As a kid i loved watching the next generation and deep space 9 with my dad. Ive always liked sci fi, more of a (stargate fan) and wanted to get back into star trek, but Im just so lost on timelines and whats going on. There are like 6 kirks and I have no idea how/where to get started with watching this again.
Just watch The Orville instead.
@Princeofspace @StandingCat Terrible take! I love The Orville, but it doesn’t replace Trek in any way.
In that both The Orville and DS9 miss the point of Star Trek despite being made by people who clearly like Star Trek.
Sorry, I know I’m alone in being grumpy about DS9, but I’ve been grumpy about DS9 since the 90s.
My vote is for Strange New Worlds. I don’t hate The Orville, I think it’s funny and has its own sense of internal consistency, but I’d definitely watch it as a loving parody from a different political tack. If one is into academia or analytically-minded, comparing where the humor comes from in Lower Decks and The Orville would be a fantastic paper or video essay to put together, though.
Start with The Next Generation, just remember the first two seasons are the weakest by far. Really picks up in S3/4.
Then do DS9 and Voyager. Enterprise is worth watching if you get there.
Or start watching Strange New Worlds, it’s freaking awesome and modern but has the same feel as old Trek.
I tried watching TNG a few times and holy shit it was so bad. There’s no way I can slog through two seasons to get to the decent bits
@nutbiggums @Son_of_dad There’s an episode in Season 2 “Q Who” that you should watch before plowing into Season 3 since it introduces the borg. Otherwise, you’re not missing much, and if you really end up loving the series you can always go back and watch the first two seasons with rose colored glasses.
I rewatched TNG in its entirety during peak pandemic. Season 1 is pretty painful, but the rest holds up well. I tried to watch DS9 afterwards and bounced off it pretty hard. It’s got such a different vibe from TNG. Voyager is a little closer to TNG, but missing some of the campiness that I enjoy.
I’m really liking Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Picard Season 3 (avoid Picard Seasons 1&2 at all costs, just skip them as they have nothing to do w/ S3).
After being gone from it since Star Trek Enterprise, my wife and I got back in with Star Trek Lower Decks (oddly enough). If you can handle it being animated (and goofy), it is actually a very dearly written love-letter to TNG and some of the most important moments in Star Trek lore. We appreciated that it didn’t try to reinvent characters that already exist, and did a good job of bringing on old actors for cameos. They bring on people from TNG, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager all the time to reprise their roles.
There’s a live-action Star Trek currently running that I can’t attest to, but it has a crossover with Lower Decks that means I’m going to give it a try.
My friend. Watch Strange New Worlds. Best Trek since TNG (imho).
It does lean a little towards the silly more than I’d generally like, but even the silly is good.
And the cross over episode was top notch.
Ill give Lower decks a shot!
I do have to say one of the things that has turned me off from the ones I’ve tried to start up is the repeated attempts to revive/reinvent the old characters. Not a fan of reboots.
Lower Decks does have some legacy characters as guest stars. Riker, Paris, Troi, Q, Quark, Kira and a few others all make appearances. But those are cameo type appearances and the focus of the show is on new characters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_Lower_Decks_characters#Guest_characters
Many of us feel the impulse to recommend whichever Trek first pulled us in. Others are completists or like to get everything in release or chronological order.
I see lots of recommendations starting along these lines here. That might not best for you OP. I’ve had the personal experience of watching everything in first run in release order, but I don’t know if I would attempt that if I were wanting to break back in after a long hiatus.
If you liked the original 1960s show (TOS) with Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Strange New Worlds may be your best entry point now. It takes place on the original Enterprise under an earlier captain, 10ish years before the time of the original show. Kirk and Spock are the same people you know but younger, and necessarily played by new actors. It’s designed to be a gateway show for fans who’ve never seen any Star Trek so you won’t be lost trying to figure out where things fit in. (The movies with Chris Pine as Kirk are set in a separate universe.)
If you were a Next Generation fan, then you might wish to start with Picard season three or Lower Decks.
Definitely don’t start with Picard. Aside from the IP, it isn’t recognizable as Star Trek.
