Top 5 Worst Star Trek The Original Series Episodes
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2017
- We've had a look at the best, now lets look at the worst. These are the 5 Worst Star Trek The Original Series Episodes.
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Honestly the Lazarus Episode absolutely broke me in my youth. Lazarus‘ choice to stay in the void to save everyone broke me
I think the Alternative Factor was not played out like it should have, but the episode ending was very dark imo, taking to the ultimate needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few, or the one. I mean, here was a scientist who ended up trapped for possible eternity with his lunatic doppelgänger, and maybe beyond if the corridor they’re trapped in survives the universes heat death.
The saddest thing about “Turnabout Intruder” was that it was the final episode of TOS. Right?
Those are some stinkers. Especially Turnabout Intruder. However I wouls say And the Children Shall Lead is the WORST.
Yep. And it hurts MORE because the penultimate episode (All Our Yesterdays) is a top 5 TOS entry, AND weirdly feels as much like a series finale as a 60s TV episode could have.
Turnabout Intruder was in my list of tops.
@@williammurray4032 dang. I actually liked that episode. 😮
And it was clear that their hearts simply wasn't into the "Turnabout Intruder". As a story about the dangers of body swapping technology and gender discrimination given how misogynistic society was back in the 60's, it's at least an effort. I actually didn't mind the " Turnabout Intruder" as much as so many people do.
As to Plato's stepchildren, they actually said that they lived on Earth during the time of Plato before leaving so they did not develop Greek culture independently.
Watching a bad episode of star trek is better than most of the new shit on TV today.
True that.
- guy who doesn’t watch anything “new on tv today”
40 billion "likes" to you, jackmarley.
none of them were bad IMHO
Exactly. Star Trek TOS had many writers from that classic sci-fi and "Twilight Zone" era who told stories that had less to do with special effects, but taught an ethical, social or moral lesson. Now it is just how many millions can we spend on effects, how many f-bombs we can drop per minute and how loud we can make the movies. Characters in todays' shows and movies just sit around monologuing about their problems. It gets old real quick.
So what does Hollywood do? Not create anything new, just re-write past successes over and over again. How many Batmans do we have? How many Spidermans? How many "reimaginations".
How about Hollywood GET AN IMAGINATION.
I actually always liked "the mark of gideon" because of the eerie atmosphere of the empty ship Kirk was wandering around and the sounds of the people outside and when they looked out of the window and saw countless people, cramped against each other. When the girl tells about the overpopulation and you see what she's talking about, in your imagination, it gets even more intense. On a low budget scale this episode is a great stage play with a great Science Fiction worthy subject that makes you think.
The part about "Turnabout Intruder," that can be appreciated here is the brilliant acting it took for those two actors who had to convincingly portray people who are having their bodies inhabited by their opposite characters. Granted this theme would have worked better within a better storyline.
"And the Children Shall Lead" should have definitely been on this list. The kids were so awful, and so was the guy who did the ghost character.
He was Jack Ruby's lawyer in real life.
Add to that the Roman empire planet, the Chicago mob planet, the Nazi planet, the Yanks vs. Communists planet... the list goes on. Loved watching ST reruns in the 70's but today I find about half the episodes unwatchable.
Yanks vs. Comms and the Nazi episode both were pretty bad. The mob planet was fun but the sets were terrible (same backlot as in every TV show from the 60s-70s). However, Bread and Circuses was awesome. They didn't just recreate ancient Rome, they transposed it into the late 20th century, with TV, cars, automatic weapons, etc. That was cool. The plot was basically the same as Patterns of Force but more believable. It's easier to see Captain Merik admiring Rome than a history professor admiring the Nazis.
One more error in the mark of gideon is how does another civilization get the exact blueprints for a staship, which Im assuming would be a secret.
The best part of Mark of Gideon is it contains the only scenes ever filmed of the bridge set - lighted and powered up - but with no people in it. This was used to great effect in the TNG episode "Relics" to reconstruct the TOS bridge as well as fill it in by morphing the footage. What amazes me is the amount of money spent for a partial bridge set in Relics, and Star Trek Continues - an extraordinarily low budget indie series - made a damn fine replica of the bridge and used it in eleven episodes.
That plot schtick worked pretty good in "Galaxy Quest" but then that was meant to be funny.
Also for a planet that was grossly overcrowded how did they manage to find the space to build a complete replica of the huge starship Enterprise????
Any time writing chores are given to an actor except for Nimoy, it rarely goes well.
Brain and brain, WHAT IS BRAIN!?
I love that line.
Nyah yah yah yah-yah yah! Bonk Bonk on the Head!!!
Molly-Blue agree-though I’m not sure any are as bad as TNG Dr Crusher and the ghost.
One of my favorite lines of the entire series. I actually say that sometimes when someone is being especially stupid.
Drink !
Turnabout Intruder was NOT sexist. We have to remember that Janice Lester is stark raving mad, and that nothing she says can be taken at face-value. Kirk surrenders the argument because he doesn't want to go bak there with her. The "doesn't include women" barb is comong from someone who means "doesn't include me in your world!" She sees plots and offenses everywhere, because she's nuts. Period.
Did you miss the sexsist star fleet rule that outride bans female captains ?
I would like to further add that, according to Bob Justman, they had to cut the action sequences down in the 3rd season because the budget was cut drastically and they couldn't afford to shoot them. Bob said that they were like shooting radio pictures. Most of the weak episodes were in that season because of this, I think. They tended to drag a bit. But, even that worked to the advantage of the show, at times. "Spectre of the Gun" comes to mind as they couldn't afford the sets so they made them partial and dream like. "The Empath" was a another great episode that speaks to the high spiritual value of self-sacrifice in an adult and arty way. Lots of (intelligent) dialogue. Not an action show. It took me years (growing up) to appreciate how good it was.
Any list of "The worst Star Trek episodes" that doesn't include "The Way To Eden" can't be taken that seriously.
Gonna snap my fingers and jump for joy, got a clean bill of health from Doctor McCoy!
Herbert, Herbert, Herbert, Herbert....
But it's kind of fun though.
Ya but....the Russian girl is pretty.
Hey out there, hey out there!😂😂😂
Herbert! Herbert! Herbert!
At ease, Captain Dunsel!
I am not Herbert.
Eat all the fruit, and throw away the rind, lol
When Spock explains to Kirk why he’s being called Herbert, it’s the best moment of the series! 🤗
You've got a hard lip Herbert. One of the truly GREAT lines to EVER come across a T.V. screen !!!
Considering there are only 79 Episodes in existence of Star Trek TOS every one is a treasure to me
It is a treasure to me as well.
The Original Series
is still my favorite.
A shame it was only 3 seasons
@@Righteous628 agreed
@@Righteous628my favorite is TNG. There were about five episodes that completely blew me away like nothing TOS ever came even close to. “Inner light” being one of them.
And I think another one I liked is where Picard and his girlfriend play some music together where she uses her roll out piano and he uses the flute he got from “the inner light” episode but I can’t remember much else about it.
After I have finished rewatching TOS I will rewatch TNG so that I can remember what the other four episodes were.
@@CaptainHindsight-xt9yd I think you should watch Voyager, In terms of thought provoking episodes Voyager is superior to TNG. BUT TNG,VOYAGER & TOS outrank DS9 by a mile.
@@Righteous628 I have already watched all of old Star Trek. But that was like 5 years ago (that I finished I started actually 10 years ago) so I have forgotten most of it.
I remember TOS being ok, but sometimes boring and predictable.
TNG, DS9 and Voyager all had episodes that I thought were amazing.
I don’t remember feeling that way about Enterprise but I still liked Enterprise better than TOS.
I am in the process of rewatching again and I am already finished with the first season of TOS.
Plato’s Stepchildren and Spock’s Brain is what people who have never seen TOS imagine what TOS actually is.
The remote control in Spock's Brain had about two knobs but that didn't stop our heroes using it to make Spock's body perform intricate tasks and you should have included The Way To Eden.
I think in Turnabout Intruder it wasn't that there was a policy forbidding women from being captains, but rather that she simply wasn't able to make captain based on other factors (like how crazy she is) and rather than accept it she decided to play victim and blame it on sexism.
And yet, we are shown in Whom Gods Destroy that there is a cure for mental illnesses. Why didn't she get the cure too??
Loved the Doomsday Machine, City On The Edge Of Forever, and the Enterprise Incident
All top tier TOS episodes! The Enterprise Incident is highly underrated!
I can't believe you left out "And the Children Shall Lead", about a group of recently orphaned children, who are being led by an evil alien entity, played by a guy who was a lawyer & had never acted a day in his life! He was only on the show, because he was a fan, begged to be on it & was given a part, basically because they feared litigation.
I didn't know that!
McCoy: "The givers of pain and delight. I'm sure you noticed the 'delight aspect."
Kirk: "Yes, I certainly noticed those delightful aspects."
In Spock's Brain, I have never understood this: When the Teacher's knowledge starts to wear off from McCoy, it is stated that for him to use it a second time would be too dangerous. So he connects Spock's vocal cords so that Spock himself can help him to finish restoring his brain. But WHY not just let Kirk or Scotty use the Teacher and then finish the operation???
They're not doctors... lol. Even if the bimbo did it herself the first time...
Winston Beech- I'm not sure that would have made a difference. BUT, Christine Chapel was a surgical nurse, so she could have put on the device and guided McCoy the rest of the way through it.
The Space Hippies one is by far the lowest. How could you miss that?
It's a hoot. Lots of TV shows were trying to do hippies then, generally doing them very badly. Trek was no exception. Sister Desliu show Mannix tried it. Heck Dragnet tried it. Then they came out with the Mod Squad...
virgil starkwell The Space Hippies was Great.
Watching Charles Napier try to sing and play that goofball guitar made this episode unwatchable!!
It was definitely in the running for being one of the worst episodes, Herbert. Again, though, I found it "bizarrely enjoyable," so it didn't make my final cut for one of the five worst episodes.
Personally, I thought it was okay. I really liked what the episode did for Spock's character.
Three words: I AM KIROK!
biggs hasty KIROK !!!!!!!!!!
"I HAVE COME!"
Behold a god who Bleeds...!!
You came out of the temple! You must be a god! Kirk: Okey dokey
The Lazarus guy has bipolar, not an antimatter twin!
Some of the episodes are actually quite good.Even the worse of the 1960s Star Trek is about 100 times better than most tv of 2017!!!!!!
Number 3 wasn't that bad nugga
Leonard Nimoy even said that filming many scenes in "Spock's Brain", was an embarassing experience for him.
One of my favorite lines in that episode- "Brain, brain. What is brain?".
One of my least favorite episodes that isn’t mentioned on the list is The Lights of Zetar, it’s got some interesting concepts, and I personally love TOS the most when it tackles goofy ideas, (I also like how it introduced Memory Alpha), but the romance between Scotty and Lt. Romaine is just flat-out bad, to the point where it makes the whole episode almost unbearable.
I have a soft spot for Plato's Stepchildren because it stars Michael Dunn, who charismatically played the villainous Doctor Loveless on The Wild, Wild West. I agree with the rest of this list though. "Brain and brain! What is brain?"
We know the Gideonites aren't Baptists. They prohibit sex while standing up, since it leads to dancing.
"Brain and brain! What is brain?!" That (legendary) line alone would catch you a buzz. A drinking game needs to be somewhat less suicidal.
Ha-ha-ha! :-D
Indeed. If you actually go through with a drinking game described in the video, you'd probably die from alcohol poisoning.
Equally grating was Kirk yelling "What have you done with Spock's Brain?!!"
The current office holder here in the States is basically already her. :)
Disliking Trump is not the same thing as liking Hillary. She was a terrible candidate. He, as we now see, was a worse one.
Spock's Brain is so awful and so awesome at the same time that an argument also can be made for it being one of the best episodes. I have always loved it!
"Spock's Brain" is so Bad that it's Good......and wasn't it originally intended to be a comedic episode but the first time director didn't know what the hell he was doing
Miri is so bad it's probably my favorite episode. To this day I use the term, "BONK BONK ON THE HEAD". Not to mention that Michael J. Pollard was like 30 playing a prepubescent child.
The aliens in Plato's Stepchildren did not evolve like earth, they were imitating it. Not a bad episode especially compared the Way to Eden.
Plato's Stepchildren gets points from me for its treatment of Alexander. The episode wholeheartedly condemns the other aliens' treatment of him and outright states that such regressive ideas about dwarfism don't exist in the Federation. Considering the kind of roles little people were limited to in that era and the frequent mocking that they still receive, it was remarkably progressive.
Devil’s advocate on Turnabout Intruder. Nowhere in the episode is it explicitly stated that Starfleet prohibits women from commanding ships. Lester and Kirk are talking about their past romantic relationship at Starfleet, although it seems she was more into the relationship than he was. It was in the context of this conversation that Lester says “Your world of Starship captains doesn’t admit women.” There’s no reason one can’t interpret this remark to mean that there is no way Kirk will ever let a woman come between him and command of a starship. And that’s what drove Lester’s hatred and resentment. During the court martial Lester (in Kirk’s body) declares Lester doesn’t merit command of the Enterprise by temperament or training, which is true. Although clever and intelligent, Lester doesn’t have the training to command and she’s clearly nuts. But at no time does anyone say Lester doesn’t doesn’t deserve command because she’s a woman.
I can imagine 'Spock's Brain' ironically becoming a classic TOS episode.
I'm no fan of "Mark of Gideon", however I think the reason why the planet doesn't do various intelligent things to solve their problems is... because it's a message episode, and the writers want to pontificate on the dangers of population, and their opposition to the idea that "life is sacred" and how that leads to the horrible mess that is Gideon. Maybe that's how we spot message episodes. "This story makes no sense".
It's a good thing that they weren't pontificating about "climate change!"
Obviously it's a message episode, but that's no excuse for bad writing.
I had the impression why they wanted the virus in Kirk's blood was because it was forbidden to kill people there or even allow them to kill themselves. So, they want to use nature to settle the score. The episode was stating issues with religion/beliefs and the moral of what we should do to control population growth. The episode was brilliant and spot on in a moral issue. When do we allow killing to be justified and when does it become justified. In truth, the episode brings into focus of what we suffering now. Overpopulation and who decides how and when people die?
So their plan was to get the galaxy's most prolific philanderer to stop overpopulation. Was that the message? I wasn't paying attention.
Or the message is bashed into your head with a 2x4, i.e. "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". A ridiculous episode saved only by the always watchable and brilliant Frank Gorshin, along with Lou Antonio as his arch nemesis, perhaps the first actors to ever work in both whiteface AND blackface at the same time.
Headin out toooo Eden ...
Yeay Brother ...
Headin out to Eden ,.....
Yeayy Brother........
Got no trouble in my body or my mind...
Gonna live like a King on whatever I find...
Eat all the Fruit, and throw away the rind....
Yeeay Brother....
Yeay......
😊
stardude2006- Dude, at least tell me you popped in the third season DVD to write down those lines, because if you memorized them... Yikes!
I'm gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy
I got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy
Memorized. Don't mess with space hippies! Plus Chechov's ex was hot!
I reach you.
Tucker McElroy lead singer drivin the Winnebago
Herbert! Herbert! Herbert!
I'm surprised you didn't include The Omega Glory. It's arguably even worse than Spock's Brain. That ending leaves me cringing in pain every time I see it.
William Shatner give his worst acting performances of all time.
When the 'Gideon' episode was made, California had about 20 million people and was considered seriously over-populated by the environmental left. Now California has 45 million people and it's 'Welcome Amigos' billboards at the border. Our governor just pardoned a man convicted of domestic abuse to try to prevent his deportation. Actually about 50% of the original Trek episodes were stinkers. I always hated Tribbles.
Catspaw and The Children Shall Lead, for sure. I do remember loving Spock's Brain the first time I saw it (it was in syndication by then), but I was 10 years old.
I like the story of Return of the Archons but the tone doesn't feel like the rest of the series. Felt like an unused Twilight Zone script changed into a Star Trek script.
Archons is the first episode I ever saw and as a result I will always have a fondness for it. Watched it just the other night. The "enhanced" version, which I normally don't care for - it was on Netflix - but they did correct the out of sync audio and video of the street scene were the clown face guy says "your daddy can put them up can't he?" That guy may have been the single creepiest humanoid in all of Star Trek.
Part of the problem with The Alternative Factor is that it had an interracial romance between the two main guest characters written out.
"Brain and brain! What is brain?!" I pass out drunk.
4/5 are from Season 3 so enough said. Spock's Brain is bizarre fun for me though. Always wanted a Mego Spock (- his brain) remote controlled figure.
It's subjective, trying to pick worst, or even best episodes. No matter how good an episode is, someone's going to hate it. And no matter how bad, the reverse is true.
Personally, I think ALL the WORST episodes were generated in Season Three. So... There you have it. My "subjective" opinion.
Live Long And Prosper!
I agree. The only episode in season 3 that I like is 'The Empath' because it shows the willingness of Kirk, Spock and McCoy to sacrifice themselves for each other.
@Edward White Yeah, but I just remember it droned on for hours with no real pay-off in the end.
Turnabout Intruder isn’t sexist. Let’s grow up and realize two things. One: men and women are different. Two: The woman in question is either crazy or just very childish. Obviously to the adults she is NOT a legitimate example of all women.
When people say Star Trek isn't suppose to be campy, show them Plato's Stepchildren.
Seriously Plato's Stepchildren is fucking hilarious.
I'd rather sit through "Spock's Brain" than "Way to Eden".
I’d rather sit through Spock’s Brain than anything with Kardashians in it!
Spock's brain has a mystery aspect to it that is fun.
Like what do the woman want with the brain and why are they smart then not.
How was Spock's brain removed so well and cleanly etc..
Desmond Ellis as someone once said of Kardashians: leather clad beings bent on galactic domination :-)
Agreed. For all I heard about how awful "Spock's Brain" was, it didn't measure up (or down?) to that hype. Like Rowan mentioned, it did kind veer into "so bad it's good territory," and at least it ended on a genuinely funny moment where, upon seeing Spock nerd out on the local technology, McCoy morosely remarks, "I shouldn't have done it... I shouldn't have put his brain back in."
"Way to Eden," on the other hand, I found to be way more cringey and idiotic. Pretty much the only good moment in that episode was Spock's though-provoking remark on how he identified with the Space Hippies because he also felt like an outsider on his own homeworld.
Exactly, 100% correct
Obvious or not the way to eden was terrible
Terrible but very topical in the wake of the "Summer of Love" and the height of the "Flower Power" movement.
The Way to Eden was a poor excuse to push the Hippy agenda.
Michael B. I always took it as ridiculing the Hippy movement.
Yes, its presentation was silly. However I thought the concept of the story had great potential. The quest for a peaceful, egalitarian society is a very recurrent motif.
soslothful The guys from MST3K would have referred to them as "Made-For-TV Hippies".
I will never be able to get past Shatner acting like a horse. I mean, for a man who used to throw his weight around with directors and writers and such, the fact that he was apparently okay with doing that!? Like, what the hell!?
In hindsight and wisdom of age, you could pick holes and nitpick any episode but growing up every star trek episode was worth watching. Probably applies to all our childhood viewing, you remember them fondly but viewed later in life, what you remember doesn't live up to expectation anymore. It was space, it was the future, I didn't care how weird everyone acted, it was the outlandish I expected from star trek, otherwise I would have turned over to the brady bunch. ;-)
The way to Eden, Catspaw, and The Savage Curtain are in my bottom five.
Anything with children
Oh come on!! Michael Dunn ridding KIrk like a horsey is priceless, absolutely priceless. Probably the only bit of acting Shatner ever did was playing the horsey.
Outside of McCoy who was a better actor than Shatner on that show? Literally his acting style set the premise for Spock and McCoy's characters. He was the brash hero while his counterparts were foils of one another, one super logical and the other full of emotion. That Trinity was what made the show abd certainly the only character that needed to be there was Kirk, as Roddenberry said Shatner was the lead... How is that not obvious everyone else was replacable tbh.
@@beyourself2444 Are you serious? Shatner's whole style was OVERACTING. Nimoy had a far more difficult role in front of him. Playing horsey with a midget was the limit of Shatner's range. McCoy? Are you kidding? Kelly's whole challenge was saying "He's Dead Jim". Shatner's biggest challenge was playing a female (Janice Lester---get it LESter) inhabiting his body. in the final episode. That called for insane overacting and so he did well on that one. Look I love classic Star Trek but we are not talking about the Royal Shakesperian Company either.
With Turnabout Intruder they could have just said Lester wanted to be captain but never made the rank due to mental instability.
They kind of did. The whole "women aren't allowed to become starship captains" was more Janice Lester's psychotic persecution complex than anything rooted in reality.
Sorry to see you so down on Plato's Stepchildren. If nothing else, you had one hell of a guest cast (Michael Dunn from Wild Wild West and the Get Smart pilot, and Liam Sullivan from the "Brother William" episode of Dragnet). Especially since you also missed out "And The Children Shall Lead" and "Spectre of the Gun".
I wonder if Lester is descended from Hillary Clinton?
+dadoctah For me, Plato's Stepchildren avoids being a thoroughly bad episode thanks to the character of Alexander. But oh my God, Kirk acting like a horse...
They could have sorted it by claiming her insanity disqualified her, though that would never happen according to what Nimoy said about Roddenberry intending to prove women aren't capable of being captains. It was also Roddenberry who thought up the idea that Starfleet has a rule barring women from command of starships.
Retcons were the only way to fix this one.
@@dadoctah That was always my take on Turnabout Intruder... you have to consider the source - a nutjob Janice Lester - when she makes those claims. Granted, it's a complete turd of an episode, but I never thought the episode was sexist as much as it was about a crazy person trying to take over a starship.
Bones expression at 3:41. Priceless
DeForest Kelley: “alright guys what the hell is going on by this point?”
“Spectre of the Gun.” They didn’t have a science fiction script, but they needed a story in a hurry, so Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the gang got to re-live the gunfight at the OK Corral.
Spectre of the gun shows up on several best of Star Trek episode lists
"The Way to Eden" is properly not listed as among the worst. The songs were pretty good, and a welcome change of pace.
Space hippies? Ugh.
Agreed. I love that episode. It may be hammy, but so is most of Star Trek TOS. And it had some interesting ideas, like Severin becoming ill from a sterilized artificial environment. That's not such a radical concept today, but 50 years ago? And yes, the songs were great. I caught myself singing "Heading Out to Eden" the other day.
The songs were GOOD? Yikes! I guess that proves one man's garbage is another man's treasure. My god, Herbert, the music was
D-R-E-A-D-F-U-L!!!
It was reflecting the fears that as soon as getting to 4 billion people massive starvation would strike the earth
1. Alternative factor
2. And the children shall lead
3. Plato’s stepchildren
4. Spock’s brain
5. Turnabout intruder
But like you I can’t ever hate spock’s brain lol
Oh God! And The Children Shall Lead was very annoying!
I always thought "The Empath" was unwatchable.
The Empath, yes a disappointing episode. It was more an experiment in expressionistic method as a real TV show
@@rogerlynch5279I like the Empath
Pretty bad episode.
Respectfully, I'll nominate an additional few...
"The Way to Eden"-Space Hippies
"The Cloud Miners"-very poor adaptation of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis."
"And the children shall lead"-very poor adaptation of "Village of the Damned."
The space hippies episode is one that really makes me cringe.
How would they look in ‘80’s cyberpunk?
I agree with two of these, but The Cloud Minders was actually a decent episode amongst season three's material. I actually like that one.
In The Mark Of Gideon, the aliens should have knocked Kirk out, taken a blood sample, then sent him back to the Enterprise!
You suggest evacuating an overpopulated planet by space ships to another planet. Good luck with that! Can you imagine loading people into ships by the billions? Never gonna happen. I think Turnabout Intruder and Alternative Factor are actually quite good. There are several episodes I think are far worse than those two. The idea of Lazarus is actually pretty intriguing. But I'll concede the last two are crap. Spock's Brain ... the name alone is hilarious. I laugh every time someone says Spock's brain. It just sound ludicrous. Way to Eden should be here.
If you are going to narrate a video, don't overpower your own voice with loud music.
Great list but there were many others. As for "The Alternative Factor" was so bad that I only watched it once!
The Gideon one is where you are trying to be 'relevant' but forget that your fictional universe cannot have the problem you are describing.
Note: "Picard" has exactly the same problem of failing to understand that space is big, and you can fit a lot of people into it. So sixty years later, the writers have still not read about how big space is, and how small a planet's surface is compared to space, whose bigness really cannot be overstated.
They have faster than light travel, they don't need planets, they can make O'Neil Cylinders rapidly, if anything the problem would be that they would be dimming stars by encasing them in Dyson Swarms. We are nearly at that tech level *now*.
Series 3 helmed by new producer Fred Freiberger was the worst, and he carries the responsibility for the show losing the plot. Reviled as the man who killed Star Trek, despite serious fan concerns he went on to produce Space 1999 series 2 in the 1970s and killed that, too
when you are a young boy, you're not that critical or discerning.
My least favorite episode was the one with that corny rock band The Mosquitoes.
Oh wait, that was Gilligan's Island. 😕
The Bedbugs? No, that was F Troop.
The Warts? No, that was The Mothers-in-Law.
"And the Children Shall Lead" is worse than Spock's Brain. Spock's Brain is enjoyable in a cheesy campy B-movie sort of way.
CAT'S PAW is always good for inclusion in a list of most cringe worthy episodes. One word the "Transmuter!" WHAT!!!!!
Maybe "and the Children shall lead" that Episode was more boring then dryed Paint
IMHO that episode was worse than any other...
Yes, that and "Way to Eden" are much worse that "Mark of Gideon" and "Turnabout Intruder".
I don't know about that! When the older kid made Sulu see nothing but daggers around the Enterprise on the viewing screen, that freaked me out as a kid!
Sorry, but I found it "bizarrely enjoyable!" And let's not forget Kirk battling his "beast" in the lift with Spock. "I'm losing command, I'm losing command... I've lost command!" I mean, holy cow, talk about an over the top, overdone ham of a performance! By golly, the whole episode is worth watching, just for that powerfully, unintentionally HILARIOUS, scene.
Yes, as stupid as it was, that one was ... intruiging.
Operation: Annihilate! Fried flying eggs for breakfast?
Mediocre entry, but not ranking as "one of the worst".
Aaron Lusanko
LOL. I thought it looked like rubber vomit from a novelty store.
Aaron Lusanko But ...
The flying pancakes !!!
😂❤️
Not to mention Spock's inner eyelids, which Vulcans tend to ignore like humans do their appendix, never actually covered his eyes at any point in the episode. Still, as silly as that story might have been, along with Kirk's dead brother Sam, and his gruesomely dying sister-in-law, it wasn't a boring episode. My criteria for worst episodes, are those that are so boring, you struggle to stay awake throughout them. If I was going to judge by stupid plotlines, or holes in particular tales, I'd have quite a hot list to choose from!
Ridiculous is Star Trek Discovery, with a big Tardigrade living in the spaceship. The concept of search for the unknown was completely lost
I don’t get the hate that “turnabout intruder” gets.
I think it was one of my favorite episodes of TOS. Maybe even my favorite. I am currently in the process of rewatching the entire TOS so maybe I will be able to list some that I liked even more.
Right now the next episode I am going to watch is the second to last episode of season 1 where they go back in time to the 1930s to make sure some broad gets killed or that Mc Coy doesn’t save her because of WW2 or something.
Currently the only episode off the top of my head from season 1 that used to be my favorite is “Space Seed” because back when I first watched it I thought exactly what Spock said at the end of the episode that it would be cool to come back after a hundred years and see what this group of super humans have managed to build by themselves but unfortunately all that gets completely trashed by WoK which for that reason is my most hated Star Trek movie by far.
So space seed isn’t my favorite anymore.
What I like about “Turnabout Intruder” is how they slowly but surely figure out that Kirk is being possessed by an imposter and how he becomes more and more unhinged.
Now I just remembered an episode that’s a little bit like it and is therefore probably my second favorite TOS episode.
It’s the one where Scotty gets accused of murdering some girl and they all have a sit around to figure it out.
I enjoyed three quarters of that episode, it’s just the payoff at the end where it says it’s some space ghost that used to be Jack the Ripper which I don’t like and therefore it only gets the spot #2.
Also I don’t get why you are complaining that the aliens in “Plato’s stepchildren” evolved into a culture that existed on earth.
If you actually paid attention to that episode you would have heard them
say that they lived on earth for a time during Ancient Greece and liked it.
Turnabout Intruder was a great episode, and not sexist at all - some misguided people only perceive it that way.
Still better than any Next Generation episodes
Ah c'mon... Spock's Brain was hilarious.
The Empath was much worse.
"Spock's Brain" even had the honor of being parodied in "The Wonder Years"
The Empath is plain boring.
@@ghenulo And cheaply produced. No sets at all!!!
ghenulo- Agreed. Which is what qualifies it as one of the worst episodes by my measuring stick!
It was just one woman who couldn't handle being captain cause she happens to be emotionally unstable. Or am I thinking it wrong? (Watched the full series like 4 years ago)
Well, there is a reason that the stereotype that women make poor leaders exits but, yeah, the idea that no woman can be a good leader is pretty absurd.
I loved turn about intruder.
Antiochus III the Great- If nothing else, Shatner's performance as Janice was worth the watch.
It was a good episode!...Star Trek left on a high note.. Shattner's acting was over the top!...and Priceless..The worst choice made for a top five worst episode...Just because of some modern day political nonsense...That does not belong when watching Star Trek!
@@davidsnyderWisdomTrollBlocker oh shut the fuck up. Star trek is about hop and inclusion. About being better and beyond what we are now. Therefore that episode went completely against what star trek is by being completely sexist and non inclusive. It's not "modern day political nonsense". It's about being true to the core of star trek.
@@eminemfan50098 While of course today's arrogant and hypocritical standards are beyond reproach.
Going to Eden...Yeh Brother... (Mic drop)
Bread and Circuses. About as lazy as Star Trek could get and the final message of the episode was utter cringe of the highest level.
Spock's brain became the excuse for his behavior for the third season.
You got some stinkers but you missed, "And the Children Shall Lead", "Miri", "The Way to Eden".
You got the episodes I was about to mention. Those were pretty bad, and one more "Who Mourns for Adonis" should be included for many of the same reasons Plato's Stepchildren made the list.
Miri is actually one of my favorites, A little campy. As far as the other two you mentioned, the stories were actually pretty good and this list seems to be more of ones with major plot issues. The Way to Eden was typical of Television's view of the hippy culture of the time . . . dead wrong, so it doesn't hold up at all well. It barely held up then. Most of us hippies were laughing at the stereotypes. "And the Children Shall Lead" was a badly written presentation of what was actually a good premise.
BONK BONK!
Miri sucks!
I loved Way to eden for its emphasis on obsession. But I also thought Mark of Gidion had some merit. It dealt with over population, which on earth in the following decades became a real issue.
"deiiciously hammy acting"...Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!...LOL!!!
MY LIST of UNCONVENTIONAL TOP 5 Star Trek Original Series:
1. Court Martial S1E20 Kirk finds himself at odds against a supposed long-time friend who frames him for murder. It has great plot, courtroom drama, and the clever mic-prop (hallmark icon of stage-hands creating something out of nothing...the TRUE engineers of Trek!)
2. I, MUDD. S2E8 Roger Carmel reprises his role as Harry Mudd--iconic and lovable! Although the overlapping plot is how future androids will take over by giving humans everything they want, the TRUE magic of this episode is the revelation that a scoundrel mind doesn't have enough moxie to keep androids busy and thoughtful (Mudd has mental "ED" so to speak). What ensues is fun and funny! Also, more of the cast get pieces of screen time.
3 JOURNEY TO BABEL: S2E10 Classic TREK! Viewer not only get to see a KEY sequence during the early years of the Federation and how an alliance of planets function together, we get to see several aliens from these planets. The vicious, alien-sounding, rigid Andorians, the very rude, hostile Tellerites, and many others not specified. But the true enjoyment of this episode is the revelation of Spock's parents, and later, the vicious struggle between "duty" and "Love of family." All during a brutal space battle sequence! Terrific stuff!
4. THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT! WOW! Terrific episode! The writers and directors start the episode by fooling us all! We are all duped for the first 1/3 of the episode just like all the characters! The reveal amidst the strain and stress of the plot is VERY satisfying! The episode also addresses a love sequence of aliens...which is more awkward than it is interesting. HOWEVER, this scene DOES open a possible explanation later--in the motion pictures--where Lt. Saavik may have come from!!! Here's the REAL trippy part **SPOILER POSSIBLY!!** If Saavik is the offspring of Spock and the female Romulan Commander, the she....Saavik...grows up to help on the expedition of the Genesis Planet...where Spock is regenerating with the planet. During the regeneration, Saavik "comforts" the aging Spock who goes thru Pon Far (the need to mate). That would mean, that "young Spock" has sex with his own half-romulan daughter via a temporal paradox. Take about 4 years to digest that! UGH>
5. AMOK TIME. No need to really address why this is the best. I mean, the musical score alone! However, a Vulcan Love story??? How can you beat that? Celia Lovsky as T'Pau!!! BRILLIANT! The entire guest cast were perfectly matched for the episode. Best friends fighting "dis match is to deh dead, Kurrk." Can't you STILL hear her uttering that line?!! And finally, Spock strangling his captain and best friend....it was gut-wrenching! The episode had everything from interesting comparisons in biology, to brilliant tactics in logic by a sly woman! And the writing!! "Stonn, she is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true." I mean....has there EVER been a galactic BURN as harsh as that one??
There you have it folks, MY top 5 Original Trek episodes and reasons why. If you'd like my top 5 least favorite episodes, "like" and comment below. My reasons for my list of worst episodes is brutal...if you like brutal, let me know!
I could'nt agree more with the list of worst episodes, but The Way To Eadan and Omaga Glory are my two worst
episodes on my list,
even the bad episodes
of Star Trek are still watchable.
Paul Bacchus esq
Somehow I had totally forgot about Plato's Step Children went back and re-watched, I regret everything lol.
Looking forward to your TNG list, Guessing at least Sub Rosa and of course Shades of Gray.
And if you a Voyager list, the WORST episode MUST by "Threshold." DS9, I'm going with Babel or If Wishes Were Horses. DS9's first season SUCKED.
Ah Threshold: Janeway and Paris "evolving" and having weird slug babies. I think If Wishes were horses wouldn't take much to fix, a little less Rumpelstiltskin a little more exploration into who/what these aliens, instead of just "I'd like to, maybe next year"
Got to admit Season 1 had a few Gems like Duet and the cliff hanger at the end and it's follow ups in season 2... hmm maybe not that many gems lol
Some people like it but I really can't stand watch Move Along Home: May I submit Evidence: ua-cam.com/video/_IMBUa7w9K4/v-deo.html
DUET was fabulous. The first truly ace episode of DS9. It made me love the character of Kira Nerys all the more. Not quite as much as meeting her mirror universe counterpart, but close :-)
Typical response when the human mind has trauma.
Confirmed, they're both in there!
It is really sad. People just don't understand the politics of HOLLYWOOD! I would venture to say or ask, what poll did you use? Where did you get that information? Turnabout Intruder was simply Roddenberry's middle finger gesture at NBC studio executives. They pulled the plug on the female captain and the female XO. Opinions vary. All these episodes, produced on the budget and time allotted. Were done in the fashion of that day. This country was in the cold war, Cuban missile crisis, Presidential assassination, going into Nam, collegiate rebellion, and social unrest! So what, if Star Trek looked cheesy or campy. People got the message. It's creator's vision of a future meant: humanity had hope!
Considering all the shitty things Gene did in his time, I have no sympathy for him putting out sexist crap 'as revenge'.
Except GR had nothing to do with season three. That was Fred Freiberger.
Too bad the majority of people didn't get the "message" until the 1970's, when they actually started watching the show. Few and far between, it seems, are we folks who actually watched it in primetime! (In my case, thanks to the fact my parents were actually science fiction fans.)
zoppie- True, but Roddenberry actual wrote the third season episode, "The Omega Glory."
The narrator's judgments are based upon the lack of a certain type of realism that only TNG and the following series aimed at. There is an important idea underlying each of the episodes mentioned here -- except for "Plato's Stepchildren," which is about as awful as it gets.
These are the five worst IN YOUR OPINION. It's possible to think otherwise. I know that's heresy to Trekkies, but it's nevertheless true. It's quite possible to feel City on the Edge of Forever is far-fetched, has a silly premise, and is sometimes just too melodramatic. I wish this hadn't been presented as if it's carved on stone tablets. BTW, Spock's Brain is in my top ten, if not top three. I really wonder what happens to creative license in ripping apart the inconsistencies and "things that just couldn't happen" in this or ANY episode. Face it, guys - STAR TREK couldn't happen. Not for real. It's most illogical. So seeing one of my favorite episodes relentlessly mocked and trashed actually hurts.
"Gamesters of Triskelion." The plot feels like it was straight out of a sixties comic book, you know, when comics were still under the thumb of the Comics Code Authority and were basically just farting around. Has that same general idiocy.
But Angelique Pettijohn as Shahna. Mmmmm, nice.
Angelique Pettyjohn died in 1992. 24 years after her Star Trek appearance. She didn't appear in porn until the early 80's when she was desparate with alcohol & drug problems. It's all there on her IMBd bio. I think she was terrific in Gamesters, her final speech gets me every time.
Gamesters wasn't terrible, but the scene in which Uhura almost gets raped wasn't exactly in good taste.
"Gamesters of Triskelion" is a cheeser to be sure, but I kind of have a fondness for it, because its cheesiness is so *characteristic*. It's like a Star Trek parody played straight. If you had to show only one episode to somebody so that they'd get all the jokes in Star Trek parodies, it would be that one. (What is... kiss?)
Also... The very first time I saw any of it, I was a young kid, and the cold open where they get on the transporter pads and just suddenly blink out of existence scared the crap out of me. For some reason I didn't watch the rest of the episode then, and it was years before I found out what happened to those people after they vanished.
Maybe so, but it wasn't BORING. STUPID, maybe, but not boring. To make the worst list, in my book, it had to be a snoozer.
I wish people would not get so hung up on the male/female thing on Turnabout Intruder. The real story is about what happens when a person of authority is taken over, suborned, usurped, whatever, by some hostile or unworthy mentality. Not only is the mind, heart, and soul of the man (Kirk) who had rightfully earned and attained the captaincy forcibly ripped away from that, in danger of being shunted off somewhere to die in obscurity, but someone of positively criminal motives and clearly lacking "the temperament and training" for such a role is just as instantly installed as "captain" of the Enterprise. The real drama is how the underlings (Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov...) handle this terrible situation: They don't want to mutiny, but would it even really be mutiny to remove someone who after all really isn't the captain after all, despite superficial appearances? And the most stunningly and strikingly beautiful moment (probably in all of Star Trek in all of its incarnations even) is when pseudo-Kirk is shouting orders and then Sulu's and Chekov's hands just slide down their instrument panels and into their laps as they both sit there mutely refusing to follow the orders of the pseudo-Kirk. Imagine if one day every North Korean just woke up realizing that there is no reason to follow their tyrant Kim Jong-in just similarly need not be listened to. He could yell and jump and scream and no one would pay attention, unless to point and laugh at the silly comical little man with his little button. It really could be just that easy for tyranny to be toppled. I say that despite the flaws of a sexist Starfleet and the whole man/woman thing which is really just a distraction anyway (and so meant by its authors), this is in fact one of the very strongest episodes ever to emerge at least from the original series.
Kind of hard for people to ignore it when according to Nimoy, proving women aren't capable of handeling command was actually Roddenberry's goal with the episode and the sexist line was meant exactly as it sounded.
It's why Nimoy hated it.
Wow ...Obama/Trump comes to mind...
Here is the thing about turnabout intruders. It's basically terrible for most of it's runtime but out of nowhere it has three of my favorite scenes in the entire show. (McCoy and Scotty talking about mutnity, The whole crew standing up to Kirk even mentioning general order 4, and sulu and Chekov reufisng kirk's orders) So while most of it is garbage some of it is amazing.
I don't know how you didn't include "The Empath."
Another wretched one is the one where Spock goes crazy looking at the ugliest thing in the universe which sits in a box. Silly. There's a lot of ugly things out there. For instance, Bill Macy never went crazy looking at Bea Arthur, you know.
HaHaHaHaHa! Excellent!
I have to agree on the Medusan. The word ugly was really the wrong word from the get go, just something to fit a species that - really, do they call themselves "Medusan"? In the beginning they are described as being of pure energy, and rather than being too ugly, the form and visual of the being probably grossly overloaded the human optic nerve, bypassing the brain's reasoning and literally blowing a fuse in the cerebral cortex. If you look at it that way (ok don't look) it's actually kind of a cool episode. And the second time Diana Muldaur appeared as a doctor. She's always a doctor.
Derek Leaberry I thought that was an Outer Limits episode.
Let's judge people of the past based on modern political fem-speak, is the luxury of those who inherit a ready-made world without contribution.
YEAH..fem- speak does not belong on a classic fun show like Star Trek!....If you can't enjoy great classic TV...then don't watch it. .But don't bore everyone with political jargon.
The Alternative Factor is dumb, but it makes me and my dad laugh every time Lazarus yells "Captain, look out!" and then immediately falls off the cliff. 😆
Funny thing.... why on earth would an alien race able to do that kind of brain surgery want spoks brain in the first place? If they are that advanced they could have created a brain of their own.