Today In STAR TREK History: June 18th

Come on! How amazing was this cliffhanger?

Welcome to our round-up of the Star Trek episodes which received their premiere broadcast on this day throughout the show's long history, along with anything else of note that may have taken place. All viewing figures quoted are for U.S. premiere broadcast (unless noted).

June 18th
On June 18th 1990, Star Trek: The Next Generation delivered one of its finest episodes ever in the form of Best of Both Worlds, Part I. It would be the first time the series presented a season cliffhanger, broadcast as the 26th and final episode of season three, and would see the much anticipated return of the Borg, after the debut appearance in season two's Q Who?

In this first installment of the two-part story, the Enterprise battles the Borg after they begin an invasion of Federation space much sooner than was expected. With the Enterprise unable to affect them, the Borg capture Captain Picard and turn him into one of their own.

That final jaw-dropping "Locutus of Borg" moment would not be resolved for over three months, and would have far reaching consequences on the character of Picard and the franchise in general. The storyline was even picked-up and referenced during the movie Star Trek: First Contact.

A stone-cold classic, Riker's line "Mr. Worf - Fire" is often credited as one of the greatest cliffhangers in television history. No doubt that the 10.1 million viewers who were tuned into The Best of Both Worlds, Part I would agree.

Join us again next time for another round-up of the episodes broadcast, the movie's released, the special events, the birthday's celebrated and anything else of note that went down on this day in Star Trek history.