How do I start my roommate on Star Trek?

I pretty much love Star Trek. My roommate; however, is kinda scared to watch it.

He hasn't seen much science fiction before I moved into the apartment. However, when I got him to watch the new Battlestar Galatica, my roommate got hooked and loved it (except he hated the last episode)! Besides BSG, my roommate liked the new Avengers movie, loved how fun Pacific Rim was, but hated Elysium. He just saw Star Wars for the first time a few weeks ago too.

I'm not sure which episodes or series to start him off with. He doesn't like action that much; and he loves literature. However, he dislikes technobable and the "geeky" parts of sci-fi. Which episodes do you guys and gals recommend?

 

The "geeky" parts? Like the science?

Deep Space Nine.

 

Oh, the usual way: start with a small sample of 'Star Trek' for free. You know, just enough 'Star Trek' to get them hooked on it. And then you tell them they can only get more 'Star Trek' if they're willing to pay for their next fix.....

Seriously though, the best way to break the boundry is not to appear like you're pushing it to them (yeah okay, I'll stop with the drugs analogies now ). Do you think they might be into something philosophical? I've found that "Measure Of A Man" truly can be a good one for these kinds of people because it deals with a lot of really interesting issues without turning it into something too fantastical. The "geek factor" of that one is minimal because it's really just a dressed up court room drama.

EDIT: Or, as Teacake says above, anybody who loved BSG should dig DS9.....

 

The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before.

Big guns, fist fights and a little deep thinking.

 

Trouble with the Tribbles, Yesteryday's Enterprise, The Way of the Warrior, Lifesigns, and Shuttlepod One: an episode from each series which gives the taste of the characters and conflicts without giving too much away.

 

^Something like that but I would check out the 'must see' threads for each series and start with TOS, then TNg mixing in DS9 after Wolf 359 but finishing TNG before Worf joins DS9, and Voyager could be shown during or after DS9 as long as it's final season starts after DS9 ends. The movies can be sprinkled throughout the series or after it raps up, then Enterprise followed by NuTrek.

 

I've won more people over to Trek by introducing them to DS9 first.

 

Record yourself saying, "You want to watch Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager" over and over again, then when he goes to sleep start playing the recording, it'll worm its way into his subconscious. Then just leave a DVD laying around here and there, he'll soon be hooked

Seriously though, expose him to some of your favourite episodes from the various series', whether they are the emotive eps, the actiony eps, or the funny eps. Let him see what you love about Trek.

If both those fail, impose a roommate agreement, specifying that Monday is TOS Night, Tuesday is TNG Night, Wednesday is DS9 Night, and Thursday is VOY Night

 

Like how TOS was ahead of its time in terms of the amount of touchy (at the time) subjects it tackled, DS9 was ahead of its time as a TV show as well.

If your friend liked BSG and digs a lot of what the current TV brands out there are giving us then DS9 all the way.

It truly is a show that could have existed in today's TV market with very little in the way of tweaking.

 

Tie him to a straight back chair.
Duct tape his head facing forward.
Super glue his eyes open.

Start him out with The Children Shall Lead, then Fair Haven, then These Are The Voyagers, then Inner Light ...

During quiet times in various episodes, read from a selection of Harlan Ellison interviews where Ellison talks about his high opinion of himself.

...

 

Hm...I would say DS9. It's the least...technobabbly? I guess?

The first Star Trek series I ever watched was VOY though and it was the one that got me totally hooked years later after watching it again. Before watching VOY, I did not really consider watching Star Trek (my then-boyfriend was really into it). Since then I've watched all of the series though and I love them all.

Anyway, I think all of the series are awesome. The movies, to me, are a little meh, but I love the Trek series. But the person should at least enjoy science fiction though or else they probably won't be able to get into Trek.

 

I converted my droog Alex DeLarge this way:

 

And then he became Dr. Soran.


As for the roomie, I'd go with DS9 too.

 

Usually I try to find something the person might enjoy. For my wife it was sorta happened without trying. I told her I wanted to finish a TV series I never got to do, So I started DS9 at season 3 and she casually started watching with me, next thing you knew she couldn't wait to get home from work to watch the next episode.

Most people have stereotypical ideas about Trek, like Kirk Fighting the Gorn. Well I decided to show some friends a borg episode or two, they thought it was pretty cool. They where mostly mesmerized with Q.

So give something a try, just avoid Ferengi episodes. Id go for good 2 parters, or simply good episodes you really enjoy.

 

Has your roommate seen the Abrams films? If he liked "Avengers," he might like nuTrek. Or even "TWOK" or "TUC." Some cinematic Trek might be a good gateway to TV Trek.

 

Does your roommate have any favorite actors/actresses? Maybe a few have been guest stars on various Trek episodes, or maybe regulars. My first experience of watching Patrick Stewart had nothing to do with Star Trek or the movies he was in. To me he will always be Lucius Aelius Sejanus, one of the villains of the I, Claudius series. He made a very good villain, and so when I found out he was going to be the captain in TNG, I had to watch it.

For someone into literature, I'd go with the episodes that deal with Shakespearean themes. The first obvious choice would be "Conscience of the King" - after all there is an actual play being performed, and some of Kirk's pre-Starfleet backstory is revealed. There's no technobabble, and it's very much a morality play.

Same with "City on the Edge of Forever." That's the ultimate "Kirk makes a decision" episode where it truly is a no-win scenario. Either way, something/someone precious will be irretrievably lost.

Except for when Bashir does medical research, I don't remember a lot of actual science going on in that series.

It also requires a willingness to watch story arcs, in the proper order. That's why I gave up on the series close to the end. I'd missed several episodes and was lost amid all the Dominion War stuff and the Bajoran religion stuff (although I was happy to see the end of Jadzia Dax).

Introducing someone to a TV show is best when they don't need a ton of backstory to figure out what's going on.

 

I'm going to be a bit controversial here. Yesterday I was watching the excellent "The Inner Light' but noticed how very 80s it was and not in a good way.

I'm a long-time fan so can overlook these things but in introducing Star Trek I'd avoid TOS and TNG at first. I might start at VOY or DS9 though DS9 requires too much time invested at first. I think you can get the gist of VOY without watching the initial episodes.
The blah blah initial episodes of ENT might be off-putting too. If I were to show ENT I'd probably start at the Xindi-arc

 

So you would introduce someone to Star Trek and ignore how the whole thing started?

 

TOS is the foundation upon which bigger and better things were built upon.