The Best and Worst Episode Titles

[StefanM]

"Notlandung AUF Galileo 7" - Nobody landed ON Galileo 7 (as if it was the planet's name)
"The naked time" - "Implosion in der Spirale" (Implosion inside the helix) WHAT???
"Balance of terror" - "Spock unter Verdacht" (Spock under suspicion)
"Dagger of the mind" - "Der Zentralnervensystemmanipulator" ..... Dont even try to translate it!!!
"Arena" - "Ganz neue Dimensionen" (All new dimensions) What dimensions???
"Operation Annihilate" - "Spock außer Kontrolle (Spock out of control)
"The devil in the dark" - "Horta rettet ihre Kinder" (Horta saves her children) .... Yes, take away the solution of the episode.
And that's just the worst of season one. So better don't criticize the original titles

 

[Kilana2]

"Notlandung AUF Galileo 7" - Nobody landed ON Galileo 7 (as if it was the planet's name)
"The naked time" - "Implosion in der Spirale" (Implosion inside the helix) WHAT???
"Balance of terror" - "Spock unter Verdacht" (Spock under suspicion)
"Dagger of the mind" - "Der Zentralnervensystemmanipulator" ..... Dont even try to translate it!!!
"Arena" - "Ganz neue Dimensionen" (All new dimensions) What dimensions???
"Operation Annihilate" - "Spock außer Kontrolle (Spock out of control)
"The devil in the dark" - "Horta rettet ihre Kinder" (Horta saves her children) .... Yes, take away the solution of the episode.
And that's just the worst of season one. So better don't criticize the original titles

At least Spock's Brain was Spock's Gehirn. Not everyone's favorite episode, though.....

 

[GNDN18]

"The Enterprise Incident."

I think this was a fine title that reflected the ripped-from-the-headlines basis of the story: the Pueblo incident. Link.

 

[scotpens]

"Return to Tomorrow" is a meaningless title that has nothing to do with the story. Makes it sound like a time-travel episode.

"The naked time" - "Implosion in der Spirale" (Implosion inside the helix) WHAT???

That makes zero sense. Why couldn't they have just translated the title? I'm sure the metaphorical meaning of "naked" is fairly universal.

"The devil in the dark" - "Horta rettet ihre Kinder" (Horta saves her children) ...

Yeah, put a spoiler right in the title!

 

[Maurice]

Harlan had a penchant for great titles, e.g.

• The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World
• The City on the Edge of Forever
• Crazy as a Soup Sandwich
• Demon With a Glass Hand
• From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet
• I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
• Paladin of the Lost Hour
• The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World
• "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman
• Shatterday
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs

 

[Phaser Two]

The Corbomite Maneuver was renamed into Pokerspiele (Poker Games). Das Corbomit Manöver would be totally acceptable.
I really like the title The Conscience of the King. In German it was simply Kodos der Henker (the Executioner). Too revealing for my liking.

Well, not necessarily, as Kodos is a constant presence looming over the episode whether he's Karidian or not, but I'm pretty certain Hamlet has been translated into German, so why not just take the translation from that source? Das Gewissen des Konigs or something? (Sorry, no umlaut on mobile )

 

[Phaser Two]

"Notlandung AUF Galileo 7" - Nobody landed ON Galileo 7 (as if it was the planet's name)
"The naked time" - "Implosion in der Spirale" (Implosion inside the helix) WHAT???
"Balance of terror" - "Spock unter Verdacht" (Spock under suspicion)
"Dagger of the mind" - "Der Zentralnervensystemmanipulator" ..... Dont even try to translate it!!!
"Arena" - "Ganz neue Dimensionen" (All new dimensions) What dimensions???
"Operation Annihilate" - "Spock außer Kontrolle (Spock out of control)
"The devil in the dark" - "Horta rettet ihre Kinder" (Horta saves her children) .... Yes, take away the solution of the episode.
And that's just the worst of season one. So better don't criticize the original titles

Yep, that matches my recollection that the German translators supplied atrocious and unnecessary new titles. What the heck??

I think this was a fine title that reflected the ripped-from-the-headlines basis of the story: the Pueblo incident. Link.

Enh. There's almost nothing similar about the two "incidents" and (prepared to be very wrong on this if someone has a link or a cite) I've never been entirely sure that Ms. Fontana actually took much of her inspiration from the Pueblo. Didn't she later admit it was her worst Star Trek script?

 

[GNDN18]

Enh. There's almost nothing similar about the two "incidents" and (prepared to be very wrong on this if someone has a link or a cite) I've never been entirely sure that Ms. Fontana actually took much of her inspiration from the Pueblo. Didn't she later admit it was her worst Star Trek script?

http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/articles/enterpriseincident.htm

And from Fontana herself:

Fontana noted, "It was really based on the Pueblo Incident, in the sense that here's this ship caught spying and they have to find a justification for their being there. Kirk's sanity is put on the line in terms of why they're there. Then, of course, they have to get out safely, preferably with the information they came for. Now that's not what happened with the Pueblo, but the Pueblo Incident kicked off this line of thinking in my mind." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)

 

[Marsden]

I'll agree Return to Tomorrow is a poor title. It's too generic and not even related to the episode.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

After "The Deadly Years," "Return to Tomorrow" was my runner-up for worst title, for the reasons stated.

 

[StefanM]

Yep, that matches my recollection that the German translators supplied atrocious and unnecessary new titles. What the heck??

Well, that was german TV in the early 70ies.
Does anyone remember the british series "The Persuaders" with Roger Moore & Tony Curtis?
Even in England, it never was successful. So the german translators changed all the dialogues and made it some kind of comedy show. It became a huge success in the early 70ies in Germany, just because of the "bad" translations.

So they did the same with parts of Star Trek.
The episode "Amok Time" became "Weltraumfieber" (Space Fever). They changed the dialogues and cut a lot of scenes, so anything sexual (the pon farr) was eliminated. Spock just had dreamed it all, even killing Kirk was just part of the "fever dream".

Other stupid german titles:
The Immunity Syndrome Das Loch im Weltraum (The Hole in Space)
By Any Other Name Stein und Staub (Stone and Dust)
Return to Tomorrow Geist sucht Körper (Mind searches body)
The Omega Glory Das Jahr des roten Vogels (The year oft he red bird)
Is There in Truth No Beauty? Die fremde Materie (The unknown matter)
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield Bele jagt Lokai (Bele hunts Lokai)
That Which Survives Gefährliche Planetengirls (Dangerous Planet-girls)

 

[Spock's Barber]

I'll agree Return to Tomorrow is a poor title. It's too generic and not even related to the episode.

To quote Shatner from the S2 blooper reel,

"Have no fear, Sargon is here."

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Harlan had a penchant for great titles, e.g.

• The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World
• The City on the Edge of Forever
• Crazy as a Soup Sandwich
• Demon With a Glass Hand
• From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet
• I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
• Paladin of the Lost Hour
• The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World
• "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman
• Shatterday
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs

Agreed. That's why "The City on the Edge of Forever" is my favorite TOS title. Like a lot of Ellison's titles, it's immediately evocative and puts an image in your head. Thank God no one was foolish enough to change it in all the rewrites.

For the worst, I nominate "For the World Is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky and Holy Crap, This is Kind of a Long Title, Isn't It and Oh My GOD, I'm Still Typing Why Won't This Damn Thing Just END Already?" Too long and WAY too pretentious. It's even long when you abbreviate it - FTWIHAIHTTS.

I also dislike "Metamorphosis" and "The Changeling," largely because they're both so generic that I'm constantly mixing up those two episodes. They're dull enough to be VOY titles.

 

[Night Shade]

Worst - What Are Little Girls Made Of? - because the episode was more about Kirk and Dr. Korby than the female android Andrea

Best - Mirror, Mirror - because it represents the characters having to take a hard look at their shadow sides, which are definitely not "the fairest of them all".

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Worst - What Are Little Girls Made Of? - because the episode was more about Kirk and Dr. Korby than the female android Andrea

Maybe it's in reference to Chapel, who is the only actual female in the equation.

 

[Night Shade]

Maybe it's in reference to Chapel, who is the only actual female in the equation.

Good point. I still don't like the title, though, because the "little girls" part is a bit condescending to women

 

[Phaser Two]

http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/articles/enterpriseincident.htm

And from Fontana herself:

Thanks. I actually think less of the title now than before, though.
Oh, and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is another bad title, no doubt.

 

[Kilana2]

Other stupid german titles:
The Immunity Syndrome Das Loch im Weltraum (The Hole in Space)
By Any Other Name Stein und Staub (Stone and Dust)
Return to Tomorrow Geist sucht Körper (Mind searches body)
The Omega Glory Das Jahr des roten Vogels (The year oft he red bird)
Is There in Truth No Beauty? Die fremde Materie (The unknown matter)
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield Bele jagt Lokai (Bele hunts Lokai)
That Which Survives Gefährliche Planetengirls (Dangerous Planet-girls)

They added Kleinling in the Miri episode. In German it is 'Miri, ein Kleinling'. Can't find a translation for Kleinling. They were called Onlies in the original. Where did they get the word Kleinling?

Space Seed = Der schlafende Tiger (The sleeping Tiger). ????? I don't know if @Greg Cox would like the German title better.....

 

[Phaser Two]

They added Kleinling in the Miri episode. In German it is 'Miri, ein Kleinling'. Can't find a translation for Kleinling. They were called Onlies in the original. Where did they get the word Kleinling?

Space Seed = Der schlafende Tiger (The sleeping Tiger). ????? I don't know if @Greg Cox would like the German title better.....

That’s . . . utterly bizarre. German dictionary says Kleinling is a particular variety of plant. They were trying to translate "onlies," and that's what they got?

 

[Kilana2]

That’s . . . utterly bizarre. German dictionary says Kleinling is a particular variety of plant. They were trying to translate "onlies," and that's what they got?

. When it comes to Star Trek and German translations you have to expect bizarre things....