re: Star Trek Voyager

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I rewatch it often and to this day I am struck by how good the writing, acting and special effects were. To each his own.

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I'm not making this a criticism of TNG - my order is:

TOS

DS9

TNG

VOY

(Reserving judgment on ENT - it might take 1st place, but that is very, very, very unlikely - just haven't seen more than 5 or 6 episodes over the years.)

Obviously TNG is the bridge - after a 20 year gap following TOS, and leading a run of almost 20 years, uninterrupted of Star Trek branded weekly series, TNG is one of those shows that demonstrated what could be done on television if anyone cared to put the effort into it, particularly real world special effects (although they had transitioned to a good bit of computers by the end) involving 3D models, and the acting was some of the best, most consistent work for a television series up to that time - Stewart was particularly outstanding and an anchor upon which they could secure the whole show.

But the writing was very hit and miss, IMHO. They did direct copies of TOS stories to start (and I'm not complaining - The Naked Now is one of my favorite TNG episodes, but it is not particularly creative) and, as I said, too many deus ex Wesley plot tie ups show me that the writing staff was struggling for a solid 1 to 2 seasons.

Because of the threaded story lines, the writing seemed more cohesive and consistent in DS9 - and they had their moments with great scripts as well. Although the acting was not quite as stellar across the board, the feeling of community and family was much stronger for me with the DS9 crew than any other. We saw them progress, have life changes, and just organically grow much more than any other trek series - other than the individual character here and there on other series.

Voyager suffered from stiff acting at first, spotty writing, but definitely had a sense of adventure not seen since TOS - IMHO. Voyager has a lot going for it - Kes was very intriguing, and had she stayed for the whole run, would have made for some interesting story lines. Seven of Nine was likewise intriguing, for a lot of reasons. Borg were already hybrids, but to have one caught between assimilation and reintegration as an individual was fascinating to watch as it developed.

I have not seen much of Voyager's last 2 seasons, but hope to complete a viewing by this summer - then start Enterprise.

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I'm not making this a criticism of TNG - my order is:

TOS

DS9

TNG

VOY

(Reserving judgment on ENT - it might take 1st place, but that is very, very, very unlikely - just haven't seen more than 5 or 6 episodes over the years.)

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I'd go:

TNG

TOS (hard to compare due to its age but I'd put it here)

VOY

DS9

I really tried to like Enterprise but I just didn't, and I stopped watching it. I wouldn't even put it on my list. JMHO

I agree that the first season of TNG was somewhat weak, with the actors getting comfortable with their roles, and some spotty writing, but there were still really good ones like Conspiracy.

IMO by season two they hit their stride and just got better and better right up to the very last episode.

Voyager was garbage. No CO would have condemned her crew they way Janaway did. Further, that ship NEVER showed any damage. 7 years, no yards, shite would of been falling off.

Dumb premise.

Ace, you should take a look at Enterprise. It had a few low points to be sure, but I enjoyed the hell out of the first and fourth seasons. It was really hitting it's stride in season 4 when they canceled it. Don't however, watch the final episode. An insult to star trek fans everywhere.

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No CO would have condemned her crew they way Janaway did. Further, that ship NEVER showed any damage. 7 years, no yards, shite would of been falling off.

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This really is impossible to explain. That ship took beating after beating and never had a starbase to check into...that NEVER made sense!

There is a clip of Genevieve Bujold and her one and only day of filming as Captain Nicole Janeway- and it was bad.

youtube

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Don't however, watch the final episode. An insult to star trek fans everywhere.

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Ok, so I had to google this. I read a synopsis, and this is pretty insulting; not only to Trek fans, but to the cast of Enterprise. Spoiler spoiler spoiler of the final episode of Enterprise

I started TOS but could not get very far. I am going to attempt it again one day.

DS9 is #2 in my book of scifi. The only scifi series for me that surpasses it is B5, which is somewhat ironic given their 'similarties' and issues discussed by you and others earlier in the thread.

I've seen at least some of every series but I will rank only those I've watched all of or most of:

1. DS9
2. TNG
3. Enterprise

TOS/Voyager would be last on my list but I can't give them a proper critique due to lack of viewing.

Enterprise was ok for me. It probably seemed better than it was because I was just thirsty for anything ST at the time.

What everyone needs to take from this thread is this: B5 > *.

I wanted to do S1 with you guys but I got busy and started watching Breaking Bad around the time you started that. BB won.

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Another great twist with DS9 is making the old foes, the Klingons into noble allies. The softening stance with the Romulans was nice, as well.

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The whole Dominion/Founders/Jem'Hadar storyline is what really drew me into DS9. What true Trekie didn't get a preverbial stiffy by the notion of the Federation and the Klingons teaming up for a full scale war to defend the Alpha Quadrant against a seemingly superior enemy? Having two galactic powers, who started out in TOS as being basically cold war enemies, coming together to defend not only their civilizations/empires, but also the whole Alpha Quadrant seemed to me to be a pretty good ending to the Star Trek saga (I'm thinking that Voyager was supposed to be taking place during the timespan of DS9, right?). And yeah I know that the Romulans played a part at the end, but it was basically the Federation and Klingons that lead the fight.