Everyone gets the blues sometimes, whether it’s media burnout from world events or problems that consume time set aside for hobbies and enjoyable activities. It’s easy to get tied up in the doldrums, but if you’re a Star Trek fan, you can chase away the blues with these three hilarious episodes from The Original Series!
1. “A Piece of the Action”
In “A Piece of the Action” (S02E17), Kirk and his crew visit Sigma Iotia II, a planet previously contacted by another ship, the Horizon, almost 100 years earlier. The Horizon was lost or destroyed soon after, but left behind books about gangster culture on Earth in 1920s Chicago. The book became something of a Bible to the Iotians, leaving Kirk and his crew mixed up with rival gangsters, guns, and greed.
This episode is almost pure comedy, and it’s a delight to watch! Some of the top moments include Captain Kirk trying to drive a car, Scotty attempting to learn the lingo of the planet, and Kirk turning the tables on the Iotians by having the Federation “take things over.” Shatner’s acting during the “Fizzbin” card game is deliciously over the top as well, making this one of the best comedic Trek episodes ever aired!
2. “I, Mudd”
Kirk and his crew run into the wily Harcourt Fenton Mudd in this episode (S02E12) once again, having first encountered him while he was swindling miners and giving their potential wives false beauty. This time, though, Mudd lures the Enterprise to planet Mudd, which is populated by androids who do his bidding. Once Kirk and his crew are planetside, Mudd tells Kirk that the androids won’t let him leave and that they plan to take the Enterprise and rule mankind by making humans complacent and controlled, thereby making them easier to handle.
From the Enterprise crew putting on a skit to confuse the androids to them creating 500 versions of Mudd’s nagging ex-wife Stella simply just to torture him, this episode almost feels like a community theater production. It’s surreal, but in a silly way that The Original Series seemed to excel at.
3. “Shore Leave”
Do you want whimsy? How about Dr. McCoy chasing around a human-sized white rabbit, Kirk facing an unhinged former Starfleet Academy classmate, or Don Juan creeping around the bushes? Okay, that last one isn’t so much whimsical as it is unsettling, but during “Shore Leave” (S01E17), Captain Kirk and his crew find them all.
The planet is like an amusement park, where visitors’ thoughts are read and then made real to them. Memories, wants, and wishes all come to life, such as Kirk reminiscing to Bones about his former prank-loving classmate Finnegan (played brilliantly by Bruce Mars) and how much he’d always wanted to “whale the tar” out of him. The interactions between Kirk and Finnegan are not only funny but give viewers insight into the kind of cadet Kirk was!
Yes, it’s true, even Trekkies get the blues. It’s a part of life, but revisiting these three Star Trek episodes from The Original Series is a sure way to lift your spirits!
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