Favorite Star Trek series?

[Alexander]

Poll question: Favorite Star Trek series?

[TZ]

1. Next Gen.

And I confess to having an autographed picture of one Cmdr.Riker/Jonathan Frakes pic in my boudoir...:)

[Alexander]

2. Nice! How'd you get his autograph?

[TZ]

3. At a convention

But it was signed elsewhere. He apparantly has wrist issues that limit it...

[Orrex]

29. Too much time on the holodeck, I'll bet.

That pev!


He spoke @ Penn State while I lived in town, and on his way out of town he stopped at the gas station/convenience store where my roommate worked. He reported that Frakes was incredibly friendly and sincere--a genuinely nice guy. And quite tall.

[TZ]

41. He definitely came off that way when I saw him speak

He really loves the fans too, which is not always the case (William Shatner I'm looking at you!)

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. *seethes with jealousy* Did have the beard? Makes all the difference for me.

[TZ]

11. No he did not have a beard at that time

Much to the surprise of everyone there...I think they had just finished filming Insurrection....

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. That makes sense. :^)

[SoxFan]

4. You can make a case for Voyager...

Just sayin'...

[WildEyedLiberal]

5. Proud to be the first vote for DS9!!!

I do love TNG, too, but I confess that my love for TNG is more irrational - I love it because I love the cast and because I remember it fondly from my youth. In pretty much every objective way, DS9 is a superior show.

[NewJeffCT]

47. I think DS9 was probably the best overall series as well

especially as they had a lot of long-running themes that spanned episodes, whereas TNG and TOS were episodic in nature. However, I voted TOS because they were the ones that started it all and every major cast member was memorable.

[pokerfan]

6. TOS

Tuned into TNG the other night and it was all about Worf dealing with being a single father. Tuned in another time and it was about an oprhan dealing with the loss of his parents. Not exactly much science in this science fiction. Those are story lines that can be seen on any other drama. Also had way to many episodes revolving around holodeck mishaps which was just an excuse for the wardrobe and set departments to recycle some crap Paramount had lying around.

TOS had its share of stinkers too, particularly in the third season, but for two years it was pretty solid. It also had actual science fiction writers (Robert Bloch, Norman Spinrad, Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, etc.) handling some of the writing. Sure, the f/x was low budget sixties fare, but I would rather have a good story. See Doctor Who.

1. TOS
2. TNG
3. DS9
4. VOY
5. ENT

[Frank Cannon]

10. With the remastered Original Series, they modernized the f/x

Now it's even more clear how superior it was to any of the other shows.

[Dr Morbius]

13. I agree.

It's the version of Star Trek TOS which is currently in syndication. My daughter and I watch it regularly; they're currently at the end of the cycle so we're getting mediocre third-season episodes. Last night: The Savage Curtain (the one with Abraham Lincoln). Not great Star Trek.

Last week they had the absolute worst episode on: The Cloud Minders. If you watched only one episode of the original series, and it was The Cloud Minders, you'd have every reason to call it one of the worst shows ever! But tonight or tomorrow they'll show All Our Yesterdays, the last good episode of TOS, and in a week or so they'll start over at the beginning with Where No Man Has Gone Before.

I love the original series in part because Roddenberry developed an excellent personality dynamic. Spock represented reason, McCoy represented passion, and Kirk represented balance. The interplay of reason and passion and the balance we must strike between them is an extremely human thing, and it will always resonate. Admittedly, beyond these characters the show's characterization was thin. But this dynamic allowed all kinds of story ideas which created moral questions, so it wasn't about the characters. It was about exploring ideas, possibilities, questions of right and wrong. With the possible exception of The Twilight Zone, consistently well written and usually better acted than TOS, Star Trek was as good as TV science fiction has ever been.

I also enjoy TNG, but in retrospect it was a much more ordinary show. TNG had better acting, better special effects, and more well-defined characters (bigger core cast). But the stories were more pedestrian; some episodes contain great science-fiction ideas but often the science-fiction was secondary to creating the dramatic climax; the reason/passion/balance dynamic was absent, and with it, the timelessness of the individual episodes didn't carry over. I can name dozens of episodes of TOS; I can name perhaps a handful of episodes of TNG, and I've seen every episode of both series many times. Because the original series has that timeless quality, and the next generation does not.

I sort of liked DS9, mainly because I liked Odo. Terrific, fascinating character, as was Quark to a lesser degree. But it was a slow-moving show, and the franchise was growing less fun. I think Paramount got that, and Voyager was a more action-based, faster paced show. But the most interesting character for me was Kes, whose entire lifespan was supposed to be nine years. Imagine the opportunities with that, hmm? She left after one season! Neelix was Jar-Jar Binks for Star Trek fans. Lame, lame, lame. Seven of Nine was indeed, quite hot, but at this point she couldn't save the series. And it was almost like they couldn't decide how she was different from a Vulcan. Voyager was okay once in a while, but is the fourth-best of the series.

[Frank Cannon]

40. Well said. IMHO, the remastered "Doomsday Machine"...

was as thrilling and involving as any of the Star Trek movies. It demonstrates how kick-ass that show could be when it was good.

[YankeyMCC]

15. I agree

usually I cringe at all the anxious hands to 'remake' and 'remaster' classics, but I felt they did a good job of enhancing the episodes without spoiling the feel or distracting from the stories.

[Alexander]

17. The difference between that and the Star Wars Special Edition is like night and day.

[Orrex]

46. Anything negative said about an episode with Alexander is automatically true

Regarding the preponderance of holodeck episodes, I can hardly object, except to note that TOS had way too many episodes in which someone went crazy and then went on a rampage. Of course, one of those episodes was the unimpeachable City on the Edge of Forever, so that one gets a pass.

The one about the orphan dealing with the loss of his parents was on this week: Hero Worship. The boy dealt with his loss by idolizing and emulating Data, whose lack of emotion made him impervious to grief. I found this to be an interesting exploration and unlike anything I've seen on any other drama. In addition, the show featured the investigation of a mysterious force that destroyed the boy's former ship, also something not commonly dealt with on Gray's Anatomy or CSI.

YMMV, of course, and I'm not saying that TNG didn't have some horrible episodes, but all things considered I put it slightly above TOS.

[rkennedy_68]

7. The Original, by a long shot

The rest are rubbish

[Iggo]

8. Original.

[Orsino]

12. These days, it's Enterprise, believe it or not.

TOS is mostly too cheesy to watch now, and even Next Gen is a bit cringe-worthy sometimes. I never saw much DS9 or Voyager.

Enterprise seems fresh by comparison to any of the above, with characters much more like us. The plots tend to be familiar, but the acting and writing are very sharp. I like that the scripts are full of small talk. It's perhaps the most solid cast of any of the series.

I suppose Next Generation is really my favorite, but right now, it's Enterprise.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. It's at least my #3.

I'd usually go Next Gen followed by TOS just for nostalgia's sake.

[Orrex]

31. Enterprise was MUCH better than it's generally credited to have been

Of course, it had the worst finale in the history of human artistic endeavor.

[Orsino]

33. Had the worst finale gimmick, anyway.

Those last few episodes had a really rushed feeling, beyond the many-years-forward leap.

[Archae]

16. Deep Space 9

Who can forget the episodes of high drama, "In The Pale Moonlight," or high comedy, "Trials and Tribble-lations?"

[Phoonzang]

18. Deep Space 9. TNG makes me ill when I watch it now. nt

[Alexander]

19. Why does TNG make you ill? Just curious.

:shrug:

[Phoonzang]

27. The world they present is too.....something. Simplistic? Morally black and white?

I'm annoyed by the sick obsession with the early 20th century the crew seems to have (and the holodeck). I'm annoyed by the constant yearning of characters (like Data) to be "human." Why does everyone want to be human? There's other races in the Federation...it really does seems like a humans only club, to quote that Klingon from Star Trek 6.

I don't know...I just find it really immature when compared to DS9 or even Enterprise. Hell...even the Original with all it's camp seems more realistic.

[Alexander]

34. I can see that. As for the 20th century stuff, numerous episodes of TOS

had them beaming down to planets that looked exactly like 20th century Earth.

[laconicsax]

38. +1

The episode "Suddenly Human" was downright offensive. Human kid is orphaned and adopted by an alien. Years later, the crew of the Enterprise tries to 'rescue' the kid from his adoptive father and the culture he assimilated. :puke:

It's very much like the exchange between Chekov and Azetbur (Gorkon's daugher)

CHEKOV: Of course we believe that every planet has a sovereign claim to inalienable human rights.
AZETBUR: Inalien...If you could only hear yourselves. "Human rights." Even the name is racist.

[Orrex]

44. Chekov's line, like much of that film, was poorly written

Given the precedent of the series and the films, it's simply not possible that Chekhov would go out of his way to use a consciously racist term like that at a diplomatic dinner, Romulan Ale notwithstanding. The line was put in simply to give Azetbur a chance to speak her line.

[Orrex]

45. Data wanted to be human because he was programmed to grow in that direction

If Soong had built him to resemble a Tholian, then presumably Data would have aspired to become more Tholian.


IMO DS9 was hopelessly mired in all of that overwrought Bajoran religious garbage. One or two of those during the show's whole run would have been more than sufficient for me; to make it the basis for whole show was more than I can stomach.

[WildEyedLiberal]

48. I agree with your subject line

But, all the ST series were obsessed with the 20th century in some way - I think that was the writers' lazy, ham-handed attempts to make the characters "relevant" to us.

TNG's moral simplicity and preachiness - which is most evident in the early seasons - is what gets to me. I can't write the show off as a whole, because by season three it hits its stride and the preachy moralism became less and less common. Seasons one and two, with the constant lectures about how superior humanity/the Federation is and how above reproach their values are, are almost impossible to watch.

[LeftyMom]

21. DS9

[rcrush]

22. Ahem.

[flvegan]

23. Trek is just lucky that Star Wars never had an actual Lucas tv show.

:popcorn:

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

[LeftyMom]

39. I take it you haven't had the pleasure of watching The Star Wars Christmas Special?

Oh, it's going to be a happy Life Day indeed when I subject you to that pile of shit. :evilgrin:

[arcadian]

24. I went with DS9 as well

[Deep13]

25. original series, but also NG and I liked that Enterprise show...

...I think I'm the only one who did. Except for the theme song music. I'm convinced that killed the show.

[Posteritatis]

26. In rough order:

1. DS9
2. TNG
3. TOS (effectively tied with TNG)
4. Enterprise
5.
6.
7.
8. Voyager

[LanternWaste]

28. The one with the good writing...

The one with the good writing, a sense of character depth and a commitment to plot. I think it was called Babylon 5. :evilgrin:

[Orrex]

30. No, that was the one with the poor effects, half-assed acting, and mostly lame casting

Not to mention the overwrought long-term plot.

[Burma Jones]

32. Original, for sure

the camp value alone makes the original series the best in my book.

The Next Generation is to the Original as the post Trapper John and Henry Blake M*A*S*H episodes are to the early M*A*S*H

I didn't watch any of the other series, they all looked way too serious.........The only reason I watched any TNG episodes was that my GF at the time was into it.

[meeshrox]

35. Voyager a million times over!

Janeway ROCKS! :headbang:

[Odin2005]

36. Next Generation, hands down the best!

[laconicsax]

37. DS9

It was character driven with better characters and had more depth than the other series. TNG took too long for the characters to really solidify, and the series suffered for it, plus Troi. Voyager could have been good, but was ultimately ruined by the Bermanga machine and the writers' desire to hammer the audience over the head with the fact that Janeway was a woman.

Enterprise wasn't supposed to be Star Trek. It was called "Enterprise" and not "Star Trek: Enterprise" for that very reason. Sadly, in the wake of that Abrams POS, it's the only show that's canon.

[Pryderi]

43. +1

[Pryderi]

42. GEEK WARS!

[CatholicEdHead]

49. TOS Movies

II, III, IV, VI