Thinking of doing a TOS rewatch/watch -- what order?

[Warped9]

I made a list by Stardate order just for the fun of it and next revisit I'm going to try it this way. For the hell of it I also included TAS episodes (listed in bold type), but the oddity is that "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu has an earlier Stardate than "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Wierd. I might shunt that one to the end.

As for the five TOS episodes with no Stardate. I started with a list of production order and then moved the episodes accordingly. As such I left the no-stardate episodes where they were.

“The Cage”
“The Magicks Of Megas-Tu”
“Where No Man Has Gone Before”
“Mudd’s Women”
“The Corbomite Maneuver”
“The Man Trap”
“Charlie X”
“The Enemy Within”
“The Naked Time”
“Balance Of Terror”
“The Squire Of Gothos”
“Patterns Of Force”
“What Are Little Girls Made Of?”
“Miri”
“Dagger Of The Mind”
“The Conscience Of The King”
“The Galileo Seven”
“Courtmartial”
“The Menagerie”
“Catspaw”
“Shoreleave”
“Arena”
“The Alternative Factor”
“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”
“The City On The Edge Of Forever”
“Space Seed”
“The Return Of The Archons”
“The Practical Joker”
“A Taste Of Armageddon”
“The Devil In The Dark”
“Errand Of Mercy”
“The Gamesters Of Triskelion”
“Metamorphosis”
“Operation--Annihilate”
“Amok Time”
“This Side Of Paradise”
“Who Mourns For Adonais?”
“The Deadly Years”
“Friday’s Child”
“The Changeling”
“Wolf In The Fold”
“Obsession”
“The Apple”
“Journey To Babel”
“Bread And Circuses”
“Slaver Weapon”
“The Doomsday Machine”
“Mirror, Mirror”
“A Private Little War”
“The Immunity Syndrome”
“Elaan Of Troyius”
“Spectre Of The Gun”
“I, Mudd”
“The Trouble With Tribbles”
“A Piece Of The Action”
“By Any Other Name”
“The Ultimate Computer”
“Return To Tomorrow”
“The Omega Glory”
“Assignment: Earth”
“The Paradise Syndrome”
“Mudd’s Passion”
“And The Children Shall Lead”
“The Enterprise Incident”
“The Empath”
“The Survivor”
“Time Trap”
“Albatross”
“One Of Our Planets Is Missing”
“Yesteryear”
“More Tribbles, More Troubles”
“The Mark Of Gideon”
“Spock’s Brain”
“For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky”
“The Lorelei Signal”
“The Ambergris Element”
“Eye Of The Beholder”
“Beyond The Farthest Star”
“The Infinite Vulcan”
“The Terratin Incident”
“Once Upon A Planet”
“Is There In Truth No Beauty?”
“Jihad”
“The Tholian Web”
“Day Of The Dove”
“Wink Of An Eye”
“Whom Gods Destroy”
“The Lights Of Zetar”
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
“That Which Survives”
“The Cloud Minders”
“The Way To Eden”
“Requiem For Methuselah”
“The Savage Curtain”
“Turnabout Intruder”
“All Our Yesterdays”
“How Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth”
“The Pirates Of Orion”
“The Counter-Clock Incident”
“BEM”

 

[Albertese]

"This Side of Paradise" right after "Amok Time" suggests some interesting connotations.

--Alex

 

[Ssosmcin]

As for I Dream of Jeannie, as I recall, they follow a kind of chronology in the narrative, especially in the first season, so the broadcast order makes sense. There's a definite point where the fiancee exits the picture, where Roger learns about Jeannie, and so forth.

I was thinking of the fiancee when I posted that. Melissa and Tony's engagement was called off and she left in the 4th episode. Meanwhile, in the week prior, Tony went on a double date with Roger. I don't know what the actual production order would have been, but the episode where Melissa leaves should have been broadcast second, since the pilot episode her and her General father up as major characters in the format, but went unseen and unmentioned for two weeks in between the pilot and her exit.

Gah, I know too much about I Dream of Jeannie....

 

[Lance]

The standard way to release shows in season sets is in broadcast order. For some reason, for fans of Star Trek, broadcast order is a sticking point. Hundreds of episodic shows are out there in season sets in broadcast order and nobody gives it another thought, or raises a stink. I Spy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many more all went through growth processes and evolution, yet they're all out in the order of original broadcast and nobody seems to care in great numbers.

On the other hand, you've got something like Firefly, where presenting them in their intended order on DVD rather than the broadcast order was seen as a victory of common sense.

I think it's something that is in the hands of the producers and not the fans, I agree there. But I only comment on the strangeness of having gone through this period during the 20th century when the production order was defacto canon (the Okuda chronology etc also presented TOS in that way), but somebody, somewhere, made a decision to revert to broadcast order in the 21st century. Leaving many confused as to what, when, where, why and how to watch.

I made a list by Stardate order just for the fun of it and next revisit I'm going to try it this way. For the hell of it I also included TAS episodes (listed in bold type), but the oddity is that "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" has an earlier Stardate than "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Wierd. I might shunt that one to the end.

As for the five TOS episodes with no Stardate. I started with a list of production order and then moved the episodes accordingly. As such I left the no-stardate episodes where they were.

“The Cage”
“The Magicks Of Megas-Tu”
“Where No Man Has Gone Before”
“Mudd’s Women”
“The Corbomite Maneuver”
“The Man Trap”
“Charlie X”
“The Enemy Within”
“The Naked Time”
“Balance Of Terror”
“The Squire Of Gothos”
“Patterns Of Force”
“What Are Little Girls Made Of?”
“Miri”
“Dagger Of The Mind”
“The Conscience Of The King”
“The Galileo Seven”
“Courtmartial”
“The Menagerie”
“Catspaw”
“Shoreleave”
“Arena”
“The Alternative Factor”
“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”
“The City On The Edge Of Forever”
“Space Seed”
“The Return Of The Archons”
“The Practical Joker”
“A Taste Of Armageddon”
“The Devil In The Dark”
“Errand Of Mercy”
“The Gamesters Of Triskelion”
“Metamorphosis”
“Operation--Annihilate”
“Amok Time”
“This Side Of Paradise”
“Who Mourns For Adonais?”
“The Deadly Years”
“Friday’s Child”
“The Changeling”
“Wolf In The Fold”
“Obsession”
“The Apple”
“Journey To Babel”
“Bread And Circuses”
“Slaver Weapon”
“The Doomsday Machine”
“Mirror, Mirror”
“A Private Little War”
“The Immunity Syndrome”
“Elaan Of Troyius”
“Spectre Of The Gun”
“I, Mudd”
“The Trouble With Tribbles”
“A Piece Of The Action”
“By Any Other Name”
“The Ultimate Computer”
“Return To Tomorrow”
“The Omega Glory”
“Assignment: Earth”
“The Paradise Syndrome”
“Mudd’s Passion”
“And The Children Shall Lead”
“The Enterprise Incident”
“The Empath”
“The Survivor”
“Time Trap”
“Albatross”
“One Of Our Planets Is Missing”
“Yesteryear”
“More Tribbles, More Troubles”
“The Mark Of Gideon”
“Spock’s Brain”
“For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky”
“The Lorelei Signal”
“The Ambergris Element”
“Eye Of The Beholder”
“Beyond The Farthest Star”
“The Infinite Vulcan”
“The Terratin Incident”
“Once Upon A Planet”
“Is There In Truth No Beauty?”
“Jihad”
“The Tholian Web”
“Day Of The Dove”
“Wink Of An Eye”
“Whom Gods Destroy”
“The Lights Of Zetar”
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
“That Which Survives”
“The Cloud Minders”
“The Way To Eden”
“Requiem For Methuselah”
“The Savage Curtain”
“Turnabout Intruder”
“All Our Yesterdays”
“How Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth”
“The Pirates Of Orion”
“The Counter-Clock Incident”
“BEM”

I've always intended to try this myself one of these days just for the heck of it. I especially like that the stardate of "Catspaw" is before the stardate of "Space Seed", hence canonizing that Chekov was most certainly aboard the Enterprise before Khan took over the ship.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There's a list of TOS/TAS episodes by stardate order in Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance.

 

[Warped9]

There's a list of TOS/TAS episodes by stardate order in Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance.

Thats right. I'd forgotten about that.

 

[EnriqueH]

I just watched it in production order for the first time about 6 months ago, and I've been a fan since I was 4-5 years old (I'm 39).

HIGHLy recommend production order, not for story reasons, but for character evolvement.

Very rewarding experience.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The standard way to release shows in season sets is in broadcast order. For some reason, for fans of Star Trek, broadcast order is a sticking point. Hundreds of episodic shows are out there in season sets in broadcast order and nobody gives it another thought, or raises a stink. I Spy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and many more all went through growth processes and evolution, yet they're all out in the order of original broadcast and nobody seems to care in great numbers.

On the other hand, you've got something like Firefly, where presenting them in their intended order on DVD rather than the broadcast order was seen as a victory of common sense

Well sure, more recent shows are made to be seen in some order. Firefly, while not really a serial, had serialized elements and characters that evolved over time. Fox was made up of idiots... But in the Star Trek era, hell in any non-serialized series, but especially pre-mid 70's, it made no real difference. Only the most devoted fans would notice the changes. I do agree that the first season of Trek was harmed the most by broadcast oder since the series and characters changed in style fairly noticeably in the first half of the season. But after that, it really didn't matter. Hell, they specifically intended Catspaw to be a Halloween episode, so the first episode shot in the second season was never meant to be seen first.

The only 60's series that I followed which was really harmed by broadcast over production order was Land of the Giants. The first season of that series had a specific trajectory for its first half and ABC made it pointless by randomly jumbling the episodes.

 

[Lance]

If we want to get really wacky with an alternative viewing schedule, we could try to James Blish method, as used for his episode novelisations...


1. "Charlie X"
2. "Dagger of the Mind"
3. "The Man Trap"
4. "Balance of Terror"
5. "The Naked Time"
6. "Miri"
7. "The Conscience of the King"
8. "Arena"
9. "A Taste of Armageddon"
10. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"
11. "Errand of Mercy"
12. "Court Martial"
13. "Operation: Annihilate!"
14. "The City on the Edge of Forever"
15. "Space Seed"
16. "The Trouble With Tribbles"
17. "Spectre of the Gun"
18. "The Doomsday Machine"
19. "Assignment: Earth"
20. "Mirror, Mirror"
21. "Friday's Child"
22. "Amok Time"
23. "All Our Yesterdays"
24. "The Devil in the Dark"
25. "Journey to Babel"
26. "The Menagerie"
27. "The Enterprise Incident"
28. "A Piece of the Action"
29. "Whom Gods Destroy"
30. "The Tholian Web"
31. "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
32. "This Side of Paradise"
33. "Turnabout Intruder"
34. "Requiem for Methuselah"
35. "The Way to Eden"
36. "The Savage Curtain"
37. "The Lights of Zetar"
38. "The Apple"
39. "By Any Other Name"
40. "The Cloud Minders"
41. "The Mark of Gideon"
42. "Who Mourns for Adonais?"
43. "The Changeling"
44. "The Paradise Syndrome"
45. "Metamorphosis"
46. "The Deadly Years"
47. "Elaan of Troyius"
48. "Spock's Brain"
49. "The Enemy Within"
50. "Catspaw"
51. "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
52. "Wolf in the Fold"
53. "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
54. "Return to Tomorrow"
55. "The Ultimate Computer"
56. "That Which Survives"
57. "Obsession"
58. "The Return of the Archons"
59. "The Immunity Syndrome"
60. "The Alternative Factor"
61. "The Empath"
62. "The Galileo Seven"
63. "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
64. "A Private Little War"
65. "The Omega Glory"
66. "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
67. "The Squire of Gothos"
68. "Wink of an Eye"
69. "Bread and Circuses"
70. "Day of the Dove"
71. "Plato's Stepchildren"
72. "Patterns of Force"
73. "Gamesters of Triskelion"
74. "And the Children Shall Lead"
75. "The Corbomite Maneuver"
76. "Shore Leave"
77. "Mudd's Women"
78. "I, Mudd"


... or, if it's the broadcast schedules that matter, we could try the BBC broadcast order from the original British airings in the 1970s:


"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Pilot episode)
"The Naked Time"
"The City on the Edge of Forever"
"A Taste of Armageddon"
"Mudd's Women"
"Tomorrow is Yesterday"
"The Menagerie, Part I"
"The Menagerie, Part II"
"The Devil in the Dark"
"Charlie X"
"Shore Leave"
"Space Seed"
"The Man Trap"
"Dagger of the Mind"
"Balance of Terror"
"The Squire of Gothos"
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
"Arena"
"The Return of the Archons"
"This Side of Paradise"
"The Alternative Factor"
"Errand of Mercy"
"The Conscience of the King"
"The Galileo Seven"
"Court Martial"
"The Enemy Within"
"Catspaw"
"Who Mourns for Adonais?"
"The Apple"
"Metamorphosis"
"Wolf in the Fold"
"The Changeling"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"Bread and Circuses"
"Mirror, Mirror"
"Journey to Babel"
"The Deadly Years"
"A Private Little War"
"Obsession"
"By Any Other Name"
"I, Mudd"
"Patterns of Force"
"The Immunity Syndrome"
"Return to Tomorrow"
"The Omega Glory"
"A Piece of the Action"
"The Ultimate Computer"
"Friday's Child"
"Assignment: Earth"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
"Amok Time"
"Miri"
"Operation -- Annihilate!"
"The Corbomite Maneuver"
"Requiem for Methuselah"
"The Paradise Syndrome"
"Day of the Dove"
"The Way to Eden"
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
"Wink of an Eye"
"The Cloud Minders"
"Spectre of the Gun"
"Elaan of Troyius"
"The Enterprise Incident"
"And the Children Shall Lead"
"Spock's Brain"
"Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
"For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
"That Which Survives"
"The Mark of Gideon"
"The Lights of Zetar"
"The Savage Curtain"
"The Tholian Web"
"All Our Yesterdays"
"Turnabout Intruder"

 

[johnnybear]

The BBC order hadn't changed much since 69 as this was almost the same right up to 1979! They ended the series in Christmas 78 with What are little girls and restarted it in summer 79 with Squire of Gothos and Arena! ending it with Obsession at Christmas and beginning again in summer 80 with By any other name! It was in 84 they played them in the original US order!
JB

 

[johnnybear]

"This Side of Paradise" right after "Amok Time" suggests some interesting connotations.

--Alex

The mentioning of Admiral Komack as their boss in the sector they are patrolling for starters!
JB

 

[Talos IV]

Just for fun: If you wanted to ignore continuity and character evolution (among other things), you could watch the episodes in reverse production order. Start with "Turnabout Intruder" and end with "The Cage."

You'd end up thinking, "Wow, the show really got better as it went along!"

Think I'll try that someday.

 

[Albertese]

"This Side of Paradise" right after "Amok Time" suggests some interesting connotations.

--Alex

The mentioning of Admiral Komack as their boss in the sector they are patrolling for starters!
JB

I was thinking more for Spock. Having to fight his way through a Vulcan divorce and then jumping right in bed with Miss Kalomei. I know, I know... spores... but how much was it just the spores?

--Alex

 

[RandyS]

Just for fun: If you wanted to ignore continuity and character evolution (among other things), you could watch the episodes in reverse production order. Start with "Turnabout Intruder" and end with "The Cage."

You'd end up thinking, "Wow, the show really got better as it went along!"

Think I'll try that someday.

Me too, interesting idea.

Although, I might take it a step further, and start with Endgame, and watch all the series backwards, one episode a day, til I got to Broken Bow.

 

[johnnybear]

If we want to get really wacky with an alternative viewing schedule, we could try to James Blish method, as used for his episode novelisations...


1. "Charlie X"
2. "Dagger of the Mind"
3. "The Man Trap"
4. "Balance of Terror"
5. "The Naked Time"
6. "Miri"
7. "The Conscience of the King"
8. "Arena"
9. "A Taste of Armageddon"
10. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"
11. "Errand of Mercy"
12. "Court Martial"
13. "Operation: Annihilate!"
14. "The City on the Edge of Forever"
15. "Space Seed"
16. "The Trouble With Tribbles"
17. "Spectre of the Gun"
18. "The Doomsday Machine"
19. "Assignment: Earth"
20. "Mirror, Mirror"
21. "Friday's Child"
22. "Amok Time"
23. "All Our Yesterdays"
24. "The Devil in the Dark"
25. "Journey to Babel"
26. "The Menagerie"
27. "The Enterprise Incident"
28. "A Piece of the Action"
29. "Whom Gods Destroy"
30. "The Tholian Web"
31. "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
32. "This Side of Paradise"
33. "Turnabout Intruder"
34. "Requiem for Methuselah"
35. "The Way to Eden"
36. "The Savage Curtain"
37. "The Lights of Zetar"
38. "The Apple"
39. "By Any Other Name"
40. "The Cloud Minders"
41. "The Mark of Gideon"
42. "Who Mourns for Adonais?"
43. "The Changeling"
44. "The Paradise Syndrome"
45. "Metamorphosis"
46. "The Deadly Years"
47. "Elaan of Troyius"
48. "Spock's Brain"
49. "The Enemy Within"
50. "Catspaw"
51. "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
52. "Wolf in the Fold"
53. "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
54. "Return to Tomorrow"
55. "The Ultimate Computer"
56. "That Which Survives"
57. "Obsession"
58. "The Return of the Archons"
59. "The Immunity Syndrome"
60. "The Alternative Factor"
61. "The Empath"
62. "The Galileo Seven"
63. "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
64. "A Private Little War"
65. "The Omega Glory"
66. "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
67. "The Squire of Gothos"
68. "Wink of an Eye"
69. "Bread and Circuses"
70. "Day of the Dove"
71. "Plato's Stepchildren"
72. "Patterns of Force"
73. "Gamesters of Triskelion"
74. "And the Children Shall Lead"
75. "The Corbomite Maneuver"
76. "Shore Leave"
77. "Mudd's Women"
78. "I, Mudd"


... or, if it's the broadcast schedules that matter, we could try the BBC broadcast order from the original British airings in the 1970s:


"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Pilot episode)
"The Naked Time"
"The City on the Edge of Forever"
"A Taste of Armageddon"
"Mudd's Women"
"Tomorrow is Yesterday"
"The Menagerie, Part I"
"The Menagerie, Part II"
"The Devil in the Dark"
"Charlie X"
"Shore Leave"
"Space Seed"
"The Man Trap"
"Dagger of the Mind"
"Balance of Terror"
"The Squire of Gothos"
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
"Arena"
"The Return of the Archons"
"This Side of Paradise"
"The Alternative Factor"
"Errand of Mercy"
"The Conscience of the King"
"The Galileo Seven"
"Court Martial"
"The Enemy Within"
"Catspaw"
"Who Mourns for Adonais?"
"The Apple"
"Metamorphosis"
"Wolf in the Fold"
"The Changeling"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"Bread and Circuses"
"Mirror, Mirror"
"Journey to Babel"
"The Deadly Years"
"A Private Little War"
"Obsession"
"By Any Other Name"
"I, Mudd"
"Patterns of Force"
"The Immunity Syndrome"
"Return to Tomorrow"
"The Omega Glory"
"A Piece of the Action"
"The Ultimate Computer"
"Friday's Child"
"Assignment: Earth"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
"Amok Time"
"Miri"
"Operation -- Annihilate!"
"The Corbomite Maneuver"
"Requiem for Methuselah"
"The Paradise Syndrome"
"Day of the Dove"
"The Way to Eden"
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
"Wink of an Eye"
"The Cloud Minders"
"Spectre of the Gun"
"Elaan of Troyius"
"The Enterprise Incident"
"And the Children Shall Lead"
"Spock's Brain"
"Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
"For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
"That Which Survives"
"The Mark of Gideon"
"The Lights of Zetar"
"The Savage Curtain"
"The Tholian Web"
"All Our Yesterdays"
"Turnabout Intruder"

Trouble is where do you put the three episodes that the BBC had banned? The Empath, Whom Gods Destroy etc...
JB

 

[dstyer]

For those interested, KRAD is starting a TOS re-watch - in production order - and posting his reviews on Tor.com starting March 3rd. He'll be providing one episode per week, and will move on to the Animated Series when all the TOS episodes are done.

 

[Lance]

Trouble is where do you put the three episodes that the BBC had banned? The Empath, Whom Gods Destroy etc...
JB

I'd assume the only logical place would be at the end of the run. I omitted them from my list simply for accuracy reasons.

Just for fun: If you wanted to ignore continuity and character evolution (among other things), you could watch the episodes in reverse production order. Start with "Turnabout Intruder" and end with "The Cage."

You'd end up thinking, "Wow, the show really got better as it went along!"

Think I'll try that someday.

Me too, interesting idea.

Although, I might take it a step further, and start with Endgame, and watch all the series backwards, one episode a day, til I got to Broken Bow.

I actually know somebody who did a rewatch the original Doctor Who this way, starting with Part 4 of "Survival" (1989), and going backwards, ending with Part 1 of "An Unearthly Child" (1963).

You know you've run out of appreciation for a series when you have to resort to stuff like this to maintain your interest.

 

[Forbin]

I usually do it in random order. Currently, since I'm reading the season 3 "These are the Voyages" book, I watched the last half of season 3. Then the first half. Then, what the hell, The Cage. That put me in the mood for Where No Man, and then the first few eps in the order they are on the DVDs...

That pretty much reflects how orderly my brain isn't.

 

[Warped9]

When I first started watching TOS of course I couldn't get enough of it. And that went on for quite a few years. But then time marches on and life intervenes and incessant viewing became periodic and then sporadic. Since buying my DVD sets I tend to do complete rewatches about once a year. Of course, sometimes I will look up an individual episode to check something for my own projects or other.

I think I'm due for a complete rewatch.

 

[RandyS]

Just for fun: If you wanted to ignore continuity and character evolution (among other things), you could watch the episodes in reverse production order. Start with "Turnabout Intruder" and end with "The Cage."

You'd end up thinking, "Wow, the show really got better as it went along!"

Think I'll try that someday.

Me too, interesting idea.

Although, I might take it a step further, and start with Endgame, and watch all the series backwards, one episode a day, til I got to Broken Bow.

I actually know somebody who did a rewatch the original Doctor Who this way, starting with Part 4 of "Survival" (1989), and going backwards, ending with Part 1 of "An Unearthly Child" (1963).

You know you've run out of appreciation for a series when you have to resort to stuff like this to maintain your interest.

If I actually did that, it would be more for the novelty than anything else. Trust me, Star Trek (in all it's forms) is the ONE show I could NEVER run out of appreciation for.