50 best TV episodes of the 60's: which Treks, if any, belong?

[ToddPence]

I thought I'd throw this question out there, since I've just completed compiling a list which I've spent a LOT of time and effort researching: my top 50 television episodes of the decade of the 1960's.
I chose three episodes of Star Trek for the list, as it turned out, one from each season. "The City on the Edge of Forever", "Journey to Babel", and "The Empath".
Agree or disagree with these choices? Would you have picked more Trek episodes to represent the decade? Or less?
Incidentally, if you're interested, my complete list of all 50 can be found at this link (the last post on the list):

http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/the-day-the-running-started/

 

[Winterwind]

I'll agree with "City" but not "Babel" or "The Empath".

It's an interesting site/blog. I enjoy old television and had a good time skimming through it, looking at shows and actors I'd forgotten or never even knew of.

However I have to disagree with the vast majority of your "Recovering Trekkie" blog. And Manny Coto was not one of the "main architects" of the Xindi story line. If you want to label him a "right-wing torture-monger" or neo-con for his work on 24, I can't argue either way since I don't watch the show. But don't blame him for the Xindi arc and the parallels to 9/11. That rests on the shoulders of Berman and Braga.

 

[ToddPence]

However I have to disagree with the vast majority of your "Recovering Trekkie" blog.

Uh . . . that's not my blog. I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing of mine on that blog is my one post.

 

[DevilEyes]

I love The Empath and Journey to Babel, but I'd probably pick Amok Time, Balance of Terror, This Side of Paradise or Mirror, Mirror instead. Anyway, I can't comment on your entire list, since my knowledge of the 1960s TV shows is limited to Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and Addams Family.

 

[Winterwind]

However I have to disagree with the vast majority of your "Recovering Trekkie" blog.

Uh . . . that's not my blog. I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing of mine on that blog is my one post.

Well, since everything on that blog is written by Stephen Bowie, if you're not him, maybe you should have just linked directly to your article.

 

[DevilEyes]

However I have to disagree with the vast majority of your "Recovering Trekkie" blog.

Uh . . . that's not my blog. I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing of mine on that blog is my one post.

Well, since everything on that blog is written by Stephen Bowie, if you're not him, maybe you should have just linked directly to your article.

He just posted one of the answers to the original article. Scroll down or search page for "Todd Pence".

Or, to save the effort, here is link directly to the post:

http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/the-day-the-running-started/#comment-562

 

[Cakes488]

Now this is the kind of programming that TVLand should be airing instead of that bullshit Roseanne or the Cosby Show. A whole new audience could be cultivated for these shows. I'd watch em.

 

[Chrisisall]

Yo Todd- no eps of Wild Wild West or Name Of The Game???
Yes, it needs more Trek, preferably my top ten from another thread.

 

[M'Sharak]

Yo Todd- no eps of Wild Wild West or Name Of The Game???

I had similar thoughts, though I think the best of The Name of the Game may have been in the '70-'71 third season with "I Love You, Billy Baker" and "LA 2017".

 

[JustKate]

"Balance of Terror" for sure and probably "City on the Edge of Forever." "Babel" and "Empath"? Not so much. Mark Lenard is great in "Babel," of course, and I like that episode, and "Empath" is at least OK, but best TV of the '60s? I don't think so, but maybe that's just me.

I like a lot of your choices, though - the shows I'm familiar with, at least. I must say, I have NO memory of Slattery's People or The Dick Powell Show or The Loner - or several of the other shows on your list. And others I remember but never watched that much. But it's a very interesting list.

 

[Chrisisall]

[ had similar thoughts, though I think the best of The Name of the Game may have been in the '70-'71 third season with "I Love You, Billy Baker" and "LA 2017".

The one that always stuck with me personally was "The Prisoner Within" from '69 (confession: I googled it for the title- it's been a while....).

 

[Orcus]

No one's mentioned Pat McGoohan's "The Prisoner", then? Now that was a seminal piece of TV quite unlike any other during that decade...

 

[Chrisisall]

No one's mentioned Pat McGoohan's "The Prisoner", then? Now that was a seminal piece of TV quite unlike any other during that decade...

*smacks self in head*
ORANGE ALERT

 

[ToddPence]

"Wild, Wild, West", "Name of the Game", and "The Prisoner" were all considered (in fact, "The Chimes of Big Ben" from The Prisoner was one of the ones that just missed the final cut). Believe me, I tried to pay some attention to EVERY prime time drama series that aired during the years 1960-69. In a case where I could not see episodes of the show, I tried to read up on it and find out as much about it as possible.
I started out the core of the list with the WGA award winners from the decade, figuring that represented the best TV had to offer. I also went through the Emmy awards and paid special attention to those episodes that received multiple nominations from many categories.
Apart from my own extensive viewing of my own 1960s TV collection, (and borrowing that of others), I also was in correspondence with fans of TV shows I maybe hadn't seen or wasn't that familiar with, asking them to give their opinions on the best epsiodes of those series. Again, this list is a project that took a few years to compile.

 

[Chrisisall]

"Wild, Wild, West", "Name of the Game", and "The Prisoner" were all considered (in fact, "The Chimes of Big Ben" from The Prisoner was one of the ones that just missed the final cut).
Again, this list is a project that took a few years to compile.

Sorry, leaving out "The Prisoner" invalidates your list IMO. That's like leaving out the Vietnam War or the Moon landing in a list of important historical events.
*FAIL*

 

[M'Sharak]

I think what's really being pointed up here is the impossibility of reducing anything to a meaningful "Top XX" list. There are always more must-includes than there are available slots, and any attempt at compiling a list of "50 best TV episodes of the 60's" is probably going to start getting a bit shaky when one tries to reduce the list to less than about 500 candidates.

 

[Jeri]

What -- no "Klink and the Gonculator?!?"

 

[Orcus]

"Wild, Wild, West", "Name of the Game", and "The Prisoner" were all considered (in fact, "The Chimes of Big Ben" from The Prisoner was one of the ones that just missed the final cut).
Again, this list is a project that took a few years to compile.

Sorry, leaving out "The Prisoner" invalidates your list IMO. That's like leaving out the Vietnam War or the Moon landing in a list of important historical events.
*FAIL*

I agree: be seeing him... Inform... CONTROL!!!

 

[Isis]

Interesting list--Although I'm not familiar with some of the shows, Outer Limits' "Demon With a Glass Hand" results in two choices authored by Harlan Ellison and deservedly so. Re your TOS choices, as you might suspect, I absolutely agree with "City..." I'd also pick "The Menagerie" from Season 1 (prefer "The Cage," but that didn't actually broadcast in the 60s). From Season 2, I like "Journey to Babel," but I can't say it was best. "Mirror, Mirror" and the concept that you can rise above your environment (eg, Mirror Spock) gets my vote. "Amok Time" is right on the "line" (but it would definitely make a top 100). I wouldn't include any Season 3 episodes--I like some of them, eg, "Day of the Dove" and "The Empath," but they are not top 50 material IMO...

 

[Rackon]

Ya gotta have The Prisoner on any list of best TV from the 60s! And Secret Agent too.

City is iconic, ya gotta have that one in the list. And I absolutely would have Journey To Babel in there - not only is it my personal favorite Trek ep, I also think it's one of the best, with most of Treks strengths and very few of its weaknesses.


The third one is a puzzler...I can't say that I would have anything from season 3. I'd be considering Amok Time, The Doomsday Machine and I dunno what else. Menagerie hasn't held up that well for me over the years. I think there must be something wrong with me - I do not get the fondness for Mirror Mirror OR the MU in general.