Re: Want to introduce my girlfriend to Trek through TOS, where to star
WTF? I'm a woman, and I LOVE "The Corbomite Maneuver." "Not chess, Mr. Spock -- POKER!" Kirk at his very Kirkiest.
Three billion people aren't all alike, you know. Star Trek should have taught you that.
I'd recommend showing her all of the episodes, in production order. The creators of TOS were making things up as they went along, inventing backstory at a breakneck pace, and it's not until the middle of the first season that they solidify such things as who sent this ship out there and what constraints they're under. Neither the Federation nor Starfleet Command nor the Prime Directive had been created when TOS began, and no one — not even Leonard Nimoy — knew exactly who Spock was or what a Vulcan should look like or act like.
So if you watch in production order, you can hear them refer to the Enterprise as an "Earth" ship early on, you can see Kirk seemingly break the Prime Directive (because Gene Coon hadn't thought it up yet), you can see pink blusher on Spock's cheeks, because no one had yet realized that a man with green blood wouldn't blush pink, and you can see Spock smirk and pout.
To me, watching it all take shape as they create the backstory for the ship and her world is an endearing part of watching TOS, and you can best see the story behind the scenes of the story on the screen by watching in production order, not order of airing.
I recently forced my husband to watch all 79 episodes with me. (It took him two years; he dragged his feet a bit.
) He'd seen some of them as a kid, but he was never all that into it, whereas I'd been totally in love with Star Trek from the first time I saw it, at the age of 11. My husband liked TOS well enough, but he doesn't really get why I adore it. Maybe you have to see it at 11, before the critical faculties are fully developed, to have that total adoration, I dunno.
If you just want additions to your list, though, I'd add "The Naked Time" to your Season 1 list, since it gives us such insight into both Kirk and Spock, and I'd add "The Devil in the Dark," since it's one of the best TOS episodes. For Season 2, I'd add "Journey to Babel," partly because it's one of the best episodes and partly because it gives us so much insight into Kirk's and Spock's characters. I'd also add "The Deadly Years," because it shows us just how important Kirk is and just how loyal Spock is (love that scene where he tries to get out of the competency hearing four times before finally giving in). And I'd add "The Empath" to your Season 3 list, since watching the three guys each try to sacrifice themselves for the others is the kind of thing that appeals to non-SF fans.
WTF? I'm a woman, and I LOVE "The Corbomite Maneuver." "Not chess, Mr. Spock -- POKER!" Kirk at his very Kirkiest.
Three billion people aren't all alike, you know. Star Trek should have taught you that.
I'd recommend showing her all of the episodes, in production order. The creators of TOS were making things up as they went along, inventing backstory at a breakneck pace, and it's not until the middle of the first season that they solidify such things as who sent this ship out there and what constraints they're under. Neither the Federation nor Starfleet Command nor the Prime Directive had been created when TOS began, and no one — not even Leonard Nimoy — knew exactly who Spock was or what a Vulcan should look like or act like.
So if you watch in production order, you can hear them refer to the Enterprise as an "Earth" ship early on, you can see Kirk seemingly break the Prime Directive (because Gene Coon hadn't thought it up yet), you can see pink blusher on Spock's cheeks, because no one had yet realized that a man with green blood wouldn't blush pink, and you can see Spock smirk and pout.
To me, watching it all take shape as they create the backstory for the ship and her world is an endearing part of watching TOS, and you can best see the story behind the scenes of the story on the screen by watching in production order, not order of airing.
I recently forced my husband to watch all 79 episodes with me. (It took him two years; he dragged his feet a bit.
) He'd seen some of them as a kid, but he was never all that into it, whereas I'd been totally in love with Star Trek from the first time I saw it, at the age of 11. My husband liked TOS well enough, but he doesn't really get why I adore it. Maybe you have to see it at 11, before the critical faculties are fully developed, to have that total adoration, I dunno.If you just want additions to your list, though, I'd add "The Naked Time" to your Season 1 list, since it gives us such insight into both Kirk and Spock, and I'd add "The Devil in the Dark," since it's one of the best TOS episodes. For Season 2, I'd add "Journey to Babel," partly because it's one of the best episodes and partly because it gives us so much insight into Kirk's and Spock's characters. I'd also add "The Deadly Years," because it shows us just how important Kirk is and just how loyal Spock is (love that scene where he tries to get out of the competency hearing four times before finally giving in). And I'd add "The Empath" to your Season 3 list, since watching the three guys each try to sacrifice themselves for the others is the kind of thing that appeals to non-SF fans.
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