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Rate the Intros

Rate the intro

  • The original series

    Votes: 10 17.2%
  • TAS

    Votes: 1 1.7%
  • TNG

    Votes: 5 8.6%
  • Ds9

    Votes: 8 13.8%
  • Voyager

    Votes: 14 24.1%
  • Enterprise

    Votes: 6 10.3%
  • Discovery

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • Lower Decks

    Votes: 3 5.2%
  • Picard

    Votes: 4 6.9%
  • Strange New Worlds

    Votes: 3 5.2%
  • Prodigy

    Votes: 2 3.4%

  • Total voters
    58

The_Baroness

Captain
Captain
Just curious here.

The series intros have been a mixed bunch, some a beautiful with great music. Some haven't been so good.

I'd be interested to see what people think of each series from a general "what's your favourite" to the aspects like the music, the visuals etc.

For me, I really like the Strange New Worlds intro. The rearranged Tos theme is wonderful to listen to but the images of the 1701 flying through space is lovely to look at.

I won't be skipping this intro often..

Prodigy is a good one too.
 
Not going to rank them all, but I'll mention some of my favourites.

DS9, seasons 1-3
Picard, season 2
Voyager
TOS, season 1
Discovery
TNG, season 7
 
I'm going to go through them all in order and write my thoughts to try to figure out what I'd choose to be my favourite.
  • TOS - There's two parts to this. I love the first part with the opening fanfare, the monlogue and the shots of the Enterprise doing stuff. The second bit of the theme with the ship whooshing by I've never been keen on.
  • TAS - It's definitely a variation of the TOS opening, except more 70s. It's never been my favourite theme, but it works great with the series.
  • TNG - There's two distinctive versions of this, and both of them deliberately mimic the TOS intro, replacing the second part of the theme with music from The Motion Picture. So no points for originality. But I love the fanfare and the theme, so as far as I'm concerned they nailed it.
  • DS9 - Another opening with two versions. I think they definitely suit the series, as they fit whether it's a quiet story on the station or the latest chapter in an epic war saga, but they're a bit slow. That DS9 model really stands up to a minute and a half of close ups though
  • Voyager - Even people who hate Voyager like its theme, and the mix of model effects and CGI visuals in the opening look great. I feel like it could've done with at least one update along the way though, as it's perhaps not ideal to have a series about a journey with a complete static, unchanging opening. Plus after listening to the same tune so many times my brain's started to isolate instruments in it I don't like and they annoy me now.
  • Enterprise - I think it was a smart move to go with a radically different approach for this one and the visuals are great. The trouble is that Rick Berman's taste in music is not my taste in music, and as the series became more of an action thriller the theme became more and more jarring. Comically jarring. I don't know what my favourite is yet, but this is the worst by far.
  • Discovery - A very different kind of theme to earlier seasons, kind of melancholy without a strong melody. It's grown on me though, and the visuals are kind of creative.
  • Picard - It gets points for changing dramatically every season, but the second season theme perhaps promises more of an epic story than the series was interested in delivering on.
  • Lower Decks - Basically perfect for what the series is. I like how the music plays it straight and the only comical thing about it is how shamelessly old fashioned it is in an era of prestige TV. The transition about 44 seconds in is a bit awkward to me though, so it loses points for that.
  • Prodigy - I wasn't all that impressed by the music until I heard the full version of the track. I think that little bit of introduction that isn't in the opening really helps. The visuals... they're alright. They show off the Protostar and she's a pretty little starship.
  • Strange New Worlds - Goes back to a more classic Voyager/The Orville approach to its visuals, which I'd appreciate more if the ship didn't bother me. The music is suitably upbeat and heroic, but kind of bland. It sounds like it's from a video game tie-in which couldn't afford the rights to use the proper theme.
So I guess my favourite of them is... I dunno. They all work pretty well for their own series, except for Enterprise.
 
My top three:

DS9 (S4-7) takes what was already a decent theme and adds just enough to make it feel entirely new, and more engaging.

TOS is definitely bold and with confidence.

TNG (S1-2) sells a sense of awe and wonder, complete with 80s synth sounds, and using "one" as a catch-all for all humans that's a tad better. Amusingly, it has its roots from the TMP opening credits but TNG makes it its own.
 
There are too many series now for me to do this easily. Ummm....

TOS Intros
Season 3 (the intro was perfect at this point)
Season 2
Early Season 1 (the "eerie" sounding verison)
"The Cage"
TAS (love the '70s tune)
Later Season 1 (it's both plainer sounding and doesn't have Loulie Jean Norman's vocals)
WNMHGB Pilot Version (that music sounds more like it belongs in a western!)

TNG Intros
Season 5 (I like the flashier "Star Trek: The Next Generation" title card)
Seasons 3-7 (definitely like starting with the Galaxy better than the Solar System)
Season 1 (the higher-pitched music gives it more character than S2's intro)
Season 2

Berman Trek Intros
VOY
DS9 Seasons 4-7
ENT Mirror Universe Version
DS9 Seasons 1-3
ENT

Kurtzman Trek Intros
PIC Season 1
PIC Season 2
SNW
DSC
PRO
LD
 
I'll just rank the shows I have seen:
Next Generation
Discovery
Original Series
Voyager
Deep Space Nine
Enterprise
Picard
 
Voyager and Lower Decks are my current faves.
DS9, SNW, and PRO are good.
TNG, TOS, and PIC are meh.
Enterprise is a hard pass.
 
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TOS (just like the series…it’s the GOAT)
DS9 S4-7
VOY
TNG
PRO
LD
ENT (bonus points for being different)
SNW
DS9 S1-3
PIC S2
PIC S1
DISCO
 
I cant even attempt to rate all of them. I love Voyagers theme and visuals. SNW has an awesome opening. It's hard to choose. I like all of them on some level. Havent seen prodigy and lower decks so I cant comment on those.
 
TOS (The Cage & WNMHGB) – a rough around the edge’s version of the TOS theme. Its not yet the iconic theme. But it’s not the worst theme on the list, or even of the TOS/TAS era.

TOS S1-3 - a groovy theme that feels like a character of its own. The best of the TOS/TAS era.

TAS – a remixed version of the TOS theme. Clearly made with Saturday mornings in mind.

TNG S1 – This does bring the TMP theme to tv. I like the view of the solar system used in S1-2 and the theme used as well. Then S3 had the iconic and refreshed intro that lasts for the rest of the show. I like the graphics for the intro title in S5 the most. The S1 intro with the S5 titles would have been interesting mix to see once, imo.

DS9 - S1-3 represent the remoteness of the station, while S4-7 has more energy behind it and represents the station as a hub of activity and not so remote anymore. Even though I favour S4-7 for episodes, I grown to prefer the theme for S1-3 over time.

VOY – a beautiful theme to go with a beautiful intro. The best Star Trek ever had to offer. ‘nuff said.

ENT S1-2 – It shows the history of humanity through science, flight and exploration. FOTH more a reaffirming prayer than a Trek intro and not using the instrumental version from the “Broken Bow” end credits for the intro really was a missed opportunity, as that song is very unique for Star Trek. FOTH really is the equivalent of root beer and I’m convinced it’s the real reason why skip intro is a thing for various streaming services today. I did like that the show was simply called Enterprise here, as its before they became Star Trek and its should have stuck around. Also, something I did not realize until now, that how the cast was credited was a throwback to S1 of TNG, in that you don’t see the name of the character they are playing underneath. Only the names of the starring actors & actresses are listed. And this has continued throughout the Kurtzman era to credit the main cast of the other shows.

ENT S3-4 – the show does get more exciting with this theme, so Berman had a point in remixing it to make it faster; this theme is synonymous with the best of Enterprise. But that there is no full version of this remix to be found says a lot, mainly that its not per se a good song by itself. I get why they added Star Trek to the main title, but they shouldn’t have bothered.

ENT Mirror Universe theme – both a traditional Trek theme and vary daring at the same time, showing the other side of human history though militarism, conflict, and conquest. And the titles changing to reflect it was a nice touch. Definitely the best of the ENT era, by far. It’s a shame it only got played twice.

ENT Unused (Archer’s theme). Only found on the internet on various sites, I’m kind of glad this never made tv. As aside from the shots of the NX-01 in drydock, the ship leaving drydock , Archer reciting the captains oath, and the use of Archer’s theme, it’s a pretty boring intro. The flybys of the ship don’t do it for me in the way that the flybys in VOY, DIS or SNW do. I’ve literally seen better and livelier fan made intros, using both Archer’s theme and the TNG theme for Enterprise.

DIS – a throwback to the energy of the TOS theme, and get points solely for not being FOTH. Seriously, hearing this theme when DIS first premiered was such a good feeling, in that felt like real Star Trek. I am surprised that for the mirror episodes, they did not use the mirror universe theme from ENT to match the graphics.

PIC S1 – a melancholy theme the signaled reflection and that the end is near. The graphics fit the nature of the show.

PIC S2 – a lot more dramatic and bolder than the S1 theme, that hyped up a story that did not deliver once it hit the 2024 arc.

LD – this theme fits the show, and definitely represents the next chapter of the 24th century well. The best theme of the Kurtzman era.

PRO – a theme that wants to catch your attention, which is probably the point since the show is targeted at children.

SNW – the TOS theme modernized to a 2022 audience. Between the theme, the Enterprise powering up and leaving drydock, and the flybys of the ship, its what the unused intro for ENT dreams it was.
 
I do regard original series (seasons 1 and 2) intro as baseline average. Though minor changes within series can make pretty big change in rating, the revampings generally for the worse with the big exception of TNG.

TNG (3-7)/Deep Space Nine (1-3)
Animated series
Original series (1 and 2)
TNG (1 and 2)
Original series (3)/Deep Space Nine (4-7)/Voyager
Enterprise
(1 and 2)
Enterprise (3 and 4)
 
DS9 is by far my favorite. Hell, my ex and I even talked a lot about using it as our wedding music for when she walked down the aisle. Both versions are just perfect to me.
Oddly enough, even though I'm not a huge Voyager fan, I consider the intro to be both visually and musically one of Star Trek's finest moments. It's just so impressive.

SNW absolutely ranks very high on my list, both the music and the visuals as well. It invokes everything that was amazing about TOS and TNG for some reason.

Coming to those two.... It's very simple, both tunes are what I grew up with in terms of Star Trek. DS9 and SNW have surpassed them as my favorite shows, but the music.... I just can't get over how every part of me feels nostalgic when I hear either one of those.

*EDIT*
I just had to include what is probably my favorite rendition of the DS9 theme, which was the version we would have used for the wedding. I actually still brings very happy tears to my eyes, literally. The characters and stories of Deep Space Nine have always touched the Star Trek part of heart the most and just hearing this music again makes me feel like the late teen, using my hard earned money from little jobs to buy the tapes and play them. God I loved that show so much.

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I also really enjoy the Disco intro/theme.

I liked the SNW theme at first but it grates on me now.

PIC Season 1 theme is great. The Second Seasons theme is aimless.
 
Ranked:
1. TNG
2. Enterprise - Sped Up Version
3. Enterprise: Slow Version
4. TOS
5. DS9
6. VOY
7. Lower Decks
8. TAS
9. SNW
10. I can't remember DSC or Picard's Openings, so let's just say they're tied for last

I've never seen Prodigy, so I can't rank it.
 
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