I'm not sure if I caught TAS in its original run or in syndication. I definitely wached it as a kid. Either way, TAS came along just when I needed it. It's pretty incredible, if you think about it: a cancelled show returning 4 yrs later as a cartoon with the original cast.

Agree completely. It has some strong stories, and the sheer delight of having the original cast together. And aliens as crew members. But it was strangely talky and static, and the animation was terrible.

I found ST90210 mostly entertaining and harmless in the theater, with a couple of minor hiccups (Like: What is Dr Cameron doing here, and why is she pregnant? And: Winona Ryder? Really?). But I left with my brow furrowed, and it was only later that I put my finger on what was so dissatisfying about it.

Zack, I'm really grateful that you're taking a week, or actually 2 weeks, to write up TAS. You had some legit reasons for *not* doing that, as I recall, when the idea was first broached some weeks ago in these comments. It represents a very real, uh, responsiveness of you and the AV Club editors to change your mind…

Which is the TNG movie that starts with a closeup of Picard's eye?

Kiddie Trek.

Agree with alurin, Kirk in TOS was always "find the peaceful solution" guy. (Well, maybe except for Errand of Mercy.) The first Man of the Future: he gave the "I won't kill today" speech.

@Ajax — That sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.

I've always recommended people start with Post Captain. Or even the diptych of Post Captain and HMS Surprise. Then, if they like that, go back and pick up M&C. If they don't like those two, they won't like the series.

Open to interpretation. At the beginning of the episode she rails about how "It isn't fair!" And after a pause Kirk says, "No it isn't."

Damn, alurin and Zack have some good ideas. What if this had been a two-parter; and what if Lester had gotten a chance to show what she could do?

Actually, now that I think about it Lester would have turned out to be a terrible commander. We know that, right? She might have been tactically brilliant, and daring. But referencing my above monologue about how command is sort of a shared contract: Kirk always acted to protect his ship and crew, and brooded over…

That sort of is the note that the series goes out on, isn't it? The tragic note that Janice's talents are squandered because she went criminally insane.

Lots of hotties in TOS. I think Mariette isn't necessarily more beautiful than most of the others. Rather she's distinguished by the sweet soft voice and being so interesting & engaging. Some of the other hot chicks on Star Trek were kind of twerps - the girls from Wink of an Eye or Mark of Gideon, for example, or…

Well, everything from the 60s is sexist. But is it more sexist than its context, or is it trying to be progressive within the constraints of its time, or what?

Just relieved to get that off my chest, really.

I find All Our Yesterdays to be pretty worthless. That should be a C-minus episode. It has two good things going for it: Mariete Hartley in a fur bikini, and the late Ian Wolfe as crazy weird little Mr. Atoz.

The rest of the episode is wonderful. I love how the officers react to PMS Kirk. They question him respectfully. They offer pointed suggestions, but always in just the right tone of voice. "Sir, may I suggest - ?" And when he crosses the line, they are shocked. You get a real sense of the ship being a community…

Turnabout Intruder is one of the best episodes of the series. Not top 3, but probably top 10. It aspires to being a profoundly feminist episode, and I bought into that as a little kid. I still do.

Turnabout Intruder, Feminism, and Command
The notion that Turnabout Intruder is some anti-feminist tract that sets women back decades, is based on two things. The first is Shat's performance: the nail-buffing, leg-crossing, etc. The other is the story structure, where the only woman we see who rises to a position of…