Since I just finished a long-term rewatch of all the Trek shows from TOS through Enterprise, and I’m up to date with the newer shows, and everybody loves lists, then why not rank them?
1. Deep Space Nine - Higher lows and arguably higher highs than TNG, with meaningful meditations on religion, race, ethics, and the human condition. The final four seasons of the show encompassing the Dominion War saga are probably the most consistently great run of Trek out there, and Sisko is still the only captain to destroy an inhabited planet to call someone’s bluff.
2. The Next Generation - Had a relatively weak start, but by the third season it really found its groove and became just as iconic as the original series. Many excellent episodes over its run, and almost always high quality in its later seasons.
3. The Original Series - Hammy theatrics and a low budget only added to the charm of the one that started it all. Iconic characters and many excellent, thought-provoking episodes, as well as some purely fun ones, though it did have a number of clunkers, too.
4. Enterprise - Unfairly maligned and debuting at exactly the wrong time for its subject matter (a show about naive optimism arriving in the shadow of 9/11 and rolling back to the 22nd century after almost 15 years of 24th century shows), this show had a much better cast than Voyager (except for Travis, who sucks), and spent its first couple of seasons in wide-eyed optimism before bringing the hammer down with the Xindi attack and forcing the crew to wake up and get serious. I think the show was always pretty good, but by its fourth season it was legitimately very good, and spending more time with the founding species of the Federation who all started off hating each other, and seeing Earth’s role in helping to clean that up, was pretty cool. Yes, there was some silly T&A, and some of the Vulcans were too emotional, and Travis sucked, but seasons 5-7 could have been pretty special if the show had continued.
5. Lower Decks - Sometimes a little too manic for its own good, but this animated comedy series set after Nemesis is consistently funny and full of in jokes for Trek fans, along with some fun guest appearances.
6. Voyager - Got off to a weak start with a so-so cast (except for The Doctor), an indefensible decision from the captain that left them stranded, lame adversaries in the Kazon, and an apparently inexhaustible supply of photon torpedoes and shuttlecraft. Don’t get me started on all the lame holodeck and magic reset button episodes, or the silly T&A when Seven arrived. In its later years almost every story revolved around Janeway, Seven, and/or The Doctor, and they never satisfactorily explained why the Borg were still a thing after Picard killed their queen, but whatever. All of that said, there were a number of very good episodes peppered throughout the later seasons, even if this was the weakest of the live action pre-Paramount+ shows.
7. Picard - Expectations were high for this show, but the execution has been a bit tepid to date. Patrick Stewart unfortunately shows his age as he stumbles through some of his line readings. The cast is pretty good, as are some of the story ideas, but it never seems to fully stick the landing.
8. Prodigy - Definitely aimed at tweeners, but still watchable by adults, this computer-animated show starts off with almost no connection to the Trek mythos, but gradually finds its way there over the course of its first 10 episodes, tying in most directly to Voyager. I believe the show takes place at roughly the same time as Picard, but in a different part of the galaxy. A little too early to judge it well, but it has the potential to be interesting, as a group of misfits get their hands on a Federation starship with no context other than a hologram of Captain Janeway to give them information and guidance.
9. Discovery - What began as a grimdark reboot of Star Trek set 10 years before the original series, served up as canon while including elements that made it nearly impossible to actually be canon, gradually got more and more awkwardly emotional, and eventually punted on the canon problems by jumping 900(!) years into the future. Every season after the first one has had a season-long arc with an existential threat, so the stakes are always too high, which makes the painfully unprofessional emotionalism even more inappropriate. I couldn’t tell you the names of most of the bridge crew or secondary cast, because the only characters they seem to care about are Burnham, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, and Culber, along with one or two others depending on the season. While the show occasionally has its moments, it’s largely become a train wreck, with the long-term guest appearance of Captain Pike in season 2 as one of the few bright spots. Hopefully his new show Strange New Worlds will fare better.
10. The Animated Series - Set immediately after the original series, this poorly animated show benefits from most of the original cast reprising their characters, and some original series writers contributing stories, but most of the episodes are pretty lame. Chekov is gone, a cat person and a three-armed guy are now on the bridge, and Majel Roddenberry, James Doohan, and Nichelle Nichols all provide poorly disguised voice acting for the secondary characters. They didn’t even reuse the music from the original series for this. One episode about Spock’s childhood is pretty good, but most of the rest is pointless.
