I want to get into the Star Trek universe but dont know where to start. I have previously seen first three seasons of Disocvery and first season of picard. Picard was cool but disocvery didnt quite track, a little boring and not adventure focused enough. However loving lower decks now (just started season 4) and want to get into the more canon stuff.
I have access to TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise and SNW. TOS i could probanly get access to if i want, but gotta admit that is not very enticing.
So where to start? TNG?
If it helps (and i dont get shunned for this), i am a stargate guy and love especially sg-1 and the adventure of the week format and the character ensemble
I’d start with Strange New Worlds. It’s very classic Trek in terms of its themes and stories, but as it’s still being made it has contemporary audiences in mind. If you like it, I would then go to TNG.
It absolutely is not. Everyone is snarky with a bad attitude. It leans way too heavily into pseudo-science magical explanations, and it does dumb stuff like showing Vulcans (who only mate once every 7 years) laying around and making out like a couple of teenagers.
Ugh… I’ve been so reticent to watch modern Trek. I’ve heard such bad things about Discovery and have never been tempted to try it. But I really love the TNG era, so I gave in and watched Picard season 1…man, that was a mistake. Too modern, too snarky, too fucking meta. I swore off modern Trek. But then I read loads of threads saying that SNW was a return to form, and that it felt the most like Star Trek out of all the modern series. So even though I knew I might hate it, yesterday I watched the first three episodes. I’m already so annoyed with it. Super meta, the cast is for the most part way too young, and it’s loose or completely disregarding toward canon (yeah, Spock and T’Pring having sex without Pon Farr… give me a break!), and plotlines that make no sense at all. I’m so annoyed with it. I get that '80s/'90s TV was too earnest for today’s audiences, but SNW feels like a parody of Star Trek, not a worthy successor. So far, nothing feels like actual high stakes. There really isn’t serious drama that I actually care about. When shows are too snarky and meta, it makes it really hard for me to connect with them.
I do recognize that first seasons can be rocky, so I’ll at least stick with it through the end of the season. But I can’t lie, it’s off to a terrible start. I wish we could have shows more in keeping with the tone and themes of TNG and DS9 (or even Voyager!).
I watched Picard too, based on the advice of a friend. It started out seeming pretty promising, and just kept getting worse, all the way to the end.
It’s not actually Star Trek, but the Orville is the best Trek that has been made since DS9. It starts pretty campy and stupid, but it gets really good! They back off the jokes and goofiness, and start making an impactful show after a few episodes. I may have fast forwarded through parts of episode two, but I’m so glad that I stuck with the show. You sound like your tastes align with mine, and I highly advise watching The Orville, and giving it a chance to find its footing.
