US Timeline : Which is your most favourite Star Trek series?

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by Stephen

I was just turning 16 when Voyager started and I just remember being wowed by it

me too dude, I remember watching the pilot and watching in awe as the nacelles folded in to create a stable field and they went to wrap.

[Stephen]

I still had my VHS of the Pilot and first few episodes till recently lol.

[alferret]

Voyager.

[Stuart]

If I was forced to pick, I'd say TNG. However, all the shows had good and bad points. Most of season one of TNG is fairly forgettable, although if you can find them, Wil Wheaton's reviews of this season are funny. They are also occasionally rude, hence me not providing a link.

[richard s]

Voyger no 1 with me sad about the ending which was rushed a bit.

[General Maximus]

funnily enough I watched it yesterday. I can remember watching it 15 years ago when I was at uni and showing all my friends the scene when they deploy the ablative hull armour. I loved it then and I still love it now.

This is why I wish they would make a new ST series based on a time ship like the Relativity. It would give them chance to dedicate episodes to minor stories which can fill gaps but at the same time give us more depth and insight into the behind the scenes goings on so to speak about the ship and characters lives. If we were to speculate about Voyager returning home the first thing you would ask yourself is what would happen to the crew. Do they stay together for another year to wind down and assimilate (pardon the pun) themselves back into society or are they all split up immediately and given separate missions and assignments? What happens to the Doctor? Does Starfleet and the Federation respect his rights as an individual and allow him to pursue his medical career and take advantage of his knowledge or do they see him as a hologram and take him offline so they can dissect his mobile emitter in an attempt to duplicate the technology? Are the marquis given pardons or are they held accountable for their previous crimes? What happens with Seven and does she go on a soul hunting exercise and discover nature and what it means to be human or does she join the crew of a science vessel?

These are all things which you wonder about going through the series and I loved how they sort of tied that up at the beginning to give you some resolution before they undid it all. They did the same thing with DS9 which I really liked. I hate open endings and when you have spent years with the characters and come to know them and respect them it is nice to see that things work out for them and they get a measure of peace and fulfilment in their lives after all they have suffered and been through.

The one thing they're not going to do when they make this new series is turn it into 23 hours of fan****. The most successful formula Star Trek has is the Five Year/Continuing Mission as shown in TOS and TNG. Weekly episodes, each presenting their own self contained story, with little to no reliance on a story arc. I believe CBS wants this to be a commercial success and therefore they're going to make it accessible.

[General Maximus]

I just hope they keep the science in it. I need them to realign the positron relays and use the deflector to generate an inverse tachyon field

[tweetiepooh]

While later series maybe better made and acted (especially Patrick Stewart) the TOS remains for me the best. Wobbly sets, terrible fisticuffs and knowing that non regular person in a red shirt in the early scenes was doomed.

I knew I had succeeded as a parent when one of my kids pointed at an incidental character in a TV show (not Star Trek) and said, "is he a redshirt?"

[Pierre]

TNG by a sub-space mile.

Then TOS

Then Voyager

DS9 - I never liked

Enterprise - Naff central.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Chris

The one thing they're not going to do when they make this new series is turn it into 23 hours of fan****. The most successful formula Star Trek has is the Five Year/Continuing Mission as shown in TOS and TNG. Weekly episodes, each presenting their own self contained story, with little to no reliance on a story arc. I believe CBS wants this to be a commercial success and therefore they're going to make it accessible.

That's one thing that I don't like about modern Sci Fi. Over reliance on the story arc.

As you say, they put the casual watcher off as (in terms of time) it becomes a major investment to watch a series you may or may not like. You can't just dip in with the odd episode and muddle your way through the series..

That's one thing I liked about TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. They had story arcs (particularly DS9), and while it did help if you knew the story arc, most stories contained enough that you could enjoy them without following every episode.

Modern Sci Fi seems to rely almost exclusively on the story arc, which I think is why it doesn't get great viewing figures.

[Horizon]

I like the story arc carrying through an entire series, but yes, if you just want to dip in and out of a series, it makes it difficult.

The Stargate series' were similar to Star Trek in that respect. They had themes and stories that carried through the length of the entire series', but each episode was self contained, as was I suppose any other sci-fi series of the time.

[General Maximus]

I can understand the appeal of either. I absolutely love Stargate and at the same time i really enjoyed season 7 of ds9. By that point though you couldn't just watch one episode, story arc or not, you would need to know everything has happened in the run up to it (i.e the dominion and the current state of affairs in the alpha quadrant).

Everyone mocks Enterprise but i think the one thing they got right was the balance between individual eps and story arcs. I loved the 2 and 3 parters, it gives you time to cover a story more thoroughly.

The problem with Enterprise was that it was to dull for to long, by the time it got a bit better people had given up on it in droves, and so its end was already a formality.