Which series to start with?

[Tilion]

I have never been a fan of Star Trek, in fact, I have only seen a few episodes of Voyager when they were airing late night on a local TV station and thought the show was solid, though not nearly as good as Farscape or B5, for example.

Anyhoo, I decided to start on one of the ST series, and for the past few weeks have been mulling over which one to pick. I'm a bit iffy about watching TOS, if only because it's pretty old. Call me shallow, I deserve it!

Since I've seen some of Voyager, I've narrowed my choices down to DS9 and TNG, because these two seem to be the best rated and/or most well liked among fans. So, on a whim, I decided on DS9 and intend to borrow the season 1 dvd soon.

Therefore, knowing my ST background (or lack thereof), would you say I made the right choice or would you direct me towards another?

[Delvo]

I'm not sure whether to put DS9 or TNG as the best place to start, but definitely it's between those two. You should really not even associate TOS with the later ones, it's so different. TNG, not TOS, is really what kicked off the other three, and Roddenberry described it himself as an opportunity to do what he'd really wanted in the first place but not been able to. (For example, they often used sets and props from Earthbound historical movies/movies for no reason that made any in-universe sense; they were necessary back then to save money, and haven't been returned to in the spinoffs because the shows' makers have never felt that they were "true" Trek.)

Although TNG is the basis for DS9, what DS9 has going for it as a place to start is: it probably doesn't need that basis very much; it doesn't get started nearly as slowly and weakly as TNG (which wasted 2-3 seasons at first and is now mostly remembered and liked for the 4-5 good ones that came after that); and its style and attitude are more gritty and down to Earth and real, less preachy and simplemindedly idealistic.

[Shrek Baby]

I would whole-heartedly recommend DS9. I'm in the process of watching it again from beginning to end. You may find quite a few episodes of seasons 1 and 2 disappointing in as much as they are a little unbelieveable, but the show comes into its own in season 3 and gets better and better and better.

That said, the first two seasons of DS9 did have some good episode premises: Duet, Dax, The Forsaken, Crossover, The Collaborator and the three parter - In the Hands of the Prophets/The Circle/The Siege.

[Darz Rixx]

DS9 would be a good place to start, especially some of the later series as they are more interesting.
Or watching the last four films, as they are quite differnet to any episodes.