original series, the predominant view was that alien predators such as the salt vampire were a lower life form which should be destroyed. He said that in "The Man Trap", the alternative argument is presented: that such creatures should not be killed. However, Geraghty felt that the writers tried to prevent viewers from feeling sympathy for the creature by revealing its true appearance as it died. Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann also discussed the killing of the creature in their book Star Trek: The Original Series 365, saying that it was "the right thing to do", but suggested that the nature of the death would have troubled McCoy for some time after the event although this was not shown in the series. A vampiric alien is a recurring idea in science fiction television series, such as the Blake's 7 episode "Sand", the Babylon 5 episode "Soul Hunter" and the television film Babylon 5: The River of Souls. The theme had already been used in written form, in Gustave Le Rouge's 1908 French science fiction work Le Prisonnier de la Planète Mars. Block and Erdmann also discussed another part of the episode where Spock is in charge on the bridge and Uhura begins to flirt with him, calling it a "quintessential scene of the series" due to the characters' sexual interest in each other. They suggested this may have been the inspiration for the Spock/Uhura relationship introduced in the 2009 reboot film Star Trek. Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, later said that she felt there were hints of an Uhura/Spock relationship in other episodes of the original series. Reception Broadcast A month prior to the premiere of Star Trek, Desilu held a screening for NBC executives to help decide which episode to broadcast first, and several stories were considered. Executives were concerned that "Mudd's Women", one potential choice, would have reviewers discussing "space hookers"; they felt another possibility, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", contained too much exposition, even though it was filmed as a second pilot. The final choice was between "The Man Trap" and "The Naked Time". Justman felt that "The Naked Time" would make it easier for viewers to understand the characters, but later agreed with NBC's decision to show "The Man Trap" first. In the book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, he suggests that it was "scarier and more exploitable than the others". "The