With 79 official episodes—plus the first pilot, “The Cage”—it might be a little overwhelming to figure out where to start with the original Star Trek. On top of that, changes in storytelling styles and visual effects technology could make the nearly 60-year-old series seem a bit creaky to modern audiences. Worry not! I’m more than happy to help other people get hooked on Star Trek.
What follows is not a list of the all-time best TOS episodes, but rather 3 episodes to start with if you’re new to the series or if you’re introducing a friend or family member to it for the first time. The episodes are also listed in the order I think you should watch them, but obviously, you can watch whatever you want in whatever order you want. These are just suggestions.
1. “The Trouble With Tribbles”
It is important to remember that the original Star Trek has a pretty broad range of tones. It has dark, serious episodes, but it also has light, comedic episodes. “The Trouble With Tribbles” is quite possibly one of the best of that latter variety, while also being a timeless classic for the series.
In this episode, the Enterprise comes to a space station upon the demands of a frustrating government official to protect shipments of special grain. Also on the station are a crew of Klingons and an abundance of these fluffy, little aliens, known as tribbles. If that isn’t bad enough, the tribbles reproduce at a remarkable rate.
There are a few major reasons to start a new fan with “The Trouble With Tribbles.” One is that it is intentionally funny. Given that the look of TOS is admittedly campy by today’s standards, it’s probably easier to accept a comedy off the bat. That way, we can ease into the serious dramas and quandaries found in other episodes, after we’ve accepted the brightly colored ’60s sets.
Another reason to start with this episode is that it features Klingons. Being one of the most iconic alien species in the franchise, even people with only a casual awareness of Star Trek have probably heard of Klingons. While later series, like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, greatly expand on their culture, this episode is a good introduction to Klingons in the TOS era.