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.
