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Missed episode format opportunities

Seinfeld did an entire episode of backwards scene progression...ending with some cute moments that took place before the series.

I never saw that Seinfeld ep, but what I'm talking about was that they acted the scene backwards, then played the film backwards so that the logistics and storyline went forward, albeit with some really weird physics going on.
 
I'm not sure format gimmicks would make sense in Trek the way they make sense in a more comedic or tongue in cheek show like Seinfeld, Community or Buffy.

Didn't they do a backwards episode? Before & After.

What might have worked well in Trek is an out-of-sequence episode. Somebody hopping through time Slaughterhouse Five style. Fits right in with their 'Mind being dislodged in time' and all. The dislodged character is randomly witnessing events before a big disaster and events after a big disaster and has to piece together what happened and how to stop it.
 
How about a live-action going underwater episode?

Or an animated episode of an otherwise live-action TV show? Like, they go through the transporter and land in an animated world, maybe even becoming cartoon versions of themselves?

Alternately, I suppose it could be somebody's holodeck fantasy with a filter that gives live people cartoonish appearances. Would be an in-joke dig to the animation artists if the characters complained about the way the holoprogram made them look. :)
 
I feel the need to point out that currently the surest sign to recognize a bad Trek story is if any of the main cast sings. It's a rule. An astonishingly accurate one.
So I guess that means Plato's Stepchildren is one of the worst.
 
I feel the need to point out that currently the surest sign to recognize a bad Trek story is if any of the main cast sings. It's a rule. An astonishingly accurate one.

I'm going to have to disagree.

The EMH sang in several episodes of Voyager, which I enjoyed quite a bit.
 
An animated episode could also feel like a comic book. They could even have the animation style switch mid-episode to different art forms, like anime, cubism, Disney-style animation, flipbook, etc.

I wish they had done an episode where crew actually shrink and go inside someone's ill/hurt body. I know there is some legit sci-fi that has done this before; I'm not talking about the magic schoolbus. :D
 
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