RT audience ranking of modern Trek

[Falconer]

This is just compiled from one site (Rotten Tomatoes), it is not scientific, etc., etc., but it’s still kind of interesting to see visually:

94% The Orville, Season 1 (9,048 votes)
93%
92%
91% Star Trek (250,000+ votes); The Orville, Season 2 (2,265 votes)
90%
89% Into Darkness (250,000+ votes)
88%
87%
86%
85%
84%
83%
82%
81%
80% Beyond (50,000+ votes); Lower Decks, Season 2 (142 votes)
79%
78%
77%
76% Prodigy, Season 1 (86 votes)
75%
74%
73%
72%
71%
70%
69%
68%
67%
66%
65%
64%
63%
62%
61%
60%
59%
58%
57%
56%
55%
54% Picard, Season 1 (2,904 votes)
53%
52%
51% Lower Decks, Season 1 (678 votes)
50% Discovery, Season 1 (9,042 votes)
49%
48%
47%
46%
45%
44%
43%
42%
41%
40% Discovery, Season 3 (1,095 votes)
39%
38%
37%
36% Discovery, Season 2 (3,067 votes)
35%
34%
33%
32%
31%
30%
29%
28%
27%
26%
25%
24%
23%
22%
21%
20% Discovery, Season 4 (400 votes)

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

If you're randomly going to insert the Orville into a ranking of "modern Trek," might as well add Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Marvel.

 

[Kor]

Oftentimes I don't see eye to eye with either the critics' views or with general audience "consensus." I like what I like. So I don't pay much attention to these kinds of rankings.

Kor

 

[Falconer]

Pardon, I, uh, should have disclaimed my inclusion of The Orville. I added it at the last minute as something of an afterthought. Despite its apparent popularity (something of a surprise to me) I didn’t mean to make it “the point” of the thread, although IMO it is obviously a point of interest.

might as well add Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Marvel.

I realize you are exaggerating to prove a point, but if it must be said, I don’t really see those in the same genre. The Orville is commonly understood to be a love letter to Star Trek; the same can hardly be said for The Lord of the Rings. (Anyway, the LotR movies came out solidly in the “Berman era”!)

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I love seeing how people have rated things on the internet and comparing it to my own opinions. Sometimes I'm exactly in step with the general response, other times I'm so far off I have to wonder what the hell the rest of the internet was thinking.

Here you go, in exchange for your Rotten Tomatoes ranking, I'll give you an IMDb ranking. Of everything.

8.2 - Orville S2
8.1 - Prodigy S1
8.1 - Lower Decks S2
8.0 - Orville S1
7.9 - Star Trek
7.9 - Enterprise S4
7.8 - Enterprise S3
7.8 - DS9 S4
7.8 - DS9 S7
7.8 - DS9 S5
7.8 - TNG S6
7.7 - TOS S1
7.7 - DS9 S6
7.7 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
7.7 - Star Trek Into Darkness
7.7 - Voyager S4
7.6 - TNG S5
7.6 - TNG S4
7.6 - Star Trek: First Contact
7.6 - TNG S3
7.6 - Picard S1
7.6 - TOS S2
7.6 - DS9 S3
7.5 - Lower Decks S1
7.5 - Voyager S7
7.5 - Enterprise S2
7.5 - Voyager S5
7.5 - Discovery S2
7.5 - Discovery S1
7.4 - DS9 S2
7.4 - Short Treks S1
7.4 - Enterprise S1
7.4 - Voyager S6
7.3 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
7.3 - Voyager S3
7.2 - TNG S7
7.2 - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
7.2 - Voyager S2
7.1 - Voyager S1
7.1 - DS9 S1
7.0 - Star Trek Beyond
7.0 - TOS S3
6.9 - TNG S2
6.8 - TNG S1
6.8 - Short Treks S2
6.7 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
6.7 - Discovery S3
6.7 - TAS S1
6.6 - Star Trek: Generations
6.5 - TAS S2
6.4 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
6.4 - Star Trek: Insurrection
6.4 - Star Trek: Nemesis
5.5 - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
5.3 - Discovery S4

Star Trek II and Into Darkness are equally as good. The public have decided this to be true. Also Orville is the best Trek, Prodigy is second best Trek, and Discovery season 4 is worse than Nemesis and Star Trek 5. Oh, plus Enterprise is better than Deep Space Nine.

 

[Falconer]

That's all very interesting. I perceive people rate new stuff (i.e., as it comes out) generally higher than they rate old stuff that they remember/rewatch. I wonder if most of the ENT ratings were from when the show was originally airing.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

The site's definitely old enough for most of those ratings to come from the early 2000s, but I don't know if there's any way to check.

I think you're probably right about people rating things higher on their first watch than they might do after a rewatch, or just thinking about it for a while. I have noticed that ratings tend to fall over time as the votes increase. Not always, sometimes they go up, but I usually catch them going down.

 

[Lord Garth]

Michelle Paradise's approach since she took over DSC is working. Yes, you read that right and I stand by what I say. She's making a show that the types of people who usually rate these things don't like and can't stand. "It's a young adult melodrama!" That's the type of thing that drives them up the wall. I'm glad.

The critics' ratings are generally higher than the audiences' ratings and that's good. They put some thought into their opinions. While the average 40-something sexist, homophobic Joe Sixpack with his wife-beater on and a hand down his pants doesn't. I want DSC to continue to be something they despise. Same goes for PIC.

94% The Orville, Season 1 (9,048 votes)
93%
92%
91% Star Trek (250,000+ votes); The Orville, Season 2 (2,265 votes)
90%
89% Into Darkness (250,000+ votes)

Case in point: Macho Asshole Star Trek and Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" rank at the top. It makes it clear who's doing the voting in these things.

 

[Falconer]

It should be noted that Discovery Season 4 is not done yet, so its rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. I would guess the people who are still watching and waiting to vote till the season is done are people who generally like the show and will tend to give it a positive score.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

While the average 40-something sexist, homophobic Joe Sixpack with his wife-beater on and a hand down his pants doesn't.

Case in point: Macho Asshole Star Trek and Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" rank at the top. It makes it clear who's doing the voting in these things.

I knew it had to be some sort of gay plot to ruin my 48th birthday by gaslighting me that I was married and that I was still beating my non-existent wife for enjoying Discovery. In my grief I removed the hand from my pants to reveal a revolver with only one chamber loaded. I would spin the cylinder each time I voted for Macho Asshole Star Trek or Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes, but alas, neither God nor Devil would deliver me from this endless mirthless purgatory of liking something different than you.

But wait, I also like and watch the same shows you enjoy, despite recognizing many of the valid flaws people complain about, and recognizing that it's entirely possible and valid to not like these shows (or to like ones you don't care for) without being an asshole. What a conundrum. Maybe not one worth condemning the majority of people who like them as low-brow wife-beating sexist homophobes with a massive broad brush, mmkay?

 

[Sci]

Michelle Paradise's approach since she took over DSC is working. Yes, you read that right and I stand by what I say. She's making a show that the types of people who usually rate these things don't like and can't stand. "It's a young adult melodrama!" That's the type of thing that drives them up the wall. I'm glad.

The critics' ratings are generally higher than the audiences' ratings and that's good. They put some thought into their opinions. While the average 40-something sexist, homophobic Joe Sixpack with his wife-beater on and a hand down his pants doesn't. I want DSC to continue to be something they despise. Same goes for PIC.


Case in point: Macho Asshole Star Trek and Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" rank at the top. It makes it clear who's doing the voting in these things.

Exactly. If a show with mediocre ratings and a lot of misogynist subtext like The Orville gets rated that high, while a show as successful and enduring as DIS rates that low, it's pretty obvious that the people most motivated to vote in these RT ratings are not a representative sample of the actual overall audiences and are probably motivated by resentment at their demographic not being the primary audience catered to.

I knew it had to be some sort of gay plot to ruin my 48th birthday by gaslighting me that I was married and that I was still beating my non-existent wife for enjoying Discovery. In my grief I removed the hand from my pants to reveal a revolver with only one chamber loaded. I would spin the cylinder each time I voted for Macho Asshole Star Trek or Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes, but alas, neither God nor Devil would deliver me from this endless mirthless purgatory of liking something different than you.

But wait, I also like and watch the same shows you enjoy, despite recognizing many of the valid flaws people complain about, and recognizing that it's entirely possible and valid to not like these shows (or to like ones you don't care for) without being an asshole. What a conundrum. Maybe not one worth condemning the majority of people who like them as low-brow wife-beating sexist homophobes with a massive broad brush, mmkay?

Yes yes yes, "Not All X," but no one said all X.

 

[Lord Garth]

Funny. Not once have I ever equated @Locutus of Bored with Joe Sixpack or a toxic, sexist, homophobic version of such. Plus I trust him to give well thought-out critiques and not shit out some stupid "STD sucks!" drive-by. I think more highly of him than he believes.

And a "wife-beater" refers to a certain type of sleeveless shirt. The type that Carl from Aqua-Teen Hunger Force wears. I find it hard to believe you've never heard of that before. And I also think that you're a better person than this. I don't think you'd beat anyone.

Now this is the part where you get defensive and type paragraph after paragraph after paragraph that I'm not going to read. Save it, because I wasn't talking about you personally. I was talking about the lame-brains in YouTube Comments Sections and, yes, on Rotten Tomatoes.

Exactly. If a show with mediocre ratings and a lot of misogynist subtext like The Orville gets rated that high, while a show as successful and enduring as DIS rates that low, it's pretty obvious that the people most motivated to vote in these RT ratings are not a representative sample of the actual overall audiences and are probably motivated by resentment at their demographic not being the primary audience catered to.

Thank you. At least someone understands what I'm getting at.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Here's another set of modern series ratings for you, from the Trek BBS forums themselves:

8.3 - Picard S1
8.1 - Prodigy S1
8.0 - Lower Decks S2
8.0 - Discovery S2
7.8 - Short Treks S1
7.8 - Discovery S1
7.7 - Lower Decks S1
7.7 - Discovery S3
7.4 - Discovery S4
7.2 - Short Treks S2

The scores range from 'really like' to 'love' so there's not much shame in coming last on this ranking. Though Short Treks season 2 is unambiguously in last place.

 

[1001001]

Michelle Paradise's approach since she took over DSC is working. Yes, you read that right and I stand by what I say. She's making a show that the types of people who usually rate these things don't like and can't stand. "It's a young adult melodrama!" That's the type of thing that drives them up the wall. I'm glad.

The critics' ratings are generally higher than the audiences' ratings and that's good. They put some thought into their opinions. While the average 40-something sexist, homophobic Joe Sixpack with his wife-beater on and a hand down his pants doesn't. I want DSC to continue to be something they despise. Same goes for PIC.


Case in point: Macho Asshole Star Trek and Off-Brand Dudebro "Star Trek" rank at the top. It makes it clear who's doing the voting in these things.

Oh, for Corn’s sake…WTF?

Talk about an overreaction. This is way out of line in response to someone just posting the Rotten Tomatoes rankings (PS: who cares?).

I would be easily justified in giving you a trolling warning for that.

I think you’ve taken your Lord High Protector of Discovery position a little too seriously.

Knock it off.

 

[dupersuper]

I'm pretty much just interested in my ranking...

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I don't even understand the OP!

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

They're the audience ratings from Rotten Tomatoes showing what percentage of the site's users enjoyed each story. Well, the percentage of people who dropped by and gave them a good rating anyway.

I feel like series like Doctor Who and Discovery are getting hammered a bit on sites like these lately because their detractors are more motivated to turn up to express their opinion and their opinion is that everything's 1/10 bad.

 

[Ottens]

If a show with mediocre ratings and a lot of misogynist subtext like The Orville gets rated that high, while a show as successful and enduring as DIS rates that low, it's pretty obvious that the people most motivated to vote in these RT ratings are not a representative sample of the actual overall audiences and are probably motivated by resentment at their demographic not being the primary audience catered to.

You would think these things balanced each other out. Some people are motivated to vote in online polls because they strongly dislike something, but you'd expect a roughly equivalent share of viewers who strongly like something to vote as well.

In any event, you can't just assume that because you don't agree with the average score of thousands of people, they must all be motivated by "resentment".

This also goes to @Lord Garth's post: it's unhealthy to think people who disagree with you are idiots or bigots or worse. It needlessly polarizes, and it closes your own mind to other opinions and points-of-view. People are more than their opinions!

 

[Oddish]

We're Trekkies. We're going to like what we like, regardless of its "Rotten Tomatoes" rating.

 

[fireproof78]

but you'd expect a roughly equivalent share of viewers who strongly like something to vote as well.

I actually wouldn't and the psychology behind it is quite interesting. People, in general, are far more likely to remember negative events for longer than positive and more like to make negative comments. Positive experiences do not always warrant a comment unless they are deeply positive.