The 5 most overrated episodes of TOS
- Thread starter RAMA
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I'm goign to go with Tomorrow is Yesterday and The Corbomite Maneuver.
TiY is rather slow and lacks any true message/thematic redemption, in my opinion. The conundrum of Capt. Christopher is not one the viewer can relate to and there is no real "message" in the fish out of water scenario, in my opinion.
Corbomite - good thematically and good stuff with the characters, but I find it too slow to be considered among the great episodes. It would do much better as a novel/short story.
Two episodes that I don't see often enough listed as BAD episodes:
The Alternative Factor: Easily one of the 2 or 3 worst of all of TOS. Horrible in every way.
Return of the Archons: Poorly executed and rather derivative, all things considered.
TiY is rather slow and lacks any true message/thematic redemption, in my opinion. The conundrum of Capt. Christopher is not one the viewer can relate to and there is no real "message" in the fish out of water scenario, in my opinion.
Corbomite - good thematically and good stuff with the characters, but I find it too slow to be considered among the great episodes. It would do much better as a novel/short story.
Two episodes that I don't see often enough listed as BAD episodes:
The Alternative Factor: Easily one of the 2 or 3 worst of all of TOS. Horrible in every way.
Return of the Archons: Poorly executed and rather derivative, all things considered.
It doesn't help that the beaming people back into their correct places isn't really explained leaving it to the viewer to figure out just what the point of that was.
I can't really think of any episodes that are truly "overrated" when you view them through the 1960's lens that they were made through. Sure many of the classics haven't age well (like how did Edith Keeler's actions help Nazi Germany made the atomic bomb--Uranverein was like a lot of Nazi programs a disjointed inefficient mess) but its like watching 1960s Doctor Who-you have to take it in the context of the time it was made.
Missed the recent contest, did you?
I think "The Alternative Factor" is cited frequently enough as one of the worst episodes of season one so that the "overrated" tag would not apply to i.
Who says there has to be one?
And Capt. Christopher's situation is precisely the sort of thing contemporary viewers, especially SF fans, could relate to. What would you do if you found yourself among people from two centuries in the future? What if your knowledge of the future might screw things up somewhere down the timeline?
"The Corbomite Maneuver" slow? Maybe to a hyperactive squirrel.
I don't usually follow the contest threads so...yes. Did those two finish at the bottom? haha. Poor timing on my part, if so.
I guess, for me, I want my sci-fi to relate to/be an allegory for/be metaphorical with real life situations that might actually happen. Personally, the 20th Century man in the 23rd Century does very little, but I see how others would enjoy it.
I agree though I'm a big fan of Sturgeon. He was right that the reveal happens too soon - the antenna in the bushes. I don't perceive it as being thought of as one of the great eps, though.
I want to be skeptical of eps thought of as monumental. Only COTEOF gets that level of love, but it IS danged good.
Enterprise Incident is oft-cited as best of S3. It's ok to good, but it doesn't really thrill me.
antiquityscion
Commander
Agreed. But the episode gets way too much attention because of that one scene.
I found City on the Edge of Forever to be...banal. It was soap opera level melodrama and just didn't thrill me. I agree that A Piece of the Action is difficult to rewatch. I loved it as a kid; I mean, Captain Kirk with a Tommy Gun? Neat! But it is far too over the top to be comfortable today. I know. I just watched it with my teenage children. They had a field day at how ridiculous "Dad's old school Star Trek" was. The Enterprise incident was okay, but not one of the best. My choice for best (though not my favorite) is probably The Devil in the Dark.
"A Piece of the Action", for reasons already stated. Unfunny silliness. And I would put "Tribbles" up there, though I thought the DS9 tribute actually somewhat redeemed that ep, at least for me.
1. Charlie X. No idea why this one is such a favorite. "Chah-lee's ah new dah-ling, our dah-ling, our dah-ling!" Tellingly, in the days before Paramount sent out pre-edited episodes, WPIX in NY would cut the entire musical interlude from this episode. I liked it a lot better back then. "When I came aboard!"
2. Mudd's Women: and Harry Mudd in particular. Guy was a boob and Kirk should have had no trouble dealing with him. The fantasy drug climax was just awful.
3. Shore Leave: lightweight fluff, the overly sappy love theme every single time Ruth is seen is grating. Also "someone beaming down from the bridge." The ultimate "Kirk rips his shirt" episode.
4. Trouble With Tribbles: it IS the best comedy of the run mainly because it keeps the character IN character. No weird humor to short circuit androids and no "fish out of water" humor. But I have a heard time buying the importance of the jeopardy. I give the episode props for casting Whit Bissel, though.
5. Devil in the Dark: there's nothing more boring than staring at a fake cave set for 45 minutes out of an episode. Nimoy gets the biscuit for overacting this episode. Shatner's father died during filming, so he gets a gold star for delivering a great performance during a hugely emotional time.
On one level, I think they were going for a Twilight Zone type twist. On another, I get the feeling it was a "get Mendez out of the room so Kirk and Spock can have their private conversation" sort of scenario. Otherwise, Mendez would probably just stick around at the end. Awkward...
2. Mudd's Women: and Harry Mudd in particular. Guy was a boob and Kirk should have had no trouble dealing with him. The fantasy drug climax was just awful.
3. Shore Leave: lightweight fluff, the overly sappy love theme every single time Ruth is seen is grating. Also "someone beaming down from the bridge." The ultimate "Kirk rips his shirt" episode.
4. Trouble With Tribbles: it IS the best comedy of the run mainly because it keeps the character IN character. No weird humor to short circuit androids and no "fish out of water" humor. But I have a heard time buying the importance of the jeopardy. I give the episode props for casting Whit Bissel, though.
5. Devil in the Dark: there's nothing more boring than staring at a fake cave set for 45 minutes out of an episode. Nimoy gets the biscuit for overacting this episode. Shatner's father died during filming, so he gets a gold star for delivering a great performance during a hugely emotional time.
On one level, I think they were going for a Twilight Zone type twist. On another, I get the feeling it was a "get Mendez out of the room so Kirk and Spock can have their private conversation" sort of scenario. Otherwise, Mendez would probably just stick around at the end. Awkward...
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Interesting selection thought I have to ask who rates Charlie X highly--it is little more than a variation of "Where No man has gone before".
"Mudd's Women" I have to agree is a logical mess--how did Mudd contact the miner to begin with and that ending almost feel like one of those silly little PSAs they did at the end of cartoons like He-Man in the 1980s.
"Shore Leave" could be argued to be the pro-typical fantasy simulator (read holodeck) has a problem episode. It is a fun little romp but the chase scene with Finnegan goes on WAY too long.
"Trouble With Tribbles" does have logical problems. First the Federation put all this grain in one place making it easy to be savaged. Then you have Cyrano Jones who must be the dumbest free trader around--you have an animal that reproduced like crazy and think you can sale it without the market crashing?
'Devil in the Dark' is a good counterbalance to 'Man Trap' and while the sets are a problem remember that Star Trek was on a very limited budget. Compared to the finding Doctor Who of that time was getting Star Trek was rolling in money.
One of Mudd's women stole a communicator, hence he was able to contact the miners. I am not sure but this is my guess. I think it is a good episode and bad episode, for female viewers at least. On one hand it says that all women should not be judged by their appearances and that being confident and believing oneself can make women look and act beautiful (a very positive message), on the other hand even confident women most likely cannot look that good without 10 layers of makeups. Star Trek TOS really has some amazingly beautiful actresses. I wonder where they all went after Star Trek.
I like this episode. I believe it was aired around Christmas time, just like Trouble with Tribbles in the following year. Of course these two episodes are full of holiday spirits, fluffy and fun. The fight in Shore Leave is better and shorter than the one in Tribbles, btw.
When it comes to Tribbles, I ignore all logic. I am a dog lover and I have encountered several very logical people who told me that pets are wasteful, useless beings, that they only consume food but do not make any meaningful contributions to the society. Maybe that's why I never like the supremely logical Spock as much as the eternally emotional Bones.
Totally disagree on Devil...if anything its probably underrated.
I agree that The Enterprise Incident is overrated. Although its premise is strong, it is undermined by the discombobulation typical of all third season episodes.
Spectre of the Gun is another third season episode that everybody seems to like, but that in my opinion just stinks. Let's play cowboys.
Based on the review I first read about it, praising Shatner's acting skills, I'd have to say that Turnabout Intruder is definitely overrated. Shatner's overacting skills are more like it, and the premise that the crew would follow Kirk no matter what he did was thin, thin. Not to mention the overt sexism in it was both preposterous and embarrassing.
The Omega Glory probably qualifies as overrated, since I suspect some fan somewhere will insist it is good because Gene Roddenberry wrote it.
A lot of people seem to like Bread and Circuses, but I can hardly stand it. Let's go to a Roman planet this week.
Spectre of the Gun is another third season episode that everybody seems to like, but that in my opinion just stinks. Let's play cowboys.
Based on the review I first read about it, praising Shatner's acting skills, I'd have to say that Turnabout Intruder is definitely overrated. Shatner's overacting skills are more like it, and the premise that the crew would follow Kirk no matter what he did was thin, thin. Not to mention the overt sexism in it was both preposterous and embarrassing.
The Omega Glory probably qualifies as overrated, since I suspect some fan somewhere will insist it is good because Gene Roddenberry wrote it.
A lot of people seem to like Bread and Circuses, but I can hardly stand it. Let's go to a Roman planet this week.
Didn't Gene Roddenberry write Turnabout Intruder as well? I thought he came up with the idea... It was made in the 60s, and it was reflecting its time. I think it is an honest episode. It pointed out that society was biased against women, which was true at that time. Sure there have been plenty of women who have since managed to rise above difficult situations and become super successful, but there are also women who have failed to crack the glass ceiling and become bitter and unhappy. We don't have to be PC all the time.
Also, Mr. Shatner was very sick when shooting this episode and he freely acknowledged he got the script just before the camera rolled and he had not one iota of idea how to play a woman. I have to say I did not see a woman trapped in a man's body, instead I see someone similar to the evil Captain Kirk. So he cannot play woman, not many male actors can anyway, but he can play evil, that's fine with me. LOL
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