Title says it all; I want to get into Star Trek(no relation between this and Into Darkness), but I have no idea where to start, so I'm asking you, Escapists, where should I start?
Poll: Which is easier to get into? The Original Series or The Next Generation?
- Thread starter Sigmund Av Volsung
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Old Trek is cheesy as hell, and its stories tend to have Aesop-style morals, e.g. "If you're unhappy without power, you will be equally unhappy with power." Next Gen doesn't do that quite so much.
I prefer Next Gen, myself. Really you can watch either.
I prefer Next Gen, myself. Really you can watch either.
Flip a coin. At this stage, both are equally dated and only act best as some historical context for other works of science fiction that have now covered the ideas presented in Star Trek better. I can't rightly remember if the same is true of the Original Series - it's been awhile - but the next generation you don't need to start at the beginning. The way the series is structured, apart from a few multi-episode arcs, everything is self contained. It gets better a few seasons in, so it's probably better to start there.Akichi Daikashima said:
Or just find a list of the great episodes of Star Trek, and watch those.
Next Generation season _2_. If Riker doesn't have a beard, something is really wrong. I think that's when Star Trek really hit it's deeper potential, particularly with the meaningful episodes. It also feels more like they're Federation representatives.
On the other hand TOS had more fun romps (albeit with terrible choreography and special effects by todays standards) so if the modern films are your entry point, the lady loving alien tussling Kirk might be a better entry point than the grumpier TNG dude =D
On the other hand TOS had more fun romps (albeit with terrible choreography and special effects by todays standards) so if the modern films are your entry point, the lady loving alien tussling Kirk might be a better entry point than the grumpier TNG dude =D
Neither TOS nor TNG are at all heavy on episode to episode continuity so pick and choose from both.
TOS does have some very dated special effects, inevitably, but personally I find it a lot more engaging than TNG - it's a deserved classic and there's a lot of episodes that are genuinely good, no nostalgia filter required.
My top suggested episodes: Balance of Terror, Trouble with Tribbles, The Doomsday Machine, City on the Edge of Forever and once you're familiar with the regular characters, Mirror Mirror.
TNG I find rather dryer - it's less actiony and the characters aren't so larger than life. Do NOT start with season 1 of TNG - it's unredeemably awful. Thankfully it got better. However I will say that when TNG is good, it's fantastically good.
Top suggested episodes: Q Who (first ever Borg story, and excellent in its own right), The Measure of a Man, Darmok (two of Trek at its intelligent, thought provoking best) and again once you're familiar with the characters The Best of Both Worlds and Yesterday's Enterprise.
TOS does have some very dated special effects, inevitably, but personally I find it a lot more engaging than TNG - it's a deserved classic and there's a lot of episodes that are genuinely good, no nostalgia filter required.
My top suggested episodes: Balance of Terror, Trouble with Tribbles, The Doomsday Machine, City on the Edge of Forever and once you're familiar with the regular characters, Mirror Mirror.
TNG I find rather dryer - it's less actiony and the characters aren't so larger than life. Do NOT start with season 1 of TNG - it's unredeemably awful. Thankfully it got better. However I will say that when TNG is good, it's fantastically good.
Top suggested episodes: Q Who (first ever Borg story, and excellent in its own right), The Measure of a Man, Darmok (two of Trek at its intelligent, thought provoking best) and again once you're familiar with the characters The Best of Both Worlds and Yesterday's Enterprise.
Is that the one with the evil twins w/ goatees?Sixcess said:
If so, I will make that episode a priority if I start w/ TOS and I'm familiar with the characters(like you said).
Go watch Space Seed in TOS, then watch Wrath of Khan, and see Khan done right.
OT: I'd start with TNG as it's aged a bit better than TOS, plus it has some amazing episodes which still hold up (see: Inner Light).
OT: I'd start with TNG as it's aged a bit better than TOS, plus it has some amazing episodes which still hold up (see: Inner Light).
My vote is for TNG as the more accessible. The problem with the original series isn't the dated special effects, but the old fashioned/cheesy story telling. However Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are great characters. So if you want to get into Kirk and Co my suggestion is to watch a handful of the best original series episodes, then the first seven movies, and then jump into TNG.
2 years ago I thought I would try star trek (the most scfi show I had watched before was stargate).
I watched the first 2 episodes of every sub-series of star trek.
I enjoyed the original a bit more then the TNG. But not enough to continue watching either...or any of the other ones.
The problem with the original for me is stargate had already regurgitated a lot of the stories in a more modern way, with better pacing, effects and machine guns lol. If I had seen the original first I'm sure I would of really enjoyed it.
I watched the first 2 episodes of every sub-series of star trek.
I enjoyed the original a bit more then the TNG. But not enough to continue watching either...or any of the other ones.
The problem with the original for me is stargate had already regurgitated a lot of the stories in a more modern way, with better pacing, effects and machine guns lol. If I had seen the original first I'm sure I would of really enjoyed it.
I'd recommend TNG, but skip season 1. The cast and crew were still uncertain about what direction the series would take, and it shows. They really started to hit their stride in season 2 though, and it's pretty much smooth sailing from there on out.
The special effects have certainly aged better than TOS, and the acting isn't as overly cheesy (most of the time). The regular cast is pretty solid as well. Patrick Stewart is terrific as usual, and Brent Spiner is noteworthy for his role as Data.
Finally, TNG has the fantastic John de Lancie playing the part ofDiscord Q in several episodes. Those are always a treat.
The special effects have certainly aged better than TOS, and the acting isn't as overly cheesy (most of the time). The regular cast is pretty solid as well. Patrick Stewart is terrific as usual, and Brent Spiner is noteworthy for his role as Data.
Finally, TNG has the fantastic John de Lancie playing the part of
TNG, I think. TOS was very much of its time.
OTOH, TOS was groundbreaking. TNG was, in my mind "better" (mostly due to Patrick Stewart as Picard), but TOS was more important.
They had a very diverse crew sitting round saying how important it is for everyone to get along. This was unheard of. The minorities weren't caricatures, they might not have always got big parts, but they were there.
Unfortunately, having a female second in command was a step too far though.
Now, that might sound like nothing, but at the time, it was just not done.
OTOH, TOS was groundbreaking. TNG was, in my mind "better" (mostly due to Patrick Stewart as Picard), but TOS was more important.
They had a very diverse crew sitting round saying how important it is for everyone to get along. This was unheard of. The minorities weren't caricatures, they might not have always got big parts, but they were there.
Unfortunately, having a female second in command was a step too far though.
Now, that might sound like nothing, but at the time, it was just not done.
Heh, never noticed that.Shanicus said:
if you want to watch TOS then of course you'll need the age-filter (fighting choreographies, effects etc), but if you can look past that - knock yourself out
TNG of course gives you MUCH more footage (with a kinda-sorta unstable start in season one, but after that you're in for a treat
), considering that DS9 and VOY directly follow up. or rather, continue parallel branches, time-wise
oh, and "brace yourself!" to hate the character of Wil Wheaton
and keep your hands off Star Trek: Enterprise. there's a reason why there was no "Star Trek" in the title at first
it foreshadowed the travesty the new films turned out to be ("Hey, ST was something to think about? Nah, let's just blow shit up and kill stuff, that'll sell!")
(luckily for Roddenberry he doesn't have grave, so he doesn't have to turn over in it again and again )
TNG of course gives you MUCH more footage (with a kinda-sorta unstable start in season one, but after that you're in for a treat
), considering that DS9 and VOY directly follow up. or rather, continue parallel branches, time-wiseoh, and "brace yourself!" to hate the character of Wil Wheaton
and keep your hands off Star Trek: Enterprise. there's a reason why there was no "Star Trek" in the title at first
it foreshadowed the travesty the new films turned out to be ("Hey, ST was something to think about? Nah, let's just blow shit up and kill stuff, that'll sell!")
(luckily for Roddenberry he doesn't have grave, so he doesn't have to turn over in it again and again
)
If you're done with either of those, try Star Trek Voyager. It's pretty good. I'd skip Deep Space Nine though. It's rather stationary.
