Getting into Star Trek, what should I watch!??

[Star Wolf]

Greg's list is perfect (though not really a fan of Devil or Arena; just a bit too cheesy for my taste). All the Trek series are dated now and have their problems but they're easy to get into for anyone who has more than a passing interest in character and story. Yes, even VOY and ENT.

regarding series 'tasters', why not watch pilots of each series? All bearable. Though the DS9 one is a bit weird and the TNG one meh.

I know I choose two first year episodes out of my three DS9 suggestions but generally aside from TOS I would avoid the first season of the spin offs. It was like the production staff and actors were intimidated by the history of Trek and its survival after decades of syndication with the rapid Trekkers thus went too far in protecting Gene's legacy and not far enough in producing entertainment.

In any event I would recommend episodes that were fun, not episodes because they established the canon.

From Voyager
The Year of Hell
Endgame

 

[You_Will_Fail]

One of the first episodes I ever saw was TNG "Cause and Effect", really got me liking and interested in Trek. I might recommend that. I'm not a huge fan of TOS like some here, have a look at my 30 favorite Trek episodes video and you can have a look to see which episodes looks good. Then simply google their name alongside "memory alpha" and you'll find the series/season and episode.

 

[BillJ]

From the Star Trek prequel Enterprise:

Strange New World
Carbon Creek
Dead Stop
Regeneration
Impulse
North Star
Observer Effect
Bound
In A Mirror, Darkly I/II

 

[Greg Cox]

regarding series 'tasters', why not watch pilots of each series? All bearable. Though the DS9 one is a bit weird and the TNG one meh.

I'm not sure that "Encounter at Farpoint" (the TNG pilot) is something I would recommend to any newbie. Maybe "Measure of a Man" which was possibly the first truly classic episode of TNG.

For DS9, "Duet" is far and away the best ep of Season One--and a good indicator of things to come.

VOYAGER, on the other hand, had probably the best pilot of any of the latter-day shows. A nicely-paced introduction to the series and its characters.

Meanwhile, I hesitate to recommend certain "change-of-pace" classics like "The Inner Light" or "The Visitor" or "Far Beyond the Stars" just because, as memorable and creative as they are, they're far from representative of what those series were usually like (which is part of the reason they're so good). Great eps, but not ones you'd want to use to introduce somebody to Trek . . ..

 

[Mr_Homn]

VOYAGER, on the other hand, had probably the best pilot of any of the latter-day shows. A nicely-paced introduction to the series and its characters.

Ick. I thought it was absolutely terrible. I thought DS9 had the best pilot of the later treks. Enterprise had a decent pilot too. TNG pilot is a mixed bag. The first time you see it, it's kinda sucky, but it's pretty cool once you have seen the whole series I think. Which of course means it's not very good as a pilot....

 

[JRoss]

Okay, for TOS, the best eps include:

"Errand of Mercy" (first appearance of the Klingons)
"Balance of Terror" (enter the Romulans)
"Journey to Babel"
"Amok Time"
"Devil in the Dark"
"Mirror, Mirror" (first appearance of Mirror Universe)
"City on the Edge of Forever"
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"Arena"

I'll let somebody else tackle the latter-day series.

To Greg's list I'll add "The Savage Curtain."

 

[Bishop76]

VOYAGER, on the other hand, had probably the best pilot of any of the latter-day shows. A nicely-paced introduction to the series and its characters.

Ick. I thought it was absolutely terrible. I thought DS9 had the best pilot of the later treks. Enterprise had a decent pilot too. TNG pilot is a mixed bag. The first time you see it, it's kinda sucky, but it's pretty cool once you have seen the whole series I think. Which of course means it's not very good as a pilot....

Agreed. Voyager's pilot was embarrassingly bad, in my opinion. Want some corn?

Emissary was really slow, but set up the premise of the series solidly and Broken Bow was probably the best of all the latter series pilots, which is a shame that the show couldn't follow suit. Encounter at Farpoint is laughably bad, but the show got better so it's easy to forgive it. There's no question though, The Cage or Where No Man Has Gone Before are the best pilots of the franchise.

 

[R. Star]

You'll have noticed contradictory opinions on this thread, and in the end that is what they are(despite some opinions being offered tentatively as facts) opinions, so really in the end you should just start watching and form your own conclusions.

 

[The Overlord]

If you like new new films, you want The Original Series, of course! It's lots of campy 60's fun. Much more accessable and fun than the later series', which took themselves a bit too seriously.

Also the first six Trek movies, all featuring the original cast. Movies II, III and IV are a loose trilogy, the rest are stand-alone.

Enjoy!

I am not sure Star Trek TMP and Star Trek V are the best ways to get new people into Trek. I would say Star Trek II, III and IV are better for attracting new viewers.

 

[Greg Cox]

If you like new new films, you want The Original Series, of course! It's lots of campy 60's fun. Much more accessable and fun than the later series', which took themselves a bit too seriously.

Also the first six Trek movies, all featuring the original cast. Movies II, III and IV are a loose trilogy, the rest are stand-alone.

Enjoy!

I am not sure Star Trek TMP and Star Trek V are the best ways to get new people into Trek. I would say Star Trek II, III and IV are better for attracting new viewers.

Heck, let's not mince words. Star Trek V should be avoided at all costs!

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Heck, let's not mince words. Star Trek V should be avoided at all costs!

If not expunged from your conciousness entirely.

 

[F. King Daniel]

STV was the first Trek movie I ever saw, and I turned out okay...

 

[Greg Cox]

STV was the first Trek movie I ever saw, and I turned out okay...

It's always inspirational when someone beats the odds and rises above adversity . . .

 

[F. King Daniel]

 

[miraclekid]

I've had more success using DS9 more than any other series to convert new fans to Star Trek.

Same.

Annnnyhow there are a lot of good recommendations here in this thread but I think your best bet is to read up on the TV series and just pick the one that appeals to you the most and go from there. That way you can discover your own favorites.

 

[Nibbz]

Well I took a look at a couple original series episodes, which I don't mind at all, but yes they are dated. Watched TNG pilot and a couple other eps. I enjoy TNG and really love Patrick Stewart so its easy to get into. I also watched the pilot of Star Trek Enterprise and really enjoyed it.

A big question I have and would like to have answered is what series are episodic (i'm assuming TOS and TNG are), and which have continuing story arcs across multiple episodes (I understand DS9 is like this). So I really just want to know if Voyager and Enterprise have story arcs across episodes. Thanks guys.

 

[T'Girl]

From the animated series, you might try Albatross, Yesteryear and One Of Our Planets Is Missing. The rest of the cartoons are fair through bad, but those three are above many of the live action episodes.

 

[BillJ]

Well I took a look at a couple original series episodes, which I don't mind at all, but yes they are dated. Watched TNG pilot and a couple other eps. I enjoy TNG and really love Patrick Stewart so its easy to get into. I also watched the pilot of Star Trek Enterprise and really enjoyed it.

A big question I have and would like to have answered is what series are episodic (i'm assuming TOS and TNG are), and which have continuing story arcs across multiple episodes (I understand DS9 is like this). So I really just want to know if Voyager and Enterprise have story arcs across episodes. Thanks guys.

Enterprise had a series long arc called the Temporal Cold War which was only touched on sporadically, a season long arc in season three and several multi-part episodes in season four.

 

[Nibbz]

Caught Space Seed and Wrath of Khan tonight. Wow to the latter, what an amazing film. If the new movie piqued my interest, 2 turned me into a fan. Loved it.

 

[Nibbz]

Update on my foray into Star Trek. Saw a handful of TOS, TNG, two DS9 episodes, and two Enterprise episodes. Plus movies 2 through 4 and the Undiscovered Country.

With all of this taken into account, I must say that I prefer TOS much more than the others so far. The actors and dialogue are much worse imo in TNG and DS9. Sisko in particular is difficult to listen to, and I'm not particularly a fan of Data.

It may just be Kirk and Spock that make me love TOS so much, plus the movies with the original cast are just so entertaining and helped me really like the characters even more. Any tips to get me into TNG and DS9? I wanna enjoy DS9 in particular as I've heard as a continuing series, its the best Star Trek has to offer.