Up the Long Ladder

It's funny that one of the most politically correct shows of its day would make VERY broad and probably insulting stereotypes in one of its episodes-- but that's what occurs in "Up the Long Ladder".

The Enterprise finds something they do not expect--an Earth colony where no one thought there was one. However, when the crew reads through the ship's manifest which brought the people to the planet, some of the things don't fit--as if there were two totally different colonies. And, it turns out there are two. The first is made up of a group of very uncouth Irish people--seemingly straight off the set of "The Quiet Man" or a Lucky Charms commercial. I am pretty sure Irish folks seeing this show would NOT be pleased that they are shown as a bunch of drunken slobs...but that's is how they behave. As for the other group on a nearby planet, they are scientific and much more advanced...but they are also dying as a race. What's next? A love connection...

This was a rather poor episode. First, it didn't really make any sense why a group of ignorant boobs would go on such a long space voyage. Second, there is really no subtlety or finesse about the show--it is VERY broadly written and rather stupid.