By Josh Tyler | 9 years ago

45-years ago today, the very first episode of Star Trek aired on television. By now it’s an institution, an icon, an indelible part of our culture. And yet… odds are you still have a hard time getting the women in your life to sit down and watch it with you. There’s a good chance that your girlfriend, wife, sister, friend, or significant female other has never even seen an episode, and if she’s seen any of the movies it’s probably only the one with the whales. Maybe you’re one of the lucky few who’s managed to snatch up one of those infinitely cool chicks who get it, but there’s no denying that a rather large percentage of the people who show up to Trek conventions are generally unaccompanied dudes.

The thing is, many women have simply never watched it at all, or those who have, often find themselves roped into watching the wrong episodes. “Space Seed” is pretty cool for the whole Wrath of Khan connection, but as a standalone episode, to someone who’s pretty skeptical about the Star Trek thing to begin with, it’s kind of an epic bore. Voyager with all its over-reliance on technobabble is almost impenetrable to a non-fan and Enterprise as a prequel, is kind of pointless without everything that went before it. The key to getting your woman hooked on Trek with you, is in introducing her to the show the right way, with the right episodes.

Tired of watching Star Trek alone? Wish your wife would stop recording over your favorite episodes with hair-cutting reality shows? I’m here to help. The best way to nudge the woman in your life off Twilight and on to something substantive like Trek, is to first show her that Star Trek isn’t all lasers and transporters, to show her that it’s actually about a lot of the things she already loves.

To do that, try out these five Trek episodes on your Trek-skeptical, female significant other, and I guarantee she’ll be hooked.

Doomed Romance in Star Trek’s The City on the Edge of Forever Doomed Romance in Star Trek’s The City on the Edge of Forever

If I know anything at all about women, it’s that they’re complete suckers for romance. Don’t try and deny it, I’ve seen the box office numbers for those awful Twilight movies. When it comes to romance, you can’t beat “The City on the Edge of Forever”. It involves time travel, which might seem like an instant girl turnoff, but it’s really more about Captain Kirk meeting his one true love who, in a very Shakespeare like twist, he’s doomed to watch die… even though he could have saved her. It’s a gut-wrenching episode, written by a sci-fi master, and most of all it’s dripping with gooey, romantic, emotional stuff.

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