Help with deciding what episodes to sample from TOS

[Admiral Archer]

Hey everyone! So I have recently discovered that Amazon offers digital episodes of Star Trek TOS, the way I prefer to view them: with the unremastered, original visual effects. I immediately purchased The Trouble With Tribbles, but I want to do a sampler with three more episodes to get a better variety. My question is this: of the list of episodes I have provided below, help me pick the three best or most iconic episodes from across all three seasons. Thanks!

-The Cage
-Where No Man Has Gone Before
-Balance of Terror
-Arena
-The City On The Edge Of Forever
-The Enterprise Incident
-All Our Yesterdays

 

[Warp Core Breach]

Where No Man Has Gone Before.

Balance of Terror.

The City on the Edge of Forever.

If you need a fourth, maybe substitute The Menagerie for The Cage, since it's basically the same thing with a framing story.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

Where No Man Has Gone Before.

Balance of Terror.

The City on the Edge of Forever.

I would add either Amok Time or Mirror, Mirror.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I would also expand your list to include "The Corbomite Maneuver." As the first production episode to be filmed, it established a lot of things the pilots didn't.

 

[feek61]

You have very little second season, what about adding "The Doomsday Machine?" I know this is more than you want but still, the early part of the second season had some of the best episodes with Gene Coon really settling in and getting the character interaction better than any other time during the series.

If you are sticking strictly to your list, these are the ones:
Balance of Terror
City on the Edge of Forever
All Our Yesterdays (a very underrated episode because it is in the third season but it is one of the best)

 

[1001001]

Balance of Terror, for sure.

That’s my favorite TOS episode.

 

[Phaser Two]

You have very little second season, what about adding "The Doomsday Machine?" I know this is more than you want but still, the early part of the second season had some of the best episodes with Gene Coon really settling in and getting the character interaction better than any other time during the series.

If you are sticking strictly to your list, these are the ones:
Balance of Terror
City on the Edge of Forever
All Our Yesterdays (a very underrated episode because it is in the third season but it is one of the best)

This is pretty much what I came to type, including the addition of "The Doomsday Machine." I'll add one thing— you could swap in "Arena" and swap out "Balance of Terror" if you wanted to. Or watch all five; I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. Oh, to the extent you have an order in mind, watch "All Our Yesterdays" last.

 

[Uncle Sock]

Hey everyone! So I have recently discovered that Amazon offers digital episodes of Star Trek TOS, the way I prefer to view them: with the unremastered, original visual effects. I immediately purchased The Trouble With Tribbles, but I want to do a sampler with three more episodes to get a better variety. My question is this: of the list of episodes I have provided below, help me pick the three best or most iconic episodes from across all three seasons. Thanks!

-The Cage
-Where No Man Has Gone Before
-Balance of Terror
-Arena
-The City On The Edge Of Forever
-The Enterprise Incident
-All Our Yesterdays

My pick would be:

The Cage
Balance of Terror
The Enterprise Incident

I'm not sure what these have to offer in terms of visual effects, though. From your post, I got the impression that this would be a deciding factor, too.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

If you end up watching only four episodes, then the show wasn't for you, so what's the point? For most of us in this forum, it would make more sense to write of short list of which episodes to skip. And for me, it's a short list.

 

[Phaser Two]

If you end up watching only four episodes, then the show wasn't for you, so what's the point? For most of us in this forum, it would make more sense to write of short list of which episodes to skip. And for me, it's a short list.

Me too as to the short list! I certainly agree with this, Zap, but I figured that OP intended to sample additional episodes of TOS, beyond "Tribbles," with the goal of determining whether watching the rest of the series is for them.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

BY ANY OTHER NAME.......because once in a damn while, security guards CAN survive.

GAMESTERS OF TRISKELION, because Spock and McCoy can't join Kirk ALL the time.

FRIDAY'S CHILD because it's virtually perfect if you ignore the idiot guard who died 10 seconds into the mission because he evidently wasn't allowed to attend McCoy's briefing.

And LIGHTS OF ZETAR because it has a Christmassy Lite-Brite feeling.

 

[Admiral Archer]

If you end up watching only four episodes, then the show wasn't for you, so what's the point? For most of us in this forum, it would make more sense to write of short list of which episodes to skip. And for me, it's a short list.

Oh no, I didn't mean to make it sound that way at all!! I love TOS, every day after school when I was a kid I used to make my mom make sure we got home by 4:30pm so I could watch on NBC. The reason for the sampling is twofold - my finances are super tight to the point I can only spare five dollars or so for a sampler of the episodes on Amazon, and to determine whether they ALL have the original unremastered effects (I have trust issues lol). I have seen every episode in that list multiple times (well except for all our yesterdays maybe) and love them all. I did NOT mean it to sound like I don't love TOS. My bad!

EDIT: For clarification I plan on getting the entire series for Christmas on Amazon. The sampler is just to keep me occupied until I can afford to get the whole series..

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd put "Devil In the Dark" on the list

 

[Set Harth]

That's me, I had the sampler before I had the series.

 

[1001001]

I would certainly add The Doomsday Machine.

I also really like Space Seed, especially given its significance later on.

 

[Takeru]

The Cage
Arena
The Enterprise Incident

 

[Qonundrum]

BY ANY OTHER NAME.......because once in a damn while, security guards CAN survive.

Fontana definitely had some of the best stories for the show. This one relies more on the philosophical side, but it's got some great moments and pay close attention to Rojan's cube holding and the continuity between compacted crewmen and revival is spot-on perfect. or was the one time I paid attention to it decades ago, but a little caffeine will help, coffee break next...

GAMESTERS OF TRISKELION, because Spock and McCoy can't join Kirk ALL the time.

Seconded, big-time. It's unconventional in ways, but Margaret Armen's take on the characters is sound. She also coins the phrase "Are you out of your Vulcan mind!", which the V-word sounds almost like the F-word, which is oddly apropos to both the scene and McCoy's mouthful machinations.

FRIDAY'S CHILD because it's virtually perfect if you ignore the idiot guard who died 10 seconds into the mission wasn't even allowed to attend McCoy's briefing.

^^this

Seconded for another great story, idiot guard (and idiot captain for not including him in the meeting) aside. Just having the guard in the meeting would have fixed about 90% of the issue. Unless Grant was supposed to be in it, but was late to the studio on filming day or something so they had to do the best they could.

And LIGHTS OF ZETAR because it has a Christmassy Lite-Brite feeling.

There's a great story in there and more than just "the fan favorites" needs to be given a looksee. This story too has some neat ideas, even if the execution isn't perfect. I'd otherwise swap it for "All Our Yesterdays" (original title "A Handful of Dust") or "Is There in Truth No Beauty" as Jean Lisette Aroeste also had some great ideas fairly well told (above average for Trek overall, not just the sometimes-underrated third season.)