The BEST episodes of Star Trek season 1

Every episode of Star Trek season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Star Trek season 1!

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, who is assisted by First Officer Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen led by Khan Noonien Singh. Their mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Last Updated: 10/11/2025Network: NBCStatus: Ended
The City on the Edge of Forever
star
8.09
1303 votes

#1 - The City on the Edge of Forever

Season 1 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/6/1967

Kirk and Spock must travel into the past in order to correct a change that will alter history.

Directors: Joseph Pevney
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Balance of Terror
star
8.05
1217 votes

#2 - Balance of Terror

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/15/1966

Kirk pits the Enterprise against an invisible spaceship testing the Federation's defenses.

Directors: Vincent McEveety
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Space Seed
star
7.87
1179 votes

#3 - Space Seed

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/16/1967

The Enterprise picks up a crew of genetic supermen from the 20th century... and their leader, Khan, plans to create a new empire.

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A Taste of Armageddon
star
7.67
1106 votes

#4 - A Taste of Armageddon

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/23/1967

The Enterprise arrives at a planet to establish diplomatic relations and finds itself in the middle of a "peaceful" war that threatens to destroy the ship.

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The Menagerie (1)
star
7.62
1208 votes

#5 - The Menagerie (1)

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/17/1966

Spock kidnaps his former captain, the crippled Christopher Pike, and heads for a quarantined planet, putting his career and Kirk's life on the line.

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Tomorrow is Yesterday
star
7.60
1103 votes

#6 - Tomorrow is Yesterday

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/26/1967

The Enterprise collides with a black hole and is thrown back to Earth in the 20th century, where they must find a way back and erase any trace of their presence. Matters become complicated when they rescue an Air Force pilot and cannot return him without changing history... but if he disappears that will change history as well.

Writer: D.C. Fontana
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The Menagerie (2)
star
7.56
1313 votes

#7 - The Menagerie (2)

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/24/1966

Spock's court-martial continues as he attempts to justify his abduction of Pike, the theft of the Enterprise, and his heading for a planet declared forbidden by Starfleet.

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The Devil in the Dark
star
7.56
1024 votes

#8 - The Devil in the Dark

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/9/1967

Kirk investigates a series of grisly murders on a mining planet that are the work of a seemingly hostile alien creature.

Directors: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Gene L. Coon
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Errand of Mercy
star
7.51
1014 votes

#9 - Errand of Mercy

Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/23/1967

The Federation and the Klingon Empire teeter on the brink of war as Kirk investigates Organia, a humble planet inhabited by pacifists that is unwittingly caught in the middle.

Directors: John Newland
Writer: Gene L. Coon
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This Side of Paradise
star
7.50
1017 votes

#10 - This Side of Paradise

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/2/1967

The Enterprise crew is trapped in paradise when they come to rescue colonists who have fallen to pacifying alien spores and become infected themselves.

Writer: D.C. Fontana
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Court Martial
star
7.47
1079 votes

#11 - Court Martial

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/2/1967

Captain Kirk's career is at stake when he is put on trial for the loss of a crewman during an ion storm.

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The Corbomite Maneuver
star
7.40
1342 votes

#12 - The Corbomite Maneuver

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/10/1966

The Enterprise encounters a vast alien ship that sets out to test them.

Directors: Joseph Sargent
Writer: Jerry Sohl
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Where No Man Has Gone Before
star
7.37
1928 votes

#13 - Where No Man Has Gone Before

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/22/1966

While exploring the edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise encounters an energy barrier that gives two crewmen godlike powers.

Directors: James Goldstone
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The Return of the Archons
star
7.33
1023 votes

#14 - The Return of the Archons

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/9/1967

The Enterprise encounters a seemingly peaceful civilization run by a "benevolent" being named Landru... who intends for them to join his people.

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The Naked Time
star
7.33
1543 votes

#15 - The Naked Time

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/29/1966

A strange alien substance causes the crew to act out their deepest inhibitions, while the ship plummets out of orbit.

Directors: Marc Daniels
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
star
7.31
1581 votes

#16 - What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/20/1966

Nurse Christine Chapel is reunited with her old fiance on Exo III, but the scientist has plans for Captain Kirk and the Federation.

Directors: James Goldstone
Writer: Robert Bloch
Arena
star
7.29
1057 votes

#17 - Arena

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/19/1967

When a mysterious alien race destroy an Earth colony, the Enterprise pursues but Kirk and the alien captain are forced to fight each other by powerful aliens.

Writer: Gene L. Coon
Operation -- Annihilate!
star
7.26
1021 votes

#18 - Operation -- Annihilate!

Season 1 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/13/1967

Kirk and the Enterprise must combat parasitic aliens.

The Enemy Within
star
7.26
1592 votes

#19 - The Enemy Within

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/6/1966

A transporter malfunction causes Captain Kirk to split into his "good" and "evil" selves, and a landing party will freeze to death if they don't merge the two back together.

Directors: Leo Penn
The Man Trap
star
7.22
2394 votes

#20 - The Man Trap

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/8/1966

Kirk and his crew are at deadly risk from an alien creature that feeds on the salt in a human body and can take on any form.

Directors: Marc Daniels
Charlie X
star
7.20
1954 votes

#21 - Charlie X

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/15/1966

Stardate 1533.6: The Enterprise picks up Charlie Evans, a young man who is the sole survivor of a transport crash. Little do they know he possesses extraordinary mental powers which will come to pose a threat to the ship and its crew.

Directors: Lawrence Dobkin
Writer: D.C. Fontana
The Galileo Seven
star
7.18
1185 votes

#22 - The Galileo Seven

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/5/1967

Spock commands a stranded away team when their shuttlecraft is stranded on a planet with hostile natives.

Shore Leave
star
7.15
1258 votes

#23 - Shore Leave

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/29/1966

The Enterprise crew take shore leave on a peaceful, pastoral planet... where their dreams and fantasies come to life.

Directors: Robert Sparr
Dagger of the Mind
star
7.13
1238 votes

#24 - Dagger of the Mind

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/3/1966

Kirk investigates an experimental facility for holding prisoners and finds a sinister scheme.

Directors: Vincent McEveety
The Squire of Gothos
star
7.11
1027 votes

#25 - The Squire of Gothos

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1967

The Enterprise finds itself at the mercy of a seemingly omnipotent being who fancies himself a 18th century Englishman.

Directors: Don McDougall