Entertainment
The Inappropriate Joke Hidden In Plain Sight In Classic Star Trek Episode
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
For the most part, Star Trek: The Next Generation was a pretty tame show. It may have constantly put Marina Sirtis in skimpy outfits, but this is the last series where you might expect a character to make a vulgar joke.
Nevertheless, one such joke is hidden inside one of the show’s most important episodes. In “The Price,” a Ferengi uses his hands to tell a hapless ensign about how large his member is, in a moment that seems wildly out of place in this Star Trek spinoff.
The Infamous Gesture
If it’s been a hot minute since you watched “The Price,” here’s a quick recap: in this Star Trek adventure, different governments negotiate for the rights to what is supposedly a stable wormhole to the other side of the galaxy. Some of the representatives at these negotiations are Ferengi, a race known for their greed and general misogyny toward women. The latter quality is on full display in a scene where the Ferengi Goss makes a hand gesture toward Ensign Bailey; later, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion confirmed he was referencing the size of his “sex organ.”
This vulgar display is a real “blink and you miss it” moment…one that, in fact, most Star Trek fans missed entirely. But why is this moment in the episode at all? While we can only speculate, it’s entirely possible that director Robert Scheerer included this as a reference to another thing most fans don’t know about: Gene Roddenberry’s weird fascination with the Ferengi having huge members.
Gene Roddenberry Wanted Giant Ferengi Codpieces
Years before “The Price” aired, Roddenberry helped create the Ferengi as a new villain for our heroes to face, one that would function like the Klingons did in Star Trek: The Original Series. In a 1987 memo, the Trek creator described the Ferengi as having “prodigious sexual appetites”, and TNG producer Herb Wright later claimed that the Ferengi were manifestations of Roddenberry’s own “sex fetish.” Wright claims that Roddenberry wanted “wanted to put a gigantic codpiece on the Ferengi” as a way of confirming for audiences that these aliens were very well-endowed.
Continuing, Wright said that Roddenberry “spent 25 minutes explaining to me all the sexual positions the Ferengi could go through.” Eventually, the producer shut down all of this weird talk by telling the franchise creator that they couldn’t have all of this spicy content because “this is a family show, on at 7:00 on Saturdays.” Roddenberry agreed, and Ferengi size is not confirmed onscreen, though these misogynistic aliens retained their outsized sexual appetites as originally conceived by the Trek guru.
Was The Price A Nod To Gene Roddenberry?
It’s entirely possible that having a Ferengi brag about his size in “The Price” is a way of honoring the Star Trek creator’s original vision for these aliens. It’s also possible, of course, that this is simply a fun visual gag about a minor character bragging about his anatomy in a memorably vulgar way. These aliens are often portrayed as crude caricatures of modern capitalists, so having one of them focused on the size of his stick of latinum would be perfectly in line with their other onscreen portrayals.
As for us, we like to think that “The Price” is a way of honoring Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s wildly horny vision for these avaricious aliens. However, we may never know if Goss (presuming he was telling the truth) is uniquely endowed or if the Ferengi are collectively rocking a very thick endowment (presumably from the Great Material Continuum).
The latter might finally answer the question we’ve been asking for decades: why the heck Leeta ends up marrying Rom on Deep Space Nine?
Entertainment
How to watch Verona vs. AC Milan online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Verona vs. AC Milan in Serie A for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Serie A showcases a number of interesting matchups this weekend, including Verona vs. AC Milan. These teams are at either end of the table, so most fans will be expecting a comfortable victory for the visitors. There’s always the possibility that the slim chance of survival will drive Verona on to do something special at the Marcantonio Bentegodi.
If you want to watch Verona vs. AC Milan in Serie A for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Verona vs. AC Milan?
Verona vs. AC Milan in Serie A kicks off at 9 a.m. ET on April 19. This fixture takes place at the Marcantonio Bentegodi.
How to watch Verona vs. AC Milan for free
Verona vs. AC Milan in Serie A is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
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BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.
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Entertainment
Meta finally adds direct messages to the web version of Threads
Meta is adding a feature to the web version of Threads that, honestly, probably should’ve been there a while ago.
As spotted by Engadget, Threads executive Connor Hayes posted an image showcasing a new redesign for the web browser version of the Twitter-like social network. It’s a pretty substantial redesign, including a bunch of new elements on the left sidebar such as the ability to easily switch between different feeds. Eagle-eyed viewers will also undoubtedly notice the addition of a direct message inbox. That feature has been available in the Threads mobile app since last June, but web users have been without it for almost an entire year. That, seemingly, will change soon.
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Hayes’ post didn’t include a specific timeframe for when this new redesign will go live, so don’t get too excited just yet if you’re a web-based Threads user who wants to send and receive DMs. The only hint Hayes gave is that users can expect to see some of these updates “in the coming weeks.”
Longtime social media users might find it strange that there has been such a massive gulf in feature availability between the mobile and web versions of Threads, but it makes a certain amount of sense. Threads has actually become pretty popular, but largely on mobile. X is still the preferred microblogging service on web browsers, at least going by user count. Meta is just operating where its bread is buttered. At least now web users can rest assured that they haven’t been forgotten.
Entertainment
At BookCon 2026, Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid and show creator Jacob Tierney sit down to talk about instant chemistry and whats next for the show
The first panel at BookCon drew lines of fans an hour before its start. Fans have shown up in style. I spotted dozens of iterations of t-shirts with the faces of actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storie plastered on them. Boston Raiders, Montreal Metros, and New York Admirals jerseys are in abundance, too. 3,000 fans are here, waiting to see Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney in conversation for the first time.
But while this may be the first public conversation between the Heated Rivalry author and show creator on a grand stage, it’s clear that these two have been in perfect sync since their first Zoom call. Moderated by former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma, Reid and Tierney took to the stage at BookCon for a session called “Game Changing TV: Heated Rivalry.” The conversations spanned across their entire collaboration, from their very first DM to the music that makes the show, to how their lives have changed since the show aired.
Tierney, whose knack for comedy shines through, discussed how the show moved at a lightning pace. The adaptation kicked off in August 2023, with the first episode airing on November 28, 2025. Heated Rivalry’s inception and creation happened at lightning pace for television. Tierney, who was the co-creator and director of Letterkenny, said that, rather than the show being slowed down by roadblocks, at every turn it appeared to accelerate instead. The show was sold to HBO before it was even finished, with episode six only finishing four days before it aired.
Reid, who has penned six novels in the Game Changers series, has been involved in the journey since the beginning, first meeting Tierney over Zoom. The author said that throughout the process, she felt respected and involved in reading script drafts and audition tapes.
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While the show’s leads, Hudson Williams, who portrays Shane Hollander, and Connor Storie, who portrays Ilya Rozanov, weren’t physically present at the panel, both asked questions on behalf of the pair. Storie’s question was apt, asking the pair what made them such a mutually good fit for this adaptation. The pair said that their visions have felt instinctively aligned, with Reid noting that, as she wrote the infamous kiss between Scott and Kip depicted in episode 5 of Heated Rivalry, she had an image of the cinematic version, which Tierney was able to bring to life.
The show, which has become known for its intimate and plentiful sex scenes, is not there just for the sake of it. Tierney said he wanted to make a show with queer joy and a horny show at that, but more so, sex is a vehicle for the show’s characters to be honest and vulnerable with each other.
Music also came up, with the show’s needle drops, including Tatu’s “All The Things She Said” and Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything,” having a renaissance two decades after their release. There’s no formal equation to the music; instead, they let the songs be like casting the right actor, with Tierney noting that songs should serve a “specific task.”
Tierney is in the midst of writing season two of Heated Rivalry, which takes on Reid’s sequel, Long Game. The writer and director called Long Game “an emotionally sophisticated book” and said that parts of Reid’s Role Model will find their way into season two. For Reid, a new book in the Game Changer series, Unrivaled, is due for a 2027 release. The author is still in the writing stage, mentioning that while she felt pressure writing Long Game, the previous book in the series, Unrivaled presents a whole new challenge because of the show’s massive popularity.
Fans in the room seemed alight, hearing first-hand from the author and creator of Heated Rivalry, basking in an hour dedicated to a show that set the internet and book world ablaze. Moderator Versha Sharma ended on the sentiment that the whole room could agree on: “Rachel Reid’s universe is the world as it should be.”
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