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AggieDub14
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8:53a, 12/1/21
AG
I got a Paramount+ trial and gave Lower Decks a shot. It's hilarious, even for someone who has no knowledge of Star Trek beyond general pop culture references. After finishing I watched it again with my wife, who also found it hilarious.

I went to the Auburn game with a buddy and recommended the show to him. He told me if I wanted to get into the franchise that The Next Generation was a great starting point. I'm about 20 episodes in and it's a fantastic show.

Considering TNG started in 1987, the production value is still pretty good. The acting and dialogue is great. I tried the original series and just couldn't do it. I'm having a blast watching TNG. I love that the show has actual life lessons and isn't just space fighting and explosions for the sake of entertainment. Glad I started this journey of several hundred hours of content.

Any fans of the franchise have advice for me on how to move forward? From what I've read, after TNG it's the movies that follow it and several other shows with some of the same characters.
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The Dirty Sock
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8:59a, 12/1/21
Avoid Discovery and Picard.
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akm91
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9:30a, 12/1/21
AG
Star Trek II - Wrath of Khan
Star Trek |V - Voyage Home

Love those two movies

Don't waste time on Star Trek V
"And liberals, being liberals, will double down on failure." - dedgod
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oragator
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9:32a, 12/1/21
The production value gets better as the series moves on as do the plots. TNG is my favorite of the franchise.
The originals are worth a shot too. To understand the whole franchise watching them helps, and there are a lot of references in TNG to it, including some characters coming back.
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h1ag
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9:33a, 12/1/21
AG
When you get your fill of ST, check out stargate sg-1. We bounce back and forth at our house
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The Debt
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9:38a, 12/1/21
Start with Wrath of khan (II), then watch III, IV, VI.

Watch The Next Generation, then Deep Space 9 (it's the superior series to all), then you're done with the highest value of ST watching.



If you want to watch ST First Contact, it's a bonus.


If you want hit and miss TV try enterprise with Scott Bakula (quantum leap). If you want some kirk, maybe google some essential episodes list from The original series...it is not bingeable otherwise.

Voyager is on a scale from worst ST to best, about a 3/10. It does have a hot German chick with DDs in a skin tight suit after s3 or s4...so there is that.
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Fightin TX Aggie
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 9:48a, 12/1/21
AG
I would rank them as follows:

1. Voyager
2. Next Gen
3. Original Series
4. Deep Space 9

But I would watch them in this order:

1. Original Series
2. Wrath of Khan movie
3. Next Gen
4. Star Trek: First Contact movie
5. Voyager
6. DS 9
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schmendeler
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9:54a, 12/1/21
AG
"I love that the show has actual life lessons and isn't just space fighting and explosions for the sake of entertainment."

This is one of the things that makes real sci-fi enjoyable to me. And why I put things like star wars on a lower level.
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AggieDub14
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In reply to The Dirty Sock • 10:01a, 12/1/21
AG
The Dirty Sock said:
Avoid Discovery and Picard.


Awe man. I heard Discovery was bad but I've had high hopes for Picard.
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The Dirty Sock
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 10:02a, 12/1/21
AggieDub14 said:
I love that the show has actual life lessons and isn't just space fighting and explosions for the sake of entertainment.

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AggieDub14
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In reply to schmendeler • 10:03a, 12/1/21
AG
schmendeler said:
"I love that the show has actual life lessons and isn't just space fighting and explosions for the sake of entertainment."

This is one of the things that makes real sci-fi enjoyable to me. And why I put things like star wars on a lower level.


I see Star Wars as more of a heroes tale space opera narrative. Episodes 4-6 were written very well as a story. The rest has just been a way to add context to a universe that people enjoy. I don't think that diminishes what it is, but it is something different than what you would refer to as "real sci-fi"

My two cents.
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The Dirty Sock
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 10:13a, 12/1/21
AggieDub14 said:
The Dirty Sock said:
Avoid Discovery and Picard.


Awe man. I heard Discovery was bad but I've had high hopes for Picard.

This guy pretty much says it all:

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bobinator
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10:44a, 12/1/21
AG
Picard was a mess.

I would rank the top Star Trek properties as:

1) Next Generation Series - just so many absolute banger episodes and this show holds up incredibly well
2) Original Cast Movies - there are some real misses here, but still fun watches and Wrath of Khan is the greatest Star Trek thing ever created
3) Abrams-verse movies - Into Darkness is not a good movie but it's still fun and the other two are solid. The 2009 'Star Trek' is probably the best Star Trek movie other than Wrath of Khan.
4) The original series - you just have to embrace the weird and enjoy the ride here
5) TNG cast movies - First Contact is a good one, Generations and Insurrection are fine, Nemesis is a borderline crime against humanity
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One Eyed Reveille
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10:58a, 12/1/21
AG
Deep Space Nine has the best overarching Story ( but Stat Trek Pureists don't like this, they want "monster of the week")

Voyager has seven of Nine and the Borg THAT is its redeeming qualities.

Next Generation has the best Characters.

The Original Series is just that the nostalgia series, the start of it all

For Movies

Wrath of Khan TOS
Voyage Home TOS
First Contact TNG

The newer movies with Chris Pine are just that newer, not better at all.

Lower Decks is funny and a different take on it

Picard is a "mess" because it is written like a 10 episode dark movie with a story lots of Pureists didn't like.

I haven't watched Discovery but heard stories about it and didnt really want to.

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G Martin 87
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11:00a, 12/1/21
AG
I'll take a stab at a "required viewing" list of ST:TOS episodes. This includes the best episodes IMHO, and also some not-so-great-but-still-iconic episodes that are significant because they're often referenced in memes and other shows, like DS9 and Lower Decks. (Obviously, season 3 was a mess.) As for the ST movies, just follow this simple rule: even numbered ST movies are good, odd numbered ST movies aren't.

Season 1
  • The Man Trap
  • Charlie X
  • The Naked Time
  • The Menagerie (parts 1&2)
  • Balance of Terror
  • Arena
  • Space Seed
  • The Devil in the Dark
  • The City on the Edge of Forever


Season 2
  • Amok Time
  • Mirror, Mirror
  • The Doomsday Machine
  • I, Mudd
  • The Trouble With Tribbles
  • The Immunity Syndrome
  • Patterns of Force


Season 3
  • The Enterprise Incident
  • Day of the Dove
  • The Tholian Web


There are a few other episodes "on the bubble", like The Corbomite Maneuver (silly, but tranya!), The Changeling (you can skip ST:TMP if you watch this one), Spock's Brain (arguably the most ridiculous episode ever and therefore very meme-able), and Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (also ridiculous, but significant because of the Civil Rights and race tensions of the 60s when TOS was produced.) Watch Plato's Stepchildren if you want to see the first interracial kiss in TV history. Consider those extra credit homework.
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Tanya 93
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 11:15a, 12/1/21
AggieDub14 said:
I got a Paramount+ trial and gave Lower Decks a shot. It's hilarious, even for someone who has no knowledge of Star Trek beyond general pop culture references. After finishing I watched it again with my wife, who also found it hilarious.

I went to the Auburn game with a buddy and recommended the show to him. He told me if I wanted to get into the franchise that The Next Generation was a great starting point. I'm about 20 episodes in and it's a fantastic show.

Considering TNG started in 1987, the production value is still pretty good. The acting and dialogue is great. I tried the original series and just couldn't do it. I'm having a blast watching TNG. I love that the show has actual life lessons and isn't just space fighting and explosions for the sake of entertainment. Glad I started this journey of several hundred hours of content.

Any fans of the franchise have advice for me on how to move forward? From what I've read, after TNG it's the movies that follow it and several other shows with some of the same characters.
Season 2 of TNG is terrible for the most part.

My favorite series is probably Deep Space 9.

Amazing character arcs.
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MGS
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 11:29a, 12/1/21
AggieDub14 said:
I got a Paramount+ trial and gave Lower Decks a shot. It's hilarious, even for someone who has no knowledge of Star Trek beyond general pop culture references.
You probably missed 90% of the jokes if you hadn't seen any Trek.

"I was watching the first Enterprise on the holodeck. You know, Archer and those guys. What a story. Those guys had a long road getting from there to here."

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hunter2012
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11:49a, 12/1/21
AG
In the new world of binge watching and streaming DS9 has leaped towards the front of the pack. Though I'd still say TNG is better but just because I grew up on it and the episodes have massive rerun value. Regardless, DS9 has a cohesive story that makes the show so much better when you can watch the series in sequence and appreciate the larger story.

  • TNG
  • DS9
  • Original
  • Enterprise(the later seasons are especially good)
  • Voyager(still need to fish this)

  • I won't address the new shows as they are agenda driven drivel made in modern showbiz. Though if I gave any show a shot it would be lower decks. Until they drive Kurtzman off though I won't watch any of the new shows.

The movies deserve to be judged as movies not comparable to shows. First Contact is my personal favorite(see my nostalgia mentioned above), that and the borg are an awesome bad guy.
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AggieDub14
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In reply to MGS • 11:56a, 12/1/21
AG
MGS said:
AggieDub14 said:
I got a Paramount+ trial and gave Lower Decks a shot. It's hilarious, even for someone who has no knowledge of Star Trek beyond general pop culture references.
You probably missed 90% of the jokes if you hadn't seen any Trek.

"I was watching the first Enterprise on the holodeck. You know, Archer and those guys. What a story. Those guys had a long road getting from there to here."



Oh yeah I'm well aware. I googled a few things to fill in some of the gaps. But even without a background in the franchise, it's still a hilarious show. I look forward to watching it again after watching other Trek content.
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One Eyed Reveille
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In reply to Tanya 93 • 12:11p, 12/1/21
AG
Of course it is, your cat DAX agreed
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Pignorant
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12:46p, 12/1/21
AG
Voyager is very good.
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uujm
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12:49p, 12/1/21


"I was watching the first Enterprise on the holodeck. You know, Archer and those guys. What a story. Those guys had a long road getting from there to here."

I thought Disco S2 was watchable because of the Enterprise crew. I had to take a break in S3 after Adira had to explain pronouns in the 32nd century. Unless Khan got rid of that during the Eugenics Wars.

I have high hopes that Strange New Worlds brings back old Trek.
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The Debt
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In reply to Pignorant • 1:08p, 12/1/21
Pignorant said:
Voyager is very good.

No. It really isn't.
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Fightin TX Aggie
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In reply to The Debt • 1:13p, 12/1/21
AG
The Debt said:
Pignorant said:
Voyager is very good.

No. It really isn't.
You're right. It's the best.
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MGS
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In reply to Tanya 93 • 1:19p, 12/1/21
Tanya 93 said:

Season 2 of TNG is terrible for the most part.

Dr. Pulaski > Dr. Crusher
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The Porkchop Express
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In reply to AggieDub14 • 1:30p, 12/1/21
AG
AggieDub14 said:
someone who has no knowledge of Star Trek
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AggieDub14
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In reply to The Porkchop Express • 1:50p, 12/1/21
AG
Lol shouldn't you be glad I'm rectifying that problem?
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bobinator
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In reply to One Eyed Reveille • 1:58p, 12/1/21
AG
I'm not a purist at all and I thought it was a complete mess. The plot was... a lot.
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Fightin TX Aggie
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In reply to MGS • 2:13p, 12/1/21
AG
MGS said:
Tanya 93 said:

Season 2 of TNG is terrible for the most part.

Dr. Pulaski > Dr. Crusher
/that's bait dot gif.
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oragator
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2:16p, 12/1/21
I'm in the minority apparently but I liked Picard. I liked Voyager too.
Especially when you compare them to the abominations that are the Abrams universe films. Not only so they destroy what was best about the originals, their moral bent, but they blow up the entire timeline. Even JJ didn't like it. Tanantino put it best:

"I still don't quite understand, and JJ can't explain it to me, and my editor has tried to explain it to me and I still don't get it...about something happened in the first movie that now kind of wiped the slate clean. I don't buy that. I don't like it. I don't appreciate it. I don't f*** that...I want the whole series to have happened, it just hasn't happened yet. No, Benedict Cumberbatch or whatever his name is is not Khan, alright? Khan is Khan. And I told JJ, like, 'I don't understand this. I don't like it.' And then he was like, 'Ignore it! Nobody likes it. I don't understand it. Just do whatever you want. If you want it to happen the exact way it happens on the series it can.'"

But if and when QT makes a Star Trek movie like has been talked about for forever, I'm all in on that.

https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-kelvin-timeline-quentin-tarantino-cant-make-sense/
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Jugstore Cowboy
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2:24p, 12/1/21
AG
I decided to watch all of The Original Series before it left Netflix. I'd seen many if not most episodes at some point going back to when I was a little kid, but never made a point of watching it in order. It gets pretty repetitive at times. I think a watch guide to famous episodes would probably suffice for anyone who wants to check it out for the first time.
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bobinator
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In reply to oragator • 2:35p, 12/1/21
AG
Picard might have been good as a movie. I think they had like two or three hours worth of good ideas and then stretched them into 10 hours of show.

But the new movies didn't blow up the original timeline. They made a whole new one. I don't get how anyone that likes sci-fi movies/shows/books wouldn't get it. That said, there's no point in getting too caught up in timeline continuity in Star Trek. It doesn't really matter.

I thought the new movies were fun. Especially the first one which I think is really good.
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Fightin TX Aggie
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2:36p, 12/1/21
AG
There's a watch guide somewhere that puts the entire Star Trek universe in timeline order.

Especially when you had Voyager, DS9 and TNG movies going all at once, there is some overlap.

And you certainly wouldn't grasp the Borg in Voyager without first seeing all the Borg episodes in TNG. Or understand Q, for that matter.
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The Debt
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In reply to Fightin TX Aggie • 2:37p, 12/1/21
Fightin TX Aggie said:
The Debt said:
Pignorant said:
Voyager is very good.

No. It really isn't.
You're right. It's the best.

Hmm...it seems Syfy.com tends to agree with me. Prior to CBS revitalization, its bottom tier for a live action series.

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/every-star-trek-series-ranked
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G Martin 87
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2:38p, 12/1/21
AG
Fun story from my time in DG. Not sure how this came together, but we had a ST drinking game party once. This was back when TOS was in syndication, before TNG. The game worked like this: everybody drew a piece of paper with a common ST term or situation. (e.g., "phaser", "hailing frequencies open", "fascinating", "Enterprise", "Kirk takes off his shirt", etc.) If your item appeared in the show, you drank. I drew "starbase". There are only a couple of episodes involving starbases, so as long as the episode of the day wasn't one of those I was safe. Unfortunately, the episode was part 1 of "The Menagerie". Crap. If you've seen the first few minutes, you know how the rest of my day went.

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