# Which ST:TOS episodes have aged most poorly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [December 29, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282 "2022-12-29T15:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/1 "2022-12-29T15:00:22Z")
I recently decided to binge the entire run of all Star Trek shows in roughly chronological order. I guess I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen some episodes from the original series, and had plain forgotten a few of them. The internet has loads of content critiquing ST:TOS; everything from the crude special effects to esoteric discussions of incorrect star dates, but I want to focus specifically on which episodes you think have aged most poorly and why. This is not the same as a list of the worst episodes, as there were poorly written shows that were lame back when they were written in the late 60’s. I’m looking for examples of shows considered adequate or even good back in the day that for whatever reason simply don’t wash with modern audiences. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/2 "2022-12-29T16:06:21Z")
The episode with the mentally unstable woman who took over Kirk’s body because she couldn’t be a starship captain. 🤨 To be fair, I don’t remember if someone other than her in the episode said women couldn’t be captains. Not the entire episode, but certain aspects of the episode with the stranded Zefram Cochrane being kept alive for decades; namely, that a woman _could_ be an important Federation official but then she couldn’t have any kind of social/love life. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/3 "2022-12-29T16:42:09Z")
“Space Seed” and its portrayal of a heaving-bosom romantic pushover of a Starfleet scientist being effortlessly seduced by Khan may not have aged the absolute worst in the context of the series, but I suspect it’s one of the most _noticeable_ examples of poor aging, simply because the masterpiece that is _Wrath of Khan_ makes lots of people go back to the episode to see how this amazing villain was introduced. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/4 "2022-12-29T17:26:39Z")
The one with the space hippies? The one with the black/white guy and white/black guy trying to kill each other? I’m guessing those may have been cutting edge social commentary when they were first aired (but then, what do I know? I was five) but they just seem silly now. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/5 "2022-12-29T17:33:34Z")
The Redjack episode has aged just fine, except for one line: Spock: (paraphrased from memory) And women feel fear more strongly than men do… Shut-up Spock, you asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/6 "2022-12-29T17:35:23Z")
The cringeworthy Native American stereotypes and Kirk’s “Mighty Whitey” role in “The Paradise Syndrome” have aged like old potato salad. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/7 "2022-12-29T17:37:56Z")
“Mudd’s Women,” was a terrible episode from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/8 "2022-12-29T17:50:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The one with the space hippies? You Reach Me. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/9 "2022-12-29T17:54:50Z")
We have an early leader in the race… > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The cringeworthy Native American stereotypes and Kirk’s “Mighty Whitey” role in “The Paradise Syndrome” have aged like old potato salad. In general, there is a high level of sexism found throughout TOS. Everything from offhand comments like ‘not another woman yeoman [/eyeroll]’ to the mini-dress uniforms, rampant mansplaining, up to and including the premise of entire episodes like “Mudd’s Women.” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/10 "2022-12-29T18:04:44Z")
Just hitting puberty me thought that was a great episode. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/11 "2022-12-29T18:11:32Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “Space Seed”… That one was just on TV the other day. Ricardo Montalban played that role to the hilt (as it were.) I dunno… I’m an intelligent, well-educated, modern woman, and Khan might have had that effect on me… Kirk certainly never did. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/12 "2022-12-29T18:18:36Z")
The movie “Wrath of Khan” is probably the best Star Trek movie. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gl_y5wTeJtk/hqdefault.jpg "The Wrath of Khan (1982) "Kirk's Response"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_y5wTeJtk) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/13 "2022-12-29T18:23:09Z")
It’s a toss-up IMHO between that one and > **[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092007/)** > > Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Directed by Leonard Nimoy. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan. To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to... ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/14 "2022-12-29T18:38:34Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > We have an early leader in the race… I think what really puts it in the lead is that it had other aspects that would have made it a pretty good episode, especially by third-season standards, (William Shatner got some good acting moments, the fleshing-out of the universe with the hints about the “Preservers”) if not for the embarrassing “white savior” tropes. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/15 "2022-12-29T18:40:56Z")
The episode where Kirk is split by the transporter into Good Kirk and Bad Kirk. Bad Kirk tries to rape Nurse Chapel, who is understandably traumatized. There’s a scene where Spock, McCoy and Good Kirk are standing around discussing the implications of Bad Kirk being loose and how that affects Good Kirk but are completely underwhelmed about Chapel’s trauma as she sits there like a chastened kindergartener in time-out. It made me livid when when it was replayed recently. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/16 "2022-12-29T18:49:43Z")
I certainly understand why you would feel that way. What I have never figured out (for myself) is whether to judge such shows by the time they were made in or our time now. There were creepy moments but should we be livid with a show that, for its time, was quite progressive but still had some of the sexism of that era? I’d suggest it was a step in the right direction for its time even if it got some bits wrong by today’s standards. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/17 "2022-12-29T19:03:16Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > In general, there is a high level of sexism found throughout TOS. Everything from offhand comments like ‘not another woman yeoman [/eyeroll]’ to the mini-dress uniforms, rampant mansplaining, up to and including the premise of entire episodes like “Mudd’s Women.” The short skirts are certainly a valid example of something that’s aged poorly, but at the time, many thought of them as liberating. > [@Nichelle NIchols](#): > > In later years, especially as the women’s movement took hold in the seventies, people began to ask me about my costume. Some thought it “demeaning” for a woman in the command crew to be dressed so sexily. It always surprised me because I never saw it that way. After all, the show was created in the age of the miniskirt, and the crew women’s uniforms were very comfortable. Contrary to what many may think today, no one really saw it as demeaning back then. In fact, the miniskirt was a symbol of sexual liberation. More to the point, though, in the twenty-third century, you are respected for your abilities regardless of what you do or do not wear. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/18 "2022-12-29T19:15:28Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Bad Kirk tries to rape Nurse Chapel, who is understandably traumatized. Janice Rand, ftr. Which is harsher in hindsight when she was subsequently sexually assaulted by a Desilu employee. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/19 "2022-12-29T19:19:27Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The short skirts are certainly a valid example of something that’s aged poorly, but at the time, many thought of them as liberating. At the time, Southwest Airlines dressed its “stewardesses” in hot pants– > **[Southwest Airlines Commercial, no. 1 - Hostesses in Hotpants (1971)](https://texasarchive.org/2010_00405)** > > Watch an ever-growing archive of Texas film and videos through the decades. Discover the experience of Texans, explore education and preservation resources. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282/20 "2022-12-29T19:20:07Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The one with the black/white guy and white/black guy trying to kill each other? I’m guessing those may have been cutting edge social commentary when they were first aired (but then, what do I know? I was five) but they just seem silly now. Not only silly, but actually harmful because the resolution is, in essence, “let’s just stop worrying about who was oppressing who or whether one side over the other had actual legitimate grievances and instead view racism as something people do to each other, not something that might actually represent serious underlying systemic issues that can and should be resolved, but which will not be resolved merely by telling everyone on #bothsides to just play nice and be civil from now on.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-st-tos-episodes-have-aged-most-poorly/977282.md?page=2)