Favourite Trek Series (and why)

[conza]

Hi all, I'm conza, call me conza or con - I'm new here so if a thread like this that exists, this one will of course be deleted.

So - of Star Trek, ST: TAS, ST: TNG, ST: DS9, ST: VOY & ST: ENT, which is your favourite?

Please vote for you number one choice, then if you like, rank them in the order of preference descending, and maybe include a sentence or two for each one what you like, or don't like about it and or why its in the spot you left it, here's my list.

The Orignal Series - The Original, and 'just' the best (98/100 vs. 97 for TNG), the first show I've ever watched, the one with the most classic episodes, and the start of the entire franchise.

The Next Generation - As I said above, this is basically my equal favourite with TOS. Extraordinary episodes, the best crew, and a show that should be awed by all.

Enterprise - A Brilliant series, 95/100, the way it looks futuristic still to our time, and still behind TOS was done supremely well, and I think is highly under rated by all, loved the series.

Deep Space Nine - In my view, a huge huge huge surprise on my part having viewed some of the worst episods before watching the entire series in order, a fantastic story, best of all Star Trek stories by miles, best space battles, and surely the most interesting series 92/100

Voyager - I was completely underwhelmed by this series. Don't get me wrong, it was a great, had some great episodes, but I had expected it to have a greater ending and a greater amount of truely great episodes.

The Animated Series - The cheapest monetary and actual Star Trek I have ever purchased. The idea of not being limited by special effects, turned into a huge limitation by poor animation.

 

[Astraea]

I'm sure we've had threads/polls/etc. like this before, but as I don't see any currently active, starting a new one is always preferable to dredging up a dead thread from 2 months ago...oh, heck, we've got like four "Best Captain" threads concurrently running right now, so what's the harm? A mod will always merge this if I'm wrong.

Caveat: I've only seen modern Trek, so TOS and TAS aren't included in the rankings.

And my ranking, from best to worst:

Deep Space Nine: I absolutely love series with arc-based storytelling, large casts, and lots of well-developed minor characters, particularly when we get into situations where everything's not purely black and white. I'd seen S6 and S7 of TNG, but Deep Space Nine was the first Trek I really got into. DS9 started airing when I was about 7 or 8, and I loved it. Morally ambiguous characters like Garak or early Dukat, characters who really changed over the course of the series, strong female characters like Kira...DS9 is one of my three favorite TV shows ever.

TNG: Second-favorite, and actually the first Trek show I can remember watching. It had some of the best individual characters (Worf, Data, Picard) and some really good episodes, but there were also characters I had no interest in or actively really, really disliked (Wesley, Troi.) Still, when it's on, it's on, and produced some of the best episodes of Trek. (Though, when it's off, it's really, really off - S1 of TNG is probably the single worst season of Star Trek ever produced.)

VOY: I had high hopes for Voyager, and it disappointed. There was so much potential that seemed absolutely wasted; I wish that TPTB would have allowed for arc-based storytelling, and that more attention had been paid to consistent character development. (How, really, has Harry Kim actually changed in seven years? Does Chakotay actually have a personality? Was there any at all reason for C/7?) Most of the best storytelling potential came from Seven's introduction to the cast (the Doctor being the other most-interesting castmember), but then this led to oversaturation of Borg stories and the constant use of nanoprobes as a deus ex machina. Most of my frustration with this series comes with the idea that, yes, they did produce some good episodes, but this premise and these characters really had so much more in them.

Right now, it's not helped by the fact I've just started watching nu-BSG (finishing S2.5 today.) nu-BSG's early seasons have covered some of the same issues as Voyager had, and has done them in a much more interesting manner. ("Pegasus" versus "Equinox," anyone?)

ENT: Okay, so this isn't going to be a fair assessment so much, as I've seen only S1, S2, and "These are the Voyages...", which is apparently like sitting down to watch "The Worst of ENT." But there was nothing in those first two seasons that really made me want to keep watching. I like arc-based stories; not much of that. I like large, well-developed casts; no one except the Big Three were getting any screen time, and I didn't find any of them all that interesting. And "TATV" wasn't exactly something to induce me to say, "Hey, what did I miss?" I was most definitely not impressed (though I still do wish I'd seen "In a Mirror, Darkly.")

And, conza, welcome to the boards!

 

[Myasishchev]

DS9, because of its self-continuity and the humanity of its characters.

All the others don't even operate on DS9's level, at least as far as how well DS9 brings the viewer into its world. The rest were (almost) always episodic, and showcased every weakness as well as strengths in that approach to serial entertainment. The strengths were abundant in TOS, which, operating on a clean slate for only a few years, gave us a lot of off-the-wall high-concept stories without contradicting itself too much. TNG succeeded to replicate this formula, but it became clear that it was providing diminishing returns.

Heck, the TOS movies actually abandoned this formula even as TNG was producing more forgettable episodes than hits--even though the film format lends itself more naturally to one-shot, high-concept storytelling (as in TMP), they went the other way to create a tight interfilm continuity that didn't even exist interepisode in the Original Series. Shit Mattered in II-VI (even including V). And that's exactly why DS9 was great, just like the TOS movies were great: Shit Mattered.

And this is where Voyager and Enterprise failed so hard. Voyager tried to be more TNG than TNG, even more TOS than TOS--the episodic series par excellence. Unfortunately, the formula had been run dry by this point, not only on the viewers' side, but apparently also on the writers. Voyager was often the least imagininiative Trek, recycling concepts from TNG and solving the technobabble problem-of-the-week with the technobabble-solution-of-the-week. I will give this to them: they were never afraid of using crazy person science, I mean science would have made a Commando Cody writer blush. And the characters were either obscenely uninteresting, cardboard plot devices, or outright annoying. The Doctor usually rose above it, thanks largely to Picardo's crackerjack performances, but the other possibly interesting folks never really attained a fraction of their potential. Voyager I like to pretend didn't exist. I don't blame them for ruining the Borg, though--that great failure rests entirely on the shoulders of TNG.

Enterprise, well... imagine Voyager, but instead of destroying the future, it destroyed the past, with an out-of-nowhere alien threat and a time travel plot that wouldn't have been good enough for Kang the Conqueror circa 1965. Was Future Guy Immortus? We'll never really know. Enterprise was the worst of episodic storytelling combined with the worst of arc storytelling. The last season took baby steps toward quality, but was less good in comparison to other Treks (or other shows) than it was in comparison to its own early episodes. Luckily, we now know that Enterprise took place entirely on the holodeck of the Enterprise-D, and can safely ignore it. Sadly, Enterprise had more actual potential than any show of the bunch, but was sabotaged from beginning to end by poor planning, poor writing, and (it appears) studio interference. The characters, despite being interesting in concept, were either flat or spastic--Archer makes Janeway look rational. Shran was cool however--it's always a pleasure to see Jeffrey Combs. It was just a complete waste.

 

[judge alba]

love ds9 the best it ranks up with the tos episodes as regardes to story telling and charater growth. mind you i felt near the end though there were good episode in season 7 i knew trek needed to rest the quality was starting to wane a bit when voyager came out though enterprise did do a few good episodes later on. in the end i still rank ds9 as the best series.

 

[Mysterion]

TOS and DSN (Tied).

Why? Most humanistic characters, good stories, good acting.

 

[Edinburgh]

DS9
When it was first aired in Scotland i thought this is never going to work. Being stuck in a space station .
Very happy to say i was completely wrong.

I just thought the characters were more real. There was a lot more emotions in DS9. You got to delve right in to the characters lifes.

DS9
Voyager
The Orignal Series
The Next Generation
Enterprise

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Welcome, conza! Can I be lazy and just quote others? Okay I will!

#1 DS9

Deep Space Nine: I absolutely love series with arc-based storytelling, large casts, and lots of well-developed minor characters, particularly when we get into situations where everything's not purely black and white. ... Morally ambiguous characters like Garak or early Dukat, characters who really changed over the course of the series, strong female characters like Kira...DS9 is one of my three favorite TV shows ever.

#2 TOS

Classic characters, great universe-building (before they knew that's what they were doing), and at least a third of the episodes are very good to great.

#3 ENT (for S4 alone)

If they'd really delved into the Birth of the Federation concept, it would have been much better. S1-2 were a waste of time, just more VOY. S3 was an improvement - I liked the ambition of a 100% arc-based season - but ultimately seemed like a pale imitation of the DS9 approach. And the less said about the idiot time travel plotline, the better.

#4 TNG

Hasn't aged well, and frankly I never liked that old granny Picard.

#5 VOY

Voyager tried to be more TNG than TNG, even more TOS than TOS--the episodic series par excellence. Unfortunately, the formula had been run dry by this point, not only on the viewers' side, but apparently also on the writers. Voyager was often the least imagininiative Trek, recycling concepts from TNG and solving the technobabble problem-of-the-week with the technobabble-solution-of-the-week.

 

[Michael]

Ah, I welcome every opportunity to repost this animation I once made for a similar thread.

I'm actually one of these guys who like all of the series. But I do have my favorites, too. Deep Space Nine was my first Trek love and is still the number one in my ranking. I love everything about it; the characters, the actors, the writing, the production design, the music, etc. But what I adore most about this series is the sense that they were trying something new – something original. In my opinion the producers displayed a great deal of audacity and were very bold in their intent to take the Trek franchise where it had never been. (And where it didn't go again since then, for that matter.)

The original Star Trek is actually a very close runner-up. Of all the series I always felt DS9 and TOS were the closest to each other. I love the sense of camaraderie among the crew of the Enterprise. When I watch an episode of TOS, I feel like home. I'm in love with the look of the series (the classic NCC-1701 is by far my favorite sci-fi design ever) and am a great fan of the music.

Then there's TNG, which is also great. It has many wonderful episodes which connect me with my childhood. It just ranks lower because I always felt that often its characters are way too congruent. There rarely seemed to be any opposing perspectives or disagreement among them, which is something that just felt wrong and stilted to me. And I agree with others who say that of all the series TNG is the one which has dated the most.

I like Enterprise because it was similar to DS9 in many aspects. I have a great fondness for its characters and think that the series maybe had the best production values of all the series. Although the third season was my favorite (the fourth just had too many TOS homages, if you ask me), I would have loved for the series to be continued.

Then there's TAS, which I mostly love for two reasons: It has the voices of the original actors and very nice animation (yeah, I love the Filmation style of limited animation). There were also some very good stories.

Voyager is by far my least favorite Trek series. I religiously watched all of it and enjoyed it a great deal. But it never really took any chances, which is a shame. It had a wonderful premise, but I never thought that it really tried to live up to it. The most redeeming aspects of Voyager for me, are (again) the characters: I loved Kes, Tuvok, Janeway, the Doc and Seven. But all in all there are only a handfull of episodes I consider to be very good. Living Witness is an episode I consider to be one of the best of the entire franchise.

 

[Piper]

For me it's a toss-up between TOS and TNG - DS9 has far more rounded characters than either but whenever I think Trek I can't help but think of Kirk, Picard et al first and foremost. Can never decide which I prefer though - at the moment I'm in a TOS phase, probably because of the new movie, but that can change.

Anyway, here's my ranking:

1. TOS
2. TNG
3. DS9
4. ENT
5. VOY

 

[DarKush]

1. Deep Space Nine. It didn't start out my favorite, but the Dominion War pushed it to the top of the line for me. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the richness of the characters.

2. TNG.

3. TOS.

4. ENT.

5. VOY. ENT used to be at the bottom, but I liked S3 and S4 well enough. I just never warmed to VOY. There were individual episodes that I liked, but I didn't really have any favorite characters. The production values were good, they had some good adversaries, but the show never really lived up to its potential.

 

[JiNX-01]

Hello, conza, and welcome!

Here's my list:

Enterprise: Favorite. I know there were disappointing episodes (tho' I enjoyed many episodes that were not so well received by others and I admit I didn't care much for the TCW), but for me the cast and characters were fun to watch immediately likeable. I also think seasons 3 and 4 were terrific. Favorite character: Trip (yeah, I know... DUH).

Star Trek: Great cast chemistry, and well-defined characters (including the secondary characters) and fun scripts. Not to mention the awesome Leonard Nimoy and his "dad" Mark Lenard, and the lovely and gracious Nichelle Nichols.

Deep Space 9: I warmed up to most of the characters eventually, and the later seasons were amazing. Favorites are Garak and Odo.

Voyager: Same situation as DS9 -- it took time for me to warm up to the characters. But I'm glad I stuck with it because once we got past season 2, it improved (for me at least). Favorites: The Doctor and Seven.

The Next Generation: Least favorite of the bunch. Yeah there were some terrific episodes, but the crew was SO!VERY!PERFECT! they were BORING! The "bad guys" were the only ones worth watching. Too bad.

TAS: Sorry, don't recall enough to comment.

 

[Aragorn]

Deep Space Nine -- the best characterizations and long-term storytelling of all the Trek shows. You even got to see characters like Damar, Nog and Eddington grow. They let Colm Meany go do movies left and right while the show was on so O'Brien was absent for many episodes yet still had depth and development. Jake was the only regular who got the shaft on the show, especially since the best Jake episode wasn't even Cirroc Lofton!

DS9 is the anti-Voyager, which would be dead last on my Trek show list.

 

[BillJ]

Star Trek - "An American Cowboy in the Twenty-Third Century". Fun was the key here... it never took itself too seriously. From lizard guys to eleven thousand mile long single cell organisms to Abraham Lincoln, it was just plain fun.

The Next Generation - This applies to only seasons one and two, before Berman and Piller turned it into 'L.A. Law in Space'. More fun on the Final Frontier.

Enterprise - Like a pretty girl without a brain in her head. There has been nothing produced for television that looked better.

Deep Space Nine - Strayed too far from the formula... never really felt like Star Trek.

Voyager -

 

[WendellM]

1. TOS
I grew up watching it in syndication as a kid in the 70s, found a whole new layer of meaning in the 80s, and still enjoy it.

2. TNG
Though it started off a little rough, it developed some really good characters and an interesting universe of its own.

3. The rest
It's still Star Trek, and I still enjoy it to varying degrees (and think that it's great that others really dig it), but it just never connected with me the way that TOS & TNG did.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

1. DS9 - A brilliant show, probably my favourite television series ever.

2. TOS - Great sci-fi, wonderful characters, iconic stories, great looking show.

3. ENT - Horribly underrated, a pleasant surprise after the mediocre VOY. I loved the show from the second half of season 2 onward.

4. TNG - Like Temis said, this one hasn't aged well. It's still one of the best science fiction shows ever, but you have to see it in its context. Technically I'd say TNG is superior to ENT, but nowadays ENT is just more enjoyable to me.

5. VOY - I can appreciate it for what it is, but overall this was a huge disappointment. Way to blow the premise, guys. There were some very good episodes though and the production values were amazing. I'd say VOY works better when you see it as a collection of random episodes rather than a continuing series.

 

[Whoa Nellie]

My favorite series is TNG. It all starts with the captain. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a rich, multi-faceted character; one who reads ancient Greek and Latin classics and Shakespeare as well as hard-boiled detective novels. He plays the flute as well as rides horses, fences, and does a little rock climbing. He drinks tea as well as Aldebaran whiskey. He is a diplomat who appears to have a certain degree of special ops training. The erudite who easily rises to the role of action hero when necessary.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Dane_Whitman]

This a great picture of Picard!

 

[Whoa Nellie]

I'm glad you like it. I'm pretty sure I found it on Trekcore.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Cakes488]

Wow this is REALLY hard...but I'm going to give it a shot....


1) TOS
2) TOS
3) TOS
4) TOS
5) TAS -- which even though it's poorly animated the stories are still interesting and it's a good way to introduce your kids etc to the world of Trek....you'll also be entertained as well.

To be fair, I haven't seen much of the other Treks...I did watch TNG for a few years but they lost me. I will be watching DS9 over the summer because of the rave reviews on this board. I hope I won't be disappointed!

 

[Astraea]

Wow, Cakes488, your Trek experience is exactly the inverse of mine. I've seen pieces of a couple episodes of TOS and nothing at all of TAS.

And give DS9 a while to get going. It improves dramatically starting in 3rd season (although there's enough decent episodes before then, particularly in S2, and "Duet" in S1 is excellent.)