What is your favourite Trek series, and why?

[Heretic Apostate]

Star Trekking

(a funny song for T.O.S.)

Chorus: Star Trekking, across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekking, across the universe,
Only going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.


Lt. Uhura, report!

Uhura: There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow,
starboard bow.
There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow, [again].


Analysis!, Mister Spock!

Spock: It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it,
not as we know it.
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it, Captain.


Uhura: There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow,
starboard bow.
There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow, again.


Chorus: Star Trekking, across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekking, across the universe,
Only going forward, still can't find reverse.


Medical update, Doctor McCoy

McCoy: It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim.
It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim, Dead.


Spock: It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it,
not as we know it.
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it, Captain.


Uhura: There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow,
starboard bow.
There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow, Jim!


Starship Captain, James T. Kirk

Kirk: Ha-ha! We come in peace, shoot to kill,
shoot to kill,
shoot to kill.
We come in peace, shoot to kill,
shoot to kill, men.


McCoy: It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim.
It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim.
Dead, Jim, Dead.


Spock: Well, it's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it,
not as we know it.
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it, Captain.


Uhura: There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow,
starboard bow.
There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
scrape 'em off, Jim.


Chorus: Star Trekking, across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk!
Star Trekking, across the universe,
Only going forward, and things are getting worse!


Engine room, Mister Scott

Scotty: Ye canna change the laws of physics,
laws of physics,
laws of physics!
Ye canna change the laws of physics,
laws of physics, Jim!


Kirk: Oh, we come in peace, shoot to kill,
shoot to kill,
shoot to kill!
We come in peace, shoot to kill,
Scotty, beam me up!


McCoy: It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim!
Dead, Jim!
Dead, Jim!
It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim!
Dead, Jim, Dead!


Spock: Well, it's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it,
not as we know it.
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,
not as we know it, Captain.


Uhura: There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow,
starboard bow.
There's Klingons on the starboard bow,
starboard bow, aaagain!


Scotty: Ye canna change the script, Jim! Och, the engines
McCoy: It's worse than that, it's physics, Jim!
Kirk: Bridge to engine room, warp factor nine!
Scotty: Ach! If I give 'er any more she'll blow [, Captain]!


<< boom >>
Na..na..na..na..na..na..na..na..na

Chorus: Star Trekking, across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk!
Star Trekking, across the universe,
Only going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse!

Star Trekking, across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekking, across the universe,
Only going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.

 

[evildmguy]

Enterprise by far

Okay, this is going to start something but I want to preface this by saying this is all my opinion.

As someone else said, TOS stands alone. It has affected us culturally more than many other shows and has stood the test of time. I might not like watching some of the acting but it opened up so many doors for so many other good things.

So, sticking to the "current" shows:

#4 Voyager - I watched the first two seasons before I was completely turned off by this show. Completely. My issues were mainly continuity. This show should have had the most continuity of any show but had less than TNG. I also got sick of Janeway's preachiness. I kept feeling as if she knew they were going to get home, which wasn't certain as per the finale, and so that's why she clung to the Starfleet ideals. Starfleet has great ideals but if it is going to take 70 years to get home, those ideals just might be lost. It tried but it just didn't work for me.

I have more issues but I will leave it at this.

#3 DS9 - Okay, this is third because I watched it more than Voyager and I did watch the finale but it lost me after three or four seaons. I LOVE B5. B5 had a plan from day 1. DS9 did not. I didn't appreciate that they claimed to have had a plan, that strangely ended up being nearly exactly like B5s, in the Trek universe, AFTER B5s plots were known. I also have issues with the Sisco and Worf characters.

This is a good show, though. I like O'Brien, Bashir and Kira. I liked Gul Ducat as a villain. I liked the tailor Cardassian. (name?) I liked Kai Win for how irritating she was in doing what she thought best. They had some excellent episodes with her. I liked the development of the Bjorans and Cardassians, rather than coming up with new species. I also liked the Defiant. All in all, a good series.

#2 TNG - Okay, season one is painful to watch. (And my wife and I recently did on DVD.) After that, this series gets it right and keeps going. I have to complaints about them. Again, no continuity. (I heard that DS9 was better about this but I don't know as I never saw the Dominion Wars.) They did have some continuity but sometimes it is so subtle. It is only by seeing them in a row that you can even see the continuity.

Good characters. Riker, Data, Geordi, Picard, Barclay, Q are all reasons to watch the show. Also, I loved how they finally started doing multiple plots as well as side things such as the poker games. (Watch Season 1 and how each episode is only about ONE thing. I think it took until mid way season 2 before they stopped doing that.) Stories were interesting but again sometimes some follow up would have been nice.

#1 Enterprise - Okay, complete continuity here. In one episode, they are traveling towards a planet. It takes them two more episodes to get there and it is talked about the entire way. Well done! An over-arcing theme is much better, imo, than individual episodes where you forget that you just lost your best friend just yesterday, as happened on the other shows.

Enterprise is also unique in that it gets to make excellent references. It does assume knowledge but no more than most people probably have due to TOS. For example, when they first encountered the Romulans, that was excellent. As they talk about technology or any developments, it is interesting knowing what will happen. Great things there.

I think the thing that has won me over, though, is that I like, or at least don't dislike, all of the characters on Enterprise. There is no sub plot or character development that I don't like to see. Therefore, all of it is interesting.

That's just my two gold pressed latinums worth.

edg

 

[Hand of Evil]

Being of an age where I saw Star Trek when it first came out...

TOS - it was a time of thinking about what the future would bring. About reaching for the stars and travelling to places only heard about. Science fiction was at the threshold of becoming science fact and you knew it.

Star Trek: OS capture that feeling.

I guess you have to have grown up during that time, JFK, MLK, freedom, peace corp, moon landing, hippies, and all the other stuff, it was in the background of your life. As a kid you don't realize the impact that those events play but they are part of things, STOS touched on them and related to them and I related to it.

 

[Eternalknight]

Wow. How in heck did this old thread get dug up?

 

[John Crichton]

Wow. How in heck did this old thread get dug up?

Good question. I will however, add my 2 cents...

TOS, before my time but I am a big fan of it. However, not my favorite (it's an age thing). However, the movies with that crew are FAR better than the 3 Nex Gen movies I have seen (I have yet to see Nemesis).

TNG was great. I even dug the first season which had some very strong eps. It had the best series finale I have ever seen as well in "All Good Things." The final realization of the Q/Picard relationship and tying things to the beginning of the journey was classic.

DS9 was great as well. I didn't start to really like it until Worf came aboard. I never loved his character but about that time the plot really started to kick in. I agree with previous posters about the cast and supporting members (esp. Garrack). Strong all around as was the story. However the final episode still leaves a a sour taste in my mouth which dampens the entire series just a tad. I can justify everything that happened there, but it still never felt right (Odo's choice, etc.). I think that maybe they needed another year (or just a few eps) to truly finish things but oh well...

Voyager was dreck. I didn't watch (or finish) many eps at all. Was simply not entertaining. There were one or 2 eps that I liked and the only interesting characters were Seven (I thought she was the best actor on the show, see Boston Public) and Tuvok. The captain was uninteresting and brought the show down considerably. Shows how important the captain is to the overall success of a Trek series.

Enterprise is fun. I like the entire cast, Bakula isn't Kirk or Picard but I like him as an actor. I think he will get better with time. The 1 1/2 seasons so far have shown promise. Honestly, I didn't expect to like it at all after and during the Voyager disaster. I had given up on the Trek franchise. So take what you will from that.

 

[Villano]

First off, I don't get UPN, so I can't judge Enterprise. I'm very curious about it since I've seen such mixed reviews of it.

That said, I'd go with DS9. The characters had much more depth than on any of the other Trek shows I've seen. This is probably the result of having an actual continuity as opposed to relying on stand alone episodes.

However, even its stand alone episodes were good. One of my favorites was when Quark's brother (Nog?) tried to oganize a union.

Granted, the show wasn't perfect. In some respects, it seemed as if it was trying to follow in the trail of B5. Also, I wasn't thrilled with the way they ended it.

I really loved Next Gen when it originally aired, but I find that the reruns don't hold up quite as well as TOS. About the only episodes I watch are the ones with the Klingons (I love the Klingons...When are we going to get a series just about them?).

OTOH, I don't think any of the series produced an episode as good as the one when Picard was tortured ("I see FOUR lights!").

The cartoon was blah. Typical Filmation crap with (very) limited animation and forgetable stories.

Voyager was the Anti-Christ of Star Trek. God, how I hated that series. As soon as the pilot began, I began to loathe it. I forced myself to watch the whole thing and, I think, I made it all the way through the first season before turning it off.

For a time, I lived in NYC in an apartment without cable, so I saw a handful of more episodes, but that was due to having literally no other choice. Those were all just as bad.

The only characters I could stomach were the doctor and the half-klingon girl. I wanted the captain to die a long, slow, horrible death.

I wanted the series to end by having the crew turned into Borg.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

Re: Enterprise by far

I liked the tailor Cardassian. (name?)

Garek (Garrak, Garak, Garrack? - you get the idea )

Quark's brother (Nog?)

Rom, Nog was Rom's son

yep, i voted DS9

 

[Orius]

Here's how I break them down:

1: DS9
2: TOS/Enterprise (tied for second place)
4: TNG
5: Voyager


Deep Space Nine comes in first, because it has the best characters and best plots overall. Sure, the series started out slow, but there was real character development that seemed believeable. And of all the Trek series DS9 had the most in-depth exploaration of the Trek universe. The other series for the most part explores a planed or race in a single episode, or a small handful f episodes at most, and then never returns to them. That's a very broad, but shallow exploration. DS9 has a lot of broad exploration as well, but we also explore a number of cultures more deeply throught the run of the series: the Klingons, the Ferengi, the Cardassians, the Bajorans, and the major players in the Dominion. The Romulans and Trill get some exposeure too, but not as much. (The Romulans really seem to get shafted throughout Trek. They have some of the greatest potential as villains, yet it doesn't get tapped as it should.)

TOS is the original. It was at times, thought provoking, and challenged a lot of perceptions of the time. But in some ways, it seems dated. And for every good episode like "City on the Edge of Forever", you get crap like "Spock's Brain" or "The Way to Eden". Then there's classical Trek silliness that makes it hard to take seriously: red shirts, "I dinna know how much more she can take Captain!", "I'm a doctor, not a...". Still without TOS, none of the other would even exist.

Enterprise is still relativly new, so it's not as easy to judge. But it has a number of good points. It pays homage to TOS a lot more than the others did. There's good characters, and we see some good relationships turning up: Archer-T'Pol-Trip mirroring the classic Kirk-Spock-McCoy trio, yet with its own unique dimension (such as the sexual tention between Archer and T'Pol). You have Trip an Malcom's friendship, which is vaguely reminiscent of O'Brien and Bashir's friendship in DS9. T'Pol playing a sort of mentor role towards Hoshi. Having good relationships like this give the show something to build upon. There's Phlox, who's sort of and outsider, but with character quirks that make him interesting without being too weird. A few disappointments; the plots tend to be a bit cliched even for Trek, the Suliban storyline doesn't get a lot of airtime, and Travis seems very undeveloped in comparison to the rest of the crew.

TNG may have been the most popular and respectable of all the Trek series, and I give it credit for that. But it has a lot of boring episodes. Also, it seems to ignore the existance of TOS at times, and when it does reference it, it often doesn't do it well. The show in many places seems pompous and takes itself _way_ too seriously. Also, especially in the earier episodes, it's beginnig to show its age. Character development was erratic. Picard got to be likeable. Riker started off well, but degenerated into a buffoon. I never found Crusher and Troi's branching off into command responsibilities to be convincing. Data was alright, but his quest to become more human started wearing thin near the end. Worf, who was added to the cast as and afterthought by Roddenberry, evolves into a pivotal character.

Voyager "wins" last place easily. The concept itself was bad. I have a hard time imagining that the Maquis wouldn't eventually mutiny. Janeway was horribly portrayed. I believe that's because the producers seemed to think a strong female character = an independant female character. It didn't work. Janeway is not a team player, yet Starfleet captains need to be team players, and all the other captains are, though in different ways. She's got a huge ego, and makes very bad tactical decisions. I can only conclude that Starfleet doesn't have psychological evalutations for command personnel, because Janeway would likely have failed them (I would love to see how badly she botched things in the Kobayashi Maru, though <eg>). The Doctor ripped off to many of McCoy's mannerisms, and there were way too many episodes with him towards the end. The same with Seven of Nine. She wasn't a bad character, but she got overused. I hated Neelix's overly cheerful attitude. The other characters were boring and never got any development. How could they with Janeway's huge ego browbeating them and Seven and the Doctor hogging the spotlight?

 

[Orius]

It also had some of the best supporting characters - Gul Dukat (the first ~4 seasons), Garack and Kai Winn. She is the only character on any show that I can actively remember hating every time she was shown. Shame she didn't have a worse end.

I was disappointed with how they handled Winn. I didn't like that they simply turned her into another villain. Dukat ended badly as well; we went from being a sort of Cardassian patriot to an "I'm evil now I'm going to destroy the world" villainous lunatic.

 

[Orius]

She burned too fast for your liking, huh? Flash fried was too good for her? I think she got her turn on the karmic wheel when she found out that she had been sleeping with Ducat.

I like how she treated Dukat after he went blind by trying to read the evil scriptures -- she kicked him out onto the street so he could make his way by begging.