Continuity in star trek?

Hi, ive recently took a liking to star trek, tried to watch TOS but lost interest due to no continuity atleast not in the first season! so, i was wondering if there is any series with continuity between the episodes? Thanks.

 

DS9 and Enterprise seasons three and four are the most continuity heavy.

 

Just bear in mind TOS is almost 50 years old it was made in another era, where continiuity wasn't as important. And besides first seasons of shows even today can be a bit hit and miss with continuity and they establish the universe/characters/settings etc..

 

TNG and Voyager had some recurring characters and stories but were still very much episodic shows. Enterprise was the same for the first two seasons but the 3rd season had a serialised story arc and the 4th season had a several mini arcs lasting for 2 or 3 episodes each. DS9 is really the only series with continuity running throughout the series especially once the Dominion was introduced at the end of season 2.

 

Right. I'd be hard pressed to come up with more than 2 examples where a specific event in an episode was ever referenced again. One was the two times Kirk used the Corbomite bluff. A better example is when Kirk suggested Spock use the mind meld trick to convince the Kelvans they had escaped, since it worked against the Eminians.

 

There's also a touch of continuity in "Turnabout Intruder", when Kirk tries to convince Spock that his mind is in Janice Lester's body.

 

No continuity? I think TOS season one has at least as much continuity as real life. How much continuity are you seeking? Endless references to previous episodes? Lots of multi-episode plot arcs?

If you can't get through season one of TOS, you're not going to enjoy Trek. If you want lots and lots of continuity, Deep Space 9 is your best bet, but even then the continuity-heavy episodes are towards the end of the series. The early episodes of DS9 are at least as continuity-light as anything in TOS season one.

 

Thanks for all your replies, i was hoping TNG would have some continuity. But guess ill stick to TOS for now and move up the trek ladder slowly!

 

TNG does have continuity but it's the kind of thing that pops up a few times per season when dealing with recurring characters and stories.

 

It's rather arrogant to say that if they don't like season one of TOS, they're not going to enjoy Trek. There are tons of better seasons throughout the franchise out there in my opinion. It's really inappropriate to come out with a personal opinion as factual statement, especially when you're all but deterring a person away from the franchise as a whole.

Anyways... to adellone's OP...

Frankly there's not that much continuity or story arcs at all in TOS. It's just what it is. A smattering of relatively unconnected episodes, with the same cast, providing 45 minutes of sci-fi fun. If you're looking for some continuity with the TOS crew, I'd suggest watching movies 2-6.

Beyond that TNG is a slight improvement. While the main premise of the show is the Enterprise flying off to the random sci-fi encounter of the week, the characterization and growth is stronger and there are a number of mini-arcs that span the seven years.

DS9 is your best bet for continuity and great story arcs. Though that really doesn't pick up until season 3. The characters, both main and reoccurring guest stars, are great all featuring excellent development and growth and for the most part the there is a story to the whole show beyond just exploring the unknown. It's easily my favorite.

Voyager, beyond the theme of being lost in space trying to get home, really is just the random encounter of the week again, though there are some mini-arcs through the series. The characterization is there, and the characters do change, even if they're inconsistent at times. Overall the series is pretty good though.

Enterprise, well the first half is just them flying through space for the most part, quite often rehashing things the previous series had done. The second half gets some rather intense story arcs one of them lasting pretty much a whole season. The characters are probably the weakest of the franchise though.

Again, just my opinions adellone, if it helps you find a starting point. Feel free to watch and form your own. If you're looking to jump into the franchise with TOS, I'd recommend starting with the movies as I said earlier. It'll give you a chance to get to know the crew without the random episodic format as movies 2-6 are pretty much one continuous arc, each picking up after the last. Hope that helps.

 

Deep Space Nine gets serialized from the third season onwards. Enterprise's third season is one epic 26-part mission. Other than those, they're pretty much all standalone stories, with a few sequels and prequels here and there.

You might get a kick out of the videos in my sig, showing many of Trek's continuity errors over the past 45 years.

 

Better than TOS Season 1? Which seasons would those be?

Besides, why should we coddle adellone? Not everyone newly exposed to Trek will like it, and we shouldn't pretend that they will. I wouldn't recommend continuing if they don't like the season that started the franchise! That's like hating math but wanting to be a high-energy particle physicist.

Besides, very little of Trek is continuity-rich, beyond the continuity of characters. If that is what the OP is seeking, I'm not going to lie and say it has what they're looking for when it doesn't, just to retain a new potential fan. Where's the honesty in that?

 

Better than TOS season 1? Read the rest of my prior post if you want my opinions on that. Not everyone is going to share your opinion. To me TOS was the foundation that bigger and better things were built upon. If you don't agree, that's great but you don't dictate what everyone else enjoys.

There's a rather large difference between coddling and just forcing your opinions as fact about the franchise as a whole. There's hundreds of hours of material. Not everyone is going to like the same parts and sometimes it's helpful to guide people towards the parts they might enjoy more. Even if they're not the same as yours. Really it's attitudes like yours that will run off new people. I'd hope that's not your goal.

 

Agreed. TOS movies 2-6 also contain a few of the best Trek movies ever, in my humble opinion. But, I would recommend watching the TOS episodes first. There are some real gems in there.

 

Adellone mentioned he tried a few times and couldn't get into it, so I figured the movies would be a good way for him to "get to know the crew" as it were so the episodic format is a bit more bearable in hindsight. Growing up in the 80's I had seen all the TOS movies before I had seen all the TOS episodes given their unavailability then. Heck I was well into TNG before I finally had caught most of TOS in old reruns and marathons.

 

Of course they're not. Not everyone is as cultured, intelligent, and tasteful as I am.

Yes, there's hundreds of hours of material, so we absolutely should direct new fans towards material that might suit their interests and tastes. Unfortunately, in this case, continuity is not one of the strengths that Trek is known for, and what little there is requires watching many, many episodes that aren't obviously related. I would not recommend a new fan jump into DS9 at season 6 when the continuity-rich episodes rely strongly not only on each other, but all the material that was built up in the early seasons. DS9 absolutely should not be watched without the background, either. But if the first four seasons are found unbearable by a new fan, why should they sit through them for the "reward" of the later seasons?

Again, I can't see how someone who doesn't like TOS season 1 (call it trigonometry) will enjoy anything later (call it vector calculus). Maybe they're just not into it. That's OK, but why encourage them to follow something so painful for the handful of episodes that they may like?

The OP wants something continuity-rich. TOS, TNG, and VOY aren't it. DS9 has it in spades at the end of the show. ENT probably has it - I wouldn't know, since I tuned out before it ended. Maybe the OP would prefer Battlestar Galactica, the reimagined series? I'm not trying to chase them off, but if Trek isn't what they're seeking, where's the harm in facing that fact?

 

haha, guys i enjoy the TOS, but i lost interest because for some reason i assumed there would be continuity, iam slightly disappointed, but nothing too bad! ill continue with TOS then move to the movies!

 

Don't get me wrong I loved nuBSG but I found I had to concentrate to not miss something that was vital in the next episode. Sometimes I only knew that I missed something because I saw it in the next episode recap of the previous episode if that makes sense. However earlier seasons you could see episodes out of order and not be too lost.

I don't think Star Trek has a continuing storyline like nuBSG. Mostly it just has individual adventures mostly excepting DS9. I'm not sure you see characters 'grow' and develop that much I just think you get to know them better the more episodes you see. I suppose Geordi and Data and Bashir and OBrien develop friendships as the seasons go by.

But VOY really has an overall continous storyline theme. They're heading home and meet people/aliens on the way. They deal with the Kazon and the Borg and there is some sort of continuity there. The EMH develops, Janeway relaxes. Of course the Chakotay/7 thing popped out of thin air.