Does anyone remember the final TOS episode you saw after 77 others?

[mb22]

Maybe they didn't want kids getting any ideas about contacting demonic entities (Satanic Panic and all that). In the 1970s, the TAS episode "Magicks of Megas-Tu" wasn't shown on some stations for depicting the devil as a good guy.

https://groups.google.com/g/net.startrek/c/3EH3TyJRaLQ?pli=1

 

[Talos IV]

Maybe they didn't want kids getting any ideas about contacting demonic entities (Satanic Panic and all that).

Yep. That's the reason they gave at the time (mid-'70s).

Actually, they refused to air a handful of other episodes too, "based on occult forces, demonic possession, and witchcraft."

So -- no "Where No Man Has Gone Before," "Catspaw," "Wolf in the Fold," "A Private Little War," "Return to Tomorrow" and "The Lights of Zetar."

Eventually they cleared these six episodes for viewing, but "And the Children Shall Lead" remained verboten. (They also removed the entire Orion Slave Girl sequence from "The Menagerie," and -- when they did eventually air "Wolf in the Fold," Kara's belly dance from that episode too.)

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Whatever the last episode of TOS I saw was, it was one of the bad 3rd season episodes. (Redundant, I know.) Probably "The Empath" or "And The Children Shall Lead." To this day there are a couple of 3rd season eps I've only watched one or two times.

 

[MLJames1961]

As far as I can remember, it was "The Empath." For some reason, my station (WPIX, back in the early 70s) didn't seem to put that one in rotation as much as other episodes, and it took me years to catch it. Wasn't worth the effort, as "The Empath" is probably my least favorite TOS episode.

 

[XCV330]

That's easy. The Cage. It was on video tape at the local video store. It was the old edit mostly black and white.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Yep. That's the reason they gave at the time (mid-'70s).

Actually, they refused to air a handful of other episodes too, "based on occult forces, demonic possession, and witchcraft."

So -- no "Where No Man Has Gone Before," "Catspaw," "Wolf in the Fold," "A Private Little War," "Return to Tomorrow" and "The Lights of Zetar."

Eventually they cleared these six episodes for viewing, but "And the Children Shall Lead" remained verboten. (They also removed the entire Orion Slave Girl sequence from "The Menagerie," and -- when they did eventually air "Wolf in the Fold," Kara's belly dance from that episode too.)

Starlog #5 (May 1977) ran an article about it, "Star Trek Censored in Texas." They focused on KXTX-TV, channel 39 in Dallas, which was a CBN affiliate. The article corroborates your account completely.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Nope. Question implies watching the episodes one time through in some kind of order.

I started watching Trek in the early 70s when it was in syndication. I'd watch any chance I could and, due to syndication, this could be up to 3 times in a day.

I don't even remember the first time I saw any TOS episode.

Same here. TOS has been part of my conscious existence my entire life. No beginning, no end. Just three seasons of epic greatness. There was a time in high school when I'd seen every episode so many times I could tell you which one was starting within 2-3 seconds of the beginning of the opening teaser.

 

[Saul]

I'm pretty sure that TURNABOUT INTRUDER was the last episode I watched of TOS. The reason is simply because season's 1 and 2 were endlessly repeated and I didn't see season 3 until a good bit later. In fact, I actually read James Blish's novelizations of season 3 before actually seeing it. When I did get around to seeing season 3 I believe it was on VHS tapes I bought, which I watched in chronological order.