Could you kind folks recommend some TAS episodes?

[Gorn Captain]

I bought the DVD set when it came out, watched some of it, don't remember much except that I was like, "Meh". If that's a word....

Now that I'm trying to stop watching TOS Seasons 2 and 3 so as not to spoil my fall Blu Ray Trek feast, could you steer me towards worthwhile animated adventures?

 

[Captrek]

“Yesteryear” is the consensus favorite.

Here’s a site where people can rate various episodes, and you can see an average of the votes for each episode:

http://www.geos.tv/index.php/index?sid=168

“Meh” is a perfectly reasonable reaction. The target audience of the series was children with short attention spans. For adults, it’s not that great, certainly not compared to the live action series. The best thing it has going for it is nostalgia. It’s fun, as long as you accept it for what it is, but if you’re hoping for something comparable to the live action series, you’re going to be disappointed.

 

[RAMA]

My 4 favs:

1. The Slaver Weapon
2. Jihad
3. Yesteryear
4. How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

In that order.

RAMA

 

[Captain Robert April]

The key is to overlook the limitations of the animation and try and concentrate on the story being told. Despite the fact that it was a Saturday morning cartoon, they knew damn well at the time that a big chunk of their audience was not children, it was bored teenagers and college students looking for something to watch.

Remember, a large percentage of the episodes (maybe even most of them) were written by writers who'd written for TOS, or the producers wanted to write for TOS. A few of the episodes had even been originally planned for a fourth season, had they been that lucky (if Nimoy hadn't signed with Mission: Impossible, CBS was looking to snag the show for themselves, but we know how that turned out...).

And besides, none of the animated episodes are really any dumber than, oh, "The Alternative Factor" or "And The Children Shall Lead".

That being said, "Yesteryear" is certainly a must-see. "Jihad" is pretty provocative, especially for a Saturday morning cartoon, as is "The Slaver Weapon". And despite the silliness of "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", it's a pretty subersive episode if you think about it. After all, how many other cartoons were not only discussing the Salem Witch Trials in fairly frank terms, but actually defending Satan himself?

I can only recommend the opening five minutes of "The Counter-Clock Incident" Everything after that is rather excreable.

 

[Thelin]

I enjoyed the animated series, I really did. Ignoring the animation (which was what it was), many of the episodes were, in my opinion, condensed versions of live action episodes. Many of them really felt like they just trimmed the fat, but that's not always necessarily a good thing.

As mentioned above, "Yesteryear" is like, essential viewing. It's where I've taken my username "Thelin" from and everything. I loved the I-Chaya and, well, I just felt like it was the best the animated series had to offer. If you eventually decide not to watch any of TAS, watch this one.

I agree with Captain Robert April about "Magicks of Megas-Tu". I, the last time I watched through the DVDs, watched that episode twice. The first time it just seemed so dumb, but after the second viewing I had more appreciation for it. I think it's underrated, for sure.

My recommendation for TAS is just to take a few days, maybe a week, and watch the whole thing through. Some episodes are hit and miss, others really do feel like gems, but standalone they don't hold the same weight. If the animation is an issue, close your eyes and simply listen to the episode like it was on the radio. I think it's worth the time.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It's where I've taken my username "Thelin" from and everything.

Hey brother! Do you realise that Thelin lives? In "The Chimes at Midnight", one of the Pocket Books "Myriad Universes" stories.

http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2008/08/thelin-and-chimes-at-midnight-thanks-to.html

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I am quite fond of Star Trek: The Animated Series. It always brings back memories of being a four-year old, living in Pearl City, watching these every Saturday morning (they aired on the local ABC station long after it's first-run then).

My favorites of the series are "Beyond the Farthest Star"; the aforementioned "Yesteryear"; "Time Trap"; "The Ambergris Element"; and "Once Upon a Planet."

 

[RAMA]

I admit some of my preference for episodes is colored by the James Blish versions...

RAMA

 

[JoeD80]

Remember, a large percentage of the episodes (maybe even most of them) were written by writers who'd written for TOS, or the producers wanted to write for TOS.

Yeah, Sam Peeples, Marc Daniels, D. C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Paul Schneider, Walter Koenig and several others all wrote for the show. It was also the first show in the animation writing careers of Len Janson, Chuck Menville, and David Wise.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

I admit some of my preference for episodes is colored by the James Blish versions...

RAMA

That was Alan Dean Foster, James Blish did the TOS adaptations.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I admit some of my preference for episodes is colored by the James Blish versions...

Alan Dean Foster did all the TAS adaptations. The new five-book set has a serialized essay by ADF talking about his involvement.

My favourites are "Yesteryear", of course, Robert & Sarah April in "The Counter-clock Incident" (which the Foster adaptation does very well, making the storyline more believable), McCoy blamed for a planetary disaster in "Albatross" (I originally saw the effects of the auroral plague in b/w!), the fascinating "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth", lots of UFP race cameos in "The Time Trap", the multi-species band of adventurers in "The Jihad", and the Kirk-less "The Slaver Weapon", which brings the kzinti into ST.

Even though many hate "The Practical Joker", it has a fun off-bridge scene with Arex and M'Ress. A shame they usually had so little to do for such interesting new aliens. I also love "Bem", which many hate. I recently saw this again on DVD and the forest backgrounds for the episode are spectacular!

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

"Yesteryear"
"The Pirates of Orion"
"Albatross"
"The Jihad"

 

[Captrek]

Yeah, ADF’s “Star Trek Log...” series was fascinating work. He would take a 22-minute animated episode and expand it into a 120-page novella. I really enjoyed reading them when I was a kid.

 

[Gorn Captain]

Thank you for the recommendations, everyone. "It was most kind of you to make this effort."

 

[Botany Bay]

A few of the episodes had even been originally planned for a fourth season, had they been that lucky (if Nimoy hadn't signed with Mission: Impossible, CBS was looking to snag the show for themselves, but we know how that turned out...).
.

Wow, I had never heard that before. Is that in a book somewhere?

Back on topic, I'm not a huge fan of TAS, I saw it for the first time when they finally released those DVD's a few years ago, but I never get the urge to watch them all that often. My 2 year old loves them though!

To me the standouts are :

• Yesteryear
• Counter Clock
• Beyond The Farthest Star

and the TOS episode sequels :

• Once Upon A Planet
• More Tribbles...

are worth a look to see what Season 4 might have had in store for us.

 

[Captrek]

And if you’d like to see what “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” would be like if it were trimmed to 22 minutes, check out “One of Our Planets is Missing.”

 

[Thelin]

It's where I've taken my username "Thelin" from and everything.

Hey brother! Do you realise that Thelin lives? In "The Chimes at Midnight", one of the Pocket Books "Myriad Universes" stories.

http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2008/08/thelin-and-chimes-at-midnight-thanks-to.html

Yeah, I had read about it on Memory Alpha and it sounded really interesting. Is it worth the read? Even if it's not, I think I may check it out.

Also, I agree with you that it's a shame Arex and M'Ress didn't have more to do. They seemed like they had some potential.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

And if you’d like to see what “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” would be like if it were trimmed to 22 minutes, check out “One of Our Planets is Missing.”

TMP as an episode of TAS? I'd pay to see that!!

Also, I agree with you that it's a shame Arex and M'Ress didn't have more to do. They seemed like they had some potential.

I agree too. The ADF adaptation give them some extra bits.

My choices would be:

Beyond The Farthest Star
Pirates Of Orion
Albatross
The Time Trap

 

[Therin of Andor]

Wow, I had never heard that before. Is that in a book somewhere?

"More Tribbles, More Troubles" and "Bem" were definitely both pitched by David Gerrold as possible live-action TOS episodes. Fred Frieberger was unimpressed by the humour of "The Trouble With Tribbles", so the sequel went nowhere after GR left TOS. "Bem" was decreed too expensive t do in live-action.

The Marc Daniels episode seems to be based on a live-action, unfilmed script called, IIRC, "The Beast".

The original story fleshing out "The Counter-clock Incident" in the rest of "Star Trek Log Seven", featuring Kumara the Klingon (whom Kirk once met on an officer exchange program), is based on a two-part episode Alan Dean Foster was asked to submit for a fourth season.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yeah, I had read about it on Memory Alpha and it sounded really interesting. Is it worth the read? Even if it's not, I think I may check it out.

Definitely. Thelin also appears, in whole new scenes fleshing out the alternate timeline caused during "Yesteryear", in "Crucible: Spock".

I agree with you that it's a shame Arex and M'Ress didn't have more to do. They seemed like they had some potential.

Well, Mike W Barr introduced them to the DC Comics Series I, and Peter David inherited them when he took over. Then, after being forced to remove the characters (pre-ST V) for Series II, he later got permission to timeslip them into his TNG-era novels (ie. the "New Frontier" series). They've been appearing since being re-introduced in "Gateways: Cold Wars".