# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/41 "2013-05-22T22:45:59Z")
> [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](#): > > Man, there’s a lot more time-travel than I thought there would be … In the DS9 episode, “Trials and Tribble-ations”, they go back in time to the original Tribbles incident. Over the course of the episode, Sisko is debriefed by two officers from the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations: > [@](#): > > DULMUR: Be specific, Captain. Which Enterprise? There’ve been five. > > LUCSLY: Six. > > SISKO: This was the first Enterprise. Constitution class. > > Dulmur and Lucsly exchange a dark look. > > DULMUR: **His** ship. > > LUCSLY: James T. Kirk. > > SISKO: (smiles) The one and only. > > LUCSLY: (shaking his head) Seventeen separate temporal violations. The biggest file on record. > > DULMUR: The man was a menace. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/42 "2013-05-22T22:47:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > [Barbara Babcock](http://static.thecia.com.au/star-trek/original-series/1/11b2.jpg), later well-known for playing Grace, the hot-to-trot girlfriend of Sgt. Esterhaus on _Hill Street Blues_. Yup, she was a babe. 🙂 Thank you. For your service, when the time comes, your death will be quick and painless. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/43 "2013-05-22T22:51:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Thank you. For your service, when the time comes, your death will be quick and painless. Much appreciated, my good Rhymer. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/44 "2013-05-22T22:58:11Z")
[bags of mostly water](http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/star-trek-women/images/22197470/title/star-trek-photos-photo) [Andrea :::drool:::](http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/550x/e8/86/01/e886015be7433539fc44f99fae1edd66.jpg) [Yeoman Colt (still my fave)](http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/8/81/JM_Colt.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/45 "2013-05-22T23:04:48Z")
_Space Seed,_ because it sets up _The Wrath of Khan._ The rest of the series was cheezball '60s pulp. Actually, so was _Space Seed,_ but as I said it set up _TWOK._ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/46 "2013-05-22T23:11:00Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > _Space Seed,_ because it sets up _The Wrath of Khan._ The rest of the series was cheezball '60s pulp. Actually, so was _Space Seed,_ but as I said it **set up _TWOK._** Which was cheezball '80s pulp. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/47 "2013-05-23T03:08:06Z")
Well, if I wasn’t looking for a certain level of cheeseball pulp, I’d probably be reading Nietzsche instead of watching retro TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/48 "2013-05-23T06:05:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Which was cheezball '80s pulp. Yup. Khan massively betrayed his own principles. If you choose voluntary exile and grandly proclaim “Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven”, you shouldn’t throw your toys out of the pram when a sheer accident makes your Hell rather more hellish than you bargained for. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/49 "2013-05-23T06:49:23Z")
You must watch all of them. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/50 "2013-05-23T07:11:56Z")
Piece of the Action is one of my favorites. Nice mix of comedy and sci-fi Kirk meets Gangland Chicago Amok Time – Spock needs to mate. pon farr Mirror Mirror - evil Federation and crew The Conscience of the King war criminal. really nice character episode The City on the Edge of Forever best Trek episode ever filmed ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/51 "2013-05-23T12:27:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Spock never wears a gangster suit in that episode. You’re thinking of “A Piece of the Action.” Yeah, totally my bad. I always somehow manage to combine the two in my memory into one incredibly awesome episode. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/52 "2013-05-23T13:04:29Z")
Watch them all in original order. The best way to experience the good and the bad. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/53 "2013-05-23T13:33:26Z")
[Doomsday Machine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=l-AOaLoAVXE#t=2540s) “…I know what bloody time it is…” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/54 "2013-05-23T13:39:41Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Watch them all in original order. The best way to experience the good and the bad. There’s “know the bad so you will appreciate the good” like “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” and then there are Crimes Against Humanity like “And the Children Shall Lead” or “The Omega Glory.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/55 "2013-05-23T15:03:07Z")
My choices for very best episodes would be: “City on the Edge of Forever” “Amok Time” “The Doomsday Machine” “Balance of Terror” “What are Little Girls Made of?” “Wolf in the Fold” “This Side of Paradise” “The Trouble with Tribbles” “Devil in the Dark” “The Conscience of the King” “Spock’s Brain” is so bad it’s hilarious ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/56 "2013-05-23T15:27:46Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Watch them all in original order. The best way to experience the good and the bad. Yes. Particularly because the development of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy characters and their relationship is where much of the magic of the show lies, and even the awful episodes contain some great character moments. ---
**Author:** ![kcor1953](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kcor1953/32/3221_2.png) [@kcor1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kcor1953)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/57 "2013-05-23T15:53:57Z")
Really really good? Doomsday Machine, Tholian Web (both season 2 I think). The Enterprise was the best part of the series, I say. The effects in these, on the TV budget, worked well. I’d throw in Where No Man Has Gone Before as it is A) shipboard and B) educational in terms of reminding us it’s just a show so we should just relax. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/58 "2013-05-23T15:58:05Z")
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. And after you’ve seen a few, check out YouTube for episodes of _Quark_, a sitcom starring Richard Benjamin that’s a direct parody of the original ST series. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/59 "2013-05-23T16:01:57Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > And after you’ve seen a few, check out YouTube for episodes of _Quark_, a sitcom starring Richard Benjamin that’s a direct parody of the original ST series. Err… how so? Other than it’s people on a spaceship I see zero analogy. ---
**Author:** ![kcor1953](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kcor1953/32/3221_2.png) [@kcor1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kcor1953)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052/60 "2013-05-23T16:05:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Err… how so? Other than it’s people on a spaceship I see zero analogy. Well, their Spock was Ficus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-original-star-trek-eps-are-must-watch/659052.md?page=4)