Star Trek

[Ron]

I've been considering buying seasons of the most recent Star Trek programs. Disc give the best picture and sound!

Can any of you make the case for the newer shows? Or give me a solid recommendation for one over another?

Something, anything to convince me?

I have the complete original series along with Star Trek Enterprise, and I even have the cartoon series. I've watched Captain Picard (Patrick Steward) and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) lead their crews a great many times already. Let's not forget Deep Space Nine which I've watched many times as well. And, let's not forget the movies of which I have all of them (I'm not a Trekie, seriously).

Edited July 4 by Ron

[Zombie]

10 hours ago, Ron said:

I've been considering buying seasons of the most recent Star Trek programs. Disc give the best picture and sound!

Interestingly Star Trek TOS on Blu-ray (where the pilot +earliest episodes are now 60 years old!) is better picture quality than more recent Trek because it was all shot on 35mm film, while later series were all or partly on VT, and sound recording is better too because in them thar days skilled sound engineers ensured that dialogue was always clear (and actors were trained in diction and elocution) 

[Bill W]

I'm a diehard Trekker.  I remember watching the original series when it first aired and I've seen every movie and each series that has aired since.  It's difficult, however, to select a favorite, since they're all different in their own way and unique to Gene Roddenberry's original vision.   The Prime Directive has always remained a fairly stable anchor within each one, as well as "to boldly go where no one has gone before". 

[Myr]

I have all The Original Series, Next Gen, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. I like them all.

The new stuff has great visuals.  And some gay characters.

But the writing is usually awful and inconsistent. They have sonar in space and other extreme stupidity.  The Message went from being part of the story, to being the only purpose of the story.  If you like being told and shown how evil white men are, then those new shows are for you.

They regularly destroyed canon too. If you care about even pretending to tie into being Star Trek.... then the new shows are all skinsuits pretending to be Star Trek.

So, if you hate Star Trek and love getting lectures pretending to be entertainment, then you'll like the shows.

Except for Picard Season 3, which they snuck past that idiot Alex Kurtzman.  I'm told that it is a great send-off for Star Trek: The Next Generation fans. Though Picard Seasons 1 and 2 totally destroyed them first... so I haven't watched it yet either.

[Gary L]

1 hour ago, Bill W said:

to boldly go where no one has gone before". 

This used to be used by grammar teachers as the perfect example of a ‘split infinitive’. However, it was probably the main influence on modern English usage abandoning arcane rules. How do these ‘correct’ versions sound? To go boldly or boldly to go.

about such things we debated in my grammar school after being glued to the latest episode of the original series. Happy memories.

[Zombie]

17 minutes ago, Myr said:

I have all The Original Series, Next Gen, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. I like them all.

The new stuff has great visuals.  And some gay characters.

But the writing is usually awful and inconsistent. They have sonar in space and other extreme stupidity.  The Message went from being part of the story, to being the only purpose of the story.  If you like being told and shown how evil white men are, then those new shows are for you.

They regularly destroyed canon too. If you care about even pretending to tie into being Star Trek.... then the new shows are all skinsuits pretending to be Star Trek.

So, if you hate Star Trek and love getting lectures pretending to be entertainment, then you'll like the shows.

Except for Picard Season 3, which they snuck past that idiot Alex Kurtzman.  I'm told that it is a great send-off for Star Trek: The Next Generation fans. Though Picard Seasons 1 and 2 totally destroyed them first... so I haven't watched it yet either.

exact same thing happened to a long running time travel show and - guess what - it stopped running… ☹️

[Zombie]

2 hours ago, Bill W said:

to boldly go where no one has gone before

42 minutes ago, Gary L said:

This used to be used by grammar teachers as the perfect example of a ‘split infinitive’. However, it was probably the main influence on modern English usage abandoning arcane rules. How do these ‘correct’ versions sound? To go boldly or boldly to go.

about such things we debated in my grammar school after being glued to the latest episode of the original series. Happy memories.

yes but… blame the Victorians, they loved putting things into straightjackets and corsets (especially people )

And give thanks to the French 

before they invaded England (1066) Old English was an inflected language, like old German (on which much of English was based - more invasions you see 😮) including infinitives, which were just one word (no “to”)

which meant because the infinitive (in whichever form) was a single word it couldn’t be split!

but the French changed all that, and infinitives became two words - which you CAN split

Then, some time later… the Victorians (once they’d got everyone tied up in corsets or straitjackets ) decided that because Latin infinitives couldn’t be split then neither could English infinitives. If they’d based their argument on Old English there might have been some logic. But they didn’t. So there wasn’t

And we’ve all been feeling guilty/censorious ever since

But, hey, what kid would be roused +inspired by “To go boldly where no one has gone before” or “Boldly to go where no one has gone before”?

TOS’s split Infinitive intro is one of the greatest lines in sci-if history!

[Jason Rimbaud]

I've tried watching The Next Generation four different times. It is so tedious. I never watched Voyager; by that time, I was so over Trek. Deep Space Nine was a blatant rip off of Babylon 5, so I never watched that either. The original series was okay, but overall, not for me. 

I watched the first season of Discovery but found it derivative, and Picard was okay, but I had a problem with Picard being put into a body the same age as the actor. 

Brave New Worlds held my attention each episode I watched, maybe two seasons' worth, but then I went away, as Star Trek isn't really my thing. It's too sanitized, too utopian, and boring for me. Star Wars was for kids, and Star Trek was too idealistic. I liked my Sci-Fi a bit dirty, Aliens come to mind. 

The Original Movies were okay, but too bright and sunny for the most part. The Next Generation movies weren't the original, so too "thinking" for me.  

The new Star Trek movies were too slick, and why the hell did they need to remake The Wrath of Khan? Come up with new stories, Mr. JJ. 

I really like the Patrick Stewart except when he plays Picard. Star Trek is boring and who needs a perfect society anyway. I like it when characters have room for growth and are a bit dirty at times. Star Trek never gives you that, and if you say Deep Space Nine does, not in the first season and if it takes multiple seasons before a show gets good, then the show isn't really good. 

All of the Star shows aren't for me. Whether they be treks or wars, give me John Sheridan and the shadows any day. 

[Ron]

3 hours ago, Myr said:

So, if you hate Star Trek and love getting lectures pretending to be entertainment, then you'll like the shows.

Ugh! I just saw a Facebook reel by 'someone' that the franchise was jettisoning the current directors and motivators, moving toward the original ideals of Star Trek, and doing away with the 'exemplars' of recent series.

Sounds like a plan. 

[Myr]

2 hours ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

All of the Star shows aren't for me. Whether they be treks or wars, give me John Sheridan and the shadows any day. 

Babylon 5 is my favorite Sci-Fi series.  It really drove television to tell long-form stories instead of weekly stand-alones.  JMS was pretty genius with how he structured things every single episode of every season moved things forward AND he designed it to be binged before there was a streaming service binging thing.

 

1 hour ago, Ron said:

Ugh! I just saw a Facebook reel by 'someone' that the franchise was jettisoning the current directors and motivators, moving toward the original ideals of Star Trek, and doing away with the 'exemplars' of recent series.

Sounds like a plan. 

Yes, the new owners of Paramount want Star Trek to be Star Trek again.

[Jason Rimbaud]

On 7/4/2026 at 7:44 PM, Myr said:

Babylon 5 is my favorite Sci-Fi series.  It really drove television to tell long-form stories instead of weekly stand-alones.  JMS was pretty genius with how he structured things every single episode of every season moved things forward AND he designed it to be binged before there was a streaming service binging thing.

Just like we almost got a continuation of Stargate via Amazon earlier this year, a few years ago, JMS was super close to being able to reboot Babylon 5, he was going to be the show runner. But then a merger happened and it was scraped. Two of the best Sci-Fi shows so close to giving us new stories but it wasn't to be for whatever reason. 

Seasons Three and Four of Babylon 5 were some of the best episodes ever, Sci-Fi or not. I just watched the entire series a few months ago for like who knows how many times. 

[Gary L]

On 7/5/2026 at 1:39 AM, Zombie said:

yes but… blame the Victorians, they loved putting things into straightjackets and corsets (especially people )

And give thanks to the French 

before they invaded England (1066) Old English was an inflected language, like old German (on which much of English was based - more invasions you see 😮) including infinitives, which were just one word (no “to”)

which meant because the infinitive (in whichever form) was a single word it couldn’t be split!

but the French changed all that, and infinitives became two words - which you CAN split

Then, some time later… the Victorians (once they’d got everyone tied up in corsets or straitjackets ) decided that because Latin infinitives couldn’t be split then neither could English infinitives. If they’d based their argument on Old English there might have been some logic. But they didn’t. So there wasn’t

And we’ve all been feeling guilty/censorious ever since

But, hey, what kid would be roused +inspired by “To go boldly where no one has gone before” or “Boldly to go where no one has gone before”?

TOS’s split Infinitive intro is one of the greatest lines in sci-if history!

And in grammatical history!  Love you excellent explanation.  Thank you!

[Ron]

6 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

Just like we almost got a continuation of Stargate via Amazon earlier this year ...

I had not heard of this. Frankly, as much as I do like the Stargate franchise I'd rather Amazon backtracked and continued The Wheel of Time series. I would prefer something new. I say that after having read the complete WoT series more than once. Amazon changed a lot and compressed a great many events and while that might not have seemed good to many of us who read the books it became rather good.

[Jason Rimbaud]

8 minutes ago, Ron said:

I had not heard of this. Frankly, as much as I do like the Stargate franchise I'd rather Amazon backtracked and continued The Wheel of Time series. I would prefer something new. I say that after having read the complete WoT series more than once. Amazon changed a lot and compressed a great many events and while that might not have seemed good to many of us who read the books it became rather good.

I felt the last season  WOT they really started to nail the story and find their footing. I was okay with their changes, but felt the storytelling was subpar at best. But the last season it came together. 

Stargate wasn't going to be a reboot but a continuation of the universe. The old show runner was given the reins and Amazon pulled the plug because they felt it was geared more to the original fans than trying to get new ones. Go figure. 

Edited July 6 by Jason Rimbaud

[Davide]

34 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

Stargate wasn't going to be a reboot but a continuation of the universe. The old show runner was given the reins and Amazon pulled the plug because they felt it was geared more to the original fans than trying to get new ones. Go figure. 

To give one extra piece of information, the new Stargate show was approved under one Amazon president and the plug was pulled after a change in president. So it was a matter of the new president having a different opinion.

Personally, I think the reasoning doesn't make sense. The best way to get new fans to an existing property to get the original fans to like the new show, while not requiring a lot of background knowledge, and then hope those fans will introduce the show to new people.

[W_L]

My two cent on NuTrek (Disco-Academy including JJ movies) vs. Classic Trek (Tos-Enterprise, original movies and TNG movies)

I grew up on Classic Trek, loved Picard's crew because they were my first Enterprise (though I did see Kirk's crew in the movies). Deep Space Nine was fun and action packed with deep questions on interesting moral and ethical question about terrorism and war. Voyager was a nice adventure story; though sometimes inconsistent. Enterprise tried hard to be a good prequel, but it never got a real chance to escape the shadow of the other shows. 

As for the NuTrek, I am not a big fan of Discovery, just no on many levels.

Picard was inconsistent until season 3, which I am glad they did and brought back Worf (Michael Dorn honestly should be given his own show, I'd paid good money to see an Old Man Worf becoming a ronin/knight errant in space, fighting for Klingon honor in a changing galaxy until his death as TNG mentioned on the eve of Alexander finally uniting the Klingon Houses and ends the bloody factional Klingon oligarchy that hampered the Klingon Empire). A Meiji era Klingon Empire would be really interesting and I hope some Star Trek Writer picks up the idea that was pitched at one point.

Prodigy was a nice callback to Voyager, it was fun and had good ideas that were borrowed by Star Trek Academy to far less competent storytelling.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds started off strong and I enjoyed the younger Spock, plus Captain Pike was an interesting Enterprise captain with a different style than Kirk. I also appreciate the idea that his quarters are the size of a luxury penthouse with fully stocked kitchen versus Kirk's little alcove captain's quarters. The show showed you just how a good prequel could be written and organized. However, now in season 4, I am far less happy with the show. I think the issue came with the inevitable Kirk introduction and the show's age. Plus, the writers are unlike their counterparts at another Star Trek show that I still love, just getting too sloppy. Season 4's opener did not need to have that kind of new material, Star Trek already has enough details for you without adding Planet X into the mix. Many older trekkies/trekkers like myself have said in forums the earth-based Voth civilization would have been better foils in this episode to some newly invented insectoids. Plus, if the Enterprise were the cause for their Civilization's collapse on Earth, it would make so much sense why the Voth leaders were resistant to claiming kinship with Voyager crew beyond just religious beliefs. Such a great missed opportunity for continuity and story consistency.

Now my favorite NuTrek and the one I watched regularly was Lower Decks, it had the best mix of comedy and sci-fi nonsense that made Star Trek unique. It treats itself as cartoon, but it is an in-universe cartoon that makes sense. Boimler is the most interesting Ace character on any Trek series, and Mariner is a perfect balance of snark and PTSD in a pansexual bundle, they're a good one-two punch representing the best qualities of NuTrek with classic trek themes. I'm also a fan of the other characters like Tendi and T'lyn (she's not out of control as some may tell you  ). Lower Decks is the show I have nothing but good things to say about.

[Zombie]

60 years on and Trekkie fandom just gets stronger

 

[Ron]

@Zombie Thanks for the video. But I'm not sure I have 21 minutes to kill. 

[Ron]

This just in The Boston Globe about William Shatner showing up at Fan Expo Boston August 7-9, a free to read article: Still Trekking.

[Zombie]

19 hours ago, Ron said:

@Zombie Thanks for the video. But I'm not sure I have 21 minutes to kill. 

time spent on things we enjoy is not time wasted 

[W_L]

Thanks @Ron , Live Long and Prosper!

Shatner, Takei, and Koenig are the last of the original crew, it's always good to see them. 

While Shatner and Takei are more high profile, I have special place for Walter Koenig, less for Star Trek and more for Babylon 5 character Alfred Bester. Walter Koenig portrayed an interesting multi-faceted villain, who saw the world from a very limited lens without any moral or ethics. 

[Myr]

1 hour ago, W_L said:

While Shatner and Takei are more high profile, I have special place for Walter Koenig, less for Star Trek and more for Babylon 5 character Alfred Bester. Walter Koenig portrayed an interesting multi-faceted villain, who saw the world from a very limited lens without any moral or ethics. 

They opened up a free Babylon 5 channel are are posting the episodes for those that havent' seen it. 

https://www.youtube.com/@Babylon5