My partner and I are most of the way through Star Trek: The Next Generation - what should we keep this train rolling with?

[tidewatersouthern]

I guess I just downplay the first seasons so people will go in with low expecations and they can be positively surprised when it's not actually all that bad. And they know things are going to just pick up.

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This is true. Watching both series as they aired was kind of remarkable as the scope of each of them only grew. I just wouldn't want someone to skip either of those seasons because they're weaker than the rest of the series. I feel that both are pretty integral.

 

[Jashobeam]

DS9, but just skip over the gawd awful ferengi focused episodes with Quark's mom and the high Nagus, their voices will haunt you until the end of time.

I also cannot stand the mirror dimension episodes especially Kira's double, Smiley O'Brien is awesome though

 

[Captain_Vyse]

DS9, but just skip over the gawd awful ferengi focused episodes with Quark's mom and the high Nagus, their voices will haunt you until the end of time.

I also cannot stand the mirror dimension episodes especially Kira's double, Smiley O'Brien is awesome though

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Profit and Lace is possibly the worst thing Trek has ever produced.

It's more than just bad, it's insulting.

I do love the Magnificent Ferengi though. Fun episode.

 

[Khanimus]

DS9 is such slow burn and much of the S1 hasn't aged well, but I guess if you have suffered TNG S1 you can manage DS9 S1. DS9 is very character heavy so for many it's hit or miss if you just can't get into the characters. I also think Original series is great as well, it has genuinely great moments and then there is the silliness of it all because it was made in the 60s.

... There is also Babylon 5 which also has horrible S1 but on the other hand one of the most epic scifi stories told in TV. But again, it's space sation stuff, so if that's not the cup of tea for you then go watch Farscape.

edit. Lower Decks is fun as well, great palate cleanser when you hit a dull string of DS9 episodes.

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The argument against watching TOS is precisely because it's a show from the 60s.

TNG, for all its highs, still will bounce into episodes where it tries to tackle more relevant social concepts and miss the mark, or write something with emotional sensitivity but kick it off on the wrong foot that kinda poisons the point. And some of it you can roll your eyes and go "this was the early 90s, they thought they were doing a thing..." Other times you can be left deflated.

As much as she loves Troi and Crusher, it's still clear sometimes that these are women often written by men. Often episodes solely focused on them are about their badly written love lives. Ensign Ro entering the show is atleast a recurring female cast member whose duty on the ship isn't solely to be a healer or councilor, atleast since Tasha died.

And again, this is a show from the late 80s/early 90s. I don't know that my partner will find much joy going to a show that by all metrics treats and views women dramatically worse.

 

[BorganXI]

TNG, The Movies, DS9, Voyager all form one big Trek era in its time. Go through those then hit Picard to finish that up.

After that you can choose to hit Enterprise, Discovery, or SNW next.

 

[Jashobeam]

Profit and Lace is possibly the worst thing Trek has ever produced.

It's more than just bad, it's insulting.

I do love the Magnificent Ferengi though. Fun episode.

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I didn't mind Quark, Rom or Nog, the episode where they traveled back in time to cold war era Earth was great. I also really liked the ferengi episode with the female ferengi who posed as a male (wearing bigger ear lobes or whatever) to earn profits, that one was pretty good as well, but the mother episodes were annoying and there were so many of them.

 

[Pheonix Will]

I'm actually going to say watch Generations. Loved the character moments for some of the cast in that film.

 

[Trouble]

Lower Decks is great...

 

[DoubleDribbler]

If she's not feeling DS9 I would just skip to Voyager. I found it very similar to TNG.

 

[sbenji]

Babylon 5. That is all.

 

[Volimar]

I'd watch it all chronologically, though since you've done TNG maybe you can go back and do TOS before SNW. Voyager and Enterprise have their places, good eps and bad. Unless you're in a time crunch I don't think there's real reason to skip em.

The only exceptions might be the first 2 seasons of Picard which are pretty meh throughout and don't add much to anything.

 

[Excuse me]

The argument against watching TOS is precisely because it's a show from the 60s.

TNG, for all its highs, still will bounce into episodes where it tries to tackle more relevant social concepts and miss the mark, or write something with emotional sensitivity but kick it off on the wrong foot that kinda poisons the point. And some of it you can roll your eyes and go "this was the early 90s, they thought they were doing a thing..." Other times you can be left deflated.

As much as she loves Troi and Crusher, it's still clear sometimes that these are women often written by men. Often episodes solely focused on them are about their badly written love lives. Ensign Ro entering the show is atleast a recurring female cast member whose duty on the ship isn't solely to be a healer or councilor, atleast since Tasha died.

And again, this is a show from the late 80s/early 90s. I don't know that my partner will find much joy going to a show that by all metrics treats and views women dramatically worse.

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Fair enough. Women characters are abysmally written in TOS.

DS9 on other hand has most well rounded women in Trek, not to mention the characters actually having character development, I guess DS9 is safest bet (along with Lower decks).

 

[Kazooie]

I'd watch all the TNG movies next and then DS9, which, together with TNG and Babylon 5 is one of the three best non-interactive media products I know.

 

[Khanimus]

Fair enough. Women characters are abysmally written in TOS.

DS9 on other hand has most well rounded women in Trek, not to mention the characters actually having character development, I guess DS9 is safest bet (along with Lower decks).

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Yeah DS9 is absolutely something we're looking to get into.

I'd watched a ton of TOS when it was on the Space channel or whatever in Canada when I was like 10. I know Nextlander did a watchcast series going through it, and man, they did not hesitate to bring up how egregious almost every female guest appearance is lol

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

I would watch the best episodes of TOS before you see Strange New Worlds. It's obviously an old school, but if you have tolerance or even affection for old time production values, the writing still holds up. The first season has the best episodes, like Corbomite Maneuver, City on the Edge of Forever, etc.

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

I don't know that my partner will find much joy going to a show that by all metrics treats and views women dramatically worse.

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If this is a concern, yeah, skip TOS. I would still say that the standout episodes like Balance of Terror or City on the Edge of Forever are essential viewing if you like science-fiction, though.

 

[4CornersTHSA]

If this is a concern, yeah, skip TOS. I would still say that the standout episodes like Balance of Terror or City on the Edge of Forever are essential viewing if you like science-fiction, though.

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Agreed on both of those.

OP, when you're done with the excellent recommendations in this thread, y'all owe it to yourselves to watch Strange New Worlds. IMO it's the best Trek show since TNG/DS9.

 

[viandante]

time to go straight for DS9. might ruin everything else for you because of how good it is tho.

 

[chrominance]

DS9 or Voyager are your next entry points, and I only say either one because DS9 actually wasn't a big thing for me when it aired and I was fine, so if you really don't want to watch it for some reason I wouldn't say it's mandatory. But it's pretty clearly the best choice for a follow-up, and personally I do own the entire series now and intend to rewatch/watch all of it. Voyager is more obviously TNG-lite but there are some decent/great episodes that are definitely worth watching. I'd say feel free to be loosey-goosey with this one, skip episodes as you feel necessary. Definitely don't skip The Year of Hell, Equinox and Timeless though.

The TNG movies are short enough that I'd say watch 'em all, even if you immediately decide to forget Insurrection and Nemesis after you watch them. Hilariously, First Contact was one of the LAST TNG movies I managed to watch, and possibly the only one I didn't watch in a theater (whoops). It's definitely the best one. If you want to skip ahead anyways, I'd say Generations is still worth watching.

Picard season 3 is honestly up to you. I think it won't be as interesting because your partner's just watched TNG for the first time; the feeling of seeing old friends you haven't visited in years won't really be there for her, and that's really a big part of the appeal even if the season itself stands on its own alright as well. But perhaps by the time you've gone through DS9 and Voyager you'll be in the right mood anyways. Also worth noting: watching Voyager beforehand will improve your Picard-viewing experience, though it's not necessary.

Lower Decks is a good one to follow-up from TNG; it's in the same timeframe, there are TNG references out the wazoo, but it's a good enough show that it never requires that you know the references in order to be enjoyable. It'll feel familiar but not too familiar.

Strange New Worlds is just good, so I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone. Discovery... is fine, but it'll feel the least like anything else you've watched so far. If you're in the mood for something different, then sure, watch Discovery (I like seasons 3 and 4 but I know other people love 2 for some reason). Prodigy is fun but remember it's still a kids show even if it works okay for adults, and it's worth waiting until after you finish Voyager to start Prodigy as a major character from Voyager is part of the cast of Prodigy (among other things I won't spoil even though they're not really spoilers).

Dump Picard season 1 and 2 in the garbage where they belong.

 

[darfox8]

Definitely watch DS9 next and Voyager after is 100% worth it too. The only problem is if you REAAAALLY like DS9 then Voyager might be a big letdown. That's how it was for me until years later I was able to appreciate the cast of Voyager more. And the flaws were less glaring to me.

 

[Magnus]

DS9 for sure!

Too much hate for Generations and Insurrection. At WORST, they're very good, fun episodes of TNG with high end production value. Skip Nemesis though. Oof.

 

[Sayre]

voyager gets shit on a lot but honestly it's an entertaining show from the start and doesn't have the slow burn issue like ds9 and TNG.

DS9 is still my favorite but be forewarned that season 1 is a bit rough. Just like the Rikers beard rule, DS9 find its groove when Sisko shaved his head.

 

[Khanimus]

Agreed on both of those.

OP, when you're done with the excellent recommendations in this thread, y'all owe it to yourselves to watch Strange New Worlds. IMO it's the best Trek show since TNG/DS9.

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It's going to be a while, but we'll get there lol.

It feels like the path for us right now is finish TNG→DS9→First Contact→Picard→Lower Decks→Strange New Worlds

We just finished the Fistful of Datas episode. Troi is absolutely someone who gets wayyy too into character when playing DnD.

 

[Mudo]

Absolutely watch Lower Decks and SNW. Some of the best Star Trek that has ever happened!

 

[Khanimus]

#TeamJordiWithABeard

 

[Khanimus]

Oh my god.

OH MY GOD.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft44j7Rx-Tk

Data imitating small-talk is just Patrick Bateman, 7 years before they filmed American Psycho. Like down to the voice.


I now choose to believe Christian Bale is a huge TNG mark.

 

[Priapus]

Star trek Intakes!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6Dj03iW_0

 

[Khanimus]

Next Generation officially wrapped!

We finished All Good Things acouple nights ago which is absolutely the right finale for that show. Also very funny knowing how Picard more or less picks up around 25 years after the show, so it's going to be interesting when we finally get to that series.

Since Generations is more or less the final note on that show, we watched it despite knowing it's not great and... yeah, it's still not great lol. The entire climax being three old men on a rickety cheap scaffold is just the dumbest shit. Like, if it was an abandoned old tower or some cool set, that'd be something. But nah... Malcolm McDowell's plan is to stand on a fucking ladder and be taken away. And Kirk dies because a catwalk falls lol. It starts reasonably well, but really once Picard enters the Nexus, it just falls apart.

I think the thing you notice the most is that Picard really already comes to the resolution of his arc in the show. Cold captain with an artificial heart has to open himself to the people on his crew. Beverly, Wesley, Worf, Riker, even his brother back home. We see him slowly grow and let these people in. So what then can the movie do for him? Um... well... hm.


Anyway....

DEEP SPACE NINE

I'd only seen the show in snippets, taken some knowledge through general osmosis. But it's another to really see it. I knew Sisko was a wartime hardass - I had no idea he was directly tied to the Borg attack, and that shaping his world has been a great start. Kira is a fantastic counter to him - knowing that this was originally supposed to be Ro Laren really shows through, and you can see it in nearly every line. But having Kira be able to talk back already starts her off in a more interesting place.

The supporting cast is interesting so far, and with any show like this, you're really just placing pieces the best you can and hoping cracks and friction between them ignites something special as the show goes. But yeah, they really center on what a hellscape Sisko's interiority really is. And his ability to switch on a dime between cold and... alittle goofy? Just tons of charisma. I've only ever known Avery Brooks from American History X, but he's fucking killing it so far.

Excited for where this goes.

 

[DrForester]

DEEP SPACE NINE

I'd only seen the show in snippets, taken some knowledge through general osmosis. But it's another to really see it. I knew Sisko was a wartime hardass - I had no idea he was directly tied to the Borg attack, and that shaping his world has been a great start. Kira is a fantastic counter to him - knowing that this was originally supposed to be Ro Laren really shows through, and you can see it in nearly every line. But having Kira be able to talk back already starts her off in a more interesting place.

The supporting cast is interesting so far, and with any show like this, you're really just placing pieces the best you can and hoping cracks and friction between them ignites something special as the show goes. But yeah, they really center on what a hellscape Sisko's interiority really is. And his ability to switch on a dime between cold and... alittle goofy? Just tons of charisma. I've only ever known Avery Brooks from American History X, but he's fucking killing it so far.

Excited for where this goes.

Click to shrink...

DS9's supporting cast is absolutely amazing, and there's really no other Trek show that comes close to it in that regard.

 

[tidewatersouthern]

Next Generation officially wrapped!

We finished All Good Things acouple nights ago which is absolutely the right finale for that show. Also very funny knowing how Picard more or less picks up around 25 years after the show, so it's going to be interesting when we finally get to that series.

Since Generations is more or less the final note on that show, we watched it despite knowing it's not great and... yeah, it's still not great lol. The entire climax being three old men on a rickety cheap scaffold is just the dumbest shit. Like, if it was an abandoned old tower or some cool set, that'd be something. But nah... Malcolm McDowell's plan is to stand on a fucking ladder and be taken away. And Kirk dies because a catwalk falls lol. It starts reasonably well, but really once Picard enters the Nexus, it just falls apart.

I think the thing you notice the most is that Picard really already comes to the resolution of his arc in the show. Cold captain with an artificial heart has to open himself to the people on his crew. Beverly, Wesley, Worf, Riker, even his brother back home. We see him slowly grow and let these people in. So what then can the movie do for him? Um... well... hm.


Anyway....

DEEP SPACE NINE

I'd only seen the show in snippets, taken some knowledge through general osmosis. But it's another to really see it. I knew Sisko was a wartime hardass - I had no idea he was directly tied to the Borg attack, and that shaping his world has been a great start. Kira is a fantastic counter to him - knowing that this was originally supposed to be Ro Laren really shows through, and you can see it in nearly every line. But having Kira be able to talk back already starts her off in a more interesting place.

The supporting cast is interesting so far, and with any show like this, you're really just placing pieces the best you can and hoping cracks and friction between them ignites something special as the show goes. But yeah, they really center on what a hellscape Sisko's interiority really is. And his ability to switch on a dime between cold and... alittle goofy? Just tons of charisma. I've only ever known Avery Brooks from American History X, but he's fucking killing it so far.

Excited for where this goes.

Click to shrink...

TNG kind of has three "finales". All Good Things, Nemesis (for the movies), and Picard S3. All Good Things is still, far and away, the superior ending for that cast.

Deep Space Nine is really special. Fantastic cast, from the regulars to the guest stars, and it's a show that actually grows, both in characters and storytelling through its run. To this day, there's nothing else quite like it in the franchise. It's the superior version of Trek long-form storytelling, in my opinion, way better than what we've seen from Discovery or Picard.

Except for Prodigy. That was the best season long arc Trek has ever had.

 

[Bardeh]

I know Voyager is objectively pretty bad, but I still love it. There are some really terrible episodes, but a few diamonds in the rough and generally it's just...comfy.

 

[Zeliard]

I know Voyager is objectively pretty bad, but I still love it. There are some really terrible episodes, but a few diamonds in the rough and generally it's just...comfy.

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Super comfy. The (accurate) criticisms Voyager often got at the time, and to this day - that it was way too standalone, that there were never any major on-going stakes or lasting consequences given the circumstances, that it was largely just a rehash of TNG - become more forgivable over time as episodic shows have become more rare. Sometimes it's nice to just be able to pop in any random episode and not have to remember seasons' worth of build-up and storylines.

Voyager is TNG with a different crew, the latter of which was itself TOS redux. Voyager never reaches those highs but that basic episodic structure and the whole Trek aesthetic is always like slipping on a comfortable pair of old socks.