The Episodes to Save (and the Episodes to Reject)

[Extollager]

Let's suppose that Gene Roddenberry had decided to put together a "creator's cut" set of Star Trek shows. He would get ride of all the make-weight episodes, all the groan-inducing, cringe-making ones.

And he wants you to help him form that final set. It could be just a few, or perhaps two seasons' worth.

Here are a few preliminary notions of mine.

1. Almost all the third season shows would go.

2. I'd cut "By Any Other Name," a poor episode in any event, and would consider using "Where No Man Has Gone Before" as the final episode. I have misgivings about that from the point of view of the characters -- McCoy hasn't joined yet. On the other hand, putting this one at the end would have the benefit of taking the Enterprise to its farthest point in the galaxy (?) -- right to the galactic edge, even beyond. In a way that seems a bit premature for a really early one. Like I say, mixed feelings. But the idea of the voyage out of the galaxy is wasted in that "By Any Other Name."

3.I'd cut virtually all of the episodes with "alternate Earth" emphases, but would keep the creepy and affecting Miri. But the episodes with planets like Ancient Rome, or Nazi Germany, or Thirties Chicago -- would go. (Yes, "A Piece of the Action" would go. It's entertaining, but that shouldn't be regarded as enough to justify its inclusion in the final sorting.)

4.I look askance at ones that rely largely on a "love story" to fill up the time the episode needs to fill up, and there shouldn't be very many love stories left for any given character in the final cut.

5.William Campbell was in at least two and they both have to go. He shouldn't be acting on Star Trek -- Batman maybe. So we lose "Squire of Gothos" (a low point of the often excellent first season) and the one in which he's a Klingon commander (?!).

6.I would keep "The Trouble with Tribbles" but discard all the other comedies, including, as mentioned above, "A Piece of the Action," and "I, Mudd."

7.No more than two time travel stories would be retained, and both of them involve alien devices: "City on the Edge" and "All Our Yesterdays." The Enterprise must not become a time machine, as it does in one or two episodes. You can't casually have your space ship also be a time machine unless you are prepared to make that a key concept of a series, and this would be a different series than Star Trek. You can't have a space ship that's "incidentally" a time machine.

Your thoughts? Want to disagree with mine?

 

[Extollager]

I'll start with a consideration of ten first-season episodes, one of which was not shown as such during the original transmission on NBC.

Ones that would make my list of episodes recommended for the "Creator's Cut" include, but are not limited to:

"The Cage" -- not "The Menagerie," which uses an unnecessary, contrived frame to fit this pilot into the regular TV series
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" -- better production values than became typical of the series, btw
"Miri" -- some pretty genuine pathos along with the dreadful situation; I like the way the solution is worked out simply by dogged scientific effort

Ones I'm not sure about, right now:
"The Man Trap" -- the illusion-projection thing is a little too close to "The Cage" for comfort, and there's a bit of a sense that the middle of the teleplay has to be spun out to fill up the time, with the discovery of a mottled body ever few minutes to provide "shocks" that are not so shocking; however the ancient alien ruins thing is interesting and the alien was lovingly manufactured, much better than most of the series monsters
"Charlie X" -- the theme of acquisition of astonishing powers is too close to "Where No Man" for comfort; on the other hand the spin given the theme by Charlie's adolescence and back story is interesting
"Mudd's Women" -- a little too much like an Old West story given a "sci-fi" update

Ones from the first season that I would omit include:
"The Enemy Within" -- it seems every sf series has to have a "Jekyll and Hyde" show and they are never very good (though I like the Stevenson novella lot)
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" -- mad scientist and girl in skimpy outfit situation, unconvincing caves, corny lurching giant; not worthy of what Star Trek could/should have been
"The Menagerie" (two episodes; see above)

I'm thinking that a "creator's cut" really should be fairly selective.

 

[Extollager]

One reserves the right to go back and change one's selections and rejections, for a while at least.

In me previous message, as I began to review the series, I forgot to consider "The Naked Time," so it is added below.

To continue with a review of the first season episodes, here are eleven more...

Keepers:
"The Corbomite Maneuver"-- despite a "formidable" fake alien that would deceive nobody and despite the alien space ship that looks like it is studded with light bulbs going on and off, etc., this one does feel like a real (if old-fashioned) story of science fiction
"Balance of Terror" -- the Romulans as offshoots of the Vulcans was something one didn't see coming at the outset of the series; this feels like being just about the only episode in the series that really tried to get into exploring the topic of battle in space, a space opera standby that, here, is played seriously
"Arena" -- an adaptation of a classic Frederic Brown story, filmed at Vasquez Rocks (image below) like one of the best Outer Limits episodes ("The Zanti Misfits")

Not sure:
"The Naked Time" -- gets off to a pretty good start, that obvious mannequin notwithstanding, but seems to struggle to fill up the whole 48 minutes or so; the production staff may have thought the guy singing "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" was funnier than it seems now; Sulu as a Musketeer is silly, etc. Interesting premise, though.
"Dagger of the Mind" -- If we're going to keep one about an interstellar insane asylum, certainly this one gets kept rather than "Whom Gods Destroy"; but it doesn't seem to have a lot going for it

Rejected:
"The Conscience of the King" -- dull, no real reason for this to be done up in science fiction trappings
"Shore Leave" -- in my opinion this one doesn't hold up well, just a series of incidents played out at a southern California park; the fights with Finnegan go on and on, and there's no chemistry between Kirk and his old girlfriend (really a manufactured object here anyway); an unconvincing, silly premise (aliens want space travelers to come to their planet and have fun living out their fantasies)
"The Galileo Seven" -- you have to be a kid to like this one, what with exceptionally hokey spears being feebly tossed by a guy in a fur suit
"The Squire of Gothos" -- really annoying episode, the key idea (creature with strange powers who is immature) being a poor rehash of an element of "Charlie X" -- never should have been accepted for production, but probably appealed to the makers because it would be cheap to make, using props on hand from other shows
"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" -- doesn't even feel much like a Star Trek show; it must have been cheap to make; see my first message for my rejection of the Enterprise as a time machine
"Court Martial" -- dull "courtroom drama, cheap to make but not very interesting to watch

 

[Extollager]

PS The idea is not simply to list one's favorite, but to devise a list of episodes that show Star Trek at its best as a reasonably coherent science fiction drama with not significant drops in the quality of ideas and execution. If you've been a longtime fan of the series, you probably agree that there were many episodes that were eminently disposable and repetitive, that were obviously disappointments that failed to live up the standard of the best shows. The idea is to eliminate those and see what remains.

I'm going to finish my survey of the first season shows and then wait a bit and see if anyone wants to put forward a different list of first-year shows, etc. In-depth discussion of any particular episode should go to the thread dedicated to that show.

Keepers:

"The Return of the Archons" -- Star Trek had more than one episode about societies ruled by computers (cf. "The Apple, "For the World Is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky" -- see also "The Ultimate Computer"). It seems to me that one is enough for the final list of episodes, and this is the one I'd keep. The alien society is a little more worked-out than such societies usually were on the series, and, coming after the eerie placidity on the street, the "Red Hour" phenomenon is a worthy shocker the first time you see this one. Plus, it features the fine character actor Harry Townes. His presence in a teleplay (e.g. for The Fugitive) is often a tip-off for a fairly solid show.
"Space Seed" -- this one has never captivated me, but the idea of the reawakened genetically engineered "superhumans" was interesting
"A Taste of Armageddon" -- clever idea, the two superpowers that have been at war for hundreds of years in such a manner that their societies keep on going, with "killed" people reporting to disintegration chambers of some sort. Unfortunately the teleplay has to fill time with some standard-issue imprisonment-escape material.
"The Devil in the Dark" -- This must be one of the most famous ones, with the theme of (eventual) communication with a very alien life form. The idea for the setting is interesting, but the mined-tunnels are unconvincing, especially the tunnels made by the horta, and the periodic alien-rises-up-and-kills-someone routine is familiar from innumerable monster shows.
"The City on the Edge of Forever" -- One knows that Spock's attempt to tie in to the tricorder with 1930s radio tubes is implausible, but this is one of the series' finest, surely
"Operation: Annihilate!" -- Here again I appreciate that the problem is solved by dogged science (and courage), as in "Miri" -- rather than being solved with some convenient plot sleight-of-hand -- although perhaps the Vulcanian inner eyelid is just such, but anyway the main problem is resolved by hard work

Iffy:

"This Side of Paradise" -- probably needs discussion to establish to what degree this one is up to more than being a vehicle for a Mr. Spock-in-love fantasy
"Errand of Mercy" -- the surprise ending, in which the seeming placid peasants are really energy beings, doesn't seem to be enough to keep this episode fully alive; it's mostly rather dull
"The Alternative Factor" -- I think I like this one more than some people do; the idea of an ongoing battle between counterparts from two universes is interesting and the ending is somewhat tragic; the setting, with location filming rather than just soundstage stuff, is a plus. But here yet again we have an episode relying on periodic and repetitive fight scenes to fill out the 48 minutes or so, and probably many people are groaning when the tumbling cube-superimposed on a galaxy etc. with associated music gets going one more time

Even in this selective list, that ol' Prime Directive takes a bit of a beating, doesn't it!?

 

[Extollager]

A quick grab of the first 10 second-season episodes:

Keepers:
Amok Time, despite some shortcomings in realization
Mirror, Mirror
The Doomsday Machine -- possibly the best Star Trek episode of them all

Iffy:
Who Mourns for Adonais?
The Changeling
Metamorphosis
Journey to Babel -- used to be a favorite of mine, but doesn't seem to hold up very well, in part because of some many unconvincing alien makeups

Dumpers:
The Apple -- we already had "The Return of the Archons" -- see remarks above
Catspaw
I, Mudd

 

[logan_run]

keep
mirror
dump
spocks brain

 

[J-Sun]

I tend to think of TOS as an anthology show with continuing characters and don't know that I have any rules. I just take each show for a show. As such, I don't know that the first season had any "Spock's Brain"-level dogs that would ruin a collection though I'm not fond of "The Squire of Gothos" (more generally than just the actor) or (apologies to Ted Sturgeon) "Shore Leave," if I recall correctly or (apologies to you) "Miri," which has always struck me as faintly cringe-worthy with its depiction of the "youth." So, allowing that I haven't seen many of them recently despite them airing all the time now, I'd be fine as long as the first season cut had at least:

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (1/7) - This is not the best objectively but, my god, Sherry Jackson (Andrea). And this one has Alien Lurch. Can't miss that.

"Dagger of the Mind" (1/9) - I'm not developing a pattern here (though this does have Marianna Hill (Helen Noel), who is hard not to appreciate) but I think, despite any flaws, this is a genuinely significant episode which has good action and great concepts, including the intense ending, which is a pretty sharp critique of "zen," IMO. Huh, plus, according to wikipedia, this included "the first appearance of the Vulcan mind meld." So that locks it in.

"Balance of Terror" (1/14) - There are problems with this episode, such as the magic viewscreen that works exactly like, gee, I dunno, a camera but they're utterly insignificant in what was by far the best episode up to that point. This is just definitive. Federation, Romulans, Kirk, everything.

"Arena" (1/18) - What can I say? When I was a kid, I loved it and it really encourages one to learn stuff. "Pay attention boys and girls. You don't want to get killed by a giant lizard, do you?"

"The Devil in the Dark" (1/25) - I'd have to watch this again as it may be too goofy in some aspects but the essence that I recall is the "life as we know it" and "assumptions" and "corporate convenience" stuff and that all makes it pretty essential.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" (1/28) - Right there with "Balance of Terror" (though I think "Balance" might tip the scales (ironic, huh?) if I was forced at phaser-point to pick just one first season episode). Another makes-ya-think episode with good performances and emotions and a kind of Kobayashi Maru that they can't get out of.

I may tackle the other seasons later.

Incidentally, I did just see "I, Mudd" (2/8) and, while I wouldn't put it among the best (some moments are awful, some moments are hilarious, most are at least okay) I guess I'm more tolerant of them. Mudd's funny and it sort of seems like he should be represented. Maybe pick a few essential episodes but do a kind of snippet reel filling in what was cut. And some Mudd scenes would have to be on that. And, yeah, similarly "Space Seed" (1/22) and some other things would have to be represented even though I don't care for the episode too much, either.

 

[Jeffbert]

"The Ultimate Computer" has one really silly element identical to one in the film Colossus of NY: why does the cyborg built to house the brain of this great humanitarian guy have death ray eyes? Likewise, why does the M5 have a death ray conveniently aimed at its power cord? William Marshall (aka Blacula) himself wondered about that. If he did not put it there when building the M5, why is it there?

I think I mentioned somewhere that I had been to the Air & Space Museum & had seen the ST exhibit. And that I was disappointed at its emphasis on the series' tie-ins with then current events. It seems that GR wanted to use it as a vehicle to convey social critiques that, if presented otherwise, would have been received coldly. Thus SF took a backseat to the messages GR wrote into each episode. I recall hearing or reading something about GULLIVER'S TRAVELS being satire on some elements of the then current state of the society. The war between Lilliput & its neighbor being because they ate their eggs differently was apparently satirical of which way one made the sign of the cross, a conflict between the E. & W. Catholic Churches.

Given this, it seems fair to allow using the Enterprise as a time machine; though, admittedly, I also would have liked to see SF front & center. Moreover, repeating the space ship as time machine thing does become annoying.

 

[Extollager]

Another second-season one to dump is "By Any Other Name." The plot pivot here is banal: Kirk provokes Rojan to jealousy by making out with Kelinda. It's bathetic to bring powerful aliens from the Andromeda galaxy who pose a threat to ours, and descend to a plot like this. It's also tiresome to have yet another episode with aliens who are (essentially) magicians, in this case who reduce crew members to little bricks.

....Oh, I see I already censured this one.

 

[Jeffbert]

But still, what a great line from the alien leader, showing his ruthlessness. "Once crushed--"