Star Trek: 25 Greatest Original Series Episodes

Kirk Star Trek: The Original Series is arguably one of the greatest television series of all time. Spawning twelve movies and five television series so far, there is nary a baby boomer alive who hasn't at least watched the show, and the devoted fans of that generation, my father included, have passed that fandom down upon their children. It was the singular dream of ex-LAPD cop Gene Roddenberry that the future would hold no prejudice, no hatred, no hunger or poverty, a future where all races and all intergalactic species were fully integrated in a utopian society. Star Trek produced 79 episodes (and as Philip J. Fry put so well, "79 episodes, about 30 good ones") and out of those 30 are 25 of the most memorable ones. They've made us laugh, cry, dream and cringe for one reason or another as opposed to the slight majority of the 79 which, let's face it, put most of us to sleep.

25. The Tholian Web

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The third season of Star Trek didn't give us too many memorable moments (sorry Trekkers, but quite honestly I would have cancelled it too) but this episode, which ultimately would serve as a precursor for the Enterprise two parter "In a Mirror, Darkly" in 2005, was one of its better moments, one of the taller midgets in this 24 episode circus. In this episode, the Enterprise discovers her sister ship, the U.S.S. Defiant in a state of flux, apparently stuck in a dimensional rift in space. Kirk, Spock, Chekhov and McCoy discover that the crew had all killed each other, and that objects around them as well as the entire ship is fading out of existence. When the away team tries to beam back, Kirk gets left behind as the ship dissolves into nothingness. As the crew attempts to retrieve him, Chekhov becomes increasingly agitated, no doubt an early symptom of what happened to the crew of the Defiant, all the while a Tholian vessel appears and eventually begins to attack the Enterprise with the energy web for which the name is associated. As the crew of the Enterprise slowly but surely deteriorates into mass hysteria, Uhura discovers that the Captain has been roaming the ship in a ghost-like state. Spock manages to escape the web with the clever use of the Enterprise engines and gets Kirk back with the clever use of the tractor beam and transporter.
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Steve is an unrepentant nerd who enjoys all things Disney, Doctor Who, and Star Trek. He is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in political science at Temple University and divides his time between his homes in Philadelphia and Orlando.