple Crowns: AFFIRMED, CITATION, JUSTIFY, WHIRLAWAY
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to today’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Pips hints, answers for May 2, 2026
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.
Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.
Currently, if you’re stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.
How to play Pips
If you’ve ever played dominoes, you’ll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we’ve shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don’t necessarily have to match.
The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.
Here are common examples you’ll run into across the difficulty levels:
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Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.
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Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.
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Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.
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Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
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Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.
Easy difficulty hints, answers for May 2 Pips
Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed horizontally.
Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed horizontally.
Less Than (6): Everything in this space must be less than 6. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for May 2 Pips
Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically.
Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally.
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Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally
Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed vertically.
Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed vertically.
Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 2-6, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.
Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-6, placed vertically.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for May 2 Pips
Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically; 2-5, placed vertically.
Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically.
Number (15): Everything in this space must add up to 15. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally.
Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.
Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-1, placed vertically.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-1, placed vertically; 1-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally.
Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally; 0-1, placed horizontally.
Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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