Top 10 Most Polarizing Star Trek TOS Episodes
Vložit
- čas přidán 1. 10. 2016
- You've probably heard it before, even if you're not very familiar with Star Trek TOS.
"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the best episode (?), "Spock's Brain" is the worst episode blah, blah, blah. The 1st Season was great, the 3rd Season was crap... And so on.
Well, I've always felt that the truth (so to speak) about TOS is far more complicated and intresting than all the fan cliches and stereotypes, in particular the truth about the series troubled final season. FIND IT OUT FOR YOURSELF :-) You may start with these 10 episodes. - Krátké a kreslené filmy
The 'Empath' was a unique, eerie, story, so it deserves credit for its originality.
Also Bones manages to out wit both Spock and Kirk. I honestly didn't see it coming.
I think it was based on or similar to _The Outer Limits (1963)_ episode "Nightmare" also directed by the director of this episode, John Erman. So much for originality.
Always loved this episode.
Also Jen's eyes were so gorgeous. Deemed worthy of several Shatner boxed-light close-ups in the episode. I'll bet he complained. (Unless she blewhim.)
Brilliant soundtrack as well.
For me The Empath is one of the most important episodes, and also ranks among the very best. In my opinion it, more than any other installment, highlights and deeply explores the nature of the relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. It reveals that, despite their frequent bickering, friction, and butting heads, Spock and McCoy in fact have an extremely high regard for each other and a very deep bond of friendship - and would, without a moment's hesitation, lay down their lives for each other. And this is no less true of Kirk also.
Agreed!
Also Jen's eyes were gorgeous. Deemed worthy of several Shatner boxed-light close-ups in the episode. I would bet he complained to the director. (Unless she blewthem.) Ok go.
@@zitherzon2121 The actress who played Gem went on to a very successful career in a major role in one of the most famous soap operas of all time: As The World Turns.
This video would have been more enjoyable if it had included commentary on why people liked or disliked the episodes. To me, some of them were middle-of-the-road, I neither loved them nor hated them. This left me wondering what the video's author was thinking.
My thoughts exactly.....
Your handle is tremendous!
@@GestapoPussyRanch is it like occam s race or,,,,,
We think differently. Thank goodness. And as the Frenchman said " Vive la différence ".
Exactly. This is just a series of clips.
Apparently, there seems to be quite a number of fans who loved The Empath.
Add me to the list who loved it.
Yes, probably my absolute favorite episode....the actress who played the empath spoke volumes w/o uttering a single syllable! She was incredible....that episode made an impact on me at a very young age.
Sorry. I've always hated Empath because of the torture scenes. You both make fine, interesting points, and have enlightened me on it, but I find no room for BDSM in TOS.
We had your own names for the episodes this one was "trowel heads"
I think I missed the beginning the first time I viewed it so didn't understand what was going on and had to wait 79 episodes for it to come around again.
I was ten when Star Trek was originally shown for the first time in the 60s. Loved it then and hung out for every Saturday night when it was shown. Saw 2001 a space odysey when it came out originally 50 years ago in a huge cinema. I got to witness the space program culminating in the moon landing also. The first photo of the earth taken from the moon was paradigm shattering! Lucky.
D Jackman TY for your comment. TY very much. The future, even if it may seem an eternity away, is bright, if divided.
Me too
I was 3 when I saw them walk the moon, or moonwalk... I just loved Star Trek, no matter how good or bad!
The Original Series aired on Thursday night for the first two seasons. Were you watching reruns on Saturdays?
I was a few years younger than you (only saw one or two episodes as an eight year old in original runs), but remember Apollo 11 like yesterday and soaked up Star Trek TOS in first reruns in Seattle area. Now watching again and amazed by how brilliant the writing was and also how scientifically grounded a lot of it was. Look at the Star Trek family now! Amazing.
I used to really hate "Conscience of the King", but as I became more familiar with Shakespeare, I really got to like it.
Very well said Brother Douglas ! (29 April 1825 hours)
That's a very good episode. I especially like the jazzy Star Trek theme in the post production party. And the sexual innuendo when Kirk takes Lady MacBeth for a stroll aboard the ship."Caesar of the stars."
Conscience Of The King is an excellent first season episode.
I don't care for Shakespeare, but what I don't like about it is the ending. Instead of hauling her serial-killing ass of to jail or to get psychiatric help, they just wipe her memory? What a lame example of female privilege!
@Charles Ross Agreed, however the first season was and STILL is the very BEST episodes of the Original Star Trek series.
I loved the Empath. The actress was an incredible beauty. And what performance she gave. The music was also beautiful. I know people thought the themes of self sacrifice was nothing new and rather boring. The torture was also bad subject matter. But in this story, you actually saw Bones, commit mutiny by sedating both Kirk and Spock. How he escaped court martial is beyond me. He had never actively done that in any other episode. He was ready to sacrifice himself to save Kirk and Spock and the Empath's life. He was totally committed to saving others and not himself. An heroic act that transcends his character. And it was great character development. Wink of an Eye never made any sense to me. If these ppl are moving at such high rates, then why are the events in real time coinciding with theirs. They should be totally of phase. In fact, the ppl moving at high rates, could actually have all died by the time the Enterprise moved out of orbit. Not well thought out for a script. The other episodes are fine.
The actress went on to play Mrs. Hughes on As The World Turns.
Put me down as an ardent fan of both Spectre of the Gun and Arena.
I used to hate Spectre of the Gun, but now I really enjoy it.
I absolutely love the old west and have always liked this episode, especially considering Kelly had been in several westerns before this.
@@MrManfly Ironic isn't it. He played Morgan Earp in the 1957 Movie GUN FIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL.
@@coleparker prob where they got the idea for the episode
@@kennethcrist443 It does grow on you. I use to wish that they would have gone with the original idea of filming it on a Western Backlot street. But then I thought well this setting makes it more dreamlike or illusory.
MCCOY: Have you ever seen a victim of Rigelian fever? They die in one day. The effects are like bubonic plague.
FLINT: Constantinople, summer 1334. It marched through the streets, the sewers. It left the city by ox cart, by sea, to kill half of Europe. The rats, rustling and squealing in the night as they, too, died. The rats.
James Daley as Flint hooked me with the way he delivered that line. He winced at the word plague. My older brother and I watched these episodes as children and we were both history buffs so we thought the Flint character was a cool idea. It was also a pleasant surprise that Spock was a student of art and music and could play the piano. Requiem was a fav of mine, but I admit its flaws deserve to keep it out of the top 15 or so episodes.
The writers on that episode were no doubt inspired by one in "The Twilight Zone" titled "Long Live Walter Jameson," about a professor who knows his history very well because he lived through it for 2,000 years. Unlike Flint, however, he didn't invent things or make any technological advances. I agree that the actor who played Flint was convincing and first rate.
Flint and reyna episode was1 of my favs. A test of power....also kind of like highlander...lives forever. Star trek 1of the best!!
Interesting when they had a Star Trek version of the Gun Fight at OK Corral. Deforest Kelley acted in the movies along with Burt Lancaster, Rhonda Fleming, Kirk Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bob Hopper. Deforest Kelley played the part of Morgan Earp.
_The Empath_ was fantastic!
You're kidding. ...right...?
"The Empath" SUCKED! But, hey, the fact anyone liked it, only shows how subjective picking best, or favorite episodes can be...
Everyone rags on the 3rd season of Star Trek, but aside from only a few really bad episodes, I really enjoyed it. It actually has some episodes that I would put in a top 15-20 list, most notably "The Tholian Web," "The Enterprise Incident," and "All Our Yesterdays."
Last Battlefield was a really bad episode, but it did have one top-notch scene: when asked about why the two guys hate each other so much, and the answer comes out: "he's black on the left side, I'm black on the right side" and the viewer immediately thinks "what the heck does that have to do with anything" followed by "oh... yeah, I get it". A great moment.
Would be a little on the nose today, but when I was a kid, it was an amazing revelation even though I had no exposure to race issues -- other than U.S. news which I didn't follow.
Heavyhanded but effective, and extra points for casting the magnificent Frank Gorshin.
Sad to see people justifying racism in the comments to clips of that episode.
It has a couple odd moments, like when Commissioner Bele disintegrates his own ship (to save costs on a model?), and they leave the doors open to the rec room so Spock can listen in to Lokai's attempt to gain sympathy from the crew (he can probably hear through closed doors). Also they use imagery of burning buildings (from WW2?) while they run to signify the destruction of their civilization, which would not be consistent with them killing each other hand-to-hand, leaving bodies in the street.
And the Children Shall Lead must be the worst episode of the entire franchise, even worse than the Voyager one where Janeway and Paris de-evolve into frogs and get it on.
The scene where Kirk is forced to confront his "beast," makes the entire episode worthwhile. In the School Of Shatner Overacting, it's an absolute gem of a scene!
I thought that I was the only one who thought that was the absolute worst
Apparently you never watched Platos Stepchildren? I mean Kirk crawling around on all fours making noises like a fucking horse??...even stoned out of my mind I would still be like...WTF!!
Totally agree. Only the last episode where Kirk and the Woman Scientist change bodies comes close to it. But I also never did like the one where the plants take over the bodies.
@@coleparker Turnabout Intruder.
God Bless Real Star Trek
arena doesnt belong on the list. clearly one of the best episodes of the series
William Shatner probably voted it down. During an explosion sequence on that episode, his inner ear received the horrible permanent damage that is tinnitus.
Some people don't like rubber lizard aliens. And thus will not watch any of the '60s Star Trek because of its look.
Arena is the very first episode I remember watching when I was a kid. Will always be one of my favourites
The CGI generation can't handle the lizard suit, even though everything else about the episode was great. As children back in 1966 we definitely did snicker at the appearance of the Gorn.
I remember saying to my Dad, "Lizard people? Come on!" But I liked the universal translator thing. So I watched to see if there'd be a twist later.
good old days when actors worked, series would have to run 10 yrs now to get the same number of episodes.
Fascinating ! You see "polarization" where there never was/is any. We all have our favorites and least liked, but as I remember it , as a boy at the first
ST convention at The Americana or Commodore Hotel in New York, there was a very deep feeling of awe at our collective unity. It was as if we all suddenly realized , as individuals, that we were legion; that we were on to something . I thought only me and my brother and a few friends loved ST and that we were an anomaly. What an incredible epiphany it was to see 10,000 in the same room. Give me all 79 episodes or give me death! Each was a treasure, even the "bad" ones.
Remember reading about it in TV Guide. They were hoping for something like 4,000 people and more than 9,000 showed up.
even the worst Star Trek episodes have a memorable scene or two in them; example, in Requiem for Methuselah James Daly really made me believe he was 7000 years old, in the Empath Spock is nursing Dr McCoy, wearing his poker face, and she touches his arm and realizes all the emotions that are bottled up in Spock at that moment . . . .
@David Topchiev Mine, too.
Why is Requiem one of the worst? It had some memorable lines and scenes in it.
@David Osterman
OK, so what bits were great about Spock's Brain, if I may ask?
Because that episode is a sheer idiotic garbage (as if) made on some really bad LSD and co-written by a pre-school child, and not only to me it is the worst outing in the whole ST franchise, not just TOS.
That episode is definitely "memorable", but not in the way you used the word.
P.S. - To certain individuals within this comments thread, this video is NOT a list of the WORST ST:TOS episodes ! ! ! ! !
Go and buy a dictionary and then use it ! ! !
Spock's brain was AWESOME! What's not to like about a chick who got angry because no one told her what a brain was?! Unintentional comedic genius!
Oh, they needed to put Man trap as one of the scariest episodes. Great suspense!
Patterns of Force, one of my favorites. Tampering with the Prime Directive results in a Nazi planet. Imagine a lot of props and costumes were borrowed from Hogans Heroes for that episode.
Patterns of Force was my favorite episode as a kid, although, as I got older, I did feel a little annoyed about the transponders, which I don't think were used in any other episode. How many crises were there in the series because the landing party was separated from their communicators?
@@VonWenk Miri springs to mind
In 2020 Let that Be Your Last Battlefield I still see as an example of social commentary done right-as opposed to what us going on now.
"requiem" is one of my 2 or 3 favorites .........I saw it as an early rerun in the mid-70's and I was especially touched by the specter of Kirk's lost love (though he had countless episode where he was in love" and how Bones tried to teach Spock something of this all powerful emotion ...in the end he succeded (though he did not know he did) and spock slowly put his hands on his friend's (Kirk) head, and said a single word, "forget".
think how many of us have loved so intensely that we would have done anything for someone to come along and do a "vulcan mind meld" that would allow us to "forget" the person responsible for our broken heart.
Yes! That ending scene shows how much compassion Spock had, and Bones was wrong saying the word 'Love' was not written in Spock's book/persona. Kirk said later (ST2:WOK) that Spock was the most human soul he ever knew.
@@jaimehudson7623
thanks for reply
Spock a une grande empathie pour son ami dévasté par l’amour
J’ aurais bien besoin que quelqu’un fasse une fusion mentale avec moi pour effacer m’a souffrance. 🖖
Well said, it made for a great scene between Bones and Spock. Requiem is also one of my favorite episodes. The whole concept of an immortal being that has to continually appear to die and become another person, all the while accumulating wealth and new talents. I have to wonder if this storyline led to the creation of the Highlander series?
Obviously, Flint is the survivor of The Gathering. I was hoping it would be Duncan MacLeod, and I would have sworn I saw Duncan step off the shuttle and onto Babylon 5.
Predominantly 3rd season episodes.
I appreciate this list. Here is my input on these episodes:
Spectre of the Gun - Loved it the first time I saw it. I had no idea what was going to happen. I like stories where people are trapped in strange worlds and they have to fight their way out, like twilight zone type stuff.
This Side of Paradise - For me there were some flaws in this episode in the way it played itself out. That said, I really, really love the scene where Kirk makes Spock angry. One of my favorite Trek scenes ever in fact.
Wink of an Eye - This one is slow, but of course, I guess that's the whole point, right? I think the idea behind this race is pretty damn cool, but they don't look or act that cool. It could have been a lot better.
Elaan of Troyius - I personally love this one. Kirk's interaction with the female character is most entertaining to me. There's something about her I really like, but I'm not sure what. I also like how it had a pretty good space battle that takes place.
Is There in Truth no Beauty - Here again is a case where we have a really cool concept but that alone doesn't make it a good or interesting episode overall. It provokes some cool things to think about but the episode is kind of on the boring side.
Requiem for Methuselah - I don't really understand this episode to be honest. I thought the opening was great, as it made me excited to see how they would outsmart the villain and capture the minerals they needed. But they befriended him instead - why?
Let that be your Last Battlefield - Fantastic episode. A lot of important morality concepts were raised here which is one of the reasons TOS was such a great show. I find attempting to deal with tough moral conundrums to be fascinating.
Arena - I had no idea this episode was considered polarizing by anyone. It's highly regarded as one of the best episodes, and I most definitely agree.
Patterns of Force - Love it. An excellent episode. That's all. No question in my mind about it.
The Empath - Forgettable. A typical weak season 3 episode.
I can't believe Spock didn't just stand up and give McCoy a neck pinch at least once an episode.
He did, all right---near the end of "The Wrath of Khan". Remember when Spock and Kirk were separated by a glass partition and could not make contact? Well, Spock distracted Bones' attention and quickly knocked him out with that nerve pinch and an apologetic-yet-firm "Sorry, there isn't time"---then performed a rapid-fire mind-meld and quickly transferred his katra into McCoy's head with a quiet but emphatic "Remember."
neck pinch or bitch-slap either one was always warranted . (29 April 2018 1826 hours)
Yes, me too. McCoy could be such a badgering antagonizing dick to Spock.
Sister Joanie , even though Spock and McCoy would go at each other ,in their own way they loved each other like brothers . There is an example in the episode Conscience of the King . Spock and McCoy are disagreeing on whether or not to confront Captain Kirk on his odd behavior . When Spock presents the facts to Captain Kirk . The Captain berates Spock for prying into his personal affairs , McCoy backs Spock by informing Captain Kirk that as first officer Spock has every right to investigate anything which may affect the operation of the ship . Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly I miss those two wonderful men . R I P guys . (14 June 2018 1725 hours)
Lucky for Bones that Spock's Vulcan side kept his emotions under control.
Some of the best episodes ever, but I can see how these can be polarizing.
Polarizing is good. The more people made uncomfortable means they're starting to wake up.
Edith Keeler’s death scene, City on the Edge of Forever. How could you leave that out?
The episode, City on the Edge of Forever isn’t “polarizing”, everybody likes that episode. Though some argue that the original Harlon Elliot version was better.
@@CaseAgainstFaith1 I think it's only polarizing to him, since they took out his drug dealers on the Enterprise as well as Captain Kirk willing to give up the future of humanity to the Nazis for the love of one woman.
@@sandal_thong8631 Right. I should have been more specific
@@CaseAgainstFaith1 Yeah, I was agreeing with you that it isn't polarizing.
Even as a kid I knew Gorn was some guy in a bad monster suit. (( Hisssss! ( slow motion punch) Hissssss! )) But TOS never had the big budgets and that was sometimes the charm of the show.
They added blinking eyes in the special editions with CGI. They could have made CGI Gorn and White Rabbit from "Shore Leave," but didn't, I guess to make it seem like the effects were possible in the 1960s.
I always thought Spock's Brain was considered their Plan Nine From Outer Space. However, I still liked it.
I can not stand 'Requiem for Methuselah' the story drives me crazy they have two hours to find a life saving cure on this planet or lots of people are going to die on the Enterprise. Within this time Kirk falls in love with a robot doll and just basically forgets about his ship and the plague that is killing his crew. Sheer madness!
The Tholian Web IS one of the Best Of the series💙😇
02:23 I just love the design of these buttons. So beautiful and colorful. Who cares about computer touch screens when these consoles look so lovely? Oh, and I love all these episodes.
Never had any trouble with Arena. Growing up, I saw a lot of actors in rubber suit monster gear in old movies and TV. Side note, the stuntman who played the Gorn was in OKC May 2024. He appeared at Toy Store and a Comic Book store that were across a parking lot.
I totally agree with the sentiment that the truth about TOS is far more complicated and intresting than all the fan cliches and stereotypes. The latest cliche I've discovered is to see sexism everywhere in TOS. I am not saying that there aren't scenes which, by our standards, are sexist. I am saying that there is far less sexism going on than some want to find. It's like a reflex brought on by today's feminism. When a woman is depicted in a way which isn't congruent with a (very narrow-minded?) template of womanhood, then it's immediately labeled sexist without regard of context and the possibility that the women of their time period didn't feel violated in their own identity. The same goes for the template of manhood and for remarks about men and women. One doesn't have to agree with what is said and shown, but making general statements, as if everybody has to feel the same way about something, is wrong imo. And it detracts from the richness of the stories and the portrayal of the characters. I'm not religious, but I need to say, that it's the same way with biblical stories - they still have a lot to say about the human condition, but since religion and God are denounced as being evil, so must be the biblical stories.
Context is the key word here--and the critics of TOS don't know it. Regarding sexism, how many of these critics know that there were no women crew on US Navy vessels until the late 1970s. No women allowed to enter military academies until much later. Yet, there they are, envisioned as officers by Roddenberry in 1966. That fact alone puts it ahead of everything that was on TV at the time regarding women's rights--and way ahead of US history as well.
There they are, and they're usually treated with fairness. You never see the male crew members of the Enterprise (or male aliens) look down on women because they're women. Maybe they were making general statements about women sometimes, like, when Kirk tells Spock that Vulcan women are the only women in the universe who act logically or when Spock tells Nomad that the unit Uhura is a woman, and he says that in the context of 'the unit being a mass of conflicting impulses.' But I wouldn't say that's sexist in the same way I wouldn't say that the statement 'men are always horny' is sexist. The one time, as I remember it, where the plot of a TOS episode is driven by a woman's need for revenge for actual sexism, is in Turnabout Intruder. Starfleet doesn't allow women in general to become Starship captains. Interestingly, Starfleet allowed her to become a doctor, even though she has a hateful temperament.
And multi-racial AND multi-species! WHO said TOS wasn't 'progressive'? I read other comments about whingers screaming SJW gay crap in ST:Discovery, etc, but THAT is WHAT Star Trek WAS all about! It was just a lot more subtle about it! I commented that those whom were complaining about this aspect, NEVER actually READ the memo about what ST was about in the 1st place!
I guess I would like Discovery and the new Star Wars more if I didn't have the feeling that both franchises are politicized. TOS, TNG, VOY, probably DS9 and ENT (never watched DS9 and ENT) were all about the human condition, religion, society, politics and personal problems of real people, but the subtle approach suited the series much more.
I frequently rewatch the old series from the 60s and man, you have everything there already, women in command position (Number One in The Cage/The Menagerie; Elaan of Troyius), women scientists, women who are able to fight and kick somebody in the face, women who are educated in sciences and philosophy, women who argue with the captain (a male in command), women who are rebellious against their oppressors, and many more women in many more roles. Best thing is all of them are human in the sense, that they aren't perfect, they all have their faults, they all make mistakes, all of them learn something in the end. Just like the men. And Kirk and his men usually tried to find solutions which benefits all involved. Well, not that they would always succeed.
You SHOULD watch Ent & DS9, you missed a LOT of good Trek, esp after the Dominion started to infiltrate DS9, GREAT exercises in political paranoia! VERY underrated!
"Wink of an Eye" was kind of silly, but Kathie Browne (Deela) was my favorite hot blonde alien of the entire original series!
how about any of Mudd's women?
Charliecomet82 Deela had tude
Charliecomet82 Liked Wink Of An Eye, Excellent episode.
Barbara Bouchet in "By Any Other Name" was a looker.
Liked Wink Of The Eye. Good episode.
Let that be your last battlefield was self righteous and preachy but it did give us the Enterprise self destruct sequence. One of the best scenes in Trek history in my opinion is watching the bridge crew reactions as they inch closer to collective suicide.
You sort of had to be in the 1960s. To get past the censors you sometimes had to hit your message over their heads with a mallet. Ironsides did this in a few episodes.
it also featured the ONLY useage of the "back-and-forth" "red-alert" light!
Correct. Even many of the worst episodes had some redeeming qualities, such as good suspense or pacing, or some further of character development, etc. Even "Spock's Brain" was a race against the clock.
Gloucon X Correct, even some of the 5 in the third season that wern't up to par are still much better than that next generation childish stuff. Those 5 in the third season were, And The Children Shall Lead, That Which Survives, Is There In Truth No Beauty, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, and Turnabout Intruder. Even those 5 that were bad are much better to watch over that next generation stuff anyday.
it was the worst episode...stupid and boring
ST TOS Episodes were often inspired by other stories from literature, occasionally by films: Jekyll & Hyde - 'The Enemy Within' / 'The Alternative Factor', Pinocchio - 'Requiem for Methuselah', Moby Dick - 'The Doomsday Machine'/ 'Obsession', Run Silent, Run Deep - 'Balance of Terror'. I'm sure there are many others I can't remember at the moment.
@John Robert I see, I never spotted that one!
Beyond the wildly fluctuating quality of the writing, especially with regards to established characterization for the leads, the saddest thing about Season 3 of ST:TOS was the budget cuts. The sets in that season are so sad. STAR TREK always had used its small budgets creatively and charmingly, but by Season 3 the budget would not allow more than a few flats here and there, it seems. Some of the visual effects were better, but that's about it.
I think "The Paradise Syndrome" was their only on-location episode that season due to budget. And many were "bottle" episodes (from ship-in-a-bottle, only on the starship) like "The Mark of Gideon", and a couple had minimalist sets like "The Empath" and "Spectre of the Gun."
The 3rd season was a mish-mash of good and bad episodes, but even the bad ones were memorable, silly, campy classics.
Something about the line in "Spectre of the Gun" about overcoming our instinct for violence just pulled the episode into one of my favorites. My two favorite Kirk speeches are "Risk is our business", and the constitution speech in Omega Glory.
Arena is actually a very good episode. Right up until you see the Gorn.
Great observation.
you didnt like the Gorn?
Arena was great. Yeh, it's dated. Come on, it was 1960s SCI-FI show. They did not have the tech or budget to do a more realistic " Predator" type alien.
Star Trek "Arena" - the template for the WWF. -especially the goofy excuse for having a big battle of champions.
It was ok Trek, but I don't understand why people put it on top 10 lists. There are so many better eps.
Theater of the mind...much better than visuals projectile vomiting out from the screen, where you can't tell what's going on, or really care - so many new shows employ interchangeable audio visual ghoulash.
MY LIST of UNCONVENTIONAL TOP 5 Star Trek Original Series:
1. Court Martial S1E20 Kirk finds himself at odds against a supposed long-time friend who frames him for murder. It has great plot, courtroom drama, and the clever mic-prop (hallmark icon of stage-hands creating something out of nothing...the TRUE engineers of Trek!)
2. I, MUDD. S2E8 Roger Carmel reprises his role as Harry Mudd--iconic and lovable! Although the overlapping plot is how future androids will take over by giving humans everything they want, the TRUE magic of this episode is the revelation that a scoundrel mind doesn't have enough moxie to keep androids busy and thoughtful (Mudd has mental "ED" so to speak). What ensues is fun and funny! Also, more of the cast get pieces of screen time.
3 JOURNEY TO BABEL: S2E10 Classic TREK! Viewer not only get to see a KEY sequence during the early years of the Federation and how an alliance of planets function together, we get to see several aliens from these planets. The vicious, alien-sounding, rigid Andorians, the very rude, hostile Tellerites, and many others not specified. But the true enjoyment of this episode is the revelation of Spock's parents, and later, the vicious struggle between "duty" and "Love of family." All during a brutal space battle sequence! Terrific stuff!
4. THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT! WOW! Terrific episode! The writers and directors start the episode by fooling us all! We are all duped for the first 1/3 of the episode just like all the characters! The reveal amidst the strain and stress of the plot is VERY satisfying! The episode also addresses a love sequence of aliens...which is more awkward than it is interesting. HOWEVER, this scene DOES open a possible explanation later--in the motion pictures--where Lt. Saavik may have come from!!! Here's the REAL trippy part **SPOILER POSSIBLY!!** If Saavik is the offspring of Spock and the female Romulan Commander, the she....Saavik...grows up to help on the expedition of the Genesis Planet...where Spock is regenerating with the planet. During the regeneration, Saavik "comforts" the aging Spock who goes thru Pon Far (the need to mate). That would mean, that "young Spock" has sex with his own half-romulan daughter via a temporal paradox. Take about 4 years to digest that! UGH>
5. AMOK TIME. No need to really address why this is the best. I mean, the musical score alone! However, a Vulcan Love story??? How can you beat that? Celia Lovsky as T'Pau!!! BRILLIANT! The entire guest cast were perfectly matched for the episode. Best friends fighting "dis match is to deh dead, Kurrk." Can't you STILL hear her uttering that line?!! And finally, Spock strangling his captain and best friend....it was gut-wrenching! The episode had everything from interesting comparisons in biology, to brilliant tactics in logic by a sly woman! And the writing!! "Stonn, she is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true." I mean....has there EVER been a galactic BURN as harsh as that one??
There you have it folks, MY top 5 Original Trek episodes and reasons why. If you'd like my top 5 least favorite episodes, "like" and comment below. My reasons for my list of worst episodes is brutal...if you like brutal, let me know!
The Paradise Syndrome is so good. . . The story may be pointless or even stupid, but I truly believed Kirk was in love with that babe he married while suffering amnesia. I’m a hopeless crybaby and romantic, and that makes it, for me, one of the one’s most captivating to watch. My favorite episode, though, right now, is ‘A Piece of the Action’. The film ST 4 used some of the same style of comedy as ‘A Piece of the Action’.
#1 Worst episode was "The Trouble With Tribbles." I, my family, and high school buds hated that one.
Trouble With Tribbles should be on this list. Definitely polarizing.
Between tribbles and Klingons?
@@sarahfullerton6894 You don't seem to know the meaning of the word "polarizing." "Polarizing" doesn't mean it's bad, just that people disagree as to whether it's good or bad.
How in the world did the Omega Glory not make this list?!!!
don't know if let that be your last battlefield should be on this list....episode had a great message....its timeless
Agreed, but TOS is unique. The actors brought out guest stars best game. Always serious about the human condition. Sure some are not as good as the others, but that's normal.
Thanks. I can't even respond to people who say they love all the Star Trek episodes, like they were their children or something.
Requiem simply doesn’t make sense. The Enterprise was a plague ship with crew dying. And literally within four hours Kirk almost forgets all that and endangers the mission by falling in love with an android?
Doesn’t make sense.
I thought Plato's Stepchildren might be on this list. It has a love/hate aspect about it. But you are doing only the top 10. A great list you did, by the way.
You're right about Plato's Stepchildren, of course. But it has maybe too much of a hate aspect and too less of a love aspect about it to be on my list ;-)
I hated the episode as a kid. Now I like it. Ha! The same goes for For the World is Hollow, And I have Touched The Sky. Both were episodes where the doctor was being left behind, in some way.
Come on...Doomsday should easily be one of the top 10 episodes.
Plato's Stepchildren was in my opinion a pretty good episode as it opened everybody's eyes up to powerful beings abusing their ability to control others thinking that they were so powerful because of the curinide injested in the native foods, and looked down on others who didn't or couldn't obtain that exact same power. This time, you got a chance to see actor Michael Dunn potray a kind and lovable individual instead of the evil Dr. Michilio Loveless in the Wild Wild West tv show.
trha2222 The Doomsday Machine episode was by far a very excellent episode.
Don't agree with most of this list. My worst episode choices are "Spock's Brain", a laughable story, "Terror in the Dark", where Spock mind melds with a rock, "The Way to Eden", with stupid cliche hippies, and "Turnabout Intruder", the show's last gasp, where Kirk and a former lover exchange bodies, without his permission of course.
I love your thought process, but I'm not sure why these are the most polarizing? Some of them, like the Nazi episode sure, but the others I don't understand. Still, I think it's thought-provoking and I think you did a great job.
Requiem featured an outstanding performance by James Daly. It was Kirk's weakness that ruined it.
I have a lot of love for Spectre Of the Gun, not so much for The Empath...
The Gorn sounds like an old man getting up in the morning.
Arena is a good episode only marred by the rubber lizard costume and the Myth Busters demonstrating that you can't create gunpowder by mixing the rough elements together; they have to be carefully refined. As far as the lizard thing goes, what do you expect, it was the 1960's. The technology hadn't caught up with ideas writers could come up with. Can you imagine The Matrix if it had come out in the 1960's or 70's. It would probably look idiotic by today's standards.
Hell, the very IDEA of 'The Matrix' would be next to impossible for anybody save the most imaginative writers. Computers took up the room and didn't have nearly the computing power of the average laptop. As for the means by which humans might hook up, such as VR headsets or other gear?
Right up until it happened, a lot of knowledgeable people would have told you that virtual reality or non-keyboard/controller operation (however crude) was decades away -- I mean 'the year two thousand whatever' decades away -- and then that 'Power Glove' showed up and the first headsets sometime in the 1980s/1990s or so. The idea that people would have personal computers by the 1980s and they'd be ubiquitous in the 1990s would have been disputed.
You should read the short story "A Logic named Joe" by Murray Leinster which more or less predicted personal computers (called Logic's in the story) and the internet back in 1946. The main story was about a Logic (that is given the name Joe) that develops self-awareness and taps into the world's computer libraries and then freely disperses this knowledge to anyone in the world who asks, because all of the Logics are connected in a network that anyone can access with their own Logic.
Want to learn a more effective way to get high, Joe will tell you. Want to commit the perfect murder, Joe can tell you how to pull it off. Want sex advice even though your underage, Joe can tell you that too. Writers can imagine a lot of things that aren't remotely possible when they are written. Most of the time the details of these imagined worlds will be wrong but the general concepts can often be right on the money.
One more example, in fact a better example, is the hollow-deck on STNG, which comes directly from the Ray Bradbury story, "The Veldt" which was published in 1950. This story is somewhat Matrix like. You have two children who become obsessed with a virtual world that eventually becomes a little too real. The children don't want to leave their self created world and go back into the real one.
I've read 'A Logic Named Joe.'
The animated Trek series had holo-decks. I remember the episode vaguely. As the trapped crew members freeze their asses off in a seeming wilderness, Uhura (I think) reminds them that they are still in a small room. Just keep going until they find a wall, then follow it to the door.
The odd thing about 'The Veldt' is that the description of the room and its technology doesn't support the lions being anything more than projections on a wall. Makes you wonder what's up with the company that makes the technology.
Yea, it's like STNG's hollow-deck built without safety protocols.
Just think of all the lame and long-forgotten US tv shows that aired from 1966-69---most of them had better ratings than Star Trek.
Some authors who are admired today were not as popular as those now long-forgotten. Of course, not every less-than-popular writer was good, but it's something to think about.
High ratings were determined at the time by a handful of families who agreed to be Nielsen raters. It has been determined in more recent times that Star Trek was a far bigger hit on NBC than the sampling of the audience in this system suggested. In fact, it was hitting EXACTLY the demographics that any sponsor would envy.
The Way to Eden was just the worst. It was the one where the Enterprise is faring a bunch of hippies to a planet they think will be a new garden of Eden. It's basically Star Trek the hippy musical.
"Yea Brother!"
Herbert!
Amen ! (29 April 2018 1815 hours)
They were taking Uncle Bob, to Bob's Country Bunker!
It was TRIPPY man!
Requiem was another stab at The Tempest. Like Forbidden Planet a decade before that actually inspired Star Trek. The screenwriter was the junior screenwriter on Forbidden Planet.
Spectre, was Roddenberry's and the rest of the writing and production staff's roots in Westerns. Particularly Have Gun Will Travel (Roddenberry was a key writer). As an adult I see it as a classic puzzle of fate. As a kid it was just stupid.
Empath, was very Outer Limits like, in fact it is very close to one of theirs done with Martin Sheen. It was also super cheap to film and got them back inside their budget. TZ had to do that once too. Film on cheaper soap opera sets at Burbank with videotape, instead of film at MGM.
Gorn, like the Horta. It is an arrogance POV tale for progressive liberals. Again a Have Gun plot reworked.
Wink, was a reworked 50s sci fi B movie. It had Kathy Brown so I liked it.
"The Empath" and the Outer Limits episode "Nightmare" were both directed by John Erman.
Out of all TOS women, it was almost impossible to choose which actress was the "most beautiful". There were so many. But I always felt that "Raina" had the most beautiful profile of all of them. She looked like a young "Stevie Nicks" IMHO.
Yeah, and Shatner tried to bang every one of them
agreed, they've all been good. but for me, marlena from mirror mirror has always been a tad above the rest.
what about turnabout intruder
The episode where Kirk says "Star Fleet doesn't allow women to be Captains"?
Hoehner Tim. You know Roddenberry himself wrote that story. Singer did the screenplay in 68/69 from a story GR had on the shelf. It sure wasn't consistent with The Cage was it?
Roddenberry wrote The Omega Glory too. In fact he wrote it and insisted it be filmed, despite everyone's objections that it was just a bad script with a very hokey end. GR was so proud of it he personally submitted it for an Emmy.
He didn't win
Turnabout Intruder isn't polarizing because EVERYBODY hates it.
The worst sexist crap ever on Star Trek...even the worst of the Star Trek episodes are wonderful entertainment.
I think Turnabout Intruder is a pretty good episode. Starfleet doesn't admit women as starship captains (but lets unstable, hateful women become doctors). In turn for Starfleets unfairness Dr. Lester has made Kirk suffer when they were together in Starfleet. Now she wants to take over the Enterprise and is willing to murder to achieve that goal. Later when Kirk in Lester's body is questioned during the court martial, Kirk tells her that she wants to "attain a position she doesn't merit by temperament or training" and that her "intense hatred of her own womanhood has made life with her impossible." So, okay, Starfleet didn't admit women as starship captains, but that can't justify Dr. Lester's shitty character traits and also not her criminal intentions and deeds. And I also really enjoy Shatner's and Sandra Smith's performances. The physically strong man with the spirit of the erratic, unstable woman vs. the physically feeble woman with the strong, persistent spirit of Kirk.
I see that the worst episode in the series is not on this list... and for good reason. I don't think this is polarizing for anybody. The Alternative Factor. They should have alternated this by a factor of a million. (I don't know what that means exactly...)
I think it's not polarizing--most would agree it was the worst Season 1 episode. Followed by the best one, "City On The Edge of Forever."
If I'm not mistaken, the original actor hired to be Lazarus showed up drunk and was fired on the spot. Robert Brown, an actor later famous by his portrayal of Jason Bolt on Here Come the Brides, was a quick replacement.
oakhill found Ok. Heres the story. Actor John Drew Barrymore was selected to be in this episode, shortly before the episode was to be filmed, Barrymore became unavailable. Robert Brown was obtained as a last minute replacement. This is according to the Star Trek Compendium book. The Alturnitive Factor was not really a bad episode, just somewhat different in its way of approach and scientific writing that made the episode sort of off the wall. My opinion, no option, all the first season Original Star Trek Series episodes were excellent, just sad that NBC couldn't see that they had a real winner on their hands especially after the moon landing in July of 1969. The series would have taken off like a rocket and the sky was no limit.
Barrymore showed up drunk and was fired on the spot. He was suspended for six months because of it. This is a story from imdb.com and they were explaining his inability to get work for a while. A fine actor who fell to his addiction.
Actually it did take off in rerun form in the early 70s. It's just too bad the networks had no vision and ignored all the letters (mostly from young people) supporting the show. Since the network president's wife wanted 'Gunsmoke' that's what we got instead. "The Alternative Factor" could have been much, much better but it seems like it was rushed and haphazardly written. The the sub-in actor at the last minute had to confuse matters further. As for going to the moon, that was totally fake and Star Trek was a psyop of sorts because it helped make going to the moon seem more easy to do...when it fact it was impossible with the crude technology at the time.
"Arena" certainly does not belong on that list, especially with its historic sci-fi pedigree. You could easily replace it with "And the Children Shall Lead", "Turnabout Intruder", "The Conscience of the King", "Plato's Stepchildren", or -- of course -- "Spock's Brain". What's funny is that "Spectre of the Gun" used to be one of my least favorite episodes... now I accept it quite readily, so tastes can change (still far from my favorite, though...).
Spock's Brain and Turnabout Intruder weren't polarizing, we all agree those are bad ;-)
…..I found: Specter of The Gun, Spock’s Brain, Let That be your Last Battle Field, Patterns of Force, The Empath….to be almost unwatchable. Arena, Corbomite Maneuver, Doomsday Machine and Shore Leave being my favorites.
To be polarizing is not so bad, Remember this show was produced on a weekly basis with a limited budget. So some shows would be less than great, but still they produced many great ones.
Now that is what they call 'damning with faint praise'.
The budget was smallish by modern American standards, but pretty big for the time. (remember, the competition was Bonanza, Leave it to Beaver, Gilligan's Island...). The real reason for the inconsistency was the constant tug-of-war between the network (pushing for stuff acceptable to censors, mainstream, sponsors... ie mediocrity) and Roddenberry (pushing for something that actually predicted the future ...ie post-sexual revolution, post-Great Society, racial and gender equality...all the stuff guaranteed to polarize)
To be polarizing isn't just "not so bad", it is a badge of honor. It is what made Roddenberry's show a legend.
I loved Arena, but the Gorn sounded like a grandmother that smoked 6 packs a day.
Season 3 has its moments, but there shouldn't be any discussion about Requiem for Methuselah. There's a deadly disease running through the ship, and three crewmen have already died from it. Kirk's put his life on the line when they were far less threatened than that, but now he's going to put their danger aside for the woman-of-the-week? He didn't lose his ability to command after losing Edith Keeler or Miramanee, but losing a woman he's known for three or four days sends him into a deep depression that it takes Spock basically wiping his mind to pull him out of?
And Spock's behavior is even worse. To tamper with Kirk's mind is contrary to everything he's said he believes in when it comes to mental privacy. He's certainly come a long way from being unwilling to perform a mind meld on Simon Van Gelder.
The execution of the episode is questionable-but the concept of Flint is among the most interesting in the original series.
yes, "Flint" was borrowed from "Jameison" from original TZ...then showed up later, in "Highlander" if you "nit pick" ST, it never ends; virtually none of the episodes had real scientific plausibility..."Requiem" is one of my faves...me being a romantic and possibly over-emotional...Rayna's death scene was perfect, as was Spock "scrubbing" Kirks mind..."out of character"? possibly, but not necessarilly...he did similar act in "Empath", and for similar, pragmatic reasons...sometimes love/passion can happen so quickly, so overpoweringly, and Kirk was revealed as not being immune...and, yes, it WAS the really only episode where he truly "fell" for a girl, to such an extent...
That's just it. Anything could have happened in Turnabout Intruder, but Methuselah and Changling were great episodes where you notice the occasional clinker.
And she was not even a woman--she was an android!!
You say that like it's a bad thing.
James Doohan's least favorite episode was the surreal "Spectre of the Gun," but it's one of my favorites. It anticipates 'The Matrix' and it also has great performances from all the side characters. "The Way to Eden" should have been on the list. "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" is one of the best episodes in the weak 3rd season. Great performances by Gorshin and Antonio. All of these episodes were good except for the Nazi one--and I never cared for "The Empath" which was literally a torture to watch.
"Return to Tomorrow" is the worst episode .... "Wolf in the Fold" scared me as a child.
That salt sucker monster in season 1, ep 1 "The Man Trap" scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a little kid!
Alternate title:
“13 Random Episodes without Context”
Really?
I have not heard that "in There in Truth No Beauty" was a controversial episode.
I thought Spock's monologue one of the best in the series.
Perhaps your next video could enlighten those of us who do not dwell in places this comes up.
Hopefully you do "dwell" in places as nice as I do ;-)
I think it's one of those sexist episodes. It's the one where the alien ambassador is so ugly that it drives people insane. They even say that beauty is their last prejudice and they compliment the woman not for her achievements, but for her beauty.
The empath was one of my favorite episodes
interesting you say seasong 3 was worst considering it had #1 episode(iyo not mine)
I am surprised that Arena is polarizing. I don't think I've met a Trekkie who disliked that episode. Patterns of Force was just plain stupid.
Don't think Wink of an eye should be on the list. One of the best of TOS. I quite like Requiem for Methuselah and Spectre of the gun too, although I can understand those being 50/50
You see, that's EXACTLY why it's on the list. You love it. Others hate it.
I like Wink of an Eye, but I do have a few issues with it, like why would Kirk's body being sped up affect his phaser and why doesn't anyone on the bridge notice that a phaser has been fired?
I'm surprised Turnabout Intruder isn't on here. It seems to be either in everyone's top 10 or bottom 10 episodes.
That was certainly polarizing and one of the prime examples of sexism on _Star Trek: TOS_ in that women couldn't be starship captains (until _Star Trek IV_ when the female captain lets her ship get neutralized- good job!). Also apparently there was a replacement-fear in white men that women wanted to kill them and take their jobs, which is what this episode is about. Finally she's not a cold calculating murderous villain but is insane (like Lenore in "Conscience of the King").
Thinking about how Kirk has no female friends that weren't ex-lovers (except Uhura), I can see him taking up with an ambitious woman at the Academy (after Ruth) who wants to be a starship captain like he does. But the notion that she "hated her own womanhood" is painful. One woman's analysis said that self-loathing was the core of the character, rather than being frustrated in her ambitions for a space career as her motivations were said to be. (Funny how all his other exes left him with a positive memories, including the one who prosecuted him in "Court Martial.")
The episode about the Gorn is so classic!
Beautiful woman on here for sure.
My take is that some of these episodes with many laughable elements as many others if remade with modern day effects they would be more greatly appreciated and understood. The episode with the Horta was actually really interesting but the it was clear there was a man under it.
The Empath is what Science Fiction is supposed to be! .... To Make you think!
Arena, Elaan of Troyius and Let That Be Your Last Battlefield are some of my favorite episodes. The Empath and Patters of Force weren’t some of the best but the other ones seen were ok. Did you know that Spectre of the Gun was Walter Koenig’s favorite episode? I loved City on the Edge of Forever, The Changeling, The Ultimate Computer and Day of the Dove but didn’t like Spock’s Brain, I was really disappointed with The Way to Eden and absolutely I hated And The Children Shall Lead.
I think a lot of you are missing the point of this collection. These are episodes people _disagree_ most about, one person's Ten Best, another's Ten Worst.
A junior-high-school student once wrote on a test paper, "Factions are fights. They are found in usually friendly groups." So it is with Star Trek enthusiasts.
Somehow I doubt the episodes listed here are anyone's Ten Best, or Ten Worst. Most fall somewhere in the middle of the pack.
True, but "Spectre of the Gun" would make my top ten list.
Conscience of the king (April 2018 1812 hours)
Nothing to see here folks. These are random scenes that reveal nothing of the controversy this Clickbait pulled us in with.
The Empath, Spectre Of The Gun, and Arena were all excellent. I’d forgotten about that Troyos one - that was horrible. The Medusa one wasn’t good, but I found that box really funny at least.
10-hate
9-eh
8-love
7-double double hate
6-hate
5-love
4-hate
3-love
2-hate
1-hate
WOW! Eight of the ten are from the 3rd season.
Inquisitor6321. Shows are seldom at their best after they've been cancelled, then "saved by the fans". The saved season is usually pretty weak.
I personally really liked the 3rd season, and I watched them first run starting 1967
I like every one of those episodes, other than "The Wink of An Eye." In fact, I really like "Arena!"
It would be more effective to present the reasons why each selected episode is allegedly so contentious will Star Trek fans.
I actually Love The Empath. I think it’s thought provoking and really highlights the relationships among Kirk, Spock and McCoy. But for my money “The Corbomite Maneuver “ is the absolute best TOS. Fast paced , tense, and uplifting. But I have to say Spock’s Brain is pretty terrible. 🖖🏼
Corbomite Maneuver with Ron Howard's little brother. they synched the voice over flawlessly.
The reason Spock's brain isn't on the list is because it isn't polarizing. Everyone hates it.
I remember watching it for the first time when I was a kid. I was like where is this going, that is stupid, and ok - why did they make that episode?
Spock's Brain had a number of interesting ideas that were poorly executed. If it were a standalone episode of an anthology series or a movie in its own right, it could have been interesting as long as it had a decent script.
Interesting choice for best episode in that "The Corbomite Maneuver" was the first non-pilot episode ever filmed (though not the first aired; the SFX took forever to come in... gathering all those light bulbs for Balok's ship, I assume ;)).
I love this episode becuase there was an excitement in the air, everyone was trying to figure this thing out, inventing things, playing moments that would eventually become memes for the very first time, no one jaded or tired, no sense of "this has been done before." Great story, of course (and the first use of what would become the classic Trek "the monster is a good guy" twist at the end, before it was used so often it became cliche), but it's the raw, almost improvisational creativity on display that makes this episode so compelling. (And makes it easy to overlook what would later seem like "mistakes," like Spock yelling.) I wish they HAD been able to use this as the premiere episode as intended, instead of the far inferior "The Man Trap." History might be different.
(Also, this episode is proof that the so-called "bottle episodes," the ones that took place almost entirely onboard the Enterprise, were among the very best, even though NBC... or at least, Stan Robertson, their representative... kept pushing for planet shows.)
The worst episodes of TOS are Shakespeare compared to Discovery.
The actor in number 5 was in a Twilight Zone episode I liked 'A Stop At Willoughby'
Even at its worst the original Star Trek was and still is better than 99% of all other television..
I think the clip for No. 9 was from "That Which Survives," not "The Paradise Syndrome."
McCoy was on the planet with Kirk, so maybe the clip was from "The Tholian Web." Still not "The Paradise Syndrome."
Pretty much a 3rd season list and they didn't even include Spock's Brain!
Wow! The only one I agree with is "Empath" it's one of my top 5.
I'm in the other camp. I can't tolerate the outright sadism mixed with sentimentality
The explanation for the sadism was so lame. It seemed like they were told to do a no budget story for which they didn't have a resolution, so just cobbled together a lame excuse for torture.
trha2222 You're thinking of Shari Lewis (of Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop), but she (co-)wrote The Lights of Zetar, not this one.
Have no problem with any except for #10 & #1. Some of them are pretty high on my list of favorites.
The only two of these episodes I really dislike are Elaan of Troyis and The Paradise Syndrome. Who knows? I haven't watched either of them in years; if I were to watch either of now, I might like them.