Singly most hated & despised ep of the whole 79

[teacherkarl]

I'm rewatching the entire TOS run right now, just starting Season 3 (so many episodes of that season I don't really remember at all, it will be like watching them again for the first time).

But so far the worst to try and sit through have been "The Alternative Factor" and "Catspaw". Many of the "bad" episodes are cheesy enough to actually be entertaining, like "Spock's Brain". Just now got finished watching that, and laughing my butt off!

 

[Rackon]

^ Welllllll....

I can't stand it when trained Star Fleet personnel forget their oaths, forget their loyalty to their captain and crew, give up all their ideals, all that stuff...for some alpha male. Even one who uses his godly powers to give her a pretty dress. So "Adonis" isn't one of my favorites. (Neither is "Space Seed," for that and other reasons. Neither one makes my bottom-of-the-barrel list, though!) It does have some good moments - I just don't see why they couldn't have found a way to do it without dragging in some weak-headed romantic female as a plot point. Bleah.

Yes, I know it was the 1960s. I was around then. I don't care. Even in the 1960s, women in uniform were supposed to be loyal.

Yeoman Randi: "Kate, i'm with you. I just want to smack those women silly, i swear!

Amen, sisters!

I was around too. Even in the sixties this was hardly how professional women behaved. There is lots of good stuff in Space Seed, but McGivers swooning at first sight of Khan was not one of them.

Since I can't slap Lt McGivers I yell at the TV a lot. But Space Seed begat TWOK, so I can forgive it...a bit.

 

[Chrisisall]

Yes, I know it was the 1960s. I was around then.

Me too, Kate. I forgave the MEGA BS in regards to the female area of characterization because there WERE females in IMPORTANT positions. Martin Luthor King himself told Nichelle Nicholes to NOT quit Trek because of it.
In hindsight, it's rather primitive, but in the day it was cutting edge, in terms of equality, both in race AND gender.

And, it may swing back to a sexist future, who knows? Always in motion is the future.

 

[Drogo]

My list..

1. None

 

[dillon3001]

Children shall lead poisoning.

Though for shoddy execution, ALTERNATIVE FACTOR is horrible too.

Any TOS episode with children in it I really have to force myself to watch for whatever reason.

 

[seigezunt]

Requiem for Methuselah. Kirk just behaves...stupidly... in it.

 

[Isis]

What about "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"? Pretentious title/pretentious episode.

 

[I am not Spock]

^ I like that episode.

For me, even when TOS is bad, its entertaining. When eps of TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT are bad, they are truly bad indeed.

That said, when rewatching TOS recently, 'Catspaw' I found very hard to get through.

'And The Children Shall Lead' is horrid, of course. But still amusingly bad. 'Way To Eden' and 'Spock's Brain' I find quite funny, actually.

'The Paradise Syndrome', 'The Empath', and 'Miri' I actually like. Don't know why they keep showing up in here.

 

[Chrisisall]

'The Paradise Syndrome', 'The Empath', and 'Miri' I actually like. Don't know why they keep showing up in here.

Grups.

 

[Red Ranger]

What about "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"? Pretentious title/pretentious episode.

There are two things that redeem that ep. The Oracle, which was freaky, and Natira, played by the lovely Kate Woodville! I'd get an implant of obedience for her anytime! -- RR

 

[Captain Robert April]

"Catspaw" was just Star Trek's Halloween episode, so I give it a certain amount of slack.

At least they never did a Christmas episode...

 

[tomalak301]

"Catspaw" was just Star Trek's Halloween episode, so I give it a certain amount of slack.

At least they never did a Christmas episode...

But they did talk about a Christmas Party with the lovely Helen Noel.

 

[Red Ranger]

"Catspaw" was just Star Trek's Halloween episode, so I give it a certain amount of slack.

At least they never did a Christmas episode...

Wolf in the Fold would've made a better Hallowe'en ep, as it was less obviously such an ep. I just watched it and enjoyed it, esp. how John Fiedler as Mr. Hengist would hardly seem to be a mass murderer. Good casting against type, as Fiedler did the voice of Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons. -- RR

 

[Isis]

...Let that Be Your Last Battlefield really chewed it but the drawn-out self-destruct sequence...and the way Frank Gorshin ran through the corridors in that semi-limp, angular fashion save it from being the worst of the worst...

"Battlefield" was poorly executed, but IMHO, the thing that redeems it is its premise, that sometimes differences between people are more perceived than real. One alien was black on the right, white on the left. The other one was white on the right, black on the left. A dealbreaker to them but something that some of us might miss. The implication was that maybe an "observer" of Earth might have the same reaction to the racial and ethnic distinctions we make. It's really a shame they didn't (IMO) do the premise justice...

 

[Orcus]

"Catspaw" was just Star Trek's Halloween episode, so I give it a certain amount of slack.

At least they never did a Christmas episode...

Ah, but they did: Friday's Child appears to be a Messiah-like birth...

 

[TOS Purist]

"Spock's Brain" really isn't that bad. If you watch it again and take it seriously, it's actually a pretty decent episode with some intriguing sci-fi concepts - which is what TOS is all about.

"And the Children Shall Lead" - I can never figure out why people hate that episode. Is it the kids? I dunno. Either way, it's actually one of my favorites - and the Gorgon's true appearence practically makes me sh*t my pants every time!

"The Alternative Factor"'s only weakness is the extremely rushed production and continuity issues. I'm sure that if it were done as planned, it would have been a classic on the order of "The Enterprise Incident" or any of the others.

I guess I'm a little biased, being a fanatic TOS fan, but to me, every episode is nothing short of brilliant, and better than anything else on TV. The only episode that I will go so far as to "not like as much as the others," or maybe - just MAYBE - go so far as to say that it is not in the realm of episodes I like, suggesting that I actually DON'T like it at all...in fact I hate it...is "The Mark of Gideon."

That episode is like a TNG episode - boring, sluggish, stupid concepts, poorly executed, melodramatic, and has absolutely zero re-watchability. It's like TOS, TNG-ified.

No offense to TNG fans out there.

 

[Warped9]

"And The Children Shall Lead," hands down.

 

[Hambone]

"Spock's Brain" really isn't that bad. If you watch it again and take it seriously, it's actually a pretty decent episode with some intriguing sci-fi concepts - which is what TOS is all about.

Agreed! I have, and always shall be, this episode's friend.

"And the Children Shall Lead" - I can never figure out why people hate that episode. Is it the kids? I dunno. Either way, it's actually one of my favorites - and the Gorgon's true appearence practically makes me sh*t my pants every time!

It's the kids.

"The Alternative Factor"'s only weakness is the extremely rushed production and continuity issues. I'm sure that if it were done as planned, it would have been a classic on the order of "The Enterprise Incident" or any of the others.

Good concept, poorly executed. Too much rock-falling-off-of and screaming. To much "KILL! KILL! KILL!" Not enough Lt. Masters.

I guess I'm a little biased, being a fanatic TOS fan, but to me, every episode is nothing short of brilliant, and better than anything else on TV. The only episode that I will go so far as to "not like as much as the others," or maybe - just MAYBE - go so far as to say that it is not in the realm of episodes I like, suggesting that I actually DON'T like it at all...in fact I hate it...is "The Mark of Gideon."

That episode is like a TNG episode - boring, sluggish, stupid concepts, poorly executed, melodramatic, and has absolutely zero re-watchability. It's like TOS, TNG-ified.

Agreed. There are way to many dumb plot devices in this episode. It has one creepy moment but the rest doesn't make sense. An hour-long episode discussing the merits of birth control back in the 1960's must have given the Standards & Practices Department a conniption!

I don't know what a "conniption" is, but my Grandma always used to say I was going to give her one, so it must be bad.

 

[TOS Purist]

Wow! Nice to see I'm not alone in my opinions on those episodes - thanks for the post, Hambone!!

As for a "conniption" - that's another word for "heart attack."

 

[Chrisisall]

No offense to TNG fans out there.

None taken.
Yeah, Gideon's reveal was okay back in the day (the FIRST time), but it was an ep I used to do other things during as a kid.