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The best Star Trek series, ranked

Ready to settle in and watch some Star Trek episodes? Since there are so many, we’ve ranked all of the different series to help you get started on your quest.

Star Trek is one of the greatest franchises ever created. If you're new to the world of transporters and holodecks, you have so much wonderful content to catch up on — of course, some would say too much content.

Since there are over 850 episodes and counting (all of which you can stream on Paramount+ ), watching all of Star Trek can be more difficult than fighting a Gorn in the desert. To make things easier for you to get started, we've ranked every series (besides the short-form series Short Treks ) of this long-running franchise. Some of these choices were a bit daunting to play favorites with, but, like Jim Kirk, there's no belief in the no-win scenario.

Without further ado, here's our list of every Star Trek series ranked from worst to best.

11. Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

Star Trek: Picard was meant to be like comfort food to fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation . And whether fans were turned off by the changes in franchise direction with shows like Discovery or just wanted to see Patrick Stewart back in action, Paramount clearly thought this show would be almost universally beloved.

That didn't happen . The warm and fuzzy feeling of seeing a few familiar faces in the first season evaporated because of an often-confusing plot about androids. The second season continued this confusion with a time-travel story that often bordered on incoherence. While many Star Trek shows take a few seasons to hit their stride, it was shocking that so much of this relatively short series was seemingly created with "make it so-so" in mind.

10. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974)

If you're in the right mood (or you've been sipping on some Saurian brandy), Star Trek: The Animated Series has some wacky entertainment value. Any given episode had the writers throwing in stories like a giant version of a beloved character. And the animators threw some fun curveballs, including making the embodiment of evil into a shirtless hottie that would make even shirtless Kirk jealous.

However, this animated show was often caught between two very different worlds. It wasn't fully a return to the (relatively) grounded exploration of space, science, and morality of The Original Series . And it didn't fully lean into the chaotic possibilities of a cartoon world (something Lower Decks would later handle much better). So, while more and more elements of The Animated Series have become canonical thanks to shows like Discovery , and it's fun to hear the voice acting of the Original Series cast, this cartoon is one that all but the most hardcore fans can skip.

9. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

Despite what you might have heard, Star Trek: Enterprise is not a bad show. It just didn't start as a very good show. The series was tragically canceled after the fourth season, which was arguably when it had just begun to hit its stride (thanks in part to longer story arcs and a really fun glimpse into Trek 's popular Mirror Universe).

At the end of the day, Enterprise is a show best enjoyed by Star Trek fans that like to pore over the Memory Alpha wiki and familiarize themselves with Trek minutiae. As a prequel show, it laid the groundwork for everything from Starfleet policy to alien interactions that other shows explore in more detail. If you don't have a shot at winning any Star Trek trivia contests at your local bar, it's still worth watching how captivating Scott Bakula can be in the captain's seat.

8. Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–present)

Star Trek: Prodigy was very difficult to rank. Unlike the other two Trek cartoons, this series was explicitly designed for younger audiences. Paramount clearly wants to use this show as a gateway for these younger fans to explore the wider world of Star Trek , but there are enough elements (most notably the return of Kate Mulgrew , reprising her role as Captain Janeway via a holographic form) to keep veteran franchise fans invested.

Ultimately, your enjoyment of this series will be largely dependent on how much you enjoy animated/YA entertainment. If nothing else, you should check out the first two episodes of this show to see just how beautiful the CGI animation can get.

7. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–present)

If Enterprise is the Star Trek show cut off too soon, Discovery may very well be the first Star Trek show to outlive its welcome, though it will end after its fifth season . There are many things the show gets right, from nifty effects to quirky characters to amazing casting (seriously, Sonequa Martin-Green is electrifying whenever she is on screen).

The show veers from a disjointed-but-interesting first season to a mesmerizing second season, which gets a real shot in the arm by introducing Captain Pike (played by the inimitably charming Anson Mount ) and Spock (played as a perfect homage to Leonard Nimoy by Ethan Peck). Later seasons, however, prove that the series can't get away from galactic-level threats, and character drama begins overriding plot development enough that we want to slingshot around the sun and return this series to its earlier roots.

6. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Like many Trek series, Star Trek: Voyager had a rocky beginning, and it was often overshadowed by the excellent Deep Space Nine . Ironically, Voyager dramatically improved with what could be a cynical casting stunt: adding the alluring Jeri Ryan (constantly wearing a catsuit, no less).

Though it really looked like a desperate ratings stunt, Ryan turned the reformed Borg Seven of Nine into the most interesting character on the show. And, despite their alleged clashes behind the scenes, the actress helped to elevate every scene she shared with Kate Mulgrew. Between the new cast member, improved writing, and Mulgrew being nothing short of a damned icon, Voyager soon became appointment television, and it's definitely worth binge-watching for modern audiences.

5. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–present)

Lower Decks is an impressive show for many reasons, including the fact that its execution elevates its initial premise, which focuses on the lives of the lower-level staffers aboard the starship. Because showrunner Mike McMahan previously wrote for Rick and Morty and the animation takes its cues from the cartoon adventures of Rick Sanchez, many fans may have assumed Lower Decks would simply be " Star Trek meets Rick and Morty ."

Thankfully, that's not the case. Aside from animation similarities, the main element these two cartoons have in common is a breakneck, borderline chaotic pace. But as entertaining as it can be, Rick and Morty is an often nihilistic show with gags revolving around how nothing really matters. Lower Decks , however, is a lighthearted series that serves as the cure to modern Trek . If you've dismissed other contemporary series such as Discovery and Picard because they are grim, violent, and serious, Lower Decks is a wonderfully lighthearted alternative that is never afraid to poke fun at its own franchise.

4. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a truly pleasant surprise to fans of the franchise. Set years before Captain Kirk sat in that famous chair, we see Capt. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount reprising the role) lead the U.S.S. Enterprise into bizarre adventures alongside some familiar characters (Ethan Peck returning as Spock, for example) and a few new ones.

Part of what helps this show shine is that it marks a return to episodic Trek in that every installment is a self-contained adventure as opposed to other newer series like Discovery and Picard , which build entire seasons around a single plot. The characters all ooze with the same swashbuckling charm of The Original Series characters, and we can't wait to see more of their adventures. We also can't wait to see more of Anson Mount's amazing hair (arguably the most awesome practical effect in the franchise).

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

Star Trek: The Next Generation has the dubious honor of being the first Trek show where veteran fans warn against new fans starting at the very beginning. Early episodes ranged from stupidly horny (planetary inhabitants in the episode "Justice" were barely wearing scraps of clothing) to ridiculously racist ("Code of Honor" may very well be the worst Star Trek episode ever made). Many of these problems stemmed from the fact that despite being called "The Next Generation," the show was trying to recreate The Original Series (right down to using some of the same writers and shamelessly reusing scripts from the scrapped Star Trek: Phase II series).

As fans like to joke, the show got better as Commander Riker's beard got longer. Season 2 was a major improvement, which was then usurped by season 3, which brought in new uniforms, new sets, and Michael Piller to head up the writing team. Just like that, TNG embraced its differences from its famous forerunner (Picard was cerebral whereas Kirk was impulsive, Data yearned for emotion whereas Spock detested it, and so on). At last, the gamble paid off, and the next generation of this franchise ushered in the next generation of Star Trek fans.

2. Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969)

What can we say about The Original Series that hasn't been said already? Gene Roddenberry successfully fused science fiction with American pioneer spirit to create his vision of this " Wagon Train to the stars." The episodes were both fun and thought-provoking in equal measure, and William Shatner as Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock, among many others, turned in performances that seared themselves into our collective pop culture consciousness.

The Original Series offered social commentary about racism, imperialism, and (often to Spock's annoyance) the human condition. And the blend of big acting, ambitious sets, and poignant plots helped this show become something truly transcendent. The OG Star Trek shaped not only the future of the franchise but television itself, and it's not hard to see why it continues to win over new generations of fans year after year.

1. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Placing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the top spot is perhaps a contentious decision. However, this series did more than measure up to the quality of The Next Generation (a lofty feat in and of itself). The show also made a number of storytelling and production choices that have helped DS9 seem more relevant in recent years than ever before, including tackling issues about race, religious fundamentalism, and war on a regular basis.

Perhaps the main way DS9 feels so pertinent is that the show broke the longstanding Trek rule of making only standalone episodes. As the powers that be focused more on creating their next show, Voyager , DS9 showrunner Ira Steven Behr was able to get away with creating long story arcs and frequent episode callbacks. The end result of this is that Deep Space Nine is the first of the pre-streaming era Trek shows that is perfect for binge-watching.

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Star Trek TV Shows Ranked by Tomatometer

Updated: September 8, 2023

The Star Trek universe kicked off in 1966 with the original series , created by science fiction visionary Gene Roddenberry , and later exploded into a massive film and TV juggernaut.

While the original series, which starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, saw only three seasons, it made an indelible impression on the sci-fi genre. Live-action TV follow-up Star Trek: The Next Generation , with  Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard leading an ensemble cast, captivated viewers from 1987–1994 and inspired three more series that would air within the next decade:  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ,  Star Trek: Voyager , and  Star Trek: Enterprise .

Starting with 1979’s  Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Paramount Pictures has been regularly cranking out Trek films with the original series and Next Generation casts, as well as a rebooted version in 2009 with Chris Pine as Starfleet Academy cadet James Kirk and Zachary Quinto as young Spock. ( See the Star Trek films ranked here. )

In 2017,  Trek  returned to small screens with season 1 of CBS All Access streaming title  Star Trek: Discovery , set during a tumultuous wartime era about a decade before the original and starring Sonequa Martin-Green . The new series marked a TV franchise reboot by Alex Kurtzman , writer on the 2009 Star Trek film and its sequel  Star Trek Into Darkness .

RELATED: All Star Trek Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

The year 2020 gave fans a celebration of one of its most iconic characters with the premiere of Star Trek: Picard and Stewart reprising his role in the new streaming series that launched its second season in 2022. New live-action series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was also released in 2022, and its first season was quickly Certified Fresh with a 100% Tomatometer score (it has since dropped to 99% on one review). The show’s second season, released in 2023, was nearly as well received and is Certified Fresh at 97% on the Tomatometer.

The TV franchise has since introduced two animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks , about the misfit support crew on one of Starfleet’s least-important ships, and kid-friendly Star Trek: Prodigy , which tells the story of a diverse group of teens who inadvertently become the crew of a prize starship and learn important lessons in their subsequent adventures. The latter series — No. 3 on our list below — has since been canceled by Paramount+, but a petition to save the show has gathered over 33,000 signatures.

Have a look below to find out which series score highest with critics in our Trek TV by Tomatometer list.

Disagree with the results? Tell us in the comments which series you think should have been ranked higher (or lower).

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) 98%

Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973) 94%

Star Trek: Prodigy (2021) 94%

Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020) 92%

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) 92%

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) 91%

Star Trek: Picard (2020) 89%

Star Trek: Discovery (2017) 85%

Star Trek (1966) 80%

Star Trek: Voyager (1995) 76%

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) 56%

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'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

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When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

The beginner's guide to Star Trek: What to watch first

The Star Trek television world consists of eleven full and distinct television series released across the decades, going all the way back to the mid-1960s. While some of the older sets and effects are certainly dated, some of the issues the shows grappled with back in the day are as relevant now as they were almost 60 years ago.

When Star Trek debuted on September 6, 1966, it was a relatively low-budget TV series with only lukewarm network support. It took two pilot episodes before the series was picked up by NBC, only to be unceremoniously cancelled three years later. Nobody back then knew that Star Trek would create cultural touchstones and iconic characters, or that it would go on to spawn ten more TV series (so far) and thirteen movies (also, so far).

Today, Star Trek is deeply entrenched in modern mythology, with characters like James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard as familiar to us as Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo.

But not everyone is fully up to speed on all things Trek . Perhaps you're seeing promotions for the new shows coming out this year and wonder what all the fuss is about. Perhaps you want to introduce Star Trek to a younger generation or catch up after a long hiatus.

No matter what, we're here to help. In this guide, I'm going to take you through the TV series and help you understand what each is about, give you some hints about watching order, and share with you my subjective perspective on the shows.

Also:  14 unofficial Star Trek series and films

Star Trek has inspired a tremendous amount of media. Beyond the TV shows, there are movies, video games, books, comics, fan fiction and productions, collectables, and more. Because the commercial world of Star Trek fandom is so huge, I'm going to limit our discussion to just the TV shows -- although there will be a few mentions of one or two movies that are requisite viewing for later series' continuity.

How to get started

There are four Star Trek series currently in production right now. More are rumored to be on the way. And there's even a Seth McFarland-helmed homage to Star Trek called The Orville that carries on the Trek spirit (new episodes will be broadcast on Hulu in June).

So, you could get started watching a current show, especially since the visuals and production quality are top-notch. If you feel strongly about starting with new material, I'd recommend kicking off your watching with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on the Paramount+ streaming service. I'll talk more about SNW (most Trek series get abbreviations) in a bit. Another choice would be the gorgeous animated series Star Trek: Prodigy . It's intended to bring kids into the Star Trek universe, but it fires on all cylinders for adults just as well.

But I recommend you start where it all started: Star Trek , the original series ( TOS ) produced in the 1960s. It's here you'll meet Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty the engineer. This is where it all began, and everything builds upon this fundamental mythology.

And with that, let's get started!

1. Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)

The series that began it all.

• Production Years:  1966-1969
• Trek Timeline Years:  2266-2269
• Seasons:  3
• Episodes:  79
• Stream on:   Paramount+
• Buy:   Amazon

This is it. The series that began it all. I recently rewatched the entire run of  TOS  after not having seen it in years, and the thing that made the biggest impression on me was how much they got right in those early years. Roddenberry was building a mythos out of thin air, and yet many of the foundational elements that  Star Trek  folks know and love today were written into those early shows.

Of course, Roddenberry didn't get it perfect right out of the gate. He did two pilots which introduced Captain Christopher Pike instead of Captain Kirk and a female "Number One" as second in command. This pilot, called " The Cage " never made it on the air but was repurposed into a two-parter late in the first season. You'll want to remember Pike and Number One because they're prominent in the new modern-day  Trek  series currently being released.

Some episodes of this very early series age well, while others are deeply cringeworthy. Because it's 1960s entertainment (and relatively low-budget entertainment at that), it can be a bit tedious at times. And yet, it touched on some really important themes.  Martin Luther King Jr. actually reached out to Nichelle Nichols , who  played Lt. Uhura , when she was considering leaving the show. He urged her to stay on because he saw her role as a very important inspiration.

If you want to understand all the  Trek  lore that comes after, this is the place to start.

Must watch episodes:   The City on the Edge of Forever, Space Seed, The Trouble with Tribbles

Movies:  There were six movies made with the  TOS  cast. Of them, the best two are  The Wrath of Khan  (which sets up a lot of subsequent mythos) and  The Voyage Home , which is probably the most fun of them all.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)

The story forward 100 years.

• Production Years:  1987-1994
• Trek Timeline Years:  2364-2370
• Seasons:  7
• Episodes:  178

Star Trek's  continuing popularity during the eighteen years after NBC cancelled the original series was unexpected.  Star Trek , that weird space show with the pointy-eared alien, turned out to have legs. It took ten years of fan pressure and conventions, but in 1979  Star Trek: The Motion Picture  was released. It was... not so good. But three more movies came out over the next eight years, and they were great. So the momentum was in place for a  Star Trek  reboot.

Rather than recasting the original characters, Roddenberry decided to move the story forward almost 100 years, create a version of the  Enterprise  starship whose interior decor most resembled a Marriott hotel in outer space, and give it warp nacelles and photon torpedos. This was  The Next Generation , with Captain Picard, first officer William Riker, the android Data, the boy wonder Wesley Crusher, his mom, the Klingon Worf, and unlucky-in-love engineer Geordi La Forge. Roddenberry even created the role of a mental health counsellor (Deanna Troy) as a key member of its bridge crew.

While Patrick Stewart's Picard was much more  Captain Stubing  than Shatner's Captain Kirk, there's no doubting this Shakespearean actor's talents. Brent Spiner, as the android-who-wants-to-be-human, was another standout performer. The first two seasons were a little rocky. Remember: back then, nobody knew whether this show would last, and the actors and showrunners were still trying to come to terms with how to move beyond  TOS . But subsequent years are among the best science (and societal) fiction you'll ever see on TV.

Must watch episodes:   The Measure of a Man, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Best Of Both Worlds I  and  II

Movies:  There were four movies made with the  TNG  cast. The first one,  Generations , also included key members of the  TOS  cast. I recommend you watch  First Contact  because it's a really good movie. And you might want to watch  Nemesis  because it sets up some details you'll need in later series (but it's definitely  not  the best movie made).

Also: Best video streaming service  

To boldly go...

Once you've watched  TOS  and  TNG , you're pretty much ready to travel wherever you want throughout the  Star Trek  franchise. You'll have a good foundational understanding of the Federation, the various alien species, the rules and regulations of Starfleet, and most of the iconic characters.

My recommendation is to wrap up the early  Trek  productions by taking in the two seasons of the first animated series. Then, move on to the middle period of  Star Trek  production, with  Voyager, Deep Space 9 , and  Enterprise , and then jump forward to the current productions. That's how I'm going to present the remaining series to you, but you can pretty much choose any order you want once you've made it this far.

3. Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS)

Worthwhile animation with tos voices.

• Production Years:  1973-1975
• Trek Timeline Years:  2269-2270
• Seasons:  2
• Episodes:  22
• Buy:  Amazon

A few years after NBC canceled TOS , Roddenberry managed to convince studio heads to let him produce an animated version of the show. While it was considerably less expensive to produce than the live-action  Star Trek , the animated series was the most expensive animated show airing at the time, but that was mostly because nearly all the original series actors (Walter Koenig as Chekov was missing) lent their voices to the show.

While the series was intended as a kid's show, it hews pretty closely to classic  Star Trek  themes and can be considered a proper sequel to  TOS . Watching it in 2022 is a bit weird because cartoons from the 1970s definitely seem a bit weird to our 2022 mindset, but  TAS  is a worthwhile romp, especially since it features the voice work from the core actors who first made  Star Trek .

Must watch episodes:   Yesteryear, The Slaver Weapon, More Tribbles, More Troubles  (because...Tribbles)

4. Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (DS9)

Thought-provoking, must-watch tv.

• Production Years:  1993-1999
• Trek Timeline Years:  2369-2275
• Seasons:  7
• Episodes:  176
• Stream on:   Paramount+ , Netflix
• Buy: Amazon

By many measures,  Star Trek: Deep Space 9  is as good as  Star Trek  (or science fiction overall, for that matter) gets. Rather than exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations,  Deep Space 9  takes place mostly on the eponymous space station, Deep Space 9.

The station sits at the junction of a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant (a far off part of space) and the planet Bajor, a planet previously occupied by Cardassians' warlike race (not to be confused with the Kardashians). DS9's leader is played by actor Avery Brooks, who starts off with the Starfleet rank of Commander and later gets promoted to Captain.  DS9  starts off slow but ends with a massive war and some of the best space battles ever put on film.

While there are a few silly episodes, most plotlines are tight, deep, and thought-provoking. Characters develop complex and compelling personalities. And the show takes some powerful swings at issues of the day, with  Far Beyond the Stars  an absolute standout showing issues of racism in 1950s America and yet fitting totally in with the rest of  DS9 . If anything can be considered must-watch TV, chock full of religious and political intrigue, it's  Star Trek: Deep Space 9 .

Must watch episodes:   Far Beyond the Stars, The Visitor, Trials And Tribble-Ations  (because...Tribbles)

5. Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)

A female badass captain who guides her crew on the uss voyager.

• Production Years:  1995-2001
• Trek Timeline Years:  2371-2378
• Episodes:  172

The series starts with the crew of the  Voyager  chasing after a Maquis raider ship in a rough part of space. Suddenly, both ships get pulled into a spatial distortion, only to wind up far, far away from home. A super-powerful being called the Caretaker brought both ships to the Delta quadrant as part of its quest to help a species it cared for.

The plot of the pilot is a bit convoluted, but the Captain Kathryn Janeway makes a decision that strands  Voyager  and the crew of the Maquis ship in the Delta quadrant. The voyage home will take 75 years. Kate Mulgrew was not the franchise's first choice for a Janeway captain. Instead, Geneviève Bujold was originally cast in the role, but she apparently  crashed and burned in a day and a half . That's fortunate because Mulgrew absolutely owns the part, turning the Janeway character into a tough, sensitive, compassionate, and absolutely kick-ass leader.

The  Voyager  crew becomes a blended crew with both Starfleet and Maquis. Early episodes playoff that dynamic, but the early crew conflicts tend to slip away as the series progresses and the crew coalesces. Throughout it all, the series is about how this crew survives all on its own, trying to find a way home and the adventures along the way.

Must watch episodes:  Tinker, Tailor, Doctor, Spy, Year of Hell  (two-parter),  Timeless Worst episode in any science fiction, ever:  Threshold

6. Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)

The start of the prime universe.

• Production Years:  2001-2005
• Trek Timeline Years:  2151-2161
• Seasons:  4
• Episodes:  98
• Stream on:  Paramount+

With  Enterprise  (the series debuted without the " Star Trek: " prefix), we're starting to move around the "Prime Universe" timeline. So, okay, some definitions are in order. In 2009, J. J. Abrams did a reboot of the original  Star Trek  crew in a three-movie set. That reboot changed some of the  Star Trek  canon (its established mythology) and became known as the "Kelvin Universe". All the  Star Trek  that exists in the unaltered (or mostly unaltered) mythology is called the "Prime Universe." All of the TV shows so far (but not all the movies) are considered Prime Universe.

In the Prime Universe,  series timelines span centuries . The majority of established canon takes place in the  TNG  era, which is 2364-2379.  TOS ,  Discovery , and  Strange New Worlds  take place 100 or so years earlier than  TNG , while  Discovery  eventually jumps to about a thousand years later. But  Enterprise  is a prequel to all of that, showcasing a ship just beginning to travel between the stars. It takes place starting in 2151, a century before the days of Kirk and Spock.

There are some nods to the idea that technology wasn't as advanced in 2151 as it was in later centuries, but since  Enterprise  itself was made 35 years after  TOS , the production value and effects made it seem somewhat more advanced. That will prove to be an ongoing problem with Trek prequels: what do you do when the real tech to produce the prequel is half a century more advanced? What do you do when the actual tech we have in our pockets seems far more advanced than the "future" tech shown in the early shows? Artistic license is used.

The  NX-01 Enterprise  is led by Captain Jonathan Archer (played by  Quantum Leap's  Scott Bakula) and his Number One is a Vulcan named T'Pol (played by Jolene Blalock). In  Enterprise's  time frame, trust between Earth and the Vulcans is tenuous, and that tension plays out over the series. Unfortunately,  Enterprise  only lasted four seasons. It, like most other  Trek , was a bit rocky in the first seasons, but by Season 4, it was producing excellent television.

My biggest question about Enterprise is about Porthos, Archer's adorable beagle. Porthos spent most of his time in Archer's cabin, but I've always been curious about how Porthos took care of business. Did they just walk him around the decks and some crewmember cleaned it up? Was there a spot of grass somewhere in an unused cabin? It keeps me up at night.

In any case, I consider  Enterprise  criminally underrated. It was a great show.

Must watch episodes:   In a Mirror, Darkly  (two-parter),  Carbon Creek, Similitude, Twilight, The Breach  (because...Tribbles)

7. Star Trek: Discovery (DIS)

Discover the fun in star trek.

• Production Years:  2017-current
• Trek Timeline Years:  2255-2259, 3188-3190 (so far)
• Seasons:  4 (so far)
• Episodes:  55 (so far)

Star Trek  production effectively went into shutdown for about a decade after  Enterprise . After the success of the reboot movies in the late 2000s,  Star Trek  TV experienced a resurgence in  Discovery .  Discovery  is a hard beast to pin down, and this had the effect of turning off some of the entrenched  Star Trek  fanbase. That said, it's still great TV.  Discovery  was the first of the modern-day  Star Trek  series to be available solely on streaming, via what was then CBS All Access and is now Paramount+.

Somehow (spoiler alert), Micheal Burham goes from the Federation's first mutineer with a life sentence to a beloved starship captain. Burnham is Spock's human sister (yeah, that was a surprise to everyone). Played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the standout feature of  Discovery  is some of its great performances and characterizations.

My favorites are the gangly alien Saru (played with absolute perfection by Doug Jones), the mirror universe emperor Georgiou (played with scenery-eating intensity by Michelle Yeoh), cranky under-utilized engineer Jett Reno (played by the wonderful-in-anything Tigg Notaro), and Captain Christopher Pike, reimagined from the pilot for  TOS  (who was played to such perfection by Anson Mount that the minute he hit the screen, everyone knew a series had to be made around him -- which became  Strange New Worlds ).

The first season takes place ten years before the original series. Klingons don't really look like Klingons, Burnham starts a war,  Discovery  travels to the mirror universe where everything is  Bizarro World , and chaos ensues. The second season is back in the home universe where the crew tries to stop an AI bent on destroying all life in the universe. To avoid that fate, the crew travels 930 years into the future and...okay, let's take a breather for a second.

Do. Not. Try. To. Make. Sense. Of. All. This.  Discovery  is weird enough to be pretty much the  Twin Peaks  of  Star Trek . Just enjoy the fact that the visuals are impressive, the characters (at least most of them) are great, and the stories hold together long enough to make it through each episode as long as you don't think about it too much.  Discovery  can be annoying and sappy, to be sure. But it's also a heck of a lot of fun.

Must watch episodes (so far):  An Obol for Charon, The Sound of Thunder, Short Trek: The Trouble with Edward  (because...Tribbles)

8. Star Trek: Lower Decks (LD)

Focus on life onboard for low-ranking members of starfleet.

• Production Years:  2020-current
• Trek Timeline Years:  2380- (so far)
• Seasons:  2 (so far)
• Episodes:  20 (so far)

Back in 1994, there was an episode of  TNG  called  Lower Decks . It focused on lower-ranking crew members and looked at what life onboard a starship was like for the non-hero characters of Starfleet. In 2020, Mike McMahan, previously known for his work on the animated comedy  Rick and Morty , took the lower decks concept into an entire animated  Star Trek  series.

And it works. McMahan also addressed a lot of fan complaints about  Discovery  by including an almost overwhelming array of  Star Trek   Easter eggs  as fan service in the series. If you've ever wondered about  Cetacean Ops , for example, McMahan has an entire episode devoted to Starfleet's underwater crew.

Overall,  Lower Decks  delivers fully  Star Trek  plots, along with a lot of genuinely funny moments. But it doesn't sacrifice good storytelling either for laughs or nostalgia.

Must watch episodes (so far):   No Small Parts, First First Contact, An Embarrassment of Dooplers

9. Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO)

Animated and visually stunning.

• Production Years:  2021-current
• Trek Timeline Years:  2383- (so far)
• Seasons:  1 (so far)
• Episodes:  9 (so far)

Prodigy  is the second animated series currently in production. It has a completely different theme and art style from  Lower Decks  and is most definitely its own thing.

The premise is that a bunch of enslaved tweenagers of varying non-human species in the Delta Quadrant find a dormant Federation starship. While exploring, they activate the "emergency training hologram," which turns out to be an animated Captain Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew herself). Hologram Janeway thinks the interlopers are cadets and helps them start the ship up so they can make their escape.

The series is Nickelodeon-branded and is supposed to be for kids, but the episodes are well-written and even suspenseful. The first season ended on a cliffhanger that both newbies to  Star Trek  and long-time fans will find compelling. And can we talk about the visuals? This series is just absolutely gorgeous. Watch it on the largest, brightest TV you can. It's that good.

Must watch episodes (so far):   Time Amok, First Con-tact, Kobayashi

10. Star Trek: Picard (PIC)

New adventures of an older captain picard.

• Trek Timeline Years:  2399- (so far)
• Seasons:  2 (so far)
• Episodes:  20 (so far)

The premise behind  Star Trek: Picard  is simple. Thirty years after  TNG , Admiral Picard goes back out into space for new adventures. Picard (and Patrick Stewart) are much older, and the series addresses the challenges of ageing and how someone who was once the galaxy's hero deals with becoming irrelevant -- just as events reach out to bring the retired admiral back onto center stage once again.

Have you noticed how most of the  Star Trek  series have three-letter abbreviations?  Star Trek: Picard's  should be WTF. There are moments in  Picard  that are wonderful. But a lot of  Picard  is just plain terrible. If you even try to think about all the plot holes and paradoxes in just the final episode of Season 2, you'll find your brain sucked into a wormhole. As much as it's an absolute pleasure to see Patrick Stewart in anything,  Star Trek: Picard  is undeniably the worst television  Star Trek  has yet produced.

Like all of the current-era  Star Trek , it's gorgeous. There's fan service everywhere, and we do get to meet some of the  TNG  characters again. More are promised for Season 3. But something went horribly wrong in the writers' room for the storylines in most of the episodes to be this convoluted, self-referential, internally inconsistent, and rather unbelievable (trust me, suspending disbelief often just doesn't work here). If anything, Season 2 is even more disastrous than Season 1, and that's saying something.

All that said, should you watch  Star Trek: Picard ? Of course. It's a hoot. Plus, the episode  Nepenthe  (where we get to meet a gray-haired Captain Riker and his wife, Deanna Troy, along with their daughter Kestra) makes the whole series worthwhile.

Must watch episodes:   Nepenthe, Stardust City Rag

11. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)

Referential to established canon for entrenched trek fans.

• Production Years:  2022-current
• Trek Timeline Years:  2259- (so far)
• Seasons:  1 (so far)
• Episodes:  4 (so far)

Strange New Worlds  has been jokingly called the longest order from the pilot to series in television history, but there's some truth to that. The very first  TOS  pilot back in the 1960s spotlighted the main characters of  Strange New Worlds . As the legend goes, NBC didn't like those characters, so Roddenberry retooled and the result was Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

Today, however, Anson Mount is center stage, along with Ethan Peck as the third actor to play Spock, and Rebecca Romijn playing Number One. We haven't seen too many episodes yet, but so far it's good. Really, really good. Sure, this  U.S.S. Enterprise  is supposed to be from a time ten years before Kirk's in  TOS , and it's far fancier. But that's what you get with 2022 budgets and CGI compared to the hand-me-downs that went into the original  Star Trek .

You can follow the story well enough without having seen any other  Star Trek , so it makes for a good first series. But it also is so reverently referential to established canon (while blazing its own way as well) that deeply entrenched Trek fans will undoubtedly enjoy it as well.

Must watch episodes (so far):  Strange New Worlds, Children of the Comet, Ghosts of Illyria, Memento Mori

Also: The 7 best free video streaming services: Watch movies for free

What are the worst to best Star Trek series?

This is a highly subjective list, but I know you're going to want to know. So here it is. My call for worst series to best. You'll be surprised.

10. Picard :  I had high hopes, I love the reunions, but the plots don't hold together if you think about it for just one minute.

9. The Original Series :  Yes, it started everything. And yes, they got a lot right. But some of it is just downright hard to watch.

8. The Animated Series :  Like  TOS , it's a rough ride to watch. Pacing is very late sixties.

7. Lower Decks :  I'm not a huge animation fan, and the silliness is a bit annoying.

6. Prodigy :   Prodigy  is gorgeous, and the plots hold together well. But I'm not as into it as I could be. Perhaps with more seasons.

5. The Next Generation :   TNG  defines  Star Trek , and while there are some great shows there, it's getting old. I'm just not that invested anymore.

4. Discovery :  I really like some of the characters and the modern visuals are spectacular. The focus on one character as a  Mary Sue  gets tiresome, as do the somewhat lazy resolutions for season-long mysteries.

3. Voyager :  Some of the premise broke down in early years, but the overall crew survival dynamic makes for worthwhile TV. I've become attached to some of the characters after watching them grow into their responsibilities.

2. Enterprise :  Yes, I consider  Enterprise  among the best  Star Trek  ever, even though it died an early death. From Archer's relationship with the Andorian commander Shran (played by the wonderful Jeffrey Combs) to some really excellent standalone episodes, I miss  Enterprise  more than any other series.

1. Deep Space 9 :  Yeah, this is just about the best science fiction you're going to find anywhere.

* Strange New Worlds :  I'm not rating  Strange New Worlds  yet. I've only seen a few episodes. But from what I've seen, it has the potential to be among the favorites.

What about you? What's your favorite Star Trek series? Are you Trek-curious and just getting started? Are you coming back after a long hiatus? Share with us in the comments below. Live long and prosper.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

• Akiva Goldsman
• Alex Kurtzman
• Jenny Lumet
• Anson Mount
• Christina Chong
• 1K User reviews
• 38 Critic reviews
• 9 wins & 33 nominations total

Episodes 31

• Captain Christopher Pike …

• La'an Noonien-Singh …

• Lt. Erica Ortegas …

• Una Chin-Riley …

• Nurse Christine Chapel

• Nyota Uhura …

• Dr. M'Benga

• USS Enterprise Computer …

• Lieutenant George Samuel 'Sam' Kirk

• Jenna Mitchell

• Captain Batel …

• Admiral Robert April

• Captain James T. Kirk …

• T'Pring
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Bruce Horak , the actor who plays Hemmer, is legally blind, just like his character's species, the Aenar, who are also blind.
• Goofs There are some rank insignia mistakes. Number One is introduced as "Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley" yet she is wearing the rank insignia of a full commander: two full stripes. A Lieutenant Commander's rank insignia is a full stripe under a thin stripe (in TOS it is a full stripe and a staggered stripe). It is not uncommon for a ship's first officer to be a Lt. Commander if they have not been in the position long. Spock at this point is a Lieutenant but he is wearing Lieutenant Commander's stripes; a Lieutenant just has one stripe. La'an is the ship's chief of security and the ship's second officer. She is also wearing Lt. Commander stripes but is addressed as a Lieutenant, but it would make more sense for her to be a Lieutenant Commander. Either way both of their rank insignia are not matching the rank they are addressed by. Ortegas is addressed as a Lieutenant but is wearing Lieutenant Commander's strips. A Lieutenant Commander may be addressed as a Commander or Lieutenant Commander but never as just a Lieutenant, so either her rank insignia or the manner she is addressed by the rest of the crew is in error.

[opening narration]

Captain Christopher Pike : Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

• Connections Featured in Nerdrotic: Woke Hollywood is FAILING, and That's a Good Thing (2022)

User reviews 1K

• May 5, 2022

Technical specs

• Runtime 52 minutes
• D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos

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Star Trek has truly reinvented itself

The sci-fi franchise is all TV these days, and there’s something for (almost) everyone

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Share All sharing options for: Star Trek has truly reinvented itself

Here’s a wild statistic: There are nearly as many currently running Star Trek television series as there are completed Star Trek television series. The first 40 years of the franchise’s history include five live-action series and one animated spinoff, totaling 725 episodes. In the past five years, five new series have launched (six if you count Short Treks as its own entity), airing a cumulative 130 episodes as of today. Star Trek as a brand is busier than it’s been since the mid-1990s, when Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and the Next Generation TV series were all running concurrently and shops around the world dedicated entire displays to Star Trek toys, novels, and video games.

Of course, television is an entirely different beast today than it was when Star Trek died its second death with the cancellation of the prequel series Enterprise in 2005. Like practically everything worth watching in the year 2022, Star Trek is now a product for paid subscribers, and it’s in the interests of intellectual property owner Paramount to have something new for Trekkies 12 months out of the year. Like the Star Wars and Marvel lines on Disney Plus, Paramount Plus maintains its grip on Star Trek fans via a constant flow of new seasons of different series. All five current Star Trek series have debuted episodes this year, their seasons usually overlapping for a week or two in order to discourage subscribers from lapsing. Since August 2021, there have been only nine weeks without any new Star Trek.

Most importantly, this prismatic approach to expanding the Star Trek universe has allowed franchise custodian Alex Kurtzman and his team of producers to experiment with a variety of formats and tones, enabling them to triangulate what it is that fans are looking for. This past year — its fifth since the relaunch began in September 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery — has seen that experimentation pay off in the form of the franchise’s best-received new series in decades, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

The modern Star Trek family now includes an ongoing series for every taste: Discovery for those who enjoy the high stakes and high drama of the modern feature films, Strange New Worlds for those who prefer the classic format and a lighter touch, Lower Decks for die-hard, trivia-loving Trekkies, Prodigy for young newcomers looking for an introduction to the universe, and Picard for… someone, theoretically. It’s been a long road getting from there to here, but the Star Trek franchise seems healthier than it’s been in ages, with each stumble along the way offering guidance so that the next season, the next series can better capture the feeling of hope, wonder, and family that has enraptured fans since 1966. The first five years of modern Trek have been a crucible, a shakedown cruise that has proven that Kurtzman’s blueprint is, on the whole, spaceworthy and poised to accelerate into further frontiers.

Boldly blazing the trail

It’s expected for any new Star Trek series to face heavy scrutiny from fans who are itching for a reason to disqualify it from the canon. Every single television installment has been initially rejected by the old guard of fans, even the now-sacrosanct Next Generation . (How can you have Star Trek without Kirk and Spock? Who’s this bald guy?) However, it’s fair to say that no new Trek series has endured as much loud and sustained vitriol as Discovery . One should immediately dismiss the outrage of anyone decrying that Star Trek has “gone woke,” as if progressive politics and racial and gender inclusion are not essential to the very essence of creator Gene Roddenberry’s stated objectives for the original series. ( Even original star William Shatner refuses to see this. ) These complaints about Discovery , which stars Black actress Sonequa Martin-Green in the lead role, became the bedrock for a loud and loathsome new subsection of Trekkies whose YouTube channels insist that no one watches “NuTrek” and that all these shows are going to be canceled any day now. (Of the five new series, only Picard has wrapped production, and that likely has something to do with its leading man turning 82 years old this summer.)

It can’t be ignored, however, that Discovery is a significant departure from previous Star Trek series in ways that could still put off a seasoned fan who engages with it in good faith. Discovery imported the visual language and aesthetic of the J.J. Abrams-produced reboot film trilogy (also hated by some Trekkies) into the “prime” Star Trek universe. With the glossier look also came a faster pace, heightened emotions, and a TV-MA rating as the producers attempted to bring the family-friendly franchise into the Game of Thrones era of prestige television. Discovery dove headlong into serialized storytelling, into which previous Treks had only dabbled. It was also the first Star Trek series that fans had to pay to watch, itself a source of frustration and controversy. Star Trek has always incrementally evolved, but Discovery was more different from its immediate predecessors than any of its older siblings were.

It’s also the show that’s evolved the most since its launch, in many ways in a direction closer to its ancestors, becoming more optimistic and colorful and leaping ahead in time to avoid conflicts with established continuity. After years of dramatic retooling, Discovery has finally settled into a rhythm under co-showrunner Michelle Paradise, who took over managing the series in season 3. Where its first season was built around seeing how much shock and punishment its protagonist (and its audience) could endure, Discovery has since committed hard to the exploration of empathy and the celebration of love. It has become Trek’s most earnest incarnation, as occupied with big feelings as it is with big ideas. It may not be all the way great television, but it feels much more like the old familiar Star Trek than it did at the beginning without losing too much of its modern feel.

Arguably, Discovery has played defense for every Star Trek show that has followed. Without Discovery , not only would the acclaimed Strange New Worlds not exist as we know it, but it would likely have been subject to a slew of criticisms to which it now seems to be a response. Had Discovery not relaunched Star Trek as a modern serialized drama, would we be as happy to see Strange New Worlds return as an old-school procedural? If Discovery hadn’t thrown out the visual style guide and introduced new, “anachronistic” uniforms and technology, wouldn’t Strange New Worlds have taken more heat for its own design revisions? As lovable as we may find Anson Mount, could Trek’s legacy as a diversity-forward institution have survived if the face of its long-awaited return to television had been yet another straight, square-jawed white man? As the vanguard of modern Star Trek, Discovery has taken nearly all of the punishment, broken almost all of the new ground, and made it possible for the franchise to thrive in its wake.

Creating new legends

Where Star Trek: Discovery was initially a prequel to The Original Series featuring a totally new set of characters and only a tenuous connection to the classic cast, Star Trek: Picard was the first modern Star Trek series to carry the continuity of the universe forward in the traditional way, with a mix of new and familiar faces. The first season of Picard , run behind the scenes by author Michael Chabon, catches up with a retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) after 20 years of failure in both his personal and professional lives, finding a new purpose amongst a young motley crew.

Picard follows the now-familiar path of the “legacy sequel,” in which the star of a long-dormant series returns to pass the torch to a new generation. With one important exception: It never actually passes the torch. Over the course of its first two seasons, Picard fails its own characters time and again, unable to commit to a steady characterization or cogent story arc for anyone except for Alison Pill’s Dr. Agnes Jurati — who, like most of the new breed, has now been written off the show so that the entire Next Generation cast can reunite in season 3. The tragedy of this isn’t just that a troupe of actors have just lost their jobs to an ensemble who’s been dragged out of retirement, but that these discarded characters will not be missed. No one will be too choked up that Elnor and Worf won’t be charging into a fight together, or that we’ll never see Cristóbal Rios at the poker table across from Will Riker, because the gang from La Sirena has never felt equal to Picard’s Enterprise family. The second season simply made it clear that passing the torch was not a priority, and that the show’s younger cast was merely the backup band for Patrick Stewart and perpetual Special Guest Star Brent Spiner.

Happily, other branches of the franchise have found a much healthier balance of nostalgia and newness. The decision to make Discovery ’s Michael Burnham the adopted sister of Spock seemed a bizarre one at first, but their relationship has turned into a boon for both characters, adding texture without becoming a distraction. The animated sitcom Star Trek: Lower Decks is absolutely littered with callbacks, cameos, and references to Treks past, but its lead characters, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), have nevertheless emerged as true stars, and the series sports modern Trek’s most robust and memorable secondary cast. The kid-targeted animated adventure Star Trek: Prodigy features a returning Kate Mulgrew as a holographic Janeway, but her role as a mentor rather than a lead has allowed the show’s new characters to thrive in a way that Picard ’s never did. Even Strange New Worlds , which features multiple “legacy characters” (Pike, Spock, and Uhura) in its ensemble, shows the same amount of love and care to those that it’s broadly reinvented (Una, Chapel, and M’Benga) or created whole-cloth (La’an, Ortegas, and Hemmer).

Superficially, shows like Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds may appear to be more pandering and nostalgia-driven, but creatively, Picard is the far more cynical endeavor. Of the five modern series, it’s the only one that seems uninterested in being anyone’s first Star Trek, and is now doubling down on the novelty of the current “reunion series” trend. This isn’t to say that a final farewell to the Next Generation cast couldn’t be entertaining, only that it’s the least interesting idea that the Kurtzman era of Trek has yet offered. As the franchise branches out into multiple directions, exploring different eras, tones, and media, Picard is the only road that appears to be a dead end. However, with a new showrunner and a new (old) cast on board for its final season, there remains hope that the franchise’s weakest modern entry may come to a satisfying conclusion.

Approaching infinite velocity

Picard may be coming to an end next year, but Alex Kurtzman and company have no intention of letting the franchise lose steam. Kurtzman has spoken publicly about two live-action series that are currently in development, and has hinted that there are more that have yet to be announced. A Discovery spinoff starring Michelle Yeoh as the reformed interstellar tyrant Philippa Georgiou was intended to start production in 2020, but has been delayed by the pandemic and by Yeoh’s film career renaissance. Yeoh recently described her series , tentatively titled Star Trek: Section 31 , as “Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy,” but there’s been no word on when she might have time to make it. There’s the long-gestating Starfleet Academy series , which is currently being developed by Absentia co-creator Gaia Violo after a version from Gossip Girl ’s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage failed to ossify. A long-rumored narrative podcast miniseries about the legendary villain Khan from Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer has just been officially announced . Kurtzman and company clearly intend to keep Trek running year-round on Paramount Plus until the wheels fall off, and if it continues with its current pace and variety, this may well be sustainable for another five years. (We’re looking forward to seeing Section 31 premiere on Paradiscovery Prime in 2026.)

The potential hyperspanner in the works is Paramount’s plans to supplement this with further Star Trek feature films. The conglomerate has promised stockholders a fourth film starring Chris Pine and the rest of the crew from the reboot trilogy, committed to a 2023 release date despite scheduling conflicts with the cast and a currently vacant director’s chair . New head of Paramount Pictures Brian Robbins has expressed interest in multiple new Star Trek films , both live-action and animated, on top of the nonstop rotation of new shows streaming on Paramount Plus. This suggests that Paramount intends to try yet again to build Star Trek into a franchise on the scale of Star Wars, something that no one but its stockholders is asking for. It’s miraculous that Star Trek has managed to expand in the directions that it has over the past five years, with five very distinct television shows appealing to different but overlapping audiences, but the thought of frequent theatrical films on top of this is, frankly, exhausting. There’s the ever-present danger of Trek’s value as a corporate property interfering with its capacity to tell interesting, even radical, stories. The more money there is in the Star Trek business, the closer scrutiny it’s sure to receive from on high and the less likely it is to challenge the status quo. Trek should always be about lessons first and lore second. Thankfully the current leadership seems to understand this, but leadership changes fast, particularly during the streaming era.

Nevertheless, it is an incredibly exciting time to be a Star Trek fan. There’s a new episode on TV every week, a movie in the works, and a genuinely exciting new comics series on the way, as well as the first new console video game in half a decade . 2023 will see the first legitimate crossover of the modern Trek era, between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks , a pairing that makes a surprising amount of sense as both series have warmly embraced the campy and absurd facets of their universe. We have reached Peak Star Trek, and like Peak Anything, it cannot be sustained indefinitely. Like the golden era of the mid-1990s, this is a time that Trekkies should cherish. Either the quality or the quantity of new Star Trek is bound to decline soon, and the former is certain to precede the latter.

Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes where no Trek has gone before by saying religion is... OK, actually

Star trek: discovery is cracking open a box next gen closed on purpose, star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants.

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Resistance Is Futile: Every ‘Star Trek’ Series Ranked From Worst to Best

That’s right folks, it’s time to get down and dirty. Again. There are ten different, separate, and distinctive Star Trek shows that now exist in the universe. Five of them are airing (or are in production) at this very moment. That is a lot of Star Trek ! How is a person supposed to make sense of it all? That’s why I am here. To guide you through the chaos. And to brutally and bluntly rank every single series of my very favorite franchise. 

Yes, it will get ugly, but harsh truths must be shared. This isn’t to be confused with the best Star Trek episodes or the best Star Trek movies . I already upset everyone with that list! We all have our favorite captains and crews, but it’s time to get down and dirty like the Maquis or the Tal Shiar and pit each series against each other. So what is the best Star Trek series? Here’s every Star Trek series ranked worst to best.

10. Star Trek: Picard

Listen, this hurts me, it really does. As a child of the nineties, Jean Luc Picard was my captain. TNG was my introduction to the wonders of the Star Trek universe. But, his triumphant return in Star Trek: Picard , has been well, anything but. Season one was rocky and uneven, with a pretty unsatisfying end, and season two was a straight up disaster almost from the jump. It starts with interesting premises, but they always wind up spinning their wheels and making the least exciting choices instead. Their most egregious sin, however, was bringing back Q and then barely using him except as a de-powered and impotent red herring, and then killing him off! I have some hope for season 3 and the return of the TNG core cast, but honestly not much.

9. Star Trek: Prodigy

I want to give this show a little bit of slack because it’s a kid show and it brought back my gal Janeway, but from the jump, it felt like a show that hated that it was Star Trek . The premise of alien kids escaping an evil hooded lord who wields psychic powers, an evil droid, and a red laser sword blade…. baby that’s Star Wars ! And I love Star Wars , but what I don’t love is a show that desperately wants to be Star Wars and isn’t! The actors even went so far as to say that they didn’t think children would get Star Trek , so they took it upon themselves to try and make it accessible and exciting, which, aside from being deeply insulting to my former childhood self who loved Star Trek , seems to misunderstand the source material! Star Trek is so great because it is able to balance exciting action and more philosophical ethical dilemmas. So it gets second to last place for taking the Trek out of Star Trek .

8. Star Trek: Discovery

I have to be honest, the only reason DISCO isn’t in last place is because it had the decency to take itself 900 years into the future and out of everyone’s way. And also, because the first season was actually fairly enjoyable. Sure, it did away with the episodic nature of Star Trek and focused on one main A plot, but at the time that felt refreshing! It had a big budget and a great cast and it was fun to watch unfold, even if the Klingons got yet another makeover. But every season since has dipped further and further into melodrama (and at times, soap opera.) An episode of DISCO isn’t over until Burnham cries at least three times. It’s exhausting. The crew of Discovery all need serious co-dependency therapy. And some Lexapro. It makes me long for the hey-days of Star Trek as a polite, collegial workplace drama. 

7. Star Trek: Enterprise

The worst of “old” Trek! I mean, just listen to the opening theme. In 2001, the heyday of Trek shows was ending; Deep Space Nine had been over for two years, and Voyager was coming to an end. But CBS was determined to find a way to make it popular in the mainstream again. Unfortunately, their choices were disastrous. They did away with the traditional Trek orchestral opening score, and instead, slapped on a song that sounded like Toby Keith meets Nickelback. And then there was the infamous lotioning scene. In an attempt to make Trek sexy again (which to be fair, is very in the spirit of infamous horn dog Gene Roddenberry), Enterprise sealed its fate with a gratuitous “decontamination” sequence that consisted of T’Pol and Trip Tucker rubbing lube all over each other’s nearly naked bodies. Folks were not having it, and while it did get much better as the series went on, it only lasted four seasons.

6. Star Trek: Voyager

I will admit, Star Trek: Voyager is an acquired taste. My first watch-through, as a teenager, I was not enamored with Captain Janeway or her lost crew. However, when I revisited it as a wisened and mature twenty-something, I found myself quite delighted. And my love for it has only grown. I love that Voyager asks the very important question: “what if Katherine Hepburn was the captain of a starship?” Janeway is a queen, and Tuvok is one of my very favorite Vulcans. It also has the honor of having the darkest episode in Star Trek history, with “Tuvix’—in which Neelix and Tuvix are fused into one new being after a transporter accident. Janeway must then decide whether to keep this new life form or kill it in order to bring back her two crewmen. It is heavy and heartbreaking. 

5. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds is only halfway through its first season but it has already earned its spot among the best Star Trek shows. Certainly among the best of new Trek. The cast is charismatic and has terrific chemistry and the writing is excellent. It feels like the best of old Trek. The crew have personal dramas and backstories, but each episode is focused on them solving a different moral, philosophical, or life-threatening mystery! There are some canon issues (as with almost all new Trek) that can be frustrating for a true nerd, but overall, it is refreshing to see a crew having fun and being professional! Good lord, I know I’m old because I am very excited to see a professional workplace environment. Plus, the cast is smoking hot. Very good eye candy all around.

4. Star Trek: Lower Decks

Hands down the best of the new Treks . Each episode is packed full of jokes and references and very deep cuts of old Star Trek canon—while still telling a good story—and a good Star Trek story! The characters and premises might sometimes run a bit sillier than a live-action Trek show, but at its heart, it is still telling stories that center around puzzles or dilemmas that the crew needs to solve as diplomatically as possible. The characters are lovable and quirky, the voice acting is terrific, and they get some incredible cameo performances from some iconic Trek actors. Plus, no Star Trek villain will ever be as devious as Badgey. 

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation

The formative Trek show of my youth. Star Trek: The Next Generation is perhaps the show that my generation thinks of first when hearing the words “ Star Trek .” It not only brought Star Trek back into people’s homes, it gave us one of the most iconic core casts. Patrick Stewart’s Picard is many people’s favorite captain. It also gave us Data, Riker, Worf, and my second and third favorite antagonists in Star Trek history, Q and The Borg. (First place goes to Ricardo Montalban as Khan, obviously.) Now, not every episode is a banger, but it gave us so many legendary Trek moments that I can overlook a few stinkers. 

2. Star Trek: The Original Series

The one that started it all! We would not be here today without Gene Roddenberry’s seminal work, the 1966 original series! It might be easy to dismiss it by today’s standards, after all, most of the sets are clearly plywood, styrofoam, and neon lighting, and it carries with it some of the problematic tropes and morals of its time. But it has so much more going for it: it is filmed in beautiful, bright technicolor. The costumes are both gorgeous and hilarious. The sets are flimsy and the action sequences are perhaps not always the most well executed, but it’s campy as hell and so fun to watch. Plus, it set the framework for the Trek that we know and love today. It originated the “trolley problems” and ethical dilemmas Starfleet captains are still facing today. A lot of the writing in it is terrific and it created iconic character archetypes in Kirk and Spock. Look, it spawned an almost 60-year legacy and nine spin-off shows for a reason.

1. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

If the original series and The Next Generation established the tone and the archetypes, Deep Space Nine perfected them. It is the pinnacle of Star Trek shows. Not only does it have a terrific ensemble and great writing, it manages to blend the episodic nature of the Trek procedural with an overarching A-line plot (of the Dominion War) as the seasons unfolded. Avery Brooks’ Captain Sisko is definitely the best Star Trek captain. It has to be said and I stand by it! It also has some of the best episodes in all of Trek, including “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” a heartbreaking episode about Nog’s PTSD. That episode not only took the ramifications of war seriously, but it also flipped the notion of what a comedic sidekick was. Nog was no longer just the silly friend of the captain’s son, he became the heart of the show. And that is why Deep Space Nine remains the best of the best.

(featured image: Paramount)

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Strange new worlds season 2 finale title hints at a huge tos retcon.

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Jonathan Frakes Teases His Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode

Star trek: strange new worlds season 3 wraps filming & anson mount hangs up his boots [updated], christina chong & star trek: strange new worlds cast collaborate on new song ‘space girlz’.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has revealed the episode titles for season 2, including the finale, "Hegemony" which hints at a potential but huge Star Trek: The Original Series retcon. Meriam-Webster defines hegemony as "the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group", which could easily refer to Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the USS Enterprise freeing an oppressed civilization. However, it's more likely that the finale title refers to the Gorn Hegemony, the territory of the vicious reptilian species first encountered by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the classic TOS episode "Arena".

The Gorn have emerged as the big threat in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , playing an integral role in the tragic backstory of Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and killing off beloved Enterprise engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak). As Kirk was the first Starfleet officer to make official First Contact with the Gorn, the SNW writers have had to be creative with how they approach the Enterprise's encounters with the brutal reptiles. So far, they've only faced off against Gorn starships and untamed hatchlings, but the title of the finale heavily implies that the Enterprise will be entering their territory in Strange New Worlds season 2. If they do, then it could massively retcon Kirk's First Contact with the Gorn in "Arena".

RELATED: Strange New Worlds Episode Titles Hint At What Happens In Season 2

Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode Titles Hint A Huge Gorn Retcon

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, La'an asserted that nobody had survived an encounter long enough to make official First Contact. This is a smart fix to let SNW have its Gorn cake and eat it because there's a big difference between an encounter with an alien species and a diplomatic meeting between two representatives. For example, the Vulcans and Ferengi had both visited Earth before official First Contact was established with their respective species. This crucial detail has allowed Strange New Worlds to do exciting Gorn-centric episodes like the thrilling "Memento Mori" or the chilling horror story "All Those Who Wander" without retconning the date of the official First Contact between Kirk and the Gorn Captain in "Arena".

However, as Strange New Worlds continues its Gorn story it will become increasingly difficult to rely purely on those key differences to square Pike's experiences with canon. If Starfleet potentially sends Pike and the USS Enterprise to the Gorn Hegemony in the SNW season 2 finale, it could be a massive retcon because it may bring forward their official First Contact. Surely some form of diplomatic relations or interspecies hostilities would be established by Starfleet encroaching into Gorn space. It remains to be seen exactly what sends Pike into the Gorn Hegemony, or if the Gorn seek to expand their influence into Federation space. However, it may only be a matter of time before someone in Strange New Worlds beats Kirk to First Contact with the Gorn.

Will Captain Pike Make First Contact With The Gorn In Strange New Worlds?

As Captain of the Federation flagship, it would fall to Christopher Pike to establish a dialog with the Gorn Hegemony. Pike's Enterprise has survived two encounters with the Gorn, which is something that few Starfleet ships can claim in Star Trek 's 23rd century. Pike is therefore the most prepared officer to establish talks with the Gorn, perhaps to get them to stop attacking Federation outposts and capturing the crews of starships like the SS Puget Sound. Puget Sound survivor La'an Noonien-Singh could be too blinded by her hatred of the Gorn to be of diplomatic assistance, but her tactical knowledge of the species has been incredibly valuable in Strange New Worlds so far.

It's possible that "Hegemony" will up the stakes of "Memento Mori", by having the Enterprise locked in combat with Gorn ships inside their own territory. Historically, the Gorn don't communicate with their enemies on view screens, and simply hunt down their prey. This simple trick would allow Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's Gorn storyline to avoid sacrificing canon. However, there's only so long that SNW can keep deploying Gorn ships without also featuring the adult Gorn in all their grisly glory.

How Pike's Enterprise Could Visit The Gorn Hegemony Without Ruining Canon

Ultimately, the only person who fundamentally cannot visit the Gorn Hegemony in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). In "Arena", Kirk has clearly never encountered a Gorn before, so it would make no sense for him to join the Enterprise's mission to the Hegemony. This gives the SNW writers some leeway to send Pike into Gorn territory at some point in the show's future. However, it doesn't quite explain why Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) don't mention their previous Gorn experiences in "Arena". The simplest explanation is that they can't, because the Enterprise can only watch Kirk's fight and are unable to communicate with him to give him advice.

Another explanation is that they can't because any mission into the Gorn Hegemony, and their previous encounters, will become classified information. It could be that Pike and the Enterprise are sent on a covert mission to establish a cessation of hostilities between the Federation and the Gorn. When the Gorn later attack a Federation outpost in "Arena", it would mark the breaking of that agreement. Perhaps by informing Kirk of this covert mission, Spock and Uhura would have risked the all-out war that Pike and his crew could avoid in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. Instead, they kept quiet, and allowed Kirk to face a Gorn one-on-one, leading to the matter being resolved swiftly, and marking the official First Contact.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

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Simon kinberg in talks to produce ‘star trek’ movie franchise for paramount.

Paramount is looking to the ‘X-Men’ producer to boldly go and relaunch the property on the big screen.

By Etan Vlessing , Borys Kit May 21, 2024 9:28am

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Longtime X-Men producer Simon Kinberg  is beaming up to a new franchise.

The multi-hyphenate is in talks to produce a new Star Trek feature for Paramount Pictures , The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. If all goes well, the door would open to him taking active creative roles on the rest of the storied franchise’s film side. Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman are the main creative producers on Star Trek ‘s television side.

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Abrams remains involved with the new project as a producer. There is no release date for the feature, but the studio has signaled that it would like a 2025 opening. The machinations of the franchise take place against the backdrop of a potential sale of Paramount, which could find itself under the ownership of Sony or Skydance.

There hasn’t been a Star Trek movie since Star Trek Beyond , which was released in 2016. In recent years,  Trek  primarily has lived on the small screen, boldly finding new life thanks to numerous streaming shows on Paramount+, among them  Star Trek Discovery ,  Picard and Strange New Worlds . Efforts to relaunch the film side, including reuniting the Abrams Trek cast that included Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Simon Pegg, among others, have ended up stranded on rocky alien shores. Paramount is also understood to still be developing a fourth Trek  to feature that cast that is being described as the final chapter for this crew.

Puck was the first to report on Kinberg being in negotiations to reboot the Star Trek movie franchise.

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‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Series Casts Holly Hunter In Lead Role

By Denise Petski

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Oscar winner Holly Hunter has been tapped to star in Paramount+’s upcoming series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy . Hunter will play the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy in the series which will begin production later this summer.

Produced by CBS Studios, the series will follow the adventures of a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy.

Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau serve as co-showrunners and executive produce the series alongside executive producers Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa and John Weber. The series premiere episode is written by Gaia Violo.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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