Help Me Start Watching Star Trek

Hi everyone. I was watchung UPF earlier and when Dan brought up his interest in watching some Star Trek it rekindled my similar interest in the series. To get the best recommendation on how to start watching what seems like a very tough to approach series, I turned to you the giantbomb community. So here's what I have seen: I have seen and liked both the new jj abrams movies. I started watching some next generation last year, but I only got to episode 5 before I quit watching. Apparently people don't like the first season? So help me out you guys, where do I start, what do I watch, and do I avoid the movies?

As a long time Trekker (Trekkie is kinda more TOS fans) I will agree with Max for the most part. This is a good guide to 'wet your whistle'

https://medium.com/@MaxTemkin/star-trek-the-next-generation-in-40-hours-c4a6762cbd3

He hits a lot of the big hits. Yes first season is very...plodding and 'space western'. But second season on TNG is great stuff. The Original Series is campy but a lot of good stuff in there but not for 'kids these days'. TNG is a great place to start. I'd almost say skip Voyager but there's moments. I loved DS9 but it was more of a soap opera than anything. And then Enterprise was fun...but kinda meh. Its the 'well no other Star Trek around to watch' type of thing.

I don't think season 1 of TNG is all that bad, the first four episodes of season 2 are much, much worse.

I think you should see a few of the season 1 episodes at the very least, to get a good introduction to the characters.

I'd say you should start with Encounter at Farpoint, the first two episodes (a double episode), and then maybe skip the next three episodes (The Naked Now has it's moments, but it's mostly a remake of an original series episode, and has some lows too ..).

Episode 5 and onwards of season 1 are generally pretty good, and the episode Conspiracy (second to last in s1) is legitimately great.

Then, as I said, skip the first four episodes of season 2. They are unbearable, but season 2 gets really good later on, and from there on out, you should be fine.

I do think Enterprise is a pretty good starting point for Star Trek otherwise, it too starts off pretty uneven but gets really good from season 2 and onwards (but all the Star Trek shows do that, with the possible exception of Voyager, which I think generally goes the other way - has a strong first season and goes downhill from there).

Yeah, the first season of The Next Generation is flat-out bad. But honestly, I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, but I really think that Star Trek: the Next Generation is one of the greatest shows in the history of television from the second season onward.

Basically my advice is to watch all of TNG starting with Season 2, and when you're done with that, feel free to stop. Don't watch Voyager. Don't watch Deep Space Nine or Enterprise. Don't bother with any of the movies. The Next Generation is the only Star Trek that is genuinely great. The rest is just kitch.

@bowlcut: oh wow, great answer! Yeah I've heard a lot of great things about Deep Space Nine, but it's good to hear that the Original Series has good stuff there. I've always wondered if the age of the OS would take away what made it watchable, but campy isn't something that bothers me too much.

You only ever need to watch one episode of Trek and that is Voyagers "Threshold" episode.

I honestly don't really like TNG that much (I love Star Trek but in retrospect I find a lot of TNG cringeworthy), but for a newbie Season 2 or 3 of TNG are the only good places to start.

@tikimorpher: I thought I was the only one who liked Voyager. Year of Hell has to be the best two parter out of any Star Trek. Red; of "That 70s Show" fame, plays one of the best tortured villains.

I started going through TNG for the first time a few months ago and I'm still trying to get through the first season (I think I have a few episodes left).

Not that it's bad; it's just hard to get through 20+ 45-minute episodes.

I'm liking it and look forward to what's in store. Wesley Crusher is a tool, and I'm not bothered by Tasha Yar as much as people said I would be.

I like all the Star Trek's. The films aren't that great, a few are though. I've always known about Star Trek, and kind of grew up with TNG, but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I binge watched the entirety of all the Star Trek's through a summer and a little prior (well, three to six a day perhaps). All you should know is that the shows action is terrible, if that's what you care about, but that can bring some laughs, though the show isn't about the action. I say start with the original and go in order of release. I personally started TNG since I already saw so many reruns, then I went to the original; Deep Space Nine; Voyager, and then Enterprise. If I really had to choose, Enterprise was my least favorite, but I still really liked it and is the one I wished there was more of to flesh it out more. To get through them quicker, time how long the intros are, and once you see each seasons intro once, skip the rest.

I love the intros, but I didn't need to see those or the credits over and over. I have however watched all the intro's a bunch of times after, and once it gets to Deep Space Nine, I sometimes get that spine tingling feeling. It's just so sad it's over :P. I have fond memories of binge watching all of them. Most of the books aren't canon, so no need to read those. I can't tell you how you'd feel about their age, as it just didn't bother me, but I know it has for some. Also, I liked Neelix; many people hated him. I liked pretty much all the characters, though I wasn't a big fan of Sulu or Ahura, and it's not really because of their character, but because I felt they didn't play that big a role, other than Ahura being the African American character (not really a big deal now, but it was then), and Sulu kind of being crazy in some episodes, and... Fencing.

Oh! And The Animated Series is arguably not canon either. I say arguably, because some say it is, and some say it isn't. I'm led to believe it isn't. The Animated Series wasn't on Amazon Prime, so I didn't watch all the way through it myself.

I'm not into Star Trek, but just wanted to bring up Stargate SG1 is a really good substitute if you find you're not into Star Trek for whatever reasons. I mention it because it's somewhat informed by Star Trek (in concept), but it also wen't it's own direction (it was also highly influenced by The Outer Limits, interestingly, and a lot of people that worked on the later version of Outer Limits worked on Stargate SG1 which influenced it's initial concept and series design foundation). I found Stargate SG1 to be more interesting as a show because I could relate to the characters, and I liked the stories they told (much like Twilight Zone the stories could get weird or absurd, but always remained grounded and things were explainable in some way).

There's also Farscape, but that's more space opera (the sci-fi version of High fantasy I guess- if I had to describe it) and not everyone can get into that show. I liked it, though. There's some cross over with Stargate, too, as several actors from Farscape ended up working on Stargate SG1 in the last few seasons. That's not really a reason to watch it, though. It's more of an interesting fact.

Anyway, those are my two favorite Sci-Fi shows of all time that no one around here talks about. I'll shut up now =P

If you can look past the dated aesthetics, I prefer The Original Series. Can't beat the chemistry between Kirk, Spock, and Bones. Some episodes are just monster-of-the-week type of affairs but many are also surprisingly philosophical in nature. The entire show is on netflix but a lot of episodes are on youtube as well.

@fisk0: yeah it seems like a lot of people online say that about the first few of season 2 also they talk about a guy getting a beard haha

@nasar7: @ntm: Sounds like I should definitely watch the original series (just noticed that pretty much everything is on netflix which is great, might have to see if I can borrow someone's prime login to watch those remasters that @brad was talking about)

@cornbredx: So I've wanted to start SG-1 for a long time, not just because I've heard good things, but also because Stargate is one of the first sci-fi movies I can remember watching as a kid and watching it over and over again. I used to watch farscape when I was younger (I've always been an unashamed Henson Company fan) but I can't remember any of it now. Both are going on my to watch list though, thanks for the reminder.

These are all great suggestions, hope to get started on this in the hopes that while I'm working through them @danryckert goes through with that podcast idea. Could be a great excuse to get brad and rorie on another podcast, and it seems like the whole crew has some love for Star Trek (I was shocked that Jeff was so into it, I mean I guess I shouldn't be surprised since he's a lifer on the mmo)

@gaminghooligan: Why did you stop watching after five episodes? I'm just curious. The first two seasons aren't bad, they're just at times a bit goofy. It's also interesting to see the transformation of Picard, as to me at least, in the first two seasons, he kind of seems like an ass at times, but in the later ones becomes very respectable.

@gaminghooligan: Ya, I really like the movie too, and for me it's a good start. There are some people out there that find it too crazy (admittedly the movie is much more insane then the show generally is and has a lot more plot holes), but I've always liked it too (James Spader and Kurt Russel are fantastic in the film, and their counter parts Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson from the show fit into and then evolve the roles in really smart ways).

I especially love the fun fact that someone thought French Stewart made a good Marine. Sure, he kind of has the look when he cuts his hair a certain way, but as soon as he starts talking you almost think he's channeling Jim Varney haha

Anyway, ya I love Stargate- it's my Sci-Fi geek show. =P

I only saw Farscape for the first time a couple years ago on Netflix, and I liked it a lot (I ended up buying the series on DVD). I was already familiar with several of the actors having seen them on Stargate, but I really liked everything about the show. It's very creative and fun (and for me often it feels like it has a bigger budget than it probably really did). The only reason I can think why I didn't see it when it was on TV (or years after) was because I had joined the army when it came out so I had never heard of it (I had a lot of stuff going on at the time).

Just keep in mind that Farscape ends abruptly. They had to make a movie to finish the story. The movie is not on Netflix (the show is though). Stargate does have a few movies from after the show ended, but they're superfluous. If you did watch all 10 seasons you'd see the whole story (and arguably the show went on waaaayyyy too long). The extra movies just give them a couple more missions to save the world again in which- it will depend on how much you like the show if you even want to see those (they are arguably not that great even if you do like the show).

@ntm: mostly I stopped watching because I moved and during the chaos I just kind of forgot what was happening in the show/who many of the characters were, but seeing as how many people are saying that the episodes don't have a major plot that you have to follow I guess that wasn't that big of a deal, but I had no idea that was the case. I think I was confused as to why I wasn't picking up on some bigger picture, not realizing that the show worked more like the twilight zone than say game of thrones/sons of anarchy

I loved SG1 and Atlantis. I was late to SG1 but I think in the end I've seen at least 90% of them, and all of Atlantis. Seriously good Sci-Fi that was mostly pushed to the side. I know people that love Babylon 5, but it was something I never watched, nor Farscape. Richard Dean Anderson's dry whit in SG1 was what made it so good. Him and Shanks were able to play off each other so well.

TOS is fun if you just forget about 'special effects'. just watch it for the story. TNG was where I really grew up. And there are episodes I'd still shed a tear if I watched them. But for the most part I think everyone now knows a little Trek, so going back to TOS is only for 'completeness'. You know who Spock, Kirk, and Scotty are. Scotty, Spock, and McCoy crossover in the TNG episodes. Kirk in the movies. Remembering things like when TOS was filmed and the social problems going on makes it easier to understand. That things like racism were rampant, sexism was rampant...and Gene was a big hippie I swear...he wanted everyone to be at peace. But that made TOS so endearing.

Hit a few high spot episodes, then if you really love it, binge it...then move on to another series :)

Watch the wrath of khan film (wich is the second ) and watch the fourth film and call it a day :) is the best of all the Star Treck stuff.

@bowlcut: I don't know if I'd call 10 seasons, 3 movies (or 2 movies if we don't count the movie it's based off of in this equation), and 2 spin offs "Seriously good Sci-Fi that was mostly pushed to the side..."

I think the problem is they were doing a lot with it, but then when it stopped it halted to a stop. Unlike Star Trek which has had something significant added to the brand at least once every 5 or 10 years so it's legacy lives on because people continue to be reminded of it (sometimes I'm not even sure why considering not all the Star Trek movies are any good- even among fans of it). Stargate had about 15 years there where people knew about it, and I was even very actively pre-alpha testing an MMO that was being made for it (Stargate being adapted to video games has a long history of being cursed) a couple years after SG1 ended.

It also doesn't help that Stargate Universe (which I understand some people liked, but ultimately failed regardless. Also, no, for the record, I do not think anyone should watch it- it was awful). Basically the guys who hold the rights and were making the show had a chance to let the legacy live on- I mean they were coming off one show which had 10 seasons and a spin off which had I think 5 or 6 seasons so they had the TV version of being on fire, but then Universe bombed so bad and the company making the MMO crashed and burned so it kind of sputtered out after that.

There's always rumors that there will be something else, but so far Stargate as a franchise has kind of petered out. We'll see, though. Star Trek has a lot more time behind it. Maybe Stargate will have a reemergence at some point and then get another big budget reboot like Star Trek did (I hope that isn't what happens, but who knows).

@gaminghooligan: Yeah, that's partially true. I mean, it goes to neither extent. It's basically, follow these characters every week on a different adventure, unless it's one of those 'to be continued' episodes. Some of the stories and stuff are referenced back for sure, like what characters said, or events that took place (for instance, the last episode of the final season of TNG very much has to do with what started in the first episode of the first season), but it never takes off from where the previous one left off unless it is one of those to be continued ones, it's more like there's a set amount of time that it takes place in between each episode and then it goes. Does that make sense? It's neither like Twilight Zone or Game of Thrones. Actually, I don't watch Game of Thrones, so I don't know about that, but I assume it's not quite that, as the conflicts in those shows don't finish up in one episode. The set up isn't really unique on TV.

Next Generation, then DS9, then Voyager.

The during the sad realization that those shows are done, you can sprinkle in some original series or Enterprise. If really desperate after that, the movies or even the animated show might help.

Then repeat all the above!

They're all amazing.

so I watched some of TOS, then Voyager, then DS9. I think watching voyager first is important because then it doesn't seem all that crappy compared to the other series.

I also really ended up liking DS9 the best. The first three seasons of it are kind of "meh," but come the fourth season it becomes amazing. If you like shows like Battlestar Galactica and Farscape, DS9 is the one for you. I also liked it because it strays the farthest away from Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future as being devoid of conflict, something that kept me away from Star Trek for so long.

I'm in the same boat of wanting to watch some Trek, I might follow Max's guide because it seems abridged, i'd rather not sit through all of TNG... That said I'm not fond of Max Temkin, i don't trust his judgment even on a show he claims to love, for all i know it's all ironic to him, so any other approaches would be appreciated.

I've seen all of TOS, TNG, and Voyager; I really dislike the Abrams stuff as it's just generic space action nonsense, which isn't what Trek is about. My recommendation would be to start sat the last episode of Season 2 and then to continue on from there. At least try to hit the majorly popular episodes using a guide online and then fill in the rest later. I like TOS as much as TNG but because of its age, it might be hard to get into. After finishing TNg, go back and pick out some good episodes from TOS.

DS9 is good stuff, but I haven't sent all of it and I don't like it as much as TNG, TOS, or even Voyager. I am going to get all of the season on blu-Ray where they come out. Voyager is hit and miss, as a lot of the characters are fricken annoying but it's worth a look at anyway. I would skip enterprise and watch Stargate.

I'm in about the same spot as OP. Watched the first 7 eps of TNG season 1 and just stopped watching, though I liked it well enough...is there some kind of overarching story/mythos to TNG?

there are some good storylines in it that get resolved over the course of many episodes (not necessarily back-to-back though). it's mostly a thing-a-week show like law and order.

If you want to keep it simple you could follow Drew's advice, watch the first two episodes of season 1, then skip to season 2 and keep going. I did that a few years ago and enjoyed it.

That Max Temkin guide is neat, it might finally get me to watch Star Trek. Most of the big Star Trek fans in here agree with that list?

First Contact is a solid TNG movie if you ever manage to finish the series.

Watch TNG season 2 and beyond. Start watching DS9 at season 3 and bail out before the last half of the last season. I'd skip voyager. It's a mish mash of unlikable characters and recycled TNG ideas. But it's not offensive. So if you just want more trek it's ok I guess. Watch the first and last seasons of Enterprise only.

I started with TNG but eventually watched all of Voyager, don't care what anyone says I loved Voyager and its characters!

DS9 is good as well, real slow to start but gets really good!

I've seen every epsiode of TNG several times. Dozens, for some of the best or my favorite ones. Nothing is for everyone, ever, but it's one of my favorite televisions shows.

I think Max probably did a good job. It's been so long since I delved deep into TNG I just don't know the names of episodes that much outside of a few extremely important ones(some of the best hour blocks of television -ever-), but judging by the ones he gave a tiny synopsis about I would say yes it's good.

If following his guide gets you into the show, I would do it. Knowing he picks the cream of the crop you won't have to sit around "waiting for it to get good" and giving up before hand. Then you can make the conscious decision to go back and see what you missed if you want.

As for the movies, first contact is cool, fun and I love it. It is the only TNG movie I absolutely love. Generations and insurrection aren't garbage but they're just ok. I didn't like nemesis. It's in poor form I feel for TNG.

I have to stop myself from just gushing here, but when TNG hits, it hits hard. It's one of those things that if everyone atleast gave it a try would make me happy because I think it's that well done. Goodluck!

I haven't really watched barely any Star Trek, so take this with a grain of salt, but I did see Wrath of Khan and really liked it. Also saw Search for Spock and it was okay but not great.

The first Star Trek movie is so slow and boring that I've never finished watching it.

In my opinion, Farscape is far far superior to Stargate - and I happen to be a huge Stargate fan. I know you might be put off by Browder and Claudia Black's performances in the final couple of seasons of SG-1, but they're really in their element in Farscape.

On topic, I think the first two seasons of TNG are pretty spotty overall. That being said, they still have some great episodes so, if you can persist, they're well worth watching. Sub-par initial season/s seems to be a common trope among Sci-fi shows.

Just skip any sci-fi series and go straight to Battlestar Galactica. You won't ever regret it.

@cornbredx: A lot of what I love about SG-1 is the biggest reason why DS9 is my favorite Trek; the world where that show begins and where that show ends feels so dramatically different. SG-1 starts in such a small, hokey place, and creates such a fantastic universe that advances leaps and bounds with each season; that show begins with Earth being an isolated backwater that knows fuck-all and ends with humanity having starships, galactic allies, wars, and colonies. Stargate SG-1 (and to a lesser extent, Atlantis) was so superb at building their world and multiple narratives that would weave in and out of each other all while playing within a set of grounded rules that supported larger story arcs.

DS9 similarly makes use of continuity in a really amazing way to create seasons-long stories and character arcs that make the universe of Star Trek at the end of the show feel so different. With shows that utilized more directly serialized storytelling it's simply too hard to go back to watching the crew of the Enterprise fart around on the holodeck and never really grow much as people.

I would start by watching the entire first season of the original Star Trek. It's pretty consistent and there's spectacular episodes in there. After the first season, the kinda started to get a little bit lazier - some episodes are nothing more than a rehash of an idea that was used in a previous episode with minor differences. The second season of the original series is still mostly good, but there's some very skippable episodes. The third season only has a handful of high quality episodes. I wouldn't recommend skipping over the original series entirely and going right to Next Generation. The Next Generation is a much more interesting show if you go into it after getting acquainted with the 60s stuff. Plus, the original show was awesome and so are most of the movies with the original cast!

@gaminghooligan: Max's list is really good. Even though I've watched most of TNG, I'm following it and all of the episodes I have watched have been great, specifically the ones that I've not watched in a while. When you finish that list, I would strongly recommend watching DS9. It's my favorite series because it does an excellent job of having a serialized storyline that does a great job of remaining at a high quality throughout the series. If you do watch DS9 though, just skip any episode that has Troi's mom in it. She is truly the worst character of all time.

Just watch ALL of TNG. All this horse shit about skipping seasons and shows within seasons is senseless. There are through plots for characters scattered throughout all of it: so skipping bits is foolish and just means you won't actually see or understand in-jokes. Watch one after another going through the seasons...it won't take that much longer in reality...and you will see the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Watch TNG, then watch DS9, and finally watch The Original Series, which is just three seasons. If you want to see more, you are better off watching Enterprise instead of Voyager. I'd hate to say Voyager is bad, but it is one of the least logical and least thoughtful of the series. [The Captain is not as smart as Picard or as daring as Kirk. The first officer is boring and weak and is just cultural window dressing. The rest of the crew are mostly sad sacks. The engineer is a kill joy, the operation officer is a scaredy-cat, and the chief helmsman is supposed to be a bad-boy, but he is ALWAYS the goody-two-shoes. ]

I watched the original series then TNG and them DS9. I would say just watch them in that order. They all have their shit episodes and their brilliant episodes. If you don't have all the time in the world than you may want to use a site like jammersreviews.com to sift through what's good and what's not. My favorite was DS9. It had more actual plotlines that could be followed from one season to the next and less "monster of the week" type episodes. I think they are all worth watching though.

I can't speak for your disposition toward max, but as someone completely alien to the star trek franchise (Outside the new movies) his guide has been fantastic so far. I just made it to season 4, so If your looking for something to streamline your approach, go ahead and take your chances with it. Every episode listed has been rather solid and helped me get invested in the series. Also...

@themanwithnoplan: can't get higher praise than Wil Wheaton himself chiming in

So I thought I would check back in now that I've watched some Star Trek.

I started with TNG just because everyone seems to suggest that it's the most approachable entry point. I decided to make it easy on myself at first and just started at the second season's 5th episode after watching the episodes Max suggested in his list from the first season. I just finished what I think was episode 9 (A Matter of Honor) where Riker participate in a sort of space student exchange with the Klingon. So far I'm enjoying the show way more than I was when I tried to watch the first season. The serialization is much more evident to me now, which makes me feel a lot less like I'm missing things and allows me to just enjoy the show. As for now I'm going to go through the episodes without skipping anything, but if I feel like I'm burning out I'll bring in Max's list for recommendations. So I'll leave you guys for now with my initial thoughts on what I've seen:

• Riker is the man.
• Everyone in the galaxy has cooler threads than the Enterprise crew.
• I don't get why everyone hates Crusher. Maybe it was something in the first season?
• LeVar Burton is also the man. The exchange between his character and the deaf negotiator in episode 5 was genuinely fantastic.
• Everyone who says no one dies in this show is super wrong, also I'm impressed by how well the CG has held up (watching on Netflix). It's not amazing, but for it's age it isn't bad at all.

Well there it is, I hope to revisit this thread when I'm a little farther into it.

Thanks for all your help duders!

It's not hard. You watch them in the following order:

Star Trek: TOS

Star Trek The Animated Series

Star Trek Movies 1-6

Star Trek: TNG

Star Trek Movies 7-8

Star Trek: DS9

Star Trek Movie 9

Star Trek Voyager (Meh, if you get to this point you might as well look at the new toys)

Star Trek: Enterprise (Ehh... at this point you are committed)

Star Trek <alt timeline> (JJ Abrahms)

Star Trek Into Darkness <alt timeline> (JJ Abrahms)

it's because they conveniently forget about Dr. Pulaski. SHE WAS THE WORST.

that woman had such a hate-on for data- get the fuck outta here!

and just to throw in my 2 cents- DS9 is absolutely worth your time, as is the film 'first contact.' the latter closes the loop on the 'locutus' saga, and the former is a fantastic stylistic shift (more politics, different leadership, etc). I COULD GO ON- but i won't.

Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself! I just got here, so I was too late to offer any advice, not that It'd be good advice anyway. I just got into Star Trek last year and I watched the entire original series before Next Gen, and thought it was awesome. Old and corny? Absolutely. Amazing? God fucking yes. You should really just give it a shot. It's not for everybody, but god is it a lot of fun.

For what it's worth, I really don't like the J.J. Abrams movies. They take what is supposed to be a scifi about politics and philosophy and make it about blockbuster action bullcrap. Star Trek is at it's best when people are in a room talking about something interesting, not when shit is exploding. I think it'd be really interesting to see what you think of them after finishing Next Gen.

It was all about DS9 for me. I'm a lapsed Trek fan, I'm now 30 I basically stopped being interested once Voyager ended aged 17, watched the first 3ish episodes of Enterprise and never looked back until the Abrams movies, which I kind of liked for what they were but realized they are not Star Trek at all.

Brad and Dans talking about it got me thinking about watching them again/actually sticking with Enterprise but as someone who is working their way through Doctor Who (classic) not sure I got it in me anytime soon to watch it!

Top 10 Science Fiction TV shows

10) Babylon 5
9) Quantum Leap
8) Alien Nation
7) Dollhouse
6) Fringe
5) Firefly
4) Lost
3) Star Trek (80s & 90s)
2) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
1) Battlestar Galactica (2004-09)

Notes:
- I don't have Dr Who on there because I never watched it expect in the 1970s.
- Shows like SG-1 are fine, but to be honest I think its tone and production quality is lacking for the concept....they tried, and much of it is very nice...but it is a flimsy in some very key concepts.
- Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and X-Files are often fantasy stories rather than sci-fi.
- The Six Billion Dollar man is hurt by its 1970s story style and cheap Hollywood production values.
- Lost In Space is awesome...but like so much of 1960s & 1970s sci-fi its weak and a bit dumb. Include in that Thunder Birds, Blake 7 (you kids don't even know what that) Time Tunnel, Space 1999, oh my, the list goes on.
- In 1979 there was a show called Salvage 1 and if it has lasted longer I might have included in on the list. Its about an old junk yard owner who makes a homemade spaceship which he uses to reclaim junk satellites then he salvages other impossible treasures or feats of engineering. I think the first few episodes are about salvaging an Apollo landers and stuff off the moon.