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How did Trek Become Such a Phenomenon?


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sabrinathecat

Explorer
Top 6 or so episodes sounds like a good plan.
Any other suggestions.

Can't believe that she blames growing up in Kansas as an excuse for never watching any star trek. There are Kansas trekkies, aren't there?
 

billd91

Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️
Can't believe that she blames growing up in Kansas as an excuse for never watching any star trek. There are Kansas trekkies, aren't there?

Well, Kansas has some issues with respect to the credibility of science in its education system. So I really wouldn't be surprised if it leads to a wide-spread disinterest in anything science fiction for kids educated there within the last 15 years.
 

sabrinathecat

Explorer
Fortunately, her husband (also from Kansas) was just as shocked, and is going to step up and fill in her education in this vital aspect of pop culture. Thank you for your help. Now all she needs is a decent history class, because... DAMN!
 

gothiccitypress

First Post
Are you going to introduce her on the original series? Good luck with that. I'd opt for Voyager - anything before the introduction of 7 of 9 anyway, or the 2009 movie by the same name.
 

Orius

Legend
OK, I need help.
(Yeah, I'm sure some of you have been thinking that for a while now, but seriously...)
One of my coworkers told me tonight that she's never seen Star Trek. Any of it.
I was stunned.
So, how to introduce someone? Start from "The Cage" and work forward? I was tempted to go with "Space Seed" followed by Trek2, but not sure that's the answer.
Suggestions?

Don't start with "The Cage", because practically the whole crew is different and the look of the episode is just different from Trek after it got picked up. Not that it's a bad episode, it's just probably not a good starting point. However, "The Menagerie" isn't a bad choice for a Trek novice.

Start with a selection of solid TOS episodes, movies II, III, IV and VI, then move up to a selection of solid TNG episodes.

When picking TOS episodes, remember that they tend to fall into 3 categories:

The classics. These are the episodes people tend to agree are the best. They can range from serious dramas like "The City on the Edge of Forever" to funnier stuff like "The Trouble with Tribbles". Other episodes to include here are "Mirror, Mirror", "Amok Time", "Journey to Babel", "Balance of Terror", "Errand of Mercy", "The Enterprise Incident", "Day of the Dove", "This Side of Paradise", "The Devil in the Dark", "The Doomsday Machine", and "Space Seed".

Fan favorites and goofy camp episodes. These are probably not as good an introduction for new viewers. Fan favorites would include something like "Arena", but honestly, that episode features Kirk fighting a guy in a fake-looking rubber lizard suit, so not necessarily a good choice for new fans. Goofy camp would be something like "The Gamesters of Triskelion". Sure that's a fun episode, but it's silly as hell, and it's not a great first impression.

Crap. "Spock's Brain", "And the Children Shall Lead", "The Way to Eden", etc. 'Nuff said. Obviously, you want to avoid these episodes.

TNG has many more solid episodes. In general, stuff from seasons 3-6 tend to be good, while seasons 1-2 and 7 are weak. From the first two seasons though, you'll want "Encounter at Farpoint" naturally, and don't forget "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who" from season 2. Other episodes that should be included are: "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Sins of the Father", "Sarek", "The Best of Both Worlds" (both parts), "Family", "Reunion", "Data's Day", "The Wounded", "Redemption" (both parts), "Ensign Ro", "Unification I/II", "The Inner Light", "Relics", "Chain of Command, Parts I/II", "Tapestry", "The Chase", and "All Good Things...". This is by no means a complete list of TNG episodes for a newbie, but it's good starting point that has the best TNG episodes and/or covers most of the few storylines featured in TNG.

From there she can watch other TOS and TNG episodes, and move on to DS9, VOY, ENT, whatever.
 

sabrinathecat

Explorer
OH, beginning with TOS. Really, that was all I was interested in. Let her decide from there. Thanks. Leaving it in her hubby's hands. Better that way.
I do like your lists though.
Funny thing (I've said this before): Watching the series on Netflix, which are the cleaned-up, sharpened, full versions, with CGI models and effects, given that I haven't watched the show in 20 years, it is like seeing them for the first time. They are fresh and new. And fun.
 

billd91

Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️
TNG has many more solid episodes. In general, stuff from seasons 3-6 tend to be good, while seasons 1-2 and 7 are weak. From the first two seasons though, you'll want "Encounter at Farpoint" naturally, and don't forget "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who" from season 2.

I would be more interested in starting a potential TNG fan on season 3 and then, after they say they like it, consider showing them "Encounter at Farpoint". TNG is lucky it survived that episode, it was so terrible. Still is.
 

Ahnehnois

First Post
I would be more interested in starting a potential TNG fan on season 3 and then, after they say they like it, consider showing them "Encounter at Farpoint". TNG is lucky it survived that episode, it was so terrible. Still is.
Maybe, but you need "Encounter at Farpoint" to understand the Q episodes, and you need to watch the Q episode that introduces the Borg before "Best of Both Worlds", and BoBW is definitely something that anyone interested in Star Trek needs to watch.
 

Remus Lupin

Adventurer
There are many worse episodes than "Encounter At Farpoint" (which, I recently found out, also features an early appearance by Peter Dinklege!). If we were to come up with a list of episodes to avoid, I would say a) Anything with Barclay, and b) anything in which Troi and/or her empathic abilities (and their inevitably being lost/manipulated) are good candidates to just not ever bother with.
 

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