Star Trek

Strange New Worlds has been a hit, and for good reason. I'd say that's a worthy starting point. Lower Decks is really fun and full of references that might entice you to revisit earlier series (but really shouldn't hinder your enjoyment.

I tend to think new viewers should just start with whatever's present, meaning the "new" stuff. Of course there are some older series that are also good starting places (if you are primed for their more episodic nature, something younger viewers may not be familiar with).

TNG is, imo, the gold standard and an excellent starting point if you’re not looking to jump straight into Strange New Worlds. Its episodes are generally pretty self-contained, so you won’t be punished terribly for jumping around if you’re just looking to get a taste, and will still be able to enjoy the great episodes it has to offer, but you will get more context the more episodes you’re willing to watch.

Plenty of folks have compiled lists of which episodes are skippable vs worth watching, and there’s pretty universal agreement on which are iconic must-watch episodes, so there’s nothing wrong with following one of those for a first watch. Here’s an example. I’d recommend using the list at the bottom of that page (or another rated list) as a guide, and experiment a bit to figure out a good baseline for how low of a rating is acceptable and how many episodes you can tolerate in your first watch through.

Note that season 1 is widely regarded as the weakest, where the show is trying to emulate ToS and hasn’t yet come into its own, and you can skip episodes more liberally here, or even come back to it later.

If you’re just getting into Trek, start with TNG season 3. Follow that up either with TNG seasons 1 & 2, or jump into Voyager.

For a darker Trek, watch DS9 - but be aware the first few seasons are very uneven and it gets a LOT better. It’s arguably the best of all the Trek series and well worth the investment to get past the first few seasons.

Enterprise was ok. It’s held up well, except for the theme song which was always trash. Don’t watch the series finale - just, don’t.

For the new series, SNW is the best of the live action bunch. Picard S1 and S2 are steaming piles while S3 was enjoyable and what S1 should have been. I personally enjoyed S1 and S2 of Discovery, while everything past that was truly terrible IMO. Prodigy was really good, if you can get past that it’s geared towards kids (which is obvious from time to time).

You’ve already enjoyed Lower Decks, so 👍

Watch guides for every show. https://www.letswatchstartrek.com/

I want to start with the earlier series but not have to watch all of it!

Why the rush?

Are you cramming for a test?

Why don't you want to watch all of it?

the most universally enjoyed Star Trek series' and movies?

People are different, opinions differ. There is no correct answer to this.

My opinion:

Best OG movie: Star Trek 2

TNG season 3 onward.

Movie First Contact.

DS9. Skip around if you want. Look at the ratings. There's a lot of seasons and you don't need every episode

Voyager. The first 1 or 2 seasons were weak, then it's ok. You can watch based on ratings I think.

You can skip TOS. It has its own campiness. Watch if you want to understand Trek at its most uh Roddenberry.

Somewhere along the way:

Movie Wrath of Khan, just for the history.

Movie The Voyage Home. Just a fun feel good movie.

Can't really go wrong if you start TNG at season 3.

I think most people agree that TNG is either at the top, or close to the top for best series. There's also a smaller, diehard group that think DS9 is the best trek (myself included).

TNG is more adventurous where the crew is always on the side of morality and reason, and use wits and principles to overcome obstacles. Every episode is an adventure, and each adventure varies greatly from saving a planet from destruction or saving someone from their own mind. DS9 has larger, darker story arcs and more of a "sitcom" feel (in the best way possible) where the focus is more on the characters rather than the adventure. The episodes vary greatly in terms of theme, you could have an episode where you're laughing every 2 minutes from the sheer silliness, or witness the most psychologically gut-wrenching thing you've seen in a long time. You can't go wrong with either, and both have a bit of a rougher first couple seasons before they hit their stride.

As far as more recent trek, I enjoyed pretty much all of them but I would say strange new worlds is probably the cleanest and best for a new person. Lower decks is absolutely incredible but is more of a love letter to all the previous shows so you won't get as much out of it as someone who has seen everything.

If you want the most “universally enjoyed” I’d say start with TNG season 2. Then once you’re finished maybe check out DS9

to be perfectly honest, order doesn't really matter. There is a small amount of interplay between TNG and DS9 and that's about it. Watch it in whatever order fancies you, as long as you don't watch Enterprise first because it's high level of boredom might turn you off

Trust me when I say that if Trek strikes your fancy, you probably will want to devour the rest

personally I would suggest starting with TNG, that one definitely qualifies as the "most universally loved". Plus, if you liked Lower Decks, then TNG-era Trek is likely to be your jam anyway

after TNG, watch DS9 and Voyager in whatever order you want. They ran concurrently originally, with DS9 having started a couple years before Voyager. You can watch the TNG movies anytime after finishing TNG bearing in mind that First Contact has minor consequences in DS9 (you will mainly notice a uniform change that coincided with the release of that movie)

watch the TOS movies at some point! they are much easier to get into than TOS proper. Just bear in mind that the even numbered ones are generally better liked than the odd numbered ones.

LD and SNW are fine places to start.

I started with Voyager because that's what I saw on TV when I was a kid and the nostalgia was strong. If LD and SNW are catching your attention for whatever reason, go for it. IMO, the benefits to watching Trek series in any particular order is marginal unless you are going to become super into the lore.

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I'll give it a shot for TOS.

Top 10, plus bonuses:

- Space Seed. Great episode, plus backstory for The Wrath of Khan, which is my favorite ST movie by far.

- The Trouble With Tribbles. But they're cute!

- Mirror, Mirror. The original mirror universe ep. Bonus: The Enemy Within.

- Amok Time. Spock, amok.

- Arena. Gorn wrasslin'!

- Balance of Terror. Those Romulan dastards. Bonus: The Enterprise Incident.

- The Doomsday Machine. Great ep.

- The City on the Edge of Forever. Best overall ep?

- The Devil in the Dark. Personal favorite.

- The Naked Time. Great ep, much Spockage.

I don't think there's a "best" order.

Even the shows that ran concurrently (TNG/DS9/VOY) had very few crossovers, so essentially you can jump right into any one of those without missing anything. Although personally I'd suggest watching TNG before DS9 because DS9 deconstructs some of the Star Trek that came before it, so it's more impactful if you watch it in that order.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I'd start with Wrath of Khan (movie #2). Watch through Voyage Home (#4). Then watch #6. These are designed to be approachable.

Edit: I've been a lifelong lover of Trek, but as I think about it, this is probably how I first got into it as a much younger person. I don't know how many people actually start from TOS S01E01.

DS9 is how I got into Trek after catching re-runs while working a security night shift. After that, I bounced around all the different shows / movies. Didn’t really follow any set guide or watchlist. I’d recommend starting with whatever show appeals to you most and going from there. Don’t overthink it. Just watch and enjoy.

My favorite Stark Trek show is Deep Space Nine. I think it's good starting point.

Loved Final Space. Old Trek is not Final Space. It's a lot more like Bob's Burgers. Things happen in the episode, but if you miss one you're not un-prepared for the next one. TNG they started doing more 'to be continued' episodes and had more "lasting effects". DS9 continued tradition and kept and underlying plot episodes sprinkled through the seasons, getting much closer to Final Space storytelling. Voyager and Discovery follow the Final Space storytelling, large plot with smaller stories getting us there. Beyond those I've mentioned, I did get in S1 of Picard and it follows "big plot" as well.

Pluto has channel that runs nothing but TOS and TNG, maybe fall asleep to it? Put it on while working or exercising?

There is ‘Where should I start?’ In Community Info the old subreddit. It laid out the different options for viewing order. Elsewhere, many Trek sites publish ‘best of’ lists that can provide suggestions for compressed viewing.

Our mod at our new home here (who was the mod there) is still working out how to create access to some kind of linked community info resources.

In the meantime, keeping in mind that TOS, TNG, Voyager and SNW are episodic, there’s no harm in dropping into episodes in any order and seeing what you enjoy. It’s the way many of us got into the franchise in the days of syndicated reruns.

There are definitely some filler episodes throughout the series. Having 26 episodes a season meant some of them got dumb and pointless. There are must watch lists online that only cover the best episodes of each series and skip the filler. I found that as I got more into the universe, I didn't mind watching them though.

Every series offers something different. Classic trek is TNG. If you want an overarching plot with a darker twist, DS9. If you want more suspense watch VOY. New Trek has it's ups and downs too, and there's less filler. I'm loving Strange New Worlds, it's more classic.

So much to choose from!

As others have said, watch the best episodes of TOS. Because the best ones are brilliant. I'm sure there are a ton of best episodes lists out there to use as a guide. But aside from the two part Menagerie (which is a must watch) they are all standalone episodes. I reckon 10-20 episodes are enough to experience the best.

Other ones that spring to mind:

City on the Edge of Forever Amok Time Operation Annihilate Balance of Terror Space Seed The Devil in the Dark Mirror, Mirror

The movies are also important, but feel free to skip 1 and 5. 3 is so-so, but it isn't really skippable because it resolves 2 and sets up 4.

For TNG watch the best episodes of S1 and S2, then all of S3.

Most series tend to be quite good as their own starting points. For some of them, like Strange New Worlds, or Enterprise, you might benefit from having the context of watching other show, but they're usually also self-contained enough that it's also not a necessity, although it might mean that some details make more sense.

Your best bet might just be to find a series that seems like you might enjoy watching, and go from there. Some people might like to go by in-universe chronological order, or a production order, but in my opinion, it doesn't really matter. Just watch what you like, and move around as you want to.

Especially for the newer shows, where the in-universe timeline isn't quite as linear as it is on the older ones.

If you got into the show, wouldn’t you end up wanting to watch as much of it as possible? Just watch the show. If you like it, keep watching. If you don’t, stop.