I discovered a very serious issue in one of my classes today. Perhaps it is inappropriate for a professor to share something of this nature on their blog, but with a problem this serious, I’m at a loss how to address it most effectively, and so I am turning to the collective wisdom of the internet for advice.
With one exception, every single student in my freshman class said they have never seen Star Trek. Not a single episode. Never.
I’m considering giving them a free class period to rectify this issue, or alternatively, devoting class time to doing so.
And so the next question is this: if you were to recommend one single episode to someone as the first ever episode of Star Trek for them to watch, which would it be, and why? Remember, this is not a matter of which episode is your personal favorite or the best in your opinion, but one that would (1) represent a good first entry into the show and its imagined future, (2) be relatively self explanatory in terms of the characters and background, and (3) leave the person who watches it wanting to watch other episodes.
Which episode would you recommend for this purpose?
For those who wish to watch Star Trek, episodes are online for free at StarTrek.com and some clips at CBS.com.