Rank the Trek series

[Belz...]

I'm sure this thread's existed before but I can't find one in the last few pages of this subforum so here goes.

I'm excluding SNW from my own list because we're only two episodes in at the time of this writing. So from top to bottom:

- DS9 (amazing!)
- TOS (godlike)
- TNG (classic)
- LD (surprisingly enjoyable!)
- PIC (not perfect but very neat)
- PRO (still not sure where it's going but it's fun and innocent)
- DSC (main story gets better every year but too much focus on what should be the B story: character angst)
- ENT (didn't live up to even its meager potential)
- VOY (the only series I actually dislike; just mostly bad stories)

Feel free to comment and discuss each series in addition to ranking them.

 

[Belz...]

TNG - 9/10. Despite some clunky episodes early on, and the episode I hate the most in all Trek, a very solid experience.

Ooh, I'm curious. Is it Shades of Gray?

 

[Jedi Marso]

Top to bottom, first to last:

1. TOS
2. TNG
3. DS9
4. SNW (A bit early, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt here)
5. ENT
6. VOY
7. Picard
1000. Disco*

There's room for 900+ future Trek shows there between Picard and Disco. Whatever they make in the future, it will be better than Disco.

 

[Belz...]

No ranking for PRO or LD?

 

[Sakonna]

1. LD (perfect -- shockingly ambitious and achieves everything it tries to do)
2. DS9
3. TNG
4. SNW (provisional, obviously)
5. DISCO (it's often been a hot mess, but so was TNG)
6. PICARD (it would be much higher if season 1 didn't collapse so completely at the end)
7. VOY
8. TAS (fascinatingly weird, it's entrancing)
9. ENT
10. TOS (don't murder me, it's fine)

The audience Prodigy is targeting is just too different for me to put it in the rankings with the rest of these. I do like it though.

 

[Oddish]

Ooh, I'm curious. Is it Shades of Gray?

I actually sort of like "Shades of Gray".

 

[Belz...]

I actually sort of like "Shades of Gray".

Then I'm even more curious. Which episode is it?

 

[1001001]

Then I'm even more curious. Which episode is it?

I guess it’s more fun for us to guess than for him to just answer.

The forced suicide one?

 

[Qonundrum]

- TOS (7/10. Some elements have dated very poorly, though the big-three are well-acted and the uniqueness in that TOS had nothing before it gave it a certain confidence, especially with some high concept tropes that wouldn't be swallowed nowadays.)
- TNG (8/10. some seasons weren't great at the time and dated poorly. Others are rough around the edges. Despite gripes, I'll still rate it higher than TOS.)
- DS9 (9/10. Has aged the best overall)
- VOY (6/10. Trek Burnout Syndrome was clearly developing, but there are some all-time greats that are on par with the above-average TNG ones.)
- ENT (4/10 Prequels never did much for me, except to answer questions that nobody asked or to wallow in fanwank. ENT tried, but even season 4 was hit or miss and the finale was just another bookmark to close TNG on with. )
- DSC (3/10. No focus or direction early on, but became a maudlin tearfast later. That said, I liked Tilly and the original captain before he was a mirror universe moohahaha villain. Liked Mudd too.)
- LD (8/10. It holds its own, combining references, parody, and comedy, while tacking new themes. It's really good stuff. It made the Pakleds genuinely formidable too - so that counts for something big. )
- PIC (3/10 Another superficial-driven mess, though not without some worthy ideas. A few nice scenes and explanations too, but - as with too much modern sci-fi - they feel a need to use Gen-Z slang in ways that no 20th century iteration needed to in order to attract the teen audiences of those times. Season 2 is rather better despite

Spoiler

going all-Chibnall on barely redressed, regurgitated plot re-uses (it's as if the modern shows are all about the easter eggs but no coherent story good enough to become time-tested and as a result make easter eggs for later shows to reference with), not to mention small universe syndrome and other things, but Q and the Borg were as wasted as they were crutches for nostalgiabait. Q should have stayed ageless, though given his events in VOY it doesn't feel out of place - so if nothing else at least VOY ruined the Q first. It reused some themes from STFC and older shows but, for the most part did them better. Apart from Wesley. ...Creepy... Still, will wait out reviews before diving into season 3. )

- PRO (N/A. Haven't seen. )
- SNW (N/A. Stopped watching the moment that

Spoiler

Gen-Z fry cook lingo became apparent.... again. Which is a shame, beyond that nitpick I saw a lot TO like, but the formal use of language being excised is just too much. It's not like mass audiences weren't fazed by the formalization that the earlier shows had and those made the pop culture zeitgeist. Maybe that's why the new shows haven't?

)

 

[Belz...]

SNW (N/A. Stopped watching the moment that

Spoiler

Gen-Z fry cook lingo became apparent.... again. Which is a shame, beyond that nitpick I saw a lot TO like, but the formal use of language being excised is just too much. It's not like mass audiences weren't fazed by the formalization that the earlier shows had and those made the pop culture zeitgeist. Maybe that's why the new shows haven't?

)

Would you mind clarifying that? I have no idea what any of that means.

 

[Oddish]

Well done, @1001001. You've paid attention.

"Half a Life", to clarify. It's not ranked traditionally among the worst; my feelings regarding it are entirely personal.

 

[Jedi Marso]

No ranking for PRO or LD?

I haven't watched either one, so no ranking.

 

[Qonundrum]

Would you mind clarifying that? I have no idea what any of that means.

Spoiler

Watch examples from the older shows and new ones. You'll spot the differences.

 

[Oddish]

Remember that SNW is still a brand-new show. Yes, it's learned from its recent predecessors and thus managed a very strong start. But, a few tweaks (such as language style) may still be in order.

 

[Belz...]

Spoiler

Watch examples from the older shows and new ones. You'll spot the differences.

How? I have no idea what you're refering to. I'm sorry to say, but I couldn't parse that paragraph.

 

[Qonundrum]

Would you mind clarifying that? I have no idea what any of that means.

Here's one of the easier examples you'll spot when you start comparing the various shows:

Spoiler

No old Trek series used "tech" and other dumbed-down diminutions. Only the new ones see a need to eschew "technology". Whether they're being "hipster cool" or anything else, it still comes across out of place compared to every 20th century incarnation. There's nothing in the newer shows that renders it superior in any way as well.

But you'll find a lot more. Shouldn't take that long either.

 

[Belz...]

I haven't watched either one, so no ranking.

You could do worse than check them out. PRO is not very challenging but it's good fun, and LD... well, I thought I'd hate it and I actually enjoy it quite a bit. It takes a few episodes to get used to the style, though.

 

[Belz...]

Here's one of the easier examples you'll spot when you start comparing the various shows:

Yeah ok but I don't understand why it matters to you so much that you stopped watching. All TV shows, including Star Trek, have parlance that is standard to other productions of their time. In other words, the audiences of the 60s or 80s aren't the target of SNW. And to be frank if it didn't catch my attention while watching the episodes, it's not worth me being bothered by it.
It's your call of course, but it feels like an odd, minor thing to stop watching a show for.

 

[Lord Garth]

Favorites:
1. DSC
2. TOS
3. PIC

Middle Ground:
4. DS9
5. TNG

Temporary Placeholder:
6. SNW (could go up, but I can't rate it any higher yet)

Not My Favorites:
7. VOY
8. ENT

I don't want to mix the animated shows in because LD is a comedy, PRO is for kids, and TAS is a '70s cartoon. None of them really tonally fit with the live-action shows, nor are they intended to.

I don't even dislike what I rated at the bottom. I just like them less. ENT, which I didn't like before, partially won me over once I gave it an actual chance in 2020.

 

[Belz...]

I don't want to mix the animated shows in because LD is a comedy, PRO is for kids, and TAS is a '70s cartoon. None of them really tonally fit with the live-action shows, nor are they intended to.

I think if you compare your response to each series rather than the series themselves, you can compare LD and PRO and TAS with the rest of them.