Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 34: Amok Time [VHS]
Easily one of the best episodes from the originalStar Trekseries, "Amok Time" was written by the novelist Theodore Sturgeon, who came up  with a story about a Vulcan mating cycle that occurs every seven years and  drives the normally stolid, logical, pointy-eared humanoids wild. When Spock  (Leonard Nimoy) is suddenly caught in the grip ofpon farr, a  crazy-making urge to mate, he sets a course for his home planet despite  orders to the contrary from Captain Kirk (William Shatner). Kirk comes  around, however, and accompanies Spock and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to  Vulcan, where Spock is to wed T'Pring (Arlene Martel) in an arranged  marriage. But T'Pring formally rejects Spock, forcing a duel in which the  captain must participate or let Spock die. There's high drama galore in this one, beginning with Spock's feverish savagery and extending to the  fascinating complexity of Vulcan rituals, set against the eerie emptiness of the planet's landscape. For good measure, there's also the startling sight of Kirk and Spock fighting it out to the death. Supporting performances are  terrific, including that of Celia Lovsky (the real-life wife of Peter Lorre) as the matriarch T'Pau. This is also the episode that gave birth to the  split-fingered Vulcan salute (inspired by Nimoy's memories of the kohanin  blessing at Jewish temples) and the phrase "live long and prosper." One ofTrek's more highly charged episodes, you can feel a certain  spontaneous energy here--indeed, some of the more inspired actors even made up  their own lines.--Tom Keogh