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 recommend starting with the original series or Star Trek the next generation. Picard and Discovery are probably the worst places to start.
I was late to the party, so my initial watch order was all kinds of messed up. I went DIS -> LD -> VOY -> DS9 -> TNG -> VOY (again) -> ENT -> SNW. Sadly, have only seen bits and pieces of TOS (and only GIFs of TAS).
Definitely recommend watching the TNG era in order: TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and then doubling back to watch Lower Decks again (because why not lol). I also recommend watching Prodigy after VOY since it’s basically VOY season 8/9. SNW is a spinoff from DIS, so I’d watch at least seasons 1-2 of DIS before SNW.
Prodigy is a kid’s show, but please don’t let that turn you away. It’s pretty great.
Ok, that was kindof what i had in mind so good to see that suggested. I imagine i can get a lot of addtional fun it of LD after having seen everything else. But then TNG-era before or after SNW?
Never heard of prodigy, ill check that out as well!
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.
I would start with TNG, then DS9, then it doesn’t really matter after that. All of the other shows pale in comparison IMO. Be aware that quality and entertainment value is significantly better after the first couple of seasons for both shows. It took me around 5 times to finally get into DS9, and I eventually just skipped season 1 and half of season 2.
Edit: TOS movies are pretty good. The evenly numbered ones are great, the odd numbered ones aren’t. But they’re almost all worth watching. The first one is a bit iffy. The second, 4th, and 6th movies are classic Trek and really fun.
Yea i am prepared for a slow start. Leaning towards trying to see it from start to finish and if that gets hard then check out some of the good episodes mentioned here.
Didnt know about TOS-movies, i guess that is a good way to check out that era! I saw three of the tng-films as a kid. I remember liking them, but i was like 12. Only remeber one being very borg-centered
I started with Picard then Strange New Worlds then Discovery.
I’ll take my downvotes and death threats now.
No downvotes or death threats from me! Start however you want or it happens to start! I started by watching TNG on air with my Dad as a kid, which is probably why I like the 90s shows so much. I’m really not sure how younger people find an entry point into the older shows because they just don’t have the same feel as the newer shows, IMHO, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy them.
I watched Picard and enjoyed it. I probably will never rewatch it like TNG, but it was a fun distraction. I’m glad others are enjoying it.
On Reddit way back when, I joined a trek sub as I’ve wanted to get into Star Trek but found the 90s shows too dry (early 2000s video games however, 👌). Posted about how I was really enjoying Picard and got RIPPED to shreds in the comments. No actual death threats but a bunch of people called me intellectually challenged and one combed through my post history to point out why exactly I was so cognitively bankrupt haha
