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Playball40

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I hate to admit this, but I've only ever watched the original Star Trek series (along with the movies). I would really like to watch more, but where do I start? It seems like there are SO MANY SERIES that I don't know where to begin. Does anyone have a list?
 
Well, the next logical place would be The Next Generation. It was a great series, and just about all other series branch off of that. The first season they were trying to figure things out, but after that it was great.

There is also the old original Trek cartoon series which was ok, but you can skip it if you like.

From TNG, go with Deep Space 9, that one was excellent.

Voyager came next, but honestly that is the only Star Trek series I never bothered to finish. Maybe watch a couple seasons to at least get to know 7 Of 9, as she shows up in the Picard series.

Enterprise was good the first couple seasons. This is a prequel set before the Federation was founded. It went downhill for me in the third season with the whole Xindi storyline that took up the rest of the series.

Discovery was interesting, especially since the main character is NOT the captain. Some people didn't care for it, but I liked it. It is set before the original series, and even includes Captain Pike for a season. (captain of the Enterprise before Kirk)

Spin off from that is Strange New Worlds, which covers Captain Pike in command of the Enterprise. I'm liking it so far.

Lower Decks is a great animated series about the crew that do all the work on the ship rather than the command crew. It is filled with easter eggs and references to the other series. Lots of fun, but might want to wait until you've seen TNG, DS9, and Voyager to get most of the references

Prodigy is another great animated series. In this case some young slaves in a mine find a lost Federation ship. The ship has a program of Captain Janeway meant to help train new Starfleet Recruits, and takes the escaped slaves as starfleet recruits to train. They escape in the ship, the person running the mine was specifically mining the planet to find that ship and starts hunting them down. This one does not require knowing about the other series to enjoy, so you can watch it at your leisure.

Picard just finished its final season. Have to have watched TNG to enjoy this one, and it includes 7 Of 9 from Voyager, so should watch those others before this one.
 
Watch all of The Next Generation as mentioned, all others spring from it. It's excellent.

Deep Space Nine is also excellent and the story arcs are though the series. Season six is really one big story arc. DS9 features the Dominion War which the lead-up and conclusion takes up a lot of the second half of the series.

I loved Voyager too but some don't.

I also loved Enterprise that takes place before the Federation is founded.

The more recent spinoffs like Discovery are not as good in my opinion but the 3rd season of Picard was excellent. It's really a final season of TNG with all the players.

My favorite of the new ones is Strange new Worlds which takes place on the Enterprise with Captain Pike and a young Mr. Spock. Love that one so far but they are only now ready to stream season 2 starting June 15.
 
Watch DS9 and Babylon-5 (Yes, B5 isn't Star Trek... but don't worry about that). You can skip the rest. The only potential issue with DS-9 with TNG is that DS9 has a little history that overlaps TNG. TNG is good... but it is generally monster of the week set ups, where as DS9, while also having a monster of the week set up, it also contains an arc (and sub-arcs) that continues to develop as the show progresses. Also, the characters mature with time a bunch more than TNG, where it is a bit more static. TNG, maybe skip Season One. It gets better the following season. Babylon-5 is crack on steroids awesome, and generally all arc! You need to fight through a little of Season One for B5, but they are actually telling you more than you realize during it.

At its best, DS9 is nose to nose with Babylon-5, but Babylon-5 manages so much more overall. Both shows are among my favorites of all time.

crazyfingers is crazy for liking Voyager. That show was crap. I reported his post for even suggesting watching Voyager. ;) Okay, it isn't Earth Final Conflict bad, but Voyager abandoned everything it could have been. There is inconsistency with the Captain that drove me nuts.
 
Oh here goes crazyfingers with his conspiracy theories again about a "secret" organization in Starfleet that operates on their own accord and commits acts of espionage across the galaxy. :D
 
I endorse marc's suggested viewing order. Especially with the Braga era, release order is the way to go. The newer shows can really be tackled or not tackled as you choose, as they're less interconnected and also make extravagant use of "recaps" where needed.

Other: I have been rewatching Voyager lately and quite enjoying it. Garrett Wang and Robbie Duncan McNeill, who played two of the principals on that show, have a weekly podcast where they reminisce about and critique each episode, so I've been revisiting each one as they bring it up and having a lot of fun.

Podcast is at https://www.thedeltaflyers.org/ if anyone is interested.
 
Having grown up in the era when the wrongful convictions of the Maguire 7, Guildford 4, and Birmingham 6 were frequent news items, I am firmly of the opinion that the Babylon 5 are innocent, and the Deep Space 9 should be released immediately and compensated for their time in jail.
 
B5 was awesome! Met a couple of the actors at conventions. Unique in that it has a 5 year story arc planned from the start. They did have to wrap some stuff up in season 4 because it wasn’t clear there would be a fifth.

or you can try The Orville, which is like TNG, but without a stick up it’s butt and smokes weed 😉
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Watch DS9 and Babylon-5
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This. Do this. Do it now. I would only add watching 3x26 and 4x01 of TNG first to get some context of the start of DS9.

marc said:
Enterprise was good the first couple seasons. This is a prequel set before the Federation was founded. It went downhill for me in the third season with the whole Xindi storyline that took up the rest of the series.
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I feel the exact opposite. Although I do lean towards arcing stories over monster of the week type shows. And season 4 kinda shows the Fedration building blocks.
 
Thank you all! I will definitely follow your suggestions. I have watched the Orville and like it very much.
 
Oh, that's fun! Jack Quaid is a classic Hollywood Baby, but I've been enjoying his work on Lower Decks and The Boys.
 
bilby said:
Having grown up in the era when the wrongful convictions of the Maguire 7, Guildford 4, and Birmingham 6 were frequent news items, I am firmly of the opinion that the Babylon 5 are innocent, and the Deep Space 9 should be released immediately and compensated for their time in jail.
Click to expand...
How can you not speak out about the Heinz 57?
 
marc said:
B5 was awesome! Met a couple of the actors at conventions. Unique in that it has a 5 year story arc planned from the start. They did have to wrap some stuff up in season 4 because it wasn’t clear there would be a fifth.
Click to expand...
Back in early 2019, I got to have a nice long video chat with Claudia Christian. She was lovely. We didn't talk much about the show, but when we did, we both agreed that the Londo/G'Kar story arc was "Shakespearean."

As far as Trek goes, I grew up watching reruns of the original on TV, saw all the movies in the theater, and to be honest wasn't the biggest fan of Next Generation. DS9 was the one that drew me back in. Loved that series.

Voyager and Enterprise? They were...okay. I've avoided the new series for the most part (skipped Discovery and only watched Picard season 1) but I'm tempted by Strange New Worlds.
 
Have to say this season of Strange New Worlds has been fantastic! Some great moments from subtle expressions of the actors. Last episode was the crossover from Lower Decks, where two characters accidentally go back 120 years, and meet the crew of the Enterprise. They geek out over meeting their heroes, while trying, and failing, to not say anything about the future.

It was pretty cool seeing the voice actors actually getting to dress up as their characters
LowerDecks.png
 
I watched DS9 a decade or so ago. It was underwhelming. Maybe in the 90s, when all the TV was episodic and mostly crap, any continuous story arc on a scifi show was considered amazing. But in the 2010s it just feels very poorly written. Babylon 5 on the other hand has aged pretty well in my opinion.
 
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