Watching Star Trek for the first time

[fusoya]

I've been resisting this for the last 30 years, but the inevitable is the inevitable.....I've never watched a complete episode of Star Trek (any series). I've seen a couple of the movies (the new one, the one with the whales and the one where they go to Russia) but had a hard time following them, and I've seen bits and pieces of episodes over the years.

I've purposely avoided the franchise mainly because of all the negativity that their fanbase gets. I'm a hardcore geek and I felt like I always had to have SOME kind of boundary, and something about Trekkies just seemed really OFF to me. And again, since I had a hard time following/enjoying the little bit that I've seen, it didn't really motivate me to watch more.

On the other hard, I did really enjoy Firefly, BSG 2004, and Futurama (and I have a feeling that I'm missing about half the jokes on the latter due to me not seeing 99.9% of Star Trek content).

Anyway, my first question is - where do I start?

After doing a little bit of research, I see that the William Shatner generation starts with 3 seasons of the Original Series, then the animated series, and then the movies, which was also the chronological order they were released.

There's also the Enterprise series, which takes place before the Shatner series, but I also understand that this is similar to the Star Wars prequels where you'll miss half of the storyline if you haven't seen the "later" stuff yet.

It gets even further complicated with the other TV series, since some of them overlap both in the timeline in the franchise, and when they aired.......but I'll get to that if and when it comes to it.

It gets even further confusing when I try to set a starting point for the Shatner series. There was a pilot episode "The Cage" which Shatner wasn't even in, and then a second pilot called "Where No Man Has Gone Before" which was the third episode that actually aired, and then "The Map Trap" which was the first episode that did air. My experience with Futurama and Firefly tells me that I don't want to screw up the watching order, even if the networks did. How many of these eps were aired out of order, and does it affect the plotline?

Also, I have at my disposal the Bluray remastered editions of the Original Series. Purism aside, is it better to watch the "remastered" edition, or the original airings? I don't mind if they were cleaned up as long as it doesn't worsen the plot.

Another fact I found - it will take 23 days, 7 hours and 7 minutes to watch the entire Star Trek franchise. Have most Trekkies watched EVERYTHING, or were some of the series/films blasphemous to the franchise? Lets see how far I get....

[PSXer]

I recommend starting with The Original Series. It doesn't matter if you watch it out of order. I'd just go ahead and watch it in whatever order is on the blu-ray. Of course for purism I dislike the remastered editions, but it doesn't affect the plot at all; it's all purely cosmetic.

I've seen a lot of TOS and TNG, and a little bit of Enterprise and even less of Voyager, and all the movies.

[jayjay]

The even-numbered films (the ones with the original cast, anyway) are the best. The odd-numbered ones the quality is uneven. You can probably skip the very first one completely. The genesis of it was so mixed and convoluted that it just never gelled. It's such a snooze it even dresses the cast in pajamas!

[beowulff]

With TOS, the order you watch the episodes doesn't matter very much. First of all, there was no story arc - maybe the concept hadn't even been invented. So, every episode stands on it's own (I know, I know - there are a few episodes that refer to other ones, but it's rare). An experienced viewer can tell an early episode from a late one, because character development and cast interaction was much less well developed in the first season. So, I would watch them in the order that they were aired, if possible. The two pilots - Where No Man has Gone Before and The Menagerie (actually a well-done framing story around the actual pilot The Cage) are both very good, and you just need to ignore some of the cast changes.

If you enjoy TOS, skip the animated series, and watch Next Gen and DS9. Voyager is pretty dismissible, and Enterprise even more so, although both have some good episodes.

Next Gen is my favorite series, but DS9 is very good, and many fans think it's the best of the bunch.

Keep in mind that TOS was filmed over 40 years ago - it's cheesy and low-budget and sexist, but it's still magical.

[fusoya]

The Menagerie would make a FOURTH pilot mentioned for TOS? ARGH, I haven't even STARTED and I still don't know where to start!

Which ep should I watch first - The Cage, The Man Trap, Where No Man Has Gone Before, or The Menagerie?

After doing some further research, this same question has been asked before on other boards. All consensuses point towards following the release dates for the journey (and that Enterprise will be pointless if you haven't seen all the other series/films first), but there's some debate over how to watch TNG, DS9 and Voyager, whose runs overlapped.

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by fusoya

Also, I have at my disposal the Bluray remastered editions of the Original Series. Purism aside, is it better to watch the "remastered" edition, or the original airings? I don't mind if they were cleaned up as long as it doesn't worsen the plot.

AFAIK, other than cleaning up the prints, all that they changed in the remastered edition was SFX -- new (CGI) exterior shots of the Enterprise and other ships, and maybe things like phaser fire in live-action scenes. I don't believe that they made any material changes to the plots.

I agree with beowulff's assessment on which series are more worth your while. The animated series was very enjoyable when I was 8 (when it first aired), but it does suffer from being a 1970s cartoon. While a few of the stories were pretty good, a lot of them weren't, and its relevance in ST canon is debatable (ISTR that even Roddenberry didn't consider it to be canon). Unless you absolutely fall in love with TOS, I'd avoid it.

[Quimby]

The safest starting points are The Next Generation or the Original Series. Even with the remastered ones, the original series can seem a little cheezy without the nostalgia and history it gives to fans that have been watching it since they were little so I would start with The Next Generation. The problem with that though, is the first season of TNG was probably its weakest. Also keep in mind that at this point TNG is over twenty years old itself.

Deep Space Nine was probably the higher quality series but it also less accessible. You should become a fan before diving in.

Voyager and Enterprise are the weakest.

As far as watching everything. I am a Trek fan but there episodes of Voyager I have never seen because I gave up on the show and only came back to watch the finale. Since the show rarely plays reruns and I am not shelling out what they charge for the DVDs, I may never see some of those episodes.

I also gave up on Enterprise in the second season but came back for the third and stayed with it. The Fourth season brought in creators that were actually fans of TOS and the quality improved to the point where I wished it hadn't been canceled.

Enjoy your project! The franchise makes for a good punching bag but there is a a lot of quality entertainment in there. It is like a spouse you have been married to for many many years. It is comfortable and familiar and thus can be boring but sometimes when you remember to look at it from a new angle you remember why you have enjoyed it for so many years.

[E-Sabbath]

Watch TOS, but forgive it. It's like reading forty year old science fiction stories. A lot of the episodes were about a certain idea, and tried to explore it within the confines of a cheap-ass show. It's fun. Sometimes it's even educational (for the era) or transgressive. To be honest, I think it aged better than TNG. But there's only three seasons, and almost every episode is worth watching.

TNG, you're gonna need to weed out the crap.

I'd watch TOS by air date or by the closest approximation in the season sets. The Cage and The Menagerie are the same episode. The Menagerie is The Cage with a bit of extra added footage to make it fit in with Kirk.

[Odesio]

I wouldn't worry too much about which episodes of TOS you start with. It really doesn't matter all that much. I grew up watching Star Trek in syndication and I certainly never saw them in their original order. Leonard Nimoy once said this at a convention and I find that it's true. "The episodes that were good 30 years ago are still good today. The episodes that were bad 30 years ago are still bad today." Even with the outdated special effects, direction and acting there are some genuinely good episodes of Star Trek.

[Kinthalis]

I never got into TOS, but grew up with TNG and DS9 which I love, and I also enjoyed Voyager and enterprise, but they don't hold a candle to TNG and DS9, IMHO.

I'm going to be a little heretical here and say watch the movies to catch up on TOS - the background of the Star Trek Universe. Specifically movies: I, II, III, skip IV and V, watch VI (my fave!). But skip TOS, or maybe watch a few episodes and see if it might be your thing. Personally, outside of the movies, I can't stand it.

Then go watch TNG. Netflix the whole thing a season at a time. Then go back and continue the movies.

Finally start on DS9 and get ready, 'cause it's the best of Trek, IMHO, specially after the first couple of season.

By this time, if you haven't realized you don't like Trek, you'll naturally want to move on to Voyager and maybe even give TOS another chance.

In fact here's my own personal suggestion on what to start with:

Movie - Star Trek VI The undiscovered country
TNG
DS9
The rest of the movies
Voyager
Enteprise
TOS - maybe.

[Zsofia]

I am a genuine certified geek but had never seen TOS before last year when Himself and I started watching them - they're shockingly good, really, even the shitty ones. I always assumed they were awful and hokey and just allover dumb, but they're really not. Kirk is not as I assumed he was - he's absolutely ridden with the burdens of Duty in a tragic sort of way, for example. There's a lot of richness there that I didn't expect. And Bones... god, I didn't expect to adore Bones. He says every line like in his head he prefaces it with "GODDAMN IT YOU MORON". Really, it's good TV.

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

Kirk is not as I assumed he was - he's absolutely ridden with the burdens of Duty in a tragic sort of way

'No beach to walk on.'

[Shoeless]

Originally Posted by fusoya

The Menagerie would make a FOURTH pilot mentioned for TOS? ARGH, I haven't even STARTED and I still don't know where to start!

"The Cage" was the original pilot, with Jeffrey Hunter as Capt. Christopher Pike. AFAIK it was never aired as such.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot ordered by NBC. It was aired as the third episode of the first season.

"The Man Trap" was not a pilot. It was just the first episode aired.

"The Menagerie" was a two-part episode from the first season that re-used much of the footage from "The Cage".

Hope that helps.

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by fusoya

The Menagerie would make a FOURTH pilot mentioned for TOS? ARGH, I haven't even STARTED and I still don't know where to start!

Which ep should I watch first - The Cage, The Man Trap, Where No Man Has Gone Before, or The Menagerie?

"The Cage" was never aired with the original series (though it was recycled into "The Menagerie.") "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot, but the third episode aired. "The Man Trap" was the first episode aired.

I'd watch them in the order aired -- "The Man Trap" first. You don't have to watch "The Cage" until after you see "The Menagerie," and mostly to see how they were able to recycle the episode. "The Cage" also has some characters who never appeared again. It's a curiosity, but not a place to start.

TOS is still pretty good today, and overall the best of the series. There were some terrible episodes, but a greater percentage of great ones. TNG took several years to hit its stride (about the third season) but was far more sporadic (though it probably has as many good episodes only because they did four more years of it).

[Pyper]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

I am a genuine certified geek but had never seen TOS before last year when Himself and I started watching them - they're shockingly good, really, even the shitty ones. I always assumed they were awful and hokey and just allover dumb, but they're really not. Kirk is not as I assumed he was - he's absolutely ridden with the burdens of Duty in a tragic sort of way, for example. There's a lot of richness there that I didn't expect. And Bones... god, I didn't expect to adore Bones. He says every line like in his head he prefaces it with "GODDAMN IT YOU MORON". Really, it's good TV.

I agree. I watched the movies and TNG as a young child. I was a big fan of DS9 as a teenager. But I never got around to watching TOS until recently, and it's really, really good. You have to forgive the hokey effects and sexism, but the characters (Kirk, Spock, and Bones) are interesting and have great chemistry and some of the stories are very compelling.

Since you don't have to watch them in order, I recommend "This Side of Paradise" and "The Devil in the Dark," two of my favorites.

[fusoya]

The Cage - the version on the Bluray starts with an introduction/outro from Gene Roddenberry, where he explains his original concept was a "space western"....and much like Firefly, the pilot was rejected and the series got re-tooled. I realize this episode is different from the rest of the franchise, but it's still interesting to see what COULD have been, before watching what actually developed. I remember Captain Pike being in the new Star Trek movie. Rigel 7 --- first Simpsons reference! The Talosians were in an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon too. It's too bad Laurel Goodwin doesn't stay on for the series, she was cute as hell. I liked the twist at the end where they made it only APPEAR that the lasers weren't working.

You know, whether or not I get "into" this show (the first episode was fun, but I wouldn't say it hooked me), there's so much pop culture here that it's worth watching just for the historical significance.

[Quimby]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

I am a genuine certified geek but had never seen TOS before last year when Himself and I started watching them - they're shockingly good, really, even the shitty ones. I always assumed they were awful and hokey and just allover dumb, but they're really not. Kirk is not as I assumed he was - he's absolutely ridden with the burdens of Duty in a tragic sort of way, for example. There's a lot of richness there that I didn't expect. And Bones... god, I didn't expect to adore Bones. He says every line like in his head he prefaces it with "GODDAMN IT YOU MORON". Really, it's good TV.

You are right about both points. TOS has some great stories but many people just can't get passed the old style FX. And yes, Kirk really is not like the stereotypes of Kirk. His character has reputation of giving the finger to authority and doing what he wants to do but really that is mostly from the movies. In the show he is a professional and an all around great captain.

He does bang a lot of alien chicks though. That part is true.

[runner pat]

Star Dreck.

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

I never got into TOS, but grew up with TNG and DS9 which I love, and I also enjoyed Voyager and enterprise, but they don't hold a candle to TNG and DS9, IMHO.

I'm going to be a little heretical here and say watch the movies to catch up on TOS - the background of the Star Trek Universe. Specifically movies: I, II, III, skip IV and V, watch VI (my fave!). But skip TOS, or maybe watch a few episodes and see if it might be your thing. Personally, outside of the movies, I can't stand it.

Then go watch TNG. Netflix the whole thing a season at a time. Then go back and continue the movies.

Finally start on DS9 and get ready, 'cause it's the best of Trek, IMHO, specially after the first couple of season.

By this time, if you haven't realized you don't like Trek, you'll naturally want to move on to Voyager and maybe even give TOS another chance.

In fact here's my own personal suggestion on what to start with:

Movie - Star Trek VI The undiscovered country
TNG
DS9
The rest of the movies
Voyager
Enteprise
TOS - maybe.

I highly disagree, but I might be biased, having watched TOS in 1966 when it was the ONLY Star Trek on the air, ever. But fusoya, if you skip over TOS or watch it last, none of the rest of it will make any sense. It is the foundation of the entire franchise, after all.

[Voyager]

I watched it from the very first episode (Man Trap) and even had a weekly preview column in the first on-line newspaper, on the PLATO system in 1976.

While it is true that you can watch them in any order, the ST universe evolved slowly in the first few seasons. The Romulans were introduced in the very good episode "Balance of Terror" and the Klingons were introduced in the also very good episode "Errand of Mercy." So don't get confused by stuff they say that makes no sense today.

You might want to skip the third season, where they had mostly given up, and jump to TNG after the second.

[Zebra]

The one where they go to Russia?


Zsofia, you've probably seen too much Lost in Space. Very different from Star Trek TOS.

[Rhythmdvl]

Originally Posted by fusoya

Futurama (and I have a feeling that I'm missing about half the jokes on the latter due to me not seeing 99.9% of Star Trek content).

You're also missing out on 99.99% of the sound effects. Most of the background noises (doors, consoles, etc.) are from TOS.

[fusoya]

With The Cage behind me, I'm going to watch Where No Man Has Gone Before next, and then follow the production numbers. I realize that TOS isn't a serial and doesn't have story arcs, and therefore each episode stands by itself, so I want to follow its evolution (and apparent destruction) in the order it was created. I'll follow that plan unless/until TOS starts to bore me and then make sure I see all the remaining good/important episodes before moving on to the films.

[Johnny L.A.]

One thing that struck me is that in at least one of the earlier episodes, Mr. Spock shouted orders and reports as if he were an ate-up XO from a bad early-'50s war film.

[Kamino Neko]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

"The Cage" also has some characters who never appeared again.

In fact, this includes every character except Spock (if you only count canon for the main universe, anyway - Pike appears in the recent movie, and he, Number One, and Yoeman Colt have appeared in non-canon stories (no sign of Dr Boyce, so far as I know)).

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Tengu

In fact, this includes every character except Spock (if you only count canon for the main universe, anyway - Pike appears in the recent movie, and he, Number One, and Yoeman Colt have appeared in non-canon stories (no sign of Dr Boyce, so far as I know)).

Pike appears in The Menagerie, which incorporated a lot of footage from The Cage. Not just in that footage, but in the court martial framing. He's the guy in the scars and space wheelchair.

[Kamino Neko]

'Except for in The Menagerie' was taken as read, given the conceit of the episode.

[The Man In Black]

Originally Posted by beowulff

With TOS, the order you watch the episodes doesn't matter very much. First of all, there was no story arc - maybe the concept hadn't even been invented. So, every episode stands on it's own (I know, I know - there are a few episodes that refer to other ones, but it's rare). An experienced viewer can tell an early episode from a late one, because character development and cast interaction was much less well developed in the first season. So, I would watch them in the order that they were aired, if possible. The two pilots - Where No Man has Gone Before and The Menagerie (actually a well-done framing story around the actual pilot The Cage) are both very good, and you just need to ignore some of the cast changes.

If you enjoy TOS, skip the animated series, and watch Next Gen and DS9. Voyager is pretty dismissible, and Enterprise even more so, although both have some good episodes.

Next Gen is my favorite series, but DS9 is very good, and many fans think it's the best of the bunch.

Keep in mind that TOS was filmed over 40 years ago - it's cheesy and low-budget and sexist, but it's still magical.

The Menagerie is not a pilot. I cast you out of Geekdom.

[FordTaurusSHO94]

If you start with TOS and get into it, just watch it in order and then watch the TOS movies in order. If you don't really get into TOS, watch Star Trek 6, to give you an idea of what the best of TOS can be like, and then go onto TNG. Seasons 1 and 2 move pretty slow, but there's a handful of good episodes. Watch up through Season 6, then watch DS9 S1, then finish TNG and watch Generations. Start DS9 S2 and get sucked in by the end and by the time you're in S3, you'll see it's the best series. Try to mix the TNG movies in where they belong during the DS9 arc to get references in the movie and in DS9. Watch Voyager and Enterprise as you see fit. I've only watched the highest rated episodes of Voyager and have never seen Enterprise. I'll catch up on both after grad school using Netflix.

Confused yet?

The highlights for me are ST6, First Contact, TNG S3-S7, and DS9 S3-S7.

[beowulff]

Originally Posted by The Man In Black

The Menagerie is not a pilot. I cast you out of Geekdom.

Just what the Dope needs - a Star Trek pedant.


If I show you a photo of my license plate - WRP SPD - will you let me back in?

[The Hamster King]

The only Star Trek I really like is TOS. The rest are pale shadows of the original.

I wouldn't be so quick to write off the animated series, BTW. The animation is crap, but the writing is excellent and it's voiced by the original actors. If you treat it more like Star Trek: The Radio Drama it's actually quite entertaining.

[Pyper]

Originally Posted by cochrane

I highly disagree, but I might be biased, having watched TOS in 1966 when it was the ONLY Star Trek on the air, ever. But fusoya, if you skip over TOS or watch it last, none of the rest of it will make any sense. It is the foundation of the entire franchise, after all.

Well, I disagree! I watched Star Trek in the order it appeared in my lifetime, which was movies, then TNG, then DS9 (and embarrassingly Voyager, which I gave up on). I'm only now getting around to TOS, and I'm not at all confused. They trek. In space. What's there to make sense of?

[BigT]

I think it's fun to watch TOS in order to watch how the tech evolves. Everything we take for granted in TNG was pretty much made up on the fly in TOS. Little stuff like originally calling the shields screens, to being able to go to the edge and centers of the galaxy and fly past warp 10, is nifty, and stuff like Spock's signature moves are so obviously added last minute. It's fun.

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by fusoya

With The Cage behind me, I'm going to watch Where No Man Has Gone Before next, and then follow the production numbers. I realize that TOS isn't a serial and doesn't have story arcs, and therefore each episode stands by itself, so I want to follow its evolution (and apparent destruction) in the order it was created. I'll follow that plan unless/until TOS starts to bore me and then make sure I see all the remaining good/important episodes before moving on to the films.

Even if you don't watch all of the episodes, these are my three personal top picks.

"Amok Time" - Spock returns to Vulcan for a once-every-seven-years mating ritual, in which he must battle his best friend and captain - Captain James T. Kirk.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" - Kirk faces one of his hardest decisions when he must balance his duty with love as the fate of the entire Federation hangs in the balance.

"Journey To Babel" - The Enterprise ferries a collection of diplomats to a neutral planet. Complicating Kirk's mission is a spy on board and Spock's father, Sarek, the Ambassador from Vulcan. Spock must balance his duty with the health of his father.

I'm sure these episodes would come highly recommended by most Star Trek fans.

Originally Posted by Pyper

Well, I disagree! I watched Star Trek in the order it appeared in my lifetime, which was movies, then TNG, then DS9 (and embarrassingly Voyager, which I gave up on). I'm only now getting around to TOS, and I'm not at all confused. They trek. In space. What's there to make sense of?

Every Star Trek series that comes after it.

[cochrane]

By the way, in 1967, MAD Magazine published the first of many Star Trek parodies, Star Blecch. It was written by Dick DeBartolo and illustrated by Mort Drucker (with a nod to Don Martin). It originally was published in black and white, but it has been colored in and can be seen here.

[Zsofia]

Originally Posted by Pyper

I agree. I watched the movies and TNG as a young child. I was a big fan of DS9 as a teenager. But I never got around to watching TOS until recently, and it's really, really good. You have to forgive the hokey effects and sexism, but the characters (Kirk, Spock, and Bones) are interesting and have great chemistry and some of the stories are very compelling.

Since you don't have to watch them in order, I recommend "This Side of Paradise" and "The Devil in the Dark," two of my favorites.

I totally see how you end up with slash fanfiction out of this, because half the time we just want them to forget about whatever stupid planet is down there and keep hanging out together. We'd watch "Star Trek: Fire Drill" and "Star Trek: Mess Hall" and "Star Trek: Paperwork", honestly - that's the core of the show for us.

[Steve MB]

Originally Posted by fusoya

The Menagerie would make a FOURTH pilot mentioned for TOS? ARGH, I haven't even STARTED and I still don't know where to start!

Which ep should I watch first - The Cage, The Man Trap, Where No Man Has Gone Before, or The Menagerie?

It really doesn't matter all that much. "The Man Trap" is a first-season episode that just happened to be the first one aired, not a "pilot" per se. The original pilot "The Cage" is very different from the rest of the series (Spock is about the only major character who carried over, and the emotionally-repressed Vulcan personality had not yet been developed). "Where No Man Has Gone Before" seems much more like a pilot episode for the original series as it finally jelled (most of the main characters are in place).

"The Menagerie" is a two-part episode that incorporates almost all of "The Cage" (the original pilot) as flashbacks (I hasten to reassure you that it's a well-done framing story, not a lame clip show). This makes the differences in characters and visual style less jarring, and you can decide later whether to go back and watch "The Cage" without the framing device.

To actually answer the question, I'd start with WNMHGB.

[John DiFool]

I'll note that CBS.com has all TOS eps, uncut and using the new FX.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

Originally Posted by John DiFool

I'll note that CBS.com has all TOS eps, uncut and using the new FX.

They're also going to be available for streaming from Netflix, starting in April. I don't know if they'll have the new FX or not, though.

[Zsofia]

I don't see why on earth you'd want the new effects. What exactly is the point, there? Isn't it part of the charm? Part of the whole context? Not to mention that there's absolutely nothing wrong with the old ones.

[Raguleader]

Lessee, I consider myself a fan and by my estimate I may have missed two thirds of the episodes in the franchise (not counting the cartoon and books).

TNG was a bit awkward for the first couple seasons until they found their feet. DS9 was the same way. I'd say, along with whatever episodes from the first two seasons you get recommended (maybe watch the pilot, Encounter at Farpoint, just because it gets a callback in the series finale) you'd probably do well to start with the season 2 finale, "The Neutral Zone". It's got a sort of weird premise (three 21st century humans in cryo thawed out and having to adjust to the 24th century), but it does a rather good job setting up two of the show's most important villains.

Don't worry about the shows overlapping, they don't really cross over much at all. The DS9 premiere kinda runs paralel to the TNG 7th season premiere, but for the most part, they're both just there. Enterprise is docked at DS9 with her crew doing their thing, and the DS9 crew is aboard the station doing their own thing, with a few characters talking to each other. The first episode of Voyager similarly starts at DS9, but for reasons that pretty much make up the entire basis of the show, the Voyager and DS9 crews aren't going to see each other for a long while.

If you get burnt out on TOS for some reason, watch Star Trek II and Star Trek VI and move on to TNG. Star Trek II is a "sequel" to a TOS episode, but is a very solid movie on its own (really, the episode it was a sequel to was goofy as hell, though if you skip it, you miss out on McCoy being a cool-headed badass when someone puts a knife to his neck.) I think Star Trek VI is the one you're thinking of when you say "They go to Russia", since it's very very heavy on the late-Cold War overtones. No Russians in any of the movies though unless you count Chekov (he's Ukrainian).

DS9, watch the pilot episode, then skip to the season 2 finale, "The Jem'Ha'Dar", which introduces the main villains for that show (and has an epic moment of one of the comic-relief aliens successfully calling bullshit on the holier-than-thou attitude that Starfleet tends to have towards others).

DS9 is sort of a deconstruction of a lot of the way we see the humans in Star Trek, partially because it takes place outside the Federation, and so we get to hear what a lot of the aliens actually think of the guys preaching peace from the bridges of the huge heavily armed starships. At least one episode is about 14 times more entertaining if you have seen a specific TOS episode.

Voyager I never watched much of. I'd say find out which episodes center on the "Captain Proton" holodeck adventures and just watch those. (Two of the characters enjoy role-playing as Flash Gordon knock-offs in the holodeck. Many other characters get involved and pretty much can't wrap their heads around why someone would enjoy such campy stories. They even shift to grainy black and white for those parts.) Enterprise similarly I didn't catch a lot of for various reasons.

But really, don't feel pressured to watch the whole franchise RIGHT NOW OMG, just enjoy it.

Oh, as far as stuff in Star Trek that "never happened", "Spock's Brain" gets a lot of shit for being, well, a ridiculous episode (Spock's brain gets stolen. McCoy installs a remote control in his body so he can walk him around like a remote controlled puppet. It goes downhill from there). Also, I'm told that the Star Trek writers all have a strict unwritten rule not to ever reference anything that happened in Star Trek V: The Final Voyage. There are one or two great moments (both involving Spock, naturally), but otherwise the entire movie is more or less a wash.

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

And Bones... god, I didn't expect to adore Bones. He says every line like in his head he prefaces it with "GODDAMN IT YOU MORON".

That's perfect! He is exactly like that. DS9 was my favorite series, but Bones might be my favorite character in the whole ST universe.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Originally Posted by fusoya

. . .[Gene Roddenberry] explains his original concept was a "space western. . . ."

Yeah, "Wagon Train to the Stars." For those not familiar with "Wagon Train," each episode the traveling wagon train would encounter [someone] and tell their story. As such, most of the episodes were titled "The [this week's person's] Story." Just replace the traveling wagon train with a traveling spaceship, and there you go.

[Acsenray]

Originally Posted by fusoya

The Menagerie would make a FOURTH pilot mentioned for TOS? ARGH, I haven't even STARTED and I still don't know where to start!

Which ep should I watch first - The Cage, The Man Trap, Where No Man Has Gone Before, or The Menagerie?

After doing some further research, this same question has been asked before on other boards. All consensuses point towards following the release dates for the journey (and that Enterprise will be pointless if you haven't seen all the other series/films first), but there's some debate over how to watch TNG, DS9 and Voyager, whose runs overlapped.

Originally Posted by fusoya

With The Cage behind me, I'm going to watch Where No Man Has Gone Before next, and then follow the production numbers. I realize that TOS isn't a serial and doesn't have story arcs, and therefore each episode stands by itself, so I want to follow its evolution (and apparent destruction) in the order it was created. I'll follow that plan unless/until TOS starts to bore me and then make sure I see all the remaining good/important episodes before moving on to the films.

I applaud your interest in the original Star Trek, but you're way over-thinking this. Just watch the show in whatever order you get them in. It's got its good points and bad points, but none of them are related to any particular order.

I think it's worth it for you to remember -- especially for someone who has already expressed some sensitivity to geekiness, viz:

I've purposely avoided the franchise mainly because of all the negativity that their fanbase gets. I'm a hardcore geek and I felt like I always had to have SOME kind of boundary, and something about Trekkies just seemed really OFF to me.

... It's just a damn TV show!

(hat tip to Shatner)

[tdn]

I too am wondering about this mysterious Russian movie.

Originally Posted by cochrane

"Amok Time" - Spock returns to Vulcan for a once-every-seven-years mating ritual, in which he must battle his best friend and captain - Captain James T. Kirk.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" - Kirk faces one of his hardest decisions when he must balance his duty with love as the fate of the entire Federation hangs in the balance.

"Journey To Babel" - The Enterprise ferries a collection of diplomats to a neutral planet. Complicating Kirk's mission is a spy on board and Spock's father, Sarek, the Ambassador from Vulcan. Spock must balance his duty with the health of his father.

Add "Balance of Terror" and you've got some good watching there. Then watch the first movie. You will then have seen Mark Lenard portraying not only three different characters, but three different species.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker

Yeah, "Wagon Train to the Stars." For those not familiar with "Wagon Train," each episode the traveling wagon train would encounter [someone] and tell their story. As such, most of the episodes were titled "The [this week's person's] Story." Just replace the traveling wagon train with a traveling spaceship, and there you go.

You have to distinguish how Roddenberry sold the show to what he really wanted to do with the show. I've been watching Have Gun Will Travel, and many of Roddenberry's scripts are little morality plays, just like some of the best of ST. That was not going to get into the proposal. Roddenberry knew full well that the suits were only going to buy something they knew, not something as different as ST turned out to be.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by tdn

I too am wondering about this mysterious Russian movie.



Add "Balance of Terror" and you've got some good watching there. Then watch the first movie. You will then have seen Mark Lenard portraying not only three different characters, but three different species.

Agreed, and also "Errand of Mercy." It is exciting, it is funny, it has a wonderfully ironic ending, and it humanizes Kirk in a way they were never actually able to do with Picard, in that he was able to laugh at his own human weakness.

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

I totally see how you end up with slash fanfiction out of this, because half the time we just want them to forget about whatever stupid planet is down there and keep hanging out together. We'd watch "Star Trek: Fire Drill" and "Star Trek: Mess Hall" and "Star Trek: Paperwork", honestly - that's the core of the show for us.

Or "Star Trek: Captain's Log," as we get a look at the Engineering department unclogging the Captain's head.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Voyager

Agreed, and also "Errand of Mercy." It is exciting, it is funny, it has a wonderfully ironic ending, and it humanizes Kirk in a way they were never actually able to do with Picard, in that he was able to laugh at his own human weakness.

I'm not crazy about that one, but it's pretty good.

fuyosa, no jury would convict if you skipped over "The Omega Glory" and "Spock's Brain." Maybe "The Empath" as well. Definite low points in the series.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by tdn

I'm not crazy about that one, but it's pretty good.

fuyosa, no jury would convict if you skipped over "The Omega Glory" and "Spock's Brain." Maybe "The Empath" as well. Definite low points in the series.

I always liked "The Empath", mostly because it stars a very young Kathryn Hays, who played Kim on one of my mom's soaps, As The World Turns, for decades.