Trekkies

I love The Next Generation! It's my favorite of all time. I'm almost through all the seasons on Netflix and will be sad when they are all done.

Here's some trivia, whenever Patrick Stewart stands up, he always pulls his shirt down. Johnathan Frankes (who plays Riker) named it "The Picard Maneuver." Watch for it! LOL!

I love all the Treks for different reasons.

Classic Trek - the stories were pretty good and the special effects were low tech - they did some dramatic episodes and humorous episodes.
Trouble with Tribbles is a classic!
Loved Kirk, McCoy, Spock and Scotty.
Fun things to watch for - if they are on an away mission and there's a guy in a red shirt - it's a pretty good bet he will die somehow.

TNG (The Next Generation) - different and yet similar - also good with drama and humor. All the characters were great and Lwaxana Troi was a riot! I loved the Q episodes among others.

DS9 - of all the Treks - I liked this but it was my least favorite. I felt they got bogged down in the war with The Dominion but I loved the Ferengi (and their Rules of Acquisition). I liked Odo, Zek, Jadzia Dax, and Quark. Character I loved to hate was Winn Adami.

Voyager - Was good. They met lots of new aliens and we got a better look at the Borg and their queen. I loved the Hologram Doctor. I was so glad when they finally left the Kazon space behind.

I almost forgot about Enterprise.
I really liked their first season best.
Best episode was the one about the automatic repair station.
The time war/travel was starting to get annoying.

You can watch them in what ever order you want but some of the later series reference prior series.

I have been watching Trek since I was a kid. The old ones are great - nostalgia big time. Some are SUPER corny but enjoyable. You can totally start out anywhere because though they are related, the different "upgrades" can stand on their own.

Here is the list:
Star Trek (original)
Next Generation
Deep Space 9 (on a space station - related, but not the same. You will see some characters from Next Gen on this)
Voyager - some like this one, some don't. It's not a Gene Roddenberry creation (the original creator) so it has a different flavor.
Enterprise - prequal to Star Trek, I believe. I wasn't able to watch it, but if you like Scott Bakula, you'll enjoy it :)

Movies are a blast as well. Star Trek (original) and Next Generation have done them. The most recent are "reboots" of the original. Not sure if you should see them first or last. They are quite good, but also from a different creator so have a different flavor from the Star Trek and Next Gen.

Enjoy!!!

Leonard Nimoy (Spock) is in his 80's now and has been in Next Gen and the most recent movie reboot. I am going to CRY like a baby and take a day off work when he dies. He's awesome. Totally had a crush on Spock as a teen LOL!

There is a very interesting back story for Picard - Patrick Steward is a highly trained Shakespearian actor and was VERY all work/no play when the show started. The other actors basically kept at him till he relaxed and enjoyed his work while being serious and he says the show changed his life for the better. He, Brent Spiner (data), Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and some of the others are friends to this day because of the relationship they built on the show. LOVE that.
And if you haven't already, check out Dr. Who - If you like "dry" British humor, it's a blast, but you HAVE to watch several episodes to get into it because it is quite different. You can also pick this one up at any time - the show itself is 30 years old, consecutive episodes. Google it - wikipedia might explain it :)

I loved some of the characters on Deep Space Nine but didn't care too much for the captain or his family stuff. I loved the Bajor planet story and how the people lived such a peaceful life until they were taken over by the Cardassian's.

I had the biggest crush on Dr. Bashir and looked forward to his interactions with Garak, the tailor, and Quark. They could get into some messes.

I also liked how Worf's story played out and the O'Brians. They all ended up on Deep Space Nine and had more story.

I enjoyed Dax. How she had this little critter living inside her that had been alive many many lifetimes. When it joined with her she gained all the memories it had of each and every host it had been with and each activity they had done. So she was proficient in many games, sports, languages, cultures, etc...and yes, she kissed a girl and liked it...lol. The woman was the mate/love of a past host. Her feelings for this woman were as strong as the mans because Dax had them inside her too. It was a complicated and fun combination for this character.

Odo's character was one of the most interesting to the whole plot of the wormhole. He was a shape shifter and had no recollection of where he came from or what sort of being he was. He was often awkward and insecure. But he was an awesome security chief.

I guess my favorite story was that of Major Kira. She was supposed to follow her family traditions but ended up being a soldier to defend her planet. She grew and became a great leader to her people. She wanted to be faithful to her traditions and morays but they were so different now that they had been shoved into the rest of the galaxy by the popularity of the wormhole.

Then there are the Ferengi's. What a race of people they are with their rules of acquisition. I enjoyed seeing Rom grow and turn the tides for his whole race of Ferengi. He actually is the first Ferengi to join Starfleet after causing Quark as much trouble as possible of course.

I hope you'll give it a chance, it's actually one of my favorite series in the whole Star Trek world.
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I also liked Voyager. It had it's own story that was pretty independent of the whole Star Fleet headquarters and stuff. They got kidnapped to another quadrant of space, so far away it would take them lifetimes and lifetimes to travel back home.

Some wanted to give up, find a suitable planet, colonize it then live there, and others wanted to try to get back. They had little hope of returning home so they were a set group of humans on a ship with limited number of other humans to "hook up" with. The couples that form and relationships that happen are often interesting and challenging. They do get home in the last episode and are happy to finally on Earth again.

My favorite is The Next Generation--we used to watch them with the whole family when I was a kid. LOVED it and still can't tear myself away if I catch a re-run on tv.

I did like Voyager.
Didn't watch DS9, because I was too busy with life when that was running
Didn't see any of the Enterprise episodes
The Original is OK, but not nearly as good as TNG

I LOVE Patrick Stewart!!!!

Another great space show that you can get on Netflix - Battlestar Gallactica (the version made in the 2000s)

Oh my gosh! We loved MST3K. It was so corny, we couldn't help but love it. Have you seen "The Girl in Gold Boots"? It's pretty bad, but they make great fun of it.

I've never really been a trekkie. I grew up with the original Star Trek and frankly, as a little girl, I had the hugest crush on Spock. Don't ask me why, there's no accounting for love. ;)

When my daughter was 3, she was very social. We were at the laundromat and she was visiting with some of the other ladies. She noticed a picture of a man on one of the women's key chains. She inquired as to who it was.
The woman responded that it was a picture of her boyfriend, her honey.
I could have died when my daughter shot back with "Oh yeah? Well....my Mom's hot for Spock".

I thought they were going to die laughing and I was ready to toss my daughter into one of the dryers with a load of towels to hush her up.

It's true, I have a crush on Leonard Nimoy, even after all these years.

It's a matter of taste. Some people like the New Generation better.

Just watch what entertains you the most.

I might need to check out Netflix for MST3K. We used to get it on TV every Saturday. I miss it. I like how they make fun of some of the sappiest movies ever made.

Best wishes.

P.S. I never was a fan of Star Wars.
Have you seen Space Balls? It's a spoof. A dorky spoof.

I have always enjoyed silly spoofs.

So many people have said enough about Star Trek (I love STTNG & Enterprise personally).

If you are looking for a GREAT series of Sci-Fi, you MUST watch Firefly (TV Series) & the follow up movie Serenity. They are the best!

T.

Each series can stand on its own merits and while there are references to previous series, you can get the gist without knowing the specific context.
I started watching reruns of the original series when I was in middle school and have been an avid Trekkie for over three decades now.

Yes, it's okay to start with TNG. I have seen all the series and movies (yes, I'm a Trekkie), and I think it's the best of the bunch. And I agree that Riker is mighty easy on the eyes. ;-) Plus, I could listen to Patrick Stewart all day. That voice! I love TNG (own all the seasons, in fact) for its excellent story-telling and well-developed characters. And while enjoyable at the surface level, the series also has real depth you can explore if you wish to. My husband used to teach military ethics, and he occasionally used TNG episodes to spur discussions in class.

The original does set up the foundation for the entire Star Trek universe, but the stories in the two series are not connected. I wouldn't categorize it as a "must see." The original is very much a product of its time, and can be fun to watch because of all the ways it has sunk into our culture. How many jokes on SNL and Big Bang Theory would you miss if you didn't know about Captain Kirk's "thing" for alien women and tendency to lose his shirt every other episode, or Spock's pointy ears and Vulcan logic, or the fact that if you were an extra in a red shirt you were going to die if you joined an away team?

If you want more after you finish with TNG, I'd recommend Voyager next. I think it's the next best series of the lot, and I love that the tough, smart, resolute captain is a woman.

Enjoy!

Welcome, follow Trekkie!
You have:

TOS: The Original Series (Some are good for a laugh, and some Trekkies will claim that you aren't a real Trekkie unless you know TOS. I disagree.)
TNG: The Next Generation. I love TNG. It's my favorite. I've always had a crush on Jean Luc. ♥
DS9: Deep Space Nine. I like the oddball characters, but it's not TNG.
VOY: Voyager. I enjoyed this more than DS9. The characters have depth.
ENT: Enterprise. I'm not really a fan of this show. Honestly, I got bored. I might go back and try it again sometime.

Have fun!

ETA: "Firefly" is an awesome series. Too bad it was so short!

I really started with New Generation, since I was extremely young during the original Trek series. To this day, New Generation has a special place in my heart--good characters and stories. Of course, I did make a point of introducing our son to the original series when it was available in the public library--it has disappeared since then, sadly. I liked Voyager pretty well too. Deep Space 9 never grabbed me, though I know some people who loved it. Enterprise... that came out after I had kids and stopped watching TV with any regularity.

Yep, Riker was pretty cute. Picard also grows on one. And who wouldn't have a crush on Leonard Nimoy from the old series? He was definitely more attractive than Shatner!

What is funny is I grew up with Kirk and when they started Next Generation I hated it. Then Picard grew on me, Riker is just to immature for me. :p Of course when DS9 came out I hated it too......

I love them all but when I go back now and watch the originals the special effects seem goofy! :)

YAY RED DWARF!

Okay, now that that's out of my system.

I liked Next Generation best, and I think you need to get some background from that before Deep Space Nine, but I do think they are both good. I would go from NG to either DS9 or Voyager. I never got into the reboot of Enterprise, though it wasn't bad.

The old ones with Shatner are kind of cheesy but you can go back to that later. My DH prefers the original series and I prefer the newer ones. And no, you are not a sellout. When I was a teen, I started watching ST:NG because I thought Wesley Crusher was cute.

My dad was a Navy Captain.

ACTUALLY, most skippers are just like that.

They are where the buck STOPS. They make all command decisions, are responsible for life/death of their crews/ are judge AND jury for crimes committed on ship, and a whole host of other things.

My parents used to have a "wardroom" (all the officers) party once a month when the ship was in port, and an "all hands" party once a year.

My dad caused several heart attacks.

He's a GOOF ball / loves kids / axing family man at HOME...
But incrediably stoic at work.

It was always hilarious when someone's kid would hit him in the head with a football, or run into him not looking where they were going. The sudden complete silence made longer by his laugh (which apparently is never heard at sea) as he throws the kid over his shoulder, or lobs the ball back, and is wrestling with all of us in the grass. New ships every 2 years meant it was soooo much fun to "gotcha" his crew. Hehehehe! ESP. When it was little girls getting him to play tea party. His XO (executive officer/ 2nd in command) stayed with him several tours, but is a consummate joker. I suspect Mr. M of having laid the groundwork for a lot of those gasps of terror. We kids took bets on how long Mr. M could bite his hand before laughing.

My dad rocks.

But back to StarTrek!
Aside from Piccard being a PERFECT fleet Captain (sea or space)

Next Generation & The new "old" movies (OMG! Awesome!), are my favorites.

Deep space 9 is okay. I really liked the first few seasons, then not so much.

I couldn't get into the rest.

Next gen is good and no, you dont need to start with the sexist, flaky older stuff. I really don't care for any other break off one myself. Riker is pretty good looking on there! But it's Patrick Steward that sells me, excellent, stage trained actor. Check him out in a remake of A Christmas Story as Scrooge.

ETA: check out Stargate SG1!

The only series I liked was Enterprise. I have seen them all though bc my husband loves it. Also helped that Scott bakula is way hotter than the bald guy from xmen (forgot his name, lol).

I think The Next Generation is the best. Never really got into any of the other ones (Enterprise, a little).

The movies are worth watching - all of the movies, except the first one. Star Trek The Motion Picture is very boring. Start with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. It is the original cast but made much later. The dialogue is much better and so are the special effects. I would watch the movies in order. Some are better than others, but all (except the first one) are worth watching.

The Star Trek movie that came out in 2009 (the title really is Star Trek) was a "reboot." The movie involves the characters form the original series, but the story is a kind of prequel, as it's about them when they were in the academy (before they were assigned to work together). It's a "reboot" because there is time-line change due to time travel. I'm not giving anything away. It's a very good movie with a sequel due out in May. But you definitely want to watch the other movies first.

So glad someone mentioned Firefly. That is very good. Too bad it was only one season.

I liked Star Wars, personally, but I think you kind of have to watch and like it as a kid. It's enjoyable to me now because it's somewhat nostalgic and because my kids like it. So it's something we can watch together. It's very rare that I meet an adult who watches Star Wars for the first time and likes it.

The Next Generation is a fine place to start. You don't need to watch the old Star Trek episodes to get The Next Generation. I also enjoyed Voyager. Deep Space Nine not as much because they weren't really travelling and discovering new planets. Enterprise was OK.

i think that Next Generation is my favorite too :) probably because it was on when i was in my "formative years". and yes, i loved Riker too! and i really loved the Holodeck.

you think you're weird? i also kinda liked Worf :P

i say go for it. enjoy!

We are SO a sci fi family!

My husband and I both grew up watching the original Star Trek TV series, and up until the last two Star Trek movies, I've seen them all in the movie theater. We thought the original Star Trek TV shows were a little hokey/old-fashioned (sorry, they are. We went to one of them on Netflix just to play the music for our daughter; she just rolled her eyes and said, maybe later. LOL). We watched all the shows of Voyager first--loved it, loved it, loved it!! Now we are currently watching The Next Generation. Haven't decided if we'll watch Babylon 5 next or another one in the "Star Trek" series collage (I didn't even know they'd made Enterprise...I've been out of the loop for a bit on anything having to do with Star Trek while raising my daughter).

And I LOVE Jean Luc Picard! (I also loved James T. Kirk as well as Kathryn Janeway.) Patrick Stewart is a wonderful actor; his Shakespear days really helped hone him into a terrific dramatic actor. He was in another sci-fi series where he was the head of a special school where kids with special powers were schooled and trained, and they were used on special missions. Loved that one as well; it was very short, not very many shows. Can't remember the name of that one (Ah! Christina helped me remember. It was X-Men. Thanks Christina!). Some of the kids were scientifically altered, some had their gifts the natural way/born with them. Patrick Stewart was great on that one--he plays a guy in a wheelchair who has uncanny smarts and superhuman abilities.

We've also watched Battlestar Galatica as well as the beginning series for that (I forget the name of the beginning series--it gives all the background information that makes Galatica more understandable. I'm not sure, though, if I'd watch it before Galatica or after again, like we did. It was actually sort of fun, trying to figure things out and not knowing everything up front). We actually started our run of watching sci-fi with Battlestar Galactica; we just LOVED this show/series! In fact, we didn't even watch this one on Netflix (although it's on there now); instead, we borrowed the entire show on DVD from a friend of ours and watched all of them back to back in one crazy winter's movie marathon session. In fact, we were so feverish to watch them, we'd often watch 3 or even 4 episodes a night and watch them back-to-back on the weekends, trying to cram in as many as possible; it was that good.

We've also watched Firefly and the 3-hr wrap-up movie on that one, which was awesome. Really, really missed it when it was over.

Also really loved watching Jericho and a British series called The Day After (I believe). Jericho is about 8 nuclear bombs that were set off in the USA and how the residents of the town of Jericho (Kansas?) make it through the aftermath. The Day After is about a mutated virus getting out and killing most of the people in the world and how those left behind survive (based in Britain). VERY good series.