One of the interesting facts about Star Trek is when it first aired over fifty years ago they didn’t
broadcast the episodes in order. After
producing a pilot that the studio rejected and then producing another that was accepted,
the cast and production team got to work and started creating episodes. Once they had a good number of episodes completed it became time to go on the air and it was at that point that an interesting
decision was made.
Instead
of starting the series with the accepted pilot and moving on in order from
there, the producers in charge of the show felt that in order to capture the
audience and secure higher ratings they should start with what they felt were
their stronger episodes. The team wanted
to use the fact that they had several quality episodes to sift through
that material in order to find what would be the best choice to hook the
audience with.
Given
that this new series was written in an episodic format so all the adventures
that the crew of the Enterprise went
on were self-contained it did not matter what order the audience watched them
in. Why the same episode that won over
studio executives wasn’t deemed worthy enough for the general TV audience I
will never understand. Given the success
that Star Trek had going on six
decades now I can’t say they were in the wrong nor would I wish that it have
happened any other way. Nevertheless I
am still going to argue that when watching in production order the viewing
experience goes up tremendously.
When I
was growing up The Next Generation
was in its heyday our local network would air it “Five Nights a Week” so I had
plenty opportunities to see that series.
As much as I enjoyed TNG I always preferred The Original Series. There was something about a younger captain,
smaller ship, back and forth bickering between Spock and McCoy, and the cowboy
nature of it all that excited me more. Yet
it was rarely on. I enjoyed the movies
but only got to catch the occasional original series episode that was until a
little thing called Columbia House.
Through
Columbia House I was able to order the entire classic Star Trek series. Every month they would send me a VHS tape
with two episodes on it and every month I would send them a check for $24.95! Yes it is now scary to think what I paid for
it, back then we thought it was a good deal.
Columbia House in sending the tapes did so in a completely random
fashion. The first tape I got had The
Menagerie Parts 1 and 2 on it. There was
no logic to it sometimes I would get a season 1 episode with a season 3 and the
season 3 was the one on the tape first. It
was Columbia House order, boldly going where no VHS provider had gone before.
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| I still have my original Columbia House Collection, the boxes do look nice. |
Fortunately
I had another tool to help me sort this mess out, one that I bought with paper
route money at the local Boarders. It
was The Star Trek Compendium by Allan
Asherman, the revised 1993 edition. This
book contained a good deal of information about how the series was developed
and it listed all the episodes from the Original Series, the Animated Series, and
the six movies. Since so much of the
book was about how the show was made all the episode summaries were properly
listed in production order. So as each
of my VHS tapes came in I used the book to check off which episodes I had and
when I had the complete collection it became my guide to watching the
series whenever I wanted to go through it all.
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| My guide to Star Trek when I was in Middle School |
So I suppose
I am a bit biased for feeling that production order is the best however I think
I can make a good case for it. As you
watch in production order you can see more clearly how the series developed by
the writers. Small technical terms
change as “general quarters” becomes “red alert” and “screens” turn into
“shields” in production order once these terms change they change. If you watch by air date the terms will just
seem to jump all over the place.
Although I do believe production
order is superior there is one problem that I will openly acknowledge it
doesn’t solve. In number of polls that I
have seen on Facebook and other online platforms, in deciding which series had
the best series opening episode The Original Series often comes in last. The reason for this is found in the comment
sections in one of the rare cases where you can find consensus on the
Internet. That reason given is The
Original Series’ opening episode isn’t a traditional first episode where all
the characters are introduced and premise to the series is explained. “The Man Trap” which debuted on September 8,
1966 was just a random episode the sixth one produced. There is nothing in this episode to tell you
this is the beginning of anything. If
you watched it randomly that night you might not have realized its
significance.
As I stated production order
doesn’t solve this problem. Both the pilots “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and its predecessor the rejected “The Cage” also fail to introduce people or define the series. In fact in some ways they are worse because
they even openly talk about past adventures.
One can easily watch them and assume they are in the middle of something
not the beginning.
MINOR DETAILS
Star Trek, like anything created by
humans, isn’t perfect. It makes errors
here and there. One of the fun things
about being a fan is finding a way to correct and explain the errors in a constructive
way. The show introduces a new officer
as a lieutenant but wearing an ensign’s uniform. Simple explanation is the officer was just
promoted and hasn’t gotten their rank insignia yet. Lt. Sulu’s stand-in wearing the wrong color
shirt, again the new helmsman transferred over from another department. You can play this game with either viewing
order but production order makes this easier and the fan-made explanation
stronger.
The Doctors
The first case up is
Dr. Mark Piper from the episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” During the
episode he is introduced as one the department heads, or in other words he is
the chief medical officer. This is odd
when watching it in broadcast order because “The Man Trap” was all about Dr.
McCoy. Then after this adventure is
over Dr. McCoy is right back to save the ship in “The Naked Time. “ So is this man the Katherine Pulaski of The
Original Series? Instead of staying on
for a season he takes over only one episode when McCoy wants to quit only
leaving when McCoy wants his job back the next day? He is older than McCoy so it is unlikely he
was an assistant filling in.
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| Dr. Piper |
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| Dr. McCoy |
I
like to think that Dr. McCoy was there all along, serving as Assistant Chief
Medical Officer under Dr. Piper, who is then tasked with replacing the
departing physician after the Mitchell incident.
If not I like to think he and Kirk had some sort of prior history seeing
how close they are during the series.
Either way production order makes this detail easy to manage.
Lt. Uhura’s Changing Uniforms
If
you watch the show by broadcast order one of things you are bound to notice is
that for some strange reason Lt Uhura randomly changes uniform in a couple of
episodes. Instead of her classic red
uniform miniskirt she is instead sporting a yellow uniform. So what was up with that? Was she twice the victim of a 23rd
century dryer eating her famous red?
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| Lt. Uhura in her uncommon gold |
The real world reason is that the
actress Nichelle Nicholas started in the yellow and requested to the producers
that she be allowed to change to the red.
It made sense for her to be in gold as she is a bridge officer alongside
the captain, helmsman, and navigator.
When she requested the change it was early in the series and nothing had
been strongly established yet. If you
watch it in production order her change from yellow to red happens once and then is
consistent throughout the rest of the series.
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| Lt. Uhura in her more sexy red. |
Mr. Spock’s Changing Uniforms
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| From "The Cage" |
Similar
to the Lieutenant, Mr. Spock’s uniforms have changed as well. When watching by broadcast order for some
reason Spock goes from his classic blue to yellow and then back to blue. Now you might point out that the same thing
happens in production order when you include “The Cage.” However with production order it still makes
more sense. In “The Cage” Spock was just
the science officer hence why he wore blue.
When Captain Kirk assumed command Spock was now the first officer as
well so he wore command gold. Then after
the events of “Where No Man,” Starfleet changed regulation and decided that any
officer in charge of particular department must wear the uniform of the
department regardless of where they appear in the command structure of the
ship.
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| Spock in gold |
I
just imagine this exchange between Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk, right before the
events in “Where No Man”.
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Mr. Spock any word
on our new uniform orders for the senior staff after the laundry disaster?”
MR. SPOCK: “Yes Captain we should have
the new uniforms at the end of the month and even better news the laundry and
dryer situation has been fixed.”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Well that is good
having just got my command six months ago it is pretty embarrassing to be
walking around wearing a commander’s stripes again.”
MR. SPOCK: “Having spoken to Mr.
Scott and Mr. Mitchell I can confirm that all the senior staff feels just as
ridiculous in lieutenant stripes.”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Hard to imagine a
more bizarre laundry disaster in Starfleet, it is certainly the first time
something like this has happened.”
MR. SPOCK: “It is not the first. The senior staff of the Enterprise under the command of your predecessor had a similar
disaster where all senior officers including the captain were stuck with
lieutenant stripes. At the time I was a
lieutenant so I was unaffected.”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Captain Pike stuck
in lieutenant stripes that had to have been a sight.”
MR. SPOCK: “On the subject of
uniforms it appears I was going to have to get a new one anyway.”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Oh?”
MR. SPOCK: “New Starfleet
regulation states that department heads must have the same uniform as their
department, regardless of role in the starship’s chain of command. So I am going back to blue.”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Hmm… That reminds
me of something Mr. Spock. With all this
talk of rank insignia I just remembered to tell you, your promotion from
lieutenant commander to commander has been approved.”
MR. SPOCK: “Thank you sir. When does that become official?"
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Season 2.”
MR. SPOCK: “Season 2?”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “It’s an old Earth
expression. However given your new
uniform is going to be more reflective of the department I would like to do
something to help you stand out as first officer for the good of the ship. I think I am going to authorize you to frock
with full commander’s stripes for all of season 1.”
MR. SPOCK: “Indeed, thank you
sir. I will frock in commander stripes
for all of season 1.”
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| Classic Spock |
Lt. Sulu’s changing job
Mr.
Sulu also has a change in uniform but unlike some of his shipmates it’s because
he actually changes jobs. However if you are watching by broadcast order
he starts out as the helmsman before leaving that role to become the ship’s full time botanist,
and then decides very quickly that was a mistake to become the helmsman
again. While certainly possible I feel
production order offers a much better story for Mr. Sulu.
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| Sulu in blue |
I imagine Sulu won a position at
Starfleet Academy for his talents in science.
While at the Academy he earned his pilot’s license and became a
certified helmsman, as all officers who may have to serve on the bridge
must. As his career preceded his
interest in the helm operations and command in general increased. Upon the death of Lt. Lee Kelso in “Where No
Man” Sulu uses that opening for an opportunity to transfer positions. From then on Sulu rises to become one the
recognized best helmsman in the fleet, while also continuing to maintain a
botany collection and still going on away missions for science surveys from
time to time. His new command track
career leads him to the captain’s chair on the Excelsior.
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| On the command track as an officer of the line. |
MAJOR DETAILS
Episodes of Star Trek are
independent of one another. Issues
raised in an episode are resolved by the end of that episode. Details from one episode to the next rarely
spill over, with some small exceptions like when the Corbomite Maneuver being
used again in “The Deadly Years” for example.
However I would argue that an episode’s placement can have a positive or
sometimes negative effect on an episode.
In my view production order adds value to episode plots with details
that are somewhat lacking in broadcast order.
The Squire of Gothos
A great
example of the strength of production order is the placement of “The Squire of Gothos.” To be fair there is nothing
really wrong about where it is placed in broadcast order where it follows “The Galileo Seven.” However one of the
episodes main events is much stronger when it is placed in production order
right after “Shore Leave.”
The reason is in “Squire” Kirk
logically, but wrongly, assumes Trelane's power is artificial in nature and he
uses a machine to gain his advantage over the Enterprise crew. This leads Kirk to destroy that machine in
hopes of stopping the Trelane from harming his crew. After the machine is destroyed we learn
Trelane is powerful in fact.
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| Kirk miscalculates |
If Kirk’s most immediate adventure
was “Shore Leave” than Kirk had just been on a planet where dreams became
reality. The source of power in that
episode turns out to be advanced alien technology that the crew accidentally
activated when they beamed down to the planet.
It makes sense drawing on his most immediate experience Kirk would think
a similar type of technology would be applied.
Again production order isn’t necessary
here it just makes it better.
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| Here is why |
Lt. Bailey’s predicament
The
episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” features the Enterprise squaring off against a far superior power, where the
ship and crew’s survival is dependent on Captain Kirk’s ability to bluff his
way out of a dilemma. The subplot of the
story however is the plight of the Enterprise’s
new navigator Lt. Bailey.
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| Lt. Bailey lost among his peers |
Bailey
is under a great deal of pressure. His
performance at his position in this episode is underwhelming he freezes and
fails to act when ordered, and he tries to get ahead and acts on things without
orders causing him to figuratively step on the Captain’s toes. With every screw up heaps another layer of
pressure on to the poor navigator.
The
episode stands on its own and it was the tenth to air immediately following
“Dagger of the Mind.” However the episode is a lot stronger if
viewed in production order. It was
actually the first one made after the second pilot. When you watch it right after “Where No Man”
Lt. Bailey’s struggle takes on added significance. For one since both the helmsman and navigator
were killed in that episode it means both Bailey and Sulu are new at their
jobs. Yet where Bailey is struggling Sulu
is thriving. This shows that 1) Captain
Kirk is capable of making good personnel decisions, 2) Lt. Sulu’s talents at
adapting to his new job, and 3) Bailey has a direct peer comparison which
highlights his own mistakes and must add to his pressure to perform.
Following
“Where No Man” also reminds the audience that Bailey is the direct successor to
Gary Mitchell, a competent officer and personal friend of the Captain. To paraphrase Coach Bill Belichick, Captain
Kirk is used to getting a lot of value out of that position. This gives Bailey added pressure that Sulu
doesn’t have to worry about. When Bailey
senses the Captain looking at him he knows that Kirk feels disappointment in
the loss and greater than normal standards for the position. This becomes another layer of pressure for
the young man to deal with.
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| The man Bailey must replace |
Gary Mitchell and Charlie X
If you
watch in broadcast order after the crew of the Enterprise battles the salt vampire the next two episodes both deal
with the concept of humans who are granted the power of gods. The boy-god Charlie Evans in “Charlie X” and
the aforementioned Gary Mitchell the man-god of “Where No Man Has Gone
Before.” Not only it is awkward to be dealing
with the exact same situation in back to back episodes but it also creates some
glaring plot holes. For one the crew
spends a good deal of time in “Where No Man” debating about what it means for
any human to have this level of power.
Is it a good thing/bad thing?
They don’t know. Yet if our
previous adventure was “Charlie X” then that should be a moot point since they
have seen such power demonstrated in front of them. They only argument should be if Mitchell’s
personality can withstand the power, not about the power’s nature. Also there is no mention of the previous
adventure despite the fact that it had just happened to them about a week or so
ago.
Now if
you watch this in production order both episodes are stronger as a result. The tragedy of Gary Mitchell happens first so
that is why Charlie Evans is never mentioned. Also “Charlie X” is the eighth episode which
is six after “Where No Man,” this allows for enough time to have passed for it
to seem natural that Mitchell isn’t mentioned by name as he is a painful memory. Since
the Mitchell incident happened it reinforces Kirk’s resolve once the extent of
Charlie’s power is realized. When he
erases “Sam” out of existence Kirk immediately moves from
Charlie-needs-our-help mode to Charlie-is-a-threat mode. His experience from before means Kirk will no
longer hesitate. Now to be fair Kirk
wasn’t friends with Charlie and Mitchell didn’t start by wiping people out of
existence, but my point is this while “Charlie X” stands on its own and doesn’t
need “Where No Man” in the background
having the prior episode there makes plot stronger.
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| Kirk ready to slug Charlie |
Then
there is of course the character of Gary Mitchell and his friendship with
Captain Kirk. “Where No Man Has Gone
Before” was the first time William Shatner played Captain Kirk, it was the
first time the character was fleshed out not just by Shatner but a writer and
director as well. When Mitchell is first
exposed to the power and is recovering in sick bay he talks for a while with
the Captain about how much the two of them had gone through and it is clear
these men have deep emotional connection. In my review of the episode I wrote
this:
The friendship between Kirk and Mitchell for the two men helped cancel each other’s weaknesses. Kirk taught Mitchell to be a great Starfleet officer and to fly up the ranks of Starfleet. Mitchell helped turn Kirk from a ‘stack of books with legs’ to a social charmer and ladies’ man. Traits that are traditionally associated with Captain Kirk.
This
relationship is only believable as Kirk’s first appearance when you watch it
third Mitchell comes off as a TV troupe.
The troupe of a character who is introduced and said to be “so
important” to the main character’s past despite the fact we the viewers have
never heard of this person before. The
character is then killed to add tragedy or spin off other stories for the main
character. A good example is Bad Brain
Johnson from Lois and Clark: The New
Adventures of Superman of the 1990s in an episode that guest stars Star
Trek’s own Johnathan Frakes. That type
of character wasn’t what Gary Mitchell was and production order restores his
dignity.
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| A character treated far better in production order |
It also
sets a good starting point for Kirk and Spock.
In “Where No Man” the two of them hardly know each other. They are playing chess together at the very
beginning but it is apparent from their dialogue that these are two men who are
getting to know one another. When it
comes time to make a stand against Mitchell, Kirk directly asks Spock if he even
feels. That is something over time Kirk
doesn’t needs to ask instead he just occasionally reminds. As the series goes on the relationship grows
close enough that Edith Keeler notices in “The City on The Edge of Forever”
that Spock’s place is by his Captain’s side.
NOT FOR THE REST OF THE FRANCHISE
I want
to be clear that production order is only something I recommend for the
Original Series and perhaps the Animated
Series. It doesn’t work with other
branches of the franchise. If you tried
to watch The Next Generation in
production order you would see Tasha Yar running around alive after dying and
“Unification Part 2” before “Unification Part 1.” The other series always knew where they
wanted their episodes to be.
FINAL CONCLUSION
At the end of the day you can
watch Star Trek in any order that you like.
The reality is most of us started somewhere in the middle. Many fans began by randomly seeing “The Best
of Both Worlds” at the start of season 4 of TNG (most stations would usually
re-air Part 1 right before to hype up the new part) and say “I need watch more
of this.” From that point the new fans
would watch new episodes as they came out while randomly catching up on old
ones. It is up to each of us how we want
to piece it together. However if you are
going to go on an original series marathon I hope I convinced you that
production order is the way to go. Most
streaming services put everything in broadcast order I hope that they could be
convinced to give fans some options.
For those of you who are steaming and would like a list of
production order:
My season 1 list (Contains links to all my reviews)
My season 2 list
My season 3 list
