The Best Original Star Trek Episode

[DrRoy]

I have seen lists like this before, but thought it might make a fun poll. I was limited to 20, and combined results from other rankings to make this list. Sorry if one of your favorites is missing. Please vote for no more than 5. They are in alphabetical order.

 

[timo2]

I always remember the one where the Enterprise visits a planet that is too crowded and there are just lots and lots of people in the background shuffling around all the time. I think it is the 'The Mark of Gideon'. The story itself had an exceptional number of plot holes even for the original start trek series, but that episode always stuck with me.

 

[Nemo2]

I opted for The Trouble with Tribbles because, although I saw them all at the time, it was the only episode whose title I remember.

 

[timo2]

Recall that the 'trouble with tribbles' episode shows the original Klingons. It also appeared in a Deep Space Nine time travel episode.

 

[audreyh1]

Which was the episode or I think it was a movie where there was a “genesis probe” that would land on a planet and make it habitable for humans?

My all time favorite episode was the original with Kahn, and when they come out with the “Wrath of Kahn” movie I was delighted. What a great repeat!

I don’t know the name of the original Kahn episode.

 

[Chuckanut]

The Trouble with Tribbles will win because it is cute and people remember it even if they are not ST fans.

 

[stepford]

I still get a little chill when Kirk says "Let's get the hell out of here" at the end of City on the Edge of Forever. That was some pretty bleak existential stuff for network TV in 1967.

 

[jjflyman]

"The City on the Edge of Forever" is my all time favorite, followed by "Where No Man has Gone Before"
It's funny how a TV show about space travel has it's best episode take place on Earth!

 

[Mdlerth]

Live long and prosper (in retirement)

I voted for the first four.

A Piece of the Action was a crazy fun episode, with Scotty's unforgettable mangling of gangster talk, "you'll be wearin' concrete galoshes".

Amok Time was so good it was referenced in The Simpsons, when Comic Book Guy states that mating once every 7 years like the Vulcans would be for some people "much, much more" mating than otherwise.

I considered Arena to be the most optimistic about the future of humanity, when a hyper-advanced species (I think they were called the Metrons) complimented Kirk for exhibiting mercy toward an antagonist.

A Taste of Armageddon, first aired during the height of the Vietnam war, was so powerful it shaped my own views toward military conflict in a way that has endured now for 40 years.

My fifth choice was not on the list, but "Errand of Mercy" introduced the Organian Peace Treaty between the Federation and the Klingons. This was a hugely important concept that, while never mentioned in The Next Generation, paved the way for the sequel series. TNG without Worf would have been just a pale imitation of the original.

As an Honorable Mention, I also would have nominated "I, Mudd". I nicknamed my GPS "Stella" in honor of the the android based on Mudd's estranged wife. She was hilarious!

 

[JoeWras]

I still get a little chill when Kirk says "Let's get the hell out of here" at the end of City on the Edge of Forever. That was some pretty bleak existential stuff for network TV in 1967.

Bingo!

I voted for that episode. Tribbles was fun, but Edge of Forever was outstanding, thoughtful TV.

I am not a huge Joan Collins fan, but in this case, she was just right.

 

[scrabbler1]

The Doomsday Machine is my favorite. William Windom (Commodore Decker) makes all the difference as the Enterprise (and Kirk-commanded U.S.S. Constellation) battles both Decker and the Doomsday Machine to stay alive. I recently saw this episode with the digitally remastered special effects and it made the episode even better than when it aired in reruns in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

To me, the guest stars made specific Star Trek episodes memorable. So I voted for "The Doomsday Machine," with its turn by the great William Windom. Nobody could play a man on the verge of collapse like Windom.

Along the same line, I was tempted to vote for "The Corbomite Maneuver" for the appearance of young Clint Howard as the diminutive alien. But Howard's acting in the role was really pretty bad -- he was cute, but not convincing.

One episode that is conspicuous by its absence in the poll is "Charlie X," which starred Robert Walker Jr. as the young man who could summon fearsome powers by rolling his eyes back in his head. It's been a long time, but I believe that was the first Star Trek episode I ever saw. Obviously, it left an impression.

 

[Chuckanut]

My fifth choice was not on the list, but "Errand of Mercy" introduced the Organian Peace Treaty between the Federation and the Klingons. This was a hugely important concept that, while never mentioned in The Next Generation, paved the way for the sequel series. TNG without Worf would have been just a pale imitation of the original.

You're right about the treaty. It seems to have been forgotten. IIRC, it was a Federation starship coming to the rescue of a Klingon colony under attack from the Romulans that really clinched the deal. It's hard to be enemies with somebody who dies trying to save your people. That ended up with a Klingon child- whose parents were killed in the sneak attack - being adopted by humans - thus, Mr. Worf.

 

[dixonge]

How do you people actually remember the plots just based on the title

The one I would vote for (that isn’t on the list) is Operation: Annihilate with the cheesy special effect flying parasites. That episode single-handedly got me banned from Star Trek because I had nightmares. I’ve seen it since. I was struck by the god-awful effects! How could *that* scare me? LOL

 

[scrabbler1]

Besides "The Doomsday Machine," my next favorite is "Balance of Terror," another episode whose main plot involves an intense space battle between the Enterprise and another alien vessel which appears to have a distinct advantage over Kirk's ship. And a guest star, Mark Lenard (in his pre-Sarek days), greatly helps to make this episode extra special.

 

[Chuckanut]

+1 scrabbler1

My favorite episode is the one where the Enterprise confronts the Romulan warship that is cloaked and heavily armed - Balance of Terror. Mark Lenard, later Mr. Spock's father and also a Klingon in the 1st movie, played the Romulan commander.

FWIW, I hope the movie franchise finds a producer who understands Star Trek. The last two movies were sub-par. The third was just awful.

And, please, please, please, Why do they have to blow up or seriously cripple the Enterprise in the first 20 minutes of every movie? Just once I would like to see the Captain of a fully functioning Enterprise, say to his crew "I've have enough! Let's show those arrogant b@*#!#ds what the flagship of the fleet can do". And proceed to blow the heck out of the evil guys.

 

[Nightcap]

City on the Edge of Forever is possibly the best, but the one that I recall most vividly is Mirror, Mirror (perhaps because I got into trouble using the Terran salute in parochial school). Apparently some very bad Germans had used a salute much like it...

 

[SheitlQueen]

I opted for The Trouble with Tribbles because, although I saw them all at the time, it was the only episode whose title I remember.

Same reason I voted for it. Plus it was a fun episode.
I also really liked the one where they go back to the 1920's and there are lots of gangsters involved. I just looked it up on Google, it's "A piece of the action". Also a great one.

 

[scrabbler1]

+1 scrabbler1

My favorite episode is the one where the Enterprise confronts the Romulan warship that is cloaked and heavily armed - Balance of Terror. Mark Lenard, later Mr. Spock's father and also a Klingon in the 1st movie, played the Romulan commander.

FWIW, I hope the movie franchise finds a producer who understands Star Trek. The last two movies were sub-par. The third was just awful.

And, please, please, please, Why do they have to blow up or seriously cripple the Enterprise in the first 20 minutes of every movie? Just once I would like to see the Captain of a fully functioning Enterprise, say to his crew "I've have enough! Let's show those arrogant b@*#!#ds what the flagship of the fleet can do". And proceed to blow the heck out of the evil guys.

Is it just me, or does "Balance of Terror" seem to based a lot on the classic WWII movie, "Run Silent, Run Deep"?

 

[Mdlerth]

How do you people actually remember the plots just based on the title

I sure hope nobody suspects we're nerds.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Ever since I was a kid I liked The Tholian Web because it was the only episode where they wore space suits. I saw it recently in HD (the remastered version) and the visors on the helmets looked kind of funny. According to the trivia on imdv.com, they used window screen because it looked like glass in the old SD broadcast but would allow the actors to breathe and wouldn't show reflections of studio lights. In HD it looks like, well, window screen.

Oh, I voted for Where No Man has Gone Before.

 

[Cessna152]

Is it just me, or does "Balance of Terror" seem to based a lot on the classic WWII movie, "Run Silent, Run Deep"?

Close - but wrong film:

"The episode is a science-fiction version of a submarine film; writer Paul Schneider drew on the film The Enemy Below, casting the Enterprise as the American destroyer and the Romulan vessel as the German submarine."

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_Terror

Check Youtube for video excerpts. Example:

[yt]vQpUorRv804[/yt]

 

[Cessna152]

I don’t know the name of the original Kahn episode.

"Space Seed"

 

[dixonge]

This one never ceases to amuse me:

“Hey brother, do you play?”

[yt] https://youtu.be/q2xyRObL0Xw [/yt]

 

[easysurfer]

Many good ones. The one that stands out most for me is the one with Joan Collins. Not necessarily because of her (though she was great in that episode). But great plot.

Another that stands out is "The Menagerie" where the show goes back to before Kirk. Oh, and "Spock's Brain" was good too.