Season 3 Unfair "Bad Reputation?"

[Vger23]

I always get a bit confused as to why Season 3 gets such a bad rap in general. In my mind, it is just as entertaining and thought-provoking as the other seasons. Each season seems to have its own strengths and weaknesses. And, each season seems to have its share of classics and stinkers.

Season 3 has some (in my opinion) excellent episodes.

The Enterprise Incident
Specter of the Gun
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
All Our Yesterdays

There's also plenty of good (standard Trek quality) episodes:

The Paradise Syndrome
Is There In Truth No Beauty?
For the World Is Hollow...
The Empath
Wink of an Eye
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survivew
The Cloud Minders
Savage Curtain

Additionally, it seems that there are more interesting hardcore science-fiction concepts explored or introduced in this season:

A creature that feeds off emotion (DOD)
An "ark ship" whose inhabitants are unaware of the nature of their world (FTWIH...)
Hyper acceleration (wink)
A cloud city...long before Bespin (Cloudminders)
A sensor net for a blind person...long before Geordi (Truth/Beauty)

They also seemed to focus far less on the "parallel Earth" plot lines or the "Man vs Machine" plot lines the previous two seasons leaned on so heavily. I liked that S3 tried some unique concepts even if they were not as successful. There's also a different look and feel that brought some freshness to the feel of the show (different direction, angles, music cues, etc).

I know everyone has their own unique perspective, but just curious if anyone else has similar thoughts? Thanks!

 

[2takesfrakes]

What can I say about the obvious shortcomings of Season 3 that nobody else doesn't know? So, for a refreshing change of pace, I will withhold my usual criticism(s) and just go on about what I like, in this third year ...

I like that they tried to do something "different," even if this was because of the fact that new blood was brought in, rather than the usual people just trying new tricks. Some of the camera work gets fancier, which I praise highly, on creativity, but in practice a lot of it failed. A good case in point is in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," like when the camera zooms in and out against a RED ALERT light, as it flashes. I think we GET the idea of RED ALERT, okay? Let's not overdo it! But this same episode shows some strange close-ups and arrangements of the actors and such. What this was born out of, I don't know, but you can see these artists struggling to present something interesting, visually, to highten the experience and add to the flavour, the texture of the format. It might even imply some things not even intended in the script, adding that one more layer of interest to the show.

But this sort of experimentation - if, indeed, that's what it was - shows care, is what it does. Somebody gives a shit, making this show - these shows - and is trying to add to the experience of watching it, for you. And that registers with me. Alot. It makes it possible then, to overlook certain shortcomings, because you do see that they are trying. And even if it fails - which unfortunately, it often did, because it just came off as "out of the blue" - then even that can be "forgiven." But, overall, the stories in Season 3 did not play out with the same drive to convince you of their reality, as they had before. STAR TREK was more accepting of its being a Television Show, rather than being so careful and concerned about proving its standing as being legitimate science fiction, during its final run.

 

[Warped9]

Sometime back I revisted all of TOS and this is what I found with Season 3.

So how have things shaped up?

Season 1 scored 127 of 145 = 87.5% = an episode average of 4.37 of 5.
Season 2 scored 97 of 130 = 74.6% = an episode average of 3.73 of 5.
Season 3 scored 79 of 120 = 65.8% = an episode average of 3.29 of 5.

***** Excellent = 4 episodes = 16.6%
“Elaan Of Troyius”
“The Enterprise Incident”
“Is There In Truth No Beauty?”
“The Tholian Web”

**** Good = 8 episodes = 33.3%
“Spectre Of The Gun”
“The Empath”
“Day Of The Dove”
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
“That Which Survives”
“The Cloud Minders”
“The Way To Eden”
“Requiem For Methuselah”

*** Fair = 6 episodes = 25%
“The Paradise Syndrome”
“For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky”
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”
“The Lights Of Zetar”
“The Savage Curtain”
“All Our Yesterdays”

** Poor = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“Spock’s Brain”
“The Mark Of Gideon”
“Turnabout Intruder”

* Bad = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“And The Children Shall Lead”
“Wink Of An Eye”
“Whom Gods Destroy”


Breakdown by Season
Good to Excellent - Season 3 slips about ten percent from Season 2. But even so half of its episodes are respectable and can stand with the better episodes of the previous two seasons.
Season 1 = 82.7% (24 episodes)
Season 2 = 61.5% (16 episodes)
Season 3 = 50% (12 episodes)

Fair - Interestingly Season 3 stays pretty close to same as Season 2 in terms of watchable episodes.
Season 1 = 17.2% (5 episodes)
Season 2 = 26.9% (7 episodes)
Season 3 = 25% (6 episodes)

Poor to Bad - Here is the swing. What Season 3 lost in top tier episodes it dropped to disappointing efforts.
Season 1 = 0% (0 episodes)
Season 2 = 11.5% (3 episodes)
Season 3 = 25% (6 episodes)

In the end Season 3 isn't as bad as what seems to be the generally held perspective. At least half of the episodes are respectable and if you include the watchable ones as well that's three quarters of the season is at least acceptable. That is still a damned good batting average. And while I don't have the hard numbers compared yet no TNG season did much better than that.

It's also interesting that Season 3's budget constraints didn't really make itself apparent as often as might be believed. Even under budgetary constraints quite a few episodes still put on a good show. And there was sufficiently abundant creativity and resourcefulness apparent throughout much of the season.

Where Season 3 fell down was in terms of careless thinking and careless execution. Things went south when ideas weren't thought through enough and the general execution felt rushed just to get the show in the can. A little more attention and overall polish could have gone a long way.


Series Breakdown:
Good to Excellent = 65.8% (52 episodes)
Fair = 22.7% (18 episodes)
Poor to Bad = 11.3% (9 episodes)

 

[BillJ]

I'd rather watch season three instead of anything from the Berman years.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Season three suffered from many maladies--lack of love from both Paramount and NBC, lack of production money, lack of GR, lack of Gene Coon (or in the case of "Spock's Brain," too much Gene Coon!), lack of John Meredith Lucas (except for "Elaan of Troyus"), departures of Herb Solow, Lucy, DC Fontana and eventually Bob Justman.

There were a handful of very good episodes: "The Tholien Web," "The Enterprise Incident," "Day of the Dove," and "Elaan of Troyus." There were some horrible ones that I avoid like the plague: "And The Children Shall Lead," "Plato's Stepchildren," and the putrid "The Way To Eden." But mostly, season three was filled with boring episodes... little more than glorified "radio shows" as Bob Justman so aptly described them.

There are many great first and (especially) second season episodes that carry the series to new heights. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for season three. It had its highs, but way too few of them.

 

[Marsden]

Sometime back I revisted all of TOS and this is what I found with Season 3.

Wow. I'd only move about 4 episodes around and we'd be the exact match on season 3 ratings.

I'd put but Whom Gods Destroy up to poor and but Mark of Gideon down to bad, switch Way to Eden and Savage Curtain, and that's about it.

 

[Vger23]

What do you guys think about some of the more unique ideas presented in the third season, and the deviation from the reliance on man vs computer and parallel Earth stories?

 

[Warped9]

I like that they tried to get back to more Season 1 like sensibilities.

 

[EnriqueH]

I posted something similar about Season 3 couple of months ago.

I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as its reputation. However, its budget is clearly lacking. I especially noticed the lack of location shooting, with the exception of Paradise Syndrome.

Still, I enjoyed virtually all the episodes with the exception of Spock's Brain and That Which Survives (due to the poor writing of Spock). And the Children Shall Lead had its moments, but it kinda fell apart towards the end.

I still don't get the hate for Way to Eden. At all. I enjoyed it tremendously back in the day, and after not having seen it for a few years, I saw it again a few months back during my TOS run through and I still enjoyed it.

 

[RandyS]

Season three is the same as one and two. A mix of good and bad episodes. I've always felt that it had the best music though. An opinion reinforced by the release of the 15 disk soundtrack a couple of years ago.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

"For the World is Hollow....etc etc" is one of my favourite TOS episodes (the uber pretentious title notwithstanding), so points for season 3....but the season also has the worst of the entire show, so even though there are good episodes, the reputation is kind of deserved because of the sheer concentration of clunkers, which range from just mediocre to mind-boggingly terrible.

 

[Lance]

Season 3 has got some great stories, but it is fair to say perhaps that the season's ambitions regularly reach beyond it's actual grasp. It was effectively snookered by a multitude of production defects that stopped it from being as 'consistent' as the first two seasons.

But the best episodes of Season 3 can certainly be counted up there among the best of Seasons 1 & 2. There's just less of them.

 

[Talos IV]

I'm halfway through Season 3 now (re-watching them all for the first time in years). Most are actually better than I remembered.

But what's most lacking in these shows, compared to the first two seasons, is humor. Even an excellent episode like "Spectre of the Gun" has Kirk too formally addressing Spock as "Science Officer" in the opening scene. Just feels wrong.

Season One had the perfect balance of seriousness and playfulness. Season Two (sometimes) felt too much like a sitcom. Season Three is too somber.

 

[erastus25]

Season 3 has got some great stories, but it is fair to say perhaps that the season's ambitions regularly reach beyond it's actual grasp. It was effectively snookered by a multitude of production defects that stopped it from being as 'consistent' as the first two seasons.

But the best episodes of Season 3 can certainly be counted up there among the best of Seasons 1 & 2. There's just less of them.

It's also telling that a lot of fan polls of top 10 best/favorite episodes rarely place any season 3 selections on the list.

I will say, the directing gives the show a '60s/'70s feel as opposed to the '50s feel of the first season. That's kind of fun.

 

[2takesfrakes]

What do you guys think about some of the more unique ideas presented in the third season, and the deviation from the reliance on man vs computer and parallel Earth stories?

Season 3 found a different song to sing, not a better song to sing. But I still find some of my favourites within. The problem was the low ratings, this forced the show to try to appeal to a broader audience of The Sixties. Had the ratings been great, I believe Season 3 would've enjoyed a bigger budget and better writing, with more of the kind of writing that STAR TREK had always previously aspired to. It may have even been groundbreaking in some ways. But what we got did show the flexibility of STAR TREK's format and that being commercial isn't such a bad thing. It was the right idea, but at the wrong time. What was commercial in the Sixties was pap. What's commercial now is the reboot series, which works just fine.

 

[BillJ]

But what's most lacking in these shows, compared to the first two seasons, is humor. Even an excellent episode like "Spectre of the Gun" has Kirk too formally addressing Spock as "Science Officer" in the opening scene. Just feels wrong.

Kirk also refers to Spock as "Science Officer" during "The Naked Time".

 

[Marsden]

I'm halfway through Season 3 now (re-watching them all for the first time in years). Most are actually better than I remembered.

But what's most lacking in these shows, compared to the first two seasons, is humor. Even an excellent episode like "Spectre of the Gun" has Kirk too formally addressing Spock as "Science Officer" in the opening scene. Just feels wrong.

Season One had the perfect balance of seriousness and playfulness. Season Two (sometimes) felt too much like a sitcom. Season Three is too somber.

I like that one, especially the last paragraph, I got that feeling, too. I wonder, (what if scenario upcoming) if Trouble with Tribbles was moved to the 3rd season would people still pick it as one of the best or not? I have a hard time believing that none of the 3rd season episodes are on the best lists for any reason except they are in that season.

 

[Lance]

I will say, the directing gives the show a '60s/'70s feel as opposed to the '50s feel of the first season. That's kind of fun.

Yeah, I'd noticed this as well. There's something a bit more dynamic about the way the camera gets used in some Season 3 episodes too, when compared to earlier seasons.

 

[EnriqueH]

"Chekov!"

"AHHH!!"

"CHEKOV!"

 

[CrazyMatt]

"Chekov!"

"AHHH!!"

"CHEKOV!"

Like Walter K said, he knew that once he screamed in "Mirrror, Mirror," he'd be screaming again... "Once a screamer, always a screamer."

Besides "The Tholien Web," he got a chance to scream away again in "Day Of The Dove."