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That which Survives is worse than Spock's Brain? Lee Meriwether is STUNNING in this episode!

Third Seson gets dumped on, but there were some very good episodes: Day of the Dove; The Enterprise Incident; All Our Yesterdays; The Tholian Web; Spectre of the Gun; Is There In Truth no Beauty; Elann of Troyus; The Savage Curtain.

Platos step children is one of the Darkest Episodes of Trek, his Speech at the end was brilliant "your all dead inside, youve lived too long"

I thought for sure "Spock's Brain" would be number 1.

As someone once said, Star Trek is a bit like sex: even if it's bad it's pretty good.

I might be a minority but I liked the Empath episode and it had touching sensitivity of Spock to McCoy, when he thought he was dying.

Yeah some of those I would go along with but NEVER NEVER 'The Empath' that is such a good one just good acting throughout and showing a bond of love and friendship, this was DeForrest Kelley's favourite and I see why.

Dude, I loved the empath. You completely missed the point. If I ever had one superpower it would be to take on some else’s pain, hurt, suffering, and injuries, hopefully not to the point of death. The ultimate sacrifice.

How could you have left off "The Way to Eden" -- with the most unconvincing collection of hippies in the galaxy?

Fun fact about "The Alternative Factor": Robert Brown, who played Lazarus, was not the producer's first choice for the role. He was actually a last-minute substitute for John Barrymore, Jr., who pulled a no-show when filming started. Who is John Barrymore, Jr., you ask? Drew Barrymore's father.

The worst episodes of Star Trek TOS, is still ten times better than any of the Picard and Discovery shows.

I liked the "Empath." The relationships between the "Big Three" is well played in the episode.

I thought "Turnabout Intruder" was way worse than the Omega Glory.

The WORST episode was 'The Way to Eden': "HERBERT HERBERT HERBERT!"

The worst episode of the original series is better than anything Discovery produced.

You forgot Spock’s Brain.

It's all a matter of opinion, but how, "And the Children Shall Lead," and "The Way to Eden" didn't make your top 5 is beyond me. They are easily 1 and 2 on my list. "The Alternative Factor" isn't as bad an episode as it it just a hot mess for me. They had some good ideas, and if you've ever heard the behind the scenes of that episode you'll understand why it turned out into the jumbled nonsense that it did.

I think you have misunderstood the Empath. That episode is very important for character- development, and it is very different from the other episodes. Interesting to hear your point of view, nonetheless.

I personally would have swapped out "The Empath" for "And The Children Shall Lead".

‘The Empath’ is the true gem of the third season. No pun intended.

The empath is my favorite episode. It's about self-sacrifice and intolerance to others' suffering. The irony that the Vians praise the empathy that they themselves lack (which Kirk bitterly points out) adds more depth to the plot.

I believe the Star Trek Original Series Season 1 and 2 are the best of all the franchise. I keep watching some of them over and over again.

The Empath was WAY ahead of its time; no one else was even thinking about Metaphysics on tv in the sixties.

TOS has the worst batting average? This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

I like all of them. Corny is OK. Don't lose your sense of humor when watching Star Trek. You'll never get through it.

Can't agree about "Plato's Stepchildren." Lots of great ideas in that one about the abuse of power and the mistreatment of outsiders. Plus, Alexander, Philana, and Parmen are all complex and memorable characters (unlike Losira from "That Which Survives," who only becomes more confusing as the story unfolds). I would replace "Stepchildren" with "And the Children Shall Lead."

Personally, I love The Empath. My worst would be The way to eden ("Herbert!"), spocks brain ("In search of his brain, doctor!"), whom gods destroy ("You stupid cow!"), alternative factor ("Winking Out!"), I Mudd, Catspaw ("Very bad poetry, Captain."), Omega Glory, The Lights of Zetar, Patterns of Force, Bread and Circuses.

See it's weird because The Empath was one of my favorites, but at the same time I fully expected it to be on this list lol. I can't say for sure why I figured it, especially since I liked the minimalist set design, but I just had a feeling

WHOA!! The Empath is excellent. I see very few flaws in it. Should have the space hippy one on here and "And the children shall lead" Opinions 💁‍♂️

Absolutely disagree with "The Empath". It was meant to be emotional and deal with the best of humanity with their love for each other and their ability for self-sacrifice. The Vidians couldn't provide that which is why they used others. The face of the leaders of the Vidians shows that he recognizes it as their fatal flaw. We didn't need the cringy few minutes at the end which appear to be obligatory in Star Trek TOS. I rewatched it just now to see if my original feelings about the episode remain. They do. I also liked to a degree "That Which Survives". The "Way to Eden" was much worse and the portrayal of Spock in that episode was terrible.

The worst for me was “The Squire of Gothos” Trelane. Totally pointless.

The omega glory is repeatedly pissed on, This episode moved me as a child and continues to move me as one of Kirks most valiant efforts to defend his beliefs and those of the federation. If not for this episode....I would not be a treky.

The Empath is one of my favourites. I think And the Children shall Lead is the worst Star Trek episodes.

The Empath is one of my favorite episodes in the whole series. It introduced me to the word "empath" and to the realization that I, on fact, am an Empath. Maybe that's why the topic wasn't boring to me I don't mind that it's a bottle episode, and I loved that the actress who played Gem was a skilled mime, who's graceful movements made up for the lack of a set. On the other hand, Spock's Brain is a truly horrible episode, which I have to take on memory as I haven't seen it in 60-some-odd years.

One or two points. First one of clarification: The Platonians were not telepaths, they were psychopaths (in two separate senses of the word). They were sadistic and unfeeling, but their power was psychokinesis, NOT telepathy. Secondly, the Empath, while quirky and devoid of fight scenes, was NOT pointless. Third, the episode Spock's Brain was FAR worse than the first season episode Alternative Factor. Maybe Pensky felt he had picked on the third season enough.

How could 'And the Children shall lead' NOT appear on this list? Or Spock's Brain?

There are episodes that are pure cheese (Turnabout Intruder, Spock's Brain), some that are just plain bad (Alternative Factor), but one manages to combine all of the worst of Trek into 50 minutes of cringe. The Mark of Gideon starts with such a horribly implausible premise that it makes you wonder just how much handwaving went into getting it approved. A completely functional Enterprise replica that even Captain Kirk found indistinguishable from the real ship? Wow, it must have included everything...even the personal belongings and computer files from Kirk himself. But...never mind all that. Kirk meets a beautiful young woman who manages to convince him that she has no idea what they are doing there, until she gets sick and Daddy appears to explain the plan. She's supposed to die so that others will be inspired to infect themselves or infect others or let the government infect them to reduce the planet's population. Apparently their love and respect for life prevents them from using birth control, but suicide or genocide is fine, as long as it's by disease rather than another method like gas chambers or starting a computer war with Eminiar 7. Kirk has developed feelings for the young woman so he takes her back to the Enterprise and saves her life just in time. And the good news is that she now carries the infection in her blood, so she can still wipe out billions of people because no starship captain will be around to rescue them. What a happy ending! For sheer stupidity and ham-handed social commentary I don't think you can beat this episode.

The more I learn, the more I realise that ST TOS was a success in spite of Gene Roddenberry, not because of him.

WTD(What The Dunsel)?? I can not believe "Spock's Brain" did not make your list. With the line, "Brain & Brain. What is brain?" to Scotty's fake faint to enable Kirk to disarm the female alien lead. How much worse can you get? Bad enough having Nimoy on "robot" mode during most of the episode. Script appeared to be written & called in by JHS student. (7th grade).

You needed a longer list. Any list of terrible episodes should contain And the Children Shall Lead, Way to Eden, and Spock's Brain.

While I agree about The Empath's script, I found its minimalist sets really appealing for some reason.

"Brain and brain! What is brain? It is... Controller?"

Both final seasons two and three were very enjoyable. Even if they're bad they're pretty good.

Some even worse episodes: "and the children shall lead" with children going nyanyanya empowered by a space ghost, "spock's brain, and "the way to eden" with its idiotically stereotypical space hippies.

I cannot agree at all with the choice of "The Empath" here. I consider it to be one of the most important episodes of all, because possibly more than any other installment, it explores the true nature and depth of the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy: that each would without a moment's hesitation lay down his life for the others. And despite their constant friction and bickering, both Spock and McCoy would very willingly die to save the other.

The Empath is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. And while season 3 was a season that saw the departure of Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek being scheduled in the Friday Night Death Slot, and a considerably lower budget that had episodes takin place entirely on the Enterprise set, it did have some great episodes like The Enterprise Incident, The Tholian Web and All Our Yesterdays. Star Trek is my favorite Star Trek series because it was the first and original. It was the series I remember watching on TV in the afternoon when I got home from elementary school in the 1970s.

I actually really enjoyed the empath, largely due to the scene where McCoy knocks out both Kirk and Spock. If nothing else, I think that was a well-done interaction. One of my least favorites is The Deadly Years. The way Kirk puts his ship in jeopardy to feed his own ego is very disturbing to me. And when he’s cured, there is no consequence for or mention of the terrible way he treated everyone.

I agree with everything but the Empath. That was a great and emotional episode IMPO! I loved the way each one of them was ready to sacrifice his own life to save his friends, i loved the way the relationships between them went, i also loved the girl, she's absolutely beautiful. (sorry for my English)

My Top 7 cringeworthy TOS episodes in order starting from absolute worst to barely watchable. 1. 'And The Children Shall Lead' 2. 'The Alternative Factor' 3. 'The Mark Of Gideon' 4. 'Plato's Stepchildren' 5. 'The Way To Eden' 6. 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' 7. 'Spock's Brain'

The fact that Empath is on this list but Turnabout Intruder isn't, just obliterates your credibility.

What!? No Space Hippies?! Hey, brother...that's so Herbert!

Most folks put Spock's Brain as the worst episode...I sure do.

How can anyone possibly omit “”And The Children Shall Lead”, “Spock’s Brain” and “The Way to Eden”??

Can't take this seriously if Space Hippies are left out.

That Which Survives, has one major redeeming feature, Lee Meriwether.

Where's Spock's Brain? That and Plato's Stepchildren are the worst!

How, how is anyone that's even remotely aware of TOS, not listing "Spock's brain" as the worst episode ever? It is absolutely unwatchable

I like 'The Empath' and 'That Which Survives' a lot more than you do, even if I do agree about the logic of the latter. Got to work with Lee Meriwether on a radio project about 10 years ago, and she was a delight- she even let me record her doing the "I am for..." bit for me. lol

Come on! The Empath is a great episode!

"Spock's Brain" should be on the list.

For me, The Empath was one of the best episodes.

"Spock's Brain" and "Way to Eden." So bad they were not discussed.

Have to disagree about The Empath, it's my favourite episode, and unlike any other. It has great performances and character interaction, an interesting music score (the first Hollywood score to feature a Yamaha organ) and I think the sparse set design is very surreal and effective. My least favourites would probably be The Apple, The Omega Glory, Friday's Child, Spock's Brain and Mudd's Women.

Don't fully agree with you this time. "That which survives" and "The empath" are not as bad you say. I agree they were "cheaply made" stories but, they do tell a story. Agreed they may have been better in short story rather than a TV episode. The others I agree with. You left out one of the two worst ones...... "Spocks Brain" " Turn about intruder" (think that was the name where some woman enters Kirks body to take over the ship). They should have been on the list. Another thing I disagree with is your statement of more bad stories that good. When TOS came on they were fighting many battles. One with money, and one with the idea that only children watch Sci-Fi.

Loved The Empath! It's a very memorable episode with a very memorable music score!

Funny thing about The Omega Glory,.... even with the quality it ended up being, Roddenberry liked it so much that he personally submitted it for Emmy consideration. I would love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation. I wonder if they laughed in his face, or humored him with a polite brush off

The worst episode is by far "The Way to Eden. How can any bottom five list not include it. I liked The Omega Glory, That Which Survives, The Empath. Plato's Stepchildren is kinda lame. I love the Alternative Factor and I know most people dislike it. The other 2 lame episodes that come to mind are: The Conscience of the King & A Private Little War. Every Star Trek episode had something positive in it except The Way to Eden.

Now wait a minute, the one about the space hippies has got to be the worst of all time. Admittedly Plato’s Stepchildren belongs on the list but The Empath was a good one.

All of the worst episodes are better than any episode of Star Trek Discovery.

5 of the "worst" episodes of probably the most popular and influential TV show of all time? That still makes them all awesome!

Speaking of torture, I'd watch any of these again over "Spock's Brain," the ultimate form of torture. That one is just the worst.

I watch certain episodes of Star Trek for certain reasons. The episodes you mentioned are the ones I watch purely for the love of the show & the nostalgic factor. Then there are the others I watch for their profound qualities, much like The Twilight Zone. And though I do agree that The Alternative Factor is the worst one, I actually love Kirk's lines at the end of the episode that ends with "And what of Lazarus?"

Only agree with number 1. & my worst episode of TOS is "and the children shall lead" now that was brutal to watch

TOS I love them all have watched them all and still watch them Star Trek is my great escape from reality

I strongly disagree that the episodes, The Empath and That Which Survives were bad and/or worst episodes. And the Children Shall Lead and Spock's Brain were far worse then The Empath and That Which Survives. I personally loved The Empath for the story line and the great make-up of the Vians. The music in the Empath was very good also.

"The way to Eden".......Gonna click my heals and jump for joy-I gotta clean bill of health from Dr. Mcoy!

I actually like That Which Survives, but any Worst Of list should include Turnabout Intruder (the most blatantly sexist episode) and Patterns of Force (the worst parallel Earth episode). Bread and Circuses doesn't get a lot of love but I think it's great.

I actually like "The Arena" because it is cheesy. Watching Kirk fight the Gorn is hilarious. A rubber lizard suit, styro-foam rocks, double-fisted back thumps, and ear bops. What more can one ask for?

I can't believe you missed "Spock's Bain", "Whom Gods Destroy", and the worst one of them all, "Turnabout Intruder".

The Empath shouldn't be on this list. And the Children Should Lead is 1,000 times worse. Plot wise, Empath is very strong but it's a very dark episode in the emotional sense.

I love Alternative Factor. It is so bad that one assumes all the interns were turned loose that week. The time machine looks like a spare tea cup from the Disney Alice in Wonderland ride and a plexi dome that keeps appearing and disappearing. The dance scenes generously known as struggles look like depictions on ancient Greek pottery and move about as fast. And the beard...used in film schools worldwide as an example of what will get you fired and banned from the union. Play Lazarus by swigging your favourite libation every time the beard changes.

The Empath did have one thing I liked, and that was the character of Gem. I always wondered how her people communicated with each other, since she didn't seem to use sign language or telepathy.

That Which Survives is a fine episode. Exotic Lee Meriweather is enough...

"Turnabout Intruder" "The way to Eden" and "Spock's Brain" were painful. You knew the budget was cut when through the whole episode they never left the ship or beamed down to various planets that had the exact same rocks in the same place.

"Way to Eden" is the only TOS episode I've never watched in full, I just can't waste my life away like that. Good to see a young "Murdock" out of Rambo 2 in it though.

The omega glory was good

I actually liked the Empath episode. Granted, some of your line up of worst episodes probably rings true with many of us, but I think the original series is sold too short by your estimate of the entire spin off set of series through the 2000's.

Any list of the worst Star Trek episodes has to find room for Spock's Brain and The Way to Eden.

“The Savage Curtain” is the worst episode for me. Too much talky philosophising and the fight scene at the end is the weakest in Trek history and comes across as downright ‘meh’. I’d prefer to watch a badly written episode which is actually fun rather than a preachy and ostensibly thoughtful one like this which is just plain tedious

I LOVED Plato's Stepchildren. It was possibly the least boring episode. It was an acid trip, but it was so damn entertaining to see a dwarf riding William Shatner acting like a horse

I thought everyone thought that "Spoke's Brain" (third season) was the worst ST-TOS ever made.

I think 'Way to Eden' always sticks out like a sore thumb to me when the 'worst episodes of Star Trek' discussion comes up.

In my view it would be #5 Spock's Brain #4: The Alternative Factor #3: Plato's Stepchildren #2: The Way to Eden #1: And the Children Shall Lead While the original series had its many fair share of clunkers or forgettable episodes, these, in my mind, stand the test of time as truly awful representations of the show and the majority of these I either found myself bored with after a while or questioning the logic in each dumbfounding scene.

I suggest a dishonourable mention for....that one episode with the kids, and Melvin Belli as Gorgon the Friendly Angel. Any show with a lot of kids in them is off to a bad start.

Plato's Stepchildren isn't so bad. Spock's Brain? The Way to Eden is really too stupid.

This list really needed to feature The Way To Eden, which has aged like an avocado

All the old STs are classics but I broadly agree with your choices. I think the weaker episodes are ones that are too derivative or where the dramatic aspect overrides the science-fiction element. Other episodes on my list would be - And The Children Shall Lead - a group of kids psychokinetically take over the enterprise under the influence of a malevolent alien. Kirk's 'losing control' speech in the turbolift is a classic scene though, and the sequence where the crew are hallucinating has always been memorable. Whom Gods Destroy - the one where the ex-Starfleet captain 'Lord Garth' is held in a psychiatric hospital planet and somehow has learned to shapeshift as well as invent the most explosive substance ever. The eerie moment Kirk suspects that Spock is Garth and the two Kirk's confusion at the end salvages this episode for me in a surreal way. Assignment Earth - Gary Seven has transported to Earth and is checking-up on the Apollo programme has a cat who turns into a sexy woman at the end. This one is very 'Man From Uncle'. Spock's Brain has come onto my list over time. The plotline has a kind of sense to it but is basically a bit ridiculous, consequently the script is almost laughable in places.

My five worst: 1. Spock's Brain (Nimoy himself hated this one) 2. The Way To Eden (Space Hippies-enough said) 3. And The Children Shall Lead (no real plot, super annoying kids) 4. The Empath (easily most BORING episode of series) 5. The Alternative Factor (weak plot and poorly executed) Honorable Mentions: The Omega Glory (Heavy handed cold war analogy) Catspaw (Filler episode for Halloween) Operation-Annihilate! (Weak but ok plot - and flying fried egg monsters?) I actually liked Plato's Stepchildren because it gave Shatner a chance to take overacting to a new level and actually let Nimoy do something different for a change. I think the interracial kiss thing is also overrated because it actually wasn't the first televised such kiss. Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on a different show prior.

And the Children Shall Lead and Spock's Brain are worse than those five.