Best:
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jxh13 — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 04:11 AM)
That's a darned good list for a first-time viewer; thanks for posting, and I'm glad you enjoyed the series.
You'll forgive older fans for liking "Arena." In the 60s, the rubber lizard suit was a hallmark of great television. I watched "Arena" again a couple of weekends ago, and had a blast.
"By Any Other Name" has some weak moments, but fans tend to like to for the themes of "humanity", especially Scotty drinking the alien Tomar under the table. (What does it mean to be "human?" Light necking, a jealous rage, irritation, and overindulging in alcohol.) -
sukhisoo — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 08:58 AM)
Nice list, actually.
I admit that I am a big fan of Arena. This hearkens back to my pre-teen days when I saw this on TV. Kirk being chased down by a knife-wielding giant lizard certainly captured my imagination. This episode single handedly made me a fan of the show, so I will always have a nostalgic fondness for it. Still, your reasons for not liking it are valid.
By Any Other Name is one that I wasn't fond of as a younger viewer. It grew on me, though. While I will never consider the episode a classic, the drinking scene is iconic. It's a goofy fun episode.
Two episodes that I think deserve more time on worst of lists are "The Lights of Zetar" and "The Mark of Gideon". The former has an intriguing premise but drags. The latter, while having the germ of an important social message, is ludicrous on several levels. -
BiffGG — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 09:59 AM)
Those of us that grew up during the 1960's or 1970's have no problem with the visual "shorthand" of plastic ships hung off of a string or monsters that were made from latex. The story mattered the most to us. I certainly bought in as far as imagination is concerned with the Gorn. Most of certainly would rank "The Doomsday Machine" as a poor episode if we were preoccupied with the construction of the Planet Killer. It was worse earlier than the days of the original Star Trek when most people listened to radio for dramatic programming and had to build the ships and aliens with their minds. Roddenberry had stated during the 1970's he enjoyed putting certain aspects of the old radio shows into ST to have the viewer construct some of the background in their mind. Too bad GR did not live long enough to see CGI and to see if CGI would alter his opinion.
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sukhisoo — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 10:17 AM)
It actually helped that I watched it on a small black and white TV. It hid the flaws, but still allowed the unusual characters, monsters, and devices to come through. I didn't understand the concept of "redshirt" until much much later.
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Eric-62-2 — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 10:32 AM)
I should have added "By Any Other Name" to the list of worst. Here is an episode wildly uneven in tone that veers from seriousness to low comedy in its second half and has as its resolution (1) the repetition of a STUPID cliche where the key to defeating these supposedly superior intellects beyond our level is to resort to "make him jealous" and then more appallingly (2) the episode ends with a kumbaya session with the guy who murdered one of Kirk's crew. You can't shift the blame to Kirk as Rojan did earlier on responsibility, he was still the one who performed the murder and we're supposed to just forget that? I sure would love to see Kirk explain to the Federation that they should make allowances for those who murdered and were willing to murder other Federation personnel.
Of course forgetting all about crewmen who died along the way in an episode was something this show did a lot of. A rare exception and one that helps elevate the episode is Kirk's simple, "Jackson is dead" at the end of "Catspaw."
I will note that "Wink Of An Eye" is on many levels the same episode as "By Any Other Name" (even if its conceit was also ripped off from a "Wild Wild West" episode that Gene Coon had produced) but at least that one ended more believably with Kirk effectively telling the ones who were responsible for the death of one of his crew (Compton), "You're on your own" and not coming up with a solution for their plight. -
bjlevine — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 10:40 AM)
Sorry, but Scotty and Tomar's scenes alone firmly lift that episode out of the worst category. Also, the scene where Kirk basically chickens out of destroying the ship is good. Makes Kirk all the more human.
Over 20,001 Tacos ReturnedAS GARBAGE! -
Eric-62-2 — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 11:59 AM)
The Scotty-Tomar scene is funny as a scene but in the overall context of the episode it highlights its flaw of being wildly uneven. For me it's like having the barfight in "Trouble With Tribbles" in the second half of the "Doomsday Machine".
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sukhisoo — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 01:42 PM)
I'd rather watch "wildly uneven" than "uniformly bland" or "consistently bad", but that's just me.
By Any Other Name has a plethora of fun moments even these moments don't entirely meld together into a coherent whole. -
jbaker1-2 — 3 years ago(October 10, 2022 10:44 AM)
If you're going to call someone else a moron, it would do wonders for your credibility if you'd at least make a token effort to not be a moron yourself.
There are 8.2 billion people in the world. 8.19 billion of them have never heard of and don't give a fuck about Charlie Kirk. Get over it. -
jbaker1-2 — 3 years ago(November 01, 2022 10:12 AM)
No list of worst TOS episodes is complete without
The Omega Glory
.
There are 8.2 billion people in the world. 8.19 billion of them have never heard of and don't give a fuck about Charlie Kirk. Get over it. -
stewie-3 — 9 years ago(July 16, 2016 10:21 PM)
I actually never saw Catspaw as a kid, for some reason. The first time I saw it, I was in my mid-20's, on Halloween night. I guess that was the perfect time to watch that particular episode. It's not considered one of the better Trek outings, but I do like the spooky quality it has.
One episode a lot of Trek fans seem to love that I just never got into was The Empath. Not sure what it is about that one, but I've never watched it the whole way through without channel surfing. That doesn't make it a bad ep, of course. Just not one I care for very much. -
ltarex — 9 years ago(July 17, 2016 03:45 AM)
Best:
The City on the Edge of Forever
Balance of Terror
The Doomsday Machine
Journey to Babel
The Devil in the Dark
Space Seed
Mirror, Mirror
(Honorary mention: Amok Time)
Worst:
The Way to Eden
Plato's Stepchildren
And the Children Shall Lead
Spock's Brain
The Alternative Factor
The Omega Glory
Catspaw
(Honorary mention: Miri)
"A voice from behind me reminds me. Spread out your wings you are an angel." -
dmnemaine — 9 years ago(July 17, 2016 10:27 AM)
Worst:
- Spock's Brain
- The Omega Glory
- Spectre Of The Gun
- The Savage Curtain
- The Way To Eden
- Tomorrow Is Yesterday
- A Piece Of The Action
Best: - City On The Edge Of Forever
- Amok Time
- Charlie X
- Mirror Mirror
- The Changeling
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RIP_IMDb — 9 years ago(July 17, 2016 03:55 PM)
, you rank "
And the Children Shall Lead
" and "
Plato's Stepchildren
" as the sixth and seventh
BEST
episodes?!?! Most have "
And the Children Shall Lead
" BELOW seventh worst, usually worst or second-worst rarely better than third-worst.
I'll let you know when I come-up with a new signature,
.