I have never seen anything Star Trek and I want to catch up. Now...

I have never seen anything Star Trek and I want to catch up. Now, from looking it up there are like 15 movies and more than 300 hours worth of series. What are the essentials I need to see?

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Watch the The Orville instead
>inb4 shill

>What are the essentials I need to see?
A train speeding towards you whilst you're standing on the tracks.

Watch all the series in order of being released. Then watch all the non-JJ movies. Also, watch Star Trek: Continues.

TOS and Continues both don't have arcing plots, so you can watch those out of order or only specific ones for the most part. TNG has lots of one-offs but also an arcing plot. The rest are almost exclusively arcing plots.

There are some universally accepted watch lists out there, I suggest googling them. If you're used to watching modern, serialized tv, then go with DS9. It's a little darker and probably closer to STD.

Most people will tell you TNG. Either way, the first few seasons of any of the series are near garbage, so strap in for the long haul.

Sub Rosa, Shades of Grey, Profit and Lace, and Threshold.

OP, consider this your education....

Original Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever/The Trouble with Tribbles/Space Seed

Classic Trek Movies: Wrath of Khan/Search for Spock/Voyage Home

Star Trek TNG: The Inner Light/Brothers/Yesterday's Enterprise

Don't Bother with the TNG movies except, maybe, First Contact.

ST DS9: Duets

Star Trek Voyager: The Q Trilogy, especially Death Wish.

Enterprise and the New Trek movie trilogy can burn!!!FACT!!!

Not having First Contact movie in there. Wtf is wrong with you?

The original series and movies, everything else after that was political propaganda.

Here's what you do, OP. Watch the Next Generation episode "Darmok"

That episode is Trek at its most pure and distilled, if you don't like that, you're not gonna like most of the franchise overall. Go download and watch that, then come back here and tell us what you think

OP, I'm in the same space boat as you and I'm just gonna watch everything in release order even though I have a backlog of shows and movies that makes me weep.

I figure it's worth doing it right, can pick and choose later if you ever want to rewatch stuff.

Star Trek Continues is great, trek fans should give it a chance.

youtube.com/watch?v=3VEZH8bqytA

Do you not have BBC America?

All day TOS Saturday, all day tomorrow TNG, and all day Monday Voyager.

Watch TOS. Everything after that is based on TOS.

Got onto season 4 of TNG. Need to get back to it. I find it's mostly dull episodes but with some really fantastic ones here and there, like when they visit those proto-Vulcans.

Watching DS9 without seeing TNG is completely ridiculous. You'd miss so much of the reasoning behind Sisko's characterization.

Just watch the og movies, TNG and DS9...go to google and search Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine stare at the pics for half an hour and fap.
Then watch Galaxy Quest.
Avoid The Orville and don't fall for its shills.

Have to say from a visual point of view for storytelling I much prefer the clean Orville astethic to the grimdark and lensflared chromatic abberation and every other film effect in the new Trek series STD.

STD looks like its made by an 14 year old making a blog page full of glitter gifs and other nonsense.

>Watching DS9 without seeing TNG is completely ridiculous. You'd miss so much of the reasoning behind Sisko's characterization.
That isnt really a big deal, my intro to the trek universe was through DS9 which I liked then later heard of a show called TNG so I watch that and loved it. I do get your point but it is enjoyable without knowing other trek series I guess is what I am saying.

STD looks like a web series. It doesn't look good.

ya know now that you mention it their logo even looks like its made to be some edge lord web series, hope noone cut themself with the edge of that edgy insignia their going with.

* 300 hours per series

Seriously, if STD is doing the whole shaky cam thing I preemptively offer them my FY, even though I won't watch regardless.

After the STD All Access premiere do we get to tell those viewers to FO?
Anyone who will have watched STD on all access with have either paid, or knows someone who paid....Shouldn't those watching STD be met with hostility upfront?

you don't have to watch any of the TNG movies except for First Contact, which is very flawed

watch the first J J trek. you can skip 2 and 3
also watch Axanar

>and 3
But Beyond was the best of the three and truest to the lore.

How about skip JJ Trek, and all TNG movies.

Watch TNG TV episodes with Q (that cover everything important in TNG)

Skip First Contact... a pivotal moment in trek history when zefram cochrane makes contact with Vulcans. But yeah, just ignore that lol.

Start with second season TNG. Nothing really important happens in the first season anyway. Then continue to DS9 and Voyager.

Zefram Cochrane?
That wasn't important. TOS survived fine without it.
In fact, I think it was better imagining it.

>Seriously, if STD is doing the whole shaky cam thing I preemptively offer them my FY, even though I won't watch regardless.
well not to burst your bubble, but I can confirm it is using shaky cam, its also using alot of the super closeups popularized in todays cinema.

Bonus sweeping cameras with those rotating angular shots even when there is NO action at all. this s seen in the trailer where a corridor is shown with people walking through the eyes of SUPER INTENSE ROTATING SLANTED CAM because walking is so intense :P

>buy access to watch
just so you know I do have access but I dont pay for it its party of my job, but know this even if you buy for example CBS Access their service will have about 12-14 mins of commercials per show. It is NOT commercial free like Hulu, Netflix, or other streaming services.

>TOS survived fine without it.
Zefram was in TOS...lol

axanar is crap and was never officially sanctioned by CBS as canon because everyone hated it since it is getting in the way of how Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman or are being hailed as the saviors of Star Trek by real trekkies for promoting LGBTQW+ rights and diversity as a F U to Trump.

old series didnt promote feminist ideals either of equality which is why as the new captain said recently the legacy of Picard and Kirk is finally in the trash where it belongs.

TOS episodes to watch -

S02 E06 · The Doomsday Machine

S02 E22 · By Any Other Name

S03 E16 · The Mark of Gideon

Don't both with 'Trek.'

Instead you should devote your leisure time to a much better science fiction franchise. Babylon 5 is much better. I've often heard it described as 'Trek' meets 'LoTR.' It's a pretty good assessment. The entire story arc was thought out from beginning to end and is much more grounded in our current social and political setting than the idealistic progressive commie 'Trek.'

Pic very related.

You have no idea what the fuck you are even talking about. IT IS IMPORTANT!

Babylon 5 is great very creative, but dont sell Trek so short as a great exploration type series on its own.

Both very worth checking out, as a fan of both if like one you may like the other as well.

Babylon 5 did their series right with their theme, the whole GOT drama in space their going with on STD where even the theme song is ripped from GOT is just fucking fail.

Best introduction if you aren't sure how much time you're willing to invest is the four best movies from the original series:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Khan requires very little background knowledge of the show, universe and characters because it does a fantastic job of quickly reintroducing characters and concepts and quickly explaining any major plot details like Khan and Kirk's history, the relationships with the main crew members, etc. These movies also form a mostly coherent story and thematic narrative between each other that's relatively easy to follow and get engaged in, even if you haven't watched any of the shows. They're all just under two hours a pop so you can get through all of them in a third of the time it would take you to watch a whole series of one of the shows (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise).

If you're completely bored and uninterested by the end of Wrath of Khan, it's probably not for you. If you're still engaged by the end of Undiscovered Country consider either going back and watching some TOS episodes or dive straight into TNG. Be aware that ALL of the series in the franchise have a very rough start to them. There are some standout episodes in the first season of each series, but there are plenty of stinkers in the early seasons as well, be patient or else check out one of the accepted watch lists (Jammer's Reviews features a pretty balanced rating system, generally anything under two stars can be skipped without missing any important plot or character developments).

>I've often heard it described as 'Trek' meets 'LoTR.'
Really? This is the first time I've heard that...

Anyway. B5 obviously has its merits, but Star Trek is just so much bigger. A real cultural phenomenom. For a scifi fan, watching B5 is a must, but watching Star Trek will join you in a much larger fan community.

Huh... I usually pitch people a dozen or so really good episodes from each series, but now that I think about it you can get through TWOK in 2 hours, maybe 7.5 for all four (under 7 if you skip the credits). That's not bad. That's not bad at all.

I agree, but if your trying to bring new viewers into the fold, having them deal with TNG first is difficult if you weren't indoctrinated during it's airing. Monster of the week shows aren't around much, so it's more palatable to have a newbie dive into DS9, as it's more inline with how modern shows are written. OP seems to want to dip his toes and see if he likes it, so that's the angle I was coming from

Good taste, desu.

>. For a scifi fan, watching B5 is a must, but watching Star Trek will join you in a much larger fan community.
I think your right, for someone new to SciFi while B5 is AMAZING it would be a crash course and maybe not in a good way, it could be like overload, for new scifi fans your def on the money that trek is pretty comfy for anyone, anywhere really and opens doors to enjoy shows from B5 to Firefly too maybe?

I really would NOT recommend Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, or Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

All of the Star Trek movies after The Wrath of Khan, are basically fan service movies that push the story passed where it was intended all to make more money.

Star Trek The Motion Picture is still the best adaptation of the series which is genuinely what Star Trek Phase 2 would have been, and what TNG is based on. TNG's Picard is basically an older Kirk.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was an extra movie and everything after in the movies is fan service with the original cast

this. you'll get 50 years of star trek boiled down to its essence

>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was an extra movie and everything after in the movies is fan service with the original cast
thats a good thing senpai

Star Trek fans explain this please

I just cant get past that smug look and the rocket suit which makes it look like a cliched stereotype I mean seriously people in rocket suits! wtf is wrong with you nerds!

>Star Trek The Motion Picture is still the best adaptation of the series which is genuinely what Star Trek Phase 2 would have been, and what TNG is based on.
It's also two and a half hours of complete dog shit.

Well, there's very little of rocket suits in old Trek, so now sure what you are trying to say here?

No, not really.

explain how or why I should watch this new show you nerd.

sell me on it because it looks like shit and not like the image you posted.

>how
Pirate it.

>why
You've got nothing better to do... you nerd.

DO NOT PAY to watch Star Trek Discovery.

If any of you shits pay to watch STD, please GTFO of here.

I'm not sure if you are trolling or not, but the new series has most trekkies being very sceptical.

Is it good? Difficult to say; and I haven't seen it, obviously. But I didn't like JJtrek, so I'm not very hopeful for this either.

Seriously, fuck off with your shitty show.

don't listen to people on here about discovery, they only hate it because the lead is black or a woman or both

>You've got nothing better to do... you nerd.
meh... I will just watching Iron Fist

>here is your (you)
wow you must be stupid to think that is the problem when it looks shittier than the JJ movies their copying with their style.

how many discovery episodes have you watched user

The only thing that looks copied from the JJ movies is the lensflare, and 90% of that is only in the CBS trailers. Sure must suck to not be able to get it on Netflix.

>DO NOT PAY to watch Star Trek Discovery.
uhhh why wouldnt I as a real trek fan pay to watch it when its going to have the first gay on screen trek couple ever and is promoting diversity by having an empowered black female officer as their saying in interviews for the first time in Star Trek literally breaking the fourth wall of scifi.

>how many discovery episodes have you watched user
the trailers show the visual style of the show user, or do you not know how trailers work? did you watch a clerks trailer and think it was the movie would be in color?

No, you ignorant fool. I do NOT hate STD because the lead is black. I hate it because it is inconsistent with the TOS look, and feel. There's literally no purpose to start backwards but because they can't get licensing for the TNG/Voyager timeline.

>Sure must suck to not be able to get it on Netflix.
probably sucks more for Netflix that they cant air it in America yet even though they payed for the whole show but have to wait to compromise with CBS.

ignore the you troll... it lives on you's

And the trailers showed us that Orville would be an awful piece of shit.

Are trailers trustworthy?

But user... you're replying to the Midnight's Edge troll.

>they can't get licensing for the TNG/Voyager timeline.
They'll never give you a source for this, only endless equivocating.

CBS owns the "TNG/Voyager timeline" outright; they don't need to get shit to use it.

>But user... you're replying to the Midnight's Edge troll.
i dont know what that means....

>they can't get licensing for the TNG/Voyager timeline.
They'll never give you a source for this, only endless equivocating.
who cant get licensing? thats kind of my bag or a side bag to put it that way.

>And the trailers showed us that Orville would be an awful piece of shit.
bu-but I liked the orville's trailer it was everything I wanted to see in a new trek that we didnt get :(

then again I am probably one of the few since everyone seems to have hated the trailer but liked the show.

>They'll never give you a source for this, only endless equivocating.
Well, it's all speculation at this point, but the truth MUST come out, sooner or later.

If Netflix really paid big bucks, falsely thinking they'd get REAL Trek on their catalogue, then the makers in STD are in real trouble.

Alright, sure. You explain to me why STD has to take place before Captain Kirk? Go!

Nobody is unable to get licensing. The user who posted is just making shit up for (You)s.

>it was everything I wanted to see in a new trek that we didnt get :(
You wanted shitty jokes and a dumb soundtrack?

>make a show set after TNG/DS9/Voyager
>newbies ask "What do I have to watch in order to understand this?"
>"You have to watch TNG, DS9 and Voyager."

>make a show set before TOS
>newbies ask "What do I have to watch in order to understand this?"
>"Nothing. You can just jump right in without ever having seen anything else before."

It's not what the longtime fans want, but it is what the _potential_ fans want.

The truth is already out. CBS doesn't need to obtain a license to Star Trek (the television version) because CBS already owns Star Trek (the television version). There never was a secret hidden truth for you to discover.

>You wanted shitty jokes and a dumb soundtrack?
I liked the song in the trailer, its just not a song you would like, well news flash the world doesnt revolve around you.

The jokes really fall flat but I did notice something, watching an ep a second time, the whole show is much less funny, and the jokes dont even work on any level, the human interaction itself is the comedy, the banana bit and other bits dont seem to work like you said. You didnt like the rest of the show or did you just avoid it like the plague? its not all that bad I gotta say.

>>newbies ask "What do I have to watch in order to understand this?"
>it is what the _potential_ fans want.

FUUUUUCCCKKKK YOU!

"I don't like original Trek, I'll watch a Trek that starts over leading into the original..."

That's completely fucking stupid but apparently that's exactly what CBS thinks today's current generation is - stupid.
Congratulations - stupid is for stupid does.

>It's not what the longtime fans want
Speak for yourself; I've always been more interested in seeing more of the TOS/TMP era. Aside from TOS and the movies, it's barely been touched at all outside of some vague background information used to setup one-off episodes here and there in the TNG era. Would've preferred a direct sequel to ENT so we could finally see the Romulan War, but I'm happy with where DSC is going for now.

Okay. Let's assume you are right. Why does the new series look like it does? Why is it a prequel, and not something every proper wants, a sequel to the timelime after Voyager?

>If Netflix really paid big bucks, falsely thinking they'd get REAL Trek on their catalogue, then the makers in STD are in real trouble.
^this
Expect lawsuits from Netflix after the show launches if it fails to achieve what Netflix was sold which we do not know and can not know, only the people who made the contract probably no which would be probably one person from each side on legal while the rest just blindly signed it after being given the green light. Should there be one breach of terms based off the licensing issue or a bait and switch type tactic expect a lawsuit settled out of court since CBS will pay to bury it lest it tarnish the value of the IP more than it has.

>FUUUUUCCCKKKK YOU!
Calm the fuck down, please. You are taking way too seriously what should be a polite and civil conversation.

>It's not what the longtime fans want, but it is what the _potential_ fans want.
Im a lifetime trekker and looking forward to STD because it has diversity for once as its core driving premise and plot.

>I liked the song in the trailer, its just not a song you would like, well news flash the world doesnt revolve around you.
I never said it was a bad song, just it doesn't gel with the show. Be glad the show is completely different from the god awful trailer. That thing was pure garbage.

>I never said it was a bad song, just it doesn't gel with the show.
You think so? hmmmm I will wait a few more eps and rewatch maybe you are right on that point. Right now I kind of feel that using a song and vocals for the trailer was a way of saying this show is a breath of fresh air metaphorically, or some shit like that. I do gotta say the intro music, is kind of good and isnt like you said anything like the trailer music, so i will wait and rewatch it in a few weeks.

>Why does the new series look like it does?
Because they felt like it.
>Why is it a prequel, and not something every proper wants, a sequel to the timelime after Voyager?
Because the "proper" fans are few in number and prone to piracy. They can't make big money by betting on us, so they have to bet on a different demographic instead.

I've waited a LONG time for new Trek, and instead I get crap tar Wars-ish looking prequel because CBS is convinced that today's audience is stupid.

I'm truly pissed. I should probably calm down, maybe be nicer, but I am truly pissed, not at you, but this whole thing.
If what you're saying is true (thank you) this really confirms how stupid CBS think's today's audience is.

I mean we live in an age when you can basically google, or wiki anything...but CBS is like:" Nah, they're too stupid and lazy...let's start over AGAIN"

your a fucking racist, kill yourself if you dont like the new STD then your not a real trekker!!!!

>it has diversity for once
>for once
wtf, you gotta be joking. Trek has always had diversity you fuckwit. I think you are seriously lying about being a "lifetime trekker"

>but I am truly pissed, not at you,
You're acting like you're pissed at me though.

Please ignore bait like while you begin the calming down process.

>Trek has always had diversity you fuckwit. I
none of the series promoted minority rights and diversity making it the focal point of the show like STD does which as the actors say make it the most revolutionary scifi show ever created and why it will be number 1 in ratings, just watch their comicon panel for proof where they talk about how the show ill focus on race issues promoting gay rights instead of being some lame space soap opera.

That's a very risky bet. Even today there's still plenty of "proper" Star Trek fans... I would imagine more than those that only really know JJTrek.

EVERYONE IS RACIST! It's only matter of how much, and what the ramifications are. If you deny it, you're a fucking liar, fuck off.

I watched the first JJ-Trek first, then watched TOS and I still can't bring myself to watch TNG after that. Send help.

They are a lifetime Trekker who has become radicalized to hate diversity, thus they are posing as a pro-diversity poster in a false flag operation in order to sway you to the anti-diversity side.

Posters have layers, like onions.

TOS, TNG, DS9. Don't bother watching anything else. Avoid the movies at all cost.

>none of the series promoted minority rights and diversity
That fucking IS Star Trek you idiot. Humanitarians in space, war, racism, disease, money, all eradicated 50 years after First Contact.

You are not a trek fan, you are a fucking idiot. Even basic trek fans know this.

Read and stop responding to bait, please.

>Avoid the movies
Fuck you the only bad movies are V and Nemesis

It's too late I responded with I am pissed at people defending STD when really hasn't peaked my interest. I love Star Trek,and a black woman lead I'd be okay with that, but I simply do not like starting over, going backwards.

There's PLENTY that could be done with what is already there but instead we keep getting reboots, prequels. We keep having to go backwards over, and over. That's simply uninspiring, uninteresting.
Star Trek is supposed to be about exploring space, and the mysteries of the unknown, but instead we have to start over...AGAIN.
I thought after Enterprise, and 3 TOS remakes they'd figure out that going backwards doesn't inspire imagination.

Voyager became lazy, but was still up to the better timeline.
I'd rather a Star Trek that uses the temporal agents angle to check out all of the ST timelines, and move forward.