Edit: this is meant to be a shitpost. I don’t care about your favorite series/universe. You do you.
I wanted to try Star Trek recently, but found out it’s like 1000 episodes and 15 movies, so it might take a while. Though I’ve heard not everything is worth watching.
Can anyone from Star Trek’s fan base provide some more insights on which shows can be safely skipped, if any?
As for watch order, I’m gonna go with release date order, unless there are any special circumstances.
The ones worth watching in my opinion are, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, finally Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks together. As for The Original Series, Enterprise, Discovery, Cadets, Picard, and the rest can be skipped. The Original Series is fun to go back to but it’s so unlike the rest I can’t get into it.
Putting strange new worlds above TOS is inconceivable to me. S1 of TOS alone has several episodes well above the best of SNW (Corbomite maneuver, city on the edge of forever, Balance of Terror). Though there’s also a decent amount of poorly aged material… pretty much agreed otherwise. Also, I agree they should watch SNW, just not in lieu of TOS
Personally, I liked Enterprise. Flock is my favorite ST doctor by a wide margin (though I haven’t seen anything newer than enterprise, other than one of the reboot movies).
It’s a different feel from the series that came before it, way more ad-hoc with what they are doing since they are the first human ship to boldly explore the unknown.
Oh my!
Star Trek is one of if not the most prominent Science Fiction series in our culture.
Star Wars is one of if not the most prominent “Science” based Fantasy series in our culture.
They really aren’t at all similar on the most fundamental level. They just use similar set dressing.
Science Fiction v. Space Fantasy
Yea, that’s the right term
but the shots fired were from red shirt ensigns
What would happen if storm troopers shot at red shirts?
Wow. Simultaneously, endless war and world peace, as no one dies from war.
I feel like doctor who is more of a comparison to Star Trek no.
Post TNG and Voyager, they’ve been fairly blah with a handful of decent standout episodes.
Maybe it’s because I grew up with these shows, and now I’m old I just want something with a bit more heft.
It’s just all seems like light entertainment these days. Something akin to The Expanse is what I’m after.
The Expanse has ruined my enjoyment of most space sci-fi shows. It was too good
Try the expense audiobooks. They are as good and better than the TV show
Post TNG and Voyager, they’ve been fairly blah with a handful of decent standout episodes.
Lower decks! Lower decks! Lower decks!
not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount.
I don’t subscribe to disney either. so I’ve basically missed out of anything that wasn’t on netflix. and I’m probably going to cancel netflix too.
You have an objection to sailing the high seas?
yeah I’m one of those idiots who think artists should be paid for their labors :|
I know, it’s like… so last century. I did some arrrrrgghmatey kinda stuff when I was younger but not since like… newsgroup releases back in the protoweb days.
Got a blu-ray player?
artists should be paid for their labors
I get that, but if you’ll never pay for paramount, I imagine if you asked the artists whether they’d rather have their work stolen or never viewed at all I suspect they’d choose the former.
Mail some cash to the artists then.
not gonna sub
to paramountnot gonna subto paramountnot gonna subto paramount.There, I’ve fixed it for you.
Now do like the rest of us Orions and watch the best Star Trek since TNG.
ech… I’m one of those ancient weirdos who want artists to get paid for their work. and I’m already in front of screens too much for work and gaming, corpulent etc.,.
And you think production is going to share their profits from a finished series with the artists?
and I’m already in front of screens too much for work and gaming, corpulent etc.,.
That I get 100%
And you think production is going to share their profits from a finished series with the artists?
I don’t know if it’s still applicable to productions taking place today across the board, but SAG still exists so I have to believe a large number of hollywood productions still give residuals to people…?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual_(entertainment_industry)
I know for many it’s a pittance but better something than nothing at all.
I’m probably thinking too much into all this and will catch up sometime in the future after the apocalypse. thanks for the insight.
If I’m getting this article correctly, they’re only getting paid for the success of the show within 90 days of release on a streaming platform. Everything else is based on the streaming service buying the license to show the series.
So the only way to maybe get them some additional pay would be for you to purchase it through some non streaming method like buying a dvd from amazon, or to wait for paramount to sell the license to a new streaming service and you take part in the whatever percentage of the service is required to watch the show within 90 days for them to get a bonus.
No.
Idk, Star Wars and Star Trek only share the sense that they’re both in space, overall both very different and we like both. Personally we like Star Wars more because autism brain but yeah start trek is good too :3
I think it’s a dumb debate personally.
I love my space exploration show. I also love my space wizard drama, and my space politics show, and my wibbly wobbly spacey wacey show. I just like goofy shows in space.
Except Picard. I don’t care for Picard.
These comparisons feel like people trying to compare Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth and asking which was the better athlete.
I think it’s a dumb debate personally.
Seriously.
Babylon 5 is obviously the better one.
Even though it’s pure fan service, I loved the 3rd season of Picard
I found Picard enjoyable while I was watching, but retrospectively I can’t remember a single scene I enjoyed. It’s fine, but it’s ephemera.
If you want to compare current stuff, then both are trash. sequel trilogy at least had the decency of being entertaining garbage while disco was 10% plot and 90% people talking about the 10% in case you missed anything while looking at tiktok.
original trilogy and next generation are both good shit, and are good for different reasons.
Andor and Solo are good, most of the rest of Star Wars including all the “space wizard” stuff is shallow as hell and far more casually cynical than Star Trek is.
I’m not sure how you can defend Solo when one of its subplots is literally “the exploitative plight of droids is funny lmao”
And also "the one droid fighting for droids’ rights is
spoiler
literally turned into a permanently-enslaved appliance at the end."
valid, I am not defending it there, but at least it acknowledged the concept…
star trek catching up fast at being dogshit with every show now being jack bauer
With exception of the scifi label and being well known they are not even comparable.
I watch Star Wars for spaceships and laser sword fights.
I watch Star Trek for courtroom episodes.
(Although Andor is one of the best political dramas out there and must-see TV.)
Yes to Andor, and before that Rouge One was the best thing to come out after the admittedly cheesy original 3 (before Lucas added all the lame animation over them).
Rogue One is a fine cherry on top of two seasons of Andor.
Star Wars is an action/adventure/drama series that happens to be in space (they called it “space opera” for good reason).
Star Trek is a science fiction series, at least until Fuller/Kurtzman (where it strayed more to action/adventure). You kind of have to bisect Star Trek into pre and post Roddenberry/Berman.
I think the best label for Star Wars is probably “Science Fantasy”. Personally, when it comes to this sort of differentiation, I draw the line at: is there magic?
Unpopular opinion of the day: “The Force” isn’t any more magic than Betazoid telepathy, replicators, or transporters.
Not to mention
Q is more “magical” than anything in Star Wars.
even in Trek, it’s openly acknowledged that there must be a scientific explanation for Q, even if it’s beyond humanity’s current understanding. they also mention several times that any sufficiently advanced technology would appear to be magic to those who lack the ability to rationally explain it.
Star Wars tried for a scientific explanation for the Force, too, with midichlorians.
They tried, but it’s kind of bullshit and magic anyway
Agreed, but so is Q.
Yeah, Star Wars is a fantasy that is set in space.
There are aspects of Sci-Fi but the galaxy often blurs the line between magic and technology.
It has space opera elements, but Star Wars anymore is a setting rather than a story.
It’s not magic, it’s midichlorians!
It’s not midichlorians, it’s heroin.
That explains much of the plot.
Auralnauts Explains It All For You, via the life of Larry Bonjo Ben Kenobi. They tried to make him to go to Grievous’s rehab and he said no no no
That’s a great one. I’ll be using that!
There’s not much actual sience behind the technobabbel of Star Trek tbh. It’s just as much of a magic system as the force is.
Bormanis was given a hard task, to be fair. So many scripts just had (TECH) written where the writers needed help and Bormanis would have to shoehorn something in (and before Bormanis, the actors probably just made a lot of it up).
Thankfully most of the science fiction isn’t in that technobabble but in the plot lines; questioning what it is to be human, to be civilised, and what meaning there is to life, post-scarcity.
Thankfully most of the science fiction isn’t in that technobabble but in the plot lines; questioning what it is to be human, to be civilised, and what meaning their is to life, post-scarcity.
This point needs more acknowledgement. Star Trek isn’t a sci-fi show because it does or doesn’t have magic, it’s because it tends to follow the genre conventions of a (very soft, pop) sci-fi show. Easy example, Star Wars doesn’t tend to focus on questions like “hey are these robots sentient? How could we know?” while Star Trek can’t stop litigating that issue.
It’s the best technobabble, full stop.
Wait until you hear about stargate.
Star Search has entered the chat
Babylon 5 wants a word out back. And Farscape is waiting to surprise them both
What’s that? Firefly from the top rope!
Red Dwarf waiting to tag in.
No love for Lexx? 😔
Never heard of it…
Oh. Yeah. No.
No.
None.
Lexx is like a bad salvia trip.
Feels like suffering brain damage and sexual abuse.
Oh my, I couldn’t get into that show. I still haven’t finished it. It has been sitting in my “Up Next” for months, and will probably remain there for months to come…
I thought the girl was soooo cute when I was young. She’s probably half my age now…
Farscape is so refreshing for a lot of reasons, but the quality puppets let them do soooo many cooler aliens than other shows that had to capitulate to the homonoid alien trope
And Fargate… but that’s a conversation for another community.
That’s for [email protected] right?
I don’t get the love for Farscape at all.
You are not alone. I just don’t understand how people can watch that and think “good”. The puppets were neat and some of the concepts had possibility. But characters wildly changing their personality episode after episode just turned me off. It just had no consistency.
I really like the premise of Farscape, but the execution was lacking. It can still be fun in small doses, but I find a majority of the episodes are just too cheesy for me (same reason why I could never get into Doctor Who).
Really bad writing overall.
It’s at least nice that they’re not so much a big military hierarchy for a change, in sci-fi.
I think we upset OP lol
I watched like 2.5 seasons of sg1 a few months ago and i gave up waiting for it to get good. It definitely had redeeming moments and even episodes but by and large i found it pretty mediocre.
You mean the long ad for the FN P90?
But to be fair Stargate has quite a few funny eposodes - if you don’t take it so seriously.I think a lot of the love for it comes from “growing up” with it and having nostalgia blinders on.
I really loved SG1 when it was airing, but rewatching it nowadays I’m more in your camp -redeaming moments and really good episodes here and there, but for the most part it’s fairly mediocre and a background watch type show at most.
What happens when a stormtrooper shoots at an unnamed redshirt?
Storm trooper still misses, but red shirt dies of heart attack. Or they dodge, slip on a replicated banana and hit their head on the Conn and die, while sending the enterprise on a spin near a black hole. Now Chewbacca has to charm nurse Chappel or the Kryptonians will take advantage and board the ship.
Take that AI, this is human made slop. You’re not better than me.
It’s like the toast with jam and a cat. The fabric of existence itself will be in danger.
Is that like the buttered bread thing always landing down so you strap it to a cat thing?
Yes, it is that. 🙂
Awesome! Never heard that phrase with jam had to be sure.
Eh, they both have their place. I can’t get behind Jedi being emotionally stunted or the federation not using it’s tech to the fullest.
My one exception is pre-Disney Mandolorians. Nothing is sexier than freefalling from orbit on the back of a 6 legged robot dragon with nothing but your platemail and a vague goal of scaring the shit out of locals.
the federation not using it’s tech to the fullest.
Funny you say that, since the Federation arguably doesn’t.
Just look at warp drives, for example. A galaxy-class can go from reverse to full forward in a third of a millisecond. Smaller, newer ships like the Intrepid, of the Sovereign, would be both faster and even more agile.
Federation starships should be zooming about the battlefield like dragonflies instead of slowly flying around each other like star wars ships. Though it makes some sense why they won’t, since the viewers would have a fit about it being unrealistic.
My biggest grievance is that the threat of death exists when, between replicators and transporter errors, they could populate their ships with unending clone armies to explore without ever risking anything.
Not having clone armies at least makes sense, since the Federation isn’t exactly that fond of cloning sapients, inorganics aside. Too many ethical issues involved.
Ok, so instead of staffing a ship with 1000 duplicates of one guy who volunteers to go out and risk his life, they could add some extra storage to the transport buffer and require weekly backups of all crew. Then if redshirt #3 dies planet side they just spin him back up and tell him what went wrong. They have video game style save points on every ship and they’re using them to save on gas.
My one exception is pre-Disney Mandolorians. Nothing is sexier than freefalling from orbit on the back of a 6 legged robot dragon with nothing but your platemail and a vague goal of scaring the shit out of locals.
My knowledge of Star Wars is almost entirely pre-Disney, but I am completely lost here. What is that describing?
Legends stuff. Mostly comics I believe?
You’d enjoy the opening to Starship Troopers.
The rest of the book is neonationalist garbage but the openinging sequence is good. And the likely inspiration for the drop you described.
The rest of the book is neonationalist garbage
Just have to ask…you do realize it’s satire, right?
The book? Or the movie?
The book is 100% serious. It’s fucking ridiculous. But Heinlein is pretty sincere and uses it as his philosophical treatise. There’s more than one section where he sits everyone down in a classroom for a lecture.
The movie is satire. It takes the themes presented and makes sure that everyone who espouses the virtues of the militant fascist state is horribly disfigured.
I have a hard time getting a read on Heinlein because he also wrote Stranger in a Strange Land which is as left as Starship Troopers is right.
As I understand he wrote SiaSL to be deliberately provocative. It read to me as if he was just dreaming up the most bizarrely counter culture things he could think of and mushing them together.
Stranger was considerably more thoughtful and deliberate than you’ve described, but even still how is that different than Starship Troopers? Heinlein used his novels to explore worldviews, not really to endorse them. If you start trying to pin down his sincere beliefs with any one book, you’re pretty quickly going to run into inconsistencies with the others.
The film adaptation was satirical, but the novel that it was based on was not.
The exact words of the text
The only real comparison I can draw between the two is both have disappointed me by moving away from their established brands and disappointing me.
Strange new worlds is amazing and reclaims that established spirit.
Star Trek going back into its own timeline isn’t something I’m excited for. I want to see what’s next. Its probably good, but it feels like revisions when I’m waiting for the next next generation.
