The Next Generation Season 3

Season 2 has some really good episodes (measure of a man), but also has a weak start, and Season 1 is pretty ehhhh…

I think Strange New Worlds could be a good start for someone entirely new to the franchise. Not too dark, a lot of vibes from the The Original Series and solid cast / writing.

You start with the original trilogy and then-

Wait, what are we talking about?

Strange New Worlds season 1. A lot of Trek series have a rough first season. SNW seems to have avoided this curse and hit the ground running.

I think it boils down to what kind of TV you want to watch in general, because almost all Star Trek is good Star Trek, but the shows are very much products of their time

So, do you want 60s adventure of the week where you really get into the origins of the franchise? -> Original Series seasons 1-2

80s/90s vision of a future where we have really learnt to better ourselves? -> The Next Generation Season 3 onwards (and any highly rated season 1 or 2 episodes)

A new take on Star Trek that keeps the hope and adventure, with modern special effects and episodes still in production / coming out? -> Strange New Worlds starting at the very beginning

The other shows are good too, but for someone specifically looking for a hopeful iteration of Star Trek, I’d recommend the above three

If you’re looking for the hopeful view of humanity’s future, I’d start with Season 3 of The Next Generation. It has that in spades, while also skipping over the first two seasons where it is really trying to find its footing. If you really like it and want to see how it all started, go back and watch the first two seasons.

If you like TNG and want a more character-driven experience that doesn’t focus nearly as much on exploration, Deep Space Nine is fantastic. Just like TNG, the first two seasons are kind of rough as they try to figure things out. They’re also a fair bit slower (some call them dull) than the later seasons, but if you like character and world building, they’re pretty decent. It really gains steam with season 3.

If you want to continue the theme of exploration, Star Trek Voyager is good. I don’t enjoy it as much as TNG and DS9, but Voyager has the advantage of the show runners and writers having fully figured out what life is like in that time period without the stumbles of the first two series. I’d say it remains fairly consistent throughout, but I personally don’t find that its highs are as high as TNG and DS9.

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I’d say TOS, season 2 I think it is, when they did away with the annoying and unnecessary squeaky beep boop background noises of the ship’s computers and stuff. I really hated that annoying sound.

But if you’re not a fan of TOS, I’d say TNG, season 1.

Your degree of prior knowledge isn’t much of an issue. Every show explores its own little corner of the universe, and they all stand well enough on their own.

I’ll make an exception for Lower Decks - it’s full of referential humour that you’ll appreciate more if you’ve at least seen TNG first.

I’d say start from the beginning, unless you’re particularly uncomfortable with TV from the sixties. Most Star Trek takes a season or three to really find their groove, but TOS fires on all cylinders right out of the gate.

If you crave something more modern, Strange New Worlds is an excellent place to start, with the advantage that you can enjoy new episodes as season 3 comes out later this year.

TNG is a popular recommendation, but it’s a little dated itself, and the first season is strikingly rough around the edges.

Joking answer: Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, but skip all episodes except “Code of Honor”, which is the “best” in the franchise.

Serious Answer: DS9 season 1. Although it’s less hopeful than the typical Trek in many senses, I think it still has that Trekian sense of ethics about it. Also, the characters are great, and the first season is much more watchable than TNG season 1.

Opinion: if you go in chronological order, the age and quality will progress nicely, rather than jumping all around if you start with one then go back and do that sort of thing.

This thread is basically useless to OP as almost every single comment or has a different suggestion 😂

TNG is the most uplifting, imho, but as the others have said, the first seasons are hit and miss.

If you can make through the fourth episode, which is widely considered one of, if not the worst, whitout wanting to quit right away, you’ll bei good, it only get’s better.

If not, skip ahead to season 3. Also, everything looks more modern from seasons 3 onward, if the 80s look bothers you.

Which season? You mean which Star Trek, right? Do you want: 60s Technicolor and skirts; Animated not because it’s for kids, but because special effects are expensive and difficult; Androids and friendly Klingons; Frontier space station; One ship alone against an entire quadrant of the galaxy; Time travel and a theme song with words; Tripping through space with the help of mushrooms; Animated, this time for kids; Star Trek, now with more heart; Star Trek: beyond retirement; Star Trek: humor will set us free?

Start with TNG. The first season is slightly campy, but some good episodes. Season 2 gets better though skip shades of grey, it’s a clip show that we don’t talk about. Season 3 is when rider grows his beard and things get awesome.

Then when you’re done with that you can do DS9. Its slightly darker, basically bring uplifting in times of war and has amazing episodes.

Then there is voyager. Its more uplifting again but the writing really isn’t in oar with the previous two

Then there is “enterprise” which is darker again, not a very great first seasons though it gets better

Then you could do TOS but the visuals haven’t really held, of course, as it’s the 60-70’s

Don’t watch the post 2000 star trek, though, it’s awful. Discovery is full of spiteful characters, cringe writing, all flashy nonsense bling bling CGI and a lot of plain hate. Star trek Picard was so horrible that it ruined TNG for me. I watched TNG and DS9 episodes multiple times per month, all my life. I watched Picard about a year ago, and I haven’t watched star Trek ever since, it is THAT bad.

All the post 2000 shows have been made by people who dislike trek and only we’re there to use it as a political platform (literally their words). If you want to watch modern star trek, watch “the Orville”, it’s made by Seth McFarlane who also plays a character in Star Trek enterprise. the guy is a huge star trek fan and wanted to make a star trek show. When he couldn’t, he made the Orville and it’s all that TNG is, but modern