The very best episodes

[lisa]

I am going to confess something... Please don't judge me too harshly.... I have never watched more than the first episode of TOS.

I am ready to mend my ways, so I've come to the experts.
So tell me, which episodes are the very best?

 

[Gary7]

What's to fear? Not having seen something won't draw harsh judgment around here. Having seen something and derided it while most everyone loved it might, though.

There have been a few threads on TBBS for episode rankings based on membership voting, with TOS included. You could check those out. However, I think it best you see the whole series, starting from the beginning. But if you don't have that luxury, and can only select a dozen or so episodes to watch, I can rattle off a few that I'd tell you to avoid, or leave for last:

• And The Children Shall Lead
• The Alternative Factor
• Spock's Brain
• Catspaw
• Wolf in the Fold
• The Mark of Gideon
• Turnabout Intruder

 

[BillJ]

The Cage
Where No Man Has Gone Before
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
Shore Leave
The Doomsday Machine
The Ultimate Computer
Amok Time
Journey to Babel

These are a few of my "go to" episodes.

 

[Gary7]

Keep in mind that these are subjective, as a different mix of participants happens each time and sometimes people change their minds:

TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 1
TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 2
TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 3

TOS Hurt/Heal: Best Episode Ever
01st: City on the Edge of Forever
02nd: Journey to Babel
03rd: Balance of Terror
04th: Mirror, Mirror
05th: The Doomsday Machine
06th: Amok Time
07th: The Devil in the Dark
08th: Where No Man Has Gone Before
09th: The Trouble With Tribbles
10th: Errand of Mercy
11th: The Enterprise Incident
12th: The Cage
13th: A Taste of Armageddon
14th: The Tholian Web
15th: All Our Yesterdays
16th: The Ultimate Computer
17th: The Menagerie, Part I & II
18th: Day of the Dove
19th: This Side of Paradise
20th: Obsession
21st: The Corbomite Maneuver
22nd: Spectre of the Gun
23rd: Return to Tomorrow
24th: By Any Other Name
25th: Whom Gods Destroy
26th: Metamorphosis
27th: Requiem for Methuselah
28th: Elaan of Troyius
29th: Wink of an Eye
30th: Is There in Truth No Beauty?

Top 5 Favorite TOS Episodes

 

[Greg Cox]

Just off the top of my head:

"Balance of Terror"
"The Devil in the Dark"
"City on the Edge of Forever"
"Journey to Babel"
"Amok Time"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"Mirror, Mirror"
"Errand of Mercy"

In general, most of the really classic eps are in the first two seasons. The third season has its moments, but it's a bit dicier.

 

[JustKate]

^ It's like Greg read my mind.

I am also extremely fond of "I, Mudd," but I am well aware that this choice isn't as popular with everybody. But I think it's probably my second favorite funny TOS episode, right after "Tribbles."

 

[Greg Cox]

^ It's like Greg read my mind.

I am also extremely fond of "I, Mudd," but I am well aware that this choice isn't as popular with everybody. But I think it's probably my second favorite funny TOS episode, right after "Tribbles."

Not "A Piece of the Action"?

 

[JustKate]

^ It's like Greg read my mind.

I am also extremely fond of "I, Mudd," but I am well aware that this choice isn't as popular with everybody. But I think it's probably my second favorite funny TOS episode, right after "Tribbles."

Not "A Piece of the Action"?

Hmmmm...no, I don't think so. I do enjoy that one, too - a LOT - but not quite as much as "I, Mudd." After all, Spock and McCoy don't do a little plie (sp?) in "A Piece of the Action," now do they?

 

[Isis]

...Shore Leave...

lisa, Bill, and Everybody: With all due respect, I would put Shore Leave among my least liked episodes, and I also don't think it's a typical TOS episode. Shore Leave seems to be generally well regarded, but I thought it would be helpful to provide another viewpoint.

 

[Isis]

The Cage
Where No Man Has Gone Before
A Taste of Armageddon
...
The Doomsday Machine
...
Amok Time
Journey to Babel

These are a few of my "go to" episodes.

Keep in mind that these are subjective, as a different mix of participants happens each time and sometimes people change their minds:

TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 1
TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 2
TOS Hurt/Heal: Season 3

TOS Hurt/Heal: Best Episode Ever
01st: City on the Edge of Forever
02nd: Journey to Babel
03rd: Balance of Terror
04th: Mirror, Mirror
05th: The Doomsday Machine
06th: Amok Time
07th: The Devil in the Dark
08th: Where No Man Has Gone Before
09th: The Trouble With Tribbles
10th: Errand of Mercy
11th: The Enterprise Incident
12th: The Cage
13th: A Taste of Armageddon
14th: The Tholian Web
...
17th: The Menagerie, Part I & II
18th: Day of the Dove
...
21st: The Corbomite Maneuver
...

Top 5 Favorite TOS Episodes

Just off the top of my head:

"Balance of Terror"
"The Devil in the Dark"
"City on the Edge of Forever"
"Journey to Babel"
"Amok Time"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"Mirror, Mirror"
"Errand of Mercy"

In general, most of the really classic eps are in the first two seasons. The third season has its moments, but it's a bit dicier.

Between these three posts, I think--and I emphasize this is my opinion, and in a number of cases, not the consensus--that they've listed the key episodes. I did delete a few, but I have to say that between Gary (his Hurt/Heal list, that is), Bill, and Greg, I don't think they missed anything.

 

[Knight Templar]

The Doomsday Machine
Arena
The Corbomite Manuever
The Ultimate Computer
Balance of Terror
Errand of Mercy
Journey to Babel
The Enterprise Incident
The Tholian Web

To name nine off hand.

 

[Gary7]

"Shore Leave" is kind of a "tongue in cheek" episode. I mean c'mon... the fake rabbit costume? Alice in Wonderland? The reaction to that as well? McCoy didn't go into any detail about exactly what he saw. "Large rabbit" yes... but did he say "Large rabbit costume?" No, despite those being very important characteristics to note. He did say that the rabbit claimed he was late, but not that he accurately quoted from the Lewis Carroll novel. That would also be a very important point; a true mimicry of Alice in Wonderland, on an alien planet many light years from Earth?

Nevertheless, it's a kick of an episode, a lot of fun. There are some very serious moments too. It isn't all fun and games. And that's what makes it so great... the combination of humor and fear in one episode. This is in contrast to "I, Mudd", which is pretty much a farce all the way through.

 

[Gagarin]

Best photography - Balance Of Terror
Worst photography - Doomsday Machine

 

[Greg Cox]

I admit to having a soft spot for "Shore Leave" myself, and not just because I've always liked Sturgeon's work. It's fun and whimsical and leaves you smiling.

(I actually did my very first convention panel with Sturgeon decades ago. As I recall, he was very friendly and encouraging.)

 

[Isis]

Shore Leave just isn't my "cup of tea," but I'm absolutely fine that many people like it and even better that they enjoy it. A chacun son goût, as the French say.

 

[Lucky]

I agree with most of the ones listed here. Just chiming in to say that "Dagger of the Mind," which hasn't been mentioned yet, should be watched as well.

 

[BillJ]

I agree with most of the ones listed here. Just chiming in to say that "Dagger of the Mind," which hasn't been mentioned yet, should be watched as well.

Knew I was missing one. Good catch!

 

[ImCaptKirk]

I like the Enemy Within.

 

[Keith1701]

The Doomsday Machine
The City of Edge of Forever
Where No Man's Has Gone Before
A Piece of the Action
The Naked Time

 

[Knight Templar]

I've never been big on "Star Trek for laughs" either. So I tend not to enjoy the light hearted episodes.