Which Trek is Best

[NSMike]

Kind of surprised to see DS9 and TNG neck-and-neck - I thought I was one of the minority with regards to loving DS9. I figured it would be TNG and VOY in the top running spots. Not really surprised to see that TOS isn't up there. TOS appeals more to the generation who remembers watching it in early syndication, before entities like TNG came along. I like TNG, and I finished that collection of DVDs first (I intend to get them all, and have 4 DS9, 2 VOY and 2 TOS as well) but DS9 really took Trek where no Trek has gone before - into war. What amazes me is that they were still able to stick to Roddenberry's ideals and vision for Trek in the war situation. I think the reason Enterprise failed is because Berman and Braga decided to take the series in a direction it was never meant to go - conformity with other network hits by being action-packed, and slim on moral content. That's never what Trek was about, and we see now that the franchise has lapsed into silence once again. There's no doubt in my mind that Viacom is at least partly responsible for this failure, as well as the fact that Braga, who has been on the team since the 4th season of TNG, and Berman, who was in it from the beginning of TNG, are creatively drained for Trek, and that new blood was needed long ago in the captain's chair of the franchise. Perhaps we'll see that coming in the next few years - Trek fans will not be silent without a feature or a new series in the making for long.

[Kailana]

I like TNG the best, but DS9 is my next favourite. In regards to the "other" category, there was also a Star Trek TNG cartoon that aired on television a while ago.

[Snapdragon]

Although I haven't seen all of Voyager it's definitely my fave. I liked the characters and the stories more, especially after Seven was introduced. I do have a soft spot for Next Gen as that's the one I grew up with (and had a crush on Wesley!) I liked DS9 least because it had too much of the Ferengi. Enterprise did have its high points...but sadly not often enough.

[Esioul]

I really like DS9, got very into it at the moment. There are a few rubbish episodes (often the fernagi ones!), but these are interspersed withsome evry good ones.

[Fay Re Nuff]

tos, cause without it there would be no other

[SteveR]

Interesting thread - I suddenly realise how much I actually like all of Trek! I have really enjoyed it all - but since this is a debate here I go:

In reverse order:

5. TNG (controversial!) - grateful to it for starting the franchise again but lets face it - any Wesley Crusher or Deanna Episode was rubbish and don't even get me started on "Shades Of Gray". Also, how many 'I want to be human' data stories did the series really need? Not enough action, too much talky talky and not enough photon torpedoes There were some gems of course, BoBW, most Q episdodes for example. Generally I feel that it was developed for a younger audience than the other series. It did get darker (and better) in the last couple of seasons.

4. Voyager - tedious for the first 2 or 3 seasons on the whole but did get better when they were getting a rough ride in the delta quadrant. Janeway was a bit too starfleet for me (if that makes any sense!). Enjoyed the family spirit on the ship though - more realistic for me than TNG. I think this show was an opportunity to do more strangeness/mysticsm in the universe and it didn't really deliver there.

3. TOS - scores here for originality and grunt. No politics here. Mr spock , Bones and Scotty - need i say more. Shatner was (and is!) an arse though - sorry! Introduced a generation to Sci-Fi - not a bad thing I would say!

2. Wait for it...Enterprise!!! Yeah I (uniquely it seems) liked this show. I thought it did a good job once the first season finished. I enjoyed the arc about the alien consortium wanting to wipe out earth. The sulaban were an intersting adversary. I also preferred it when the Klingons were the bad guys! Also I loved the effects in Enterprise - some real class stuff there (sorry CGI is a hobby and so I appreciate these things more than I should). Liked to have seen it develop further with the Vulcans getting a taste of their owm medicine.

1. DS9. Easily the winner. Decent characters, the fact that it was fixed in in one place was a strength for me as it could devlop the arcs about the Cardassians, the prophets and the Dominion war. I loved Dax and Kira. I thought the mix in the team was believable and in terms of overall picture DS9 had the strongest cast in terms of quality. Oh, it had cool ships, battle sequences and of course the USS Defiant. The grittiest of all Trek. nuff said.

So, if somebody pointed a gun to my head - this is the order I would watch them in.

Fascinating to read everybodies preferences - just shows how different we all are.

Cheers
SteveR