It shouldn’t be forgotten that Gene Roddenberry, in addition to envisioning a future without war and conflict, was also an insufferable horndog. He clearly believed in free love, and exalted the importance of sex and orgasms on more than one occasion. He likely had no issues in the 1960s with keeping the show’s female cast members in miniskirts.
Fontana recalls the early brainstorming sessions for “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and some of the ideas that would eventually make it onto the show. For one, the U.S.S. Enterprise was a much larger ship. The captain wouldn’t be an adventurer but would remain on the bridge during away missions. Fontana also recalled the multi-breasted Troi idea:
“I objected to Troi having three breasts. I felt women have enough trouble with two. And how are you going to line them up? Vertically, horizontally, or what? I was like, ‘Please, don’t go there.’ And they didn’t, fortunately.”
Adding an additional breast to a very human actress would have not only required a heck of a lot of makeup, but would certainly have pushed the boundaries of good taste. Three boobs sounds like a conceit from “Flesh Gordon” rather than “Star Trek.” Fontana didn’t say if it was Roddenberry who suggested Troi have three breasts, but Trekkies may infer all they like (although, honestly, it could have been anyone).
Incidentally, there is a character on “Star Trek” that had polymastia. An unnamed cat-like alien in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” — one who gave table dances at a dive bar on Nimbus III — had three breasts.
Also, actress Lycia Naff, who played Sonya Gomez on “NextGen” would also play a three-breasted sex worker in Paul Verhoeven’s 1991 film “Total Recall.”