For all fans and newcombers who want to take part in the epic of Star Trek but don't have time to sit through the 726 episodes spread across the 6 series and the 11 movies. I have prepared a list for what I consider the must see to grasp each show. I cut out as many bad episodes, filler and pointless episodes as i can for each. This is all based on my opinion of what's necessary of course. For long arcs like the Dominion and Xindi conflicts i left much of the material in even though some might be filler. I've seen everything to completion except Voyager so that list will be coming in the future. For TOS i rearranged some of the episodes to reflect their Production Number instead of their air date. Mostly because it works better thematically. Star Trek TOS 1966-1969 Season 1 Ep. 1 Where No Man Has Gone Before Ep. 2 The Corbomite Manuver Ep. 6 The Naked Time Ep. 8 Balance of Terror Ep. 10 Dagger of the Mind Ep. 13 The Galileo Seven Ep. 15-16 The Menagerie Part 1-2 Ep. 18 Squire of Gothos Ep. 19 Arena Ep. 21 Tomorrow is Yesterday Ep. 22The Return of the Archons Ep. 23 A Taste ofArmageddon Ep. 24 Space Seed Ep. 25 This Side of Paradise Ep. 26The Devil in the Dark Ep. 27 Errand of Mercy Ep. 28 City on the Edge of Forever Ep. 29 Operation Annihilate Season 2 Ep. 4 Who Mourns for Adonis Ep. 5 Amok Time Ep. 6The Doomsday Machine Ep. 8The Changeling Ep. 10 Mirror, Mirror Ep. 13Troubles With Tribbles Ep. 14 Bread and Circuses Ep. 15 Journey to Babel Ep. 16 Gamesters of Triskelion Ep. 18 Obsession Ep. 20 A Piece of the Action Ep. 21 By Any Other Name Ep. 23 Patterns of Force Ep. 24 The Ultimate Computer Ep. 26 Assignment Earth Season 3 Ep. 4 The Enterprise Incident Ep. 9 Tholian Web Ep. 10 For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky Ep. 11 Day of the Dove Ep. 15 Let That Be Your Battlefield Ep. 23 All of our Yesterdays Cheating Here But I do have a soft spot in my heart for The Animated Series. Since it's potential Season 4 Material for TOS I'll post the list here. TAS 1973-1974 Ep. 1 Beyond the Farthest Star Ep. 2 Yesteryear Ep. 5 More Tribbles, More Troubles Ep. 7 The Infinite Vulcan Ep. 12 The Time Trap Edit: Updated to reflect suggestions by erastus25 Movies 1979-1991 & 2009 Star Trek The Motion Picture Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan Star Trek III:The Search For Spock Star Trek IV:The Voyage Home Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek (2009) Techinically XI
What exactly were your criteria for TOS? I think this exercise is useful for the serialized style of DS9, but due to the episodic nature of TOS it becomes somewhat pointless. For instance how is a hackneyed racism plot like Battlefield, or a "Nazis in Space" episode, any more representative of the themes or characters of the series than random episodes like The Enemy Within or Charlie X? And how can something like Conscience of the King or Obsession be excluded when they provide valuable insight into Kirk's character, while Operation Annihilate!, which is only notable for establishing Spock's ridiculous inner eye lid and Kirk's trivial dead brother, is included? And The Infinite Vulcan?!
How did More Tribbles, More Troubles make it onto the list? That episode was just a shameless, albeit animated, rehashing of the last one! I'm making my way through a number of different series, and while we might all come up with subjective lists of the strongest and best representatives of the series (which is an admirable goal to help people who want to get a feel for it but don't want to sit through episodes like Shore Leave), I think there's something to be said for taking the bad with the good. That's certainly what I've been doing, and the worse episodes really make the good ones stand out.
@erastus25 My criteria was episodes I found enjoyable, fun and necessary to get a grasp of the kind of show Star Trek was. Cringe worthy episodes like Charlie X, Miri, Catspaw, Spock's Brain, Children Shall Lead, Plato's Stepchildren and those like it didn't factor in to my list because they aren't Trek's brightest moments. While episodes like What are little girls made of, Metamorphis, Requiem for Methuselah, Return to Tomorrow have more going for them and I would recommend seeing them they distract from better episodes. There are more episodes I haven't named that have their own charm to them but I didn't feel it necessary to include them as well. As for Infinite Vulcan it was Walter Koenig's only contribution to the animated series. That and it's a fun episode. Although the Eugenics War and giant thing was a bit of a stretch. @Grey More Tribbles, More Troubles I added because it's a follow up to Trouble With Tribbles and if the events of Trial's and Tribblations is taken as full canon then it makes Worf's statements about the Klingon destruction of tribbles more tangible in the sense that the great Klingon Empire did pursue the extermination of tribbles.
Ask ten different people what is and isn't worth watching and you'll get at least eleven different answers. I found episodes on that list that I didn't much care for and ones I liked that were overlooked. As it's subjective to opinion, my advice to anyone is watch it yourself and formulate your own opinion rather than accepting someone else's.
The Next Generation Season 1 Ep: 1-2 Encounter at Farpoint part 1-2 Ep: 3 The Naked Now Ep: 6 Where No One Has Gone Before Ep: 7 Lonely Among Us Ep: 9 The Battle Ep: 11 Haven Ep: 12 The Big Goodbye Ep: 13 Datalore Ep: 15 11001001 Ep: 16 Too Short a Season Ep: 18 Home Soil Ep: 19 Coming Of Age Ep: 20 Heart Of Glory Ep: 22 Symbiosis Ep: 23 Skin of Evil Ep: 25 Conspiracy Ep: 26The Neutral Zone Season 2 Ep: 1 The Child Ep: 7 Unnatural Selection Ep: 9 A Matter of Honor Ep: 9 The Measure of a Man Ep: 11 Contagion Ep: 13 Time Squared Ep: 14 The Icarus Factor Ep: 15 Pen Pals Ep: 16 Q Who Ep: 19 Manhunt Ep: 20 Emissary Season 3 Ep: 1 Evolution Ep: 2 The Ensigns of Command Ep: 3 The Survivors Ep: 7 The Enemy Ep: 10 The Defector Ep: 12 The High Ground Ep: 13 Deja Q Ep: 15 Yesterday's Enterprise Ep: 16 The Offspring Ep: 17 Sins of the Father Ep: 22 The Most Toys Ep: 23 Sarek Ep: 24 Menage a Troi Ep: 26 Best Of Both Worlds Part 1 Season 4 Ep: 1 Best Of Both Worlds Part 2 Ep: 2 Family Ep: 3 Brothers Ep: 7 Reunion Ep: 9 Final Mission Ep: 10 The Loss Ep: 11 Data's day Ep: 12 The Wounded Ep: 14 Clues Ep: 15 First Contact Ep: 16 Galaxy's Child Ep: 17 Night Terrors Ep: 21 The Drumhead Ep: 22 Half a Life Ep: 23 The Host Ep: 24 The Mind's Eye Ep: 25 In Theory Ep: 26 Redemption Part 1 Season 5 Ep: 1 Redemption Part 2 Ep: 2 Darmok Ep: 3 Ensign Ro Ep: 5 Disaster Ep: 7-8 Unification Part 1 and 2 Ep: 10 New Ground Ep: 11 Hero Worship Ep: 14 Conundrum Ep: 16 Ethics Ep: 18 Cause and Effect Ep: 19 First Duty Ep: 21 Perfect Mate Ep: 23 I Borg Ep: 24 The Next Phase Ep: 25 Inner Light Ep: 26 Time Arrow part 1 Season 6 Ep: 1 Time Arrow part 2 Ep: 4 Relics Ep: 5 Schisms Ep: 10-11 Chain of Command Part 1-2 Ep: 14 Face of the Enemy Ep: 15 Tapestry Ep: 16-17 Birthright Part 1-2 Ep: 18 Starship Mine Ep: 19 Lessons Ep: 20 The Chase Ep: 21 Frame of Mind Ep: 23 Rightful Heir Ep: 24 Second Chances Ep: 25 Timescape Ep: 26 Descent Part 1 Season 7 Ep: 1 Descent Part 2 Ep: 4-5 Gambit Part 1-2 Ep: 6 Phantasms Ep: 7 Dark Page Ep: 8 Attached Ep: 10 Inheritance Ep: 11 Parallels Ep: 12 Pegasus Ep: 15 Lower Decks Ep: 16 Thine Own Self Ep: 20 Journey's End Ep: 21 Firstborn Ep: 24 Preemptive Strike Ep: 25-26 All Good Things Part 1-2 178 episodes trimmed down to a healthy 110 Not bad considering 180 episodes across 7 seasons is overindulgent IMO. Movies 1994-2002 Star Trek VII: Generations Star Trek VIII: First Contact Star Trek IX: Insurrection Star Trek X: Nemesis
Deep Space Nine 1993-1999 Season 1 Emissary Part 1-2 Past Prologue Captive Pursuit Dax The Nagus Battle Lines The Forsaken Duet In the Hands of the Propherts Season 2 The Homecoming The Circle The Siege Cardassians Rules of Acquisition Necessary Evil Sanctuary The Alternate Profit and Loss The Maquis Part 1-2 The Wire The Collaborator Tribunal The Jem'Hadar Season 3 The Search part 1-2 Equilibrium Second Skin The Abandoned Civil Defense Defiant Past Tense Part 1-2 Life Support Heart of Stone Destiny Improbable Cause The Die is Cast Explorers Family Business Shakaar The Adversary Season 4 The Way of the Warrior 1-2 The Visitor Hippocratic Oath Indiscretion Rejoined Little Green Men Homefront Paradise Lost Crossfire Return to Grace Sons of Mogh Bar Association Accession Rules of Engagement For the Cause Body Parts Broken Link Season 5 Apocalypse Rising The Ship Trials and Tribble-ations Things Past Rapture The Darkness and the Light The Begotten For the Uniform In Purgatory's Shadow By Inferno's Light Doctor Bashir, I Presume Business as Usual Ties of Blood and Water Ferengi Love Songs Soldiers of the Empire Children of Time Blaze of Glory Empok Nor Call to Arms Season 6 A Time to Stand Rocks and Shoals Sons and Daughters Behind the Lines Favor the Bold Sacrifice of Angels You Are Cordially Invited The Magnificent Ferengi Statistical Probabilities Waltz Far Beyond the Stars Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night Inquisition In the Pale Moonlight His Way The Reckoning Valiant Tears of the Prophets Season 7 Image in the Sand Shadows and Symbols Afterimage Treachery, Faith and the Great River Once More Unto the Breach The Siege of AR-558 Covenant It's Only a Paper Moon Chimera Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges Penumbra 'Til Death Do Us Part Strange Bedfellows The Changing Face of Evil When It Rains... Tacking Into the Wind Extreme Measures The Dogs of War What You Leave Behind 1-2 176 episodes trimmed down to 118. I cut out all the Mirror Universe episodes because they are all terrible IMO and thematically ruined the Mirror Universe by contorting it to fit DS9's story and characters. Enterprise's "In a Mirror Darkly" was closer to what the Mirror Universe should be IMO. While not a fan of "Trials and Tribblations" I added it to the list because a lot of people like it. The Bajoran mystic items and prophets are stupid and Deus Ex Machina IMO. Plus Trials and Tribbleations comes off as a very big apology to Kirk and the fans for the lackluster way they killed him off in Generations. Leagues better than Voyager's Flashback however.
If you have time to watch 110 TNG episodes, surely you have time to watch all 178 and decide for yourself . . . ETA: If someone *needed* a really short list for some reason, I have a list of 20-odd episodes that follow the progression of the most interesting ideas TO ME in TNG (Data, Q, the Borg, time travel). But it's really best for people to watch it all and decide on their own. I do have to ask, how is Menage A Troi at all helpful in understanding Star Trek? It was boring and pretty much pointless, as I recall.
Enterprise 2001-2005 Broken Bow 1-2 The Andorian Incident Breaking the Ice Cold Front Silent Enemy Sleeping Dogs Shadows of P'Jem Shuttlepod One Fusion Acquisition *Good episode despite it's blatant canonicty breaking Detained Fallen Hero Shockwave Season 2 Shockwave, Part II Minefield The Communicator Stigma Cease Fire Future Tense Judgment Regeneration First Flight Bounty The Expanse Season 3 The Xindi Anomaly Rajiin Impulse Exile The Shipment Similitude Carpenter Street Chosen Realm Priving Ground Stratagem Harbinger Azati Prime Damage The Forgotten The Council Countdown Zero Hour Season 4 Storm Front 1-2 Home Borderland Cold Station 12 The Augments The Forge Awakening Kir'Shara Babel One United The Aenar Affliction Divergence Bound In a Mirror, Darkly 1-2 Demons Terra Prime 61 episodes out of 98 is what I deem what the most essential to viewing ENT. If you've never watched Enterprise follow this list and it might changed you opinion on this show. I took the honest time to rewatch all of Enterprise last week after dropping out during the second season way back when. It left me plesantly surprised. While season 1 and 2 aren't much to speak of as is. I feel this abridged episode list will make it more than tolerable by cutting out the pointless BS. I'll always remain dumbfounded how Berman and Braga could have worked on so many episodes of VOY, DS9 and TNG and not have a working formula for this show. ENT should've been the crown jewel of Trek by it's debut with all the bugs worked out. Season 3 kept me watching but the 9/11 and American wars in the Middle East theme's did grind my gears. The Xindi Conflict is comparable to the Dominion War although ENT used brevity in it's delivery of the conflict. Season 4 without question has some of the best Trek episodes across the franchises. Manny Coto really redeemed the show and it's a shame they never a 5th season to continue with the direction many was steering it. "These are the Voyages" only confirmed that Brannon and Berman had lost all sense of how to connect with the audience they were producing episodes. P.S. I haven't completed Voyager so I won't have a list for you guy yet.
I thought of doing what you suggested and realized it wouldn't be fair. TOS and TNG have the benefit of not having long arcing stories and generally being episode of the week serials. DS9 has the entire Dominon Conflict, Bajoran-Cardassian conflict post Occupation and the Bajoran faith and Prophets woven in to its storyline. You couldn't pick out 20 episodes of DS9 show them to a non fan and expect them to get it. IMO one of the weakness of DS9. So much of it's story surrounds the Dominion War. From the season finale of season 2 to the series finale of Season 7, the Dominion War takes precedence. You also wouldn't be able to explain Sisko's journey as broken Starfleet Officer, to religious figure, to Captain and key figure in the Dominion Conflict, to embraced Emissary to the Prophets, to the revelation that Sisko himself is half prophet, and that Sisko will return after Messianic quest with the prophets is completed. None of that can be done in just 20 episodes. DS9 is a complete piece. You have to watch from season 1 to 7 to fully understand and appreciate it. TOS and TNG you can cherry pick 2 dozen episodes or so and people would get the idea of what each is about. So to be fair to all series' i made a complete list of what I feel is necessary for viewing. Their filter lists honestly. I added Menage A Troi only because Majel Roddenberry was in it. I think I recommended all the Luxana Troi episodes because Majel was the First Lady of Star Trek and continued the role even after her husband's death. In my list they are homages really.
Well i finally did it. After 167 hours of misery and wanting to punch a hole through my TV. I finally completed Voyager. Here is my Non-Filler List... Voyager 1995-2001 Season 1 1-2. Caretaker 1-2 3. Parallax 5. Phage 9. Emanations 10. Prime Factors 11. State of Flux 13. Cathexis 14. Faces 15. Jetrel 16. Learning Curve Season 2 2. Initiations 3. Projections 7. Parturition 8. Persistence of Vision 10. Cold Fire 11. Maneuvers 14. Alliances 15. Meld 17. Dreadnought 19. Lifesigns 20. Investigations 21. Deadlock 23. Thaw 24. Tuvix 26. Basic Part 1 Season 3 1. Basics Part 2 4. The Swarm 8-9. Futures End I-II 13. Fair Trade 14. Alter Ego 16. Blood Fever 17. Unity 19. Rise 21. Before and After 26. Scorpion Part 1 Season 4 1. Scorpion Part 2 2. The Gift 3. Day of Honor 5. Revulsion 6. The Raven 7. Scientific Method 8-9. Year of Hell Part I-II 14. Message in a Bottle 15. Hunters 16. Prey 18-19. The Killing Game Part I-II 23. Living Witness 25. The One 26.Hope and Fear Season 5 1. Night 2. Drone 3. Extreme Risk 6. Timeless 7. Infinite Regress 8. Nothing Human 9. Thirty Days 11. Latent Image 12. Bride of Chaotica 15-16. Dark Frontier Part I-II 24. Relativity 26. Equinox Part I Season 6 1. Equinox part 2 2. Survival Instinct 4. Tinker Tailor Doctor Spy 7. Dragon's Teeth 10. Pathfinder 16. Collective 19. Child's Play 23. Fury *Optional* If you are a Kes fan. 24. Life Line 26. Unimatrix Zero Part 1 Season 7 1. Unimatrix Zero Part 2 2. Imperfection 3. Drive 4. Repression 6. Inside Man 7. Body and Soul 9-10. Flesh and Blood 12. Lineage 14. Prophecy 15. The Void 16-17. Work Force I-II *optional* 18. Human Error 20. Author Author *optional but funny and amusing* 23. Homestead 25-26. Endgame I-II 93 episodes out of 167. Not bad not bad