How to get friends into Trek?

[Lord Garth]

Anyone wanting to see the new show would be well-advised ro watch Nemesis first.

"Q Who?", "The Best of Both Worlds", "Family", "I, Borg", "Descent", "Scorpion", "The Gift", "Dark Frontier", "Endgame", First Contact, and Nemesis would probably all do it. If you need more TNG Romulans, throw in "The Enemy", "The Defector", and "Face of the Enemy" that would do it.

Funny thing about Picard. In TNG, the Romulan's re-introduction in "The Neutral Zone" had them wondering about damage to their worlds that was later speculated to be from the Borg. Now we'll have Borg and Romulans, and...

Spoiler

Romulans occupying a Borg Cube. Instead of fearing Borg tech, they have access to it and have possibly harnessed it. Which is a completely different spot from where they were in TNG.

 

[Danja]

"Endgame"

Let's not and say we did (there's a reason we VOY fans call it "EndSHAME" )..

Spoiler

They make it home.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Anyone wanting to see the new show would be well-advised ro watch Nemesis first.

This would be a recommendation for the sequel thread, "How to drive friends away from Star Trek?"

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I would add Caretaker, Collective, The Raven, Child's Play, and Imperfection.

(Watch "Infinite Regress" to REALLY see Jeri Ryan rock n' roll. The woman can ACT. )

My list was a quick 5 episodes to inspire interest and intrigue for each show. Caretaker I should consider, but I consider the Banjo man and farm house really silly. Even by Trek standards. Plus, there are better episodes to expose people to the best things about VOY.

Star Trek Picard is a follow-up to Nemesis.

Anyone wanting to see the new show would be well-advised ro watch Nemesis first.

Picard is a new and untested show at the moment. Plus, there are 178 episodes of the show they can watch to understand the Picard and Data journey better.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I liked Endgame. Not the best the show has to offer but not the worst either.

I agree with Q Who. Scorpion’s also a good choice but I’d hesitate to start anyone with Voyager. Or Balance of Terror or Corbomite Maneuver if they are not hung up on modern production value.

If they are someone I know to like darker sci-fi, especially NuBSG I might pick In The Pale Moonlight.

 

[Danja]

My list was a quick 5 episodes to inspire interest and intrigue for each show. Caretaker I should consider, but I consider the Banjo man and farm house really silly. Even by Trek standards.

There was a REASON the show was staring down the barrel of cancellation after S3.

Picard is a new and untested show at the moment. Plus, there are 178 episodes of the show they can watch to understand the Picard and Data journey better.

Since the show immediately follows Nemesis, it would be far better for the time-challenged Trek fan to watch the movie as opposed to sifting through 178 hours of TNG.

I liked Endgame. Not the best the show has to offer but not the worst either.

I could've done without the whole tacked-on-at-the-last-minute Seven/Chakotay affair.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Don’t try to get anyone into anything; they’ll find it themselves if one day they become curious, along with starting points that may appeal to them. Nobody needs a personal guide to watch TV.

 

[The Wormhole]

Star Trek Picard is a follow-up to Nemesis.

Anyone wanting to see the new show would be well-advised ro watch Nemesis first.

The only thing from Nemesis anyone's going to need to know for Picard is that Data died and his memories exist within B-4.

 

[peoplesvoice]

Show them TOS 'The Menagerie' part 1 and see what they think...

 

[suarezguy]

If they like shows from the '90s like early Law & Order or Seinfeld or the early The Simpsons they should be able to get into TNG from around that time (though it may be good to start with, aside from maybe "Encounter at Farpoint", from season 3 or 4 or at least 2, I think early season 2 does do a pretty good job of showing the range of stories Trek can have). The original show should probably be watched first only if someone has already seen and liked a lot of media from before and during its time like Hitchcock films and James Bond films.

 

[BillJ]

"Q Who?", "The Best of Both Worlds"...

If these two don't pique someones interest, then they probably aren't going to like Trek.

 

[Lord Garth]

[How to get friends into Trek?] I really need help guys.

How did this end up turning out?

 

[Spicy Thunder]

How did this end up turning out?

Well, one friend agreed to watch a movie in the near future, and I have yet to ask others. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

I actually have a friend who had never really watched any Trek in his life. His wife grew up on it, and he's seeing many of his friends (including myself, obviously) talking and getting excited for Picard. He watched about half of season 1, said it was alright but asked me to make a condensed list of TNG episodes that he could watch to prepare for the show. I gave him about 25 important episodes in total, something he can easily manage with his schedule he said. I made sure to throw in the ones that seem like they'll be most relevant to the show, too. All Lore and Borg episodes, Family, and The Pegasus (if only for Captain Picard Day, but it's a solid episode regardless) especially. Plus the movies.

And he said he's loving it!

 

[fireproof78]

My wife did not care for Star Trek. I tried getting her to watch TOS, the TOS films and TNG. I gave up after a bit and we focused on shared interests.

Then, for my birthday, she took me to see ST 09. Next thing I know she is watching DS9. So, she found her way in somehow. Just got to give them options.

 

[Vger23]

Movies all the way.

Worked on my wife (then girlfriend) 17 years ago.

Some of the suggested episode sampler lists people have put together here make me cringe. I would not go that way.

 

[somebuddyX]

For the older shows I feel like I'd go for some of the morality play standalone episodes that I enjoyed.
TNG "The First Duty" or "Ensign Ro"
DS9 "Necessary Evil" and "Thing's Past"
VOY "Living Witness" and "Latent Image"
or the fun time travel stuff
ENT "Future Tense"

I think once Picard is out and if it's good you could just go, hey come and watch this with me each week or whatever.

 

[BillJ]

Deep explanation of timelines. If that doesn’t turn people on, nothing will.

 

[Falconer]

What finally convinced me to get into Trek (I held it at arm’s length for the first 30 of my 40 years) was the idea of being able to continue to keep 99% of it at arm’s length, and just sit down to a nice, enjoyable, STANDALONE episode of TOS whenever I felt like it. Once I grasped that TOS episodes were completely standalone sci-fi adventures, it was a piece of cake to sit down at my computer one night when the show was available for free on CBS.com. I was hooked by one episode (Miri, IIRC… not even the greatest one, but the format shone through). A little while later, I watched The Corbomite Maneuver with my wife, and she was struck by the discipline on board the ship (she had always assumed there was going to be a sitcommey touchey feelieness about it).

 

[Spicy Thunder]

Hey again! I have another friend that wants to watch some this weekend! I think that it's best if I start with the Kelvin timeline movies for them, because I believe it's a better transition between what is commonly expected in sci-fi movies to trek. After that, I think i'll send them to TNG. I have been trying to think of the best way to explain Trek to them, and I want to make a good impression. Does anyone have ideas on what I should say? I'm not the best at summarizing.