TrekRanks Podcast

This one is a deep cut. It's the "Top 5 Two-Hander Episodes" in Star Trek, which in television parlance is a production term referencing stories centered around two characters who are often isolated together in contrast. There are plenty of examples in Trek history where scripts have focused on a pair of characters who share a number of scenes together as the focus of the story. Our expert panel of host Jim Moorhouse and guests Chris Burris and Lee Hutchison go through an array of picks in this classic TrekRanks topic.

Episode Rundown:

• Diagnostic Cycle: We discuss in detail exactly what a two-hander in television production is.
• Prime Directive: Each guest on this week's panel reveals exactly how they narrowed down their list and made their final choices.
• The Order of Things: All the picks are revealed with the TrekRanks' original "Five words and a hashtag" summary, along with one episode that helps frame their choice.
• Secondary Systems: For a few extra picks that just missed our final list.
• Regeneration Cycle: The panel recaps their picks and we dissect some of the interesting statistical anomalies that arose from the discussion.
• Temporal Inversion: We flashback to a previous episode of TrekRanks and relay some of the feedback received from listeners.

If you have your own picks you would like to relay to us, please hail us at 757-828-RANK (7265) and record your own personal TrekRanks log to let us know your Top 5 Two-Hander Episodes. (Or you can record it yourself and just DM us @TrekRanks on Twitter.) Your comments could be used as part of a Temporal Inversion on an upcoming episode (and might get you a chance to be a guest on a future episode, too).

And don't forget to check out TrekRanks.com for our entire back catalog of episodes and a detailed rundown on every episode of Star Trek ever.

"My mind to your mind…" Not sure there is anything more pervasive on Star Trek than a psychic transfer, where someone's consciousness ends up some place it is probably not supposed to be! Which sounds like the perfect reason for TrekRanks to tackle the "Top 5 Psychic Transfers or: Fal-tor-panDEMONIUM" on this week's amazing new episode! From Freaky Friday mind swaps to Vulcan mind melds and all the bonkers examples in between, our panel of host Jim Moorhouse and expert guests Jenn Tifft and Ross Webster explore it all. This is an essential episode of TrekRanks!

Episode Rundown:

• Diagnostic Cycle: Where we get into the details of defining the show's specific topic (and we explain the origins of that "fal-tor-panDEMONIUM" subtitle).
• Prime Directive: Each guest on this week's panel reveals exactly how they narrowed down their lists and made their final choices.
• The Order of Things: All the picks are revealed with the TrekRanks' original "Five word summary and a hashtag," along with one episode that helps frame their choice.
• Secondary Systems: For a few extra picks that just missed our final list.
• Regeneration Cycle: The panel recaps their picks and we dissect some of the interesting statistical anomalies that arose from the discussion.
• Temporal Inversion: We flashback to a previous episode of TrekRanks and relay some of the feedback received from listeners.

If you have your own picks you would like to relay to us, please hail us at 757-828-RANK (7265) and record your own personal TrekRanks log to let us know your Top 5 Psychic Transfers. (Or you can record it yourself and just DM us @TrekRanks on Twitter.) Your comments could be used as part of a Temporal Inversion on an upcoming episode (and might get you a chance to be a guest on a future episode, too).

And don't forget to check out TrekRanks.com for our entire back catalog of episodes and a detailed rundown on every episode of Star Trek ever.

We celebrate the many great guest actors that have helped make Star Trek what it has been for the past 60 years by celebrating the "Top 5 Recurring Actors." It's a huge, massive topic and we cover a lot of ground in this one with host Jim Moorhouse and guests Daniel Martin and Peter Hong. From unknown gems to recognizable names, these incredible performers give life to the words on the page and have been integral to the success of Trek through their craft. This is a fun topic getting into the production side of things (and is a nice companion piece to Episode 131 highlighting the "Top 5 One-Off Guest Stars").

Episode Rundown:

• Level One Diagnostic Cycle: We detail some statistics on the number of "production" topics we've featured on TrekRanks, in contrast to our usual "in-universe" topics. And we add one critical caveat to this show: we are not including Vaughn Armstrong (featured exclusively in Episode 119) or Jeffrey Combs (who will be getting his own episode at some point in the future of TrekRanks).
• Prime Directive: Each of our panelists details how they tried to narrow down such an expansive topic.
• The Order of Things: Everyone reveals their picks with the usual "Five words and a hashtag" summary, and also highlight the episode they think helps to showcase their choice.
• Secondary Systems: Our guests get deeper into Trek lore by adding a few selections for the picks that didn't quit make the list.
• Regeneration Cycle: Our guests recap their picks, and we discuss some of the interesting statistical anomalies that arose from the discussion.
• Temporal Distortion: We flashback to some listener feedback focused on Episode 174 – the "Top 5 Ensemble Episodes."

If you have your own picks you would like to relay to us, please hail us at 609-512-LLAP (5527) and record your own personal TrekRanks log to let us know your Top 5 Recurring Actors. (Or you can record it yourself and just DM us @TrekRanks on Twitter.) Your comments could be used in a Temporal Distortion on an upcoming episode (and might get you a chance to be a guest on a future episode, too).

And don't forget to check out TrekRanks.com for our entire back catalog of episodes and a detailed rundown on every episode of Star Trek ever.