[Big Baybee]

Original Star Trek is awful.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

From what I understand there were a lot of restrictions on the writers in the early seasons regarding what they could and couldn't do with the characters. TNG is my favorite Trek series thanks to the later seasons.

Also lot's of reused TOS scripts.

[vas_a_morir]

If Riker has a beard, nothing to fear.

If Riker's chin be clean, change your TV Screen.

[RevDM]

Why did Picard start to wear this ugly ass uniform?


and why did Deanna start to wear the Starfleet uniform after Picard was relieved of duty for that secret mission?

[teruterubozu]

Original Star Trek is Groovy. If you can't get with the vibes, then you'll never know, man.

[Dax01]

What is this thread.

Watch TNG and DS9, the best episodes of TOS. Movies 2, 4, 6, and 8. All awesomeness.

[Slayven]

It did have the hottest chicks tho.

Ensign Ro and Leeta smokes them.

[Krowley]

Original Star Trek is Groovy. If you can't get with the vibes, then you'll never know, man.

When I decided to delve into Star Trek several years ago, I decided that I absolutely had to start with the original first, and I'm so glad that I did. I think it really helped me enjoy the later shows a lot more. It's a great foundation for appreciating everything they were trying to do with TNG and the other shows. They all sort of build on each other in a lot of ways, and it gives you a really good frame of reference.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

These two shows are worlds apart. TNG is a sanitized episodic sci-fi adventure where the good guys always win by the end of the episode. DS9 is a much darker serialized drama focused more on the characters and every day life. As I mentioned above, I think DS9 is the better show, but I did love TNG growing up

The idea would be to start with TNG, so going to DS9 not only brings over the continuation of the lore but the change in tone will make sense and be welcomed, rather then jumping into DS9 without the slightly sugary nature of TNG on your mind.

[sangreal]

The idea would be to start with TNG, so going to DS9 not only brings over the continuation of the lore but the change in tone will make sense and be welcomed, rather then jumping into DS9 without the slightly sugary nature of TNG on your mind.

yeah, that makes sense

[bkfount]

and why did Deanna start to wear the Starfleet uniform after Picard was relieved of duty for that secret mission?

she got a talking to about it in an episode and also started taking her command position more seriously.

[Lafiel]

I think all of the Star Treks (except for Voyager) hold up extremely well, if you get over the dated and chessy feeling of the storytelling; because there's some genuinely great writing to be found in all of them. (and some really bad writing too!)

[Mama Robotnik]

What a bizarrely confrontational thread title.

Anyway, each of the series is quite different, and may or may not be to your tastes.

(1) Star Trek: Very imaginative, often more science-fantasy than science-fiction. Some episodes are pretty outstanding, some are smarter quieter pieces, and some are shite. Its the most eclectic show of the lot, and the chemistry between the lead three characters is outstanding. There is a lot of emphasis and reflection on the flawed aspects of humanity. If you have little time, Google a "best of" list and watch those.

(2) The Next Generation: Less colourful than its immediate predecessor, but better written and acted. There's a bit more nuance here, though actual continuity is rare. The first series is (for the most part) shite, and the second series is a mix of outstanding with crap. The third series is when things really pick up and for the next several seasons, its absolutely quality television. At its best, pretty-much must-watch for Science Fiction fans. Be warned though, that this show was born from Gene Roddenberry's "humans are perfect" delusion, so actual character conflict and growth is minimal.

(3) Deep Space Nine: This darker spin on the Star Trek formula that gives no shit about the "humans are perfect" mantra seen elsewhere in the franchise. With a stunning ensemble cast, the best writers the show ever had, consistent continuity, wars between space Gods, galactic invasions, time-travelling revolutions, the Roswell Space Crash, meeting Captain Kirk, sex, murder, explosions, baseball, genocide, spies, shapeshifters, ghosts, their own fucking warship, drinking, slavery, sex-change operations, space battles, drug-addicted soldiers, satan, Captain Jesus and Garak, it has a shitload of stuff going on and lots of well-realised story arcs in which to tell its many operas. Of all the shows, this most follows the science fantasy and flawed-humans ideology of the original Star Trek series. Outright bad episodes are few and far between, and its probably the most consistently magnificent of the entire franchise.

(4) Voyager: This mishandled, execrable piece of televisual garbage returns to the "humans are perfect" mantra and mishandles a scenario with considerable potential. The idea is that the titular starship Voyager is lost in deep space and has to make its way home, with two conflicting crews sharing the vessel. What we get is dry, bland, unimaginative, boring and utterly safe mediocrity. There is no continuity, no character development, no conflict and no passion. Everyone sleepwalks through their utterly tired roles with the exception of two characters: The Doctor and Seven of Nine, who actually attempt to commit the cardinal sin of having a fucking personality. When its not busy being completely fucking boring, this waste of the "Star Trek" brand proceeds to fuck up the franchise, turning established forces such as The Borg and Q into pitiable villains easily defeated by a lone starship every time they appear. Voyager is a waste of space, a waste of the Star Trek brand, a waste of money, and an absolutely waste of your time.

(5) Enterprise: An attempt at a prequel series, that starts off shit, and upgrades itself to passable in the third series. A new producer took over for the fourth season and actually produced some good television that was getting better and better, then it got cancelled. The fuckups behind Voyager decided to exert their executive authority and write the final episode, which is one of the most insulting and repugnant uses of the entire franchise. Not worth the effort.

(6) The movies: Watch Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Its a great film, and a must-see regardless of any interest in the Trek franchise. If you like it, watch "The Search for Spock", "The Voyage Home", "The Undiscovered Country", "First Contact" and the new "Star Trek" movie too, as they are pretty good.

[Slayven]

The idea would be to start with TNG, so going to DS9 not only brings over the continuation of the lore but the change in tone will make sense and be welcomed, rather then jumping into DS9 without the slightly sugary nature of TNG on your mind.

Yeah the Dominion war royally fucked Feds because that was their first real war in generations. Little things like no more families on ships and stuff.

[Zzoram]

What is this thread. Watch TNG and DS9, the best episodes of TOS. Movies 2, 4, 6, and 8. All awesomeness.

Is there a list? I've been meaning to rewatch it but I remember there being a lot of crappy episodes.

[RevDM]

Fixed. No Riker-beared, not worth watching.

Regarding season 1, did you forget this episode?

she got a talking to about it in an episode and also started taking her command position more seriously.

She got a talking to about it from the captain that replaced picard for a day.

[squidyj]

I think it's about time I rewatched DS9 cover to cover.

[BocoDragon]

I realized eventually that the original series was an adventure show with bravado.. It didn't really calcify into a "nerd series" until the spinoffs. I mean, Kirk was a passionate playboy action hero, not unlike Bond.

That isn't to say that the spinoffs are bad. There's a lot to enjoy about them, DS9 especially.. But based on the thread title, I'm tempted to point out that in many ways, later Star Trek is kind of a nerd fantasy. Everyone's really overly polite and intelligent..... It's often quite sexless ... It's a left-brained, logic obsessed, asperger fantasy. Sometimes I like that, though. I've watched nearly every episode. :P

[Thaedolus]

DS9, TNG and TOS are all worth watching, in order of my favorite to least favorite. I'm probably going to rewatch all three chronologically pretty soon here since they're available on Netflix.

Voyager had some decent episodes once in a while, but it really got so bad near the end that I probably have only seen 75% of the show. Watchable if you're a fan of the series as a whole I guess.

Enterprise I never even really bothered with as Voyager left a bad taste in my mouth and I moved on. I hear it gets good toward the end but then stops prematurely.

I think it's about time I rewatched DS9 cover to cover.

It really has the most depth of any of the shows, in my opinion. Some of the character development and story arcs will probably never be matched by a Trek show ever again.

[Jacobi]

This is what makes TNG the best Star Trek show and a great series overall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PMlDidyG_I

No fucking technobabble for the sake of technobabble, no tacked-on and senseless action, just great writing and acting

[Seanspeed]

The only one I ever liked was The Next Generation, but that was when I was a kid. I've seen episodes since and while there's a bit of nostalgia for it, its really kinda cheesy now.

Although I'm not the sort that likes these Sci-Fi channel shows in general. If you do, then they're probably worth watching.

[KittenMaster]

The original series is a case study on how to troll the Enterprise crew in inventive ways, and I love it for that.

[JdFoX187]

I don't get the OG Trek hate. Sure it's dated, but it's still an awesome show, especially the remastered versions. As much as I love the TNG cast, they never really had the chemistry that Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty had. The OG crew did more in three seasons than the TNG crew did in seven.

Still, they're all good, with the exception of Voyager. I even give props to Enterprise. Season 3 with the whole Xindi storyline was awesome stuff.

[onemic]

What a bizarrely confrontational thread title. Anyway, each of the series is quite different, and may or may not be to your tastes. (1) Star Trek: Very imaginative, often more science-fantasy than science-fiction. Some episodes are pretty outstanding, some are smarter quieter pieces, and some are shite. Its the most eclectic show of the lot, and the chemistry between the lead three characters is outstanding. There is a lot of emphasis and reflection on the flawed aspects of humanity. If you have little time, Google a "best of" list and watch those. (2) The Next Generation: Less colourful than its immediate predecessor, but better written and acted. There's a bit more nuance here, though actual continuity is rare. The first series is (for the most part) shite, and the second series is a mix of outstanding with crap. The third series is when things really pick up and for the next several seasons, its absolutely quality television. At its best, pretty-much must-watch for Science Fiction fans. Be warned though, that this show was born from Gene Roddenberry's "humans are perfect" delusion, so actual character conflict and growth is minimal. (3) Deep Space Nine: This darker spin on the Star Trek formula that gives no shit about the "humans are perfect" mantra seen elsewhere in the franchise. With a stunning ensemble cast, the best writers the show ever had, consistent continuity, wars between space Gods, galactic invasions, time-travelling revolutions, the Roswell Space Crash, meeting Captain Kirk, sex, murder, explosions, baseball, genocide, spies, shapeshifters, ghosts, their own fucking warship, drinking, slavery, sex-change operations, space battles, drug-addicted soldiers, satan, Captain Jesus and Garak, it has a shitload of stuff going on and lots of well-realised story arcs in which to tell its many operas. Of all the shows, this most follows the science fantasy and flawed-humans ideology of the original Star Trek series. Outright bad episodes are few and far between, and its probably the most consistently magnificent of the entire franchise. (4) Voyager: This mishandled, execrable piece of televisual garbage returns to the "humans are perfect" mantra and mishandles a scenario with considerable potential. The idea is that the titular starship Voyager is lost in deep space and has to make its way home, with two conflicting crews sharing the vessel. What we get is dry, bland, unimaginative, boring and utterly safe mediocrity. There is no continuity, no character development, no conflict and no passion. Everyone sleepwalks through their utterly tired roles with the exception of two characters: The Doctor and Seven of Nine, who actually attempt to commit the cardinal sin of having a fucking personality. When its not busy being completely fucking boring, this waste of the "Star Trek" brand proceeds to fuck up the franchise, turning established forces such as The Borg and Q into pitiable villains easily defeated by a lone starship every time they appear. Voyager is a waste of space, a waste of the Star Trek brand, a waste of money, and an absolutely waste of your time. (5) Enterprise: An attempt at a prequel series, that starts off shit, and upgrades itself to passable in the third series. A new producer took over for the fourth season and actually produced some good television that was getting better and better, then it got cancelled. The fuckups behind Voyager decided to exert their executive authority and write the final episode, which is one of the most insulting and repugnant uses of the entire franchise. Not worth the effort. (6) The movies: Watch Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Its a great film, and a must-see regardless of any interest in the Trek franchise. If you like it, watch "The Search for Spock", "The Voyage Home", "The Undiscovered Country", "First Contact" and the new "Star Trek" movie too, as they are pretty good.

So I guess for TNG I should just watch the first episode of season 1 and then just go straight into season 2?

And I would've thought TOS would get more love since it has Kirk, Spock, and Takei.

[The Incarnation]

Ugh, so much original series hate, you people all suck.

This, it's the only good one.

[Drazgul]

So I guess for TNG I should just watch the first episode of season 1 and then just go straight into season 2?

Watch 'Datalore' too at least, since it introduces a recurring character.

[WillyFive]

Watch 'Datalore' too at least, since it introduces a recurring character.

That was a terrible episode though.

He should at least watch Season 1 and see how the show has evolved.

[DrForester]

Why did Picard start to wear this ugly ass uniform?

I believe the reasoning was to want to differentiate between the captain and the rest of the crew more easily.

[xbhaskarx]

Star Trek is extremely mediocre... which makes it a thousand times better than Star Wars.

[DrForester]

And I would've thought TOS would get more love since it has Kirk, Spock, and Takei.

It's worth nothing that Tekei, Koenig, and Nichols really were just glorified extras in the show. They have much larger roles once the films roll around. The original series is about Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Scotty comes in every now and then as well. But the other three really weren't big characters in the show, they were just familiar faces you saw. Occasionally they'd be important to that episode, but they're few and far between.

[Drazgul]

That was a terrible episode though. He should at least watch Season 1 and see how the show has evolved.

Not even close to the worst S1 turkeys tho. :P

And yeah, watching all of them would be preferable, as long as you don't stop there because the show seems so crappy. It does get better, a lot.

[WillyFive]

Not even close to the worst S1 turkeys tho. :P

No, it was the worst. Terrible story.

Sucks that it was the last one Roddenberry wrote (under his name).

[Of All Trades]

So I guess for TNG I should just watch the first episode of season 1 and then just go straight into season 2? And I would've thought TOS would get more love since it has Kirk, Spock, and Takei.

Just watch the whole thing. There are a few episodes in S1 that carry over into later seasons (stuff with Yar), and I think it's worth seeing. And one of the last episodes is weirdly gory (then goes nowhere).

I liked TOS a lot, but I grew up watching that (and then moving on to TNG when it came out). TOS tends to bounce from awful to hokey-clever to really good, and watching the characters will make the movies more meaningful. They also lead to the The Animated Series, which was actually pretty good (had the original cast, some good writers, and actually "alien" aliens because they could draw whatever they wanted).

[Krowley]

Just watch the whole thing. There are a few episodes in S1 that carry over into later seasons (stuff with Yar), and I think it's worth seeing. And one of the last episodes is weirdly gory (then goes nowhere). I liked TOS a lot, but I grew up watching that (and then moving on to TNG when it came out). TOS tends to bounce from awful to hokey-clever to really good, and watching the characters will make the movies more meaningful. They also lead to the The Animated Series, which was actually pretty good (had the original cast, some good writers, and actually "alien" aliens because they could draw whatever they wanted).

Yeah, the animated show is actually worth mentioning as a significant part of the series as well. It's pretty damn awesome from what I remember. I was surprised to discover that it's actually available on Netflix, and I'm probably going to go through all of them pretty soon.

[davepoobond]

it is worth watching.

ive seen all the movies, then started with OG, TNG, and currently on DS9. Still have voyager and enterprise to go through.


if you start it, i would suggest watching OG, and then the original series movies, TNG, and then the TNG movies, and then DS9, Voyager, Enterprise.


the only bad thing is that there is just so many god damn episodes.

[Drazgul]

No, it was the worst. Terrible story. Sucks that it was the last one Roddenberry wrote (under his name).

Crystalline Entity was dumb, sure, but many S1 eps were much the same. Code of Honor, Skin of Evil, The Naked Now, Where No One Has Gone Before... all suck badly. Even the Q eps were crappy, really.

[WillyFive]

Crystalline Entity was dumb, sure, but many S1 eps were much the same. Code of Honor, Skin of Evil, The Naked Now, Where No One Has Gone Before... all suck badly. Even the Q eps were crappy, really.

Not really, those were all enjoyable and interesting; even if they were TOS 2.0.

Q, however, is just too overpowered and shouldn't exist.

[rohlfinator]

I'm watching TOS right now as my first foray into Star Trek (apart from the J.J. Abrams film) and it holds up surprisingly well. Some episodes can be kind of formulaic at times, but the characters are memorable and they explore some interesting themes. And it's been cool seeing the source material for some of the gags in Futurama/South Park/etc.

I'm looking forward to moving on to the movies and TNG/DS9, but the original series is pretty entertaining in its own right.

[Htown]

OP, if you're not opposed to watching older TV shows in general, the original series is just fine. There's some good stuff in there, as long as you keep in mind there's going to be some cheesy stuff, since it's from the 1960's. If you don't want to watch all 80 episodes of it here are some you may want to check out:

Season 1
Where No Man Has Gone Before (pilot)
The Enemy Within (the most chewed scenery in the history of anything, fair warning)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Space Seed
The Devil in the Dark
The City on the Edge of Forever

Season 2
Amok Time
Mirror, Mirror
The Doomsday Machine
The Trouble with Tribbles
A Piece of the Action
The Ultimate Computer

Season 3
The Enterprise Incident
The Tholian Web
All Our Yesterdays

(yeah season 3 wasn't great.)

[BorkBork]

The peaks of the show are some of the highest in the franchise:



Fluters gonna flute.

[Insane Metal]

I never liked it.

But I loved the last movie!

[ReBurn]

I shall watch TNG on Netflix tonight in honor of this thread. But I won't give advice on watching Trek episodes, because I'm that guy who liked Voyager.

[RevDM]

Something I've learned from TNG

Whenever Picard does his beginning monologue and says, "...routine procedure." That means shit is going to go DOWN SON!

[Escape Goat]

I still like it but when I watch it now I can't help but notice stuff like shitty set designs, cutting corners on costumes (everyone wears their uniforms or unitards), deanna's impossibly full hair, where are the bathrooms, what do the 1000 people do all day if theres only 4 holodecks and one bar.


the important shit you know.

[Slayven]

Skip the season of TNG with the cranky ass temp doc.

[vas_a_morir]

Something I've learned from TNG Whenever Picard does his beginning monologue and says, "...routine procedure." That means shit is going to go DOWN SON!

I always presume there are months of boring shit we don't see inbetween the stuff we do see. So, maybe a routine procedure might be one of many to Picard, but an amazingly bad omen to us!

[SquiddyCracker]

Whether it is actually good or not, it is a must to watch for anyone with an interest in sci-fi.
It's also useful to have watched just to get the numerous references it gets in popular culture.

[chris.trejo]

I've been meaning to check out the series (loved the last movie), but I'm confused as to what order to watch them in and if I should bother with some of them or not. I have netflix and I believe most if not all the series are on there already.

[Grinchy]

I have watched the first 24 episodes of TNG so far and I think it's great. There have been some kinda dumb episodes and some questionable dialog, but I think it's quite solid for something that was originally aired 25 years ago. The cheesy special effects aren't even a detractor.

[onemic]

OP, if you're not opposed to watching older TV shows in general, the original series is just fine. There's some good stuff in there, as long as you keep in mind there's going to be some cheesy stuff, since it's from the 1960's. If you don't want to watch all 80 episodes of it here are some you may want to check out: Season 1 Where No Man Has Gone Before (pilot) The Enemy Within (the most chewed scenery in the history of anything, fair warning) Balance of Terror The Galileo Seven Space Seed The Devil in the Dark The City on the Edge of Forever Season 2 Amok Time Mirror, Mirror The Doomsday Machine The Trouble with Tribbles A Piece of the Action The Ultimate Computer Season 3 The Enterprise Incident The Tholian Web All Our Yesterdays (yeah season 3 wasn't great.)

Thanks for this