Meat and Potatoes of Trek

[Balok's Decoy]

Oooohh nice link @marsh8472 and nice to see an animated episode get suggested as well.

Out of interest, do people think 'What are little girls made of' from TOS would fit the bill for this?

Oh absolutely. What Are Little Girls Made Of is classic TOS. Not the best episode they ever made, but all the elements are there, including the vibrant set colors and lighting.

 

[Greg Cox]

Oh absolutely. What Are Little Girls Made Of is classic TOS. Not the best episode they ever made, but all the elements are there, including the vibrant set colors and lighting.

Yep. Good choice. A great-looking monster in Rukh and a nice showcase for Chapel.

 

[Idran]

These are usually regarded as top-tier episodes, rather than just average.

I don't think the thread's about average, but rather most representative. Like, the most TOS-y TOS episode, the most TNG-y TNG episode, etc.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I don't think the thread's about average, but rather most representative. Like, the most TOS-y TOS episode, the most TNG-y TNG episode, etc.

I was going by the OP.

 

[Idran]

I was going by the OP.

Oh, my mistake; I thought I was too, but I somehow missed that it said "average" right there.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Hi guys,

Here's the challenge - I want what you would consider a perfect 'Meat and Potatoes' episode of each of the Star Trek tv series (TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise). Not the best episode, not the worst episode, just the average - an episode that you feel best represents what a casual viewer would more than likely have found if they were channel surfing and came across each of those shows in turn during their run. An episode that demonstrates those basic and essential elements of the show's DNA without being a stand out.

This will be a really interesting one to see if there's any kind of general consensus.

very much look forward to hearing everyone's views.

TOS: Arena
TAS: Yesteryear
TNG: Starship Mine
DS9: Shakaar
ENT: Terra Nova

 

[at Quark's]

TNG: I think home soil would be an example. Not stellar, not bad, but fairly average, and with a lot of typical TNG themes and flavour. A bit cheesy here and there perhaps but that would be mainly because it's still quite early TNG. I thought of the quality of life first, but I think that ep is distinctly better than average.

as for other series, I'll have to give it a night's sleep.

 

[Spocklight]

@Idran @CorporalCaptain appreciate you both posting thoughtful replies, I suppose its getting a balance between those two things, both a more average run of the mill episode (average as in the quality you could expect if you just chucked on a random episode) and one that represents what the show is about well.