# Which Original Star Trek Eps are 'must watch'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052 "2013-05-22T18:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/221 "2013-06-21T23:40:10Z")
I always liked _Return Of The Archons_. “I am Landruu.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/222 "2013-06-22T03:19:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Just remembered that Alexander “Sandy” Courage wrote the themes for both _ **ST:** _\*\*\* TOS \*\*\*and _ **Judd** _. He also wrote music for the 1950s radio drama _Broadway Is My Beat_, featuring that policeman with a poetic bent, Lt. Danny Clover. Another incidental credit at the end of each ST:TOS episode went to Glen Glenn Sound. I’ve never been able to discover if that Glen Glenn was the 1950s rock-a-billy artist of that name. I really don’t know anything that he recorded, but about 22 years ago I was in a bar with some friends and they told me Glen Glenn was sitting at the next table, in a tone of admiration. ---
**Author:** ![steabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@steabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steabo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/223 "2013-06-22T04:12:50Z")
Although most people focus on the neck-pinch or Shatner’s extra-over-the-top acting from this episode, the best moment for me is when they cut back to _evil_ Kirk on the \*real \*Enterprise being subdued in the detention cell by some red shirts, with Spock overseeing the whole thing, calmly, somewhat quizzically, but somehow knowingly. This is one of the most valuable moments in the whole series for me, and so: _The Enemy Within_ is a must-see! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/224 "2013-06-22T04:32:18Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Gotta admit, that Fesarius ending up filling the whole screen was an impressive scene when I first saw it in the 60s. Still empressive even in the mid 70s. By the time I saw Star Wars, tho, with that opening scene, I was no longer thrilled by the Fesarius. But, I still respect it, even today. Has anyone seen the remastered version? How does it look on screen while watching the ep? I’ve never seen this on a DVD or Blu-Ray, but whenever I’ve seen it on broadcast TV, the thousands of colorful spheres that make up the vessel have always been fuzzy, particularly when they zoom in. I thought that was intentional and the audience is meant to take it as some otherworldly type or form of matter that isn’t supposed to be completely solid. Or, another possibility was that we’re not supposed to look that closely at it, but rather just notice the tiny Enterprise compared to the colossal Fesarius. So watching on Netflix yesterday I was astonished to see that all the spheres appear to be hard-edged polyhedra. ---
**Author:** ![steabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@steabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steabo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/225 "2013-06-22T11:28:23Z")
> [@steabo](#): > > Although most people focus on the neck-pinch or Shatner’s extra-over-the-top acting from this episode, the best moment for me is when they cut back to _evil_ Kirk on the \*real \*Enterprise being subdued in the detention cell by some red shirts, with Spock overseeing the whole thing, calmly, somewhat quizzically, but somehow knowingly. > > This is one of the most valuable moments in the whole series for me, and so: _The Enemy Within_ is a must-see! Whoops, that episode was called _Mirror, Mirror_! There was no neck-pinch in this one, but there was plenty of extra-over-the-top Shatner… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/226 "2013-06-23T22:32:57Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > On a similar note, whenever Trek fans are parodied on tv, episodes are always referred to as “season 2, episode 7” or some such. What’s up with that? Everyone knows that a true Trekkie knows each episode by name. This. I don’t think the general custom of identifying TV episodes this way really caught on until the advent of boxed DVD sets, if not later. Several early TOS episodes were shown out of sequence, and there were two pilots, so it would have been inherently confusing to use that nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/227 "2013-06-23T22:44:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Next time you watch “Arena,” take a good look at his feet. He isn’t wearing Starfleet boots, he’s wearing black knee socks (or hose) and what look like wrestling/boxing boots. > > I guess the outdoor stunt work for that episode was a little too rough for his regular wardrobe. It would definitely have been too rough on the identical costumes worn by both combatants in the James Blish adaptation: tunics and sandals, IIRC. It seemed like a logical plot device, more so than each one having his normal clothes on as in the TV episode. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/228 "2013-06-24T00:11:53Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It would definitely have been too rough on the identical costumes worn by both combatants in the James Blish adaptation: tunics and sandals, IIRC. It seemed like a logical plot device, more so than each one having his normal clothes on as in the TV episode. In writing those adaptations, Blish was working from early draft scripts, so we evidently missed seeing Kirk in tunic and sandals long before “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Damn! The possibilities boggle the mind! :eek: PS: Now that I think about it, he also wore the same footwear during the action scenes in “Gamesters of Triskelion.” ---
**Author:** ![Ladamyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@Ladamyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ladamyre)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/229 "2015-05-27T10:08:58Z")
“Metamorphosis” from season 2. [Glen Corbett](https://www.google.com/search?q=glen+corbett&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) and [Elinor Donahue](https://www.google.com/search?q=glen+corbett&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=Elinor+Donahue) both guest **and** steal the show. Glen because he’s just too handsome (and of course invented warp drive), but Elinor Donahue acts the pants off everybody! The story is a tear jerker, the good kind, and actually has philosophically valid topics for any time, in society or in ones own personal life. That’s my **single** favorite episode. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/230 "2015-05-27T10:27:53Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’ve never seen this on a DVD or Blu-Ray, but whenever I’ve seen it on broadcast TV, the thousands of colorful spheres that make up the vessel have always been fuzzy, particularly when they zoom in. I thought that was intentional and the audience is meant to take it as some otherworldly type or form of matter that isn’t supposed to be completely solid. Or, another possibility was that we’re not supposed to look that closely at it, but rather just notice the tiny Enterprise compared to the colossal Fesarius. So watching on Netflix yesterday I was astonished to see that all the spheres appear to be hard-edged polyhedra. That episode has indeed been remastered, and you were almost certainly looking at the new CGI. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/231 "2015-05-27T10:34:14Z")
Just found this interesting link: [http://startrekhistory.com/vo.html](http://startrekhistory.com/vo.html) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/232 "2015-05-27T10:42:22Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Actually, as laughable as “Spock’s Brain” is, it ISN’T the worst episode. That honor belongs to “A Little Child Shall Lead Them”, with Melvin Belli, the [del]ambulance-chasing[/del] personal injury lawyer as the monster. There’s a space hippy episode that’s’ really bad, too. And not as enjoyably bad as it would sound, either. “The Way To Eden,” Google tells me. (I love Trek but have no memory for episode titles.) As for one that’s supposed to be funny, go with “The Trouble With Tribbles.” And then go watch Star Trek IV, “The One With the Whales.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/233 "2015-05-27T10:45:10Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’ve never seen this on a DVD or Blu-Ray, but whenever I’ve seen it on broadcast TV, the thousands of colorful spheres that make up the vessel have always been fuzzy, particularly when they zoom in. I thought that was intentional and the audience is meant to take it as some otherworldly type or form of matter that isn’t supposed to be completely solid. Or, another possibility was that we’re not supposed to look that closely at it, but rather just notice the tiny Enterprise compared to the colossal Fesarius. So watching on Netflix yesterday I was astonished to see that all the spheres appear to be hard-edged polyhedra. Netflix has the remastered episodes, I believe. All of TOS has been remastered. I’m not sure how far they are with TNG. The main difference in the remastered episodes are a few extra matte shots and all new space stuff. Fuzzy blobs are now planets, and, yes, fuzzy ships have been made more detailed. And the Buzzard Collectors are bright orange. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/234 "2015-05-27T10:50:40Z")
And I just now noticed that there’s a 3, not a 5 in those dates at the top of this thread. This thread has come back. Resistance is futile. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/235 "2015-05-27T11:04:13Z")
Reviewing the thread, it is really amazing how many good episodes there were. Probably a third were good, a third OK, and a third bad, with a half-dozen outstanding and a similar number of stinkers. For series television, that is a freakin’ amazing record. > [@salinqmind](#): > > “All Our Yesterdays”. Mariette Hartley in furs I’ll be in my bunk. > [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Poor guy. He wasn’t born Irish. _“I’ll take you home again, Kathleen!”_ > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’m pretty sure Operation – Annihilate! is considered one of the better episodes of TOS - [a quick google bears that out](http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-operationannihilat,27102/)… (Also, the aliens _were_ plastic vomit. With an inflatable bladder put around them. And they’re still far from the dodgiest looking aliens in the series. Freaking salt vampire…) The true forms of Sylvia and Korob were the cheesiest. I think they were made out of pipe cleaners and little paper umbrellas. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/236 "2015-05-27T11:37:00Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Actually, as laughable as “Spock’s Brain” is, it ISN’T the worst episode. That honor belongs to “A Little Child Shall Lead Them”, with Melvin Belli, the [del]ambulance-chasing[/del] personal injury lawyer as the monster. I’ll put “Plato’s Stepchildren” up against your “And the Children Shall Lead,” and toss in “Mark of Gideon” and “The Empath” as well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/237 "2015-05-27T11:38:50Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The true forms of Sylvia and Korob were the cheesiest. I think they were made out of pipe cleaners and little paper umbrellas. IIRC, they had only $500 left in the budget for that episode. Some of that presumably went to the puppeteer… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/238 "2015-05-27T15:45:36Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Oh, and be sure to see _Galaxy Quest_ if you haven’t already. J. J. Abrams says it’s the best Star Trek story ever made. Huh. Fat lot he knows. The two best non-Star Trek Star Trek stories are _Forbidden Planet_ and _Captain Horatio Hornblower_, for capturing (years before ST) the essence of what ST is. Forbidden Planet has the Kirk and a combined Spock/McCoy characters (Adams and Ostrow) and Scotty (Chief Quinn) plus a great story. Hornblower has the essence of Kirk, in the captain who is out of contact with home base, and must make decisions on his own. Plus, the battle between Hornblower’s Lydia and the Natividad is classic Trek space battle. Nicholas Meyer specifically borrowed from CHH for _The Wrath of Khan_. Close contenders are\* Master and Commander\*, and _The Enemy Below_, as previously mentioned… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/239 "2015-05-27T16:17:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Forbidden Planet has the Kirk and a combined Spock/McCoy characters (Adams and Ostrow) and Scotty (Chief Quinn) plus a great story. Hornblower has the essence of Kirk, in the captain who is out of contact with home base, and must make decisions on his own. Plus, the battle between Hornblower’s Lydia and the Natividad is classic Trek space battle. > > Nicholas Meyer specifically borrowed from CHH for _The Wrath of Khan_. Not accidental. In the writers guide from TOS Roddenberry specifically mentions the British Navy as a model, especially in the being out of communication sense. That worked best in Balance of Terror (a must watch episode) where Kirk asks for guidance and gets some after the whole thing is resolved - do what you think best. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/240 "2015-05-27T16:20:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The main difference in the remastered episodes are a few extra matte shots and all new space stuff. Fuzzy blobs are now planets, and, yes, fuzzy ships have been made more detailed. Mostly true, but the remastered Doomsday Machine is far better than the awesomely great original. You see stuff that they just mention in the first version - like the Enterprise just about to be sucked into the maw of the machine. There are fragments of rock floating around from the smashed planet. And the final explosion is much better. If you only watch one remastered episode, this is the one to watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052.md?page=13)