It seems fitting that we cover “The Tholian Web” in the Star Trek Re-Watch in the same week that the Spider-Man musical, Turn off the Dark, premiered on Broadway. If early reviews of the show’s disastrous opening night are any indication, you’re much better off getting your web fix with this Star Trek episode, likely the best of the third season–besides, you can watch it for free at the CBS website [original | remastered]. Even more than usual, my recommendation is to stick with (heh) the original version, especially since it garnered an Emmy Award for Best Special Effects, and the visual effects are still impressive even today.
I really love this story too, which has an excellent balance of humor, tension, and sciencey-fiction conceits with a lot of great lines and character moments. My enthusiasm for it even spills over to an appreciation of the prequel series Enterprise, which linked two of my favorite TOS episodes (this and “Mirror, Mirror”) in its fourth season two-parter “In a Mirror, Darkly”–voted the best of that show by fans. (The bar wasn’t very high, of course.) Torie was less enchanted with “The Tholian Web” in her review though, so after you watch or re-watch it, pop on over to The Viewscreen and join the debate.