2. "Brain And Brain! What Is Brain?" From Spock's Brain (1968)
Bet you're surprised this one isn't at number one, right? For that matter, there are good arguments to be made for the entire episode Spock's Brain to be included at number one, as the whole thing is one 51-minute long cringeworthy moment. As we've pointed out, Classic Trek had some dumb premises from time to time, but the idea that a character's brain could be removed without outright killing him, and that he could then be wired to a remote control to move his body around until his brain can be found, at which point he can assist in the surgery to put it back in...ugh, there's no point in going on, really. With that sentence, not with life, though after watching this episode a few times, it's hard to tell the difference anymore. The crowning moment of cringiness in this episode, of course, is this line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXDwF1Rq-oE&list=PLrHeRYbgKZfeu8nFjVCDz2_ETskSbT1JM If a YouTuber ever has the brilliant idea to do a six-hour video replaying that line again and again, our shoulders may never unknot themselves. However, this isn't what causes many of us to cringe so much when we watch Classic Trek. McCoy's casual racism against Spock, the stupidity of finding planets so close to ours that the language is the same, even bad costuming and '60s-era special effects, don't hold a candle to the continuum of cringiness that is...
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
