WIN THIS BOOK: Star Trek: The Original Series 365
40 Comments | Posted: August 25th, 2010 | Filed under: Contests, Star Trek
The gang at Abrams figured I was an easy mark for some positive coverage of this book and sent me a copy of Star Trek: The Original Series 365, a nicely-designed look at the original series that covers each episode of the original Star Trek series while including behind-the-scenes information and a well-curated selection of photographs and stills, many of which I’d never seen before. It’s not nearly as gossipy as Inside Star Trek or as nitpicky as the many, many fan-written guides out there and is a better book for its choices. Block and Erdmann’s book is perfect for the casual fan that just wants a nice guide for the series and meaty enough for guys (read: losers) like me.
In order to help spread the good word, Abrams sent me a spare copy to give away. Want to get a chance to win it? From now until 11:59PM ET on Sunday, August 29, just leave a comment with your favorite episode that is not “City On The Edge Of Forever” or “The Trouble With Tribbles.” If you want, tell us why. I’ll use Random.org to pick a winner. Please note that you must use a valid email address when entering or I won’t be able to inform you of your winningness and because of the book’s weight, I won’t be shipping it outside of the United States.
“Devil in the Dark.” It’s a cool sci-fi premise, it’s got some laughably low-budget effects, and it has Nimoy hamming up “PAIN” like nobody’s business. In other words, it combines the good with the so-bad-it’s-awesome as well as any other Star Trek episode.
“Amok Time!” Explores the Spock/Kirk relationship, the Vulcan culture, and has that awesome fight scene with those awesome sticks with awesome things on both of their awesome ends.
plus, the music.
BALANCE OF TERROR, motherfucker. It’s like Wrath of Khan in its “basically a really awesome submarine movie, but set in space”-ness.
It’s a tie between Miri and Catspaw
“Balance of Terror” was a great sci-fi version of a WWII sub hunt. And it had Mark Leonard as a Romulan before he became Sarek.
There was an episode featuring a hunter-gatherer society governed by a sacred text that only its leader was allowed to read from. It turned out to be the United States Constitution. It was a great idea, and at the time quite a new one to me, with the added bonus of hearing Shatner say “We the people” as only he could.
I can’t pick “Trouble With Tribbles”?!? Oh, man…
Well, I suppose then my second-favorite episode would be “I, Mudd,” because… hey, it’s got Harry Mudd in it!
So hard to choose. Today I will pick The Doomsday Machine, for the over-the-top hysterics of WIlliam Windom, the absolutely iconic music by Sol Kaplan and the wonderful moments of Kirk waiting to be transported home at episode’s end. Truly a delight. Maybe I’ll go watch it right now…
The Squire of Gothos. Because for all of the annoyance people can have about how many god-like beings Star Trek has, the Squire of Gothos shows how to do it right. Make them memorable, and provide realistic limitations that aren’t about limiting a limitless power, but making them Alien and struggling to understand more limited species, whatever the reason. That’s not the only good approach, but it’s the one that’s the most entertaining in the original series.
I’ve always had a soft spot for The Savage Curtain because, come on, Space Lincoln, but my favorite will always be Mirror, Mirror. Gotta love evil alternate universes, what with their agony booths, dangerous Sulus, and, yeah, Spock beards.
‘Mirror, Mirror’ easily. The choices in evil fashion alone makes it a classic.
“Shore Leave.” I like my Star Trek with a big dose of silly.
Arena. Even if Mythbusters disproved his makeshift weapon, Kirk was in rare form and had an actual character arc.
Naked Time. I have huge hunks of the dialogue memorized because I recorded it onto a cassette tape and played it continuously one week when I was home sick from school. There were no VCRs or TiVo then, because I am old.
Balance of Terror. Because it’s a nice war drama.
“Mirror Mirror”.
Two words:
Goateed Spock.
“The Paradise Syndrome”
I…AM…KIROK!
Arena all the way, cause Kirk blows shit up!!!!
I’m the “casual fan” here — never been a huge Trek fan, but have found the Paula Block-Terry Erdmann books on the series a pure delight. Their appreciation for the subject is contagious.
Well done.
Hmmm. Tough choice. Let’s say “The Devil In The Dark”, just because it was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw.
I feel kinda me-too on this, but my favorite is also Devil in the Dark. Solid suspense, solid premise, solid sci-fi.
“Mudd’s Women”
I love the character of Harry Mudd, despite his dubious morality. I just love the fact that this episode introduces us to characters existing that are outside of the Federation and the utopia that Star Trek creates. The existence of conartists in the universe gives it a bit more depth and realism.
“Arena” Yeah, there may be better episodes out there (there are), but this is, like, the quintessential Star Trek episode besides the one’s being excluded. Even non-fans usually know the Gorn and the basic fight.
The story was also riffed on to great effect in Futurama.
No single one is sticking out in my mind, but I’ll go with “A Taste of Armageddon” since I saw it the other night and it was pretty great.
“What Little Girls Are Made Of” It’s always been one of my favorites. It’s written by Robert Bloch who wrote the original Psycho novel. So you get a little creepy horror vibe along with a kind of detective mystery feel to it. You have to love Ted Cassidy as Ruk tossing macho Kirk around like a rag doll.
“Spectre of the Gun” The original cowboys and aliens. Plus I love the scene where they try their best to make a non-lethal anesthetic grenade only to discover “science works differently here.”
Operation: Annihilate!
Not only does it have way too much punctuation for an episode title, it also is chock full of “phasers killing flying pieces of fake vomit” action. More like “Operation: AnnihiLOLate!!!!!1!11!”
Ugh. Did I really debase myself by typing that? It would appear so.
I’ve been missing watching Andorians, so I’ll go with Journey to Babel.
“The Menagerie”. How can anyone not love Captain Pike? Even if he is confined to a beeping chair.
“The Enterprise Incident.” That episode is so packed with everything…!
I have to say “Balance of Terror” as well. Submarine combat in space!
Tie between ‘Mirror, Mirror’ and ‘I, Mudd.’ The Mirror Universe and Harry Mudd were both awesome. I bet a Mirror version of Harry would’ve been fun…
The Corbomite Maneuver: McCoy put Kirk on a salad diet. Kirk lies to a child and saves the day.
I’m going to say one that I’ve never forgotten–”By Any Other Name”. This is the one where the aliens turned the crew into little blocks. I happened to see this on its first showing, and when the lead bad guy crushed the one into dust, it freaked me out so badly that my father had to change channels. Never forgotten that.
“Space Seed.” Kirk and Khan are two alpha dogs circling each other for nearly the entire thing, and clash in a far superior manner than in Wrath of Khan.
My Favorite episode is the Galileo Seven.
I loved the use of the shuttle and the drama on the planet.
I was going to give a joke answer (or pick an animated episode), but it occurs to me this is a good time to show my love for “The Empath,” which has a dandy focus on McCoy (my favorite character) as well as the best in-series examination of the unusual but unbreakable friendship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (at least until the movies).
Which also reminds me: Why does Star Trek V gotta have all the great Kirk, Spock, and McCoy moments…especially at the end…heaped on top of all that crap? There’s a wonderful two and a half minutes worth everyone’s viewing in that movie.
The Menagerie, because Captain Pike… hubba, hubba.
“Balance of Terror.” It introduces the Romulans, who always seemed a more legitimate, existential threat to the Federation than the overly theatrical Klingons. It shows off Kirk’s oft-spoken of, but rarely seen tactical prowess, highlights Spock’s isolation, even in the (relatively, for the time) diverse Star Fleet, and creates a tremendous amount of tension which is resolved with a satisfying, but thoughtful, and somewhat ambivalent ending.
The Tholian Web. I love the Tholians themselves- some of the most alien aliens Trek has ever had- and the story balances a bunch of neat plot elements together.