Reviews (10)

"Home is the nicest word there is."
I grew up watching the reruns of Little House on the Prairie every day when I got home from kindergarten. My mom taped them, so my family owns 170 of the 200 episodes, from Episode 1, "Harvest of Friends," to the final episode, "Hello and Goodbye." Somehow, however, we missed taping "Premiere," so when I bought this DVD, I had never seen it. Well, I was a bit disappointed that in two hours the Ingalls family never reaches Walnut Grove (I was looking forward to seeing introductions of our favorite characters!), but I'm still very glad to own this gem. I know from experience that VHS tapes degrade with time and many viewings, but DVD will last forever. The pilot introduces Mr. Edwards (with a much thinner beard!) as well as the Ingalls family and includes some memorable moments between Pa and Laura. Probably the best scene of all is the classic "Errand for Santa," featuring a snow-caked Victor French who braves a blizzard to get his Christmas gifts to their recipients on time. Overall, a beautiful beginning to an endearing show.

"Caroline...We're Home....."
This review refers to "Little House On The Prairie...The Premiere Movie"(Goodtimes Video DVD)

Get ready to go from a good cry, to a big grin and back again on this very enjoyable and heartwarming family TV program. It's the beginning of a classic series that stands the test of time, and should be shared with a new generation.

"The Premiere Movie"..a double length feature that will introduce you to the Ingalls family and their harrowing journey to make a better life for themselves. You'll also meet Jack the dog and Mr. Edwards(Victor French) for the first time. When Charles says "Caroline..were home...".have the kleenex ready! It stars Michael Landon(who also directed many of the episodes), Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson.

Goodtimes DVD has done a nice job of transfering these 70's TV classsics. They look great. Nice color and sound. There is some occasional flickering but a very enjoyable view overall. It's nice to be able to enjoy them whenever the mood hits and without all the commercials!.If you really love these stories, you may want to consider buying the 4 pack. It includes this one,a double length feature "The Lord Is My Sheperd"(Little Laura runs away to be closer to God),"The Collection"(guest starring Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash), and "Laura Ingalls Wilder"(Laura and Almanzo finally tie the knot), another double length feature.

You'll laugh, you'll cry!...enjoy...Laurie

The Beginning of "Little House"
The Pilot film of "Little House on the Prairie" was what made Little House as it is today. It was first aired in 1974 on NBC-TV. Millions of fans gathered around the TV to watch it and now years later it is still a hit. Watch this great movie and enjoy it on DVD with your family for years to come! I have seen it several times and each time I see it I see somthing new that I have forgotten or that I have'nt seen before.

Goodtimes Video Tape Version!
I'm reviewing the video tape put out by Goodtimes Home Video, it contains the pilot movie that started the television show. Little House on The Prairie was one of my favorite shows as a child. I was Nine years old when this TV movie aired for he first time and I liked it and grew up watching the show. This Goodtimes tape is okay but kind of grainy. Complete seasons of Little House on the Prairie have been put on DVD, I think there is about 4 seasons that are available right now and I'm hoping to someday buy complete seasons on DVD! This is a terrific show!

Classic Tv Show
In this Dvd are the pilot episode of Little House of the Praire not a double lenght movie as the package says.

The transfer quality is good as well the sound.

The only thing is the absence of any subtitles or captions necesary for international customers like me.

I want to see also a good show featuring M Landon and Victor French Highway to Heaven released soon on Dvd.

Meanwhile I will collect most of the LHOTP Dvds. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

amazing story of family
If you see only one Little House episode in your life, see this one!!!... It has been my favorite for years. It's really about forgiving, understanding, and loving your family through hard times. With all the things going on in the world, this is what it all boils down to, and this is what TV should be. This is just a beautiful movie with excellent family values, outstanding acting (Michael Landon's performance is one to remember), and a strong feel-good tone brought together to create a story you can appreciate and characters you can admire.

I definitely recommend this. And if you're new to "Little House," I would also recommend the others in the series. Check out some really good ones like "Remember Me," "Premiere Movie," "Craftsman," and many more. This is a show that will never lose its flavor.

BEAUTIFUL story of family and forgiveness
What a beautiful and touching movie. I have recently become a huge Little House fan, thanks to my mom who got me hooked on the TV series =) This is one of the most powerful episodes I have ever seen--it's so REAL and therefore incredibly effective. What I like so much about the Little House videos is that they have such strong family morals. This is a family that loves each other so much, you just want to cry because it is so touching. In "The Lord is my Shepherd," the spirited young Laura Ingalls gets nervous when a baby boy is born into their family. She sees her Pa with his new son and worries that the baby will take her place in her father's heart. Laura's jealousy is so thick that she refuses to pray for her brother when he comes down with an illness that threatens to take his life. But, as it turns out, Laura ends up being the most devastated one in her family when the baby dies. She feels that the baby's death is her fault, and she feels overwhelmingly guilty because she actually believes that her father wants a son more than he wants her. Lost in her own emotions, Laura runs away to the mountains and, through the grace of God, meets a kindhearted old hermit named Jonathan who befriends Laura and gradually counsels her through gentle advice and a sense of understanding. It is Jonathan who will help Laura come to the realization that nobody could possibly love and need her the way her Pa does (and if you watch some more videos in the series, you will immediately see how much he really loves and cherishes Laura). It is a truly beautiful story that moved me so deeply. Both Laura and Pa learn valuable lessons about unconditional family love. The Ingalls family paints a clear picture of what family is all about. The acting here is strong, solid, and consistent. Melissa Gilbert is heart-melting and sincere as little Laura, and Michael Landon is absolutely incredible in his role. To me, he IS Charles "Pa" Ingalls, and the only one I can imagine fit for the part. He may very well be one of the most masterful actors I have ever seen. He plays the role to the max, and he becomes the character both inside and out. His acting is so strong--in fact, all of the acting in "Little House on the Prairie" is amazing. Sorry if I ended up writing too much--but when it comes to movies like this, there aren't enough words in the world to describe how good they are. "The Lord is My Shepherd" is a beautiful, beautiful story with all the morality, love, and sensitivity that you could ask for in a movie. Blended in with the hardships of pioneer life and a vision of the courageous individuals who lived through it, it makes a pretty impressive movie that you can watch with your entire family. Don't wait any longer to watch these shows--I truly do hope that you will buy some of them, because I'm sure you will be very moved and inspired by the message that they have to share. (sorry again for making this too long!!!)

the lord is my shepard: Little House on the Prairie
I like this video because of it's family values it has. The sence of family unity. I just love shows that are wholesome and that I can watch with my children. And Little House has that.They don't have any bad words or naughty senes in it. And still it lasts through time. That proves that wholesome entertainment lasts the test of time and people truely like that best. ... Read more

Description

From the woods of Wisconsin and the plains of Kansas to Minnesota, the Ingalls fight to build and hold onto a new home, facing the danger of an untamed wilderness on the American frontier of the 1870's.

A Christmas They Never Forgot - After a sudden, fierce snowstorm traps all the members of the Ingalls family inside the little house on Christmas Eve, they pass the time by exchanging stories about their favorite Christmases of the past. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Very good Christmas story
Excellent "Little House" video with great music, sensitivity, love, and family. This video has everything. =) When the family gets snowed in on Christmas Eve, they pass the time by retelling stories of their most memorable Christmases in the past. Each flashback was touching and entertaining. My favorite stories were those of Almanzo and Hester Sue. Almanzo was just so adorable, I laughed, and Hester Sue had an extremely bittersweet story to tell. Yes, the flashbacks are short, but they're enough to give you a fairly good background on the individual character. Don't miss this "Little House" edition--it's a great video to watch, both at Christmas and throughout the year.

Wonderful Christmas Episode, Beautiful Music
This is a beautiful episode where the family reminisces about their favorite Christmases in the past. It's sweet to see Almanzo as a little boy, and also Caroline as a little girl. My favorite aspect is that Michael Landon brought in a special group of choral singers for this episode and the music is amazing, absolutely beautiful. It's a wonderful family video that really conveys the true holiday spirit.

Little House On The Prairie - The Christmas They Never Forgo
I have seen all the Little House On The Prairie Shows. You can't go wrong with these. It shows how families & friends stick together through thick and thin. Teaches good family values that have been lost over the years. It shows how hard it was to make a living in the 1800's and how family and friends pull together to help one another. You will cry and you will laugh.

Not what I expected!
I love everything that is connected with Laura Ingalls Wilder, and was looking forward to this video. However, it was just filled with reflections and short flashbacks. I would prefer to see a movie that actually developed one of these flashbacks rather than this. I was also hoping to give the Ingalls bug to my daughter. This video doesn't allow you to watch any particular character long enough for that. I probably would have bought this eventually but only after I purchased the other available videos.

I love it! I really recomened it for all Little house fans!
Little House on the Prarie is a wonderful show! I've loved it ever since I was a little girl! And it has the love of a famiy in it! ... Read more

Reviews (20)

WHY ISN'T IT ON DVD
I would rate it as a five if the whole TV mini-series made it on the tape. It was a very well done, made for TV movie. Bette Davis is excellent, but then isn't she always great. Rosanne Arquette was young, but gave a very good performance; So did the actors who played Nick Constantine and Worthy Pettinger. Worth producing on DVD with commentary by the author of the book, director and the living actors and actresses. Ask them what it was like to work with Bette Davis.

The evil role Davis played in "Harvest Home" was as good as her performance on "What Every Happened to Baby Jane?"

Everytime I travel to Maine I can picture the harvest home festival. Makes you a little afraid of those New Englanders and the secrets they may hold. If you liked Harvest Home you may also want to buy Dead and Buried with Jack Albertson and James Firorentino. Another New England chiller, alot like something Stephen King would write. (Reminds me of Monhegan Island, Maine "Spooky")

Don't buy Harvest Home on tape demand a full DVD Version.

NEED THE WHOLE THING ON DVD NOT JUST PARTS.

THIS IS A FIVE STARS MINI SERIE
I purchased the VHS version and was extremely disappointed by the extensive cuts performed on the tape. Where is the Worthy story, he is an integral part of the story....what was left was
not worth watching. I only watched the tape once, when I received it. Bring the entire story on DVD

DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME
DISAPPOINTED IN THE SOUTH
I cannot begin to explain how disappointed I was with the VHS of this movie that I purchased for too much money then to realize that I did not have the entire miniseries. Please put this movie on DVD so many people would like to see the whole thing as it was shown on TV originally. All in all I loved the movie but if someone is seeing it for the first time an they've already been told about it. It really can't be appreciated with the hachet job thats been done on it. Entire miniseries On DVD PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Give us the FULL SERIES on DVD!!!
Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of outrage at the hatchet job that was done to this VHS release of this classic horror TV mini-series.

I really hope somebody out there in DVD-makerland pays attention and hears that there are many people out here waiting for this to come out (uncut, with the picture cleaned up and remastered) on DVD.

And while you're at it, how about the TV mini-series of Stephen King's "The Shining", another exceptional TV effort that definitely merits DVD release.

WHERE'S THE DVD OF THIS CLASSIC TV MINI-SERIES?
I remember watching this on tv when it first came out, and later reading the book. Excellent adaptation of a very creepy and disturbing story, kinda along the lines of The Wicker Man. Have been patiently (not) waiting for the whole mini-series to be released on DVD, and not a chopped up version that is almost impossible to find on vhs that is overpriced! PLEASE, I IMPLORE SOMEONE TO FINALLY RELEASE MOVIES THAT ARE REALLY ENTERTAINING AND MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING, AND NOT JUST THE SAME MOVIES RELEASED IN SPECIAL VERSIONS, EXTRA LONG VERSIONS, SUPERBIT VERSIONS, DIRECTORS VERSIONS, ETC. ETC. ETC.!!!!!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

It's time to face one of the great questions of the television age: Is"The Trouble with Tribbles" really as good as everyone thinks it is? You bet.While the story might be a little slower than many of us remember, the episodeis deservedly beloved for writer David Gerrold's witty, mildly acerbic script,and the way the cast took to heightened comic possibilities against networkresistance. (Heavens! Comedy on a science fiction show?) Stanley Adams isdelightful as the huckster Cyrano Jones, who gives a trilling furball called atribble to Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who brings it aboard the Enterpriseand watches it reproduce... and reproduce... and reproduce. Soon, hundreds oftribbles are in every part of the ship, making Captain Kirk (William Shatner),already grouchy about guarding a mere grain shipment from Klingons, evengrouchier. There's no question that Gerrold made a major contribution toTrek culture with this show, setting a tone that Star Trek hasvisited again and again, including the feature film Star Trek IV: The VoyageHome and sundry episodes of The Next Generation, Deep SpaceNine, and Voyager. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The episode where Star Trek becomes a situation comedy!
"The Trouble With Tribbles" might not be the best Star Trek episode, but it is certainly the funniest. The Enterprise rushes to Deep Space Station K-7 only to find a pretentious bureaucrat named Nilz Baris who wants Kirk to protect tons of quadrotriticale, a hybrid grain that will be used to colonize Sherman's planet. Kirk is ticked off that Baris misused the Priority 1 Distress Call and only allots two guards to watch the "wheat". Meanwhile the rest of the ship gets shore leave and Uhura meets Cyrano Jones, a trader of curious items, including the amazing Tribble, the creature that is apparently born pregnant (one of Bones' best all-time diagnoses). While the little beasties threaten to overwhelm the ship, Kirk has to deal with some unhappy Klingons, reprimand Scotty for defending the ship's honor in a bar room brawl with the Klingons, and try to protect all that wheat, er, quadrotriticale. Watching a clearly peeved Kirk deal with all these headaches is a hoot, as is the classic moment when he has to endure a shower of Tribbles. Plus there is the sight of Spock petting a Tribble and Scotty ending the episode with the all-time greatest pun in Star Trek history. They must have had a total blast doing this one.

David Gerrold, who wrote this episode, also wrote one of the more interesting Star Trek non-fiction books detailing how he came to write the episode and how his script came to be filmed. An excellent behind-the-scenes book for aspiring Star Trek writers. If you love this episode, then you owe it to yourself to also check out not only Gerrold's book but the Deep Space 9 episode "Trials and Tribbulations," where Sisko, Worf, O'Brien and Bashir go back in time and re-live the original Star Trek episode to preserve the time-line. That episode is worth it just for the double-take everybody does when they see how different Worf looks like from the "original" Klingons. That episode was definitely my type of homage. Oh, and the "sequel" on "Star Trek: The Animated Series" was that the best episode of that short-lived cartoon series as well.

"No Tribble at All"
Even people who barely know what Star Trek is have seen or heard of this episode. "Tribble" has become a household word. This episode is hilariously funny, expecially if you know the characters. It is generally regarded as the funniest episode in the series. Although it is not my favorite, I love this episode, and highly recommend it. The Enterprise answers a distress call and travels to a space station, where the crew dicovers that there is no emergency. The space station has just recieved a shipment of a new, highly dvanced grain, and the powers-that-be want it guarded. Kirk is, needless to say, very annoyed. Add to that a Klingon ship requesting "shore-leave rights," and a trader selling cute little balls of fluff called Tribbles. Humans instictively like them, but Klingons do not. Once one Tribble is brought on board the Enterprise, it begins mulitplying so rapidly that it becomes a source of concern to Kirk and Spock. There is no better combination for a funny episode.

The Funniest episode of TOS.
William Shatner and the rest of the Star Trek cast get to laugh and have a good time in this light-hearted adventure when the Enterprise is assigned the task of protecting a space station full of grain for delivery to a developing planet under dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and they encounter a trader (Stanley Adams) who sells some of the crew a small animal called a "Tribble" which then reproduces into hundreds of "hungry little Tribbles" who hate Klingons, like both humans and Vulcans, and proceed to eat the grain. Which then exposes a Klingon plot to destroy the grain shipment. Lots of laughs abound in this episode including Jim being buried alive by a hundreds of tribbles that fall out of a hatch. Was followed by a sequal in the Star Trek animated series called "More Tribbles, More Troubles."Written by David Gerrold. Directed by Joseph Pevney. Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding.

Stanley Adams (Cerano) wrote an episode as well
The episode with those furry little creatures was the apex of humor on Star Trek. By this point in the show's run, characters were well enough developed for the actors and brain trust to feel comfortable stepping out a bit. And they certainly step out in this one. Thanks to writer Gerrold, the episode actually has a fairly solid dramatic foundation that includes Klingon intrigue, and threats to both the food supply and the Enterprise itself. One could be forgiven for not realizing this though, since the tribbles
completely steal the show. Actually the enterprise crew (and Adams as Cerano)for the most part prove quite adept in the comedic roles, and the officious Schallert is a perfect straight man under the circumstances. A Starfleet official is even correct in his desire to reign in Kirk, for once!

Tidbits: The fight scene was supposedly pinched en masse from a prior film. Recognize the Klingon? He was Trelane from The Squire of Gothos, played by William Campbell.

One Of The Finest Hours Of The Original Series
"The Trouble With Tribbles" is my personal favorite among the nearly 80 hours of the original "Star Trek" series. It is unquestionably the funniest, with David Gerrold's deft, wittty prose creating hilarious scenes and dialogue as precious as any I've seen on Jackie Gleason's "The Honeymooners". James Doohan's Scotty steals many of the scenes he's in, though highest honors for hilarity deservedly go to Stanley Adams as the trader Cyrano Jones responsible for the tribble infestation on the Federation space station. The fight between the Klingons and the Enterprise crew is certainly among the finest examples of "Star Trek" humor I've seen. Fans of slapstick comedy will not want to miss this terrific "Star Trek" episode.

This was David Gerrold's first professional sale as a writer and remains one of his finest episodes of science fiction television (However, his best probably is the Babylon 5 episode "Believers".). ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Movie
This movie is truer to the books than the tv series. It is not perfect but is what helped introduce me to Laura and her books.

Wonderful
This is the movie that started it all. A young pioneer family heads out of their home in the "big woods" not quite knowing what to expect. They settle on the Indian territory, make a home for themselves, and remain close as a family. Despite a few fearful encounters with Indians, wolves, and a fire upon their house, the Ingalls family remains tight in love. They celebrate their first Christmas in the territory, befriend the loving yet gruff Mr. Edwards, and experience many births, both in their hearts and in their horses. If you want to see a good movie on love and persistence, then by all means buy this one. ... Read more

Description

Difficult economic times cause the Ingalls to move closer to Mary who is teaching at the blind school in the city. They all prepare to celebrate Mary’s birthday: Pa sells his fiddle to purchase her a present and Laura makes her a card written in braille. Everyone is moved to tears when Mary expresses her appreciation for the special people in her life – as they are everything she could ever really want ... Read more

Amazon.com

This smart, funny episode finds the Enterprise visiting the planet Iotia, where the starship Horizon accidentally left behind Earth materials a century before. During that time, as Captain Kirk (William Shatner) discovers, the Iotians have made much of one of those items, a book called Chicago Mobs of the Twenties. The planet's population has divided into rival gangs who dress, speak, and do violence like the spiritual descendants of Al Capone, plunging Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) into a facsimile of Earth's colorful and dangerous past.

The episode is played for comedy: Kirk and Spock keep getting kidnapped by the warring hoods, each of whom wants the Federation team to use their technology to defeat the other side. The big payoff, however, is a summit meeting of bosses, where Kirk employs plenty of gangster-movie jargon to get matters settled. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Except on Tuesday
This gangster episode, and Tribbles, were the two Trek comedies that really worked. While I wouldn't exactly call the humor here subtle, it is intertwined in a fairly traditional action plot. We are able to enjoy Kirk and Spock's thuggishness for its own sake while simultaneously staying focused on the plot, for the simple reason that their behavior is called for by the story, rather than being a gimmick. The idea of a highly impressionable alien race who's cultural evolution could depend so thoroughly on a random event (the leaving behind of the book) is an interesting one as well. This episode is also helped by strong guest acting, most notably from Tayback.

The funniest of the original series
This is without question the funniest episode of the original Star Trek series. There is no funnier deadpan scene anywhere in television than the one where Kirk is "explaining" the fizzbin card game and asks Spock what the odds are against getting a royal fizzbin. His deadpan, yet truthful answer is, "I have never computed them." I laughed out loud the first time I saw that and still smile when I see it, even though I have seen it over fifty times.
The main premise is that a Federation vessel visited a planet before the Prime Directive was imposed and members of the crew interacted with the planet's inhabitants and contaminated them. Therefore, the primary task of the Enterprise is to repair the damage. The earlier Federation vessel left a book that described the Chicago gangs of the prohibition era and the inhabitants have modeled their entire culture after the book. Their clothing, buildings, speech and social structure are all modeled from the gangster movie cliches.
After many trials and errors, including Kirk trying to drive a car, there is a climactic scene where Kirk takes charge and unifies the government under one of the gang bosses. His pacing on a pool table while brandishing a machine gun and speaking one gangland cliché after another is one of the best scenes in the entire original series. His solution, where the Federation is described as an interplanetary gang, is funny and original. I have always wondered what the reaction of Star Fleet command was to his report of how he solved the contamination problem.
Funny, and essentially a spoof of a movie genre, this is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever, original series and beyond.

"A Piece of the Action," the 2nd funniest Star Trek episode
"A Piece of the Action" has the Enterprise visiting Sigma Iotia II, where a hundred years early the USS Horizon visited. Apparently this was before the Prime Directive, because one of the Horizon crew left behind a book: "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties." Now, once you get past the fact that (a) someone was toting a book into Deep Space and (b) it happened to be that particular book, you can really enjoy this one. Bela Oxymy wants the Federation to supply his gangsters with weapons so he can take over the planet, taking down Krako and the other bosses. My favorite part is when Kirk makes up a very complicated card game to play with the gangsters holding him hostage and Spock has to admit having never calculated the odds on the rarest of possible hands. Then there is also the bit where they try to drive an automobile. In the end, Kirk decides if you cannot fight them, join them. "A Piece of the Action" may well be the second funniest Star Trek episode, after "The Trouble With Tribbles," of course.

Excellence
In my opinion, A Piece Of The Action is in the top 3 episode category along with Mirror Mirror and the Corbomite Manuever. The whole episode is very deep and never uneventful. The action never stops. It employs humor in the form of "slang talk" which people like Spock and McCoy dont understand. I cant explain it all here, but I will tell you it is a very good episode.

One of the funniest and best Star Trek episodes
"A Piece of The Action" is one of my five favorite episodes of Star Trek. In "A Piece of The Action," Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy beam down to a planet whose landscape is similar to that of earth. The boss of a bunch of gangsters demands that the trio from the Enterprise make a deal with him which would help him ward off some of his enemies. To put it short, the Enterprise crew has been tricked. There must be a way for Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy to escape the planet alive, but they have a little bit of fun first.

"A Piece of The Action" is a great episode of the original series of Star Trek. It is well written and some parts of it are hilarious, especially the part when Captain Kirk drives a car for the first time. It's also amusing the way that Kirk talks in slang and has to repeat himself for the others to understand him.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both give one of their best performances to make this one of the unforgettable episodes of Star Trek. I recommend "A Piece of The Action" to anybody. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"A Taste of Armageddon" is one of classic Trek's occasional, obvious metaphors for the absurdity of the then-cold war between East and West. Gene Lyons stars as a Federation ambassador named Fox, who boards the Enterprise to reach the planet Eminiar VII, where he hopes to negotiate a peace treaty with the inhabitants. Instead the crew of the Enterprise gets caught in the middle of an interplanetary war between Eminiar and neighboring planet Vendikar. The twist is that the war is being fought on computers, and compliant residents of those "destroyed" areas obediently report to disintegration chambers, where their "virtual" death is made literal. When the Enterprise is "hit" in one of these simulations, both the warlords of Eminiar VII and Ambassador Fox fully expect Capt. Kirk and crew to report to the disintegration center. The feisty Kirk has other plans, of course. And while the madness of this controlled Armageddon makes a suitably surreal satire of the arms race in the 1960s, the story also evoked the endless, daily reports of body counts during the Vietnam War, with no resolution in sight. Aside from its parable aspect, however, the episode gave Kirk one of his earliest and most compelling scenes of Kirkian preachiness in a bold monologue about peace, reportedly written and rewritten numerous times by series producer and indispensable creative hand Gene L. Coon. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Don't miss this one
This thoughtful episode concerns a planet that has sanitized war. The episode explores important themes such as 1) the sacrifice of the individual good for the societal, and 2) the drawbacks of all types of war. The latter issue in particular remains a timely one as science continues to pursue technologies that may (at times unwittingly lead to more efficient and sanitized killing. This is one episode where Kirk offers a convincing and fresh argument against a society's folly. Another plus of the episode is that it admits shades of gray rather than oversimplifying the issues. Add in a plot twist that brings the Enterprise and crew more directly into the action, and you've got a winning show. Strong guest acting, from Opatoshu, Babcock, and Lyons also boost this episode.

Tidbit: Barbara Babcock would reappear in Plato's Stepchildren during season three.

Just step into this booth for the war effort........
The old war by computer theme is played out here. Instead of fighting a war with weapons; this planet has it's citizens stepping in booths for execution. The machine decides who lives and who dies. Kirk of course ends it all with one of his talks with the Vedikarians. With one sweep of his phaser the natives have to fight the old fashioned way.... with futuristic weapons of mass destruction. The Federation again paves the way for peaceful resolutions to conflict. Only this war will last a few hundred years before they actually become citizens of the Federation.

Kirk proves there is no such thing as a clean war
One of the fun things about science fiction is that you can take things to their logical albeit extreme conclusions. That is what the Enterprise encounters on Eminiar VII in "A Taste of Armageddon," a planet that has been at war for five centuries but which fails to show the usual signs of destruction. This is because they have been fighting the war with computers; after such an attack Anan 7, leader of the High Council announces that half a million people were "killed," and now have to report to disintegration chambers. Unfortunately the Enterprise, which was warned not to approach the planet, has also been destroyed and Kirk's crew needs to beam down for disintegration. Of course, Kirk takes exception to this request and decides to remind these people of the true face of war. As far fetched as this idea might be, you have to remember the idea of the Neutron Bomb, which would kill the people but leave the buildings, a weapon that was ironically considered by some to be more "humane" than your traditional nuclear device. Kirk's efforts to restore sanity are hampered by the presence of Federation Ambassador Fox, who wants to stick to the traditional diplomatic approaches despite the fact nobody on the planet is impressed at all by such delicacies. "A Taste of Armageddon" is another, albeit minor example, of Captain Kirk versus the Super Computer plotline that was so prominent in Star Trek's first season.

Good Episode on the Nature of War
What if war were fought with computers and the casualties reported to disintegration chambers? This episode covers this question and does a pretty good job.

There is a fair amount of action and the suspense is well done. The conflict between Scotty and the none-too-bright diplomat is especially well handled. This is one of Scotty's best command assignments. He runs the Enterprise with intelligence and restraint.

Kirk's solution to the episode's problem is very suspect in light of the prime directive that he's supposed to be following, but over-all, this is a very good episode.

Human life vs war and Computer control.
Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and a landing party discover two worlds that wage war with computers and haul the people designated to die into energy chambers to die. When the Enterprise is declared a "war casuliy", Kirk, Spock, and the Federation use all their skills to destroy the computers and show them that real war ia a thing to be avoided at all costs. A strong statement on how human life is more important then being declared "dead" by numbers on a computer. A Star Trek must have for any fan of the original series.Teleplay by Robert Hammer and Gene L. Coon. Story by Robert Hammer. Directed by Joseph Pevney. Music Composed and Conducted by Alexander Courage. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"The Tholian Web" was conceived when writer Judy Burns went looking for a new angle on ghost stories. A physics student suggested she somehow use the theory of infinite dimensions, and out of that came Burns's script, which finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) trapped between different kinds of space, floating in and out of view of the Enterprise crew. Adding to the dilemma are time constraints (Kirk's oxygen supply is running low), an effort by the arachnid-like Tholians to trap the Enterprise in a gigantic web, sub-space dementia affecting the crew, and rising hostilities between Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the latter none too happy with the way the Vulcan is running the ship in Kirk's absence. Burns's original conception was to make Spock the spectral Starfleet officer locked in interspace, but the show is quite effective in the way various characters mourn the presumed death of their leader and figurehead. The Tholians don't make another appearance in Trek lore until The Next Generation, but this particular episode won the original series its first Emmy for special effects. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Spock and McCoy get to run the ship when Kirk disappears
"The Tholian Web" basically removes Kirk from the equation and gives us the Star Trek episode that most focuses on interactions between Spock and McCoy. The Enterprise has found the USS Defiant with all of its crew dead, apparently having killed themselves. But this area of space is unstable and before Kirk can be beamed back, he becomes trapped in a parallel universe/dimension. While Spock waits for the next opportunity to rescue the captain, the Tholians show up and demand an explanation. Spock explains, but the presence of the Tholian ship throws off his equations. When Kirk does not reappear the Tholains cripple the Enterprise and begin to spin a web of tractor field filaments. To make things even more interesting, the unstable space is beginning to after the sanity of the Enterprise crew. The best scenes of "The Tholian Web" are clearly between Spock and McCoy, who get to hear the taped message Kirk has left for them in the event of his death. Their interaction is at the heart of this episode, because the idea of taking several hours to make a giant web around a damaged starship is pretty far out there. I mean, come on, with all the energy they are expending they could surely finish the Enterprise off, or at least they could make a SMALLER web. But if you always enjoyed the bickering between Spock and McCoy, then this is a truly enjoyable episode.

The first third of Season Three was actually quite good
This episode, in which Kirk disappears and a web is built around the Enterprise, in many ways belongs in another season. It has a lot of action and a straightforward plot. However, it also has some signatures of the third season, such as the trippyness of a winking-out Kirk floating through space, as well as a subtle pitting of illusion vs. reality. Plus it's always nice to meet new aliens--the Tholians even have a visible ship

Tholians and the earliest U.S.S. Defiant.
The U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in an uncharted area of space to answer a distress call from the U.S.S. Defiant, NCC-1764. The starship is visible on their viewscreen, but sensors on board the U.S.S. Enterprise say it's not.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chekov beam aboard and spread out to investigate. Everyone aboard is dead ... apparently killed in a bizarre mutiny, although there are no life readings aboard. McCoy, in the ship's sickbay, tells Kirk that he can find no clue as to why the crew died, but has taken readings to study. Then, as his hand passes through a body and exam table, McCoy realizes the U.S.S. Defiant is dissolving.

Quickly Kirk orders them beamed back to the U.S.S. Enterprise, but Scotty explains that due to the poor stability of the space around them, he can only beam three aboard. After the usual debate, Kirk stays behind while the others beam back. When Scotty tries to bring Kirk aboard, his image wavers, and disappears. Interphase, Spock calculates, will occur in a little over two hours. In the meantime, they must wait. If the captain is still alive, they should be able to retrieve him then.

Complications arise when Chekov goes crazy and attacks Spock on the bridge. Slowly, more members of the crew fall prey to the "illness," attacking their crewmates. McCoy and his staff work round the clock to find a cure. When the doctor suggests Spock "put some distance" between the Enterprise and the Defiant, Spock explains that any movement in the weakened space could disturb both ship's positions and jeopardize Kirk's rescue.

At a little over an hour before interphase, a Tholian ship appears, telling Spock that the U.S.S. Enterprise has violated Tholian space. The Vulcan explains that they were answering a distress call from the nearby U.S.S. Defiant and are waiting until they can retrieve Kirk. The Tholians agree to wait until the appointed time before taking action.

Unfortunately, when the interphase occurs, Kirk is not where he should be. Spock suspects that the Tholian's entrance into the area of space disrupted the U.S.S. Defiant's position. A funeral service is held for Captain Kirk, following which McCoy insists they view the Captain's last orders. Spock reluctantly agrees and the two men go to their friend's quarters and listen to Kirk's touching advice.

Uhura is the first to see Kirk's image floating before her, and for a time, McCoy thinks she's contracted the disease. But when he and Spock see the Kirk on the bridge, they realize that he is, in fact, still alive.

The Tholians decide that Spock has, lied to them and opens fire. Making a decision, Spock orders the phasers fired at the ship. The Tholian ship is disabled, but soon another ship joins it and they begin "building" a sort of web made of shining filaments. Spock analyses the web and announces that if they don't bring Kirk aboard and leave before the web is completed, they "won't see home again." At the last minute, Spock orders full power against the web and the U.S.S. Enterprise is thrown outside the Tholian's trap, several parsecs from their previous position. The hope is that Kirk, caught in the U.S.S. Enterprise tractor beam when they changed position, was brought with them.

Tensely McCoy waits with a hypo of tri-ox for Kirk, whose air is running out as he's successfully beamed on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, alive and unharmed. In a humorous tag, McCoy and Spock convince Kirk that there had been no time to view his final orders and Kirk, somewhat disappointed that his wisdom had gone unheard, says that he hopes there isn't a similar circumstance where the two men will view the tape.

As close to a 'ghost story' as the original series would get
When it was originally written this episode had placed Spock in the dilemma that Kirk would eventually find himself in. Changing it to Kirk benefits the entire show as it allows for some of the best Spock and Dr. McCoy clashes of will that the series would offer up. Another change involved adding the environmental suits that were substituted for a belt device worn around the waist that provided a force field for the wearer and provided a supply of oxygen also. Both of these alterations to "The Tholian Web" help significantly, resulting in one of the strongest entries in the uneven third and final season.

The Enterprise finds the USS Defiant a floating derelict but the Enterprise cannot detect anything with the starship scanners. Further complicating things is the state of flux the Defiant is in due to a spatial interface in the unstable area of space. Kirk boards the Defiant with Spock, Dr. McCoy and Chekov to investigate why there is no response and they discover that the crew had killed each other in a fit of frenzy. Within a few moments McCoy reports that the area he is investigating is becoming transparent and he believes the rest of the ship will also. Attempting to beam back Scotty explains that the transporters can only handle three at a time so Kirk remains while the others return. The Defiant then disappears completely taking Kirk with it. Spock finds evidence that the same spatial interface will occur in a short while and that they will make an effort to beam Kirk back aboard then. The Tholians then encounter them, which disrupts the plans made by the Enterprise and compounds the situation with a ship to ship attack. Meanwhile McCoy makes an uncomfortable discovery - if they remain in this area of space they will experience the same calamity as the Defiant unless he finds a cure. Soon afterward crewmembers report sightings of a ghostly image of Captain Kirk appearing to them.

The few moments when Kirk appears as a 'ghost' are quite effective and thankfully not overplayed, each one happening at perfect intervals. Instead of having Kirk wander through the starship in ghostly form, attempting to communicate, he appears infrequently precipitating the spatial interface the Enterprise is waiting for. All of the story elements are balanced well here: the encounter with the Tholians, the disappearance and recovery of Kirk, the expected volatile dialogues between Spock and Dr. McCoy, the effects the crew experiences in the unstable area of space. Placing Kirk in an environmental suit works better than the previously suggested use of a force field type belt. The introduction of such a device would have caused extreme complications in later episodes yet to be produced. His ghostly appearances in the suit have an unsettling horror feel to them as well, emphasizing the idea that he is stranded.

The only trifle I have with this episode is the way in which Kirk is recovered. At the moment Kirk appears onscreen on the bridge Spock has full power restored to the starship and this sudden effect throws the Enterprise completely free of the Tholians energy field and Kirk as well as soon discover because he was caught in Enterprise's transporter beam. Hold it! Back up a minute...just before full power is restored Spock says "Ready to transport on my order," but he never gives the order or at least we never hear it. However, we do know that Scotty had locked a transporter beam on the coordinates provided him; perhaps he didn't want to risk losing the captain one more time! Also notable: McCoy ruins a perfectly good (and I assume quite costly) environmental suit - as soon as Kirk is beamed aboard the doctor gives him a shot with a needle directly through the material of the suit.

Captain Kirk gets trapped in outer space ---- literally
"The Tholian Web" is one of the most original episodes of Star Trek - The Original Series. The Enterprise ship runs up on a mysterious ship in space that is supposedly not even there, but they can see it. Soon they all find out that they are in a part of space where matter disintegrates. Before the Enterprise crew knows it, Captain Kirk vanishes in space and Spock has to take command. Will Captain Kirk vanish just like the mysterious ship or is there a possible way to find Kirk and beam him back onboard the ship?

"The Tholian Webb" is slow going, but it's not boring. It has some of the best special effects of any of the episodes. The alien enemies that make the energy-draining webb and the idea of Captain Kirk being trapped in outer space is intriguing.

If you like original episodes of Star Trek that are interesting and have great special effects for their time, I recommend getting "The Tholian Webb." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

continues the "Little House" tradition
This episode has no problem carrying out all of the characteristics of "Little House on the Prairie" that makes the series so wonderful. In this story, the Ingalls' adopted son Albert is forced to get a true taste of prejudice at a young age. The people who are supposed to be his friends turn on him and call him a "Jew lover" when he befriends and becomes the apprentice of a kind, elderly Jewish craftsman. Albert and the craftsman carry this episode all the way through--they are two beautiful people who come together to address the issue of prejudice and stress the meaning of love. Great acting, great story--I recommend it ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A beautiful woman starts killing off Kirk's landing party
"That Which Survives" finds the Enterprise checking out the surface of an unknown planet when a beautiful woman (Meriwether) shows up and kills one of the crew. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is thrown 990 light-years away from the planet. After the woman, Losira, comes back and kills another of the crew and then returns announcing she has "come for" Sulu, Kirk figures out she is "programmed" just to kill one particular person at a time. Kirk and the others discover an underground entrance and find another one of those pesky computers protecting the dead planet by creating deadly Losiras to take care of the unwanted visitors. Of course, if this computer is powerful enough to send the Enterprise across the galaxy I think it might come up with a better defense mechanism than a person specific assassin. But then if these computers did not have some sort of Achilles heel the Enterprise would be commanded by the second in command on the night shift in Engineering. Despite the nice title, "That Which Survives" is an average Trek episode at best.

Not as bad as Spock's Brain, but.....
As already noted, this one is a forgettable Trek, to be sure. But somehow, Trek, even when it is bad, is still pretty good.

Outside of a few good moments, such as Sulu firing his phaser at Losira's feet (pretty good explosion FX), and the nifty way the holograms disappear, this one blows pretty badly. Still, it's better than the latest reality drama, or any episode of "Lost in Space."

Watch this one instead of the next "WWF Smackdown" -and save your brain.

The collapse begins abruptly with (IMO) the worst episode
Only the Sulu fan club (he features prominently here) could disagree that the best thing about this episode is Lee Merriweather-and she plays an automaton! A lot of the old tricks are here, like Kirk outsmarting a computer (come to think of it, even the computer console looks familiar!).
Basically, this should have been a half-hour show (actually it shouldn't even have been a show). Senseless dialogue is contrived, both on the planet and on the Enterprise, just to pass the time until the next commercial. Hard to find a worse episode, in my opinion.
Tidbit: For the remainder of the show, the final credits would
feature the 2nd season theme music. While this is a very minor detail in itself, it seems symbolic of other changes. The episodes become more formulaic as the parties concerned begin to see the writing on the wall for the show. The absence of new music, as budgets draw tight, also contributes an increasingly stale and defeatist feel to the late episodes.

Neglected
As all fans know, this is a third/last season episode. Trrue Trekkies have little good to say about this episode and I agree it is far from perfect but it has some of the nicest visual effects of the series.

The acting is Monday-morning-terrible and the whole production is uneven but this is far from the worst episode. There is an effort and an interesting story, though it seems crammed in a 45 minute network show.

This story might have been better utilized and expanded in a feature film but who will ever know.

For Trek fans only. It deserves a second viewing.

Beauty survives?
In this, the 69th episode of classic Trek, Kirk and crew are exploring ruins found on a class-M planet that seems to have developed a livable climate in only a few thousand years.

The Enterprise landing party is attacked by Losira, a woman who kills a crewman with just a touch of her hand. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is thrown almost a thousand light years away by the planet's hidden defense system.

More landing party members are attacked by Losira, until it is discovered that she can only attack the party member that she calls by name. The remaining party then keep her from attacking the named crewmember. Meanwhile, Scotty repairs some sabotage to the engines that Losira had accomplished before throwing the Enterprise out of orbit, and then hurries back to Losira's world.

Kirk discovers a hidden room with a highly advanced computer, and the defense mechanism there creates three Losiras - which keep them from protecting each other as they had previously. The cavalry, in the form of Spock and a landing party, arrive just in time to deactivate the computer.

The previously taped message reveals that the planet had been artificially enhanced by colonists, who were affected by a disease that killed them all off. The disease then followed the colonists back to their homeworld, supposedly wiping out the entire civilization. Nothing but the computer program, which defends the planet from anyone who is not of Losira's race, remains. The colonist's relief ship never arrived.

Kirk says beauty survives, because the computer continues to project an image of Losira even after delivering the message about the colonist's destruction.

My score - 5 out of a possible 10. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great story
"Home is the nicest word there is." These are Laura Ingalls' sweet and touching words that help kick off the "Little House on the Prairie" video series in "A Harvest of Friends." The Ingalls family has decided to settle at Plum Creek in Walnut Grove. Pa builds a house for the family, and they are all happy there. Pa starts working for two men named Mr. Hanson and Mr. O'Neil to ensure that he can earn the supplies he needs for his harvest. Mr. Hanson is a kind and caring man, but Mr. O'Neil is pushy and unrelenting. So, when Pa falls out of a tree at a family picnic and is ordered off to bed, you could probably guess which one of those two men is understanding and which one refuses to cut Pa any slack. I was very touched when the title of this video came to life and presented itself so beautifully at the end. This is a good one--I give it 5 stars and I definitely recommend it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

After destroying 4 billion people in the Malurian star system, a 21st- century NASA probe called Nomad--carrying friendly greetings to whateverunknown, extraterrestrial race might find it--has a violent encounter with theEnterprise, nearly blowing the starship out of space. Hoping to sidestepanother attack, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy)invite the diminutive, computer-driven, impossibly powerful spacecraft aboard tolearn how its peaceful mission was supplanted by a program to destroy life.Written by John Meredyth Lucas, who was intrigued by the idea of a sentient,almost godlike machine that turns against its creator, "The Changeling"transcends, fortunately, Star Trek's cash-strapped special effectsdepartment to become a compelling drama. (Let's just say that Nomad lookslike a cross between the Tin Woodman and a 1960s beach radio.) Particularlymemorable is Spock's mind-melding scene with Nomad, in which the Vulcanis shaken by the probe's chaotic memories of being captured by a machine planetand given destructive impulses. Frequent Trek director Marc Daniels wasparticularly proud of the way his crew made Nomad appear capable ofindependent movement: There was one model for hanging from a wire, a second forstanding on a floor, and a third for riding on a dolly (to get a sinister,point-of-view traveling shot). If "The Changeling" sounds vaguely familiar, itshould: The script was rewritten as the basis for Star Trek: The MotionPicture. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Uninspired
This episode, which features a confused and destructive floating robot, is an unspectacular offering. Like several episodes, it ably enough explores the unfortunate fact that technology is fallible, and that even with the best intentions, things can and do go wrong. This ship-based episode is less exciting than some of its neighbors, although there are a few dramatic scenes. On the negative side, the idea that Uhura could be rapidly re-programmed would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting to her. Also tedious is Kirk's outwitting of Nomad. And just how did NOMAD manage to mesh so smoothly with 'the other.'? Shouldn't he look a little the worse for wear? As a final gripe, I'll note that NOMAD wasn't much of an actor, although I suppose he didn't have much to work with.

TV version of first plot for The Motion Picture
"Chageling" the basis for Star Trek the Motion Picture

In this one we get to see on a TV scale; the same plot of Star Trek: The Motion Picture played out here.
We have the long lost satellite from outer space taken by an alien intelligence. We get to see Scotty killed and revived by the amazing little machine. It's all because the computer thinks that Kirk is the computer's creator "Roykirk" ; because it was damaged in space. It's an implausible plot but OK if you can suspend you belief in reality for a while to enjoy this. Despite the enormous plot hole (the Roykirk thing) it's the same story for the movie condensed into a 50 minute episode. If you see this one you'll still enjoy how Kirk outsmarts the computer. I was impressed that the machine was very compact and yet could lay the Enterprise in ashes if not treated properly. Size and power were not exclusive here. The docile looking machine proved to be a profound menace.

Good idea, but a movie??
Ever see the first Star Trek movie? This show was the low budget version.

James Kirk (a.k.a. the Creator) outwits another Computer
"The Changeling" was always an interesting episode, even before it served as the template for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." The Enterprise discovers that all humanoid life in the Malurian system has disappeared when the ship is attacked by a tiny vessel. When Kirk hails the vessel, the attack suddenly stops and "Nomad" is beamed aboard. It turns out that once upon a time it was a probe from Earth sent into deep space to contact alien life, where it was damaged and eventually met up with a probe from another civilization that was designed to collect soil samples and sterilize them. The two probes somehow end up merging into a single entity, so that now Nomad believes its mission is to contact alien life and sterilize it. The only reason the life forms on the Enterprise have not been sterilized is because Nomad has mistaken James Kirk for its "Creator," Jackson Roykirk. Nomad is not impressed by the biological life forms on the Enterprise, although it does allow that the Spock unit is well ordered. "The Changeling" is another one of those episodes where Kirk uses logic to defeat a superior computer while Spock looks on in amazement. However, the bit where Nomad erases Uhura's mind would be more chilling if they did not retrain her in about a week. Still, this is an above average episode and one of the better confrontations between Kirk and a super computer.

The Enterprise vs a machine that can destroy Mankind.
One of the best Star Trek shows from the original series finds the crew of the Enterprise up against a machine called Nomad which has destroyed a solar system and will repeat the same path of destruction to Earth, unless the Captain can find a way to destroy it before it's too late. Written by John Meredyth Lucas. Directed by Marc Daniels. Music Composed and Conducted by Fred Steiner. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A war between the Klingons and Federation is imminent, and it's up toCaptain Kirk (William Shatner) to persuade the peaceful, agrarian planet Organiato sign on with the good guys before the Klingons overwhelm the place. What'sthe rush? Organia is in a strategically valuable position for whichever warringside claims it first. The only problem is, the Organians don't seem to care.Kirk and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) make an awfully good pitch forFederation protection, but the planet's Council of Elders rejects the offer as atacit invitation to violence on their world. Worse, the Council takes littleheed of a Klingon invasion, insisting there is no problem and earning the enmityof both Kirk and Klingon Commander Kor (John Colicos). Essentially a Cold Warsatire disguised as a Federation-Klingon showdown in most unusual circumstances,"Errand of Mercy" is the brainchild of producer-writer Gene L. Coon, who makes awonderfully convincing case for the absurdity of each side's claim to moralsuperiority. Highlights of the episode include the enigmatic, retiringperformances of the Council members, and the Butch-and-Sundance banter betweenKirk and Spock as they set about trying to become a two-man Resistance targetingKlingon munitions. The episode is directed by John Newland, best known as thehost of the supernatural television series, One Step Beyond. --TomKeogh ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Perhaps a bit overrated
This thoughtful episode introduces us to the Klingons, who along with the Federation are seen here currying the favor of the peaceful and pastoral Organians. While thoughtful and somewhat slow, this episode is not without it's share of tension. We share the anxious feeling of time having stopped before the onset of war; only the Organians seem curiously subdued. The episode eventually hits us with a very nice twist, which is intelligent in that it eventually forces us to see the Klingon and Federation positions as more similar than different; the real distinction is with the more advanced Organians. This is one of those examples of how watching Star Trek could be simultaneously humbling in its depiction of our current society and uplifting in its optimistic vision of a possible future.

The Organians stop the Klingon-Federation War
"Errand of Mercy" provides one of the most problematic story lines in Star Trek history. The Federation and the Klingon Empire have started fighting again and the Enterprise hurries to Organia, a strategically important planet. Wanting the cooperation of the Organians, Kirk and Spock beams down and find the universe's most passive people, who are not at all concerned that the big bag Klingons are coming. The Klingons do show up, stranding Kirk and Spock on the planet where they are disguised as Organians and get to witness the arrival of Kor, the Klingon military governor. Kirk and Spock begin a two-person resistance movement, blowing up Klingon supplies. The Klingons retaliate against the population, but then Ayelborne, leader of the Organians, decides he has had enough of all this nonsense. One of the things I most like about "Errand of Mercy," is that it is one of the few times that the Enterprise encounters a race of superior beings who are not seriously flawed in some way. You even get Kirk put in the uncomfortable position of insisting on the right to make war and kill millions of people. This also becomes one of the most problematic episodes in Star Trek history, because the Organian Peace Treaty makes it impossible for the Federation and Klingon to go on killing each other. At least in theory (you have to admit, they have the enforcement capabilities); in practice, the two civilizations would continue to have fun with each other in future Star Trek episodes.

A Pretty Good Story -- a Brilliant Portrayal of a Villian
John Colicos turns in a standout performance as Kor, the first Klingon to appear in the series. Kor is strong, cunning, ruthless, and a little bit charming. The peaceful Organians are also very compelling characters. Throughout the episode, there is just a hint that there is more to the Organians than meets the eye.

There is some action in the story, along with a little suspense, but it would have been nice if there was a little more of both. Additionally, we are never shown the Klingon vessel.

In spite of these flaws, this is a very good episode with a very strong supporting cast. A definite must for any Star Trek fan.

Federation vs the Klingons.
The Captain and Mr. Spock are trapped on the planet Organia which is occupied by the Klingons just as war with the Federation begins. The two fight to stay alive while the Orgainians plan a surprise ending for both sides. Actor John Colicos turns in a great performance as Commander Kor. This episode also predicts the future for Federation/Klingon relations. Another great story from Gene L. Coon.

First episode with Klingons
This was the episode that introduced the Klingons with an excellent performance by John Colicos of Battlestar Gallactica. Kirk and Spock land on a very placid planet with a society reminiscent of Medevil Europe finding it to be overrun by Klingons and the inhabitants remaining amazingly passive about it. Kirk and Spock disguise themselves as citizens, but the Klingons soon find out their true nature. This is apparently the only episode with the exception of the first two that Dr. McCoy didn't appear in, for some reason. I guess he was on leave. ... Read more