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Ranking Star Trek Properties (Personal opinions)
Posted on 8/3/26 at 3:34 pm
Posted on 8/3/26 at 3:34 pm
A few tidbits:
1. Nearly every ranking will encompass the series as a whole, with a couple breaking out to a partial (Season X - Season Y) ranking if it is worthwhile.
2. Just my opinion, and a brief note - if you disagree, that's cool, add what you like
3. Rankings are categorized by series/cast/release. It'll make sense, I promise.
4. Ranking 1-5 with some liberties.
The Original Era
Star Trek: The Original Series - 4
* The one that birthed it all. Some great episodes, some goofy ones, but still worth watching even though it's been over 60 years since they originally aired. Cut a bit short (only 3 seasons) but birthed a massive franchise.
*Personal favorite episode: The City on the Edge of Forever
Star Trek: The Animated Series - 3
* Worth a watch, though no need to get heavily invested. The animation allowed for some choices that were impossible for live action at the time (and introduced holodecks).
* Personal favorite episode: The Counter-Clock Incident
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 3
* Still a good movie (don't let the "3" make you think otherwise), but is slow in parts (due to Roddenberry not being used to making movies and wanting to take full advantage of a movie-tier budget. The effects jump from the series to the motion picture made it worth while.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn - 5
* Best Star Trek movie ever made, hands down. An absolute masterpiece in tension building, use of music, and an amazing one-on-one starship battle that rarely occurs anymore.
Star Trek: The Search for Spock - 4
* Originally considered "bad" for the "all odd-numbered Star Trek movies are shite" rule, it's really only considered bad because it got sandwiched between the two most popular Star Trek movies of the time. The stealing of the Enterprise scene is worth a rewatch over and over.
Star Trek: The Voyage Home - 4.5
* A favorite of non-Trekkies, this one is less serious than the previous 3 movies. Set around saving whales (a huge environmental concern in the 80s), the fish-out-of-water elements and seeing Star Trek characters roaming 80s San Francisco was thoroughly enjoyable.
Star Trek: The Final Frontier - 2
* A rough production and cut budget means we will never know how good this could have actually been. Fun tidbit: This features the first unknown Spock sibling, as he apparently loves keeping his personal relationships secret (in TOS his wife was also a secret from the Captain and crew)
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country - 4
* A much better send off than The Final Frontier, this pays back the dividends of the consequences of The Search for Spock. A really good movie, certainly worth the watch.
The Next Gen Era
Star Trek: The Next Generation - 4
* Introduced the Borg and, consequently, the end-of-season cliffhanger... "Mr. Worf. Fire."
* Personal Favorite Episode(s): The Best of Both Worlds P1&2
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 5
* DS9 completely upended the previous rules of Star Trek:
1. The Federation and Starfleet are always good
2. Everything wraps up in 1-2 episodes
Abandoning the episodic formula for serialized, DS9 was able to tell much larger stories that spanned many episodes, something previous Star Trek series would not do.
* Personal Favorite Episode: In the Pale Moonlight
Star Trek: Voyager - 3.5
* Voyager returned to the episodic formula, but took a starship away from the Federation and out of the comfort zone. Up and down for a while, the introduction of Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine catapulted the show from withering to a big hit for UPN (and the first show to be attached to a network)
* Personal Favorite Episode(s): The Year of Hell P1&2
Star Trek: Generations - 3.5
* Not a bad movie, working to bridge the Original Series crew with the Next Generation crew. Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly both declined to appear as they felt that The Undiscovered Country was already a good send off, but the crux of the story revolves around Picard and Kirk.
Star Trek: First Contact - 4
* A really good movie, adding some horror elements to a franchise that rarely used them. Some good moments that feature a piece of history in Star Trek that is rarely touched upon (the first warp flight), but the crux of the story is what is occurring on the Enterprise.
Star Trek: Insurrection - 3
* A very "meh" story, and the beginning of the "everyone's ship is stronger than ours, even people you've never heard of" trend. Great actors wasted, but still not quite a "bad" movie. Some dumb humor appears.
Star Trek: Nemesis - 2
* Good action pieces, but that's it. Borrowed heavily from Wrath of Kahn (which did it 1000x better) and a major point from Undiscovered Country as well. This movie's poor performance killed Star Trek in the theaters until the reboot.
Star Trek: Enterprise - X
* No score because I didn't see enough of it to give it a fair review. Some components I liked, some I didn't; the crew was the strong part of the show. The finale (which I did see) is profoundly disappointing.
1. Nearly every ranking will encompass the series as a whole, with a couple breaking out to a partial (Season X - Season Y) ranking if it is worthwhile.
2. Just my opinion, and a brief note - if you disagree, that's cool, add what you like
3. Rankings are categorized by series/cast/release. It'll make sense, I promise.
4. Ranking 1-5 with some liberties.
The Original Era
Star Trek: The Original Series - 4
* The one that birthed it all. Some great episodes, some goofy ones, but still worth watching even though it's been over 60 years since they originally aired. Cut a bit short (only 3 seasons) but birthed a massive franchise.
*Personal favorite episode: The City on the Edge of Forever
Star Trek: The Animated Series - 3
* Worth a watch, though no need to get heavily invested. The animation allowed for some choices that were impossible for live action at the time (and introduced holodecks).
* Personal favorite episode: The Counter-Clock Incident
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 3
* Still a good movie (don't let the "3" make you think otherwise), but is slow in parts (due to Roddenberry not being used to making movies and wanting to take full advantage of a movie-tier budget. The effects jump from the series to the motion picture made it worth while.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn - 5
* Best Star Trek movie ever made, hands down. An absolute masterpiece in tension building, use of music, and an amazing one-on-one starship battle that rarely occurs anymore.
Star Trek: The Search for Spock - 4
* Originally considered "bad" for the "all odd-numbered Star Trek movies are shite" rule, it's really only considered bad because it got sandwiched between the two most popular Star Trek movies of the time. The stealing of the Enterprise scene is worth a rewatch over and over.
Star Trek: The Voyage Home - 4.5
* A favorite of non-Trekkies, this one is less serious than the previous 3 movies. Set around saving whales (a huge environmental concern in the 80s), the fish-out-of-water elements and seeing Star Trek characters roaming 80s San Francisco was thoroughly enjoyable.
Star Trek: The Final Frontier - 2
* A rough production and cut budget means we will never know how good this could have actually been. Fun tidbit: This features the first unknown Spock sibling, as he apparently loves keeping his personal relationships secret (in TOS his wife was also a secret from the Captain and crew)
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country - 4
* A much better send off than The Final Frontier, this pays back the dividends of the consequences of The Search for Spock. A really good movie, certainly worth the watch.
The Next Gen Era
Star Trek: The Next Generation - 4
* Introduced the Borg and, consequently, the end-of-season cliffhanger... "Mr. Worf. Fire."
* Personal Favorite Episode(s): The Best of Both Worlds P1&2
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 5
* DS9 completely upended the previous rules of Star Trek:
1. The Federation and Starfleet are always good
2. Everything wraps up in 1-2 episodes
Abandoning the episodic formula for serialized, DS9 was able to tell much larger stories that spanned many episodes, something previous Star Trek series would not do.
* Personal Favorite Episode: In the Pale Moonlight
Star Trek: Voyager - 3.5
* Voyager returned to the episodic formula, but took a starship away from the Federation and out of the comfort zone. Up and down for a while, the introduction of Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine catapulted the show from withering to a big hit for UPN (and the first show to be attached to a network)
* Personal Favorite Episode(s): The Year of Hell P1&2
Star Trek: Generations - 3.5
* Not a bad movie, working to bridge the Original Series crew with the Next Generation crew. Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly both declined to appear as they felt that The Undiscovered Country was already a good send off, but the crux of the story revolves around Picard and Kirk.
Star Trek: First Contact - 4
* A really good movie, adding some horror elements to a franchise that rarely used them. Some good moments that feature a piece of history in Star Trek that is rarely touched upon (the first warp flight), but the crux of the story is what is occurring on the Enterprise.
Star Trek: Insurrection - 3
* A very "meh" story, and the beginning of the "everyone's ship is stronger than ours, even people you've never heard of" trend. Great actors wasted, but still not quite a "bad" movie. Some dumb humor appears.
Star Trek: Nemesis - 2
* Good action pieces, but that's it. Borrowed heavily from Wrath of Kahn (which did it 1000x better) and a major point from Undiscovered Country as well. This movie's poor performance killed Star Trek in the theaters until the reboot.
Star Trek: Enterprise - X
* No score because I didn't see enough of it to give it a fair review. Some components I liked, some I didn't; the crew was the strong part of the show. The finale (which I did see) is profoundly disappointing.
5
Posted on 8/3/26 at 3:34 pm to skrayper
The Reboot/Kelvin Timeline
Star Trek (2009) - 3.5
* Fun and enjoyable, but in a way started a trend of the movies forgetting their roots. Felt like they wanted Spock opposite Luke Skywalker, aiming for something more akin to Star Wars. Still not a bad movie and has its fun moments, so worth watching.
Star Trek Into Darkness - 1.5
* Probably not AS bad as the score I gave it, but this movie annoys me immensely. It tries hard to copy of Wrath of Kahn but, as good as Benedict Cumberbatch is, cannot make up for the fact that he has no history with this Kirk (with the name reveal meaning NOTHING). The weight of the events of the original are lost entirely, and reversed. I cannot recommend watching it.
Star Trek Beyond - 2.5
* Not as annoying to me as Into Darkness, but I'm sure some folks would have this reversed. Still a weak story, and *SPOILERS* the enemy is defeated by the Beastie Boys (with the same song is used for the 'Kirk steals a car as a kid' scene in Star Trek [2009]). Last movie of the rebooted/Kelvin line.
Paramount Era
Star Trek: Discovery (S1 & S2) - 3 / (S3-S5) - 1
* The first two seasons showed some potential - you can see the bones of a potentially great show in S1 and the introduction of the Strange New Worlds cast in S2 were highlights; that said, Discovery's focus was too much on a single character. While earlier series, ostensibly, had the Captain as the main character, it still allowed other characters to take the spotlight in episodes that this one seemed to veer away from. The show becomes hard to watch afterwards though, and ends up introducing spinoffs that range from really good to absolutely horrid.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - 4
* The best Paramount offering, a very fun show that sticks close to its roots. This would have been a much better launch for the Paramount shows, and the adherence to classic Trek makes it really work.
* Personal Favorite Episode: A Quality of Mercy
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Depends
* Because this is an animated comedy with a TON of inside jokes, you will likely either LOVE this show or HATE it. I dug a lot of the inside jokes (the shows they poked fun at were the ones I watched as a kid with my dad), so I found it very, very fun - but I can understand why some people would hate it.
* Personal Favorite Episode: I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee
Star Trek: Picard - (S1 & S2) - 0.5 / (S3) - 4
* The first two seasons are skippable. You won't lose anything from leaving them be and skipping to S3; just look up Rafi on Wikipedia as she is literally the only new character brought in that makes it to S3. S3 is what everyone HOPED to get from the series.
* Personal Favorite Episode: No Win Scenario
Prodigy - 3
* An animated kids show, it had a good premise and was not a bad show by any means; sadly, it was killed off after just one S1 (how this only got 1 and Discovery made it to 5 is anyone's guess). Worth a watch, IMHO, but don't get emotionally attached.
Starfleet Academy - 0
* Don't watch it unless you've been trying to find an excuse to walk into oncoming traffic *OR* you've always thought that what Star Trek really lacked was WB-style teen drama. An absolute waste of actress Holly Hunter.
Star Trek: Section 31 - -1 (yes, negative one)
* The biggest difference between Academy and Section 31 is that Starfleet Academy had the benefit(?) of a full season, meaning statistically there were some "not so bad" episodes. Section 31 was a movie, meaning it was going to land or fall on its own. If Academy was a waste of Holly Hunter, Section 31 is literally an anchor around Michelle Yeoh's career. I cannot recommend NOT watching this more than I have already.
Star Trek (2009) - 3.5
* Fun and enjoyable, but in a way started a trend of the movies forgetting their roots. Felt like they wanted Spock opposite Luke Skywalker, aiming for something more akin to Star Wars. Still not a bad movie and has its fun moments, so worth watching.
Star Trek Into Darkness - 1.5
* Probably not AS bad as the score I gave it, but this movie annoys me immensely. It tries hard to copy of Wrath of Kahn but, as good as Benedict Cumberbatch is, cannot make up for the fact that he has no history with this Kirk (with the name reveal meaning NOTHING). The weight of the events of the original are lost entirely, and reversed. I cannot recommend watching it.
Star Trek Beyond - 2.5
* Not as annoying to me as Into Darkness, but I'm sure some folks would have this reversed. Still a weak story, and *SPOILERS* the enemy is defeated by the Beastie Boys (with the same song is used for the 'Kirk steals a car as a kid' scene in Star Trek [2009]). Last movie of the rebooted/Kelvin line.
Paramount Era
Star Trek: Discovery (S1 & S2) - 3 / (S3-S5) - 1
* The first two seasons showed some potential - you can see the bones of a potentially great show in S1 and the introduction of the Strange New Worlds cast in S2 were highlights; that said, Discovery's focus was too much on a single character. While earlier series, ostensibly, had the Captain as the main character, it still allowed other characters to take the spotlight in episodes that this one seemed to veer away from. The show becomes hard to watch afterwards though, and ends up introducing spinoffs that range from really good to absolutely horrid.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - 4
* The best Paramount offering, a very fun show that sticks close to its roots. This would have been a much better launch for the Paramount shows, and the adherence to classic Trek makes it really work.
* Personal Favorite Episode: A Quality of Mercy
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Depends
* Because this is an animated comedy with a TON of inside jokes, you will likely either LOVE this show or HATE it. I dug a lot of the inside jokes (the shows they poked fun at were the ones I watched as a kid with my dad), so I found it very, very fun - but I can understand why some people would hate it.
* Personal Favorite Episode: I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee
Star Trek: Picard - (S1 & S2) - 0.5 / (S3) - 4
* The first two seasons are skippable. You won't lose anything from leaving them be and skipping to S3; just look up Rafi on Wikipedia as she is literally the only new character brought in that makes it to S3. S3 is what everyone HOPED to get from the series.
* Personal Favorite Episode: No Win Scenario
Prodigy - 3
* An animated kids show, it had a good premise and was not a bad show by any means; sadly, it was killed off after just one S1 (how this only got 1 and Discovery made it to 5 is anyone's guess). Worth a watch, IMHO, but don't get emotionally attached.
Starfleet Academy - 0
* Don't watch it unless you've been trying to find an excuse to walk into oncoming traffic *OR* you've always thought that what Star Trek really lacked was WB-style teen drama. An absolute waste of actress Holly Hunter.
Star Trek: Section 31 - -1 (yes, negative one)
* The biggest difference between Academy and Section 31 is that Starfleet Academy had the benefit(?) of a full season, meaning statistically there were some "not so bad" episodes. Section 31 was a movie, meaning it was going to land or fall on its own. If Academy was a waste of Holly Hunter, Section 31 is literally an anchor around Michelle Yeoh's career. I cannot recommend NOT watching this more than I have already.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 3:46 pm to skrayper
I’d put Strange New World’s a couple tiers ahead of Discovery, even though I don’t hate Discovery as much as some do, SNW’s is just better. Season 3 of Picard is outstanding, people should just skip Section 31 and Academy.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 3:59 pm to gizmothepug
quote:
I’d put Strange New World’s a couple tiers ahead of Discovery, even though I don’t hate Discovery as much as some do, SNW’s is just better. Season 3 of Picard is outstanding, people should just skip Section 31 and Academy.
I agree; I just think S1&S2 Discovery are okay to watch, but SNW is up there with peak TNG.
S3 of Picard is nostalgia done right; S31 and Academy aren't worth watching.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 4:27 pm to skrayper
I appreciate the rankings and commentary.
When is the general consensus for when DS9 gets interesting? I've tried about 5 times over the last twenty years to watch it but lose interest within the first 5 episodes. I've watched all of TNG and Voyager multiple times and I know that DS9 is going to be objectively better than Voyager if I put the time in, but I'm busy and lose interest in season 1.
When is the general consensus for when DS9 gets interesting? I've tried about 5 times over the last twenty years to watch it but lose interest within the first 5 episodes. I've watched all of TNG and Voyager multiple times and I know that DS9 is going to be objectively better than Voyager if I put the time in, but I'm busy and lose interest in season 1.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 4:38 pm to skrayper
The Orville is the best Star Trek post TNG
Posted on 8/3/26 at 4:43 pm to skrayper
I liked/like TOS, Wrath of Khan, and Strange New Worlds.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 4:48 pm to Huey Lewis
quote:
When is the general consensus for when DS9 gets interesting?
You don't hit a great episode until S1E18 (Duet).
S2 is consistently better than S1, but S3 is probably when it really hits its stride. It's a great show, and you almost certainly won't regret sticking it out and powering through the relatively weak start. I think that the characters in DS9 are the strongest out of any Star Trek series by a decent margin.
I still need to restart Voyager (never finished S1, even though I was enjoying it for the most part). I will say that I liked Enterprise a lot more than I was expecting to. Definitely not on the same level as TNG/DS9, but still good television.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 5:09 pm to Huey Lewis
quote:
When is the general consensus for when DS9 gets interesting?
It might take awhile to get going for some, but it’s worth it to keep watching. Quark and the Ferengi are worth it alone, but that’s just my opinion. When myself and my other two cousins would go to our Granny’s house on the weekends being able to catch an episode of TNG or DS9 was something I looked forward too. Catching up with DS9 and then Enterprise coming out in 2001 is why I’m still of fan of Star Trek to this day.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 5:29 pm to Huey Lewis
quote:
I've watched all of TNG and Voyager multiple times and I know that DS9 is going to be objectively better than Voyager if I put the time in, but I'm busy and lose interest in season 1.
If you are fair about it, you should complete DS9 (man up to get through the early stuff - to be completely frank, the early "Deus ex Wesley" bullshite of TNG is worse than DS9's getting their space legs) and recognize that, not only is DS9 comparable to TNG, it's probably better on the whole (#Fightme).
The only things that TNG really have over DS9 are Picard, Data and Q.
I like Riker as much as the next person, but Kira's story and character arc are much, much better.
Picard versus Sisko (that's a push - each has strengths and weaknesses, each has fantastic moments in the series)
There is no real analogue for Data in DS9.
Sure, TNG has Worf, but DS9's Worf is better.
Doctor Bashir isn't necessarily a strength for DS9, but he blows Crusher/Pulaski out of the water.
And, as I said, Q is a big reason why TNG is great. But TNG has nothing like Dukat, Kai Winn, Weyoun, the Jem'Hadar, Quark, any of the other civilians.
DS9 is a living, breathing world. The characters' actions (and consequences) and persistent and sometimes permanent.
It isn't "forehead alien of the week", at all. In any regard. Now, as a fan of TOS - and I advocate it may be the greatest television show of all time - just based on what they were able to do at the time with the resources available and the resulting legacy. Having said that, TNG and DS9 in their own way realized the full potential of that universe to deliver science fiction stories of the highest quality.
Everything with the Star Trek label since then, has, unfortunately been a huge step backward in that regard.
This post was edited on 8/3/26 at 5:31 pm
Posted on 8/3/26 at 5:47 pm to kingbob
quote:
The Orville is the best Star Trek post TNG
The Orville is definitely good, but I don’t think I would rate it above Deep Space Nine or Strange New Worlds.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 7:00 pm to skrayper
TNG >>> DS9
Posted on 8/3/26 at 9:46 pm to skrayper
Strange New Worlds has a lot of potential, but they went for too much goofy . Spock becoming human. Other people become Vulcan. The singing episode. They did not develop plots as much.
Posted on 8/3/26 at 11:04 pm to skrayper
Best serious "big questions sci-fi" Star Trek:
Best "fun" Star Trek:
Best "fun" Star Trek:
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