Overview on Star Trek: The Original Series

First of all, I started in the middle of November 2012, watched almost everyday until mid December, stopped watching the marathon 30 episode season. On January the first of 2013, I started on season 2 beginning with Amok Time, On February the first of 2013 I started on Season 3 with Spock's Brain. I checked to Get Glue when I felt like I had something to say. I viewed and wrote on the blog from Mid January through early February. The Idea I would I try to watch all the episode came early, one of the reason finishing season 1 I decided to wait to the start of the month for season 2, to give myself a break.The next logical step was to write about it.

So how does the series hold up some 45 years later ? Are there lessons in series ? Did we learn them ? Was the show just a goofy lark ?

Most of the episodes hold up well. Some like the hippies episode are a bit dated and more unintentally funny than anything else. The Romantic notion expressed in the death of Sister Edith Keeler (City on the edge of forever) stands the test of time and will for a long time. The Show always strived to be better than we were. I am sure people have spend time and can discuss how James T Kirk fit in with Joseph Campbell's hero myths better than I. The show also has warts,the treatment of most women in the show is appalling. I am sure Kirk left a girl on every planet.

As a TV show, the first season is almost flawless, the second second starts off very well and the third season has a very good moments and then goes from unremarkable to very bad, very bad only because we knew how very good the series could be. I worry as some one who grew up watching the show on TV if it still matters today. The joy of television is it was there. My favorite moment ever as a Star Trek fan was I went on a 2 week vacation with my family and a childhood friend. We camped all along the way and when we arrived at Grandmothers we sat on the floor in front of the TV,turned it on and there was Star Trek, welcoming us out of from the barren wasteland of KOA Camping facilities. Today's child has to seek it out and there are so many choices, I am afraid it gets lost in the shuffle of endless Netflix pages.

My other questions: Yes, Maybe, and at times. The movies of the 80's deal better with the friendship of Kirk,Spock and McCoy. Friendship is an  important element of the show. The show attempted and still does to talk us something about self, sometimes we listen,sometimes we don't. Sometimes the show is just pure entertainment, the planet modeled after 1930's Chicago gangsters is a prime example. This should be totally stupid but clever writing and actors who went along with it saved it.

I honestly don't remember when the last time I saw it was, Sy-fy channel showed maybe on an anniversary year ? Did MTV show it for a while,maybe ? I do think any Sci Fi series owes a major debt to Star Trek,Doctor Who and The Twilight Zone, 2 shows that sparked imagination. The debt is owed these shows more than anything George Lucas did.

Something also needs to be said about the power of fans, they saved the show when it was facing the chopping block,legion of fans watched the show in Syndication, bought toys, read books of further adventures,flocked to conventions. They ate up any new movies. Star Trek does indeed live, and that is a very good thing.

So it is on to The Animated Series 1973-74.

TOS: Season 3, Episodes 19-24

Requiem for Methuselah (3x19)  February 14,1969

This is one of the best episodes of the season, a landing party beams to a planet to get materials for medicines to counteract a illness on the ship and meets a man Mr. Flint.They discover eventually the man is immortal, and they are introduced to his companion to whom Kirk falls deeply for even upon discovering she is machine made by Mr. Flint. The woman forced to choose between Kirk and Mr. Flint the machine turns off and dies. Mr. Flint having left earth as well will die . A great line by Mr. Spock who was in awe Mr. Flint was DaVinci,Brahms and many other great minds "On that Day I shall mourn". McCoy sums up the companion " The Joys of Love made her human,the agonies of love destroyed her." Kirk is head down at his desk, Spock does a mind meld "forget" as the episode closes. This was really good stuff. Wonderful episode to air on Valentine's Day. One of the most thoughtful,interesting episodes in a long,long time.

The author of this episode Jerome Bixby had given us the alternate universe of "Mirror,Mirror", One of the better Klingon episodes with "Day of the Dove" and the episode where aliens turn crew members to dust in "By Any other name". Bixby also an episode of  The Twilight Zone, he was one of the more gifted writers the series employed. Season 3 has wondered with a lot of blah episodes, this is not one of them.


The Way to Eden (3x20) February 21,1969

Space Hippies !!!!!!!!

 This one is fun, I have been waiting to see it again for a while. Enterprise is tracking a ship about to blow up in or near the Romulan neutral zone. Just before exploding the Enterprise locks on them. It turns out they are a group of hippies on their way to a Jay-Z Concert. We discover that Mr. Spock is also a Jay-Z fan and seems to be the only person on board the ship that relates to them.

The Space hippies call Kirk "Herbert! Herbert !". Chekov once knew one of the girls at Academy. Spock continues to bond with the hippies, one of the funnier moments is one of the songs "Well Crack my knuckles and Jump for Joy, I got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy". The hippies naturally take over Auxiliary Control (Again) to continue their journey to see Jay-Z.

Ok, Really this is not a bad episode, when Spock explains that he relates to the hippies looking for Eden because he knows what it is like to be an Alien  among men. The songs are goofy and do not translate well, the episode is very much a commentary on the world in 1969. It is very interesting that most of the hippies are geniuses and star academy members, is that telling us intelligent people are not satisfied and always questing for more. The Search for Eden, a paradise is also worth pondering.




The Cloud Minders (3x21) February 28,1969

 A couple of episodes ago there was a plague on the ship and only one planet had the material for a cure. That is the premise for this episode,it adds some drama as "we only 6 hours" etc. In the end that really is not the point of the episode. This is almost the Communist episode, As we find the floating city of Stratos, the city has given itself over the Arts and have elimanated violence. On the planet surface we have the troglytes and work the mines exposed to gases. The Troglytes in rebellion as the Kirk and Spock arrive.

2 Women become central to the story and a guest appearence I failed to notice of Fred Williamson. Lately it seems in every episode a woman falls for a crew member, usually Kirk . In this episode the rebel leader falls for Kirk, the daughter of the High Advisor for Spock.

In the end, this episode is above average for the 3rd season, I almost think if it had been 1st season or early 2nd season it would be known as one of the better episode, lost near the end of the run, the episode is just there. Also I would note Uhara has not been seen in several episodes.

The Savage Curtain (3x22) March 7,1969

The one with Abe Lincoln, the premise is not bad, great leaders from history battle great leaders from history. At this point in  the series it comes off as grasping for straws. Really the episode is not bad, it is hard to take anything seriously that begins with Lincoln floating in space. This season has been a real grid to watch.







All Our Yesterdays (3x23) March 14,1969

The Enterprise arrives at a class M planet 3 and 1/2 hours before the Sun goes Nova. All of the inhabitants of the planet seem to be gone expect for the librarian, as it turns out and this is not exactly explained to the audience or Kirk,Spock and McCoy but the inhabitants of the planet escaped to different points in history to live out their lives, Kirk jumps through a portal and Spock and McCoy follow ending up in a different time. This was not a bad episode,Spock got to fall in love, it was not as over dramatic as most of this season has been. It was the last scheduled episode of the series that aired.


Turnabout Intruder (3x24) June 3,1969

This is the 79th episode that orginially aired of this first series, If you count pilot that was unaired until the 1990's, it is the 80th. According to Wikipedia the June air date was because the March airing was prempted by the death of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

An ex-flame of Captain Kirk manages to change bodies with Kirk. William Shatner gives a subtle performance as Kirk with Dr. Janice Lester inside of him, Shatner decided not to go overboard on feminine mannerisms.His overacting in the court martial scene is another story. In the 80's and 90's there was a run of body switching movies so I guess you could say this episode was way ahead of it's time. I note again Uhara was not in the episode.

Scotty: "I have seen the Captain Feverish,Sick,Drunk, Delirious,Terrified,Overjoyed and Boiling Mad,But up to know I have never seen him red faced hysteria. I know how I am going to vote." That speech sums up Captain James T Kirk 79 episodes at the helm of the Enterprise.

TOS: Season 3, Episode 12-18

The Empath   (3x12)  December 6,1968

Interesting,another episode that did not pass BBC Censors. What has interested me for a couple of weeks now has been that it seemed like most of the episodes this season when ever a scene was done on the bridge,the lights seems to be dimmed, as if Starfleet was instituted some sort of green or cost reduction measures.

I have also noticed a Orange/Red background to every planet they go to. I was intrigued by the surrealistic set design of the OK Corral episode. I did some reading and yes, the production budget was cut. This mornings episode is a prefect example of all of the above. No this isn't an experimental college production of a greek tragedy,it is the third season of Star Trek. The episode itself boiled down to Kirk being tortued,Tall aliens with rubber heads, women in soft focus (I really miss that HD has taken that away from me).


Elaan of Troyius (3x13) December 20,1968

Oh ! Great a Wedding episode. There are so many ways to go in writing about this episode, personally I was bored and found the episode an anachronistic 50 minutes, very little of which translate well into todays world. I cannot imagine a character like Elaan on TV today, the tantrum throwing,boorish, eating food with her hands princess..... well okay, I can but I admit I do not watch much reality TV. So to save this episode (not really) Klingon's appear.

Whom Gods Destroy (3x14)  January 3,1969

As we have dredged our way through horrible episodes, I was surprised as this went on how much I enjoyed this episode "Queen to Queen's Level 3" is the code Kirk and Scotty work out and criminally insane Lord Garth needs to figure it out. I am sure at some point in time some Trekkie figured out the rules for 3D and I will let the dear reader figure that out. That is what google is for.

Kirk and Spock beam down to an insane asylum on a Gasous Planet, they bring with them a new drug which may cure the patients. One of the patients is Captain Garth, a tactical genius that is one of Kirk's heroes. Note here, how many of heroes ending up complete and total loonies, If you guesses all of them, you may move on to the next round. As the warden gives them a tour of the asylum it is discovered the real warden is in one of the cells and Captain Garth who prefers to be called Lord Garth can shape/voice change. Overpowering Kirk and Spock he takes the guise of Kirk and tries to get on the Enterprise only Scotty asks Garth (as Kirk) Queen to Queen's Level 3, thus begins about a half of torture of Kirk and a Green Woman to get the answer.

The end is a wonderful fight scene between Kirk and GarthKirk with Spock trying to figure out which one is which. It was really a winner considering the the dogs the last episodes have been.

Let This Be Your Last Battlefield (3x15) January 10,1969

Ahhhh, the Frank Gorshin half black,half white face episode.Today the message is somewhat brow beating, but in 1969 I am sure it was very timely. This is a heavy message episode that is well done,well acted and this originial series may have never been better than the scene where Kirk is willing to blow up the ship and gives the computer the destruct sequence.




The Mark of Gideon (3x16) January 17,1969

The One where Kirk beams down to a planet but instead ends up on a empty Enterprise and meets a hot blonde.

That Which Survives (3x17) January 24,1969

Episode best remembered for another Batman cast member, this time Lee Meriweather. At one point during the episode I thought it was too bad Eartha Kitt never did an episode, all 3 Catwoman's from the Batman TV/movie would have appeared on Star Trek.

The Lights of Zetar (3x18) January 31,1969

Message boards debate which was the low point of the series, As Comic Book Guy would say "Worst Episode Ever". I am not sure I agree with that. First I liked Scotty in love with Lt. Romaine.It was cute and so many of the recent episodes have left me with little to write about. The story of the aliens taking over Lt Romaine was well written, the idea of the Memory Alpha, a library where all recorded history is kept is interesting although unexplored. It was no where near the worst episode, not even the worst on this page .

TOS: Season 3, Episode 7-11

Day of the Dove (3x7) November 1,1968

When you hear Trekkies say season 3 is the worst,not only of the original series or all the series,It is hard to imagine they are taking about this episode. Enterprise answers a distress call,landing party beams down to Beta XII-A,instead of a human colony they find Klingons who are claiming the Enterprise violated peace treaties and disabled their ship.

Chekov accuses the Klingons of killing his brother,Kirk surrenders to the Klingons and secretly signals the Enterprises. On the Enterprise,using trickery Kirk gets the Klingons to surrender. No one noticed a being of "Pure Energy" . Klingons take over the ship,for auxiliary control (always auxilary control)  all weapons become swords and eventually Kirk is aware of the alien life force, he realizes the alien is  trying to create a state of war. Can he convince the Klingons of this and can he join forces to defeat the Alien. Done with hilarious results

This is a taut episode,well written and very well acted. We met Klingon women,the nature of why we go to war is covered so it fills the requirements of Science Fiction.

For the World is Hollow and I Have touched the Sky (3x8) November 8,1968

The Enterprise is in a rush to save an Asteroid from crashing into Daran V, population about 3 billion. They soon discover the Asteroid is a space ship. Bigger news came before the Opening Credits, Dr. McCoy is dying of an incurable disease Xeno....something but all you really need to know is he has less than a year.

Kirk,Spock and McCoy beam down to the surface and meet the High Priestess Natira, and it love at first sight for McCoy.McCoy wishes to stay behind,wish to spend his final days with Natira. Can Kirk and Spock figure out a way to devert the ship from crashing into the planet.

I don't usually do spoilers here, or least I have tried not to, but the discover the God like Computer that the Yonada worship hold the key to McCoy's cure. Spock discovers the the knowledge of the Yonada's to be on the ship and they could have answers for McCoy's disease. I found it a cheap ending. Otherwise it is a really good episode. I kept imagining if this was done today, McCoy's pending death would have a subplot for the entire season.

The Tholian Web  (3x9)  November 15,1968

The One where Kirk is stuck between Universes. Notable because it is one of the few episodes when you see the crew in space suits. Kirk's situation is so hopeless a funeral is held.

Plato's Stepchildren (3x10) November 22,1968

Interesting note from Wikipedia : The violence in the episode was considered to sadistic by the BBC which banned the episode when it aired in England until 1994.

This is really a bad episode, Aliens apparently visited the ancient Greeks and patterned their culture as it's own utopia. The Aliens have telekinetic powers and force Kirk and Spock to do all sorts of things. It really is a bad episode,a terrible episode, not worth talking about but for one thing......

The Kiss

 Television acknowledges Sammy Davis Jr and Nancy Sinatra as the first interracial kiss on American network television a year earlier. Again from Wikipedia. BBC featured Interracials kiss a few years earlier, as did an episode of Mickey Spalane and even a peck on the cheek in the series Daniel Boone.

Wink of an Eye (3x11) November 29,1968

A pretty blonde shows up on the Bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk asks "Who are you ?" She replies "Deela, the enemy".

Great entrance and great dress but otherwise a very pedestrian episode.

TOS: Season 3, Episode 1-6

I began watching the season on Feb. 1,2012.

Spock's Brain (3x1) September 20,1968

Don't you hate it when a pretty woman mysterious appears on the bridge and steals your first officers brain?

I know I do. As we go through the third season it becomes some of the worst in the entire run of the series, so I will say, this was not a bad episode. The crew follow ion trials to a system with 3 planets that could support life. Choosing the right planet they are attacked by cave men type creatures and end up below the surface where the women live.

The landing party can communicate  with Spock through the communicator and leads them to the black box where it being kept. We also met a computer that the women use, called "The Teacher", however they can  only use it for brief periods of time. This reminds me of "Charly" for some reason.McCoy uses the Teacher to perform an operation that reunites Spock with his body.


The Enterprise Incident (3x2) September 27,1968

This is a 5 Star Episode.One of my favorite plot lines Kirk in a cat and mouse game with the enemy, in this case the Romulans. Joanne Linville plays maybe the second best villain behind Khan as simply The Romulan Commander.The Enterprise sets out to steal a Romulan Cloaking device, Can Spock be turned from the Federation to the Romulans ? Kirk in Romulan makeup. DC Fontana superb story line, a real treasure of an episode.





The Paradise Syndrome (3x3) October 4,1968

The Series tries to unsuccessfully do 2 plot lines here. A landing party arrives on a planet that is vaguely earth like including Native Americans. They are there because a meteor is about the crash into the planet. Upon discovering a silver oblique Kirk disappears,Spock in charge he chooses to try to alter the course of the meteor over searching for the Captain.

As The Enterprise is wasting it's engines trying to alter the course of the meteor, Kirk has amnesia and the natives assume he is a God, here Kirk find himself in Dances with Wolves. On the whole the episode tries to do too much and is a failure on many levels. A Sign of things to come.

And the Children shall lead (3x4) October 11,1968

Answering a distress call, the Enterprise comes across a Mass Suicide with only the children remaining and they seem to lost in play.In time it appears the children are lead by someone who would be the creepest Childrens TV host ever.

The Children try to take over the ship, in general get mad when they don't get their way. I will give credit for not going with the cute kid type of plot line. The Show never really did try to go that way. Really this is poorly written.


Is There in Truth No Beauty? (3x5) October 18,1968

Diana Muldaur in her second guest appearance of an otherwise forgetable episode with cool shades,murder,weird camera angles and the Medusa myth.

When I watched the show in my younger days we always noted the soft focus camera shot of the women of Star Trek. Maybe it is just me but the remastering seems to have gotten rid of the Soft focus camera shots, pity, that was a trademark of the series for us watching the show back in the day.

Spectre of the Gun (3x6) October 25,1968

Ok, a landing party is sent to Tombstone, everyone thinks they are the Clayton gang and must reenact the gunfight at the OK Corral. This is exactly the type of episode I hate,however,there is a wonderful surrealistic quality in the set designs, storefronts and interiors but no wall, so the backdrop is this weird background. It almost reminds me of a bizarre version of Our Town