Guap
1845
That was exactly my take, that one was a thought experiment… Almost like a Twilight Zone episode.
RichVR
1846
Scotty.
Yeoman Rand.
Sulu.
In no particular order.
I tend to think of Scotty as one of the Big 4. Though admittedly he doesn’t get as much screen time, and he’s often a plot device rather than a character.
I always felt Uhura was underutilized, especially given the point they were apparently trying to make with her. Sulu was often a lot of fun. Chekov was more fun once they stopped treating him like a little overearnest kid.
Chekov had that one episode near the end where he met with his ex-girlfriend from the Academy days, who was now a space hippy. I really enjoyed that episode.
I can’t for the life of me think of any Sulu-centric episodes on the series at all. Scotty got two or three episodes where he got a large role in charge of the Enterprise while the away team had the rest of the command staff.
I feel like Yeoman Janice Rand was the biggest character on the show outside of the core 3, until she disappeared. I felt like she got more screen time than Chekov and Sulu and Uhura. That scene where she almost got raped by Evil Kirk was masterfully done.
Editer
1849
I think in the context of 1969, that was the intent of the story – we never saw a woman captain in TOS. I don’t think we ever saw a woman officer in a role higher than communications or helm. For context, the first woman captain of a US Navy vessel took command in 1990.
As much as TOS tried to be forward looking – and it was as far as racial opportunity went, women being on the bridge at all, etc – this commentary on the glass ceiling wasn’t as optimistic as it should have been. The problem was real in 1969, but it started to be addressed within the next 20 years.
My headcanon here is that women have always been Starfleet captains, and Janice blamed institutionalized sexism for her own lack of advancement when it in fact it was because she had some, um, personal issues to deal with that held her back. The “women can’t be captains” is one of the few TOS canon elements you just have to retcon due to real social progress.
Pike’s XO in The Menagerie, 20 years before, was a woman, per the original pilot they shot. I don’t recall if a woman XO was the one of the things studio execs didn’t like about it or not.
Editer
1851
The woman XO was one of the things both execs and audiences of the day didn’t like. From my tattered copy of The Making of Star Trek, by Stephen E Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, which I’ve apparently held on to since 1975 just waiting on a chance to scan it 45 years later. :)
Of course, we now know that the audience reaction Gene was referring to as far as Majel goes was the audience in his pants. :)
Pod
1852
I watched season 1! However I fell behind in terms of posting, and Discourse made life difficult in terms of catching up, so I gave up on the thread!
I also gave up on TOS after season 1. I’ve since watched the TOS movies and 5 seasons of TNG which I enjoyed much more instead. I do plan to watch the other 2 remaining seasons of TOS, but there’s only so much eyebrow raising campery I can take!
Editer
1853
“Eyebrow raising campery…”
Get off my lawn.
In a youth where the only SF on TV was Star Trek, Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, TOS was The Expanse. It was the hard sci-fi. It touched the issues, man.
“Eyebrow raising campery.” May the Great Bird of the Galaxy forgive you.
Editer
1854
But seriously, yeah, if you grew up in a world that already had TNG and later, I get it.
Still, at least watch The Doomsday Machine, The Trouble with Tribbles, The Enterprise Incident, and The Way to Eden. (The last one is perhaps the most campery of them all, but boy is it fun.)
Don’t forget Balance of Terror, The Corbomite Maneuver and City on the Edge of Forever. Oh hell, just watch them all.
Editer
1856
divedivedive, I’d absolutely have included those three, but he said he did watch Season 1. :)
He should watch it again then.
Guap
1858
Just watch Doomsday Machine over and over again in a loop while drinking whiskey until you start looking and acting like Decker. Then you’ll get the full Star Trek experience. Oh and watch the one with Lord Garth.
And The Cloud Minders… of course.
antlers
1859
Wrap up ranking:
Excellent, representing the best the series had to offer:
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie
Balance of Terror
Arena
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The Changeling
Mirror, Mirror
The Enterprise Incident
The Tholian Web
Whom Gods Destroy
All Our Yesterdays
Solid: Pretty good, help build the show reputation
The Man Trap
The Enemy WiIthin
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
THe Squire of Gothos
Tomorrow is Yesterday
The Return of the Archons
The Doomsday Machine
Space Seed
City on the Edge of Forever
Amok Time
Journey to Babel
The Trouble with Tribbles
The Gamesters of Triskelion
A Piece of the Action
Return to Tomorrow
Patterns of Force
By Any Other Name
Bread and Circuses
For the World id Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
Wink of an Eye
The Mark of Gideon
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
Flawed but fun: Too much cringey, silly or campy stuff but some good moments
Charlie X
The Naked Time
Mudd’s Women
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
Conscience of the King
Court Martial
This Side of Paradise
A Taste of Armageddon
Operation: Annihilate
Catspaw
I, Mudd
Metamorphosis
The Deadly Years
Wolf in the Fold
The Immunity Syndrome
The Ultimate Computer
Assignment: Earth
Spock’s Brain
Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Soectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
Elaan of Troyius
The Way to Eden
The Savage Curtain
Skip - Tedious or painful to watch
The Alternative Factor
Who Mourns for Adonais?
The Apple
Friday’s Child
Obsession
A Private Little War
The Omega Glory
And the Children Shall Lead
Plato’s Stepchildren
The Empath
Let That be Your Last Battlefield
That Which Survives
Lights of Zetar
Turnabout Intruder
Not sure where else to put this, but, lest we forget:
RichVR
1861
Yup. Lost the middle finger of his right hand too.
Hi folks. Now that we’ve watched the Original Series and the Animated Series, should we watch the movies next? @GregB is ready. I can be ready if we go at a steady pace. It’s been a long time since I saw some of them. Should we do one movie a week?
(@divedivedive, I don’t think I’m ready to do the adventure games quite yet).
Sharpe
1863
Movies! Moooo-veeeeeeees! Do the Movies! I’m in. I’m a big fan of Star Trek TMP, Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, and (to a lesser degree) Star Trek VI. I’m very interested to see if TMP and II will “hold up” on modern re-watching.
Yeah ok, I assumed not too many people were going to actually play them, just because I doubt that many people have the stomach for a 25 year old adventure game. I will probably play them in my own at some point. But I’ve been saying that for some time.
I’m in for the movies though, I loved the original crew movies, including TMP and V. They had enough good stuff to make the other stuff tolerable, in my opinion.
