Same here, the Preservers has a more poetic, romanticism-induced belief whereas it's just mega-coincidence that so many civilizations all acted like early 20th century societies, if not what are spiritual precursors to episodes of "Sliders", and a lot of that is unintentionally funny right off the bat because we all know the goal was cost cutting. TOS really did parallel dimensions long before that became a thing, since in Startrekland the most we got was "Mirror, Mirror" where it's just the two. Until TNG's "Parallels" but that eppy ends with some out-of-place time travel as an unneeded reset button and we didn't see Riker as Locutus or Wesley in command or any number of other neat twists. The fact DS9 built an easy-to-open door to flit back and forth with Mirrorville is telling in that they didn't want to redo parallelisms to "Parallels".
Plus, the Preservers falls closer in line with the TNG Seeders from "The Chase", even if it doesn't. Unless it does, the Preservers could be the same species as the Seeders, who then hauled human and humanoid heiney across the galaxy after confirming a checklist of preferences. Kinda like sifting through personal ads, only with a grander goal in mind.
A shame we didn't get more Preserver-themed stories, but it too could become rubber-stamped as a plot trope too easily.
As for the "By golly Jim, this world is remarkably similar to Earth, something that's like 1000000000000000000000000000^42 to 1, how unusual is this?" that gets repeated in varying ways every time the trope is trotted out again, a couple of them do appeal:
1. "The Omega Glory". It's both my favorite and my most questionable, rolled into one. While it's stretching things very thin for the big climax with The Ee'd Plebnista and all, it was also a dug-up network pilot meant to sway the studio execs as tv cost a ton back then and sci-fi cost a ton more, now used as episode count filler. That said, there are some interesting twists and the sci-fi angle with the "being turned to crystals" ailment combined with "fountain of youth, it's natural for these inhabitants but impossible for us" was never bettered in Trek at any point in the franchise's lengthy history and even the Ee'd Plebnista subplot is better than watching loosely-sci-fi equivalents of Jerry Springer Show guests duke it out on the big screen over sappy magic radiation that'll be bottled and sold once a collector-with-tropey-tripey-selfdestructbutton is pressed. But back to the infinitely better story, I'd forgotten: that Captain Tracey is played beyond perfection by Morgan Woodward and - even better - that big fight scene between him and Kirk has the stunt double count of... zero... and is genuinely impressive and is the original must-see tv. Overlook the reveal of Ee'd Plotc'ntr'v'nce and there's much in this story that still works impressively well. But it's easy to see why it'll never be a 10/10. It's way too big a coincidence that they have the same penned document, though brownie points are given for the consonantal shift for pronunciation of the material as well as the faction names. I'd go so far to say this story is underrated, in fact. But before I really hype it up, I miss complaining so I'll switch tracks back into Whiny Mode, like this:
2. "Miri". The one that started it all and mostly to save costs given the sheer cost of going through the pilots, set redresses, and everything else. A little creepy at times and not just for the ailment that starts to kill the host after said host enters puberty (plus that "Lord of the Flies" influence with kids running the joint and they're not exactly a gaggle of Wesley Crushers (which for once might be a bad thing, but it's really hard to decide what's worse)), it's definitely proto-Sliders with visiting a world that's developed just like Earth up to a point then diverged. I actually rewatch the next two stories a tad more often, but none of the stories felt more "taking it completely serious" than this one.
3. "Bread and Circuses". Dated, sure, but this story - which feels like it'd fit into "Sliders" season one with ease, still has a neat message or two and is even worth watching for Ian Wolfe's performance (as with "All Our Yesterdays", another spiritual precursor of "Sliders"). Not much else to say, apart from the actors (typical for TOS, somehow playing it with sincerity and making more out of what could easily be risible material. Indeed, there are some themes that are considerable for 1960s television.)
4. "Patterns of Force". Yup, John Gill leads to a giggle what with the musician from a couple decades later and all, but - and where the misunderstanding occurred about organization and power became conflated with WW2 is bizarre yet feels more authentic than the next story coming up - ensures that this copycat of the following is the better of the two: Plus, Malakon himself is played by no other than Skip Homeier, who brings some needed relish to his performance to this wiener of a plot. Both, if you include "The Way to Eden" made a year later.
5. "A Piece of the Action". Forgetting the Fizzbin that is presented in a way more akin to eating a pound of broccoli without any antacids and then letting 'er rip an hour later, everyone on this Earthwannabeplanet playing 1920s gangsters takes the most to swallow, even if the guest cast are playing it with utter sincerity as to try to make it all easier to suspend disbelief over. But ramping up the comedy just wasn't my thing, though I can see why the comedy helps others love it while not being able to stand the serious-tone stories. I don't exactly hate this story, but it's not one I often rewatch and I do wonder how the Federation has to deal with returning every few years to collect on the action piece, which begs far more questions...
I can't count "The Alternative Factor". Not because it's mostly crap, but because both universes shown explore... nothing except a guy with a bandaid and goatee on screaming about keeping the other out and is the goatee guy good or evil while worrying about nonexistence blinking in and out because the galaxy lost is magnetic thingy and is no longer to attract a mate. Or something. /anotherCornyHumorAttempt
