Star Trek: Season Two (wrap-up)

Data
Title: Star Trek: Season Two
Year: 1967-1968
Etc: see individual episode posts (linked below)

My reaction
Concept: The concept of the show as a whole is great, although the episode-by-episode concepts only average out to about 2/4.
Story: Rounded down from an average of about 2.1/4.
Characters: Average: about 2.1/4
Dialog: Average: about 2.3/4
Pacing: Average: about 2.7/4
Cinematography: Average: 2.0/4
Special effects/design: Average: about 3.8/4
Acting: Average: about 2.3/4
Music: Average: about 3.9/4
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, ). Although there are only a handful of great episodes this season, and the mediocre episodes are a lot worse than they were in the first season, I just have too much love for the show to give it less than an 8/10. There's a marked downturn in quality after "Tribbles" - I suppose the popularity of that episode encouraged them to not take things as seriously. Sadly, when Star Trek's sense of humor is off, it's way off.
Objective Rating (Average):

The episdoes
sorted by subjective rating (objective rating in parentheses)
9/10
- "The Doomsday Machine" (3.3/4)
8/10
- "The Ultimate Computer" (3.3/4)
- "Amok Time" (3.2/4)
- "Journey to Babel" (3.2/4)
- "Obsession" (3.1/4)
- "The Trouble with Tribbles" (3.0/4)
- "Wolf in the Fold" (3.3/4)
- "A Private Little War" (2.7/4)
7/10
- "Metamorphosis" (2.9/4)
- "Return to Tomorrow" (2.6/4)
- "Mirror, Mirror" (2.9/4)
- "The Immunity Syndrome" (2.5/4)
- "By Any Other Name" (2.9/4)
- "The Deadly Years" (2.6/4)
- "The Changeling" (2.6/4)
- "Bread and Circuses" (2.8/4)
- "I, Mudd" (2.7/4)
- "Friday's Child" (2.3/4)
- "The Apple" (2.1/4)
6/10
- "Catspaw" (2.5/4)
- "Who Mourns for Adonais?" (2.0/4)
- "The Gamesters of Triskelion" (2.0/4)
- "Assignment: Earth" (1.9/4)
- "A Piece of the Action" (2.0/4)
5/10
- "Patterns of Force" (2.1/4)
1/10
- "The Omega Glory" (1.7/4)

Star Trek: "Assignment: Earth"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Assignment: Earth”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the last (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Art Wallace; story by Wallace & Gene Roddenberry
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Robert Lansing, Teri Garr, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme)
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: Donald R. Rode
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a secret agent is sent from an alien world to save Earth in 1968

My reaction
Concept: Would have been a fine concept for a different show. Why is it a Star Trek episode?
Story:
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Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). This week on Star Trek, Captain Kirk travels to 1968, where he watches a failed Gene Roddenberry television pilot. Also, Spock wears a variety of hats (literally), and Teri Garr wants to know what this is all about.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "Bread and Circuses"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Bread and Circuses”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the twenty-fifth (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writers: Gene Roddenberry & Gene L. Coon
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, William Smithers, Logan Ramsey, Ian Wolfe, Rhodes Reason, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme)
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: Fabien D. Tordjmann
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a "Roman" civilization has 20th century technology

My reaction
Concept: We've already done 20th century Nazis, and now we have to do 20th century Romans? It's bad enough that every other planet in the galaxy is identical to Earth, but why is it always 20th century Earth?
Story:
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Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). Despite the cuteness of the premise, they manage to pull off some good suspense, and even a little humor.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "The Ultimate Computer"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “The Ultimate Computer”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the twenty-fourth (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: John Meredyth Lucas
Writer: D.C. Fontana, story by Laurence N. Wolfe
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, William Marshall, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Sol Kaplan, Fred Steiner
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: John Hanley
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: an automatic pilot computer is tested on the Enterprise

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
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Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, ). One of the best-written episodes of season two.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "The Omega Glory"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “The Omega Glory”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the twenty-third (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writers: Gene Roddenberry
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Morgan Woodward, Roy Jenson
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Music: Alexander Courage (theme)
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a disease strands Kirk & friends on a warring planet

My reaction
Concept: It starts off promising, and seems like it's fine for most of the episode. Then you find out what it's really all about and just have to wonder how Gene Roddenberry's brain ever worked well enough to create a coherent TV show at all.
Story:
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Subjective Rating: 1/10 (Eew get it away, ). To say it's the worst episode of Star Trek - or the worst anything in the Star Trek franchise - would be a bit of an understatement, to say the least.
Objective Rating (Average):