Essential Episodes for New Viewers before the Film

[TrelaneRetired]

My personal Top Ten episodes:

City on the Edge of Forever - Seems to always show up in anyone's list.

Doomsday Machine - Great suspense. Awsome music! Spectacular overacting display by William Windom.

Amok Time - Touching overall theme of freindship. "Fascinating" exploration of Vulcan culture, biology.

Obsession - "Bless it, forget the manual!"

Immunity Syndrome - interesting competition betweenMcCoy and Spock.

Galileo Seven - another interesting look at the Spock character.

Devil in the Dark - Loads of mystery and menace. Nice turnaround at the end when the "Devil" turns out to be more sympathetic than scarry.

Balance of Terror - "The Enemy Below" in space. Great for all the same reasons.

Ultimate Computer - Another classic in the annals of Trek overacting coutesy of William Marshal (Daystrom). "...and becomming famous building on my work...building on my work!"

Taste of Armageddon - Great "brainy" Trek. I've never seen the creepy but effective concept of Mutually Assured Destruction explained as well in any other work.

 

[Zeppster]

A better list is what do you not watch? I think there's about 60 or so must watch episodes.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

For exemplification of Trek in general I usually recommend Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, it's pretty much a poster episode for tackling a social issue in a sci fi way.

When I was a kid I had a teacher that brought up that episode. He described what it was about, and I blurted out, "Let that be your last battlefield!"

"Huh?"

"That's the title of the episode," I said.

Anyway, when he got to the part about why they hated each other, everybody laughed and thought it was soooooo stupid. And here I thought the concept was very profound because it demonstrated how silly it was to hate someone because the color of their skin was different. They all missed the point entirely.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I think showing TOS episodes to non-fans will steer them away from the movie. "The SPesHELL EFeX arnT Az GOOOD aZ NoOO MooVEES anD SHoWz OMG ThOSe R SoO BaD ThIs ShoW SUx!!! LolZZZ!!!!"

 

[The_Beef]

"New Viewers" was an unfortunate choice on my part. Some have seen a great deal of TOS, others have seen a great deal of the TNG era but not much TOS. None are completely unfamiliar with it. If we want to broaden the topic to new viewers in general, the truth is I wouldn't bother to show them all this stuff, it would just mire them down in things like canon.

 

[BillJ]

Sorry, guys, but there ARE no essential episodes to view before this movie.

JJ has made it for the non-fan, so anyone can watch it and know what's going on. Plus, despite his insisting it's not a reboot, the fact of the matter is that the very facts of the characters' lives are being presented in a very different way. The history is different, when certain uniform styles were worn is different, who was on the ship at what time is different, the timing of certain injuries and deaths is different, the Enterprise itself looks different, the handheld tech is different...

It's an alternate universe. A parallel to the one we knew.

We'll likely be able to enjoy it as a Trek movie, but there's no need to rewatch older episodes before seeing this film.

Why?

Because it's starting all over again and what came before no longer applies. Welcome to JJ-ville.

I agree with this sentiment. If you watch Star Trek before seeing this film you'll be really disappointed. Now this isn't a statement as to the quality of the new film... just that there will be jarring differences.

 

[gomtuu20]

Yes. Corbomite also introduces how McCoy is kind of Kirk's conscience/counselor when he tells Kirk he may have promoted Bailey too fast.
Of course, if you don't want them to see the new film just show them The Final Frontier and tell them that's the best Trek ever had to offer.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I agree with the OP's list for the most part, but I'm not sure about Tribbles.

Don't get me wrong -- I loved that episode and it is among my favorites, but I don't see it as an episode for newcomers. Because of all of the in-jokes concerning the personalities of the characters, I think a new viewer of TOS should get to know those characters' personalities better before watching this episode.

The comedic impact of some of that classic dialog would be funnier if the viewer is completely familiar with the personalities of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov.

I don't think a new viewer would completely "get" Scotty's excitement over getting to catch up on his technical manuals, or Spock's classic line "he heard you, but he simply could not believe his ears", or Chekov's insistance that Sherman's Planet was discovered by a Russian astronomer & quadro-triticale was a Russian invention.

 

[FalTorPan]

Essential episodes before the movie? None.

 

[Noname Given]

I would add the Corbomite Maneuver.

It was really like the 3rd pilot, since I believe it was the first regular episode filmed(even though it wasn't broadcast first).

As such, it does a lot of introducing and setting up character relationships, mission philosophy, etc.

It really shows the differences in how Kirk and Spock respond to challenges, the Chess vs Poker metaphor. I think in many ways it defines how those 2 characters operate for the rest of the series.

It also introduces McCoy's first "I'm a doctor, not a..." lines.

Actually your last assertion isn't true - the McCoy line closest to that is:

"What am I? A doctor or a Moon-Shuttle conductor?" the "I'm a Doctor not a <Insert Profession Here>" I think first appeared in Devil In the Dark

That said, I agree you might want to hold off showing any original Star Trek episodes until AFTER your friends have seen the new film. I've only seen the original trailer from a few months back and a new one with more scenes that was shown on FOX - (and I'm pissed because I'm trying like hell to remaim 'spoiler free' but, based on the second trailer:

Spoiler: STXI

It looks to me like JJ Abrams IS NOT doing a reboot - but is going to attempt to shoehorn this into exiting continuity claiming this is the 1701 pre The Cage and explain the bridge and ship design diferences that way.

 

[Captain Robert April]

If they want to know what's wrong with this film beforehand, then any episode that has details about the characters' backstories would be essential.

If they just want to enjoy the film and learn about the stuff afterward, it might be best to hold off.

 

[The_Beef]

I appreciate the input guys. In truth I already made my list a while ago and I added a lot of the suggestions I got on here. I guess the original point of this thread is now rather moot so I'll just let it be. I would like to reiterate for one final time that the friends I intended to show these to are not unfamiliar with TOS and this was intended more as a hype-builder/fun activity than a serious primer course. They are very aware of the the extreme changes and don't care. They enjoy TOS and hope that they will enjoy the film. Please remember that when you respond. If not. . .well, I suppose you just read the title and went ahead and posted, so I guess pointing that out doesn't do me much good, does it?

Ok, soap box moment over. Have fun .