Is TOS worth watching?

[DigiFluid]

Everyone cares about troll talk, that's what makes it successful. As for your break down, you forgot TAS. As for The Cage, it's part of Trek canon so it's not a "what could have been". There is an episode of the series that even involves the events of the episode so needs to be watched first.

Well, it doesn't need to be watched first--it doesn't have any direct effect on TOS. But yes it is part of the canon and most definitely not a "what-if".

[SaberBlade]

Well, it doesn't need to be watched first--it doesn't have any direct effect on TOS. But yes it is part of the canon and most definitely not a "what-if".

I'd watch it first just for the sake of continuity. I think The Menagerie (both parts) work better as a sequel to The Cage rather than watching Kirk's adventures first then going back to Pike.

[Snowman37]

As for your break down, you forgot TAS.

I try to forget that cartoon exists.

As for The Cage, it's part of Trek canon so it's not a "what could have been". There is an episode of the series that even involves the events of the episode so needs to be watched first.

But yes it is part of the canon and most definitely not a "what-if".

I never said it wasn't part of the show's backstory. It was the first pilot, it would have been Star Trek if NBC hadn't rejected it. It is very much what could have been in that sense. Since so much of it is recycled in "The Menagerie" anyway, it just fits better to save it for after the series.

I think The Menagerie (both parts) work better as a sequel to The Cage rather than watching Kirk's adventures first then going back to Pike.

Except that was never the intention. The first season had a 29-episode order from the network, but the budget was stretched thin enough. One of the cost cutting measures was to do "The Menagerie," a two-parter with two episodes worth of screen time, but only one episode's worth of new footage. Most of "The Cage" is recycled, spread across the two episodes. From a production point of view, it serves more to provide backstory than it does anything else. Remember, "The Cage" was not aired during the show's original run on NBC. How could it have been a sequel to something the audience was never (at the time) going to see?

[gateraid]

Star Trek: The Next Generation started in 1987.

And it finished in 1994, complete with the therapist who had a seat right next to the captain.

[rushy]

Heresy.

Someone light the torches, I'll get the pitchforks.

Someone's a big DS9 fan... to me it was just boring, except for the "Tribble" episode of course.
As for The Animated Series, it has some good stories and bad animation(Enterprise travels side-ways), numerous errors(Scotty's moustache) and of course Chekov is replaced by the orange Long-neck. But I prefer TAS to DS9.
My favourite series is TNG and ENT and I would love to see movies of ENT. And of course the Mirror Universe(never gets old).

[T-N-Z]

Thanks everyone! I have decided to watch TOS, but I am going to skip TAS and then watch everything else.

Is this view order OK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Tr...uction_history ?
First I am going to watch TOS + Movies, then TNG + Movies, then DS9,Voyager and Enterprise. After I finish all of them I go for 2009 movie, but it's reboot, is that correct?

[4thDoctor]

And of course the Mirror Universe(never gets old).

I have to disagree with you there, seeing space Nazis once was enough for me.

[Nolamom]

I have to disagree with you there, seeing space Nazis once was enough for me.

Amen!

[DigiFluid]

Thanks everyone! I have decided to watch TOS, but I am going to skip TAS and then watch everything else.

Is this view order OK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Tr...uction_history ?
First I am going to watch TOS + Movies, then TNG + Movies, then DS9,Voyager and Enterprise. After I finish all of them I go for 2009 movie, but it's reboot, is that correct?

In a word, yes. There's nothing wrong with that order at all.

The 2009 film is...not strictly a reboot, though it effectively functions as one. Its backstory stems from events in the late 24th century, the furthest along time period we've really seen in Trek*, but the thrust of the story is history being changed because of that. So it works as a reboot, even though it's probably more accurately described as "alternate timeline."




* note to nitpickers here: yes I remember Shockwave, this is for ease of explanation.

[jelgate]

Someone's a big DS9 fan... to me it was just boring, except for the "Tribble" episode of course.
As for The Animated Series, it has some good stories and bad animation(Enterprise travels side-ways), numerous errors(Scotty's moustache) and of course Chekov is replaced by the orange Long-neck. But I prefer TAS to DS9.
My favourite series is TNG and ENT and I would love to see movies of ENT. And of course the Mirror Universe(never gets old).

I just died a little inside

[Phinguyver]

TNZ...Glad you decided to watch TOS. You won't be disappointed. I have never seen a single episode of TAS either, but I still say truthfully that I saw every series. lol

And, get ready for the flaming off my next statement:

I think Enterprise had the best pilot of any of the Trek series, and I also think season 4 of ENT was one of the best Trek seasons. (runs and hides)

[Snowman37]

Someone's a big DS9 fan... to me it was just boring, except for the "Tribble" episode of course.

When the show first aired, I agreed with you. It took Worf joining the show for me to start watching, but I didn't become a regular viewer till the fifth season. The whole Dominion War story is what drew me in. I've since been collecting the show on DVD and revisiting it from the beginning. I've found the show to be far more entertaining than I first thought. If you have access to Netflix instant stream, give it a second go. You might like it if you know what's down the road?

As for The Animated Series, it has some good stories and bad animation(Enterprise travels side-ways), numerous errors(Scotty's moustache) and of course Chekov is replaced by the orange Long-neck. But I prefer TAS to DS9.

You prefer TAS to DS9?

My favourite series is TNG and ENT and I would love to see movies of ENT. And of course the Mirror Universe(never gets old).

From the modern shows, I saw VOY as the equal to TNG with ENT as the little sibling. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the prequel show. I didn't enjoy the fourth season as much as the early seasons. Instead of resolving the show's own story lines, we got forced TOS/TNG prequel stories. Some were good such as the Vulcan and Augment trilogies. I even liked the inventor of the transporter episode. However, the final stretch of episodes were very disappointing. "Bound" only served to showcase scantily clad green women to get teenage boys and and college guys to tune in. The Klingon two-parter was good up until the instantly transforming Klingons and Archer's forehead. Bone doesn't morph like playdough. The whole thing was about Klingon foreheads? Are we too dumb to realize that an increased budget meant better makeup in the 70's? Then there was the Mirror Universe. It was fun as a one-time episode in the original show. It was fun on DS9, because we got to see an alternate version of the DS9 world. When it ENT got to explore the Mirror Universe, it turned cartoony. The story was too convoluted. The Defiant from TOS is hurled not only back in time, but to the Mirror Universe. That's the only crossover we get. The whole point of the Mirror Universe is to see our characters crossover and thrown into a wild and different world. That didn't happen, so it all fell apart (for me, at least). With all of the finale's flaws, I enjoyed it more than those episodes.

Thanks everyone! I have decided to watch TOS, but I am going to skip TAS and then watch everything else.

Is this view order OK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Tr...uction_history ?
First I am going to watch TOS + Movies, then TNG + Movies, then DS9,Voyager and Enterprise. After I finish all of them I go for 2009 movie, but it's reboot, is that correct?

You can do that, but there is some overlap with TNG, DS9, and VOY. The 2009 movie is a reboot, but a soft reboot through a time-travel story. As for the visual differences, there is no in-story explanation. Just accept that it's fiction that was in desperate need of an update.

If you want to watch the franchise in order, try the below method...

Star Trek (Seasons 1-3)
The Motion Picture (TOS movie)
The Wrath of Khan (TOS movie)
The Search for Spock (TOS movie)
The Voyage Home (TOS movie)
The Final Frontier (TOS movie)
The Undiscovered Country (TOS movie)
The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)
The Next Generation (Season 6) / Deep Space Nine (Season 1)
The Next Generation (Season 7) / Deep Space Nine (Season 2)
Deep Space Nine (Season 3) / Generations (TOS / TNG movie) / Voyager (Season 1)
Deep Space Nine (Season 4) / Voyager (Season 2)
Deep Space Nine (Season 5) / Voyager (Season 3) / First Contact (TNG movie)
Deep Space Nine (Season 6) / Voyager (Season 4)
Deep Space Nine (Season 7) / Voyager (Season 5) / Insurrection (TNG movie)
Voyager (Seasons 6&7)
Nemesis (TNG movie)
Enterprise (Seasons 1-4)
Star Trek (2009 movie reboot)

If you don't want to alternate seasons; then just watch all of TOS, first six movies, TNG, movies 7-10, DS9, VOY, ENT, and then the 2009 movie.

In a word, yes. There's nothing wrong with that order at all.

The 2009 film is...not strictly a reboot, though it effectively functions as one. Its backstory stems from events in the late 24th century, the furthest along time period we've really seen in Trek*, but the thrust of the story is history being changed because of that. So it works as a reboot, even though it's probably more accurately described as "alternate timeline."

An alternate timeline deviating before TOS that doesn't get reset is a reboot.

I think Enterprise had the best pilot of any of the Trek series, and I also think season 4 of ENT was one of the best Trek seasons.

Really, I think all of the shows had good opening episodes. "Where No Man Has Gone Before," "Encounter at Farpoint," "Emissary," "Caretaker," and "Broken Bow" all did a magnificent job at introducing us to the ship (or space station) and crew.

The fourth season of Enterprise started out OK. However, it went downhill after "The Aenar." "Affliction" and "Divergence" were all about Klingon foreheads, lame. "Bound" was just scantily clad women trying to take over, lame. "In a Mirror, Darkly, Parts I&II" featured no crossover from our Enterprise NX-01. Seeing everyone bad just to see them bad was lame. "Demons" and "Terra Prime" brought about a return to good Enterprise episodes. Though "These Are the Voyages..." is a seriously flawed finale, I liked it. My only real problems with the episode where why Shran was on the run, how Trip died, that we didn't see the crew react (other than Archer and T'Pol), and that we didn't hear Archer's speech at the end. That said, I liked it more than those five episodes I mentioned earlier.

[DigiFluid]

Let me disseminate here...

I think Enterprise had the best pilot of any of the Trek series,

What. What. What. A Klingon in a cornfield is the "first contact that led to decades of hostilities"? No! Just no...

and I also think season 4 of ENT was one of the best Trek seasons. (runs and hides)

Well now... I don't know about best, but it was definitely a vast improvement over the first three. If this had been Season 1 of the show, I bet it could've gone on for seven seasons. There was some real gold in ENT S4.

[Snowman37]

What. What. What. A Klingon in a cornfield is the "first contact that led to decades of hostilities"? No! Just no...

An entire episode should be constrained by throw-away dialogue? No! Just no...

Well now... I don't know about best, but it was definitely a vast improvement over the first three. If this had been Season 1 of the show, I bet it could've gone on for seven seasons. There was some real gold in ENT S4.

Personally, I found the Xindi saga to be the best season. The fourth season had some of the best episodes of the show, but overall... it was a step down from the previous season. I was enjoying it right up until "The Aenar." "Affliction," "Divergence," "Bound," and "In a Mirror, Darkly, Parts I&II" were so bad that I almost stopped watching. I only kept watching, because the show was ending. I stuck around for three and a half seasons, might as well see it end.

[T-N-Z]

Why some people hate ENT so much?