Expert: Derek Owen - 7/19/2004

Question
IF I WERE TO WATCH THE ORIGINAL SERIES FROM BEGINNING TO END, WHICH CHRONOLOGY SHOULD I FOLLOW:  WHEN EACH EPISODE WAS PRODUCED OR WHEN THE EPISODES WERE ORIGINALLY AIRED?  I DO KNOW THAT THE EPISODES WEREN'T ALL AIRED IN ORDER OF PRODUCTION.  CAN YOU HELP ME?  ALSO, SHOULD I INCLUDE FIRST WATCHING "THE CAGE", OR WOULD THEY THROW A WRENCH IN THINGS?

THANKS,
NEW TREKKIE


Answer
Hi Michael,
Chronologically, production order is much more consistent than aired order.  Although the stardates in some of the episodes might not completely agree, the episodes flow a lot better in production order.  Sometimes the stardates are rather arbitrary and don't really have much to do with chronology (although I wish the creators were more consistant in that matter).  I would recommend watching "The Cage" first as it introduces us to the setting and such.  It is a very good episode (better in my opinion than the second pilot in story).  It's also fun to see the differences between "The Cage" and "The Menagerie" (middle first season) which took scenes from the expensive to produce first pilot and integrated them into the story.  Also note the changes in the uniforms in the earlier episodes.  The pilots each have distinctive uniforms, and the first six or so episodes have Uhura (among others) wearing a gold uniform while during most of the series she wore red.

I hope this is of help to you.  If you need any further assistance, don't hesitate to ask. :-)

Derek