1966 WEEK: Celebrating the Original Series’ debut on Sep. 8, 1966, with a survey of 13 Trek experts…
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Welcome to 1966 WEEK — a 60th anniversary celebration of an extraordinary, landmark year in popular culture. For seven days, we’re bringing you a whole host of features on everything from Star Trek, to Batman, to the Beatles, to the Monkees, and much, much more. (Just check out Walt Grogan’s latest fab banner, above!) Click here for more of the far out fun! — Dan
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Star Trek — or Star Trek: The Original Series, if you absolutely insist — debuted 60 years ago, on Sept. 8, 1966, and to celebrate, we’ve commissioned a poll to determine the TOP 13 STAR TREK EPISODES — RANKED.
A decade ago, we ran a similar ranking, but it’s one I did on my own. Not only have I re-done my own picks, I’ve invited a bridge full of Trek experts to join in the fun.
Who are they? Writer Dayton Ward, who has written or co-written 32 standalone Trek books; James Cawley, the owner and operator of the official Star Trek: Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, N.Y., Rich Handley, a prolific Trek and pop culture historian who, among many other things, was the editor of Eaglemoss’ Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection; Bob Greenberger, another prolific pop culture historian with substantial Trekspertise, and the editor of DC’s 1980s Star Trek comics series.
Then, there are the 13th Dimensioneers who are Star Trek devotees, like Scott Tipton, writer of IDW’s various Star Trek books, whose best-known work is adapting (with his brother David and artist J.K. Woodward) Harlan Ellison’s original The City on the Edge of Forever teleplay as a graphic novel; Jim Beard, editor of Galloping Around the Cosmos, a collection of Trek essays; Peter Bosch; Chris Franklin; Franco; Walt Grogan, who did both of those banners above; and recurring cast member Fred Van Lente, who has a fantastic new COMIC BOOK DEATH MATCH for you, pitting Gold Key’s Star Trek against DC’s and Marvel’s.
Rounding out the crew, and making it a family affair, are myself and my son Sam Greenfield. We’ve watched the show together since he was a kid.
That makes 13 of us!
Each voter submitted a weighted ballot: top choice gets 13 points, second choice gets 12, and so on. The commentary below is mostly my own, though each voter chimes in when their top pick comes up. (My 2016 and 2026 votes are posted in the comments.) Dayton Ward couldn’t resist and did a full column outlining his selections. It’s a must-read and you can check it out over at his blog, The Fog of Ward.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! To give you a full view of the voting, click here for THE BEST OF THE REST, including a list of eps that didn’t garner a single vote!
And now, to the poll! Here are the TOP 13 STAR TREK EPISODES – RANKED:
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13. The Enemy Within (Season 1, 29 Points). Beat out Shore Leave for 13th on the list. Neither were on my ballot, but on a personal level, I’d go with The Enemy Within between the two for three basic reasons: 1) Epic William Shatner hammery. 2) The raging unicorn lap dog. 3) Shatner’s reference to it in the classic Saturday Night Live “Get a Life” skit.
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12. The Cage (First Pilot, 31 Points). Rich Handley topped his list with this one. Here’s his argument: “Without Desilu greenlighting The Cage, there would be no Star Trek, and without Jeffrey Hunter there would be no Christopher Pike. Without this timeless story’s brilliant acting, writing, directing, music, effects, costuming, and cinematography, the franchise simply would not exist. It is immortal and it resonates in every single spinoff to date, giving us not only Pike, Spock, and Number One, but also Talosians, Orions, Vulcans, aliens testing humanity, transporters, phasers, cerebral storytelling with a profound message, you name it — at its core, The Cage is the purest statement of Gene Roddenberry’s original vision.”
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11. The Devil in the Dark (Season 1, 39 Points). A personal favorite of mine. (I have a thing about adventurers in caves.) Bob Greenberger picked it No. 1: “One of the strongest recurring themes in the best of Star Trek is that mankind has a fear of the unknown, and we’re shown that often the fear is unfounded. This is the strongest of those offerings, given the inhuman alien appearance and the use of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy collaborating to resolve the problem.”
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10. Arena (Season 1, 40 Points). A highly entertaining intersection of Star Trek drama, action and cheesiness, as well as the continuing theme that we’re mere bugs in the grand, universal scheme of things. Dayton Ward (reluctantly) made this his No. 1 pick: “Among my earliest recollections of watching reruns of the original series in the early-mid 1970s is Captain Kirk’s classic battle against the Gorn commander. When I was 7 or 8 years old, the action and fight scenes, along with Kirk outwitting his opponent, were the big draw.
“But as I grew older, I began to understand the story behind my favorite bits, along with the questions the script posed. This was far more than William Shatner fighting Bobby Clark and his rubber lizard suit. While I tend to resist picking a single personal favorite episode, this one’s definitely in the running if my back’s ever up against the wall.”
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9. The Doomsday Machine (Season 2, 43 Points). The antecedent to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, held together by William Windom’s unhinged, interstellar Captain Ahab/Captain Queeg analogue. You sympathize with his raging frustration — as illogical as it is — at the same time you’re appalled by his gross negligence. His ultimate sacrifice is made more potent when you recognize — in his only appearance — how respected Matt Decker was, what he was reduced to, and what he gave up in the end. Ground soundtrack too. Also offers one of Spock’s greatest comebacks: “Vulcans never bluff.”
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8. Journey to Babel (Season 2, 51 Points). I’m a huge fan of this episode, and placed it at No. 4. I’m glad it got the support it did from my fellow voters, but still wish it had ended up higher. The episode works on three distinct, yet interwoven, levels, and what’s most important to you depends on your perspective.
It just might be the best Star Trek world-building episode, a prime-grade showcase of what the Federation is, how it works, its politics, and the various, often cantankerous and unseemly species that make it up. Along with Amok Time, it’s also a seminal episode in showing who Spock is, and establishes his relationship with his parents, a storyline that would pay off again and again, for decades to come. Finally, it’s a cracking good suspense thriller and mystery. With all the colorful characters running around on the Enterprise, Captain Kirk still plays a central role in getting to the bottom of it all — while playing the sweaty hero at the same time.
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7. A Piece of the Action (Season 2, 59 Points). When I was tallying the votes, I was so happy this episode got as much support as it did. I always had the feeling it was more of cult favorite at the U.S.S. Greenfield, as opposed to an episode with widespread love. I had this at No. 8, up from No. 9 a decade ago, and I’m really proud to see that my fellow voters went even harder for it.
Here’s part of what I wrote in 2016: “A Piece of the Action is pure comedy, a superb example of Star Trek’s satirical chops and an episode that is in some ways superior to the more famous The Trouble With Tribbles. This is a Kirk and Spock showcase, with William Shatner’s slow burn and Leonard Nimoy’s befuddled bemusement leading to funnier and funnier payoffs as the episode barrels along. The highlight, of course, is Kirk’s game of Fizzbin — and his exhortation, ‘How lucky you are! How wonderful for you!’ to one of the hapless henchmen before all hell breaks loose. (Spock’s wordless reactions are priceless too.)”
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6. The Trouble With Tribbles (Season 2, 73 Points). Despite my misgivings, I voted this one spot higher than A Piece of the Action, not because I think it’s a better episode (though it’s close), but because I recognize its place in Trek lore, and you can’t discount that. That said, a number of voters left it off their ballots completely, with one calling it “overrated.” That’s probably true in the purest sense: I think a lot of voters (here and elsewhere) place this on their Top Whatever lists reflexively, because it’s what you do. Between those two schools of thoughts, though, The Trouble With Tribbles ends up where it belongs — in the middle of the list.
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5. Space Seed (Season 1, 80 Points). Here’s a question for you: Is Space Seed a great episode strictly on its merits, or is it much better in hindsight because of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? I have a hard time answering the question myself, which means its probably the former. Sam Greenfield has no such qualms, picking it No. 1: “The writers of the show didn’t know it yet, but through this episode they ended up establishing the foundations for the best Star Trek film of all time. Montalban is electric as he always was and Khan is still the greatest Trek villain to date.”
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4. Amok Time (Season 2, 87 Points). We band of brothers. My chart-topper and I haven’t changed my thinking since the last poll. Here’s what I wrote then, edited ever so slightly: “What’s the point of Star Trek? The action? The science? The optimism? The trippy aliens? The exotic locales? The social awareness? The kitschy production values? Sure, all of that. All of that made Gene Roddenberry’s vision work in 1966 and 2016. (And 2026.) But nowhere do all those things crystallize better than in the abiding friendship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. They are the heart of Star Trek and the heart of its greatest episode, Amok Time.
“Amok Time is an episode in two acts, with a slow build-up that’s more psychodrama than space-faring adventure. Spock, the man of logic, has lost his mind. McCoy, the man of passion, succeeds in convincing Kirk of the seriousness of the situation. Kirk, the man of action, does what he has done so many other times: breaks the rules — not to save his crew or the Federation this time, but his friend.
“The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.”
There’s a lot more to consider with this classic and you can click here to really get into it.
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3. Balance of Terror (Season 1, 96 Points). Says Fred Van Lente, who voted it ahead of the class: “The neo-submarine cat-and-mouse of it all, yes. Mark Lenard’s terrific turn as the Romulan captain, yes. The xenophobia against Spock by some of the freaked-out crew, sure. But what really sets this episode apart from all others is the brilliant frame of the wedding of two characters we’ve never heard of before turning so movingly tragic by the end. Rarely has the human cost of Enterprise’s five-year mission ever been so poignantly explored.”
Balance of Terror is in many ways the best of the Original Series and I was exceptionally pleased to see it remade on Strange New Worlds, as a way to show the differences between Kirk and Pike — and to explain why Kirk is the greatest of all Starfleet captains. A brilliant episode that never gets old and never has a dull moment.
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2. Mirror, Mirror (Season 2, 98 Points). Walt Grogan, who led his Top 13 with it: “You just can’t beat a parallel universe story and having read DC Comics’ JLA/JSA team-ups before this, I was all in! I loved all the subtle and not-so-subtle changes and the subterfuge!”
When it comes down to it, Mirror, Mirror is probably the single most entertaining episode of the entire series, from the opening shot to the final credits. Riveting and even intoxicating. The only reason I don’t put it at the top is because it’s essentially a deconstruction and it works as well as it does because of all that’s been established before it. So a strong No. 2, for sure.
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1. The City on the Edge of Forever (Season 1, 100 Points.) Chris Franklin put it No. 1: “It’s not only the greatest episode of the original series, it’s one of the best episodes of television, period. And I’m talking about the episode AS produced, written by Harlan Ellison, but with revisions by Genes Roddenberry and Coon, and D.C. Fontana. Having chosen to save his reality and let his love die, Kirk’s censor-busting “Let’s get the hell out of here” never fails to give me chills. Franco concurs: “Written by Harlan Ellison (who yelled at me once! That was awesome!) A love story. A tragedy. Just a well-told story.” And Scott Tipton, who, as I noted above, helped adapt Ellison’s original vision as a graphic novel for IDW: “How could it be anything else? Harlan Ellison’s heartbreaking tale of a love that could change the course of history, and the choice James Kirk made that cost him everything.”
An unsurprising pick, to be sure. Not dissimilar to The Trouble With Tribbles, it’s like every time Stairway to Heaven tops a classic-rock radio survey: It just is. Two contrarians left it off their ballots completely, which just shows you how strong this episode is that it still ended up at the top. (For my part, I had it at No. 6.)
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We’re not done yet! Click here for the BEST OF THE REST.
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MORE
— The Complete 1966 WEEK INDEX of Features. Click here.
— The TOP 13 STAR TREK Episodes: THE BEST OF THE REST. Click here.
— COMIC BOOK DEATH MATCH: Gold Key’s STAR TREK vs. Marvel’s STAR TREK vs. DC’s STAR TREK. Click here.
