So I have never watched Star Trek before but want to
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Star Trek: TNG if you are looking for a series that really captures the heart of the Star Trek franchise and establishes the general feel of the universe after Captain Kirk's time (including Enterprise B and C). Deep Space Nine if you are looking for a series that remains relatively in one corner of the established galaxy, though you also get a first hand witnessing of the Dominion War from the Deep Space Nine station perspective as well. And if you want a series that deals primarily with deep space exploration and survival against the odds, go with Voyager (although Janeway can get a bit annoying at times, like every other captain).
..Just avoid the shit out of Star Trek Enterprise. Seriously, it's just not worth it. Although the first season, you could argue, is useful for at least seeing the early stages of the Federation at work a few decades after Zefram Cochrane's warp flight.
Personally, I've never watched the Original Star Trek save a few climatic episodes, but if you are looking for the series with the most cheesiness and Spock.. feel free to watch it if you can get into it.
..Just avoid the shit out of Star Trek Enterprise. Seriously, it's just not worth it. Although the first season, you could argue, is useful for at least seeing the early stages of the Federation at work a few decades after Zefram Cochrane's warp flight.
Personally, I've never watched the Original Star Trek save a few climatic episodes, but if you are looking for the series with the most cheesiness and Spock.. feel free to watch it if you can get into it.
[HEADING=2]To boldly go where no man has gone before!![/HEADING]
*Wooooosh*
The original series has its own special kind of charm.
*Wooooosh*
The original series has its own special kind of charm.
The new movie, much more exciting than the regular series. I'm not trolling, apparently the high point of Star Trek is Wrath of Khan which I found exceedingly boring. All the trekkies most likely have their phasers set to kill right now...
My Dad loved the original series. I could never really get into any of the series, but I liked a lot of the movies. First Contact, Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country come to mind.NightmareLuna said:Well, original is good, but I for one love Star Trek the Next Generation and that show is also where I started. Captain Picard is the best captain ever.
To be honest, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are the only two really good ones in my opinion. I know diehard trekkies will probably cry foul at what I'm about to say, but the original series hasn't aged well, what with its low budget effects and William Shatner's over the top acting. Most of the Star Trek movies aren't all that impressive either. The writers were starting to run out of ideas with Voyager, and it shows. Though I've never seen Enterprise, it's regarded by many as the black sheep of the Star Trek television shows.
I'd recommend you begin by watching The Next Generation, starting with the second season (the first is fairly lackluster). After you're done with that series watch Deep Space Nine from the beginning.
Star Trek tends to be at its best when it explores tough moral and ethical dilemmas or delves into the psyches and motivations of the cast:
I'd recommend you begin by watching The Next Generation, starting with the second season (the first is fairly lackluster). After you're done with that series watch Deep Space Nine from the beginning.
Star Trek tends to be at its best when it explores tough moral and ethical dilemmas or delves into the psyches and motivations of the cast:
I would say start with the original show. I watched the reruns my entire childhood (my mom loves Star Trek), and absolutely adored it. Yeah, its cheese in the special effect department, and the writing is a little spotty at times, but over all, its awesome.
I really like Star Trek: TNG, but it is a little dated.
Well worth the watch though.
I also really like Star Trek: Enterprise, although I am aware that large parts of the trekkies hate it.
I thought it was good.
And it's not as dated as the other series.
I recommend both to be honest.
Well worth the watch though.
I also really like Star Trek: Enterprise, although I am aware that large parts of the trekkies hate it.
I thought it was good.
And it's not as dated as the other series.
I recommend both to be honest.
I think Deep Space Nine is the best, but you should at least watch a few episodes of The Next Generation to get a feel of the galaxy.
(Then again, Roddenberry did prefer "trekkies" and he invented it)
Too bad trekkies' opinions don't matter. You want the opinions of Trekkers. I am a Niner myself, but I do like the thought provoking episodes of TNG.fenrizz said:
(Then again, Roddenberry did prefer "trekkies" and he invented it)
My favourite is DS9, best acting, storyline and characters. But it takes a bit of time to become really great and it's quite different from the rest, so you'd be better off starting with The Next Generation, which is the classic Trek stuff or with Voyager, it looks better and it's more entertaining. TNG is being remastered now and they'll start releasing episodes in better quality soon, so you might want to wait for that.
I think Enterprise is underrated, yeah, it had some flaws, but I still loved it, and I would love to see films with that cast about the Romulan War, instead of anything from JJ. You guessed right, I don't like what he and his gang did with Star Trek... (My dream is to see a DS9 film or two, or a mini-series, or a direct-to-DVD film, something, but I know that it won't happen... )
I haven't seen much from The Original Series, but it didn't age well, even if the stories are great, the acting and everything else makes it hard to watch, for me at least. I've seen all of their films though, and liked most of them.
I think Enterprise is underrated, yeah, it had some flaws, but I still loved it, and I would love to see films with that cast about the Romulan War, instead of anything from JJ. You guessed right, I don't like what he and his gang did with Star Trek... (My dream is to see a DS9 film or two, or a mini-series, or a direct-to-DVD film, something, but I know that it won't happen...
)I haven't seen much from The Original Series, but it didn't age well, even if the stories are great, the acting and everything else makes it hard to watch, for me at least. I've seen all of their films though, and liked most of them.
"Q Who", the first ever Borg episode, seems to (intentionally or otherwise) sum up the main problem I had with the first season of TNG - they never did feel like they were actually in danger in S1, not really, and I lost interest in the show early on for that reason. (That and too much Wesley.)Neverhoodian said:
Definitely agree on "The Measure of a Man" - fantastic episode.
DS9 I liked, but I feel it's very much overshadowed by Babylon 5. Never watched Voyager, and Enterprise was just a sad, wasted opportunity.
But I'd still say go with the Original Series. It's the classic, and deservedly so in my eyes. Best described by TvTropes as "anything from high camp to geopolitical allegory to genuinely intelligent drama, and is likely to be at least two out of those three."
Plus, James T. Kirk didn't have to mess about on holodecks. If he wanted an exotic alien hottie he just went out there and got one!
I grew up with TNG, and I agree it's a bit dated but it's still, along with the original series, the quintessential Star Trek. And I thought the original series was horribly dated back when I saw the odd episode in the nineties.
That said I've been looking at TOS on youtube lately and although it IS extremely dated, the charm is undeniably there. I'd say you should try a few episodes to see if you like it.
TOS aside I'd say either start with TNG, but be warned that the first season is generally considered not very good compared to the rest, or start with Deep Space Nine, which I haven't re-watched much since I first saw them but they struck me at the time as having a more modern feel. I think the themes run a bit less towards philosophical dilemmas and more towards political ones.
I liked a lot of Voyager too but I don't know about starting there as it's generally not considered the best.
You know what though ? Star Trek was a show that came on at the time when serialized TV writing wasn't as much of a thing. You don't have to watch everything in order or show-by-show. (That's not even how they were watched at the time. I remember them showing episodes of TNG followed by DS9, or DS9 followed by re-runs of TOS)
That said I've been looking at TOS on youtube lately and although it IS extremely dated, the charm is undeniably there. I'd say you should try a few episodes to see if you like it.
TOS aside I'd say either start with TNG, but be warned that the first season is generally considered not very good compared to the rest, or start with Deep Space Nine, which I haven't re-watched much since I first saw them but they struck me at the time as having a more modern feel. I think the themes run a bit less towards philosophical dilemmas and more towards political ones.
I liked a lot of Voyager too but I don't know about starting there as it's generally not considered the best.
You know what though ? Star Trek was a show that came on at the time when serialized TV writing wasn't as much of a thing. You don't have to watch everything in order or show-by-show. (That's not even how they were watched at the time. I remember them showing episodes of TNG followed by DS9, or DS9 followed by re-runs of TOS)
The main ones are the original series and the Next generation they're probably the best place to start, both are somewhat dated and can get very cheesy but they have some really good moments, TOS series goes downhill at the end but TNG takes a couple of seasons to get started. You can find DVDs that just collect the best episodes of both series I think so that might be a nice place to start.
My personal favorite is Deep Space 9, it uses much longer more political arcs, it's the most dark and mature of the series. It has it's bad episodes and they're really bad but when it's good it's really fucking good. It's the only series that really shows the federation and the main characters in anything other than an unambiguously good light. It's not the best place to start but if you stick with it until the dominion war breaks out it's the most fulfilling in my mind.
Voyager and Enterprise are both best avoided, they both have good episodes and good characters but there's just so much bad acting and bad writing it just isn't worth slogging through.
Of the films Wrath of Khan and the Undiscovered Country are the best and well worth watching. First Contact, Search for Spock and TheVoyage Home are also enjoyable but each have they're own flaws. Also Galaxy Quest is a must see, not technically Star Trek but you need to see it if you like the series.
My personal favorite is Deep Space 9, it uses much longer more political arcs, it's the most dark and mature of the series. It has it's bad episodes and they're really bad but when it's good it's really fucking good. It's the only series that really shows the federation and the main characters in anything other than an unambiguously good light. It's not the best place to start but if you stick with it until the dominion war breaks out it's the most fulfilling in my mind.
Voyager and Enterprise are both best avoided, they both have good episodes and good characters but there's just so much bad acting and bad writing it just isn't worth slogging through.
Of the films Wrath of Khan and the Undiscovered Country are the best and well worth watching. First Contact, Search for Spock and TheVoyage Home are also enjoyable but each have they're own flaws. Also Galaxy Quest is a must see, not technically Star Trek but you need to see it if you like the series.
Ignore anyone who says Voyager and Enterprise need to be avoided. Both are written and acted just as well as everything else was (Let's face it, the franchise doesn't always have the most stellar history here.)
Enterprise has some of the best characters, and the best world/atmosphere portrayed in any of the series, keeping the technology much more grounded and under control allowing it to feel much more like our actual future. The biggest problem is that it just doesn't have very interesting episode plots for the first two seasons, but even that gets fixed with the spectacular 3rd and 4th seasons.
TNG is an absolute classic in every good and bad sense of the term. It might be a little on the old side for a newcomer, but if you can look past that you'll find a lot of interesting stuff. Just make sure you skip at the very least season one, it took them a while to really find their groove.
I'd probably have more to say about DS9 if I'd seen more, but what I have seen was pretty cool. It just felt like it was holding itself back from being as cool as it could have been.
Enterprise has some of the best characters, and the best world/atmosphere portrayed in any of the series, keeping the technology much more grounded and under control allowing it to feel much more like our actual future. The biggest problem is that it just doesn't have very interesting episode plots for the first two seasons, but even that gets fixed with the spectacular 3rd and 4th seasons.
TNG is an absolute classic in every good and bad sense of the term. It might be a little on the old side for a newcomer, but if you can look past that you'll find a lot of interesting stuff. Just make sure you skip at the very least season one, it took them a while to really find their groove.
I'd probably have more to say about DS9 if I'd seen more, but what I have seen was pretty cool. It just felt like it was holding itself back from being as cool as it could have been.
Oh god yes, I totally forgot about Starship Beige. That color will be etched into my brain for the rest of my life.F said:
In all honesty, it doesn't really matter where you start... as long as you ignore Enterprise, and if you've seen the 2010 Star Trek movie take it with a grain of salt. That movie was a military fantasy, essentially Top Gun in space (and less than half as good), while classic Star Trek was supposed to be a more romanticized "artist's version" of the ideal future.
They're all pretty good, and have some pretty compelling stories and messages to tell. You could certainly start at the beginning with the original series, but in all honesty, the most accessible will probably be The Next Generation. Those stories tend to be a lot more timeless than the blatant hippyness and 60's and 70's contexts of the original, and sets up a lot of groundwork for both Deep Space Nine and Voyager. It isn't totally necessary to start there first to understand what comes later, but that's probably your best chance to get into it.
They're all pretty good, and have some pretty compelling stories and messages to tell. You could certainly start at the beginning with the original series, but in all honesty, the most accessible will probably be The Next Generation. Those stories tend to be a lot more timeless than the blatant hippyness and 60's and 70's contexts of the original, and sets up a lot of groundwork for both Deep Space Nine and Voyager. It isn't totally necessary to start there first to understand what comes later, but that's probably your best chance to get into it.