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What is your favorite Star Trek Television Series?
The Original Series
The Animated Series
The Next Generatuion
Deep Space Nine
Voyager
Enterprise
I rank:
Best: TNG
2. ENT
3. DS9
4. TOS
5. TAS
worst: VOY
Why?
TNG best coincides with my values.
ENT is the most interesting concept.
VOY is the most poorly made.
DS9, it showed us humanity is still humanity, not everyone is a "Saint in Paradise"
After that TNG (the hope for a better tomorrow), MOV (continuing the grand adventures), TOS (once a classic, always a classic), VOY (It had some issues), TAS (Hey, I liked it when I was 7), and what little I've scene of ENT (never really cared for the idea of a pre-Trek show).
That should about cover all the bases.
1) Tos (Tas)
2) Tng / Ds9
3) Voy / Ent
I don't really like the last 2 shows, but it's still part of the ST universe so i watched them.
Imo Tos Tng & Ds9 are great and worth watching again and again :p
I have to say that my order is;
1 - DS9. I enjoyed the gritty political side of things, that not everything was a case of black and white, that often shades of gray played a part. The change of pace and localised setting allowed for greater story arcs and better character development over and above any other trek series.
2 - TNG/Voyager. I rate these at an equal level, although I will allow that TNG is first among equals. But hey, I quite liked Voyager (which is why I understand what the people who like Enterprise are going through). This was a golden era for trek and I, as there was a core group of us that would gather weekly to watch, making it a social event too. My fondness for these 3 series is bolstered by these memories.
3 - The Movies. I was never very big on Kirk (Shatners ego). but in order of enjoyment I can say that I have always gone out of my way for the movies, often for first screenings.
After that its;
4 - TOS. OK, so it was the TOS re-runs in the 70's that I was first aware of, but to be honest my memories are faded from back then, and on re-watching Kirk & co. just do not hold my attention. Sure the writing was good, and the show adventurous, but once you remember that Shatner spent most of the time tripping his nuts off on LSD some of Kirks scenes become more comedy than drama... Of course its really good to watch the German dubbed TOS at 2am when drunk.
Not rated
- Enterprise. I cannot really rate Enterprise. As I simply do not watch it. I tried the first few, but it didn't hold my attention. And in the end I just stopped watching. I din't dislike it, although the concept was not to my taste, I just simply stopped. I have had to force myself to find out details about some shows however when writing the Psionis sourcebook and some of the series 4 stuff thats hitting the UK shores now may make some adjustments to that material.
- TAS. Now this I really cannot rate. I have never watched it. But then I have never really tried to find it either.
1. DS9: A weak-ish start, going on to great stroylines, and one of the best series to deal with War, and what happens when good people make morally dubious decisions.
2. TNG/TOS: Both series had some embarrassingly excrutiating moments, but also had some classics. TOS is the daddy of all the shows, and for its time was stunning sci-fi. The sets are obviously dated by todays standards but the best eps stand up to be counted with today's TV. TNG got better as it went on. Again, some classic episodes.
3. The Movies: There really should have only been five films to be honest, as half of them sucked! Still, the five I liked were brilliant. :-)
4. VOY/ENT: I can't really comment. I only watched a few VOY, and I could not really get on with it at all. ENT: What a disappointment. If B&B had stuck to canon history, and listened to the fans, it could have and should have been the best of all the series. They just did not want to listen, and learn from their VOY mistakes I guess.
5. TAS: Never seen it. But hey, it gave us Edoans for the FASA RPG! :D
Cheers
Tas
Let's rank the movies too, and also group the movie subseries: The Trilogy (2, 3, 4) and the TNG movie series.
For me, the Trilogy is better than the TNG films.
Of the Trilogy, the best is 4, and the worst is 3.
The Voyage Home was funny. I basically take other people's word that the Wrath of Khan was good. The Search for Spock just can't compete.
Of the TNG films,
the best: Give Me Nemesisss! (Christopher Lloyd voice)
2. First Contact
3. Generations
Worst: Insurrection.
Nemesis: only did poorly because of bad timing. Great themes. Remans may be a silly concept, and the Romulans being led by a Picard Clone (bald in his youth no less, despite what we'd seen on the series), and maybe too much stolen from Wrath of Khan, but despite all that, it's still my favorite. hint of Romulan reconciliation. They even mentioned the Tholians, that in itself sanctifies it!
First Contact: Time Travel rules. Da Borgg. And, well, First Contact. Too bad I wasn't Tom Hanks, though.
Generations: I liked it, but I take other peoples' word that it was bad. Point taken about it being an overglorified TV episode.
Insurrection: Boring. Ugly Evora. (They're the new Fed members, right?) Picard with someone other than Beverly.
The Residue:
Best: Undiscovered Country
2. The Motion Picture
All Time Worst: The Final Frontier
The Undiscovered Country: third total after Nemesis and then Voyage Home. Great Feel. Historic importance. Pink blood. Great music.
The Motion picture: not too bad really, but not too good.
Finally, the Final Frontier: I guess it's kinda cool that there was a Voyage to the Center of the Galaxy, but not too realistic.
Edoans are cool. I wanna see a CG one on a live action show. M'Ress was cool.
Enterprise had the best beginning. Maybe it'll have the best end, too, I guess the Riker and Troi thing isn't too much worse than they did with All Good Things and Nog.
Sci Fi Politics is good.
Voyager had its good times (I happened to like the time travel)
Enterprise had plenty of morally dubious decisions during the Xindi season.
1. TOS -- I grew up on Star Trek re-runs in the 70s, and the movies of the 80s. Everything else pales in comparison.
2. Enterprise -- This show, in my opinion, did the best to capture the feel of the original series. The last two seasons were certainly the best, but I watched and enjoyed almost every episode.
3. DS9 -- Like others have said, DS9 was more real than the ultra-utopian TNG. The storylines were stronger, and I thought the Dominion War arc worked very well. To me, it was the frontiers of Rome against the barbarians (both foreign and domestic). I liked that premise.
4. TNG -- It was a good show, and I watched it because it was Star Trek (and filled the gaps between TOS movies). I missed a parts of the first six seasons, due to Navy commitments, but I did enjoy watching the series, partly because it was different from TOS.
5. Voyager -- I had actually looked forward to seeing this show, but the horrible inconsistencies in the characters and the reasons for the addition of 7 of 9 made me step away from the show during the fourth season. I did pop in and watch the occasional episode, and I made sure that I caught the series finale.
TNG is the feel that new ones should capture. Only better. Or maybe capture the feel of the TOS movies.
If only Seven weren't made to be so good lookin', she'd be an OK character.
I was never impressed with the Holier-than-THou attitude of the "Age of Diplomacy" portrayed in TNG. In retrospect, the show was rather insulting to us mere mortals living in the 20th Century. Now, the show itself introduced the Star Trek universe to a new generation of fans, and grew the franchise immesurably, but it just didn't provide the wonder of discovery and hope that TOS (and, later, Enterprise) did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cochrane
For Seven, she wasn't horribly acted, but I was offended that they felt the show just needed "sex appeal" to be successful, and ignored the problems with the poor writing. It was the writing that made Janeway look like a complete psychopath, and turned some of the other characters (i.e., Kim) into cardboard cutouts. If you're only going to focus on the "Big Three," lesser growth of some characters is understandable, but Voyager was supposed to be an ensemble cast, and the writers failed to properly grow all of the characters (using TNG as a guide for success in this case...that show did well in that regard).
It wasn't in the list but for me -- movies first.
DS9 -- better character development, more realistic choices to be made. Everything others said...
Enterprise -- (here's where people throw tomatos...) for the fourth season and the eps that dealt with the TOS races -- great stuff. the Xindi arc was good, but not really trek. First and second season they did the 'head of the week' stuff that made voyager so bloody awful.
TNG -- Grudgingly put this here. Liked the stories after season two, but the socialist paradise thing and moral cowardice of the 'prime directive' stuff of the first two seasons bugged me. But it had Patrick Stewart...
TOS -- this far down for one reason: it's waaaaaay dated. The look, the quality of stories, was -- by modern TV standards -- crappy. For its time it was great.
Voyager -- bad characters, bad writing, and no real feeling of hazard had me off this show by season two and watching Babylon 5.
A difficult question I think, because its something like "what is your favourite child?" While I did not create ST and therefore do not consider it "children" I still very much like all of the series for completely different reasons.
I voted for TNG, but that has mostly sentimental reasons. I grew up with it. It was difficult to watch over here in Germany, since the channels constantly changed for the series and time gaps between the seasons were what seemed like ages for me ( was around 10 when I first watched the show ).
However the ideals impressed me and made me think, as did the portrayal of commmitment, duty and principles. However now thinking back it was a merry childhood thing and when Nemesis was shown it was the end of "my crew".
DS9 was completely different. First of all Trek had become more successful over here and therefore DS9 had not the problems TNG had and thus I was able to watch it regularily. I was older then already and in my adolescence able to understand more of the deeper topics DS9 showed. Gone was the shiny, nice world and suddenly Trek was dark, people made mistakes and where not heroes ( or actually were more so, because they were not perfect ). It was more interesting, more dramatic and more adult. One of my favourite Trek episodes still is "In the Pale Moonlight", something which would have been unthinkable in TNG.
Voyager, well the unbeloved child to many, I really liked it. I agree the first two seasons where not too good, but they had their strengths. I liked Tuvok, who was more or less the return of Spock without being a copy of him. I liked Paris ( a stereotype for my early RPG characters in Trek ). Later the series got even better we had glimpses at a not so perfect world ( Equinox ) and in terms of storytelling Voyager was the mixture of TNG and DS9. It could be nice and shiny, but also dark and brutal. At the end I very much like the character of the Doc, who was simply a great figure and Robert Picardo is an excellent actor ( as is Jerri Ryan who brilliantly mimicked the Doctors gestures in that episode where he gets stored in her Borg implants ).
TOS was before my time and I only watched it sporadically, more to get a complete picture of the Trek world than real interest in the series as such. It had nice moments, but I am not too enthusiastic about it ( completely in difference to the movies, which are great ).
ENT - I loved it, right from the beginning. There were some canon-troubles, but hey that's normal for such a large franchise ( just take a look at Star Wars ) and it still was nice entertainment. I like the depiction of the Vulcans, who were so different than we knew them, which really had mistakes and flaws. I liked the conflict between T'Pol and Archer and the tensions between the Andorians and Vulcans, which clearly brought the flaws of the Vulcans into daylight. Then there was the third season, which I disliked for its inmho non-trek messages and lack of conflicts although there was more than one questionable action ( not speaking of a very flawed plotline ). They were neglecting the Temporal Cold War plot, which I found quite interesting and put in the Xindi. However I went through with it and the fourth season got better. While there still were no consequences of the crew's deeds and experiences ( I think they got over the war too quickly ) at least it got more trekkish. Familiar faces and concepts appeared, although I think to massive for one season. I do not know if I should be glad or no that it ended, but I know that I liked the flawed nature of all the characters, it was so "real".
TAS- I do not know it. I have not seen one single episode of it.
My faves in order:
1, 2: Star Trek TOS and Enterprise (tie)
3, 4: Deep Space Nine and Voyager (tie)
5: The Next Generation - my least favourite canon series
6: Star Trek TAS - I've seen almost all of them and only a couple them are really any good (Yesteryear, for one). In my game, I regard TAS as a children's holonovel series loosely (very loosely, on the level of the old Disney series Davy Crocket or The Swamp Fox) based on the "historical" events of TOS.
I agree with the Vulcan portrayal; loved it -- they always seemed a bunch of poseurs. conversely, I hated the TCW idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by Evan van Eyk
I thought I had made this comment in this thread but I guess it was a different message board: TNG was an invitation for humanity to be what it should be, not to show us something we could never be.
Where's everyone's dividing line between the Trek they grew up with or took for granted, and the Trek that surprised them when it was announced or the first new Trek that they remember when it started? I guess it's not a real great question because I'd guess many would answer the same as me. TOS, TAS, and The Movies I took for granted. TNG was the start of new Trek. The Movies are what I was most familiar with, where I knew the TOS characters from best. I did watch TOS in the afternoons when I was a kid in Texas (I think they split the episodes in half), but by now those days are vague and I probably saw quite a few more episodes then than I remember seeing at that time. TAS I didn't see much. Still haven't, and I am indeed looking forward to it on DVD. I guess the obvious answer to my question is TNG largely because it's new characters in a new era. I imagine maybe some people would answer with the Movies or TAS, or maybe FASA?
Enterprise Vulcans are a child race. Real Vulcans are ultimately superior to us hewmons.
DS9 / TOS: DS9 is the best of the modern series, in my view, and TOS is the series that started it all, and the one I remember from childhood, and the one without which there would be no others. These things count, with me, for at least as much as story quality and acting, either of which, by themselves, are inferior to DS9 and perhaps even TNG (later seasons). These two periodically switch places on my ranking, right now, DS9 *just* edges out TOS because I've seen it more recently.
TNG: A well done reinvention with generally interesting characters and stories, and decent acting. But generally inferior to DS9.
ENT: A good try, but marred by too many poor episodes in the early seasons. The temporal cold war was poorly executed, and there were too many serious deviations from canon.
VOY: Just my least favorite series. Mulgrew never impressed me as a captain, although that's more about the usually bad writing than about her. The other characters were bland and featureless to me. The bright spot was the holographic doctor, a role enhanced by Picardo's charm and wit.
The TCW was poorly executed, meaning it took them too long. :D
Seriously, I had no problem with the TCW, at least not with its presence, but I guess it coulda been done better. And I wouldn't have minded if it lasted four (or seven) years.
Rather hard choice here...
TNG and DS9 are a really close tie. DS9 had better episodes on the whole than TNG IMHO (bar the Ferengi episodes in the last seasons), and a better internal continuity (better is putting it mildly, since TNG had none at all).
OTOH, since I'm an idealist, I prefer the TNG Federation to the grittier, more cynical DS9 one. And I absolutely hated the Maquis in both series (but it was more present in DS9). Mind you, I found Section 31 a very good idea (it explained how the TNG Federation could survive).
All in all, this would make TNG first with DS9 an extremely close second.
ENT and VOY I have not seen enough to be sure, but I rather liked them.
The movies : I like Kirk better in these than in TOS (which is not very hard given how I hate him - sorry guys :o). My favorite remains First Contact, although I loathe the idea of a Borg Queen, followed by TVH - I just love time travel and humour too much.
Insurrection and ST:V are my less loved ones (I hate stories about "we dropped all technology and are much happier than you, thank you very much", and watching the 5 first minutes of a movie and wondering whether I'm not watching Star Wars instead is a bad sign). I'd have to watch Nemesis once again to finally decide where to put it, since there were lots of thing things I liked and disliked in this movie.
TOS is the worst for me - sorry, but discovering this series in the 2000s is really too hard. There were good episodes in there indeed, but Kirk never managed to grow on me.
undefinedQuote:
Originally Posted by Balok
I can't add or improve on these observations.......spot on!
1. DS9-- the writing remained strong from the beginning (although seasons 1 & 2 stumbled a bit in direction). I think it lost some direction during the seventh season, but still was my favorite.
2. TNG-- seasons 1 & 2 were a bit dodgy, but still manage to produce Q, The Borg, and "The Measure of Man."
3. ENT-- seasons 1 & 2 were off and on, season 3 & 4 excellent 90% of the time.
4. VOY-- I loved Voyager up until Dark Frontier (middle of Season 5). After that, only a dozen episodes are actually worth watching.
5. TOS-- Seasons 1 & 2 were pretty good, setting the tone for the rest of Star Trek, but they suffered a little bit from "just like Earth syndrome" (It's another planet... just like Earth...) Season 3 was bad except for a few.
6. TAS (Haven't had a chance to see it)
The Movies:
The Trilogy (2, 3, 4)-- These three movies really capture all the values of Star Trek. I like them all, even "Spock"
Star Trek 6-- An excellent allegory, this film is wonderfully directed and acted, on par with the trilogy
First Contact-- A wonderful film to introduce people to Star Trek and a treat for existing fans of the series too.
Generations-- Plot holes put this one farther down then it would otherwise be.
TMP (Director's Cut)-- greatly improved this movie with DC. A little slow at times, but a classic story (if a little bit of a TOS re-hash) and beautifully shot.
Insurrection-- Bad effects and some holes in the plot lower this one, but it's still a good movie.
Final Frontier-- Could have been much better, had it been re-written once more and actually given money by Paramount.
Nemesis-- I am just not drawn to this film like the other nine. Clumsy writing shows even when Patrick Stewart is saying the lines.
TOS, by a longshot. Paramount could never reproduce the chemistry, and the stories were more fantastic. Fantastic not as a personal critique, but, the scope of the stories. TOS was written like a "Twilight Zone in Space", something that the later series lacked more and more. TNG managed recreate the magic at times, I suppose, but TOS was lightning in bottle. Maybe I'm just a soft, old, nostalgic romantic. On the other hand, if ENT was written more like BSG I would've enjoyed it more. :rolleyes: