Don’t get me wrong, TOS Star Trek is a show that broke boundaries, started a whole franchise, and is incredibly dear to my heart, but if you come up to me and tell me that characters like Uhura and Sulu were anything but underused characters, I could not take you seriously.
So many of the episodes were centered around McCoy, Spock, and Kirk, with the occasional Scotty. And the thing is, any moments with the other characters being shown as a main part were amazing, because we barely got any at all.
In the first and second series, there were quite a few episodes with Uhura and Sulu having fun parts like singing on Uhura’s behalf, and ummm Sulu’s secret sword fighting obsessions, and as the show went on, Chekov’s young spirit and adamancy that basically everything was from Russia, but so many episodes in these series and the third one centered around the main 3, and even then pretty much every episode had to have Kirk being the main character (damn it Shatner). I would’ve loved to see what these characters could’ve brought to the show if the show wasn’t fully cancelled and the show wrote them more parts, but I suppose I’m just thankful for what these characters have given us, showing us a better future where everyone is accepted. (Also the TOS movies and Star Trek reboot thank the lords they let the characters shine).
Also I would’ve loved to see the main characters be more of a group than just a 3, they could’ve gone on group leave and had a massive sleepover (would’ve been so much fun) and just generally showed more interactions between the crew. (Also Sulu is one of my favourite characters but he never got enough screen time in the TOS seasons).
I’m just so happy that the later Star Trek series let all their crew have their episodes and showing them interacting with each other, I just wish the original could’ve done that too. :/