Prod,airdate or stardate order?

[MAGolding]

There are many possible orders that someone could watch TOS episodes in.

Airdate order, production order, stardate order, season order and by stardate order within each season (thus eliminating overlapping stardates between seasons), alphabetical order, by order of quality according to the ranking in some specified source, etc. etc.

And then there are reverse orders: reverse airdate order, reverse production order, reverse stardate order, reverse season order and by reverse stardate order within each season, reverse alphabetical order, by reverse order of quality according to the ranking in some specified source, etc. etc.

But the possible orders that episodes can happen in seem to be 1) airdate order, 2) production order, 3) stardate order, 4) season order and by stardate order within each season (thus eliminating stardates overlapping between seasons),

And if stardate have a constant relationship to time units on planets such as Earth, then only 3) stardate order, makes sense for a historical ordering of episodes.

But if, for example, stardates relate to the strength of some variable factor that affects the speed of warp travel, so Starfleet officers can estimate the time for a specific trip from the value of the stardate, then stardates can go up and don over time and episodes can happen in 1) airdate order, 2) production order, or 4) season order and by stardate order within each season (thus eliminating stardates overlapping between seasons),

 

[Noname Given]

I'm curious how true that really is. I haven't seen a lot of post production documents to point one way or the other. I think if they were always chasing airdates that closely it wouldn't have been that different from production order. I do know they sometimes ran into issues (like wanting the Menagerie two-parter and hoping to get an episode in December pre-empted) but was it always down to the wire? Most of the dates I see online involve the filming of the episode rather than the post production process.

The issue was the time it took to produce and then edit in the visual effects needed. That was the real hold up on many episodes that had the 'live action' portion in the can, and edited. It's why "The Corbomite Manuever" was the first regular TV episode filmed, but the tenth episode aired.

 

[Albertese]

I've been going through in Stardate order. It's been fun to see how one episode could influence the character's perspective of the action. Makes things a little deeper. For instance, Spock letting go and embracing his feelings for Leila Kolomi is more interesting when you realize that in Stardate order it's his next adventure after his ponn far in "Amok Time."

There are a few instances of overlapping stardates which you have to be accepting of, but then you get some cool stuff like WNMHGB being at the beginning where it belongs and "All Our Yesterdays" being the finale, which is a stronger episode than "Turnabout Intruder." So there's that.

--Alex

 

[BlueshirtGuard]

I've been going through in Stardate order. It's been fun to see how one episode could influence the character's perspective of the action. Makes things a little deeper. For instance, Spock letting go and embracing his feelings for Leila Kolomi is more interesting when you realize that in Stardate order it's his next adventure after his ponn far in "Amok Time."

There are a few instances of overlapping stardates which you have to be accepting of, but then you get some cool stuff like WNMHGB being at the beginning where it belongs and "All Our Yesterdays" being the finale, which is a stronger episode than "Turnabout Intruder." So there's that.

--Alex

I absolutely agree! All our Yesterdays is a great finale. I think they did generally (with a crap ton of exceptions) add more numbers to the stardate so they are kind of a chronology for the show.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Kirk: Senob, troper.
McCoy: Mij, daed seh.
Spock: Turn me on dead man.

Roddenberry sauce...Roddenberry sauce....

 

[Ssosmcin]

I watch it in "whatever episode I'm in the mood for" order. I never watch the whole series form start to finish. It's an episodic TV series, not a serial. It doesn't really matter.

I have started to gravitate toward airdate because it gives me that "1966-69" feeling. And since it isn't serialized, the order makes no difference. As long as The Menagerie part 2 follows part one, and Mudd's Women occurs before I, Mudd, etc, it's all fair.

 

[johnnybear]

You guys wanna try BBC order? It's wild and all over the place! One minute you're watching Bread and Circuses and the next you're with the evil Kirk as The Enemy Within! Then you get near to the end of the series and find that Alternative Factor hasn't been seen yet (despite a difference of look in actors, costumes and style) and you end it with either Turnabout Intruder, Operation:Annihilate or Savage Curtain, whichever you wish as both had vague transmission dates back in 1981!
JB

 

[MAGolding]

I've been going through in Stardate order. It's been fun to see how one episode could influence the character's perspective of the action. Makes things a little deeper. For instance, Spock letting go and embracing his feelings for Leila Kolomi is more interesting when you realize that in Stardate order it's his next adventure after his ponn far in "Amok Time."

There are a few instances of overlapping stardates which you have to be accepting of, but then you get some cool stuff like WNMHGB being at the beginning where it belongs and "All Our Yesterdays" being the finale, which is a stronger episode than "Turnabout Intruder." So there's that.

--Alex

According to the theory that most episodes of an episodic series happen in alternate universes of their own, separate from the alternate universes of other episodes, the episodes that have overlapping stardates or are a too close in stardates happen in separate alternate universes and no problem.

 

[johnnybear]

Just take note of the earliest star date and ignore the rest makes life a lot more simpler!
JB

 

[johnnybear]

Then again thank your lucky stars it's TOS and not TNG as the star dates for their first series are all over the place and contradict later episodes where events are mentioned to have already happened before you actually get to them! So how would or could you view TNGs first season in stardate order? Any takers?
JB

 

[Albertese]

Then again thank your lucky stars it's TOS and not TNG as the star dates for their first series are all over the place and contradict later episodes where events are mentioned to have already happened before you actually get to them! So how would or could you view TNGs first season in stardate order? Any takers?
JB

I wouldn't bother. TOS in SD order is a big enough project!

--Alex

 

[wayne66]

I watch in production order starting with the five seasons of Captain Robert April. Then the ten seasons of Pike, which includes The Cage. After that I move on the the first season of Captain Kirk which includes Where No Man Has Gone Before; followed the by the remaining four seasons. Then I watch Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, followed by The Motion Picture. Following that I watch all five seasons of Star Trek II. Then I finish off with the rest of the films.

Oh, wait you were talking about the REAL Star Trek, not my fantasy version.

I usually start with The Cage and watch in Production order. I think it would be interesting to include TAS and watch in stardate order. It might seem pretty random though; but I'll have to try it.

I watch TOS in production order. I then watch TAS in airdate order. I consider TAS to be the 4th year. So it gets watched too. I watch it in airdate order. With TAS, production order does not seem necessary. Might be fascinating to watch it in production order, though.

 

[johnnybear]

Why not watch it in Star Date order as well? If you do you'll find that one of the earliest episodes is Magicks of Megas Tu and it comes even before WNMHGB! Now that's a problem...

JB

 

[kkt]

Why not watch it in Star Date order as well? If you do you'll find that one of the earliest episodes is Magicks of Megas Tu and it comes even before WNMHGB! Now that's a problem...

JB

Wait, what? I don't have TAS easily available. Can it be explained away as a misstatement?

 

[Albertese]

I say that the series are television versions of the actual events and sometimes the producers got something a little wrong here and there. "Magicks" works well enough it we assume that the first two numbers of the stardate is simply transposed and Shatner just read the script. This has to be done for a few episodes, but it's impressive how well it does actually hold together.

--Alex

 

[Tenacity]

Speed of plot.

(wait ... huh?)

 

[johnnybear]

Wait, what? I don't have TAS easily available. Can it be explained away as a misstatement?

HaHaHa I don't think so but there's no way that I would mix the two together to be honest either!
JB

 

[The Lensman]

I recommend starting with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and then going in production order, so "Corbomite" is next, and so on.

Save "The Cage" for last, as a post-series bonus film. This, because if you start with "The Cage," then "The Menagerie" comes too soon after and you're tempted to skip it. If that happens, you miss the framing story, which is the equivalent of one whole episode-- with its own good scenes.

I've planned on doing a watch through for awhile, and I figure I'll move "Menagerie" near to the end of season one in order to avoid that issue. Because the original was episodic in nature, I figure it won't present any issues. By "Menagerie", the look of the ship, sets and costumes was pretty much settled and would largely remain the same to the end of the show.

 

[johnnybear]

I left The Cage till the very end too, straight after Turnabout Intruder!
JB