Worst Star Trek (TOS) episode

[pokerfan]

Poll question: Worst Star Trek (TOS) episode

Catspaw: AKA The Halloween episode

Spectre of the Gun: AKA the Shootout at the OK Corral episode.

A Piece of the Action: AKA The gangster episode.

The Omega Glory: Blond "Yangs" fighting stereotypical asian "Khoms."

And the Children Shall Lead: Children under the control of an invisible alien take over the Enterprise.

Spock's Brain: Set cheese factor to 10.

The Way to Eden: Hippies. In Space! Yeah, brother.

[Bucky]

1. Just outa curiosity, did you have to look up these titles or do you have them memorized?

Anyway, the worst one was the episode Stephen King wrote where Scully goes alone into that Maine town taken over by that Satan girl.

[pokerfan]

4. I confess that I had to look them up

I only remembered them as the Halloween episode, the OK Corral episode, the Space Hippy episode, etc.

I am a bad Trekkie.

[TommyO]

2. There is only one correct answer to this poll

and I voted for it.

Brain and brain, what is brain?

[TZ]

8. Yes.

Stupidest ST ever! All episodes..

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. 'A Piece of the Action' was *funny*

"I would advise yas to keep dialin', Oxmyx!"







Oh — and what are the odds of getting a Royal Fizzbin? :shrug:

[pokerfan]

6. I can't believe I forgot about Fizzbin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpGw6wbSb4g

[Dr. Strange]

5. The Empath

[Sequoia]

12. I hated it as a kid and when it comes on I turn to another station.

That's ole Ronnie Reagan's first wife if I'm not mistaken.

[intheflow]

25. Nope.

Reagan was married to Jane Wyman. The woman who played the empath is Kathryn Hays. Wyman was never on Star Trek, though Jane Wyatt played Spock's mother in the original series.

[Sequoia]

31. Well, thanks for that. I thought it was ole Jane.

[Deja Q]

7. 'Omega Glory' is good until the American Flag/Constitution revealed on another planet...

Catspaw is THE worst.

Spectre of the Gun was nice and surreal.

Piece of the Action was mediocre at best; the worst "parallel earth" concept episode.

"And the children shall lead" is superficial but it is creepy.

Spock's Brain: "Brain brain what is brain!" Camp-driven...

Way to Eden: Has a couple good set-pieces.


But Catspaw is easily the least redeeming...

[pokerfan]

9. What was the one with Abraham Lincoln?

Where Kirk and Spock had to fight alongside their heros...

[Deja Q]

11. The Savage Curtain (1969, thirs or fourth from the final episode)

That one was a total rehash and devoid of ideas. Trite.

I sort of like the Lincoln stuff at the start, but once we get to mushroom-head monster that doesn't know about good or evil, it falls apart complete with all the cliches... maybe it was the last episode actually filmed; even "Turnabout Intruder" (the finale) has more energy and excitement going on.

[pokerfan]

15. That's it, thanks

:hi:

[baldguy]

14. Roddenberry actually believed he would win an Emmy for that one.

He was very proud of it.

[hedgehog]

17. You know, I voted for that one as the worst, but after considering

what super-patriots Bush and Cheney did to the Constitution, it is eerily prescient.

[trackfan]

10. Some of the ones in the poll are among my favorites.

I voted for "And the Children Shall Lead". That, and "Spectre of the Gun" are among my least favorite episodes. "The Omega Glory", "A Piece of the Action", and "Spock's Brain" are among my favorites. "Catspaw" is a middling episode. "The Way to Eden" has funny songs.

[baldguy]

13. The Turnabout Intruder

The Shat gets to play an insane, hysterical woman

[pokerfan]

18. Even better

He gets to play himself possessed by an insane, hysterical woman pretending to be himself. A tour de force for one of the greatest actors of our generation.

[intheflow]

23. Oh, yeah!

I was going to mention that one but I couldn't remember the episode title. The last episode that was filmed and the right pick for the last episode for a canceled tv program!

[Danger Mouse]

16. I vote for Spock's brain. By the far the worst, even though it is hilarious.

[intheflow]

22. That's what makes it sooooooooo not the worst!

"Brain and brain! What is brain?" :rofl:

That character was so unbelievably dippy, it was perfectly played by the actress!


http://vampjac.com.nyud.net:8090/lj/pulchritude/2008/Trek_TOS/TOS_Sheila_Leighton.jpg

[Orsino]

19. "Spock's Brain" is like THREE of the series worst episodes...

...wrapped up in one squishy bolus of suck.

[intheflow]

20. Piece of the Action and Spock's brain are two of my favorite episodes!

I'm crushed you'd include them in this "worst of" list. I voted for The Way to Eden (Yea, Brother!), but I'd also have to offer up "The Alternative Factor," which featured incredibly bad acting from the guy who went on to star in the tv show "Here Come the Brides."

[pokerfan]

21. Spock's Brain routinely tops these lists

In his memoir Star Trek: Memories, William Shatner called this one of the series' worst episodes. Leonard Nimoy, in his 1995 book I am Spock, writes that "frankly during the entire shooting of that episode, I was embarrassed--a feeling that overcame me many times during the final season of Star Trek." (wiki)

I blame the poor budget for many of these episodes, especially the third season. It's almost like the writers simply wandered around Paramount looking for sets they could use.

[blogslut]

24. I loved that episode!

Mostly because I thought Robert Brown was the handsomest actor EVAR. Fuck Bobby Sherman!

[TK421]

26. Amok Time! just the Kirk and Spock fight scene with the lirpa

[pokerfan]

28. The only episode where Spock demonstrated overt emotion

without being under the influence of drugs or traveling back in time (the ice age episode) which inexplicably caused him to unlearn logic and civilized behavior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6408JrvFNWc

[TK421]

30. Thanks for posting that link! I almost forgot.....

the funny thing is you really WANT to see a human empathy link between Kirk and Spock, but since Spock remains emotionless ( basically through the whole series ) it's a bit of gold dust

[Sky Masterson]

27. Herbert?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

32. "Leader of the band and drivin' the winnebago."

[Tom Kitten]

29. I'm suprised no one's mentioned "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"

The intent was good I'm sure but it didn't come across very well, a bit too heavy handed and obviously symbolic.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

33. I've always been torn between Spock's Brain and Spectre of the Gun

"Brain" because it was actively bad-- childishly inept crap that would get laughed at in a Saturday morning Sid and Marty Croft effort. "Gun" because it perfectly summed up the 'fuckit, we're out of money and we're gonna get canceled anyway' feel of the end of the last season.