This looks pretty good as far as effects are concerned. The episode itself is awful, but that’s not really the point.

My comment is first for once!

This among more then a handful….a entire season actually was really bad!
When he proclaimed: Death To You All…..the pizza faced dude meant it.
Too bad someone couldn’t write a game around this episode based on either the Quake engine or the earlier Wolfenstein game…. that would ROCK!

I’m looking forward to seeing the remastered “Giant Space Daggers” ™ attack the Enterprise, if nothing else!

yeah, they should leave some episodes out entirely. It’s just that bad…

this episode is very boring show because of children. i not watch it.

I can’t decide which is more laughable… Shatner’s expression in this clip, or the umpteenth person proudly declaring “FIRST!” in the second slot. HA!
This is a GAWDAWFUL episode for so many reasons. It is probably more difficult to sit through than ‘Way to Eden,’ if only because it’s so dull. Nimoy recounts that the director dissed ‘Miri,’ immediately showing how out of touch he was with the show. Better space daggers won’t save it. (Actually, seeing the two red shirt floatin’ in deep space would be cool, but even that wouldn’t make this ep any better.)
So… grin and bear it. These bad ‘uns had to hit sometime.

say what you will about this episode..yes the story is weak but the production team really started hitting their stride in the 3rd season. if you listen to the soundtrack of this episode with headphones (the dvd’s) you will hear all kinds of inticate dubbing of sfx and the music score was an original for this episode and only small elements from it were recycled through the rest of the season.kirk talking backwards is the sh*t and the music sfx when spock’s handshakes to call starfleet is t*ts!

This episode as long as Threshold, Profit and lace, Shade of grey, and a few other I try and pretend didn’t happen.

Two things stand out for me about this episode - first, this has to be the apex of Hammy Shatner Performances, and thus its worth watching for that. The other thing is the unintentional humor of the image of that teenage boy doing that pounding-his-fist-up-and-down-in-the-air motion all through the show. Juvenile? Totally. But it always makes me giggle.

Creepy kids in this episode…and in need of some well deserved and painful Romulan discipline!

This is not one of my favorite episodes, but I guess all TOS episodes can’t be classics. They made a few “stinkers” along the way too.

Mike

No amount of remastering could fix this episode.

Ever.

Awww … I kinda like this one. But I’m a bit biased. Ten years ago or so, I had the opportunity to interview each of the child actors about their memories of the episode, and each of them was very fun to meet (If you want to read that one, dig out Issue 115 of Star Trek Communicator).

And hey, it’s not a repeat, so I won’t complain. It looks like we’ll not have a repeat until August, come to think of it.

Kevin (hoping September starts out with a bang — an “Ultimate Computer” bang!)

Kevin — how many of them were in jail at the time of your interview? Had any of them succombed to child actor syndrome? I had a boyhood crush on Pam Ferdin. She was the “It” girl of 70s children’s TV programming…

Maybe in an episode like this they should have the Enterprise do barrel rolls, turn white, then blue, then grey…fly the ship sideways, etc.

LOL-maybe put up on the screen light sabers instead of daggers!

This episode is so gawd awful, they could do all the stuff that makes fans mad and it still wouldn’t make the episode worse.

There is a funny line in this, though: I love the line that Scotty says:
“Now, get outta here……get outta here or we’ll KILL YA!” It always cracks me up!

Hail Hail fire and snow call the angel he will go, far away far to see, friendly angel come to me……

What could they do to this one? Everything is perfect

Did anyone catch the film “Zodiac”? I was very pleased that the movie referenced this episode. (This horrible, horrible episode)

I hope they change the effect of Uhura looking at a mirror just tacked on to the bridge console…. worst practical effect EVER!

Hey, Anthony, isn’t it the “Children Shall Lead”, not the “Chilren Shall Lead”?I think there’s a “d” missing.

Just thought I might point that out.

The worst episode, by far, in the entire history of the franchise. Yes, it’s worse than “Spock’s Brain,” worse than “Threshhold,” worse than “These Are the Voyages.” Because all of those episodes at least made a nod towards having an actual SF or at least space opera premise that was internally consistent to justify the story, however wretched the execution. With “And the Children Shall Lead,” for the first time in Trek history the show took a plunge into Irwin Allen “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” territory, where character motivation, logic and the most basic common sense and rules of drama were thrown out the airlock as an excuse to feature Melvin Belli in a gold lame dress. Shame on Edward Lasko for writing it, the producers for filming it, and the network for foisting it on a loyal viewership that had fought so hard to save the show.

To quote the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, “WORST…EPISODE…EVER!!! Honestly, this episode makes ‘Spock’s Brain’ look like Citizen Kane! They should burn the negative!!

I wonder if the CBS-D team will cowboy up and put reflections of the Enterprise on the daggers.

This ep is pretty weak for sure… Pizza The Hut won’t look much better despite the remastering…

Can’t wait for Ultimate Computer and Tomorrow is Yesterday.

No remastering job can salvage this abomination; this one would have best been left forgotten as it’s truly a low point in TOS lore. The DVD recorder will be getting a rest this week.

I agree–this gets my vote for worst episode ever. There’s at least something FUN about the other baddies, but this one is just grim, depressing crap, with only a few hamtastic Shatner moments to occasionally wake up the viewer. However there’s PLENTY for CBS Digital to work with as even the library space shots in the original all seemed to feature some glaring blue spill artifact or other technical problem, almost as if the editors were signalling their own distaste for the episode when they threw those shots in…

Waiting for Tomorrow is Yesterday, with the enhanced special effects set high over Nebraska with the big E and Capt. Christopher’s kickin’ F-104..if The Immunity Syndrome is any indication, we’re in for a thrill ride.
Until then, somebody pass me the pepto-bismo for “Children Shall Lead”…which I haven’t watched in over 10 years for good reason!

I feel dizzy just thinking about this episode as canon - -
“If you’re Evil, you must in turn be (in our human sensibilities) Ugly”. This episode flies in the face of many things which Star Trek had established it stood for.

Well, at least “All Our Yesterdays” is on the week after.

I wish they wouldn’t have spent any time or money on this one. The limited resources would be much better spent on episodes like Errand of Mercy or The Enterpirse Incident.

I disliked the idea of kids on Star Trek because of this episode. Never could stand whiny kids on Trek at all. Too bad they will not be improving on the writing of this episode.

”

Maybe in an episode like this they should have the Enterprise do barrel rolls, turn white, then blue, then grey…fly the ship sideways, etc.

LOL-maybe put up on the screen light sabers instead of daggers!

This episode is so gawd awful, they could do all the stuff that makes fans mad and it still wouldn’t make the episode worse.

There is a funny line in this, though: I love the line that Scotty says:
“Now, get outta here……get outta here or we’ll KILL YA!” It always cracks me up!”

You and me both, pal….you and me both…

Your post cracked me up big time….because it’s so TRUE!!! LOL

This episode makes Spock’s Brain look like Citizen Kane.

TTM

“I hope they change the effect of Uhura looking at a mirror just tacked on to the bridge console…. worst practical effect EVER!”

I agree. They should comp in the CGI Gorn from Enterprise and digitally apply a gray hair wig to it….that would be better!

LOL!!

My favorite line is Kirk’s “Yes…my Vulcan friend…”

Why did nobody think that casting a celebrity lawyer to be a guest star on a TV show was a bad idea?

I forgot to mention i disliked Miri too for the same reasons… But as i said with my observations about this episode this was the clincher….
I’m not a parent person you can tell right? lol

It’s not worse than TNG’s “Code of Honor” so it has that going for it.

I agree for the most part however I am not sure if this is worse than Spocks Brain. All the people saying they should not have done this one confuse me. How can you want to have a remastered show and leave something out? I am not understanding this train of thought…

Well, let’s see….there were 79 episodes and when you really get down to it….30 were BRILLIANT, 30 were GOOD and 19 were GAWDAWFUL!!! There, I’ve said it! Let the debate as to which is which begin!!

Here, I’ll start you off with an obvious one; City On The Edge Of Forever was one of the brilliant ones……next?

These are very sensitive instruments, I will not have you upset their delicate balance. We would all be lost, forever lost!

Go away, now…

Go away or we’ll kill Ya!

“The Menagerie” is still the best two hours of Star Trek ever filmed, IMHO. There are other great episodes, of course (not to mention a great many that are less-than-stellar, but still great fun to watch), but few come close to its ambition or scope. Really, everything you’d want to know about the appeal the series has had over the ensuing decades, including its soaring optimism, is right there, where it all got started.

The effective distance between “And the Children Shall Lead” and “The Menagerie” is a googleplex of light-years.

#41- Totally agree on Menagerie.
I would rather watch ANY episode of Lost in Space over “Children.”
OR, any episode of the Ultraman DVD set I just bought.
(Yes, I’m that old….. and very discriminating:)

I’d still like one of Spockboy’s comparison vids for The Immunity Syndrome.
___

And about the comments regarding why CBS-D is remastering this one, they’re all going to be remastered. If they did all the good episodes now, what would there be worth watching in the next batch of remasters?

They could have destroyed all copies of this episode and I would have chalked it up to a childhood hallucination due to illness!!! It is so horrid. No sfx magic will pollish the turd up.

Tom-Thanks for putting up the exact quote. I haven’t watched this dog in 15+ years, sorry if I flubbed some stuff.

#44 “polish the turd up”
I love it! Turd….what a funny word! Whooddathunkit?! Describes the episode perfectly!

I’d rather watch this than anything is DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise.

“It’s not worse than TNG’s “Code of Honor” so it has that going for it.”

Oh yes it is!!!!

LMAO!!!

“I’d rather watch this than anything is DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise.”

You mean to tell me you think ATCSL is better than any of the Dominion War episodes?

Puh-leeze!!! LMAO!!!

Mark 2000-I’m a HUGE TOS fan, but I think you are going a bit overboard, aren’t ya? I despise Voyager, but I cna handle lots of it’s episodes compared to this one. Without Scotty’s lines (…forever lost…or we’ll kill ya….) this one is a total and complete waste.

Ladies and Gentlemen….

The “Polished Turd Award” for the worst TOS episode of all time goes to……

…opening the envelope slowly….

“The Empath”, from season three!

Congratulations to the winner!

Mike

#47 “I’d rather watch this than anything on DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise”
What, have you LOST IT, mon? Are you on glue? Have you snapped your cap? Does the elevator not go to the top floor? Are you one taco short of a combination platter? Is there a lightbulb out in your lighthouse? Can you not….well, you get the idea…..

#27 “I feel dizzy just thinking about this episode as canon - -
“If you’re Evil, you must in turn be (in our human sensibilities) Ugly”. This episode flies in the face of many things which Star Trek had established it stood for.”

Yes, but in this case Melvin Belli WAS evil…and boy was he UGLY! LMAO!!! Speaking of which, I wonder if they added some CGI ugliness to him as part of the “remaster”?

I think they should have those giant knives flying AT the Enterprise and doing barrel rolls…yeah…that would make the episode GOOD! LOL!!!

Forgot to say, those knives should be giant CGI Ginsu knives…lol

#51. No, The Empath was a great episode…

Ok Trekmaster..cast your vote for your least favorite episode..Im sure we all have one!

This one is…no doubt about it…

I don’t know about Trekmaster’s vote for least favorite episode, but mine is “The Mark of Gideon”. A total waste of time.

P.S.: I agree Trekmaster, “The Empath” was a great epside indeed.

Ok, maybe not a great epside, but a great episode anyway.

Yeah it’s definately in my top five too….

But my runner up for that award has to be- “The Omega Glory”….Shatner should have won a special Emmy for “worst actor in a dramatic television series” for that performance! hahahaha

Mike

For many of us, there’s one episode of Classic TREK that we kept missing during syndication. We’d seen some a half-dozen times or more, but somehow kept missing one — and it became the holy grail, until, finally, at last, we got to see it — that last full measure of Classic TREK. For my wife, it was “And the Children Shall Lead.” And then, finally, she turned on the TV one day, and there it was. Imagine her disappointment …

Miri is a lot better than this one. Spock’s Brain is a lot better than this one. Even the Alternative Factor is better. The Empath is pretty good, I think.

The Way to Eden is just weird….and too much Chekov.

I wish they could find a way to remaster Chekov out of the episodes and put Arex in. Not sure I would quite believe Arex having been a beau of Irina Gagliuglian or whatever her name is on Way to Eden, but it’s worth a shot.

62 Robert…feel for your wife

I always found this to be one of Trek’s creepier (not in a good way) episodes. For remastering, there doenst seem much to do either

I always liked Spock’s Brain…even though it was utterly stupid in so many ways!

Gosh you think Dr.McCoy would have put a bandage on Spock’s head after replacing his brain! I’m laughing now just thinking about how unintentionally funny that episode was!

Mike

There is no episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.” There is no such episode. There never was an episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.” You are all making it up.
There is no such episode. There are only 78 episodes. Not 79.
There is no episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.”

I like “The Empath”.

Nothing worse IMO than “The Alternative Factor”. “Spock’s Brain”, “And the Children Shall Lead”, “The Omega Glory”, et al, at least have some so-bad-its-good moments (as demonstrated by the above referenced ” … nah go ah-weee … go ah-wee or we’ll KILL YE!”), whereas “The Alternative Factor” is just a bland, confusing mess.

I think alot of the Third Season episodes are HIGHLY underrated, and upon closer examination bear up to the best of Trek,

“Requiem for Methuselah, Spectre of the Gun, The Savage Curtain, The Enterprise Incident”, hell, I even thought “That which survives” was creepily fascinating. People all too often condemn the Third season but there are some real gem-Kirks sprinkled throughout. The Third season music is especially powerful, specifically the war/ battle cue used heavily in “The Savage Curtain.”

We love ya Third Season.

#58, I have to agree on Mark of Gideon…not an enjoyable watch. Although I did find the issue of overpopulation and Odona’s situation interesting.

Addendum:

How about that eerie haunting choir like cue whenever Losira disspears in in “That which survives.”

#65, I too am a closet Spock’s Brain fan. Really, the premise was not bad…I think it was just the execution. As some here have said, it’s a solid science fiction concept. But, take out the girls in go-go boots and some of the silliness and it might have had a chance to be at least a weird episode….

TTM

“There is no episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.” There is no such episode. There never was an episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.” You are all making it up.
There is no such episode. There are only 78 episodes. Not 79.
There is no episode called “And the Children Shall Lead.””

LMAO!!! Priceless…if only…if only…

TTM

#70 ”

Addendum:

How about that eerie haunting choir like cue whenever Losira disspears in in “That which survives.””

The one lifted right out of The Man Trap?

Had it been that many episodes since it was last used? Are you quite certain it’s the same cue?

I think alot of the cues were used to greater effect in the Third season, context specific. For example the trumpet cue when Flint is reflecting on the great men he once was.

Season three was the weak season of TOS it doesn’t mean all the episodes were bad. I have to say with the exception of Spock’s Brain, This episode, way the Eden and maybe a few more episodes season three was pretty good.

re: 58. Gd846c3 - April 9, 2007

” I don’t know about Trekmaster’s vote for least favorite episode, but mine is “The Mark of Gideon”. A total waste of time.”

I forgot about that one…

And then you had to remind me.

Thanks a lot

re: 76

Sorry, it just came to mind. With a this mess about which episodes are the worst, I couldn’t help myself.

At least we’ll get another unique-looking planet.

Melvin Belli should’ve sued Paramount for ruining his reputation.
And no one who insults DS-9 here gets out alive.
(Death! Death to you all!!)

My bottom five, in order from the absolute worse, to bad, but not quite as bad:

WORST #1-And The Children Shall Lead (Friendly angel?)
WORST #2-Spock’s Brain (Brain and brain, what is brain?)
WORST #3-Mark Of Gideon (Be content!!!??)
WORST #4-Plato’s Stepchildren (I’m tweedle dee he’s tweedle dumb!)
WOSRT #5-Turnabout Intruder (You will be charged with mutiny!!)

What gets me is, some of the ones people rip on, I actually kind of like. The Empath is a good episode, IMO, The Omega Glory and The Alternative Factor are two people really hate that I also kinda like. Yeah, Kirk’s little “E Plebneesta” thing is gawd awful, but I always liked that fight between him and Capt. Tracey!!!

Boy, when you really think about it, some of the TOS episodes were in the “stink on ice” / “piece of crap” category, werent they?

Lao3D wrote:

> I had a boyhood crush on Pam Ferdin.

She still appears at Star Trek conventions in order to sign autographs. Her last convention that I saw her at was the Creation Las Vegas Star Trek Convention last year.

CBS should just add a shot of a CGI spock ( at the end of this “worse than vomit”episode) waking up after having a horrible dream.

I hate this episode. I would love to know what you all think the other really bad episodes are. ( Mostly third season)

# 80…

you forgot Way to Eden!…even the actors themselves hate that one

#84-It’s #6 WORST on my list….”yay, brother!”

I thought Turnabout Indruder and Spock’s Brain were pretty good epsiodes.

On the local channel I watch TOS-R on, it looks like this episode will be pre-empted for Sports. Can any of you record it for me so I may be able to see it? Although this is considered one of the worst episodes, I can’t forget how it scared the hell out of me when I first saw it as a kid. So I can’t help but like it. It still has some effective moments, even now.

My Season 3 list- (#1 is first, #24 is worst):

#23- Spock’s Brain
#1-The Enterprise Incident
#4-The Paradise Syndrome
#24-And the Children Shall Lead
#15- Is There In Truth No Beauty?
#11- Spectre of the Gun
#3-Day of the Dove
#14- For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
#2- The Tholian Web
#21- Plato’s Stepchildren
#6- Wink of an Eye
#5- The Empath
#12- Elaan of Troyius
#10-Whom Gods Destroy
#16-Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
#22- The Mark of Gideon
#9- That Which Survives
#17- The Lights of Zetar
#8- Requiem for Methuselah
#19- The Way to Eden
#18-The Cloud Minders
#13- The Savage Curtain
#7- All Our Yesterdays
#20- Turnabout Intruder

HAhahah!!!
Platos’ Stepchildren–I forgot about that one. such a ground breaking episode with Kirk and Uhura making out–no wait, was it ground breaking because of Shatner’s excellence in acting like a horse. I shuddered at that acting as a kid and I still do today.

There were so many awful episodes in Season three. “The Way to Eden “still ranks number one in the “pile of sh_t” category of episodes.

Spocks brain was the first time you saw the characters use the view screen without looking at a matte shot. Lights of Zetar had the first animated screen shots of a “tactical ” shot—when the lights hit Memory Alpha, the screen below typed out the words “contact”–I always thought that was cool. It’s the little things, you know.

My top 5 for season 3

“Spectre of the gun” (contains the best shot in Star Trek history, Kirk Spock, etc. standing there as the Earps fire on them)

“The Tholian web” (very solid episode)
“Let this be your last battlefield” (Like the story and acting)
“All our yesterdays” Actually wondered if Kirk, Spock, McCoy would get out of that mess)

“That which survives” ( That one always freaked me out as a kid)

The best way to remaster this episode would be to air 50 minutes of black screen.

I actually liked this episode because ( and here I am DATING myself!) the young girl in this show was the kid on the late 60’s early 70’s version of Lassie! Every Kids fave dog then,…Plus famed Atty Melvin Belle , a non actor pal of Gene Roddenberry who played the Gorgon!

“DEATH TO YOU ALL!”…ha ha! one of my fav lines..

plus Kirks overly close (sweatheartish?) close ups of Kirk and Spock in the Turbo lift! together as Kirk loses it for a moment!!

lol

a girl named Shaye

Wow! Catspaw hasn’t been mentioned yet in the bottom episodes. For me, it’s “And the Children Shall Lead”, “Catspaw” and “Spock’s Brain” in no particular order

TTM’s Top 5 Third Season Moments:

1.) The Enterprise Incident
2.) Day of the Dove
3.) The Tholian Web
4.) Elaan of Troyius
5.) The Empath

Aw, I always kinda liked Catspaw. As a kid, I thought it was so cool when she reduced the big E to that little “pendant”. Scared me when she dangled it over the fire. Plus, I always enjoyed her “I can be many women…” demonstration. Errr…yeah, when I hit my teen years-LOL!

TTM-I like the way you think. I usually agree with your posts and this is a good list. You are not Herbert! We reach! Yay, brother!

“Spectre of The Gun” was one of the best and most erie “twilight zone” episodes of Star Trek EVER made..

.”Go ahead…take my bag..heh..heh..only you best be outta town…
by five oclock…

…or you’ll find a hole in your head…right from this gun!…heh heh ..”

Doc Holiday, to a freaked out Doctor McCoy…at Holiday’s teeth pullin office… in Tomstone AZ when he came a-beggin fer some medicines!

Yes…It must rank in the top 10 of 1968-69 shows!

#96 Thank you! “We reach”. LOL!!

Catspaw is not a bad episode…how can anything written by the great Robert Bloch be considered bad? It was a nice Halloween “bottle episode”…

Forgot to add: If Robert Bloch had written Children…it might be worth watching.

My favorite 3rd season eps.

1. Spectre of the gun. The look of this episode makes it work. Incomplete, but cleverly used to tell the story.

2. Tholian web. always a fan favorite.

3. All our Yesterday’s. My favorite time travel episode besides the 1st season’s “City on the Edge of Forever”

4. Enterprise Incident. “I instinctively used the Vulcan Death Grip.”

5. The Mark of Gideon. I always loved the scene when Kirk and Odona hear the people of Gideon pounding on the hull of the phony Enterprise. Later Kirk opens the window and all they see are people out in space. I always thought that was creepy and a powerful scene, almost Twilight zone-ish. The story is pretty out there as far as believabilty though.

H.M. Wink of an eye. For some reason I’ve always liked this one. Probobly because it is a VERY science fiction like story.

Spock’s Brain was so bad, it was good! You can’t say that about too many TOS episodes…

It’s great fun to watch this episode and rip apart what’s so silly about it! But as someone mentioned earlier, the story itself was good, it was just the execution of the story that was so laughable!

If they had just tried to make the scene where McCoy was operating on Spock a tad bit more realistic, the episode would have fared better. But come on, a cardboard cover used to cover Spock’s head during the operation….and not a hair out of place after the operation??!! Talk about a clean and bloodless procedure!

But with all my criticisms of this episode, it’s still one I really like. I found Spock to be quite creepy and almost a bit scary in this episode…especially when Scotty was moving him around by remote control. Great acting by Nimoy!

Mike

My bottom 5 for seasons 1-3

And the children shall lead
Is there in truth no beauty
Metamorphosis
Friday’s child
The empath

#82 - thanks Robert — I’ll have to find out if she’s still single!

She has her own website. www.pamelynferdin.com

Oh my G*d I remember Pam Ferdin too! She was all over the place-in all kinds of tv shows in the 70’s.
Still this episode is at the bottom, down there with The Way to Eden, in terms of Trek episodes,movies, anything. Amazingly it’s worse than Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space(which is so bad that it’s good)!

It’s interesting to hear what people think are the worst episodes. I find it hard to believe some of the suggestions, like Catspaw and Friday’s Child. I think this are definately in the top third.

Overall, I think the third season is by far the weakest. Take away the top five episodes and the rest are really all turds, but some are charming turds–I would put The Way to Eden in the latter category. Yeah Brother!

My five least favorite episdoes are (worst to least bad):

1) And the Children Shall Lead (nothing even watchable in the episode)

2) The Mark of Gideon (pointless, illogical–they need a duplicate Enterprise to get Kirk’s blood))

3) Spock’s Brain (and I love the girls in go-go boots. What I can’t tollerate is the control for Spock’s body and Spock getting up immediately after his brain is replaced. He even still has all his hair!)

4) The Alternative Factor (I say kill both Lazarus’ and move on to a decent episode. Hard to believe this was in the great 1st season).

5) Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Interesting Idea but done in a really cheesy manner with horrific acting)

I love TOS, but if the 3rd season is an indiction of the ongoing quality, I am glad it was cancelled before it self-destructed. IMO each season got worse significantly.

Kind of surprised that “Is There In Truth No Beauty?” isn’t getting more love (or at least some grudging respect) here. True, it does get a little soapy at times, and would that that fisheye lens had broken on the first take–but it features some genuinely intelligent SF concepts and dialogue, an interesting performance by the always watchable Diana Muldaur (along with some nice acting by Nimoy himself in the scene where he melds with Kollos), and some effectively creepy moments. Not to mention the introduction of IDIC, one of the keystone concepts of the entire Trek canon. Say what you will about its flaws, but I think the episode holds up quite well even today, and is head and shoulders above most of the other shows produced in that godawful year.

Since everyone else seems to be doing it, i guess I will too.

Here are the only season three episodes that I consider god awful.

“And the Children Shall Lead”
“The Mark of Gideon”
“The Way to Eden”

I always had a soft spot for “Spock’s Brain”. It always seemed to facinate me.

As for the comments on how bad the third season was, yes it had some of the worst TOS episodes, but the good episodes were so good that they almost cancel out the bad ones. Episodes like “Day of the Dove”, “The Tholian Web”, “The Enterprise Incident”, and “All our Yesterdays” were fantastic and memorable. All IMO.

“The Empath” was good too. It’s because of these episodes that I like the third season. Not as good as season two, but it sure has its moments.

#108-I NEVER will understand people’s atttraction to Diana Muldaur. I thought she was awful in both Trek appearances (not sexy at all) and as Dr. P. EGADS!

The analogy of a “turd” is quite appropriate. Remastering this episode is
akin to putting powered sugar on a dog turd to make it easier to swallow.
This episode has no redeeming qualities. None. Zip. Zero.

#102

“If they had just tried to make the scene where McCoy was operating on Spock a tad bit more realistic, the episode would have fared better. But come on, a cardboard cover used to cover Spock’s head during the operation….and not a hair out of place after the operation??!! Talk about a clean and bloodless procedure!”

The backstory is that they had the Captain’s “Hair Club for Men” consultant on-board the “E”, and Kirk loaned him out for the job.

ST fans are married to the show, and it’s episodes like this that represent the “for worse” part. We love the “for better” ones like “City” and “Doomsday” but we have to take these also, if we truly love it.

But this, “Spock’s Brain, “Plato’s Stepchildren,” “The Way to Eden,” amd a few others are like when we put up with ST as it sits on the couch in it’s underwear and passes gas. We don’t like it, but it’s still ST.

Only Spectre of the gun, Enterprise incident, all our yesterdays, tholian web, savage curtain, turnabout intruder, and a few others are any good, oh yeah, ellayn of troyuis was great too..the first time we see the klingons in their OWN battle crusuer!, plus day of the dove..Kang was great!

I haven’t seen this episode since I was a kid. I seem to recall parts of it freaking me out. So what’s so bad about this episode then? The dialogue?

#116… Just watch it again, it might freak you out for different reasons.

“But this, “Spock’s Brain, “Plato’s Stepchildren,” “The Way to Eden,” amd a few others are like when we put up with ST as it sits on the couch in it’s underwear and passes gas. We don’t like it, but it’s still ST. ”

Oh boy…THERE’S an image I didn’t need. LMAO!!!!

IMHO, “Spocks Brain” and “And the Children Shall Lead” share the shame of being the worst Star Trek episodes of all time.

“That Which Survives,” “The Mark of Gideon,” “The Way to Eden” and “Spectre of the Gun” are also among my least favorite Star Trek episodes.

For that matter, there are not many episodes in Season 3 that hold up to rewatching. My favorites are probably “Requiem for Methuselah” and “Turnabout Intruder,” the latter which is getting a bad rap from some of you.

TTM- The image is bad, but I bet the smell is worse!!! lol

What’s it smell like when matter and anti-matter mix together and “pass gas”? Yowza!

Ei yi yi….. This one stinks.

. but it’s still better than half of the current series on TV.

Anyone catch “Thank God you’re here”?…whew, THAT smells of Emmy right now. Mostly her socks.

It’s funny reading what other’s consider their least favorite TOS episodes. The opinions are all over the place on this one!

But it seems like “And the Children Shall Lead” is almost universally disliked on this site. I guess that episode wins the ribbon!

Do I dare ask what TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise episodes you guys and gals really like and hate, and why?

Ok, I’m bracing myself for and avalanche of hateful rhetoric for everything post TOS!

Mike

#120 LMAO!!!! Oh, man…I wanna party with you dude!

This is an important episode because it shows Kirk’s “pain” that is not shown in STV. When Kirk thinks he is losing control, and is forced from his bridge, he freaks out, cringing, which gives insight into that character even beyond what’s in Naked Time. Somewhere under that steel, he’s human.

For me, there’s something to like about every Trek series….although definitely some series were better than others overall.

Actually, there is a way they can fix this episode, ala, DALLAS, ala, the Family Guy parody of DALLAS! Tho, too late for this airing of course… Heh, heh. Just get George Takei to do a CGI enhanced version of same, er, let your imagination run wild there. I’m sure he’s still relatively cheap, plus hip with the Heroes and everything. ;-D

Sorry, 55,59, 67, etc. but “The Empath” is rock bottom on my list. I watch a lot of classic Trek but I haven’t watched that one in more than fifteen years and I’m in not in any particular hurry to remedy that.

My bottom 5 overall:
1. Empath (see above)
2. That Which Survives (maybe the most utterly pointless episode in all of TOS)
3. A Private Little War (the whole “Vietnam-rehashed” angle does nothing for me and IMO makes this one of the most dated episodes in the series, although I admit I’m too young to remember the real Vietnam - maybe it resonates more with you folks who actually lived through that)
4. The Children (as many of us seem to agree)
5. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (another one I haven’t seen in at least 15 years and really don’t miss)

My top 5 of the 3rd season:
1. The Tholian Web (the only one of these that cracks my Top 15 for the overall series, though)
2. Elaan of Troyius
3. The Enterprise Incident
4. Turnabout Intruder (”Love??? Him???” Indeed I do. Great episode, no…guilty pleasure, yes.)
5. Mark of Gideon (I’m in the minority I know, but I like Sharon Acker here, and thought some of the verbal sparring between Hodin and the bridge crew after Kirk went missing was genuinely funny)

It’s easy to be overly judgemental of the weaker TOS episodes. Especially if you are coming to them after perhaps seeing the spin offs first. Back in the days when all there was were TOS and the movies these episodes didn’t seem quite so bad.

Actually the Third Season was FAR SUPERIOR in many ways to the earlier 2 years.

By 1969 the uniforms and special effects and look of the show was great.

Even the show’s opening intro had been improved .

It is too bad they are twiddling with the colour of these shows and making them so DARK..the colour timing is now off and they look rather stupid now.

Also as in the case of The Tholian Web…you do not fix…what wasn’t broken…

Thank you for your attention to this proposal….

Carol Markus

Hey Jim….great name, hope people don’t confuse you (Jim-The Empath disliker) with me (Jim-The Empath liker)!!!!??

Anyway…bad shows from he other series? I don’t have those episodes memorized like the original, but I’ll take a stab at it:
TNG-Shades of Grey
DS9-”When Wishes Were Horses” or whatever that one was called)
VOY-THRESHOLD (bad as in “And The Children Shall Lead” BAD)
ENT-Terra Nova

FAR SUPERIOR??? Carol, no offense, but I just can’t drink that kool-aid. Star Trek was based on great stories, not how the uniforms, special effects, intro, and colors looked, Sure, they were PARTS of the show, but certainly not what made it the icon that it is today. THAT came from the great stories of seasons 1 & 2 (and a few in 3).

Why do people hate the episode “Threshold” so much? Just wondering.

Oh, and the worst ENT episode was the series finale.

Kyle-Yes, it was quite bad, I’d put it as my worst except for that ending “montage” of the Enterprises. That saved it from the bottom dwelling scum it would have been.

#130:

They’ve said that ALL the “space scenes” will be redone for ALL the episodes. That includes “The Tholian Web”. And maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think the original would look so hot in Hi-Def. I think it would look bad.

#135:

I thought that the ending “montage” was too forced. But still, even if I thought that it was the best moment in Trek TV ever, it still couldn’t help the episode. It was a definite F.

I don’t disagree, Kyle. It was an F, but in my book, so were those others I mentioned. An F is still an F, but my score for Terra Nova as a tiny bit lower than “These Are The Voayges…” Frankly, I think Trek’s worst moment (and yes, there are many bad moments) is when Archer wakes up to the Nazi alien looking dude. Really a good episode, but B&B’s first attempt to screw the fans (thinking they would get cancelled and end it all with that). Then we got the joy of season 4 with Coto’s reimagining…only to fall into the toilet again at the end. Much thanks, B&B!!!

Clearly it is all Will Wheton/Wesley Crusher’s fault for the demise of Star Trek TOS…during it’s Third Season in 1969.

He has bashed William Shatner since 1996 when he did not like the way Shatner signed his autograph and sent the snivling kid on his way.

…”Shut up, Wesley!” - The Ent-D’s crew’s fave reply/comment to that ever annoying Wesley Crusher.

129 - Uh, actually yes, they really were that bad. Most of those on my bottom five I saw for the first time long before TNG or any other spinoff started, and I didn’t like them then either. My history with TOS is pretty black-and-white; most episodes I tended to either like or dislike immediately, and my opinion rarely changed with subsequent viewings. The only one I can think of where I’ve drastically changed my opinion since the first time I saw it is “Whom Gods Destroy,” which I initially didn’t like but now ranks up there as another one of my “guilty pleasures,” thanks mostly to Steve Ihnat. I also like “Lights of Zetar” better than I used to, but that’s only because the possession scenes with the glowing faces and garbled speech used to scare the $%&@ out of me as a kid. It’s still not one I feel like watching very often, but I’m not as actively hostile towards it as I used to be.

130 - I’m not watching Star Trek for looks, I’m watching it for the story and the characters, and however good the third season looked, the majority of the stories accepted that year were decidedly lacking, and some of the characters (esp. Spock) were getting totally butchered.

131 - Hi Jim! Nice to meet you!

Good observations, Jim (#140)! I just wanted to put up my name a different way, for once-LOL!!!

StarTrek.com has a remastered picture of Gorgan from the episode on their website. It’s just to show how the remastered version looks sharper in both detail and color. It’s not exactly a “new” effect, just a sharper version of the original.

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/TOS/article/28095.html

….”Hail hail…fire and snow…call the angels…we will go…far away…far to see…friendly angel…come to me!”

I LOVE Shatner and Spock in the turbo lift!

great scene from a great episode!

“I’m not watching Star Trek for looks, I’m watching it for the story and the characters, and however good the third season looked, the majority of the stories accepted that year were decidedly lacking, and some of the characters (esp. Spock) were getting totally butchered.”

Actually, on balance the third season didn’t even look all that good. Yes, the Enterprise minature shots looked their best that year, and yes, we finally got a Klingon cruiser. And the bridge and other standing sets were at their highest level of detail for the series’ run, since they were always adding new things to those sets as time and budget permitted. But the trimmed episodic budgets still showed all too often in the new sets and FX, including re-used mattes and endlessly recycled control panels. Elaborate sets, props and even location shooting were a rarity. Worst of all, cinematographer Jerry Finnerman left the show at the end of the second year, and Al Francis couldn’t even come close to capturing his rich textures and lighting schemes. In the first and second years episodes like “Balance of Terror” and “The Doomsday Machine” look and feel like small SF movies; in the third the series looks like just another action-adventure hour of television.

But they got spiffy new shiny uniforms too dont forget!!!

It’s just that season 3 had more bad episodes so it stood out. I always thought two were worst than this one, Requiem for Methuselah and Cloud Minders just because they have the main characters way out of Character. Kirk is ready to Give up his ship and career for a woman he meets for 10 min on an alien planet, and then after findingout she’s a robot wants to still do it ?? Huh ? In Cloud Minders the once closed off spock is giving up the details of his Mating Rituals to just any old Bim? He could’nt fess up to Kirk unless it was pried out of him. I always hated these episodes.

I don’t understand all the vitriol towards this episode…it’s hardly the worst.

For my money, City On The Edge Of Forever takes that title!

OK, here is my 19 (GAWDAWFULS) and why, the worst first:

“The Omega Glory” Two words: E Plebmnista
“The Alternative Factor” Run around, fight, fall off cliff. Repeat.
“Spock’s Brain” Brain and brain, what is brain? Think we all agree here.
“And the Children Shall Lead” Hail Hail Fire and Snow
“The Way to Eden” Herbert!
“Turnabout Intruder” Captain Kirk, Space Queen
“Catspaw” Captain Kiiiiiirrrrk! CaptainKiiiiirrrrkkkk! Leave this place or you shall surely diieiiiieeeeee!
“Miri” Bonk bonk bad kids
“The Apple” Death to all redshirts
“Who Mourns for Adonais” Didn’t like the premise here. Didn’t like it on Stargate either.
“Patterns of Force” - Space Nazis? No thank you.
“Spectre of the Gun” - Space Cowboys? No thank you.
“Bread and Circuses” - Space Romans? No thank you.
“Plato’s Stepchildren” - Space Greeks? No thank you. Pass on the silly dancing, too.
“The Paradise Syndrome” Space Indians? No thank you. “I am Kee-rooooook!”
“That Which Survives” - I am for you, D’Amato
“The Mark of Gideon” - Silly premise and dull. Though the sea of faces scared me as a child.
“Charlie X” - Would’ve sent Charlie out the nearest airlock the moment I saw him