Thinking of doing a TOS rewatch/watch -- what order?

[James Cole]

Hey guys. I'm 31, got into TNG in the early 1990's when I was in elementary school. During that decade I saw TOS off and on in broadcast syndication, probably seeing 90% of the episodes at least once. My family didn't have cable/satellite, so I also ended up buying I think 7 episodes on VHS for ones I wanted to see but never caught, or never got a chance to tape (this is how I saw WNMHGB, Space Seed, Metamorphosis, and Turnabout Intruder -- which I bought because it was the final episode :/). I also had The Cage, Tribbles, and Mirror Mirror, so these are the ones I've seen more than say 3 times.

My main exposure to TOS has more been the movies plus novels/comics.

TOS originally never came out in DVD box sets, then I waited for the HD remasters, finally buying the Blu-ray two years ago -- which I never got a chance to watch since I moved out of the country and don't have a good TV/BD set-up here.

Then a friend that liked ST09 and STID (shudder) mentioned they were watching TOS streaming. And I thought wow maybe I can finally get around to seeing TOS again (plus maybe 10 episodes+ either from beginning to end or the first time) that way.

I looked it up, and noticed the episodes are all out of order -- well production order. I've always watched TNG etc in production order (esp VGR with UPN having moved so much around), so was planning on just watching TOS in the order I was used to.

But, is there any merit to watching it in the airdate order post-WNMHGB? Figured I'd ask.

And, who knows, maybe start a watching thread with comments.

 

[Albertese]

TOS was released on DVD as single episodes in (I believe) the late 90s, and then was released as season box sets in 2004. The HDDVD stuff was in 2007.

As to what order you watch them in, it doesn't really matter. Production order is my personal favorite order, as it places WNMHGB in the lead, where it belongs. But the DVDs and Netflix both have them in air date order.

The series was made specifically not to need to be seen in any particular order, as the studio didn't know in advance what order NBC was going to air them. So episode-to-episode continuity isn't really a thing in TOS.

Personally I've always wanted to assemble the series into stardate order, and see what that does...but it'd be a much more involved process, especially seeing as how several episodes don't actually have stardates...

--Alex

 

[Warped9]

Personally I've always wanted to assemble the series into stardate order, and see what that does...but it'd be a much more involved process, especially seeing as how several episodes don't actually have stardates...

--Alex

I plan on doing this sometime and I have a list prepared somewhere. And, actually, there are very few episodes without a stardate: "Mirror, Mirror," "The Omega Glory," "Assignment: Earth," "Day Of The Dove" and "That Which Survives."

 

[The Lensman]

I'd recommend production order as you'll see the evolution of things like uniforms and Spock's looks more organically. Both take a few episodes to get to what we're familiar with.

As for stardate order....I've never paid attention to them and just assumed the writers just rambled off numbers randomly. I know that in the spin-off's they paid more attention to them though.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I personally would go with production order, but there are probably merits to either choice.

IIRC, the first DVD season sets were in production order. I kinda wish the BRs had gone this way too, but oh well.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

I would watch "The Cage", " Where No Man Has Gone Before", then by original airdate. Its fun to see it as viewers would have seen it unfold in the '60's.

I don't know why "The Cage" is tacked onto the Season 3 box sets.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Alphabetical
A Piece of the Action to Wink of An Eye.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Dialog word count. Fewest words spoken to most. Or maybe the other way around: talkiest to most non-verbal.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The Columbia House videos were arranged in stardate order. You wind up having Patterns of Force in the first season and other episodes crossing seasons as well. The non-stardate episodes were were saved for last.

Even though there was one listed on the tape case and in Decker's log (4202.1), there isn't a stardate for The Doomsday Machine. Kirk never does a log entry.

I personally would go with production order, but there are probably merits to either choice.

IIRC, the first DVD season sets were in production order. I kinda wish the BRs had gone this way too, but oh well.

Nope, the season sets were always in airdate order. The individual 2 epiode DVDs, however, were in production order.

 

[tafkats]

Since TOS is so episodic, it doesn't make a huge difference. But, like The Lensman said, some things do change as characters and appearances get ironed out. So if you go in production order, you're less likely to be thrown by things like Chekov's godawful wig reappearing after you thought it was finally gone, etc.

 

[Lance]

It is strange that they keep flip-flopping on which order they present the episodes..... during the 1990s and into the early 2000s it seemed to have been agreed that the prefered version was production order, which IMO makes more sense anyway, as it's easier to see the progression of the characters, especially in Season One. But then the original DVD releases and the Blu Rays opted for broadcast order instead.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The standard way to release shows in season sets is in broadcast order. For some reason, for fans of Star Trek, broadcast order is a sticking point. Hundreds of episodic shows are out there in season sets in broadcast order and nobody gives it another thought, or raises a stink. I Spy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many more all went through growth processes and evolution, yet they're all out in the order of original broadcast and nobody seems to care in great numbers.

Honestly, I can't see how it matters. Unless you're the type of person who needs to watch all 79 episodes in order in marathon sessions, wouldn't you just pick an episode you want to watch? Does it matter if Amok Time is the first episode of the second season or not?

 

[Avro Arrow]

IIRC, the first DVD season sets were in production order. I kinda wish the BRs had gone this way too, but oh well.

Nope, the season sets were always in airdate order. The individual 2 epiode DVDs, however, were in production order.

Oops, my mistake. (Stupid memory, be more... remember-y! )

 

[johnnybear]

I've always been tempted to watch 'em in stardate order too but the four or five that don't have them can be annoying especially as they are some of the best! But if you do it that way you'll find This side of Paradise is your last episode of season one!
JB

 

[RandyS]

I would watch "The Cage", " Where No Man Has Gone Before", then by original airdate. Its fun to see it as viewers would have seen it unfold in the '60's.

I don't know why "The Cage" is tacked onto the Season 3 box sets.

That's how I usually watch them, the two pilots, then airdate order. I could go by filmed order, but I usually just watch them in the order they're on the disks.

As for why The Cage is on the season three set, I assume it's because, going by airdate order, it was first shown in 1988, so, last.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

The standard way to release shows in season sets is in broadcast order. For some reason, for fans of Star Trek, broadcast order is a sticking point. Hundreds of episodic shows are out there in season sets in broadcast order and nobody gives it another thought, or raises a stink. I Spy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many more all went through growth processes and evolution, yet they're all out in the order of original broadcast and nobody seems to care in great numbers.

Honestly, I can't see how it matters. Unless you're the type of person who needs to watch all 79 episodes in order in marathon sessions, wouldn't you just pick an episode you want to watch? Does it matter if Amok Time is the first episode of the second season or not?

Broadcast order doesn't irritate me except for those first few episodes, when they were going through rapid changes.

As for I Dream of Jeannie, as I recall, they follow a kind of chronology in the narrative, especially in the first season, so the broadcast order makes sense. There's a definite point where the fiancee exits the picture, where Roger learns about Jeannie, and so forth.

 

[Forbin]

The standard way to release shows in season sets is in broadcast order. For some reason, for fans of Star Trek, broadcast order is a sticking point. Hundreds of episodic shows are out there in season sets in broadcast order and nobody gives it another thought, or raises a stink. I Spy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many more all went through growth processes and evolution, yet they're all out in the order of original broadcast and nobody seems to care in great numbers.

Honestly, I can't see how it matters. Unless you're the type of person who needs to watch all 79 episodes in order in marathon sessions, wouldn't you just pick an episode you want to watch? Does it matter if Amok Time is the first episode of the second season or not?

The only time it truly disturbed me was with Kung Fu. A 3-part series finale was made, with a clearly defined ending. Then there are two more episodes on the last disk.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I would watch "The Cage", " Where No Man Has Gone Before", then by original airdate. Its fun to see it as viewers would have seen it unfold in the '60's.

I don't know why "The Cage" is tacked onto the Season 3 box sets.

Well if you want the 60s effect, you have to watch WNMHGB third and 'the Cage' not at all.

 

[drt]

Production order works best for the first-half of the first season, but once the details are roughly ironed out, there's not really a huge difference.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

I would watch "The Cage", " Where No Man Has Gone Before", then by original airdate. Its fun to see it as viewers would have seen it unfold in the '60's.

I don't know why "The Cage" is tacked onto the Season 3 box sets.

Well if you want the 60s effect, you have to watch WNMHGB third and 'the Cage' not at all.

Unless you're imagining you're one of the lucky audience members who got to see an early screening of The Cage!