Let's be real for a second. If you’re looking for a list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes, you aren't just looking for a spreadsheet. You're looking for a map through 1960s technicolor fever dreams, social commentary that still hits like a freight train, and, occasionally, some of the most bafflingly bad television ever produced.
Gene Roddenberry’s creation wasn't just a show. It was a miracle. It survived a pilot rejection, a move to the "Friday night death slot," and a cancellation that only stayed dead because fans invented modern fandom to save it. Whether you are a "New Trek" convert coming back to see where it all started or a seasoned veteran who can recite the registry number of the U.S.S. Constellation from memory, the way you navigate these 79 episodes matters.
The structure of the show is episodic, sure, but the vibe shifts wildly between seasons. You have the grounded, almost nautical feel of Season 1, the high-concept sci-fi of Season 2, and the budget-slashed, "what is happening" energy of Season 3.
The Heavy Hitters: A Curated List of Star Trek The Original Series Episodes
You can't talk about the 1960s run without hitting the pillars. These are the episodes that didn't just define Star Trek; they defined science fiction for the next sixty years.
"The City on the Edge of Forever" is generally cited by historians and critics as the peak. Written by Harlan Ellison (though heavily rewritten by the staff, much to his lifelong chagrin), it poses a brutal ethical dilemma. Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler, played by Joan Collins, in 1930s New York. The catch? She has to die for the future to exist. It’s devastating. It’s perfect. It shows that the "final frontier" wasn't just space—it was the human heart and the cost of duty.
Then there is "Balance of Terror." This is basically a submarine movie in space. It introduced the Romulans and established the Cold War allegory that would define Trek's geopolitics. Mark Lenard, who later played Spock’s father Sarek, is incredible here as the Romulan Commander. The tension is thick. The pacing is tight. No monsters, just two captains trying to outthink each other.
Honestly, though, "Mirror, Mirror" might be the most influential. It gave us the evil goatee. It gave us the "Mirror Universe." It’s a masterclass in using the same sets and the same actors to tell a completely different, darker story. Seeing a ruthless, scarred Spock navigate a Federation built on murder instead of cooperation is a trip.
The Weird Stuff (That Actually Works)
Not every list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes needs to be a "best of" list. Sometimes you want the stuff that’s just... out there.
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Take "The Trouble with Tribbles." It’s a comedy. Pure and simple. David Gerrold wrote a script about reproductive rates and Klingon sabotage that shouldn't work, but it does because of William Shatner’s comedic timing. Watching Kirk slowly get buried in piles of purring fluff is a core memory for anyone who grew up with the show.
"A Piece of the Action" is another one. The crew visits a planet that modeled its entire society after a book about Chicago mobsters from the 1920s. Seeing Spock and Kirk in fedoras, talking like "mugs" and "heaters," is peak 1960s television absurdity. It’s fun. It’s camp. It’s why we love this show.
Navigating the Three Seasons
The production history of TOS is messy. If you look at a chronological list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes, you’ll notice the quality starts to dip as the years go on, largely because the budget was being cannibalized by the network.
Season 1: The Foundation
This season is where the magic happened. You get the pilot, "The Cage," (repurposed into "The Menagerie"), which feels much more like hard sci-fi. Season 1 focused heavily on the "Space Seed" (introducing Khan) and "The Devil in the Dark," which proved Star Trek was about empathy. The Horta—the silicone-based rock monster—turned out to be a grieving mother. That was a huge shift in how television treated "aliens" at the time.
Season 2: The Peak
This is where the show found its swagger. "Amok Time" took us to Vulcan and gave us the iconic fight music you still hear parodied today. We got "The Doomsday Machine," which is probably the best-paced episode in the entire series. The chemistry between Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley was solidified here. It’s the "Golden Age" of the show.
Season 3: The Struggle
Budget cuts were real. Many episodes were confined to the ship to save money. You get some duds like "Spock's Brain" (which is so bad it’s actually a blast to watch with friends) and "The Way to Eden" (the space hippies). However, don't sleep on "The Tholian Web" or "All Our Yesterdays." Even at its lowest point, TOS was swinging for the fences.
Why the Production Order and Air Date Matter
If you’re building your own list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes, you’re going to run into a weird problem: the order they aired isn't the order they were made.
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"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot filmed, but it aired third. You can tell because the uniforms are different—the collars are thick and ribbed, and Spock’s eyebrows are... well, they hadn't quite figured them out yet. Kirk’s character is also a bit more "by the book" and less of the "cowboy diplomat" he would become.
Following the production order gives you a better sense of how the actors were figuring out their roles. You watch the friendship between Spock and McCoy grow from cold professionalism into the bickering, loving brotherhood that forms the emotional spine of the franchise.
The Social Impact You Can't Ignore
People talk about the "first interracial kiss" in "Plato's Stepchildren" a lot. It was a massive moment in 1968. But the show's impact went deeper than just one scene. It was a vision of the future where a Black woman (Uhura), a Japanese man (Sulu), and a Russian man (Chekov)—at the height of the Cold War—worked together as equals.
When you look at a list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes like "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," the message is blunt. Two men are killing each other because one is black on the left side and the other is black on the right side. It’s not subtle. Roddenberry used sci-fi as a "Trojan Horse" to talk about racism, war, and religion at a time when networks didn't want to touch those topics.
Essential Viewing for the Uninitiated
If you’re trying to get someone into the show, don't just hand them a list of all 79 episodes. They’ll get bored by the slow pacing of the 60s. Instead, give them this "Starter Pack":
- "Balance of Terror" (For the strategy and tension)
- "The City on the Edge of Forever" (For the emotional gut-punch)
- "Space Seed" (Because you have to know who Khan is)
- "Mirror, Mirror" (For the pure sci-fi fun)
- "The Trouble with Tribbles" (To show the show's heart and humor)
Facts That Change How You Watch
Did you know that "The Corbomite Maneuver" was the first regular episode produced after the pilots? It features a very young Clint Howard. The "Tranya" he drinks was actually grapefruit juice.
Or consider "Arena." That’s the one where Kirk fights the Gorn (the lizard man). It’s been parodied a million times for the slow-motion wrestling, but the actual ending of the episode is profound. The "Metrons" expect Kirk to kill the Gorn, but he refuses. That refusal to be a savage is the entire point of Star Trek.
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The show was always grappling with the "Great Filter"—the idea that civilizations usually destroy themselves before they reach the stars. Every episode in your list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes is essentially an argument for why humanity might actually make it.
Correcting the "Kirk" Misconception
Modern pop culture paints James T. Kirk as a reckless womanizer who ignores the rules. If you actually sit down and watch the list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes, that’s not who he is.
Kirk is a bookworm. He’s a guy who was "a stack of books with legs" at the Academy. He’s a tactical genius who agonizes over the lives of his crew. He only breaks the Prime Directive when the "logic" of a situation demands a more moral outcome. The "Pop Kirk" we see in parodies is a caricature. The "Real Kirk" is a leader.
The Practical Way to Watch Today
If you’re going to dive in, you have two choices: Original or Remastered.
In the mid-2000s, CBS replaced the old cardboard-and-string physical effects with CGI. Some people hate it. They think it ruins the 60s aesthetic. Personally? I think it makes the space battles in episodes like "The Ultimate Computer" look spectacular. The planet surfaces look like real worlds instead of painted backdrops. Most streaming services default to the Remastered versions, but the original cuts are preserved on Blu-ray if you want the "authentic" experience.
Actionable Steps for Your Trek Journey
To get the most out of your exploration of the original 79 episodes, don't just binge-watch them like a modern Netflix show. They weren't meant for that. They were meant to be chewed on.
- Watch the "Salt Vampire" episode ("The Man Trap") first. It was the first one to air, and it perfectly sets the tone for the "monster of the week" era.
- Track the "Redshirt" trope. See how many actually die. It's fewer than the memes suggest, but still enough to notice a pattern in the security department.
- Pay attention to the music. Alexander Courage and Fred Steiner created a sonic landscape that is as important as the visual one. The "danger" motif and the "spock" theme are masterclasses in television scoring.
- Read the credits. You’ll see names like Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch—legends of horror and sci-fi literature who lent their pens to the Enterprise.
The list of Star Trek The Original Series episodes isn't just a record of a dead show. It’s the blueprint for a future we’re still trying to build. It’s hopeful, it’s messy, and it’s undeniably human. Grab some Tranya, set phasers to stun, and start with Season 1, Episode 1. You won't regret it.