History YMMV / StarTrekTheOriginalSeries

* {{Woolseyism}}: Hikaru Sulu is meant to be Japanese, but Sulu isn't actually a Japanese surname but taken from the Sulu Sea and meant to be representative of all of Asia rather than just Japan. (The name was was chosen in tribute to Desilu executive Herb Solow, who sold this series to NBC and ''Series/MissionImpossible'' to CBS simultaneously.) The Japanese dub changed his surname to Kato, a common family name.

** When UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson was talking to Takei about how Uhura was an example of how progressive the show was, Takei remarked, "Please! Uhura was the secretary. She answered the phone..." (What Takei is referring to is the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchboard_operator#Women_as_switchboard_operators women were accepted as telephone switchboard operators.]]) The importance of Uhura is played up even today, despite the fact that Uhura was horribly under-utilised and shows like ''Series/ISpy'' and ''{{Series/Julia}}'' (both also on NBC) were doing a much better job of showcasing black characters. '''However...'''
** Having a woman officer stationed on the bridge, in an important position on a spacegoing vessel, was ''extremely'' radical for the time. Casting a ''[[HumansAreWhite black]]'' woman in a main role was a huge deal in the 1960s. (A black woman who sat at ''rear center stage'', right behind the Captain's seat where viewers could not possibly miss seeing her. Holy diversity, Batman!) Even in the episodes, it's clear she can take apart and fix the communications equipment as well as operate it. In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais}} Who Mourns for Adonais?]]" she rewired the entire communications system and connected the bypass circuit. Spock praised her work and could think of "no one better equipped" to handle the necessary repairs (this being the same Spock who routinely kicked Montgomery Scott out of his own engine room to work the problem personally). On at least one occasion, Uhura takes over other bridge stations; in "Balance of Terror", she fills in for the navigator when he leaves the bridge, and presumably was qualified to do so. Also, Uhura was technically fifth in command of the ''Enterprise'' (and did take command for at least one episode of the animated series) meaning that out of the ''entire crew'' only Kirk, Spock, Scotty, or Sulu could override her decisions (although in one episode MauveShirt [=DeSalle=] takes command ahead of her).
*** The Writer's Guide has her fourth in command (she originally wore gold, not red). The first time we see her, [[Recap/StarTrekS1E1TheManTrap in the first episode]], she's at Navigation! She took the helm again in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]" and "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial}} Court Martial]]" and says she was supposed to do so again in a third season episode, but Roddenberry prevented it. When she confronted him, he said "you can't have females taking over a man's ship."

** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror}} Mirror, Mirror]]" provides a particularly rich vein of it, letting fans come with versions of any episode across the franchise from the Mirror Universe. And in the case of ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' stories, this includes building the Mirror cast from scratch.
** Gary Seven and his team from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth}} Assignment: Earth]]", since their story was deliberately left open for further adventures. They've appeared in books and comics interacting with history both real and fictional (including encounters with Khan Noonien Singh during the Eugenics Wars).

** It's commonly speculated that Janice Lester in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder}} Turnabout Intruder]]" was deemed too mentally unstable to command a starship and her psychotic mind twisted it into thinking that ''all'' women were forbidden from holding that position. This is more or less promoted to canon in ''Enterprise'', which casually revealed that Starfleet ''does'' allow women captains. '''However...'''

----> Starfleet has the opportunity to implement change. To change our values. To change the future. There are countless female officers more than capable of commanding a starship. This may not be ''my'' time. But it is most certainly ''theirs.''

** Kirk vs Gorn in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena}} Arena]]". [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSno7_DcNyw Behold]].
** During the BarBrawl in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles}} The Trouble with Tribbles]]", Scotty punches a Klingon across the room--without touching him.

** Kirk's awkwardness regarding being deemed the father figure to Charlie X becomes such when Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan reveals he knew he had a child at this point, but because he was so focused on his job, was told to stay away.
** Evil Kirk's assault of Rand during "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin}} The Enemy Within]]" is pretty awful in light of the fact that Creator/GraceLeeWhitney was later sexually assaulted by one of the ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Trek]]'' producers, possibly Roddenberry.
** After Kirk drops the LogicBomb on Nomad in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E3TheChangeling}} The Changeling]]", he quips, "[[spoiler:It's not easy to lose a bright and promising son. [...] My son, the doctor.]] Kind of gets you right there, doesn't it?" Oh... ow... [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock yes. Yes, it does.]]

** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E22SpaceSeed}} Space Seed]]" ended with Kirk delivering a very optimistic line about the [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan future of Khan's people...]]
** The message in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E23ATasteOfArmageddon}} A Taste of Armageddon]]", about the dehumanizing effects of computerized warfare, was haunting enough in 1967, when the computer was still in its infancy. Today, with things like [=UAVs=] and computer-guided missiles becoming indispensable parts of modern warfare, it hits harder than ever.
** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar}} A Private Little War]]", Kirk says that the conflict in Vietnam was resolved by making sure both factions were equally armed with neither becoming stronger than the other. Real life solution? Run like hell!
** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth}} Assignment: Earth]]", Spock lists several scenarios that Gary Seven could have been sent to affect in 1968 Earth. One of them is "an important assassination". The episode aired March 28, 1968. UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr was assassinated on April 4, 1968. To twist the knife even further, Robert Kennedy's assassination occurred just two months later.
** In the aftermath of incidents like the Manson murders, Dr. Sevrin's actions in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden}} The Way to Eden]]" become a lot more disturbing. He was originally meant as a Timothy Leary {{Expy}}, of course, but long before the Manson murders, people clearly had the idea that something like that ''could'' happen. Stories about rock- and acid-addled hippies running criminally amuck, obeying an insane or evil "guru", were rife. There was even one in ''Jimmy Olsen'' comics, "[[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman%27s_Pal,_Jimmy_Olsen_Vol_1_118 Hippie Olsen's]] [[http://misfitdaydream.blogspot.com/2013/10/freak-out-with-jimmy-olsen-angry-hippie.html Hate-In]]" (dated March 1969, it probably hit the stands in early January, seven months before the Manson killings).
** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E11WinkOfAnEye}} Wink of an Eye]]", Kirk hears the hyper-accelerated aliens of the week as an annoying buzzing. Creator/WilliamShatner contracted permanent tinitus from an explosion on the show.
** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E21TheCloudMinders}} The Cloud Minders]]" feels remarkably similar to the mass lead poisoning going on at the time, which wouldn't be discovered for a while longer.

** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E26ErrandOfMercy}} Errand of Mercy]]", the first episode to feature the Klingons, the Organians speculate that someday, the Federation and Klingons will become allies. In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', we see this indeed came true, and how it happened is explored in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''. According to ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', by the time of the 26th Century, the Klingon Empire will officially join as a member of the United Federation of Planets.

** In the first pilot, "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage}} The Cage]]", Vina on Number One's breeding capabilities: "You'd have better luck with a computer!" During the episode's use in "The Menagerie" it was just plain funny, as Creator/MajelBarrett had already been voicing the computer for some time.

** Uhura's teasing Spock in song in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E2CharlieX}} Charlie X]]" in light of the [[Film/StarTrek2009 2009 movie.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has made it somewhat more difficult to be suitably grave about the possibility that a character in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E13TheConscienceOfTheKing}} The Conscience of the King]]" is the notorious Kodos in disguise.
** Spock's surprised reaction to his first sight of the Romulans in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror}} Balance of Terror]]" could now come off just as much as a reaction to the commander looking like his father.
** Cogley's defence of Kirk in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial}} Court Martial]]" partly rests on emotively arguing that man is superior to machine and the court therefore should not take it for granted that the computer's evidence is inviolate. A couple of decades later, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s own courtroom episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan}} The Measure Of A Man]]"--which even also includes the legal FightingYourFriend trope--is about proving that a machine can be equal to man. Even more ironically, Cogley makes the exact plea "I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must!", which is literally the entire basis of "The Measure of a Man".

** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons}} The Return of the Archons]]" features a society that is orderly and well-behaved except during a regular twelve-hour period of complete anarchy. [[Film/ThePurge Seems familiar.]]
** Mirror Sulu's lecherous interest in Uhura in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror}} Mirror, Mirror]]". It really is a mirror universe, [[ActorAllusion Ohhh Myyy!]]
** It's hard to watch "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E18TheImmunitySyndrome}} The Immunity Syndrome]]" without thinking of the lyric from the Novelty Song "Star Trekkin'" that goes "Boldly going forward 'cause we can't find reverse!"
** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E13Obsession}} Obsession]]", the MonsterOfTheWeek is literally [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga a sparkly vampire]].
** Spock remarks in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E24TheUltimateComputer}} The Ultimate Computer]]" that "the most unfortunate lack in current computer programming is that there is nothing available to immediately [[Series/StarTrekVoyager replace the starship surgeon]]." What makes this funnier is that Spock isn't actually proven wrong, as the Emergency Medical Hologram was considered by Starfleet to be a failure and by the end of the series they've gone through four different versions of the program without success.
** The gladiatorial games as they're presented in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses}} Bread and Circuses]]" seem a lot like modern reality game shows like ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' and ''Series/AmericanIdol''. Only with decapitations.
** In the rejected first pilot episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage}} The Cage]]", Captain Pike, Kirk's predecessor, annoyed with his crewmates, says, "What are we running here, [[Film/StarTrek2009 a cadet ship]]?"

** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden}} The Way to Eden]]" one of the female space hippies tries to seduce Sulu, who doesn't bite. And says "How do you know what I want?" with a giant grin on his face.

** Compare the older versions of Spock, [=McCoy=] and especially Kirk in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E12TheDeadlyYears}} The Deadly Years]]" to how they really turned out.
** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E7DayOfTheDove}} Day of the Dove]]", Spock and Scotty warn Kirk about the dangers of intra-ship beaming. In ''Film/StarTrek2009'', Spock Prime (this Spock) reveals to Scotty that Scotty Prime eventually created a formula for interstellar beaming, which would explain how intra-ship beaming becomes commonplace by the 24th century.
** In the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E9Metamorphosis}} Metamorphosis]]", Zefram Cochrane's reaction to seeing the Federation commissioner essentially amounted to "Hey hot girl, let's jump in bed together!"[[note]]His exact words are "If you only knew how good it is to see you. And a woman. Beautiful one at that... You're food to a starving man. [[VerbalBackpedaling All of you]]."[[/note]] Young healthy male marooned on planet for decades + newly marooned female = Hormone explosion; doesn't really take lot of analysis to see why he'd be all over her... but then in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', back in the 21st century, Troi was complaining about how she'd gotten roped into drinking with Cochrane and spent a lot of time fending off all of his drunken efforts to grope her. If anything, he's improved! Arguably, an intentional CallForward.
** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E5IsThereInTruthNoBeauty}} Is There in Truth No Beauty?]]" features [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration A. a blind person and B. a device called a Visor]]. Matter of fact, many fans assumed at the time that Geordi's visor was the 24th century version of Miranda's veil.
** Uhura's fear of death in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead}} And the Children Shall Lead]]" is shown by her having a hideously decayed face. Nichelle Nichols actually aged ''very'' gracefully. Also, when the characters are actually all older, ''someone'' genuinely does have massive angst about aging, and it's not Uhura.

** Decker in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine}} The Doomsday Machine]]". We feel bad for him since he's mourning the loss of his crew and ''clearly'' suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Still, he can be a real jerk.
** Apollo in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais}} Who Mourns for Adonais?]]". Sure, he's a dick to the ''Enterprise'' crew after they won't worship him like the old days of Greek gods, but by the end, we see what a sad, lonely being Apollo really is, as he faces his defeat with a hefty dose of ManlyTears.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Several episodes try to wring tension from a main character's supposed death, most notably "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime}} Amok Time]]". Also, Spock's blindness from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate}} Operation: Annihilate!]]" Given that the show is from the era of strict StatusQuoIsGod, the ending is never in doubt.

* MyRealDaddy: Creator/GeneRoddenberry was responsible for the series as a whole, but one of his producers/writers, Gene Coon, had a great deal to do with making the show great with classic ideas like the Klingons, the Prime Directive, Khan Noonien Singh and being the series' showrunner in the first two seasons who helped many of the stories used better. He was also one of the ''real'' progressives among the writer-producers. Another is Creator/DCFontana, who was technically only a story editor on TOS; she nevertheless came up with the idea of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel}} Journey to Babel]]" and is thus responsible for some very important elements of the Star Trek mythos such as the Andorians, the Tellarites, and ''the entire relationship between Spock and his father,'' a dynamic which was carried forward through the series and into the films. Creator/LeonardNimoy himself also later gave her credit for fleshing out the Vulcan culture to a significant degree.

** There are so many examples it'd be impossible to list them all, but one that stands out is the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory}} The Omega Glory]]", in which another planet [[HollywoodEvolution evolves the American flag and constitution]], all for Kirk to make a ridiculously over-the-top patriotic speech about how [[{{Eagleland}} America is one of the best countries in the world!]] Even Americans find that scene ridiculous. Oh, and [[{{Irony}} William Shatner is Canadian.]]

** Kirk's "No Blah Blah Blah" line in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri}} Miri]]".
** Pretty much all of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain}} Spock's Brain]]". Say it together now:
---> Brain and brain! What is ''brain''?
** Of all the gestures to indicate the kids' powers in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead}} And the Children Shall Lead]]", they just had to go with the international symbol for masturbation.
** Some of the "terrible" things the crew is forced to do in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E10PlatosStepchildren}} Plato's Stepchildren]]" come off as more silly than menacing, especially Kirk acting like a horse while being ridden by Alexander.

** In [=DS9's=] "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E08TheSiegeOfAR558}} The Siege of AR-558]]", the director wanted the actors to beam down to the planet in a crouching position. Nicole de Boer raised the point that "nobody ever beams in crouched down". She and the director got into it, and the production office had to be contacted. The studio ruled Nicole's way, and the ''Defiant'' crew beams down to the battlefield in the usual manner: way out in the open in a standing position with no cover. The punchline: Kirk and co. '''did''' duck down during transport in "The Corbomite Maneuver". Spock later beams down to the surface of Vulcan in a crouching position in the 2009 movie.
** Themes: Ron Moore is a fan of "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E13TheConscienceOfTheKing}} The Conscience of the King]]", particularly the way Kirk wavers between his ethics and thirst for vengeance ("There's a stain of cruelty on your shining armor, Captain"). "The brooding tone and the morally ambiguous nature of the drama fascinated me and definitely influenced my thinking as to [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine what Trek could and should be all about.]]" Likewise, in his re-imagined version ''[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Battlestar Galactica]]'', Moore named the prison barge ''Astral Queen'' after the ship commanded in this episode by Cpn. Daily.

*** [[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E9DaggerOfTheMind}} Doctor Tristan Adams]], who had "done more to revolutionize, to humanize prisons and the treatment of prisoners than all the rest of humanity had done in forty centuries," was secretly torturing his patients.
*** [[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E21PatternsOfForce}} John Gill]] the historian, whose "treatment of Earth history as causes and motivations rather than dates and events" Spock found impressive, thought the best way to unite a fragmented planet was to recreate Nazi Germany. I mean what could possibly go wrong?
*** [[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E24TheUltimateComputer}} Doctor Richard Daystrom]] (yes, '''that''' Daystrom), the UsefulNotes/SteveJobs of the 23rd century, whose duotronic breakthrough won him the Nobel and Zee-Magnes prizes, had his engrams put into his computer... which quickly loses it and starts killing people...followed by Daystrom himself quickly losing it and stating "[[AC:We're invincible. Look what we've done. Your mighty starships, Four toys to be crushed as we choose]]" followed by Spock shutting him up with a Vulcan neck pinch.

*** [[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory}} Captain Ronald Tracey]], considered "one of the most experienced men in Starfleet," flips his wig after stranding his crew on a bronze age planet. Tracey takes sides in an internal conflict, killing "thousands" of the planet's inhabitants. When Kirk beams down to talk to the Captain, he is promptly tied up by Tracey's tribe. There is more than a touch of ''Heart of Darkness'' to this character.

* OvershadowedByControversy: Does Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin have a lot of good character fuel for Kirk, both his flaws and compassion, with even Creator/JamesDoohan praising Creator/WilliamShatner's acting? Yes. Is it most remembered for the AttemptedRape of Janice and the shitty way it's handled? Also yes. Both official and fandom have made FixFic for it, with Janice getting help, Kirk feeling terrible and Spock apologising for his gross comment.

* StoicWoobie: Spock definitely falls into this category. He's an alien to two races, and several times he is injured in the line of duty, or stands by his principles under severe criticism. A few episodes that highlight this are "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E10JourneyToBabel Journey to Babel]]", "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate}} Operation: Annihilate!]]", and "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb The Tholian Web]]".

* HoYay: Spock had so much of this with Captain Kirk that entire [[WebVideo/TheShipsCloset web shows]] and essays have been devoted to it, and it spawned SlashFic as a genre. But his SlapSlapKiss with Dr. [=McCoy=] shouldn't be ignored...
** It should be noted that the creator has said that Kirk and Spock's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk/Spock#Origins_and_creators.27_responses "affection was sufficient" for "physical love" "had that been the style of the 23rd Century"]].
** See the trope page itself for many, ''many'' more examples.

** A consistent opinion in seventies fandom especially was that Kirk is a masochist, both in his fighting style and relationships. Mr "I need my pain" doesn't exactly prove them wrong, but that's still more for emotions than anything else. Shatner wasn't averse to the idea, talking about all the times Kirk got captured and hurt. In his 1979 interview-biography "[[https://bit.ly/3QQV7a7 Shatner: Where No Man]]", authors Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath showed him a draft manuscript in which Kirk is with an alien woman much stronger than he is, and consenting to her advances even while angry with her and the situation. Shatner notes that in the story, Kirk "wasn't there out of desire. He was paying something off, sacrificing himself for Spock, or for the world." He thought if Kirk perceives himself as "ennobling himself, and not there by force," he would "relax and enjoy it". (Presumably while figuring out how to escape.)

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: At the end of one episode, Spock, who'd gone blind, gets his sight back and Kirk notes that being TheStoic, he probably didn't have any emotional response. Spock replies, that on the contrary, he ''did'' react emotionally -- because the first thing he saw was [=McCoy's=] face looking over him. Is he calling [=McCoy=] ugly (which is how [=McCoy=] interpreted it), is he saying that [=McCoy=] was being too nurturing looking over him all the time, or is he saying that (given [[VitriolicBestBuds their dynamic]]), he finds [=McCoy=] annoying in general?

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E27TheAlternativeFactor The Alternative Factor]]", that constant "winking" effect with the overlays of a nebula and two ghostly figures struggling against each other. It was probably trying to be arty, but it comes across as pretentious, confusing, and just plain boring. All the scenes that get cut for syndication, and they couldn't reduce any of this useless {{Padding}}?

** Despite the reality of it was very likely Creator/GeneRoddenberry’s fetish (he liked "naturally beautiful" women with long hair), early episodes like "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E6MuddsWomen Mudd's Women]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]" have men be treated like assholes for thinking they can tell women what to do regarding make-up.

** A glimpse from a dissonant episode, but David Greven's book ''Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek'' gives Creator/WilliamShatner credit for playing Janice in Kirk seducing her assistant, for lack of a better term, straight, fondling his shoulder and whispering in his ear like Kirk's done to so many women.
** Kirk having a mid-life crisis that starts at the actually rather young age of thirty four, which continues until he dies, is a big mood for Gen Z and millenials who feel like if they haven’t achieved success at thirty then there must be no hope. Trek would also do this plot again, Julian Bashir worrying about turning thirty, and Sylvia Tilly anxious in her late twenties about feeling aimless.

* VindicatedByReruns: NBC greenlit a third season [[ScrewedByTheNetwork under unfavorable conditions]] that led to severe SeasonalRot and cancellation. But this also gave enough episodes for syndication, and continuous reruns helped expand an already dedicated fandom to the point the franchise was revived. Without NBC's involvement, as the eventual CashCowFranchise [[ChannelHop was now in the hands of Paramount.]]

** The effects in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais Who Mourns for Adonais?]]" are pretty good even before the digital remastering. Subtle but effective: swaying trees and bird song make the studio set look like it really is outside. We really do believe from the arranged shots that Apollo is growing. However, even modern SFX can't keep a giant green hand in space from looking a little silly.

* ClicheStorm: You would be hard-pressed to find even a single story in TOS that feels even remotely fresh or original, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny to a modern audience at least]]. TOS itself has a number of clichés it repeats rather often, such as some or all crew members being taken prisoner, a seductive female villain, or Kirk getting into fistfights.[[note]]David Gerrold in ''The World of Star Trek'' presents a parody script treatment that piles them all on. It's called ''Green Priestesses of the Cosmic Computer.''[[/note]] The transporter in particular is notoriously unreliable, since it's difficult to create drama when the characters we care about are a simple communicator call away from being whisked out of any danger (a close second is to have the transporter working fine, but the landing party has been deprived of their communicators, having the same effect of making just beaming them up impossible)[[note]]which is why one of David Gerrold's first suggestions as a story editor on Star*Next was to integrate the communicators into the uniform badges[[/note]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** ''Fwoof''. The show catches it ''bad'' these days. Not only has everyone who followed in its footsteps borrowed from it to some degree, but they've ''all'' tried to improve upon a lot of the problems the show had due to a limited budget, technological barriers of the time and the fact that the cast and crew were inventing a lot of tropes as they went. Not to mention the ValuesDissonance of a show made in the 60s (such as the palpable sexism, Gene-inspired or otherwise, present in many episodes). Fans who got into Trek with the newer installments can have trouble watching TOS nowadays.
** One particular, historic example, though, is the Kirk/Uhura kiss from "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E10PlatosStepchildren Plato's Stepchildren]]". The humble Tropers of this website can, in truth, probably not over-emphasize how big a deal this was at the time. Not only did the cast and crew have to fight ''tooth and nail'' to make it happen at all, but another facet of context that has to be remembered is that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia miscegenation laws]] had only been declared unconstitutional across the United States a mere ''sixteen months'' prior to the episode's first airing. It was still refused an airing in much of the country and made general news headlines. It's quite possible every interracial romantic moment on American TV in the following ''half-century'' owes a nod to ''TOS'' for being among the first to kick down that door at all. And yet today, the scene comes across as pedestrian and even kind of unfortunate in ways, due to what those involved had to do to get the studio executives to sign off on it at all.
** Also, generally speaking, it is somewhere between "terribly difficult" and "outright impossible" for almost anyone born in the [=1980s=] or beyond (which is to say, the vast majority of this website's userbase) to truly comprehend ''how important'' the racial diversity of the cast was when the show was new and first airing. In the [=21st=] century, it can come across ''badly'' as tokenism, but having Uhura, for example, in a role that was not ''explicitly'' a "black role", or having Sulu as an Asian who was just... a dude, and not a walking stereotype, simply was not how racial casting was ''done'' for entertainment, both at the time and in the previous hundred years or more. Creator/NichelleNichols discusses the phenomenon and what it meant for her (and meeting a [[UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr certain major early Trekkie]]) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSq_UIuxba8 here]].
** Viewers (including many who would call themselves fans of the original series) who complain about ''Discovery'' "shoving political correctness and SJW down our throats" by having a black female protagonist, an Asian female captain, etc., perhaps aren't aware that with slightly different language, the exact same complaints were made about the original series.

** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]": T'Pring—nasty, manipulative villainess or justifiably angry Woman Scorned? Spock has been ignoring her and their marriage for roughly twenty standard years, basically humiliating her in front the entire planet. In the meantime she's found a man who loves her and treats her right and doesn't want to risk his life.

* GrowingTheBeard: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] by the series proper, the only ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series with a strong start. Among the movies, definitely ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]''--see also SurprisinglyImprovedSequel or EvenBetterSequel, depending on your view of the first.

** Captain James T. Kirk. It's deconstructed in the films, but in the original TV series Kirk is pretty straightforwardly presented as a RatedMForManly IdealHero, who can always TakeTheThirdOption when confronted with a problem, and overall earns the respect (or [[BoldlyComing love]]) of practically everyone he encounters, even [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu gods]] and his [[WorthyOpponent enemies]]. Shatner always tried to play him, as well, as a man fully in touch with his emotions, as future societies would have dispensed with limiting ideas like MenDontCry.

*** There's better movement and compositing, with lighting that effects the ships.

** In "The Trouble With Tribbles", when Korax [[BerserkButton angers Scotty]] by saying that the ''Enterprise'' was "a garbage scow", he adds "Half the quadrant knows it. That's why they're learning to speak Klingonese." Creator/JamesDoohan helped develop the fundamentals of the Klingon language for ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', before becoming a complete language for ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''.

* AngstWhatAngst: In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate Operation: Annihilate!]], the jocular tone of the epilogue is somewhat jarring, considering the deaths of Kirk's brother and sister-in-law are not even mentioned. (A more sombre scene that would have immediately preceded it and wrapped up that subplot was filmed but cut for time.)

** Chekov's gag of insisting that several inventions and cultural achievements are actually Russian. Fomenko's New Chronology is a historical conspiracy that claims more or less that, to the point of claiming the Tsars were descended from Jesus and the Mesoamerican civilizations were really Russian. While less audacious, Putin's administration also emphasizes the Russianness of various historical figures born in former Russian territory, which has apeared in justification of the invasion of Ukraine.

* VindicatedByHistory: Maybe "vindicated" is too strong of a word, but disgust towards "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]" has decreased, especially in a post 9/11 world. The {{Eagleland}} analogues, the Yangs, are portrayed as savage brutes. Brutes who recite their "holy words" of freedom and democracy with no meaning in the words and even then they can't even ''pronounce'' the words right. Viewed from a certain angle, it's less of "Yay, America!" and more of "A group that was once great but has lost its way and fallen into brutality". (The original script specified that they were descendants of a LostColony and were trying to hold onto what traditions they remembered.)

** In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E13Obsession}} Obsession]]", the MonsterOfTheWeek is literally [[{{Literature/Twilight}} a sparkly vampire]].

** Evil Kirk's assault of [[BrotherChuck Rand]] during "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E5TheEnemyWithin}} The Enemy Within]]" is pretty awful in light of the fact that Creator/GraceLeeWhitney was later sexually assaulted by one of the ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Trek]]'' producers, possibly Roddenberry.

** Having a woman officer stationed on the bridge, in an important position on a spacegoing vessel, was ''extremely'' radical for the time. Even when she primarily served as TheChick, casting a ''[[HumansAreWhite black]]'' woman in the role was a huge deal in the 1960s. (A black woman who sat at ''rear center stage'', right behind the Captain's seat where viewers could not possibly miss seeing her. Holy diversity, Batman!) Even in the episodes, it's clear she can take apart and fix the communications equipment as well as operate it. In "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais}} Who Mourns for Adonais?]]" she rewired the entire communications system and connected the bypass circuit. Spock praised her work and could think of "no one better equipped" to handle the necessary repairs (this being the same Spock who routinely kicked Montgomery Scott out of his own engine room to work the problem personally). On at least one occasion, Uhura takes over other bridge stations; in "Balance of Terror", she fills in for the navigator when he leaves the bridge, and presumably was qualified to do so. Also, Uhura was technically fifth in command of the ''Enterprise'' (and did take command for at least one episode of the animated series) meaning that out of the ''entire crew'' only Kirk, Spock, Scotty, or Sulu could override her decisions (although in one episode MauveShirt [=DeSalle=] takes command ahead of her).

** [[Advertising/TheMostInterestingManInTheWorld I don't always play Redshirts, but when I do, I survive the whole episode.]] (Johnathan Goldsmith appears in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E10TheCorbomiteManeuver The Corbomite Maneuver]]").

* UnfortunateImplications: The article on "[[http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/columns/freshly-rememberd-kirk-drift/ Kirk Drift]]" discusses how truly awful it is that Kirk is considered a slut who'll stick his dick into anything, when for the most part he was using what he had to get out of coercive situations.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais Who Mourns for Adonais?]]", Kirk and Bones regret the upcoming loss of a skilled female officer given what seems like her impending marriage to Scotty, with no thought to the possibility that a married woman would keep her job. Granted, this is textbook thinking for the mid-20th century, but it still feels weird. Making it weirder is that the previous season's episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]" featured two crew members getting married with no explicit mention of the woman quitting her job, and indeed an implication that the two would continue to serve, even on the same ship! It also ends with everyone feeling sorry for him because he's "lonely" and didn't ask for much, when in reality, he acted out if he didn’t get his way; quasi-raping Palomas, threatening the Enterprise, choking Kirk and injuring Scotty several times. At least "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E10PlatosStepchildren Plato's Stepchildren", another plot of gods being abusive, let the characters feel the trauma without minimising it.

* ClicheStorm: You would be hard-pressed to find even a single story in TOS that feels even remotely fresh or original, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny to a modern audience at least]]. TOS itself has a number of clichés it repeats rather often, such as some or all crew members being taken prisoner, a seductive female villain, or Kirk getting into fistfights.[[note]]David Gerrold in ''The World of Star Trek'' presents a parody script treatment that piles them all on. It's called ''Green Priestesses of the Cosmic Computer.''[[/note]] The transporter in particular is notoriously unreliable, since it's difficult to create drama when the characters we care about are a simple communicator call away from being whisked out of any danger (a close second is to have the transporter working fine, but the landing party has been deprived of their communicators, having the same effect of making just beaming them up impossible[[note]]which is why one of David Gerrold's first suggestions as a story editor on Star*Next was to integrate the communicators into the uniform badges[[/note]].

* ClicheStorm: You would be hard-pressed to find even a single story in TOS that feels even remotely fresh or original, to a modern audience at least. TOS itself has a number of clichés it repeats rather often, such as some or all crew members being taken prisoner, a seductive female villain, or Kirk getting into fistfights.[[note]]David Gerrold in ''The World of Star Trek'' presents a parody script treatment that piles them all on. It's called ''Green Priestesses of the Cosmic Computer.''[[/note]] The transporter in particular is notoriously unreliable, since it's difficult to create drama when the characters we care about are a simple communicator call away from being whisked out of any danger (a close second is to have the transporter working fine, but the landing party has been deprived of their communicators, having the same effect of making just beaming them up impossible[[note]]which is why one of David Gerrold's first suggestions as a story editor on Star*Next was to integrate the communicators into the uniform badges[[/note]].

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E24ThisSideOfParadise This Side of Paradise]]", Kirk says of Spock "[[HoYay Aroused, his]] [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow great physical strength]] could kill". This little gem also becomes HilariousInHindsight once you watch "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]" and realize that Kirk's wording was actually pretty accurate.