So after posting a review of Into Darkness, I go out to mow the lawn, and my mind wanders the whole time over thoughts of Star Trek TOS.

It seems there are at least a few nerds out there on the boards, and I am curious what others might have to say on this topic.  Not the most important thread in the world, but the timing seems right for a little chat for any old-school fans that might be interested.

My answer is two-fold; what I think is the best episode, and my favorite episode.

What I think is the best episode is The Trouble with Tribbles.  The writing is sharp, an iconic beastie is introduced, and the departure in tone to something a little more comic pays off in spades.  A few more episodes like this one might have saved the show, at least for a while.
  
My favorite episode, however, is Doomsday Machine.

You know how when you are a little kid, the stuff you see on TV can utterly terrify you?  And you see it again when you are older -- and it is really not scary at all -- but you can still conjure up a bit of that horror from your childhood?  How it still resides in some dark corner of your memory?

I am not sure how old I was -- single-digits, for sure -- but when they were driving into the mouth of the Doomsday Machine for some reason it freaked the living crap out of me.  I couldn't sleep at night.
  
And a week or so later at my grandparent's lake house I climbed to the top of the high-dive I had been on 100 times before.  But that day -- looking down with the noon sun reflecting off the water -- I swear it looked exactly like jumping into the mouth of the Doomsday Machine.  I could not jump off it again for months, and I was at a total loss to explain to any of my friends why I was suddenly such a chicken.

Sometimes it is funny what can frighten you on such a deep level, and I was scarred-for-life scared by the Doomsday Machine.  And the memory of that makes it my favorite episode.

What is your favorite episode and why? I would love to hear some stories.

It's a toss up between the two.


Phil

My favorite was when Kirk had to fight the Gorn on the alien planet.  I thought it was very cleverly written how Spock and the others could watch the action from the bridge of the Enterprise, like some pay per view.  Kirk had to bust out some ol' skool science to make his stick cannon and blast that lizard.

My favorite was the one that had them in outer space.

I remember wondering...

Where are they going?

And how much they get paid and how they get paid.

I mean, they're light years from everywhere.

How do they get paid?

How do their paychecks gain interest?

Is it retroactive according to earth time?

Also, what was the justice system that was set up?  Was there a court system?

For anyone who thinks I'm joking, I'm not. I never watched the series but these things had to come up, right?

Or were these more a side bar to the story?

I wish I was more into these types of stories but I can say that the circumstances surrounding the logistics of them being out in space fascinates me.

Shawn.....><

Quoted from Ledbetter Where are they going?

Where no-one has gone before (boldly)! They are exploring for the sake of exploring.

Quoted from Ledbetter And how much they get paid and how they get paid.

Humans have moved on from capitalism in the Star Trek universe. Officers serve because they want to, not because they have to (keep in mind that technology like food synthesizers/replicators, which can make food, clothing, and so on by re-sequencing proteins, eliminates the need for many current daily tasks and their infrastructure). There is no money, although a "credit" system is occasionally alluded to.

Quoted Text Also, what was the justice system that was set up?  Was there a court system?

There is a "military" court system on Federation starships, but people charged with crimes are typically detained to await trial on the nearest space station. While the Enterprise is out exploring for years at a time, it typically encounters either stations or other Federation ships fairly often. Outside the ships, there is a full court system with Federation officers. I don't know what happens to people charged with crimes on Voyager...

If you'd like to see the on-ship court system in action, there's no episode better than TNG 2.9, "The Measure of a Man"...you can also see a starbase trial in TOS 1.20, "Court Martial." (I'm sure you'll rush right out and hunt down those episodes, ha ha).

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My favourite TOS episode is 1.6, "Mudd's Women." I can't verify this, but I think it was the first Star Trek I ever saw. Seeing the crew react to the women is a comic treat, and I think there's some genuinely well-handled pathos in Eve. The memory is good, too, though...I first saw this episode probably at age six, on our 13-inch TV, the type with wood paneling and knobs. I was given a lot of my Star Trek on recorded VHS tapes by a man my mother had become friends with late in the man's life. He was a Holocaust survivor who had been in one of the camps for years, a novelist, and a Star Trek fan. We didn't watch television -- my mom hated it -- so Star Trek was one of the only shows I'd ever seen (and one of the only that my mom supported). I watched those tapes over and over again, until I knew every one of the commercials by heart, let alone the shows...the fast-forward button on our remote didn't work, then, so it wasn't worth getting up to skip the commercials.

And, of course, I was also in love with Mudd's women. That Karen Steele was really something.

Well, I'm pretty familiar with most of the series, so I'll do TOS through Enterprise.

TOS: "Doomsday Machine" because of the score. The cue "Goodbye, Mr. Decker" is pretty classic TOS music. It was recycled several times through the rest of the series, but Doomsday's the original. I kinda like "Return of the Archons" too. It's creepy on several levels. Landru's hair & costume are creepy anyway, but then he's also a projection. Add that to the way the inhabi-zens speak...that's unparalleled creepshow. "Conscience of the King" is pretty fascinating, too. Other favorites: "Court Martial", "This Side of Paradise" (there's how Spock reacts to love, JJ!), "Amok Time", "Journey to Babel"

TNG: "Best of Both Worlds" definitely. I remember the summer of '90 was rough, not knowing Captain Picard's fate. I was just old enough to not understand that in Star Trek, main characters usually survive. So it seemed like Picard might not make it and Riker would be in charge. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Why? Because of the great follow-up episode, "Family." Not only did it develop the Picard character more, but it really did a great job dealing with his emotions as he coped with what he'd done as Locutus. Other favorites: "Conspiracy", "Captain's Holiday", "Q Who", "Data's Day", "The Drumhead", "Tapestry"

DS9: "Explorers." Sisko and Jake take a replica of an old Bajoran solar sailer on a trip from Bajor to Cardassia, to celebrate the octennial of first contact between the two peoples. This episode gets at the heart of Star Trek, but it was the perfect episode for that part of the series. Up to that point, the series focused mainly on the Bajoran-Cardassian relationship and this episode put a better face on that. Also, it was the last bit of innocence before the Dominion War started kicking into full gear in Season 4.

VOY: "Blink of an Eye." Voyager's air schedule was really sporadic/random in my area when it aired, so I never really caught much of it. However, I do remember catching this one at some point and the concept was pretty intriguing and entertaining.

ENT: "Carbon Creek", "Judgment", "Bounty", "Babel One"

"Balance of Terror" - Kirk gets tactical-ownage on a Romulan commander who's been destroying Earth outposts along the neutral zone.

"The Galileo Seven" - The Spock character is flushed out in this hidden gem from season 1. a well written episode in which Spock's first crack at command is a complete epic fail. the irony in the ending is priceless.

another hidden gem in my opinion is "Bread and Circuses" - if for no other reason than some fantastic dialogue exchanges between Spock and McCoy. this episode also contains Deforest Kelley's famous "I'm trying to thank you you pointed eared hob goblin!" which was used in JJ's first Star Trek movie

Quoted from Ryan1 My favorite was when Kirk had to fight the Gorn on the alien planet.  I thought it was very cleverly written how Spock and the others could watch the action from the bridge of the Enterprise, like some pay per view.  Kirk had to bust out some ol' skool science to make his stick cannon and blast that lizard.

Arena, however, had the worst fight scene in the history of history...




Phil

I think the success of TOS was based on the character chemistry. So any unique moments in that stand out for me. Such as:

- when Scotty started a fight with the Klingons because they insulted his ship, even though he had remained cool when they insulted its captain(Trouble with Tribbles)
- the one where an alternative universe Kirk gets mixed up, so a dark Kirk is on the enterprise, and our Kirk in the dark world. Interesting to watch these alt Kirks interact with Spock.

Phil:

Totally forgotten what that "fight" scene looked like. I remember the episode haven't seen it in years.

Ryan's pay-per-view comment made me think that if it had aired on HBOPPV, some of it may have sounded like this:

Jim Lampley
And here we go for round one. Gorn's coming at Kirk with a big stick and Kirk just abandons his!

Larry Merchant
Let's hope that's the first time Kirk has felt bad about comparing his stick to his opponent's stick.

Jim Lampley
Kirk ducks out of the way of a right and lands a solid shot to Gorn's back. Now he ducks a left from Gorn.

Larry Merchant
Are you sure that's not a slow motion replay we just watched?

Jim Lampley
No Larry, that was live. The good news is we won't have to slow down the tape in replay.

George Foreman
I bet that giant lizard tastes like chicken.

Jim Lampley
Gorn grabs Kirk! The two are clinched and Kirk is clearly hurting! He's got to watch out for Gorn's teeth and this is, by far, the best action of the fight!

Larry Merchant
That's like saying the suicides were the funniest part of the movie "Sophie's Choice."

Jim Lampley
Kirk's got a rock. He's throws and it bounces off Gorn like a bug off a windshield.

Larry Merchant: Judging Kirk's physique, that's the heaviest thing he's lifted since picking up a 12-ounce beverage. Which it looks like he needs to cut down on.

George Foreman
Some of those beverages would go well with grilled chicken. I've brought some sauce.

Jim Lampley
Kirk retreats and that's it for round one. Gentlemen, who's ahead on your cards.

Larry Merchant
I don't know if there's a clear winner in round one, but I know who the clear loser is...and that's anyone that ordered this fight on pay per view.

Quoted from dogglebe Arena, however, had the worst fight scene in the history of history... Phil

at 1:19 watch the rock that kick threw at the Gorn disappear in 1:29

continuity is awesome.

Quoted from dogglebe Arena, however, had the worst fight scene in the history of history... Phil

Hey, no worse than the original Darth Vader vs. Ben Kenobi .  

Quoted from Heretic My favourite TOS episode is 1.6, "Mudd's Women."

I enjoyed the character of Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and always thought he was a great fit for the Star Trek universe.  Was he such a threat in spite of -- or because of -- his underlying incompetence?  Even the minor characters in Trek usually had several degrees of complexity.  More seasons and they probably would have brought him back for more.

Quoted from DanBall The cue "Goodbye, Mr. Decker" is pretty classic TOS music. It was recycled several times through the rest of the series, but Doomsday's the original.

Thanks for that nifty nugget of trivia.  I can call up that music in my head -- (see my original post) -- with no tribble at all.

Cool to watch the "Arena" clip, too.  That was another one of my favorites as a kid.  As an adult, it becomes an episode you enjoy because it is so flawed -- yet Shatner remains so earnest.  How does he do that?

Quoted from bert Cool to watch the "Arena" clip, too.  That was another one of my favorites as a kid.  As an adult, it becomes an episode you enjoy because it is so flawed -- yet Shatner remains so earnest.  How does he do that?

I think shatner is one of the more misunderstood actors out there.

Despite what his jealous co-stars thought of him (and yes I think they were absolutely jealous)... Shatner was a true professional who only wanted to make the show better... and always gave it 110%...

I believe it was this zealousness that made his costars believe he was just an egotistical ham out to hog the spotlight.. but form everything I have read... nothing could be further from the truth