TV: Which listed show is the best Star Trek series?

[Elvis P]

Which listed show is the best Star Trek series? When it comes to 7 of 9, my resistance is futile.

Click to read more...

 

[NyQuil]

It's close between TNG and DS9, but I liked the character development, moral conundrums and bitter consequences of DS9.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I like TNG and DS9 equally.

 

[beowulf]

It's close between TNG and DS9, but I liked the character development, moral conundrums and bitter consequences of DS9.

Same at how close they are but I have soft sport for TNG.

Where is Picard?

 

[Satans Hockey]

I've actually never seen anything from Star Trek, it's always been on my list of things to watch but just haven't ever gotten to it.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

TNG for sure. One of my top three series of all time. Great cast (Riker's one of my favorite characters) and to me excellent variety in the individual episodes. It was one of those series that could do it all.

 

[Seedtype]

It's close between TNG and DS9, but I liked the character development, moral conundrums and bitter consequences of DS9.

Definitely with you. I also think the TNG movies really put a damper on everything. I really don't like what happens to any of the TNG characters at the end of the movies, they feel like a bunch of old people who should have moved on years ago.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

1.DS9
2.TNG
3.TOS
4.Voyager
5.Enterprise
6.Picard
7.Discovery

 

[blue425]

It's close between TNG and DS9, but I liked the character development, moral conundrums and bitter consequences of DS9.

I loved TNG, but DS9 is a much better series. The writing is better and as you mentioned the character development is on another level.

The 6th season is just incredible.

 

[67 others]

It's close between TNG and DS9, but I liked the character development, moral conundrums and bitter consequences of DS9.

DS9 is a head and shoulders above every other trek series except TNG. It's only a head above TNG

Casuals who never watched all of them will always say "DS9 is boring and it's just them sitting on a space station" , when in fact it's the most action packed consistently great story of any trek

 

[NyQuil]

DS9 is a head and shoulders above every other trek series except TNG. It's only a head above TNG

Casuals who never watched all of them will always say "DS9 is boring and it's just them sitting on a space station" , when in fact it's the most action packed consistently great story of any trek

It does take a little while to get going - like most series.

I think its biggest flaw is the fact that TNG was likely at its best phase when DS9 came out so a direct comparison at that time was pretty unfair to DS9, which seemed a bit cheesy at the start.

I didn't really watch it live and ended up catching up much later on with syndication.

 

[Cas]

DS9 is a head and shoulders above every other trek series except TNG. It's only a head above TNG

Casuals who never watched all of them will always say "DS9 is boring and it's just them sitting on a space station" , when in fact it's the most action packed consistently great story of any trek

It was also the first Star Trek show that boldly went anywhere.

I'm borrowing a complaint about DS9, which was exactly that - they spent almost the entire show on the same space station, which doesn't really move. Of course, every other show (at least among the first five series) does basically the same thing - they spend the entire show on the same ship, and while it physically moves, the ship remains unchanged.

Moreover, the characters remain unchanged. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are pretty much the same characters in "Turnabout Intruder" as they are in "The Man Trap." Character development occurs in episode and is then wiped clean. Nobody really changes. The same is largely true of TNG, with the notable exception of Worf and maybe Wesley (and his changes occur later in the show, when he's become essentially a guest character) - everyone else is pretty much the same person throughout the show, doing pretty much the same job (outside the aforementioned Worf, and also Geordi), responding to dilemmas in pretty much the same way.

None of that makes these shows bad, mind. But DS9 is the only show where the characters really grow and change, where the character of the show in the beginning are no longer relevant in the end, where the setting itself has changed.

 

[NyQuil]

None of that makes these shows bad, mind. But DS9 is the only show where the characters really grow and change, where the character of the show in the beginning are no longer relevant in the end, where the setting itself has changed.

Hey now, Picard plays cards with his crew at the end.

But seriously, Picard and some of the other characters only really show some modicum of growth and depth in the films, aside from both subtle and hammy attempts with Data's quest to become more human.

I agree that the emotional crucible that most of the DS9 characters are filtered through is compelling and merciless and hints at Ronald D. Moore's later opus, Battlestar Galactica.

To be fair to TNG, it was essentially designed to be a "monster of the week" show while DS9 was deliberately or inevitably morphed into sweeping story and character arcs.

Some people out there like the episodic approach whereby they can watch virtually any TNG episode and not be bogged down by having to understand the ongoing storyline, much like a science-fiction version of Law and Order.

But I think there are more limited opportunities for drama and true emotional depth.

An episode like "Inner Light" from TNG is impressive as it manages to carry so much emotional heft in such a small amount of screentime - although it's basically just Picard for the entire episode.

 

[kihei]

TNG, but I also have a soft spot for the original.

 

[Mantis]

Mandalorian

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

DS9 edges out TNG for me based on the Dominion War

Some of the best Syfy is the later seasons of DS9

Both great series once they find footing (Season 3 for both)

 

[chicagoskycam]

TNG, DS9 and I didn't mind some episodes of Voyager.

Picard and Discovery are straight-up garbage with much better CGI. They neutered an incredible actor in Stewart. The original series movies starting with Kahn got me into Star Trek and no other series replicated that chemistry IMO.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

TNG, although the later years of DS9 are very close.

 

[spiny norman]

TOS for me.

 

[Guardian17]

The Next Generation followed by TOS and DS9.

All three were entertaining and thought provoking without lecturing.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I've never seen an episode but I was curious who won the poll so I voted to see the results. I had a buddy growing up who loved Star Trek and I remember he really loved Voyager which I believe was the only one airing new episodes during that time period. Was surprised to see it didn't get any votes.

 

[Osprey]

I really liked DS9, but it lacked the discovery and science that I loved about TNG. The Enterprise would discover something nearly every week and, because they were standalone, new episodes could be about anything, which really made me excited for every Monday night. I looked forward to DS9, too, but there was less mystery of what each episode would be about because of their serialized nature and the fact that only so many things would come through or happen to the station. It's still one of my favorite TV shows (along with TOS), but TNG is ahead of it and my favorite because it's what I love the most about science fiction.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

My favorite is TNG but I liked them all except Picard which is meh and Discovery which is an absolute atrocity and is the only Star Trek show I've stopped watching.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

My favorite is TNG but I liked them all except Picard which is meh and Discovery which is an absolute atrocity and is the only Star Trek show I've stopped watching.

I lost interest in the Trek universe during Voyager. Just felt so samey-same. Never got into Enterprise. Watched one episode of Discovery and that was it for me. Saw the first season of Picard; good for nostalgia but tailed off really badly towards the end.

Oddly enough, there's no poll option for Lower Decks, which managed to become actually watchable towards the end of the second season.

 

[The Nemesis]

DS9 and TNG are at the top

Then TOS in spite of and sometimes because of its cheese

Then the good parts of Voyager

then Enterprise

Then the bad parts of Voyager

Then a big gulf of nothing

Then I guess Picard by default (though them committing wholesale character assassination in the name of jamming the square pegs of established characters into their round hole plots is pretty awful)

Then Discovery, which only has the redeeming quality of making me re-evaluate Enterprise and decide that it's not as bad as I thought at first.