Skipable TOS episodes?

So I've been re-watching S2 of Star Trekiscovery and it's been making me want to watch TOS (I've only seen little bits here and there)
However, I only have a limited amount of holidays (before uni starts back) so I was wondering what episodes are generally skipable? I really just wanted to get a feel for the series.
Someone asked for more specifics, so, there's about 25 episodes a season, I'm down to watch 10-15 episodes per season. It's really just about shaving off time where i can. I want to binge about half or more of TOS.

 

Maybe the better question would be: Which episodes are must-see?
And perhaps some of the DIS fans who are also TOS fans could chime in on TOS episodes that relate to DIS, like "Mirror, Mirror."

 

It's true that there are episodes I've "seen enough" after 50 years. I tune in most nights to see what's on H&I. I'll skip:
Gamesters of Triskillion
Squire of Gothos
Children Shall Lead
Alternative factor
Plato's Stepchildren
Way to Eden
A few others that are just too ridiculous to watch any more.

 

The episodes I would watch are Where No Man Has Gone Before, Amok Time, Space Seed, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer, The Trouble With Tribbles, The City on the Edge of Forever, The Enterprise Incident, and All Our Yesterdays. There are lots of great episodes (I find all of Season 1, most of Season 2, and half of Season 3 to be great viewing), but if you aren't familiar and want a quick playlist to get antiquated, I think something like that should do the trick. I only have 2 episodes that I don't care much for and I only watch them when I am doing a complete series viewing - Spock's Brain and Turnabout Intruder.

 

It might be better to focus on the best scripts and then worry about skippable ones later. (BK613 wrote it first, am editing this message to reflect that. ) Some one would deem unworthy might be liked (for whatever reason(s)) by another. Even though fan consensus isn't right 100% of the time over what the best episodes are as well...

Liked your post! I do want to do a rebuttal for some of them:

Alternative factor - none needed. This one has a generic sci-fi background, that's a little too oversimplified, and is as bland as anything can get. It's more bland than pure dihydrogen monoxide...

Gamesters of Triskillion - I'd watch this for the both the McCoy/Spock interplay, and the overall themes. A couple scenes are hokey (about Kirk and loooooooooooooooooove) but on each rewatch I find more to like. And it's where the censor-bypassing "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" originated. It ranks up there with "Go find that in you're Funk'n'Wagnall's." coined by Laugh-In a year later, though Star Trek's is a bit more clever - especially as the double entendre was a greater stroke of creative genius for the McCoy/Spock feuds...

Squire of Gothos - Proto-Q aside, I'll agree that it's skippable and - what - 3 weeks earlier they had the same glowing balls of incorporeal light for Charlie X's parents too.

Children Shall Lead - cringey in spots, but had a couple nice moments of pure horror. Proto-late-80s horror genre.

Plato's Stepchildren - I originally disliked it, but a rewatch had me appreciating the high concept mind-control and it becomes an interesting if not even effective piece of horror and absolute brutality. Kirk has a wonderful speech to Alexander as well that is primo Trek.

Way to Eden - it had potential but didn't really use it, the big sons toward the end is rather good but not enough to recommend the episode, and DS9 did the episode's tropes much better with "Paradise".

I would nominate:

a piece of the action - gangster world wasn't my thing.

the omega glory - has a great start but descends into silliness and has the worst "parallel earth" plot twist that has zero explanation. Memory Alpha has a fanon definition included. Read its article and that might help but there will be spoilers.

patterns of force - 50/50 for me. It has some eye candy and the fact the dude who plays Dr Sevrin in the Eden story plays Malakon here, but all they did was raid the wardrobe of "Hogan's Heroes" to stretch a dwindling budget.

the empath - has a script that's even more generic than "Alternative Factor", hard to believe but true.

mark of gideon - (spoiler alert) interesting ideas, extremely absurd, hackneyed, and heavyhanded presentation to begin to roll with. Too many double entendres also distract due to the poor scripting, which make the audience think "Kirk has cooties so he's being forced to give everyone a lethal STD?!" being the main takeaway, never mind the most basic scientific issues. Even for 1969 this one is weak. Then again there are people nowadays who think the whole of the human race (each person being 0.1 sq/m) can live inside the space accorded a large city without any issues or nuances whatsoever and critics were railing on those back then too... this episode should have been a farce-driven sitcom like the tribbles one...

turnabout intruder - 50/50. Has some great acting but the script simply cannot make up its mind if Dr Lester is insane or if there's a sociological statement to make (and there is).

 

And The Children Shall Lead, Plato's Stepchildren, and Spock's Brain are my only-watch-during-a-full-rewatch episodes.

 

Every episode of TOS is something to be treasured with only 79 episodes.
If I had to skip some it would be "Lights of Zetar" and "Markof Gideon" because they're the ahem most boring episodes.
I might skip "That Which Survives" or "Cloud Minders" for their character assassination of Spock.

Who am I kidding, I'd never skip any episode. I can always find something to like in every one

 

Any episode where the opening credits are in blue you can skip.

 

I doubt I would skip any episodes, even the bad ones, but then again I haven't really watched any episodes of TOS for a long, long time!
JB

 

I hope you'll join me in two years... then it will be like new!

 

I'll go with the obvious: Spock's Brain and The Apple.

Honestly, it would be easier and more efficient if you told us how many hours you're looking to devote and we can suggest episodes to see rather than ones to skip.

 

"And the Children Shall Lead" is delightfully skippable.

Kor

 

NONE OF THEM ARE SKIPPABLE LͅE͔A̧̜͇̣V̫E͓ ͍̺͍̜̞ͅT̨̠̥H͈̲̠I̹̼͚̺S̝̬̞̺̻ ̝̹̪͇̮̟̮P̩͔̥̙̜͡ͅLA̡̩̘̟͉̠̫C̗̗E̻͠

 

Hey, hey! Is that a date then, Neopeius?
JB

 

It's interesting - I know I'm one of the few, but I'd watch any season 3 episodes before season 1. Maybe it's because of the music that resonates and is essential viewing experience for me, in hand with the fact that I watched season 3 as a young boy first, during the 90s BBC repeats.

For instance, the story I probably watch the least is Dagger of the Mind, probably closely followed by Archons and Devil in Dark. With the exception of the two comedies that I least favoured (I Mudd and A Piece of the Action), season two probably falls next in my order of viewing, with the odd exception from season one such as Man Trap, Corbomite, Balance or Paradise.

 

There's a run in the middle of the first season (by production order) that I consistently skip: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," " Dagger of the Mind, " and "Miri."

Before that point, I also tend to skip "Mudd's Women" and "Charlie X." And later in the season, I skip " The Alternative Factor. "

For the second season, my skips are "Catspaw," " Metamorphosis, " "The Apple," and " A Private Little War. " Sometimes, I'll add "The Gamesters of Triskelion" to that list, even though that was my first episode in 1972 that turned 6 year old me into a fan.

For the third season, it's all skippable to me except for my two must-see's: "The Tholian Web" and "The Day of the Dove."

 

Good point. So there's about 25 episodes a season, I'm down to watch 10-15 episodes per season.

 

It absolutely is. Half the reason I founded the Journey was to eventually cover Trek "as it comes out"

 

Hope we've got the years left to us to watch it in re-runs too?
JB