# Worst Star Trek (TOS) episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942 "2014-01-16T04:06:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/161 "2014-01-19T02:50:32Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > That brings up another problem that I can’t believe I just thought of. > > We can only assume that Starfleet is sending someone to help because AFTER Spock deflects the asteroid and rescues Kirk…how long do they have to sit in orbit waiting for help? It took some two months to get back to Kirk, and no help had shown up. God knows how long they would have to wait after that. Sometimes they could communicate with Star Fleet immediately. Sometimes they were too far away. I guess being able to talk to Star Fleet comes under the heading of Poetic License. Of course, there is the theory that it was a ship load of misfits that Star Fleet wanted to be rid of, so they ignored their plea for help. Perhaps other star ships were too far away, or busy saving the universe some where else. Pick your fan wank. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/162 "2014-01-19T05:38:47Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > Either most people’s brains have erased any memory of the _Alternative Factor_ or self preservation caused them to change the channel when the episode came on. That’s the only explanation for why any other episode is mentioned in this thread. > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [I referenced it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17024135&postcount=130). The character’s name was Lazarus. I don’t think **Sir Prize** was denying that the ep had been referred to; I thought he was saying it’s so bad that there’s no reason to refer to any other. > [@zbuzz](#): > > My vote goes to _The Negron Complex_, written by Paul Kinsey. > > Terrible episode, but what a twist! Guess I musta missed that one… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/163 "2014-01-19T06:12:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Guess I musta missed that one… Probably because Paul Kinsey appears to be a minor (not miner) character on _Mad Men_ who, it seems, wrote an episode for _Star Trek_. This I gleaned from a wiki, not having had the pleasure of watching the show. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/164 "2014-01-19T07:38:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Hell, from a basic physics standpoint they could have pushed the asteroid into missing the planet by raising shields and pushing sideways on the sucker. The distance it was from the planet means the slightest nudge would make it miss. > > Funny Spock didn’t think of that. I don’t think they ever did use the _shields_ to push on anything, but of course they had deflectors for that, or tractors for towing. Another alternative: Beam over a crew in spacesuits with an antimatter charge. Place charge, beam back crew, detonate charge. Rinse and repeat (we’re going for an Orion drive type thing). If they don’t have enough antimatter for this (they certainly have _some_, they used a tiny amount in _Obsession_) they can use photon torpedoes to provide the bang. As you rightly say, a small nudge from a few months away means crisis averted. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/165 "2014-01-19T08:32:58Z")
But without scenes from _The Paradise Syndrome_, [_Camelot_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVjkTEIoJc) would have much more difficult to put together. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/166 "2014-01-19T12:53:48Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > \*\*Turnabout Intruder \*\*is the WORST episode ever. > > You are expected to believe that women in the 24th Century are somehow “oppressed” and that switching their bodies to those of men would in some manner “alleviate” this. Huh? That sounds more like a Lifetime Channel fantasy film than an attempt at serious sci fi. Fanwank - Janice Lester didn’t have a future in Star fleet not because she was a woman but because she was nuts. The sexist explanation is a ego-soother, and Kirk played along to spare her feelings. Of course, his reasons for doing so were sexist because he’s, y’know, Captain Kirk. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/167 "2014-01-19T18:45:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Fanwank - Janice Lester didn’t have a future in Star fleet not because she was a woman but because she was nuts. The sexist explanation is a ego-soother, and Kirk played along to spare her feelings. > > Of course, his reasons for doing so were sexist because he’s, y’know, Captain Kirk. My fanwank is a little different. The dialogue is Dr. Janice Lester: The year we were together at Starfleet is the only time in my life I was alive. Captain James T. Kirk: I never stopped you from going on with your space work. Dr. Janice Lester: Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women. It isn’t fair. Captain James T. Kirk: No, it isn’t, and you punished and tortured me because of it. Dr. Janice Lester: I loved you. We could have roamed among the stars. Captain James T. Kirk: We’d have killed each other. Dr. Janice Lester: It might have been better. So it sounds to me that “Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women” means that Kirk was incapable of a long term relationship with a woman **because** he was a starship captain (something that is clearly true from other evidence in the series), not that women couldn’t be captains. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/168 "2014-01-19T19:10:23Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > …So it sounds to me that “Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women” means that Kirk was incapable of a long term relationship with a woman **because** he was a starship captain (something that is clearly true from other evidence in the series), not that women couldn’t be captains. I hadn’t thought of it that way! Interesting point. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/169 "2014-01-19T19:57:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t think **Sir Prize** was denying that the ep had been referred to; I thought he was saying it’s so bad that there’s no reason to refer to any other. Indeed. Some of the others mentioned like The Way to Eden are great. They may be cheesy but there is a lot in them to enjoy. Even if the sexism in Turnabout Intruder makes no sense, you get to see a woman play Captain Kirk. I think the only other person besides Shatner to play the character until Chris Pine. And, what can I say, I like Shatner’s hammy acting. I remember hating The Empath when I was young but I haven’t seen it in years and I wonder if I might enjoy it now. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/170 "2014-01-19T20:06:39Z")
The Empath was an interesting idea. Her facial expressions and body language sold it, imho. The experimenters were a little hokey, as was Bones (he Shatnered it up quite a bit). ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/171 "2014-01-19T22:38:48Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Probably because Paul Kinsey appears to be a minor (not miner) character on _Mad Men_ who, it seems, wrote an episode for _Star Trek_. This I gleaned from a wiki, not having had the pleasure of watching the show. Sorry, I thought there would be more Mad Men watchers in here who would appreciate the reference. Paul Kinsey is a schlub of an ex-ad man whose last ditch effort to make a difference in life is to write a Star Trek episode. As Harry explains it to Peggy, “It’s really bad. And it’s pronounced ‘neg-rahn,’ because it rhymes with ‘kha-tahn,’ which the Negron pick under slavery to the Cau-ca-zahns.” “That’s a twist.” “No, the twist is that the Negron are white.” So if anyone thought The Omega Glory was bad, it could have been worse. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/172 "2014-01-19T23:12:18Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Later on, it’s revealed that the captors were wee little cthulu-looking plant aliens. So… how did the make-out session actually work? Did the female alien transmute her body, actually becoming human sized? Or was it all “in the mind”? Not all. Jackson is dead. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/173 "2014-01-19T23:44:04Z")
Remote mind dildoing? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/174 "2014-01-20T02:19:52Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > …“No, the twist is that the Negron are white.” > > So if anyone thought The Omega Glory was bad, it could have been worse. Huh. DeForest Kelley said in an interview some years ago (early Eighties?) that there actually _was_ a draft script in which McCoy and Uhura ended up on a planet in which blacks were in charge, and whites were an oppressed minority. They’d have to pretend to fill those roles in order to survive until they could be rescued by the _Enterprise_. It was never produced, though. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/175 "2014-01-20T05:30:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Huh. DeForest Kelley said in an interview some years ago (early Eighties?) that there actually _was_ a draft script in which McCoy and Uhura ended up on a planet in which blacks were in charge, and whites were an oppressed minority. They’d have to pretend to fill those roles in order to survive until they could be rescued by the _Enterprise_. > > It was never produced, though. I think it morphed into “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” under the third season producer. A similar story was also considered for Roddenberry’s _ **Genesis II** _, but was never produced. _ **Genesis II** _ itself morphed into _ **Planet Earth** _. The society there was one dominated by women. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/176 "2014-01-20T05:59:17Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Sorry, I thought there would be more Mad Men watchers in here who would appreciate the reference. > > Paul Kinsey is a schlub of an ex-ad man whose last ditch effort to make a difference in life is to write a Star Trek episode. As Harry explains it to Peggy, “It’s really bad. And it’s pronounced ‘neg-rahn,’ because it rhymes with ‘kha-tahn,’ which the Negron pick under slavery to the Cau-ca-zahns.” > > “That’s a twist.” > > “No, the twist is that the Negron are white.” > > So if anyone thought The Omega Glory was bad, it could have been worse. As I said during the thread on Mad Men, that episode pissed me off because it was set during the first season when ST wasn’t doing that kind of show, so Kinsey would have no reason to think it would sell. Unless he could see 1968 episodes, that is. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/177 "2014-01-20T06:01:42Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Yeah, the likelihood that (whatever impulse power they have) that it’s exactly that of the asteroid is beyond silly. It would require some crazy technobabble explanation like a low level deflector shield has been set up and the asteroid is literally pushing them back. Actually, it shows that the writers have no idea of physics. Since the Enterprise had matched the asteroid’s velocity, they needed no impulse power at all to keep up. Now, they had to have some, since they went into orbit when the asteroid arrived. Kind of the same problem as needing power to stay in orbit which they used again and again - and which at least was gone in TNG. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/178 "2014-01-20T09:33:03Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > … Kind of the same problem as needing power to stay in orbit which they used again and again - and which at least was gone in TNG. One of the worst physics atrocities occurred in an episode of TNG, in which the order to helm was given, “Take us to a stationary orbit over the south pole.” ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/179 "2014-01-20T16:16:43Z")
> [@For You](#): > > One of the worst physics atrocities occurred in an episode of TNG, in which the order to helm was given, “Take us to a stationary orbit over the south pole.” In other words: “Hover!” 🆒 ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942/180 "2014-01-20T16:20:21Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > As I said during the thread on Mad Men, that episode pissed me off because it was set during the first season when ST wasn’t doing that kind of show, so Kinsey would have no reason to think it would sell. Unless he could see 1968 episodes, that is. I would have to look in my copy of Solow and Justman’s book to be sure, but I think it actually was one of the ideas first pitched by Roddenberry in the original series format, submitted to MGM in 1963 or '64. The only two I remember well from the list are “President Capone” and “The Women,” which eventually became “A Piece of the Action” and “Mudd’s Women,” respectively. Roddenberry’s story ideas (called “springboards”) were made available to all aspiring writers when they were offered an assignment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-star-trek-tos-episode/678942.md?page=10)