[Admiral Archer]

Hello, I am looking to introduce a friend/potential girlfriend to the world of Star Trek. She already knows quite a bit, but claims to have never seen any of the episodes or movies. I have therefore decided to come to you guys to ask, which five original series episodes are the most quintessential? Preferably this list would NOT include "Space Seed", as I will show her this one anyway, since it would be cool to use as a precursor to TWOK when we get to the classic movies stage. My initial thoughts are that the list would include:

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
"The City on the Edge of Forever"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"Journey to Babel"

This list is just an idea. What do you guys think?

[omegaman]

Great list.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Needs more space hippies

Just kidding, I think that's a pretty good list too

[Pauln6]

Tricky. I'd probably go for:

Balance of Terror
City on the Edge of Forever
Journey to Babel
Amok Time
Mirror Mirror

I would also say that the Man Trap provides a very good introduction to the supporting cast. It may not be the greatest episode but it might be a good one to use as an opener because of that. Devil in the Dark is another good one actually... 5 is just too few!

[Admiral Archer]

Originally Posted by Pauln6

Tricky. I'd probably go for:

Balance of Terror
City on the Edge of Forever
Journey to Babel
Amok Time
Mirror Mirror

I would also say that the Man Trap provides a very good introduction to the supporting cast. It may not be the greatest episode but it might be a good one to use as an opener because of that. Devil in the Dark is another good one actually... 5 is just too few!

Great list! I know, five is too few! But I'm thinking these will just be the initial ones to introduce her to Star trek, keep in mind we will eventually end up seeing many more (if she likes it, that is). I forgot to mention she's a huge Star Wars fan, would that help in deciding which episodes would be the best choices?

[horatio]

I totally agree that City on the Edge of Forever and Journey to Babel have to be on that list. Balance of Terror, Doomsday Machine or Arena might be a nice selection for an action episode while Trouble with Tribbles and Piece of the Action are the candidates for a funny episode.
I think that one of those cheesy "what have we learned today" parable type of episodes should also be on the list. My personal favourite is Savage Curtain but Devil in the Dark or Patterns of Force also come to mind.

[Ensign James T. Kirk]

The Doomsday Machine
The Trouble with Tribbles
Amok Time
Mirror Mirror
City on the Edge of Forever

[kevin]

Five is a low number, might be better to try and get up to 7 or 8.

Failing that I might pick - in no particular order:

Jouney to Babel
The City on the Edge of Forever
The Galileo Seven
The Trouble with Tribbles
Balance of Terror

Although I might also pick (on different days) from the likes of - The Devil in the Dark, Wolf in the Fold, Court-Martial, The Conscience of the King, The Empath, The Tholian Web and Where No Man Has Gone Before.

[Finarvyn]

Agreed that five is a small number, but here's my shot at it:

The Doomsday Machine
The Trouble with Tribbles
Balance of Terror
Mirror Mirror
City on the Edge of Forever

[Diron Hod]

That's the list I'd make^