I’ve written before about the very first film I ever saw and realized was telling a story, Duel, waaaay back when it probably originally aired (or very shortly thereafter) in 1971.

It still amazes me that it would be a Steven Spielberg film (his first huge success, too) that ushered in my understanding and love of movies.  (In those pre-internet days, it wouldn’t be until maybe 10 years later, in the early 1980’s, when I got a chance to see the film again and was stunned to realize Duel was directed by Mr. Spielberg!).

But what got me into science fiction, and perhaps into television in general, was the original Star Trek series.  Like with Duel, I distinctly remember the first Star Trek episode I saw.  Turned out, it was the first one originally aired, as well, though when I first saw it the show was already at least 2-3 years post-cancellation…

While I’m certain anyone who sees the episode today will probably not find it all that scary, for me back then -and I couldn’t have been much more than 6 years old when I first saw it- it scared the hell out of me.

There was something so creepy about the alien killer and the way it left its victims that, to this day, still strikes a nerve.

Over the years, I managed to catch all the episodes of the original series.  While I still like The Man Trap, my favorite episode of the original 3 year run is this one…

It had it all: Suspense, terror, a formidable (and seemingly indestructible) villain, and what was the episodes coup de grace: the badly damaged starship U.S.S. Constellation.

Why was the ship so important?

Because it was essentially a “sister” ship to the Enterprise and by showing it mauled and clearly at the losing end of a fierce fight, viewers instantly knew the danger the Enterprise faced was a damned serious one.

That alone. however, didn’t make the episode such a standout.  The fact is the director Marc Daniels and the screenplay by Norman Spinrad, along with the usual great acting from the cast and crew, make this episode my favorite.

Interestingly, actor William Windom, who played the Constellation’s Captain Decker, stated he didn’t enjoy working on the episode because at the time the relationship between William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy was tense which meant the entire set was tense and, further, he also felt the script was silly.

I’m always fascinated with behind the scene stories like these.  What to the viewer may be an impeccably delivered entertainment may be something very different to those who actually participated in it and it would seem this may have been the case, at least in Mr. Windom’s eyes, as the episode was being made.

Regardless, I love The Doomsday Machine and, in honor of Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary, offer a few more of my all time favorite original Star Trek episodes.  I’ll try to stick to ones that aren’t super-well known to everyone, though I did just that with the first one listed (oh well).

If you’ve never seen the series, you can do no wrong with the two mentioned above and the 4 (5 if you count the two-parter) mentioned below:

City on the Edge of Forever

This episode was written by noted sci-fi author Harlan Ellison but changes were made which left him bitter about the final product.  If you’re interested in reading the original script, it is available for purchase…

Having read it and as an author myself, I’m in the rather uncomfortable position of saying…the TV episode was better.  Some of Mr. Ellison’s complaints regarding the changes made are logical (he was bitterly unhappy with the idea of Dr. McCoy “accidentally” injecting himself) but the scripted work, while certainly carrying everything that made the episode itself memorable, also went on some other tangents (there was drug dealing in the Enterprise!) which I didn’t care for.

See the episode and read the script and decide for yourself!

A Piece of the Action

What I liked so much about Star Trek is that from episode to episode you weren’t sure what you were going to get.  While The Doomsday Machine and City on the Edge of Forever were suspenseful dramas, the show would feature a good sampling of outright comedic episodes.  Many consider The Trouble With Tribbles the best of these comedic episodes (and its a damn good one, too), but I really enjoyed, indeed may well have laughed even more, at A Piece of the Action.  This episode featured Kirk and company beaming down to a planet whose population has for reasons unknown (its part of the episode’s mystery) adopted a 1930’s era “gangster” look and tommyguns and gangland murders are the norm.

You wouldn’t think such a setting would be good for comedy but the creators of this episode turn the potentially fearsome setting into one of great hilarity as Kirk and his boys try to adapt to the gangland setting.  Very amusing stuff.

The Menagerie Part 1 & 2

The only two part episode of the original Star Trek series was, in actuality, an extremely clever re-use of The Cage, the original Star Trek pilot which featured a completely different Enterprise cast…with the exception of Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock.  While The Cage is an interesting episode on its own, its use in The Menagerie, IMHO, takes that “ok” first stab at Star Trek and creates something far more engaging and clever…and does this without bringing back actor Jeffrey Hunter to the original Captain Pike role (the “injured” Captain Pike is played by another actor).  Great, great re-use of material!

Spectre of the Gun

As good as the original Star Trek series was, after two seasons and low ratings, the show was cancelled.  A letter writing campaign, however, proved strong enough to revive the show at the last minute for a third season.  Unfortunately, that final season was weak compared to the first two.  This was likely due to budget cuts and staff changes and there are few -perhaps none- who would argue Star Trek’s swan song season had even a fraction of the creativity of the first two.

Having said that, I always liked season 3’s Spectre of the Gun, if only for the wild set up and bizarre (and sinister!) re-creation of the famous Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.  In this case, the crew of the Enterprise are forced by an alien entity to re-live that gunfight but their role is that of the doomed Clantons, who will lose that famous gunfight.

As I said, I liked the very 1960’s borderline psychedelic/minimalistic settings.  While they most likely could have used a more traditional “western” setting (I’m sure Hollywood had plenty of those back then) they instead had the crew walk through an oddly lit minimalistic set to convey the sense they were in a western yet also trapped within a strange dream/nightmare.  Kudos also to those who played Wyatt Earp and the rest of the “law”.  They were uniformly sinister in their approach which aided in conveying a sense of doom to the participants.

So there you have it.

There’s plenty more good stuff out there, should you wish to look.  Either way, the original Star Trek series had a tremendous impact on me.  If you’ve never given it a try, do so.  You might be surprised.