The story for "Yesterday's Enterprise" was based on a spec script that Ganino wrote and submitted to the TNG writing staff through Michael Piller's open submission policy. Ganino's script featured the Enterprise-C under the command of Captain Robert Garrett – a character named after Ganino's favorite pizza parlor in his hometown of San Jose, California. Back in 1989, Ganino's spec script languished on the shelves of TNG staff writers and only gradually made the rounds to the desks of Melinda Snodgrass, Hans Beimler, and, eventually, Michael Piller.