Star Trek TOS Season 3: Why It's Better Than You Remember
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- Опубликовано: 11 май 2023
- The Target Audience watched every episode of Star Trek The Original Series Season 3 for the first time and are now discussing favorite episodes, moments & whether or not it is bad or actually great!
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It has been fun watching you discover and enjoy what Trekkers like myself have enjoyed for decades.
This what people do when new friends are made, you share what you like in the hope that they will like it too.
The Animated Series, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, Season 3 (only) of _'Picard'_ and the movies are still ahead of you.
You should skip the other modern junk that masquerades as Star Trek.
I genuinely hope you guys put the SciFi sitcom Red Dwarf on your list to react. 6 episodes for a season. Season 3 is where it takes off, but please start from the beginning!
Season 3 has some gems, and the Spock-McCoy friendship really cements.
I have to be honest, I haven't watched some of the season 3 episodes in years. Seeing them through the TA filter had me rethink some of my opinions.
Same here. Especially for "Is There in Truth No Beauty", "Elaan of Troyous" and "The Savage Curtain". Those three episodes went up a whole lot.
In no particular order, here are my favorites from Season 3: Is There in Truth No Beauty? Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. The Savage Curtain. All Our Yesterdays.
Tholian Web is one of my favorite episodes.
I was surprised when you guys didnt like it that much.
It's dark, it's mysterious, there's several plot threads, Shatner's gone for most of it. The whole episode feels like the crew is really in peril and Spock is so focused on trying to save it all he's more like a machine than ever.
Just a really tense and exciting episode. Also has an interesting "science fiction" element to the story. The idea of parallel universes was new and Star Trek went headfirst into it with this episode and Mirror, Mirror.
A well they would dip from for decades to come.
I agree. The Tholian Web episode was in my top ten TOS episodes period.
@@ericsinger2692 same. of course i love Plato's stepchildren.... so i have no credibility whatsoever
Alex: "the endings where I'm happy and they aren't are my favorite."
Boy, you are going to love Deep Space Nine.
My Top 5 of Season 3, in chronological order so I don't have to figure out how I'd rank them:
• The Enterprise Incident
• Day of the Dove
• The Tholian Web
• Wink of an Eye
• The Cloud Minders
I mostly find TOS romance to be pretty cringy, whereas you guys seem to favor episodes that prominently feature it, such as "Elaan of Troyius" and "The Lights of Zetar". Those are episodes I would rank towards the bottom of Season 3 (though not below tripe like "And the Children Shall Lead"). "Is There in Truth No Beauty" would also rank poorly. I feel like I'm half on the same page as you guys, and half reading an entirely different book.
TOS was trying to be a high concept scifi show while also being a serialized action-adventure story about exploration complete with romance & swashbuckling heros. For those of us who watched it as it aired back in the 60s there is a deep nostalgic affection for TOS as well as a "you had to be there" understanding of the cultural significance. It was very much a product of its time as are most pop culture artforms.
Back in the '80s i corresponded with Ian Wolfe, who played Mr Atoz in "All Our Yesterdays". Such a nice man. He sent me notes, postcards, autographed photos including one as Mr Atoz, and a book of poetry that he had co-authored "Somewhere, Sunrise". He had climbed quite a few mountains and was an expert in comparative religions. Fabulous actor and a wonderful man.
We should hear more about Ian Wolfe. My great uncle worked with him once, and I would have liked to know more about him.
Agreed. Season three is good. It has some of the weirdest episodes and those are the most memorable to me.
I really appreciate you guys....Im one of those kids from the "70's...that inadvertently memorized every line of this show.....it great to see it through fresh eyes
Season 3 overall is much better than it’s given credit for.
I am really looking forward the animated series. For a Saturday morning cartoon it was really good.
5. Spectre of the Gun
4. Is There In Truth No Beauty
3. The Enterprise Incident
2. All Our Yesterdays
1. Day of the Dove
I've never before watched this show and thought about it in the context of 'seasons'. When I was watching these in reruns as a kid, they'd just be random episodes. I certainly never knew nor cared about what season it was in, just if I liked the episode or not. So it's kind of weird to me now that fans seem to place so much importance about what season an episode is in. I'd rather judge each ep on its individual merit.
I've probably said it before, but if you like Star Trek, you MUST watch The Orville. My husband and I are on our 3rd watch through. Such a great show!
Instead of "worst," I would say "least great."
I’m in the middle of season 3 right now. Love the tholians. Whoever thought those up was insane.
Nice insight to Turnabout Intruder working as a callback to earlier episodes.
Asking which TOS season is the worst is like asking what part of a gourmet five course meal was the worst. It’s meaningless, all three seasons were great, despite some less than savory episodes
You want goofy, weird premises? Wait til you start watching "The Animated Series"! Everything is drawn, there were no physical constraints due to effects, props, makeup or budget. The writers could cut loose and go nuts - and so could the animators! And you'll be able to see this in the very first episode! They're not perfect by any means, but you can tell Roddenberry was pushing the limits for all it was worth!
I love the first episode when they beam onto a huge ancient alien ship and walk on it's outside hull in space.
That is actually why I didn't like the animated series. It went too far to make it unbelievable to the point of absurdity.
Let me see if I can summarize everything I love about you guys and the show. First, I love that you guys are open minded about a lot of the things some other audiences might find cheesy or outdated or even outmoded. The fact that you guys can kinda look past all of that and focus in on the story, the characters and 'the things that matter' (as subjective as that might sound). Also, and I've probably said this a number of times already, but the enthusiasm you guys bring. There's always joy that's infectious and super fun to watch.
Also, I love it that you guys don't necessarily like everything I like and vice versa (though there is a large overlap) b/c it gives me a chance to see someone else's perspective on what it is they like about something I'm meh on. Similarly, I like hearing criticisms of the things I do like. All of it gives me a chance at seeing what it is others are seeing that I may not be. I also don't get why people have this overriding compulsion to hate on someone else's likes. I mean, I may feel a bit defensive if someone starts tearing into my favorite things... but, I don't take glee or joy in going after someone else's preferences. It's like arguing that b/c I like apple pie, I'm going to take a poop on someone who prefers cherry pie... I... don't get it.
Anyway, thanks for this s3 review and looking forward to more!
Spectre of the Gun was art.
I'm an old Star Trek fan, and I wouldn't say that S3 was the worst. I don't think there is a worst season, just episodes that you may not like. For instance, while the first season lacks a lot of the chemistry and continuity we see in the later seasons, its rawness leads to less predictability, even in the cast. And MANY of the iconic episodes that I think of when I think of Star Trek occur in S3. As for the rest of the Star Trek world, I like the OG movies as an encore of the original series because I like the cast. I don't like any of the other Star Trek properties, even though Next Generation had some very well-written scripts around the middle years. None of the other groups of characters captured my attention like the original cast. It's not even close. 🖖
If I was trying to introduce someone to Star Trek, to give them a sense of it in one episode, "Spectre of the Gun" is the one I'd choose. And yes, you guys should watch "Tombstone." Not only is it a great movie, but it helps people who thought they didn't like westerns realize that the genre has appeal. I'm not saying that as advocate of westerns. It's more like introducing a friend to a new cuisine. If you know a restaurant that does a great job of it, and a special few dishes to try, that's where you want to take your friend. Definitely "Tombstone" as the first western.
And if you develop a taste, I'd suggest "Unforgiven" as the next course.
I just recently discovered a bit of Star Trek trivia. The salt vampire from the 1st season episode The Man Trap was played by a female stunt performer who appeared as a background Tolosian in the two part episode The Menagerie, but even more interesting is that she was also the blonde pigtail girl scout in the bar fight scene in the movie Airplane.
I just that was funny as hell.
In my opinion, it was only the fact that Star Trek had had two good seasons that a third season produced with deep budget cuts in a horrible time slot, along with outsiders serving as script editor and producer, that it was able to work. It worked because the cast and crew KNEW how to do their jobs, despite everything.
Leonard Nimoy says the same in one of his books.
Even bad Trek has good within it thanks to the hard work of the cast and crew. This is true of all series of Trek, and movies (even Star Trek V & Nemesis). Great reactions, looking forward to more.
I’ve genuinely never minded “And The Children Shall Lead”
Me neither. It’s an interesting examination of how charisma can drive nearly anyone, even children, to do wrong.
Growing up I didn’t know that season 3 was bad until I read it in the fanzines of the time. Angry writers interviews, upset actors. Some of my favorite episodes are in the third season. Plus the uniforms look better.
Season 3 was a good season especially considering that it was under so much pressure. It still had some of my favorite episodes.
Maybe it's because I grew up with Star Trek every weekend in syndication (where, back then, they didn't run them in any particular order), but I never thought of the series as seasons and so never ranked the seasons. In my head, the show consists of individual episodes; the vast majority of them being good, solid science fiction, with a few stand out favorites, and a few clunkers. Anyways, I think you gentlemen hit the nail on the head when you said that people enjoy watching other people react positively to things they themselves treasure. Thanks for letting us share these with you.
Great work on the series. When i was a young kid in the 60’s, my parents watched Star Trek but it came on too late for my brother and I to see it.
I became a big fan in the mid-70’s when it went into syndication.
My favorite little thing to do is to call out the episode title as quickly as possible after the teaser starts, like Name That Tune.
I think you guys were pretty great. You were thorough and mindful. Good job.
Great, love the third TOS series too, in no ways 'the worst'! Also agree with the Turnabout Intruder choice, know it gets a lot of stick for its supposed non PC-ness, but it's great camp, especially Kirk, and a great way to bow out! :)
Some have talked through the years bout how because of a more limited budget the producers were forced to have allot more shows on board ship instead of planet stories. Well to each his own. But l really preferred ship board stories myself. Especially one's where we got to see some new parts of the ship. And we got to see plenty of that in the third season. We got to see an arboretum for the first time in ls There In Truth No Beauty. We got to see the ship's "Life Support Center" for the first time in Wink of an Eye. We saw a new and enlarged recreation area in And The Children Shall Lead. And other examples. The reactor access tube also in That Which Survives l thought was another cool example. Although that was still mostly a planet bound episode. But for anyone yearning to see new parts of the ship we had never seen before the third season had to be very enjoyable! I love Elan of Troyious. And l love the Metropolis analogy in The Cloud Minders! And if you add and consider Star Trek Continues to be cannon (which I do myself regardless of what Paramount may say) and taking place from the end of the third season to the end of the five year mission, then the third season and it's "delayed conclusion" as I like to call it, Star Trek Continues, is certainly just as good if not better in some ways than the first two seasons! And for a show that had it's budget cut in some way's the third season had better special fx, and by that I mean the show's original fx, than the first two seasons!
STC so nailed the look, feel and sound of the original it's insane! Just 10 great eps that did not look fan made.❤❤❤
A good, accessible Western for non-enthusiasts is Silverado. An all-star cast with lots of familiar faces and a script that is engaging and fast-paced.
Alec and Josh loved this season bc of low expectations and expectations means a ton how we experience art (movies, tv, music or paintings)
My top 10 from this season are:
10 All Our Yesterdays
9 The Enterprise Incident
8 Spock's Brain
7 Wink of an Eye
6 That Which Survives
5 Turnabout Intruder
4 The Tholian Web
3 Spectre of the Gun
2 And the Children Shall Lead
1 Day of the Dove
I know that some of my top 10 are generally unpopular episodes with a lot of people. This is just my personal opinion.
@@jonbolton3376 Most of the ones on your list are on mine as well !
I would have substituted Lead for The Empath. Also Survives is rediculous but I still enjoyed it. It was so bad that DC Fontana took her name off it and used "Michael Richards".😮😮😮
Poor Fred Freiburger. He produced the third season of star trek and second season of space 1999. I think he did a good job with the material. I really like your comment about "outside information" dominating opinion. For the record, the Tholian web is my favorite episode.
"And the children shall lead" is a fine episode all the way around. As a kid I was surprised by the animosity others held against it. I assumed it was born out of envy, other kid-fans didn't like it because they saw kids on the Enterprise, and it wasn't them. "Day of the Dove" would have made my list.
BTW Ralph Senensky is still alive at 100. I too found a lot to like in episodes I'd dismissed earlier.
Totally agree on your #1 episode pick! It's mine too
Pretty sure I commented before that season three gets a bad rap. Like you guys, it has some of my favorite episodes. I enjoyed the video.
The cast of TOS continues with the animated episodes and the first 6 films. Looking forward to your reaction to those episodes.
If Character interactions were your favorite part of Star Trek, You guys are Really gonna Love The Next Generation & Deep Space 9
Since you have finished the series, it technically is All Our Yesterdays, now. Welcome to the club, yo.
I think they did the best they could with the reduced budget and having to mostly to stay on the Enterprise sets. Fred Freiberger to his credit, was a producer was very action oriented, having come from "The Wild Wild West". The season did have many stand outs. Having re-watched "All Our Yesterdays with you guys and remembering who the main Guest Star and her romance with Spock, makes me recommend the TV movie "Genesis II" even more now. All three seasons did find new audiences after its cancellation. No one was more surprised than Paramount Television when stations kept purchasing runs for a show of only 79 episodes! This what got NBC re-interested in the show, wondering how they could get a piece of this newfound Star Trek money.
Very happy you guys liked season 3. Back in mid 2000s I did a 100 favorite trek episode list for trekweb. The list was from all 5 series, and I was surprised that most of my favorite TOS episodes were from season 3. Keep this example in mind when there's mixed feelings for any movie or show. Such as Superman 3 gets tons of hate, but I like it better than Superman 2. As for my 100 favorites list... each series had around 20 excellent episodes... TOS, TNG, VOY, DS9 AND ENTERPRISE.
I think the problem with The Cloud Minders is just that Kirk had to drag the info about Pon Farr out of Spock with wild horses in Amok Time, yet Spock openly talks about it to this total stranger (a gorgeous total stranger, I'll give you that). Otherwise, it's a good episode.
You can't dodge a laser: you can't see it till it hits your eyeball :)
We as trekies or trekers, have a lot of baggage. I think you guys have come across this, and I admit I'm guilty. After decades of rewatching these, we have built up a bit of groupthink. "City on the Edge of Forever is the best", "The Empath is the worst". There is a podcast called Mission Log, that goes through each episode, but one thing that has influenced me more than anything else is that they say everyone's least favorite episode has people that think it's their favorite.
It's great to see someone that is entering the universe as a virgin see how it works. You've come up with unique takes on a 60-year-old show. You are now part of the collective. Your unique aspects will be absolved into the collective.(a joke you will get eventually as you get into the colecive)
"City on the Edge of Forever", while well-executed, was never going to be my favorite episode, because it revolves around going into Earth's past, which is not at all what I want from space opera. I want them exploring strange new worlds. "The Empath", while boring, isn't obnoxiously bad, so it was never going to be my least favorite. Maybe I'm just too opinionated, stubborn and disagreeable to go along with the consensus on the show.
Don't say Trekers .... Really!
@@jamesalexander5623 I prefer "Trekkist".
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 With "City" Have you read the graphic novel based on Ellison's version? It's worth a look. It's good, but was never in my favorites either. I would be hard-pressed to name my least favorite of TOS (I have a lot of love for Spock's Brain so what do I know).
My worst in season 3? A tie between And the Children Shall Lead and Platos Stepchildren. Plato was baffling because Myer Dolinsky wrote three pretty entertaining Outer Limits. I guess continuing characters just wasn't his thing.😮😮😮
Can't wait until you see the second movie. A+
And fourth movie!
@@sarahfullerton6894 The Hell You Say!
This has been a wonderful ride.
Looking forward to the rest of it 😀
If you like moments of the crew just sitting around a table and talking, then you're gonna LOVE Next Generation! LOL
In all serious, though, as others have already said-- watching it through the fresh eyes of new viewers has really elevated my opinion of season 3. It's maligned more than it deserves and I'm glad to have come around to it. I hope the detractors of the Animated Series will see the value of it, as well. Thanks, guys!
Some historical trivia (not meant as a criticism of TOS Season 3, which I also really like): Season 3 was the only season of the original Star Trek not to receive any nominations for the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo.
The Hugos were awarded by calendar year rather than TV season, so TOS’ nominations and wins were for 1966 and 1967, coming from Season 1 and the first half of Season 2. The TOS episodes from “The Gamesters of Triskelion” through “Elaan of Troyius” first aired in 1968. It made no difference what films or TV shows the World Science Fiction Convention nominated that year, since the winner was "2001: A Space Odyssey," the greatest science fiction film ever made, which would have been certain to win against any conceivable competition. For the record, the other four nominees were: “Fall Out,” the series finale of "The Prisoner," one of the TOS-era shows which various people have recommended you watch (and which, unlike TOS, has a “series finale” in the modern sense); "Charly," a feature film adaptation of the classic SF novel "Flowers for Algernon"; the film "Rosemary’s Baby"; and "Yellow Submarine," the animated feature starring the Beatles.
The final eleven TOS episodes, from “Whom Gods Destroy” through “Turnabout Intruder,” aired in 1969. The Hugo winner that year was one of the most unusual in the awards’ history: the news coverage of the Apollo 11 mission, which some might argue was not a “Dramatic Presentation” in any sense. The other nominees were the TV movie "The Immortal" and three feature films: "The Bed Sitting Room," a post-apocalyptic comedy based on a play of the same name; "The Illustrated Man." an anthology film based on Ray Bradbury’s short story collection of the same name; and "Marooned," a realistic astronaut drama which won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and, under the alternate title "Space Travelers," eventually became the first Oscar-winning movie featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Although "Marooned" is the only one of these films I have seen, 1969 seemingly was not a strong year for science fiction cinema, making Worldcon’s unusual choice of winner understandable.
NBC canceled TOS two episodes early, or, to put it another way, chose not to order the final two episodes of Season 3, which ran for only 24 episodes. Episode 25 would have been “The Joy Machine,” scripted by Meyer Dolinsky (writer of “Plato’s Stepchildren”) and based on a story outline from Season 2 by Theodore Sturgeon (“Shore Leave,” “Amok Time”). The story was an allegory about drug addiction (which TOS had previously addressed obliquely in “The Cage” and “This Side of Paradise”). William Shatner was going to direct the episode, which was already in pre-production when official word came down during the filming of “Turnabout Intruder” that NBC was canceling Star Trek. Sturgeon’s outline was yet another tragic love story for Kirk, but Dolinsky’s Season 3 script featured Scotty and McCoy. This would have lessened Shatner’s acting workload in the episode, making it an appropriate choice for him to direct. Science fiction author James E. Gunn novelized "The Joy Machine" in 1996, basing the book on Sturgeon’s original story outline, not the Dolinsky script.
Episode 26 would probably have been “The Godhead” by former TOS showrunner and frequent writer John Meredyth Lucas (the auteur of “Elaan of Troyius”), but might possibly have been “Shol,” an extremely depressing story by Darlene Hartman which she originally submitted during Season 2. Synopses of all three of these episodes are available at the Orion Press website. Either “The Godhead” or “Shol” would have ended TOS with one last “God” story, which might have been appropriate, in a way, but would probably have irritated Alex and Josh.
If NBC had renewed Star Trek for a fourth season, Margaret Armen, the writer of “The Gamesters of Triskelion” and “The Paradise Syndrome” and co-writer of “The Cloud Minders,” would have been Fred Freiberger’s choice as the show’s new story editor. Unfortunately, it would have been necessary for Season 4 to drop at least one regular cast member to save money, as would indeed happen on TAS, from which Walter Koenig is absent.
If you are looking for one-off reactions to do alongside "Buffy" between now and the start of TAS, I recommend the 2019 documentary "Apollo 11," featuring spectacularly cleaned-up footage from the defining event in the history of human space exploration, which occurred shortly after TOS’ cancellation.
A lot of great info there. Those stories sounded interesting and it's infuriating that we didn't get those two episodes, especially since Lost in Space, the more inferior show, got like what six more episodes for their season 3. It sounds like it would have redeemed Dolinsky since Plato was a totally absurd episode and he had previously written three pretty good Outer Limits episodes.😮😮😮
I think it's more consistency than quality. When it's good it's good, when it's bad it's really bad
You Guys Are Amazing!! Binge Watched all your shows. Brilliant Stuff. Can't wait for the next generation!!
You have never seen "The good, the bad and the ugly"? It's long but worth a watch.
If you like "All Our Yesterdays," a book picked up the story. Zarabeth has Spock's child.
I absolutely connect with you guys.
As a long time Trekkie, AND ex-pro wrestler, I have enjoyed your reactions, especially when you geek out on the Kirk bumps.
It's interesting to hear that some people were justifying their disliking of an episode by saying the writers or actors said they didn't like it after the fact. By that logic, The City on the Edge of Forever ought to be awful since Ellison hated the finished product so much.
There’s easily as much lore behind the scenes of this show. I was watching the first episode of a limited series called “The Captain’s Seat- 55 Years of Star Trek”. It would be an excellent reference for you to get up to speed.
I agree with most of what you said and enjoyed your review. In 1981, I chose "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" as my favourite episode for the whole series and it stayed for some time until I decided it's too difficult to have just one. Also, I made an evaluation of my own back then and decided 12 of the 24 episodes in the third season are either good or very good but the other 12 not so good or really awful. Since then, with maturity I've upgraded many of the not so good ones and there are just a handful (six in fact) I find difficult to watch: SB, MG, WEd, PSt, ACL, TI. Each has a redeeming quality of some kind.
In "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", McCoy has seen Miranda's medical records. He KNOWS that she's blind. It makes that whole "How can one so beautiful condemn herself to look upon ugliness the rest of her life?" line just savage from Bones!
If I recall she kept that secret as she had something around her neck that enabled her to see so makes sense she had used that to fool medical records so McCoy would not have known she was blind. I'm gonna rewatch episode but sure that's case.
Best of Season 3: Is There in Truth No Beauty/ The Enterprise Incident/ All Our Yesterdays/ The Tholian Web
The actress who played Miranda Jones in "Is there in truth no Beauty" shows up in season 2 of TNG.
She fit into the that crew like an old shoe. A real professional.
The Gorgon? Don’t get me wrong I do love the actress. But Dr. Polanski is about as appealing as colonoscopy preformed by an orangutan.
A very controversial addition. Some liked her. Many hated the person she played -- especially the way she treated a certain popular supporting character.
@@johnmackendrick5173 Supporting? By season 2 the show is centered around him and Stewart.
"Does this understand basic commands?" I would have said. Return to sick bay, Doctor.😮
I really hope u guys start the movies next? There r call backs to the original series too.
Perhaps the reason for the third season let down for some younger viewers at the time were the special effects, which were a major component of the charm (ground breaking for a TV series, maybe a couple of movies in the 50s had comparable special effects, such as Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds), but the third season defaulted to standard sets and FX with the lower budget, something like The Twilight Zone.
I ended up enjoying season 3 as well! I agree with your favorite episode too.. it’s been a fun ride.
On a side note.. I took some of the advice in your comment section and started watching Star Trek Continues. It took me an episode to really get tuned in, but wow.. it is very close to Trek and continues the story carrying the magic of TOS. I hope you guys watch it even if you don’t react to it.. but please share your thoughts if you do 🙂
Fun recap. I am an old, longtime Star Trek fan, and I think that Season 3 has some of my favorite episodes (e.g., the episode featuring the female Romulan commander). I had read some stories that the network executives wanted to get rid of the series, but I didn't know the details of budget cuts or conflicts with the stars or writers.
Perhaps you guys are right. “Worst” might be a little strong, and yes, you only have 3 seasons to go by. The quality definitely was lower though. Like Ive said before, to me, there are some gems. Also, this is an odd observation, but Im odd, so I’ll go with it….I prefer the 3rd season intro the best. I like the blue lettering more, and the original re-orchestrated theme. Im not talking about the re-mastered theme. Frankly, I dont like what they did. The opera singer is too in the forefront, and bombastic. It should be more of a muffled “oooooo” than belting the “ahhhh” that she does. If you can find a track of the ORIGINAL 3rd season theme, and compare it with seasons 1 and 2, its much more rhythmic, and has that what I can only describe as that 1950’s “UFO” sound. Anyway, great job as always. Instead of worst, maybe “weakest” might be a more accurate term?
Yeah, that sounds much better.
I'm with you on the blue letters
@@johnwhite5485 And I prefer the original S3 music with it with the Theremin instead of the voice to save money, but it also has a bit more rhythm. The 2 first notes then the marimba “ding”. I think the opera singer they hired did a good job, but it should have been an “ooooo” not an “ahhhh”, and a bit more in the background. Im such a nitpicker lol.
Well, I'm glad you both enjoyed the Third Season. To me, it will always be the season of "Herbert," "I am Abraham Lincoln," and "Brain and brain what is brain?" That doesn't affect my enjoyment of "Elaan of Troyius," or "Is There in Truth No Beauty." But this season simply had many episodes that the show would be more respected overall had they never aired. "The Cloud Minders" seems so muddled compared to the elegant "A Taste of Armageddon." "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield's" treatment of bigotry seems so clumsy compared to "Balance of Terror."
At least the Third Season provides Lower Decks plenty of things to riff off of. And hey, all the downplaying meant you two went in with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised!
This is by far my favorite channel of late. Great job guys. I've been a Star Trek fan since I was a kid, when the only Star Trek was the original series.
I'm not sure if you know this but Diana Muldaur, the guest actress in your favorite episode, is going to be a regular in season 2 of TNG.
When you get to The Next Generation just give season 1 a chance. It's uneven and sometimes cringy bad but it is an amazing series in total so forge ahead knowing it will get better.
Season 1 and 2 suck.
Gosh I hate to spam the comments section but I have to stop again and back up what Alex is saying about budget cuts not necessarily meaning a bad story.
Enterprise season 4 is its best season (to me, ranked second behind DS9 Seasons 4-7, which are essentially Peak Trek) and the budget was cut so drastically that on the Star Trek The Next Conversation podcast (which is done by 2 television writers) they were flabbergasted at how the show was even produced for the amount they were saying. So not just cut, but cut to a level 2 pros couldn’t even believe, and it produced the best season of the show.
Excellent job, fellas. I've enjoyed your work throughout. I probably won't be watching along for the animated series, because I don't think I could sit through it again. But when you start with the later stuff (1979+), I'll be there.
Good point about stuff being written about the show affecting its legacy; with a show like Star Trek TOS there is so much that has been said about it that the way it has been solidified in collective memory does not necessarily correspond 1:1 to what the show was like in reality. To give an example, many people have an idea of Cpt. Kirk as a brash and philanderous swashbuckler which I think is very exaggerated and does not accurately reflect the source material. What are your thoughts? Keep up the good work, guys!
They've completed TOS. Now just TAS, 13 movies, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Short Treks, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds and whatever upcoming shows and movies come out in the decade or so it takes them to go through those...
And hopefully Star Trek Continues
@@harrybroos5691 Well, if I start listing all the fan made stuff, novels, short stories, comics, video games and ancillary/inspired material it'd be cool to see them react to, we could be here all day. I do agree though that to me TAS feels like season 4 of TOS and Continues feels like season 5.
@@dupersuper1938 I think Josh and Alex would really be blown away by Continues
Also Star Trek Legacy (go Terri Matalis) and Starfleet Academy (boo Alex Kurtzman)😮😮😮
How about fan made trek New voyages too
I appreciate how season three was a little weirder, a little trippier, and willing to try some new things. For instance, in the first couple of seasons, very few episodes deal with the Enterprise visiting advanced planets and interacting with their cultures, A Taste of Armageddon and maybe a few others, the focus back then was on more primitive worlds, but in season three there are several of these. Sure, there are the requisite Earth parallels, but they are balanced out by these other episodes. Fred Freiberger was no Gene Roddenberry or L. Coon but he did have some good ideas. But he also, apparently, really liked romantic interests, and there were just too d**n many, every other week it seems like. Sometimes the melodrama works. For instance, Is There In Truth No Beauty is almost like a Douglas Sirk film in outer space. But a lot of times it didn't, and did grow a little tiresome. Bottom line, season three doesn't have any of my very favorite episodes, but it does have several that I like quite a bit, and on the whole is quite entertaining. Glad you guys didn't listen to the hype and arrived at your own conclusions.
I think CBS had them slotted at 10pm in the third season. A lot of fans lost touch with the show, until after it was cancelled and went into syndication. Then it was shown nightly at dinner time, and everyone watched it. The third season wasn't much different than the first two seasons, but ratings dropped because of its time slot.
Grew up on a constant flow of TOS. Never really Knew, paid attention or cared about what season an episode came from.
The problem with season 3 is that the budget and production issues were limiting the ambition and ability to realise the stories. Moving back to season one makes this clear, while watching in sequence masks this to a degree. 'The Cloud Miners' is an interesting script that needed a season 1 budget to achieve its potential. Too many scripts were forced to fall back on the Enterprise sets. The engine room of the Romulan Warbird is so small, the missing cloaking device doesn't require the Romulans to have to turn around to spot when they enter. They should see it immediately.
I’ve been watching these out of order for so long (decades) that I thought the one about Lazarus was one of those terrible third season episodes!
I never said season three was bad.
Aww, damn. They’re _clearly_ back to shooting this couch in two different rooms.
"Requiem for Methuselah" and "Specter of the Gun" are the two best of the season. Your number one, "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" is one of my least favorites.
I cannot add much to the comments on how fun it has been sharing this series with you. I can recommend a western series that Josh may like, Brisco County Junior. You can't go to far wrong with Bruce Campbell in the lead.
I can’t believe Day of the Dove didn’t make the list.
I started watching TOS as re-runs in the late 70s/early 80s. So, I've never seen them in broadcast order and until later had no idea what season was what. Its a different experience I suppose. As for the season 3 my least favorite is probably the hippie episode.
I like the heavy use of those cool Enterprise sets in Season 3. I like the new music cues. The comedy element of Season 2 was interestingly toned down. You can feel the series transitioning out of the '60's. Love S3.
I averaged the orders of the various TOS episode rankings I found online, and this is the totality of what I came up with:
1. The City on the Edge of Forever
2. Mirror, Mirror
3. Balance of Terror
4. Space Seed
5. Amok Time
6. Arena
7. Journey to Babel
8. The Devil in the Dark
9. The Trouble with Tribbles
10. The Doomsday Machine
11. The Enterprise Incident
12. The Galileo Seven
13. A Taste of Armageddon
14. Where No Man Has Gone Before
15. The Menagerie
16. Errand of Mercy
17. A Piece of the Action
18. The Enemy Within
19. The Tholian Web
20. The Corbomite Maneuver
21. The Conscience of the King
22. The Naked Time
23. All Our Yesterdays
24. Charlie X
25. Tomorrow Is Yesterday
26. Court Martial
27. The Changeling
28. The Apple
29. The Immunity Syndrome
30. Who Mourns for Adonais?
31. Metamorphosis
32. The Return of the Archons
33. Day of the Dove
34. Dagger of the Mind
35. Assignment: Earth
36. I, Mudd
37. A Private Little War
38. By Any Other Name
39. The Cloud Minders
40. Operation: Annihilate!
41. Wink of an Eye
42. The Ultimate Computer
43. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
44. The Deadly Years
45. Spectre of the Gun
46. The Squire of Gothos
47. That Which Survives
48. This Side of Paradise
49. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
50. Friday's Child
51. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
52. Shore Leave
53. Obsession
54. Patterns of Force
55. Return to Tomorrow
56. The Savage Curtain
57. Catspaw
58. Requiem for Methuselah
59. Whom Gods Destroy
60. Wolf in the Fold
61. Bread and Circuses
62. The Gamesters of Triskelion
63. Plato's Stepchildren
64. The Empath
65. The Man Trap
66. And the Children Shall Lead
67. The Omega Glory
68. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
69. The Paradise Syndrome
70. Elaan of Troyius
71. Mudd's Women
72. The Lights of Zetar
73. Miri
74. Spock's Brain
75. The Mark of Gideon
76. The Way to Eden
77. The Alternative Factor
78. Turnabout Intruder
While there are some things I definitely dispute, I generally agree with the list overall.
Interesting! The only head scratcher for me is #66 Children Shall Lead. It's always been my very least favorite. Actually, Miri at 73 shocks me. I love that episode.
@@daniel385 "And the Children Shall Lead" is certainly one of the worst episodes.I can't say I'm a fan of "Miri" though (but I'll certainly take it over "And the Children Shall Lead"). While I wouldn't pick "Turnabout Intruder" as one of my favorites, I don't think it's nearly as bad as listed, and it certainly doesn't deserve to be in last place. I'd put "Friday's Child" and "Wink of an Eye" a decent bit higher, though the former is only slightly low in the ranking, and the latter middling. I kind of hate "Shore Leave", so I would move it from being slightly low to very low. I'm not as fond of "City on the Edge" or "Space Seed" as everybody else is, so I'd bump those down a decent bit, though they'd both still finish significantly above average. "The Doomsday Machine" would be moved from #10 to #1, because come on. And I think those are most of the obvious ones I'd change. Oh, I'd bump "Spocks Brain" up a bit. I think that one's kind of fun, so I'd probably give it a slightly low ranking rather than a very low one.
Doomsday is probably the most perfect ep of Trek. There isn't a wasted moment in any minute of that hour.😮😮😮
@@nunyabizness6595 It really is fantastic.
The Enterprise Incident.
That’s why it’s better than you remember, or at least reason 1
You guys have made me re-examine a lot of episodes I thought I hated, but I still can't rock with Turnabout Intruder man... Sorry Josh
I think you can determine which season is worse by how many episodes you dislike in season, cuz most of the episodes are good or great
There are many great episode ideas in Season 3, they just weren't properly developed. But a lot still turned out OK
I hated this season as a kid but when I watched them a few years back as an adult I was surprised to find out I enjoyed most of them. There were 4 or 5 clunkers. But my least favorite season of any Star Trek has to be season 1 of TNG, which I also just watched this past year.
Yeah, I remember waiting a long time for TNG to get better.
Whilst I disagree with lots of your choices I totally love your reasoning of your likes.
The Dark Knight trilogy analogy is perfect. The Dark Knight Rises was definitely not as "good" as the first two movies, but it isn't "bad". I did a full series rewatch of ST:TNG during COVID and Season 1 of that was significantly better than I remember despite the negative press it gets. Are the later seasons "better"? Yes. Is it "bad"? No.
There were quite a few episodes in season 3 that tie directly into the movies & future TV shows. Like let that be your last battle field & the tholian web. The latter ties right into an enterprise episode in a mirror darkly. One of the best enterprise episodes.
Wow, your top fives are always surprising
Season 3 has some gems like let this be your last battlefield and the tholian web it did have its big turkeys like turnaround intruder and elaan of troyias so looking forward to your take on the animated show