I get the joke, but I honestly don’t think Jellico is a jerk. He’s a military man. He wants his ship run in a military manner. Captains like Picard, Kirk, Janeway, etc. are not especially interested in a ship being run that way despite being in the military. I am guessing they are more the exception than the rule. Maybe that explains their success, but Jellico was also a successful captain. He just had a different way of running a ship, a more traditional way.
See also: Shaw on Picard. I know he was portrayed as an asshole (until the end), but he was clearly a very good captain.
Part of it will have to do with your tolerance for what the 60s or the 80s or the 90s or even the 00s thought the future would be. Because if you don’t have tolerance for any of that, it’s best to start with one of the new shows like Discovery or Strange New Worlds.
If that isn’t an issue, I’d suggest going to this website and seeing which show’s summary appeals to you most and then dive in. It’s true that Star Trek shows (generally) start weak in their first season, but there are first season episodes we could also all recommend.
I grew up with TOS, so I will always go with TOS before the others, but I also recognize it can be pretty hard to get into a 1960s idea of the far future.
I wanted to put more into the post, but I wasn’t sure what would help. I don’t watch a lot of TV, so it was hard to think of anything. I think the closest thing I’ve watched would probably be Stargate, which I enjoyed.
Stargate was definitely inspired by both TOS and TNG, so I might start with one of those, although Voyager has more of the ‘we have no idea what’s out there’ element because they’re in totally uncharted space.
But it’s so hard to tell you where to start. In terms of understanding most Star Trek references in other shows, probably TNG. Because while other shows do reference TOS, TNG seems to me to have been much more influential in future Star Trek development.
I’m at the exact point as you too and have decided to see it all!
I’m currently half way through the original series and although much of it has not aged well, it’s still fascinating. A few episodes are almost impossible to watch but many of them are classics. I do look forward to the next generation but I will have to watch the animated series first.
From what i understand, star trek is very mixed when it comes to episode quality.
I can’t decide which final episode is worse, TOS’ Turnabout Intruder or Enterprise’s These Are the Voyages… because the latter shits on Star Trek but the former shits on women.
It’s difficult to recommend without knowing your preferences. If you want to see everything and aren’t picky, I’d watch the shows in release order. Be aware that the original series hasn’t aged perfectly, in my opinion.
If you’d like a show that has a bit of everything in decent quality, (action, drama, comedy, science, philosophy, etc.) I’d recommend The Next Generation. In my opinion, the first season is awful, but the show gets exponentially better starting in the second season.
If you are more interested in characters and drama, then you might like to start with Deep Space Nine. This is one of the only Trek shows that has a strong first season. My only warning would be that it’s a bit of a long show that might drag for some people by the end, though it has a solid conclusion.
Huh, I absolutely hated season one of DS9. I nearly cried when I found out there were six more seasons to go after trudging through S1 (I was on a mission to watch all of Star Trek, having watched a patchwork of episodes–mostly STNG-as a kid). Then somewhere around S3? it started getting much better, and by the end of the series it was my favorite of the “classic” Star Trek series. But season one… I thought the plot, dialogue, and acting were all pretty bad. Maybe I need to go back and give it a rewatch and see if my opinion has changed at all.
It’s probably not something the community will agree, but I think “Strange New Worlds” is the best place to start. It has the soul and the essense of star trek, great episodes and acting and it’s modern, so you wont get bored from a 90’s series astettics. Afterwards you might want to go the usual path of TNG, VOY, DS9 and Enterprise, these are the essentials.
Lower Decks is fun series with Huge amounts of references, you might want to have a look.
Discovery and Picard are good serieses on their own, and they are integral part of the canon, they just don’t have the same storytelling style as the star trek. Last season of Picard I cryed my guts, but that’s just because I saw TNG, VOY etc… before.
Sorry for skippimg the original series, it’s just really hard to watch with 60’s astettics.
I don’t think SNW is the worst place to start, especially for someone who, as I said below, might have less of a tolerance for what earlier decades thought the future would be like. The only problem might be not getting some of the references.
Yes, that’s right. But the shows works even without the references. Unlike Picard season 3, for example, which is not just filled with references but knowing and watching all the previus shows is essential to fully enjoy it. I couldn’t imagine seeing the villain (No spoilers) for the first time without feeling the horror that was built in TNG
Based on what I remember of the “classic” Star Trek series:
TOS: can be watched in any order; very episodic; IMO has generally aged poorly and is not a good place to start
STNG: has a few plots lines through the series, but these only appear in some episodes; mostly episodic. If you’re worried about getting bored I think you can just watch the first two episodes, then skip to season 3 or 4. Once you feel like you’re enjoying the series go back and watch the episodes you skipped.
DS9: has a number of plot lines through the series, somewhat episodic, but best watched in order. The first season is ROUGH. My favorite of the classic series, but oh wow does it take a while to get good. Watch after STNG to understand properly.
VOY: pretty episodic after the first few episodes, with the exception of seasons 3-4 which have a fairly substantial continuing plot. The series makes a little more sense if you’ve seen season one of DS9.
ENT: has a decent amount of continuing plot lines, but still generally episodic. A prequel so it can be understood without watching any other series, but it has a lot of callbacks to previous shows that make it best watched last IMO. Also it’s probably the worst of the classic shows (excluding TOS which gets a pass for cultural relevance reasons), so I definitely wouldn’t start with it. I don’t think any one season is especially better/worse, and it’s fairly short so there’s not much point in jumping around.
In conclusion, I’d recommend either starting with one of the newer series, or watch the first two episodes of STNG, skip to S3 or S4, then once you’re enjoying it go back and watch STNG in order starting from S1E3.
Probably good to clarify: as per Wikipedia, The Naked Now is S1E3, and Code of Honor is S1E4. Encounter at Farpoint is actually two episodes. So to clarify: get through the Q Trial, then skip ahead to S3/4, then backtrack to The Naked Now.
For what it’s worth, I always thought The Naked Now would have been a much better episode if it had aired later in the series, or even later in season 1. It’s the type of goofy episode that works best after viewers have gotten to know the characters, much funnier that way. I assume they wanted to do a TOS callback early on as an homage, or a welcome to old fans or something, but it felt like an clunky, wasted opportunity.
Now that I watch it older and with leadership in mind:
Both.
Jellico needed to make it clear what his priorities were and why. He needed to acknowledge the sudden change in everything (mission, preparedness, strictness, etc) and hardship on the crew. He didn’t have much choice but he had to go about it differently. Without clarity his changes just seem harsh. He should have had a preparatory statement for the crew when he took command and a closer rapport with Riker to get it done.
Riker and all needed to respect the Captain’s direction. Also if Jellico couldn’t convey it, they should have picked up on it from the mission and their training as officers. Especially Riker, who is supposed to be ready to be captain in case Jellico dies and who should have given the other officers any support missing from Jellico.
I have long held that Season 5, Episode 2 of is the best episode to “test” if you’ll like Star Trek or not. It is a generally well-liked and well-reviewed episode, but more than that, I feel that from both a story and a character standpoint it is representative of what your average Star Trek episode is generally about.
I’m glad you liked it! From here on out I would just say watch The Next Generation. If you find that you’re struggling in seasons one and two, I recommend you skip around using the IMDB ratings. The good episodes in these seasons are few and far between, but are easy to spot by their score.
Once you get to season 3 the show has found it’s voice: the the average episode is pretty good and the terrible episodes are mostly behind you. Mostly.
If you like classics, I say start all the way back with the original! It’s fun, very 1960s, and largely episodic (because it was uncommon for people to watch it in order back then). It was meant to draw in a wide audience and introduce them to Trek ideas, so it’s entertaining to see where it all started.
I always thought that was the point. People are often a byproduct of the environment that shaped them. Saru’s lack of empathy to the creature is a watershed moment for Saru, storyline wise.
That does make sone sense, yeah. I’m confused, because Saru is otherwise depicted as very empathetic, it’s even pointed out verbally, but this situation was different and it came so early on that it was hard for me to believe his empathy for a while afterwards, so I’m not very sure what the writers wanted me to think.
I think it was also a desperate situation. Lorca was in immediate danger and I am guessing Saru would, even with his empathy, have reasoned that a sentient being’s life, especially someone as important as Lorca, was more important. He also let the tardigrade go back to its home in the mycelial network after the emergency was over and it would have died on either the Glenn or the Discovery if that hadn’t happened.
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