Best Star Trek series?

Howdy. Got a month of Paramount Plus (oh yay, another subscription service! *groan*) and want to make the most of it.

I used to watch Star Trek The Next Generations when I was a kid; I wasn't an avid Star Trek nerd, but I did enjoy the show on the regular. I am a big Picard/Patrick Stewart fan.

I'm leaning towards watching Picard as I watched the first half of the first season and I think they are season three now, but I was wondering if you all had any suggestions. How is Picard holding up as a series?

As of right now it looks like Paramount Plus has the following:

• Picard
• Discovery
• Voyager
• The Next Generation
• Deep Space 9
• Enterprise
• Original Series
• Lower Decks (animated)

Thanks in advance.

ST:The Next Generation is your best bet in my opinion. Best of the series.

Overall go with Deep Space 9.

Not perfect, some dumb shit and took a while to find its footing, but it stands up well and presents a far more three-dimensional world than the other Trek series.

Really feels like "a universe with locations, races, cultures and consequences. Which the other series largely lack.

In reality just watching 2-3 people in a room set to set with some makeup, but it starts to feel like a sprawling universe epic in scope.

The Federation in the other series are rarely challenged. Deep Space 9 puts it against a tapestry far closer to our reality where it's less black and white.

Likewise, the villains never really come across as straight forward evil.

Dukat is a bad dude pretending to be good, eventually dropping the pretense.

The changlings were persecuted into an inherent believe solids were inferior and best bent to their will.

The Jem Hadar are basically bred with a short life-span made to serve the sole purpose of war genetically. Similar to Clones in Starwars.

etc.. etc.. etc..

It's all really well done. It's unfortunate it ends with a JRPG fight in a shitty looking CGI cave.

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TNG obv second. It has many poor episodes though and towards the end entire seasons that are poor.

However, it has many strong, well-thought-out episodes that are far more into the structure of Star Treks DNA than DS9.

It's season final is basically the best Star Trek movie and the (for me) the second-best season final seen for a show. All Good Things is just terrific.

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Voy/Ent

Voyager is mid. It's writing just isn't on a par with the above shows and many of its character just suck.

It becomes the Seven Of Nine show as well. And has some weird shit like her getting with tattoo man.

Best thing about it really is Robert Picardo.

But yea, still enjoyable if very flawed.

Enterprise is low tier, but if bored, still worth a watch if just want more Trek

TOS/TOS-Animated

I like these, but I tend to prefer the movies for the original cast

Disc/Picard

These shows are not Star Trek. They do not exist.

I semi liked Next Generation as a kid, not sure how that would hold up today though. Anything else I've watched I really haven't liked or enjoyed.

@mrbojangles25: You left off Prodigy.

I'd say TNG is one of the best overall for being proper "Star Trek". The first season had some stinkers but once it got its footing the show was pretty solid.

DS9 is the best series overall for really good story arcs. Again, the early seasons were okay but once it got really going it was probably one of the best Star Trek shows overall.

Lower Decks is just awesome, but it's better the more familiar you are with all the other Trek stuff.

There are two types of Star Trek fans in this world: those who say Deep Space 9 is the best Star Trek TV show ever... ...and those who are wrong.

The original series is by far my favorite, then deep space 9.

S.T.D? Lol no

Wow lots of DS9 fans, looks like I am going to give that a shot.

I think I'll rewatch The Next Generation after that.

@mrbojangles25: Thats the way to go. TNG and DS9 are the peak. Voyager and season 3 and 4 of Enterprise are fine if you get through the good stuff and just really need more, but they are not a priority.

@judaspete: why do people dislike Picard (the series) so much? It seemed really good. I'm not a hardcore fan of the franchise but it is something I watched casually during my childhood, it doesn't seem to commit any particular sins.

Or does it just deviate too much from the general formula of Star Trek?

TNG and DS9 is must see Star Trek. Picard season 1 is... okay, but had potential, which shines in season 2--a massive improvement so far. TOS is hit-and miss. Voyager has its moments, but they're few and far in between. Enterprise is just ass, plain and simple. As far as the newer series, I haven't seen them yet.

DS9 is my favorite.

TNG and Voyager are great.

TNG is my favourite, followed very closely by DS9. It's funny because when I rewatch TNG I usually skip the first few seasons. I felt like the show got better as Gene had less to do with the series, RIP. I don't skip any DS9 seasons though I skip the Mirror and most Ferengi-centric episodes.

Certainly anyone should start out with the original series and TNG and all the associated movies. Yes, the original series is sort of hokey, but really so are TNG and DS9. All star trek can be a bit "hokey" at times. There's really no point if you can't enjoy original series and Next Generation IMO.

Discovery is by far the worst of the lot. Complete nonsensical garbage. It really seems like this show was launched by people who knew nothing of Star Trek. Everything about it was off from day 1. Like they had no idea what direction to take it, nobody could figure out how to "fix" this show, so they just hurtled the show 900 years into the future so nothing mattered. I guess there is a spinoff from season 1-2 of Discovery called "Strange New Worlds". Maybe that will be better, but if the same people are involved I'm not so sure.

Picard on the other hand is rather decent for what it is. I just rewatched season 1 and getting into season 2. You'd obviously have to watch TNG and perhaps Voyager to make the most of the direction it goes. I guess people are pissed because it messes up some of the established canon from TNG? Because they don't want to see "aged" actors? It isn't perfect, but at least it's decent fan service.

@mrbojangles25: I actually enjoyed Picard (except the ending, that kinda sucked), but it doesn't feel like the Trek we grew up with. It's just kinda modern sci fi with Star Trek characters in it. You know, it's bad because it's different.

It also came out after The Oroville, which kinda nails the classic Trek feel despite being a comedy.

I suggest a series in HD. 1080p. I say that, with DVD quality, which is maybe acceptable, it could be better; a better Star Trek: The Star Trek was maybe better in the past.

I like the original Star Trek and Star Trek TNG. Though I've always found DS9 to be intriguing. If I were to watch an entire series all the way through, which I haven't, I would choose DS9.

Yea. Some of them dire.

MF dope though.

Still TNG for me. Very hit and miss (you can basically skip season 1) but when it hits, boy does it hit.

I had written off voyager for ages but i stumbled over it again a few years ago and actually quite enjoyed it.

I never got into DS9. I can appreciate why others rank it very highly though. It has the best scenario setup in a star trek series but it was more about politics and was a bit too grounded. I always watched Star trek for the adventure side of it.

TOS has a corny charm but it hasn't aged well. It was ground breaking in it's day but still very much a product of its time.

Enterprise has 1 and a bit good series. It had a very interesting setup but poor execution.

Picard is ok. Season 1 was a bit rough but watchable. Season 2 has been better so far.

I don't know if the current Star Trek shows are sharing the same writing staff but it has a writing problem.

However this writing problem really manifests itself in Star Trek Discovery. Very poor show. It has very poor writing and poor directors. The CG effects, though high in production values, are also quite messy. Half the time i don't know what i am looking at with shots outside the ship. I couldn't tell you anything interesting about the characters, there is 0 chemistry on set (everyone seems to be polite as per protocol rather than friendly) and the actual story end up being gibberish. I do like the Setup/Scenario they have for each season. But they just waste it. I could go on but, well, Discovery has issues to say the least.

I think I'm more OK with that different feel for the Picard show, because how else do you do a show about a retired 80 year old Picard? It's obviously not going to have the same feel as following "the captain" around on a more typical Star Trek show. It had to be something totally different.

Discovery seemed different just for the sake of being different. Including really odd stuff like changing the look of the Klingons in season 1, then trying to walk it back and explain why they looked so drastically different (presumably the walk-back happened because all the Trekkies flipped out at the new look Klingons). It has a few interesting characters, but to me the Tilly character is like Jar-Jar Binks bad. So much about this show is just gratingly poor that it's really unsalvageable and should have been cancelled already.

NG and Voyager for me.

For me, probably:

TNG
DS9
Voyager

The other stuff I've seen was absolutely horrific. Watch Enterprise if you want to laugh your ass off. That intro song, man.. You could always just look at Linda Park and zone out though..

Watch Discovery if you hate Star Trek.

Oh man just started watch TNG and it is so satisfying. Patrick Stewart is just a joy to watch, and the supporting cast is a lot of fun.

I Tell you what, though; we've come a long, long way since the late 80's and 90's. Things have not aged well, but I really enjoy it nonetheless. You can see the inspiration Star Trek had on shows like Stargate SG-1.

Kind of want to make a Star Trek themed D&D campaign...watching all these actors play their roles so specifically--Data as the android, Riker as the loyal and protective #1, the compassionate Dr Crusher, and so on--is really great. They seem so one-dimensional early on and no doubt that is maintained throughout, but I remember they developed a lot during the show iirc.

If you're watching it in order, TNG gets much better, specifically halfway in season 3.

Q Who is arguably where it becomes "good"

Also best Borg episode before they became over-saturated.

Watched them all. If you're starting with TNG then follow it up with DS9.

Yeah I think LDS is over rated. And I am looking forward to SNW as well. Best part of season 2 of Discovery was the Enterprise crew.

Cosign on TNG and DS9, can't go wrong. Both have a rough start, but well worth it once they get going.

@mrbojangles25: @SOedipus: @uninspiredcup: @ConanTheStoner:

Kinda funny how TNG and DS9 both get better once someone grows a beard.

Tru

Data beard > Riker beard btw

Goddamn, this is gonna be amazing.

Best Star Trek series?

The Orville

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@byshop: When the hell is that show supposed to come back, anyway?

BTW... Long time, no see! Good to hear from you again!

June, apparently. Also, SUP!

When DS9 aired it was considered the black sheep. Its ratings weren't great.

According to one of the creators they saw the low ratings, thought nobody was watching and started branching out doing what they wanted.

Even though DS9 had its audience and did get positive reviews, it wasn't until later it was reassessed.

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Part of that I would argue is streaming. At the time of airing programs were generally week to week with no way to binge-watch unless recorded with VHS, or owned a box set (which during airing was impossible).

Stuff like TNG, perfectly suited for that time. DS9 sits more comfortably now in the Netflix era.

@uninspiredcup: I remember when DS9 came out, people didn't like it then. I remember no one gave me a hard time for watching TNG but when I said I watched DS9 I was a "nerd" lol

Just goes to show when artists and creators do what they want or what they feel they need to do, we generally tend to benefit. At least culturally.

Every new ST series was criticized when it first aired. Every single one.

@LJS9502_basic: TNG was praised at launch. In retrospect, its initial seasons were criticized by fans and crew. It had significantly higher viewership than DS9.

Both Voyager and Enterprise were never really regarded that highly, then or now. Though Voyager did have good viewership.

The only comparable show is the original series, where it garnered a following over the years to be solidified into pop culture.

Deep Space 9 didn't get negative critical reviews, but the reception from the audience was lulled. And like TNG (in retrospect) its initial 2 seasons are seen as weaker, though not terrible, by any means.

It's now largely considered the best series by many.

So yea, can't apply that blanket statement like they all equate to the same thing with a light switch on/off mentality, simply not the case.

There was a lot of criticism of TNG because it wasn't the original crew.

Yeah, definitely not the same. Obviously had fans who couldn't immediately warm up to new Trek, but the general vibe was more like **** yeah Star Trek is back. Lots of fans enjoying the show along with a new generation of viewers eating it up.

DS9 was more like wow you gotta be a real Trek dork to dig this. Hell I was part of that camp, didn't really come to appreciate it until binge watching it in 2017 lol.

New thing always gets criticism, but comparing TNG and DS9 reception in their time is a bit silly.

TNG was met with vivid trepidation upon release and I'm not sure why as TOS wasn't that good. IMO TNG didn't have big shoes to fill at least in terms of television. If anything it was a complete package with the solid cast and story telling AND a suitable jump to the big screen. Unfortunately the cast wasn't given more chances to be showcased in the theater and that was such a wasted opportunity.

DS9 was my favorite. Have not watched any of the new shows.

Looking back I think DS9 was my favourite, then Voyager, then TNG. Started with TNG when I was around 16.

It was a magical time for TV for me back in 1994. We'd gone from four TV channels (yes, FOUR!!) to over 40 and Sky One were showing the older episodes every day.

Not sure if any of you are aware, but someone, or some group have been AI upscaling DS9 to 1080P. I managed to get the pilot of DS9 and the picture quality upgrade was excellent!

Probably The Next Generation, I would say the most popular, and probably easiest to jump in and out of without feeling lost.