star trek seasons timeline

Timeline [ ]

Distant past
1st century
2nd century
3rd century
4th century
5th century
6th century
7th century
8th century
9th century
10th century
11th century
12th century
13th century
14th century
15th century
16th century
17th century
18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century
22nd century
23rd century
24th century
25th century
26th century
27th century
28th century
29th century
30th century
31st century
32nd century
33rd century
34th century

Background information [ ]

Trek timeline [ ].

This is the timeline of the Star Trek series and films in chronological order in-universe. This does not include flashbacks , flashforwards, acts of time travel , or alternate timelines (excepting the alternate reality ). See the production timeline for a chronological overview of the production history of Star Trek .

↑ Based on Michael Burnham 's approximate age in the episode, "The Girl Who Made the Stars" is assumed to take place in the early 2230s.
↑ Some scenes in Star Trek take place in the 2240s, though no "hard" date, or dates, were given.
↑ No date, either approximate or exact, was given for "The Escape Artist". The episode is assumed to take place after " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad " and before " Where No Man Has Gone Before ".
↑ "The Trouble with Edward" is assumed to take place after the Federation-Klingon War in the 2250s and before Pike's command of the USS Enterprise ended.
↑ "Ask Not" is assumed to take place after the Federation-Klingon War in the 2250s and before Pike's command of the USS Enterprise ended.
↑ " Assignment: Earth " takes place entirely in 1968 , though the USS Enterprise traveled through time to, and later from, that year off screen.
↑ "Ephraim and Dot" depicts events that happen between 2267 and 2285.
↑ See here for the problem with dating The Motion Picture .
↑ No date, either approximate or exact, was given for when the only real time scene takes place in "Living Witness". Most of the episode is a historical recreation of events that took place circa 3074 , including recreations of events that took place in or after 2374 . Based on the remark that it could take " another seven hundred years " in the 3074 recreation and the requirement that at least seven years must pass from that date, the earliest the real time setting could be is the latter years of the 31st century , with the late- 38th century being seven hundred years after that.
↑ No date is given for the events of "Calypso" beyond the USS Discovery having been abandoned for nearly a millennium .

External links [ ]

Timeline at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
The Star Trek Chronology Project
2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

How to watch Star Trek in order

Whether you're wanting to check out the Original Series or Discovery, figuring out how to watch Star Trek in order is a breeze with this easy guide!

Is it just us or is figuring out how to watch Star Trek in order getting more and more complex with each passing year? The prospect of watching Star Trek in order would be daunting for even the most decorated of starship captains with multiple series being brought to life on both the big and small screens. But fear not Trekkies - we've got you covered!

If you've ever tried to watch the Marvel movies in order , you'd be forgiven for thinking that was the most complicated franchise on the planet, but we kid you not - it has nothing on Star Trek. The 55-year-old sci-fi franchise includes nine (soon to be 11) TV shows and 13 movies and it spans 1000 years, making for one super complicated and vast timeline.

So, what is the best way to watch Star Trek in order? Well, that depends. For you purists out there, you might like to opt for viewing this franchise by release date, just like all the original Trekkie fans did back in the day. This will allow you to follow along as they did and get a similar experience. While the timeline does jump around, ( Star Trek: Discovery , for example, is set at the end of the 32nd century but was released before Star Trek: Picard , which is set in the 24th century), it gives you a more complete picture.

Because the Star Trek franchise involves movies and TV series that take place at different times, another option is to watch everything in chronological order. This means you get to start with something a little bit more modern, but the one problem with this is that references will often be made to films you've not yet seen, which could make certain elements difficult to follow.

To be honest, just like we recommend in our guide to how to watch the Star Wars movies in order , it really is a matter of personal preference. As long as you have one of the best TVs , you'll find you enjoy this franchise no matter what order you decide to watch it in.

So, without further ado, here's how to watch Star Trek in order - based on release date and in-universe continuity...

Star Trek TV shows and movies in chronological order

This is probably the list you're looking for if you're trying to figure out how to watch Star Trek in order. It's where things get really interesting, as Star Trek movies and TV shows have a habit of jumping around the franchise's chronology with sequels, prequels and bits in between. There are even two distinct timelines – but don't worry, we'll explain all that.

The original ‘Prime’ timeline was started by the Original Series, the Next Generation-era TV shows, and the first ten movies, The alternative ‘Kelvin’ timeline, meanwhile, was created in JJ Abrams’ first Star Trek (2009) to allow the familiar Enterprise crew of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov to have new adventures without contradicting canon . To avoid confusion, we've defined the two timelines as separate entities below.

This list doesn't, however, include all of the brief Short Treks – short stories which are mostly set around the Star Trek: Discovery era – and adventures where Starfleet crews time-travelled to the eras before any of the shows/movies are set (eg visits to 1986 in The Voyage Home and 2063 in First Contact). We've also left out upcoming Discovery spin-off Star Trek: Section 31 , since it's not yet in production. (Also, we're not entirely sure exactly when it'll be set.)

Let's start with everything in one big list.

Star Trek: Enterprise (seasons 1-4)
‘The Cage’
Star Trek: Discovery (seasons 1-2)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: The Original Series (seasons 1-3)
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: Generations (opening sequence)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (seasons 1-5)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (seasons 6-7), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 1-2)
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 3-4), Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 1-2)
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 5-6), Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 3-4)
Star Trek: Insurrection
S tar Trek: Deep Space Nine (season 7), Star Trek: Voyager (season 5)
Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 6-7)
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Trek: Prodigy
Star Trek (2009) – Prime timeline sequences
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Discovery (season 3-)
Short Treks: 'Calypso'

If you watch in the order given above, you'll get a continuous ‘history’ of the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 32nd centuries according to the Star Trek timeline. That said, you will notice some odd discrepancies – thanks to the time in which respective shows were made, the technology in prequel show Star Trek: Discovery is significantly more advanced than what Kirk and Spock used in the Original Series.

Below, we'll explain how the different eras of the shows and movies break down for context.

Note that Gene Roddenberry's original pre-Kirk Star Trek pilot, 'The Cage', is counted as an instalment of the Original Series. You'll usually find it listed as a bonus episode as part of season one when you're watching it on streaming services.

Star Trek: Enterprise era (22nd century) Begins and ends with: Star Trek Enterprise seasons 1-4

About a century before James T Kirk and his crew embark on their famous five-year mission in Star Trek: The Original Series, Captain Jonathan Archer leads Earth's first steps into the wider universe.

Star Trek: The Original Series era (23rd century) Begins with: 'The Cage' Ends with: Star Trek: Generations (opening sequence)

For many this is the most familiar era of Star Trek, since it involves Kirk, Spock and the classic Enterprise crew.

This section of the Trek timeline kicks off with the original unaired Star Trek pilot, 'The Cage' . Next up in franchise chronology are the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery , which work as a prequel to the Original Series (they even feature a younger version of Spock), but it's all change in season 3 – the events of the season 2 finale send the crew into the distant future of the 32nd century. More on that later...

Upcoming spin-off Strange New Worlds will follow the adventures of Captain Pike, Number One and Spock on the Enterprise after the USS Discovery travelled to the future. And at some point after that, Captain James T Kirk will take command of Starfleet's most famous ship – a role he filled throughout The Original Series , The Animated Series and the first six Star Trek movies ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , The Wrath of Khan , The Search for Spock , The Voyage Home , The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country ).

The latest point we've seen (so far) in the 23rd century era is James T Kirk being taken away by the Nexus ribbon in the prologue of Star Trek: Generations . This is the event that allows Kirk to meet Picard when the Next Generation crew take on the mantle of headlining the big screen franchise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation era (24th century) Begins with: Star Trek: The Next Generation Ends with: Star Trek (2009) – Prime timeline sequences

The richest, most complicated period in Star Trek chronology. During The Next Generation era, Star Trek was experimenting with the idea of a shared universe years before Marvel got in on the act, with three TV shows (TNG, Deep Space Nine and Voyager ) and four movies ( Generations , First Contact , Insurrection and Nemesis ) interweaving through the same timeline – Voyager's Captain Kathryn Janeway even shows up in Star Trek: Nemesis as a newly promoted admiral.

New animated comedy spin-off Lower Decks is set a year after Picard and the Next Generation crew's final mission in Star Trek: Nemesis, while Nickelodeon kids' cartoon Star Trek: Prodigy will see Kate Mulgrew reprising her role as Voyager's captain, Kathryn Janeway. That suggests it will presumably be set at a similar point in the Star Trek timeline.

In JJ Abrams' first Star Trek movie (2009), the destruction of Romulus and Spock Prime's accidental trip back to the pre-Original Series era (in the Kelvin timeline) also take place after the events of Nemesis.

In the list above, we've shown how the movies (roughly) fit into the chronology of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

Picard era (turn of the 25th century) Begins with: Picard Ends with: ???

Aside from glimpses of the destruction of Romulus in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Picard gives us our first post-Star Trek: Nemesis look at what the United Federation of Planets has become.

Since we last saw Jean-Luc Picard, he's retired to his vineyard in France, an android uprising on Mars has led to a ban on all synthetic life, and a disabled Borg Cube (known simply as the 'Artifact') is being mined for technology.

Distant future (32nd century) Begins with : Star Trek: Discovery season 2 (finale) Ends with: ???

In order to save the galaxy, the brave crew of the USS Discovery set off on a one-way mission 900 years into the future in Star Trek: Discovery 's season 2 finale. Their 32nd century destination is new territory for Star Trek – thanks to the mysterious 'Burn', most of the dilithium in the galaxy has been destroyed, making warp travel impossible. As a result, the Federation is a shadow of its former self – even Earth has decided to go it alone.

This isn't, however, the furthest Star Trek has ventured into the future – Short Trek ' Calypso ' is set on the Discovery in a distant future where the ship's computer has become sentient.

Star Trek's alternate 'Kelvin' timeline explained

In 2009's Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams, Spock Prime tries to save Romulus from a supernova, inadvertently creates a black hole while doing so, and gets pulled into the past, along with Romulan mining vessel the Narada. Once there, the Narada attacks the USS Kelvin on the day James T Kirk is born. The ship is destroyed as Kirk's father, George, sacrifices himself to save the rest of the crew.

When all that happens, the alternative ‘Kelvin’ timeline is created, with events unfolding in parallel (but with remarkable similarity) to the original Prime timeline.

Got all that? There are just three movies set in the Kelvin timeline:

Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek into Darkness
Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek TV shows and movies in release date order

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986)
‘The Cage’ (previously unavailable Star Trek pilot from 1965, given VHS release in 1986)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Star Trek: Discovery (2017-)
Short Treks (2018-2020)
Star Trek: Picard (2020-)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021, TBC)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TBC)

Considering The Original Series was cancelled after just three seasons in 1969, it's remarkable that Star Trek is still around half a century later. But as the show's popularity grew in syndication on US TV, Trek fandom became a big enough force for the five-year mission to resume via Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. Most of the original cast – with the notable exception of Walter Koenig (Chekov) – were enticed back to voice their characters.

Then, helped by Star Wars turning sci-fi into the hottest genre in Hollywood, Star Trek beamed onto the big screen with 1979's The Motion Picture . The original crew headed up five more movies ( The Wrath of Khan , The Search for Spock , The Voyage Home , The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country ) before bowing out in 1991. The ’80s also gave the world a hint of the Star Trek that never was when 'The Cage' , the original unaired pilot, was released on VHS in 1986 (it appeared on TV two years later). Of the pilot crew, only Leonard Nimoy's Spock went on to reprise his role in the TV show, though footage from 'The Cage' was used extensively in the Original Series’ only two-parter, 'The Menagerie'.

While the Enterprise was making it big in cinemas, the franchise returned to its TV roots in 1987 with The Next Generation . Set over 70 years after Kirk and Spock's final mission, it featured a new crew – led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard – on board a new starship Enterprise. The Next Generation was arguably even more successful than the Original Series, spawning two spin-off series: Deep Space Nine (which began in 1993) played with the Trek format by focusing on a space station, while Voyager (1995) dumped its crew on the other side of the galaxy, hundreds of light years from home.

The Next Generation crew also fronted four movies of their own ( Generations , First Contact , Insurrection and Nemesis ) between 1995 and 2002.

After Voyager came to an end in 2001, Star Trek left the Next Generation era behind, and went in a completely different direction – Star Trek: Enterprise was a prequel set a century before Kirk and Spock's adventures. Enterprise lasted only four seasons, however (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager all made it to seven), and was canceled in 2005.

These were also dark times for the movie branch of the Trek franchise, as the disappointing box office performance of Nemesis had put the film saga on hiatus – it wasn't until 2009 that Star Trek warped back onto the big screen.

Future Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams (already hot property as director of Mission: Impossible 3 and co-creator of Lost) gave the franchise an action blockbuster makeover, recasting Kirk, Spock and the rest of the original crew as rookies on their first mission. The reboot, simply titled Star Trek , made more than twice as much at the box office as any of its predecessors, and two sequels ( Star Trek into Darkness , Star Trek Beyond ) followed.

Star Trek belatedly returned to TV in 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery . Set a decade before the Original Series, it was a darker, more serialized Trek than we’d seen before – more in tune with the prestige shows of the so-called Golden Age of TV. As it’s turned out, it was just the beginning of Star Trek's renewed assault on TV...

A series of brief Short Treks appeared online ahead of Discovery's second season, while The Next Generation follow-up Star Trek: Picard left spacedock in January 2020. Animated series Lower Decks followed in August 2020, and Discovery spin-off Strange New Worlds – featuring Anson Mount's Captain Pike, Rebecca Romijn's Number One and Ethan Peck's Spock on the pre-Kirk Enterprise – is now in production.

There's also another cartoon offering heading for the Alpha Quadrant, in the form of animated kids show Star Trek: Prodigy.

And there's potentially even more to come, as the much-talked about Michelle Yeoh vehicle Section 31 is still in development. But with Paramount Plus programming boss Julie McNamara telling Variety that the streaming service's current aim is to debut "a new Trek every quarter", we may have to wait for Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks and/or Strange New Worlds to stand aside before we get a new TV iteration of Trek.

To keep things simple, all the shows above are listed by the date their first episode aired. While the chronology does jump around if you watch Star Trek in order of release date, there are some benefits. For example, the prequel shows assume a fair bit of knowledge of earlier series, like the Borg's appearance in Star Trek: Enterprise episode 'Regeneration', or Star Trek: Discovery's revelations about the ultimate fate of Christopher Pike (the Enterprise captain in 'The Cage', who later shows up in 'The Menagerie'). Moments like that undoubtedly make more sense in the context of later events in the Star Trek timeline.

How to stream Star Trek TV shows and movies

If you just want to know how to stream the 13 Star Trek movies and eight TV shows in the US and the UK, we've laid it out below.

In the US, the newly rebranded Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access) is definitely the place to go, with every TV show available to watch. In the UK, Netflix hosts all the Star Trek series except for Picard and Lower Decks.

Watching the 13 Trek movies is a rather more complex affair, with the films spread across numerous streaming services in the US and UK – and some of them you'll have to pay to rent/buy.

The TV shows

Star Trek: The Original Series ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: The Animated Series ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: The Next Generation ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: Voyager ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: Enterprise ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: Discovery ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Netflix)
Star Trek: Picard ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Amazon Prime Video)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (US: Paramount Plus US: Amazon Prime Video)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek: Generations ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
Star Trek: First Contact ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek: Insurrection ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek: Nemesis ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Only available to rent/buy)
Star Trek 2009 ( US: DirectTV UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
Star Trek Into Darkness ( US : FX Now UK: Amazon Prime Video)
Star Trek Beyond ( US: Amazon Prime, Hulu UK: Amazon Prime Video)

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Richard is a freelance journalist specialising in movies and TV, primarily of the sci-fi and fantasy variety. An early encounter with a certain galaxy far, far away started a lifelong love affair with outer space, and these days Richard's happiest geeking out about Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and other long-running pop culture franchises. In a previous life he was editor of legendary sci-fi and fantasy magazine SFX, where he got to interview many of the biggest names in the business – though he'll always have a soft spot for Jeff Goldblum who (somewhat bizarrely) thought Richard's name was Winter.

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Star Trek Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

Boldly go through the eons of Trek.

It began so simply: A man named Gene Roddenberry wanted to make a TV show set in the future, featuring characters who would represent the best of humanity, boldly going where no one has gone before. Now, Star Trek has become one of pop culture's most enduring touchstones, constantly evolving with the times.

It is not an easy thing to put together a coherent timeline for a franchise that consists of over 50 years of films and TV (nine series and 13 films, to be exact). Yet Star Trek , when you break it down, does hold together pretty well for a narrative that has been crafted by literally dozens of writers and directors over the decades. This is especially impressive given the amount of time travel that's been built into the story, as well as some conflicting dates (for example, the Eugenics War makes things complicated ).

Choosing the most important dates of Trek history to focus on was at times difficult, but an effort was made to pinpoint moments where the franchise’s relationship with time was most complicated — after all, the ultimate goal of this article is to take over 50 years of sci-fi adventure and make it relatively comprehensible. With that in mind, The timeline below is restricted to the film and TV entries in the Trek universe, in part because the books, comics, and other media are fascinating enhancements to the narrative (especially when they push forward into the future) but are not widely considered to be officially canon.

Given that many of these events take place on different planets — with, thus, different year cycles — some dates are approximated, especially when their placement in the timeline is based on statements like "a thousand years ago." (If Trek 's stardate dating system was easier to compute, then it would have been incorporated here. Alas.) But even when some dates don't quite line up, the franchise's central principles are rarely lost.

[Editor's note: This article was updated on September 14, 2021 to incorporate "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 1.]

The Films and TV Shows (Combined)

The Age of Shatner and Nimoy

Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 (1966-1967)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2 (1967-1968)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 3 (1968-1969)
Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 1 (1973-1974)
Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2 (1974)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The Next Generation Begins

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 (1987-1988)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 (1988-1989)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (1989-1990)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (1990-1991)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 (1991-1992)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 (1992-1993)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 (1993)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 (1993-1994)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 (1993-1994)
Star Trek Generations (1994)

The Next Next Generation

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3 (1994-1995)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 (1994-1995)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 (1995-1996)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 (1995-1996)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 (1996-1997)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 (1996-1997)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 (1997-1998)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 (1997-1998)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7 (1998-1999)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 (1998-1999)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 6 (1999-2000)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7 (2000-2001)

The Enterprise Era

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 (2001-2002)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (2002-2003)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 (2003-2004)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 (2004-2005)

The Kelvin-verse

Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The CBS All Access Age

Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 (2017-2018)
Star Trek : Short Treks Season 1 (2018)
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 (2019)
Star Trek : Short Treks Season 2 (2019-2020)
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 (2020)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season (2020)

Note: Spoilers follow for all of the above, including the season premiere of Picard .

The Days Before Space

4.6 Billion BCE (or maybe even more):

The birth/arrival/creation of the Guardian of Forever on its ancient planet (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever").

4 Billion BCE:

An unknown humanoid species, to quote Geordi LaForge, "scattered this genetic material into the primordial soup of at least 19 different planets across the galaxy," explaining why most sentient species look the same (ST:TNG S6E20, "The Chase").

3.5 Billion BCE:

The beginnings of life in the Alpha Quadrant are threatened by Q's anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things") .

400 CE (approximately):

Approximate time when the Changelings founded what would become the Dominion, with the Jem'Hadar

900 CE (approximately):

Kahless the Unforgettable slays the Qo'noS tyrant Molor and becomes the first Emperor of the Klingon Empire.
First known sign of the Borg in the Delta Quadrant.

1600 CE (approximately):

The beginnings of Bajoran space exploration leads to first contact between the Cardassians and Bajorans. (It does not go well for them.)

1800 CE (approximately):

Establishment of the Cardassian Union.
Picard, La Forge, Troi, Riker, and Crusher arrive in San Francisco after the discovery of Data's severed head in their century. Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain) gets caught up in their efforts to save him (ST:TNG S5E26-S6E1, "Time's Arrow").
Kirk and Spock chase a drugged and disoriented McCoy through the time portal known as the Guardian of Forever to New York City. While there, Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler, a social worker whose life McCoy saved, but Kirk must ultimately let die, in order to preserve the timeline and prevent Germany from winning World War II (ST:TOS S1E28, "The City on the Edge of Forever").
The Briori abduct several hundred humans from Earth and bring them to the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart (ST:VOY S2E1, "The 37's") .

1944 (alternate universe):

Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise NX-01 crew find themselves in an altered version of World War II, where the Nazis have invaded America (ST:ENT S4E1-E2, "Storm Front").
Quark, Rom and Nog crash their ship in Roswell, New Mexico and have to escape from the U.S. Military (ST:DS9 S4E8, "Little Green Men") .
The Enterprise travels back to this year to prevent an agent from interfering with events, because Starfleet had a record of them doing so. Time travel is fun that way (ST:TOS S2E26, "Assignment: Earth"). The Enterprise also went on a similar mission in 1969 (ST:TOS S1E19, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday") .
Kirk and friends, in search of humpback whales to save the future, arrive in San Francisco, where they meet marine biologist Gillian Taylor, invent transparent aluminum, and teach Spock how to swear (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
The Eugenics Wars rage on (at least, according to almost all sources ). When the Enterprise first discovers genetically enhanced Khan Noonien Singh (ST:TOS S1E24, "Space Seed") , Spock says that during these years, Khan had conquered most of the Earth, before fleeing the Earth with 84 of his followers to drift through space in the S.S. Botany Bay.
In this version of 1996 (perhaps because they've just ended?), there's no sign of the Eugenics Wars in action when the Voyager is pulled to sunny Southern California by a 29th century time ship. Despite being featured on local news broadcasts, the Voyager and its crew manage not to damage the timeline before returning to the 24th century (ST:VOY S3E8-9, "Future's End") .

December 27, 1999:

One of Captain Janeway's ancestors gets caught up in the controversy surrounding the construction of the Millennium Gate tower, a self-sufficient structure built in Indiana that would become the model for the colonization of Mars (ST:VOY S5E23, "11:59") .
Archer and T'Pol arrive in Detroit to stop the Xindi from annihilating the human race with a bioweapon — they succeed (ST:ENT S3E11, "Carpenter Street) .

Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2024:

Thanks to a transporter accident, Sisko, Dax and Bashir arrive in a very different San Francisco from the modern world, and get caught up in the Bell Riots, a historical event which eventually led to massive reform of America's social issues (ST:DS9 S3E11-E12, "Past Tense") .

2026 – 2053:

World War III ravages Earth, killing six hundred million humans.

The Dawn of the Warp Era

April 4, 2063:

The Enterprise-E arrives at Earth after chasing a Borg sphere from the 24th century, just as the Borg plan to disrupt the launch of Zefram Cochrane's extremely important prototype warp drive flight (Star Trek: First Contact) .

April 5, 2063:

Thanks to the Enterprise-E, Cochrane successfully completes his flight and, later that day, a Vulcan ship arrives on Earth, initiating first contact and beginning humanity's journey to its future as an architect of the Federation (Star Trek: First Contact).
Colonies on Mars are established.
An elderly Zefram Cochrane vanishes, after heading out on one last space voyage (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
The Enterprise NX-01, the first starship capable of traveling at Warp 5, begins its mission to explore the galaxy. A major part of its adventures have to do with the Temporal Cold War, in which the crew found itself caught up in time travel conflicts.

March 2153:

The Xindi attack Earth, firing a blast that causes destruction from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million people. The NX-01 refocuses its mission on trying to stop the Xindi from causing further destruction.
For the first time, Starfleet officers travel to the Mirror Universe, encountering a far darker version of their world (ST:ENT S4E18-E19, "In a Mirror, Darkly") .
Discussion of uniting various planets for some sort of... federation, perhaps, begins (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .

2156–2160:

A four-year war with the Romulans leads to the creation of the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Captain Archer speaks to the Coalition of Planets about the need to create...
The United Federation of Planets, which is officially born that year (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .
Starfleet Academy is also founded.
In an alternate timeline, the crew of the Defiant was sent back in time to this year, crashing on a planet called Gaia. While Kira died, the survivors eventually built a society of eight thousand people. This society, however, was wiped out of existence when the Odo living on Gaia prevented the Defiant from replicating that journey into the past, to save Kira's life (ST:DS9 S5E22, "Children of Time") .

March 22nd, 2233:

In the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk is born aboard a USS Kelvin shuttlecraft as time-traveling Romulan Nero attacks the ship now being captained by James' soon-to-be-deceased father George (Star Trek 2009) .
In the Prime Timeline, Kirk is born (exact location unknown, but could have still been aboard the USS Kelvin, albeit under more peaceful circumstances), and eventually raised in Iowa by George and Winona Kirk.
Michael Burnham's family was killed at Doctari Alpha, following which Sarek brought her into his home and made her Spock's adoptive sister (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, launches its second five-year mission to explore the universe.
Captain Pike, Lieutenant Spock and the Enterprise visit the planet of Talos IV (ST:TOS S1E15-E16, "The Menagerie") .
The USS Shenzhou is called to investigate damage done to an interstellar array on the edge of Federation space, which leads to the ship being overwhelmed by an onslaught of Klingon ships. In the conflict, Captain Georgiou is killed, and Lieutenant Michael Burnham not just committing mutiny, but triggering a war between the Federation and the Klingons (ST:DIS S1E1-E2, "The Vulcan Hello"-"Battle at the Binary Stars") .

November 2256:

Michael Burnham is, via a roundabout set of circumstances, transferred from prison to the USS Discovery under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca (ST:DIS S1E3, "Context Is For Kings") .
The Discovery arrives in the Mirror Universe thanks to Lorca, who had secretly snuck into the Prime Universe. The ship eventually returns home, but with the devious Mirror Universe version of Georgiou on board (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue").
By making a pact with L'Rell and stopping an attack on the Klingon homeworld, Burnham is able to end the Federation-Klingon War (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue") .
As the Enterprise needs repairs and the Discovery needs a (temporary?) captain, Captain Pike fills in the gap, introducing the mission to discover what's going on with the "Red Angel" who keeps appearing in multiple spots across the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
Burnham learns that the Red Angel is herself, from the future, and ultimately chases that predestination paradox (ST:DIS Season 2) .
The Discovery, with a limited crew, travels to the year 3186. Those who stay behind, including Pike, Spock and Number One, adhere to the pact that speaking of the Discovery or its crew ever again is a treasonable offense (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2") .

2258 (Kelvin-verse):

The Prime Universe version of Spock arrives from the future — which is just what Nero has been waiting for, for 25 years (Star Trek 2009) .
James Kirk is just about to finish his time at Starfleet Academy when the planet of Vulcan is destroyed by Nero. Kirk and his new crew ultimately take down Nero, and end up taking over the Enterprise for a mission of exploration (Star Trek 2009) .

2259 (Kelvin-verse):

Khan Noonien Singh arises to try to tear down the Federation. Kirk dies, but does not stay dead (Star Trek Into Darkness) .

2260 (Kelvin-verse):

The Enterprise sets out on its five-year mission (Star Trek Beyond) .

2263 (Kelvin-verse):

Three years into said mission, the Enterprise crew saves the space station Yorktown from destruction — destroying their ship in the process, but the Enterprise-A immediately gets commissioned (Star Trek Beyond) .
The Prime Universe Spock, having lived in the Kelvin timeline for seven years, passes away at the age of 162 (Star Trek Beyond) .
James T. Kirk takes command of the USS Enterprise for another five-year mission, encountering Klingons, con men and more.
McCoy, after an unfortunate injection, rushes to the surface of an alien planet and escapes to the year 1930 thanks to the Guardian of Forever (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever") .
The Enterprise experiences plenty of wacky experiences, but few as memorable as a trip to Deep Space Station K-7 to handle an agricultural situation aggravated by a tribble infestation (ST:TOS S2E13, "The Trouble With Tribbles") .
After a time traveler tries to interfere with the events of DSS K-7, Captain Sisko and his crew arrive to make sure Kirk keeps the Klingons from sabotaging things (ST:DS9 S5E6, "Trials and Tribble-ations") .
The Enterprise discovers Zefram Cochrane marooned on a remote planetoid, but ultimately leaves him behind with an alien consciousness with which he is in love (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
At the end of the five-year mission, Kirk is promoted to the rank of Admiral, while Will Decker becomes captain of the USS Enterprise.
When an alien-retrofitted version of Voyager returns to Earth, Kirk resumes control over the Enterprise to save Earth (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) .
The Prime Universe Khan gets his chance at conquering the galaxy. Spock dies in the successful effort to thwart him (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) .
Kirk steals the Enterprise, but Spock is successfully resurrected thanks to the planet Genesis's extraordinary properties. They return Spock to Vulcan so he can recuperate (Star Trek III: The Search For Spock) .
An alien probe broadcasting humpback whale song doesn't get any response, and starts trying to destroy the planet Earth as a result. To prevent this, Kirk and his friends travel back in time (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
Kirk is demoted to the rank of Captain, and thus he can return to being the Captain of the Enterprise (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
The Enterprise crew goes on another adventure, which might be boiled down to this memorable incident: Captain Kirk asks the question "What does God need with a starship?" (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) .
Hikaru Sulu becomes captain of the USS Excelsior.
Kirk is framed for the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, and he and McCoy even go to prison for that presumed crime, but their friends rescue them in time to prevent another assassination. Kirk saves the peace talks and is told to bring the Enterprise back to Earth. He might end up taking his time getting there (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) .
Tuvok serves under Captain Sulu aboard the Excelsior (ST:VOY S3E2, "Flashback") .
Later that year, Kirk and other crew members are visiting the newly commissioned Enterprise-B. After an encounter with the Nexus that destroys a good part of the ship, Kirk is considered dead (Star Trek Generations) .
Captain Rachel Garrett and the Enterprise-C are lost while defending a Klingon settlement, an event which proved pivotal to creating peace between the Klingons and the Federation — so pivotal that when it didn't happen in an alternate universe, it led to a far worse future (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
War between the Federation and Cardassian Union begins, with conflicts tapering off in the 2350s.
The USS Pegasus is considered missing after experimenting with phasing technology ( ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .

The Rise of Picard, Sisko, and Janeway

Seven years later, Picard re-experiences this first mission, because it is revealed that the trial which Q began during the trip to Farpoint had never actually ended ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Lieutenant Natasha Yar is killed in action (ST:TNG S1E23, "Skin of Evil") .
The Enterprise encounters the Borg for the first time, after being flung into the Delta Quadrant by Q (ST:TNG S2E16, "Q Who") .
The Enterprise-C arrives in a very changed version of the universe, 22 years after it disappeared into a temporal rift. Captain Garrett and her crew eventually return to the point of their disappearance to preserve the original timeline, with Tasha Yar (who did not die in this new timeline) returning with them (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
Jean-Luc Picard gets abducted by the Borg, and a battle he spearheads as Locutus of Borg, known as Wolf 359, is a brutal moment for the Federation. Benjamin Sisko's wife Jennifer is one of the many, many casualties (ST:TNG S3E26-S4E1, "The Best of Both Worlds"; ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
With the ascension of Gowron as Emperor, the Klingon Civil War begins.
The Klingon Civil War ends, with Gowron maintaining his control over the Empire (ST:TNG S5E1, "Redemption II") .
Ambassador Spock travels to Romulus to try to reunite the Vulcans and Romulan people — unsuccessfully. (ST:TNG S5E7-8, "Redemption I-II") .
Commander Benjamin Sisko arrives at the station Deep Space Nine, where he encounters the "wormhole aliens," AKA "the Prophets," and devotes himself to bringing local planet Bajor into the Federation as Bajor rebuilds after Cardassian occupation (ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
The Enterprise-D recovers long-lost Montgomery Scott from a transporter buffer, and Scotty sets out to go exploring the galaxy (ST:TNG S6E4, "Relics").
Commander Riker, struggling to decide what to do when his old commanding officer Admiral Pressman asks for his help, uses the holodeck to look back at Captain Archer's big speech to the Coalition of Planets (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages..."; ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .
The Federation-Cardassian Treaty is signed, officially ending hostilities and creating a demilitarized zone that left several planets previously colonized by Federation citizens under Cardassian control. This leads to the creation of the Maquis, former Federation members who rebel against the Cardassians (ST:DS9 S2E20-21, "The Maquis") .
Picard begins to shift in time, from his past to his future, which lead to him discovering that Q has spent the last seven years evaluating the human race, based on the adventures of Picard and his crew. Ultimately, Picard convinces Q of humanity's value ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Picard learns that his brother and nephew have ben killed in a fire at his family vineyard (Star Trek Generations) .
The Enterprise-D gets caught up in Dr. Soran's attempt to reach the Nexus, a realm outside of space and time that can feel like paradise. Picard, inside the Nexus, meets Kirk, who he convinces to leave the Nexus with him to stop Soran. They succeed, but Kirk is killed and the Enterprise is destroyed (Star Trek Generations) .
The USS Voyager departs Deep Space Nine to track down a missing Maquis ship, but both ships end up getting dragged 75,000 light years away from Earth. The Starfleet and Maquis crews end up working together to try to get back to the Alpha Quadrant (ST:VOY S1E1-2, "Caretaker") .
The USS Defiant, a new ship to be captained by Benjamin Sisko, arrives at Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S3E1, "The Search, Part I") .
Odo learns that his people, the Changelings, are the Founders of the Dominion, which controls the Gamma Quadrant, and now aims to take over the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DS9 S3E1-2, "The Search, Parts I/II") .
The Enterprise-E is launched.
Thanks to Changeling infiltration at the highest levels of government, war erupts between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Worf joins the crew of Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S4E1-2, "The Way of the Warrior") .
After the Battle of Sector 001, in which the Borg gets close to attacking the Earth, the Enterprise-E launches into action, following a Borg Sphere back into the past (Star Trek: First Contact) .
When the Changeling impersonating General Martok is revealed, war between the Federation and the Klingons ends (ST:DS9 S5E1, "Apocalypse Rising") .
The Federation first learns about the existence of the non-corporeal Pah-wraiths, enemies of the Bajoran Prophets, when one of them takes over the body of Keiko O'Brien (ST:DS9 S5E5, "The Assignment") .
Bashir, without anyone's knowledge, is replaced by a Changeling, which is not uncovered for a month (ST:DS9 S5E14-15, "In Purgatory's Shadow"/"By Inferno's Light") .
The Dominion, as part of the deal, helps Cardassia completely eliminate the Maquis.
To avoid war with the Dominion, the Bajorans sign a non-aggression treaty (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
The Dominion takes over the Bajor sector as the Federation departs, beginning the Dominion War (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
Voyager assists the Borg in fighting off Species 8472, and a drone known as Seven of Nine gets marooned on their ship (ST:VOY S4E1, "Scorpion, Part II") .
Meanwhile, crew member Kes leaves the ship to explore her psychic abilities (ST:VOY S4E2, "The Gift") .
The Dominion War is fought on multiple fronts, with Kira leading a resistance effort on Deep Space Nine while Sisko and the Defiant battle to eventually retake the station (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
Gul Dukat's daughter Ziyal is killed by Damar during the battle over DS9 (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
Worf and Jadzia Dax get married (ST:DS9 S6E7, "You Are Cordially Invited...") .
First major appearance of Section 31 (in the Prime timeline), as an agent attempts to recruit Bashir (ST:DS9 S6E18, "Inquisition") .
Thanks to Sisko working with the ruthless Garak, the Romulans join the war against the Dominion (ST:DS9 S6E19, "In the Pale Moonlight") .
Dukat, having snuck onto DS9, kills Jadzia Dax and releases a Pah-wraith which closes the Bajoran wormhole permanently (ST:DS9 S6E26, "Tears of the Prophets") .
The Dax symbiont is joined with a Trill named Ezri (ST:DS9 S7E1, "Image in the Sand") .
After having left DS9 for a short time, Sisko recovers the Orb of the Emissary, and returns to reopen the wormhole (ST:DS9 S7E2, "Shadows and Symbols") .
Dukat now leads a cult devoted to the worship of the Pah-wraiths (ST:DS9 S7E9, "Covenant") .
The Enterprise-E crew, including Worf, work together to reconcile the Son'a and Ba'ku people after a century of distrust (Star Trek: Insurrection) .
Sisko makes plans for life after the Dominion War, and also marries long-time girlfriend Kasidy Yates (ST:DS9 S7E18, "'Til Death Do Us Part") .
Kira, Odo and Garak go to Cardassia to help Damar, now in open rebellion against the Dominion, lead a resistance movement. Odo learns that he has been infected by the virus killing the Changelings, which was created by Section 31 (ST:DS9 S7E21, "When It Rains...") .
The Defiant is destroyed by the Breen, and a new ship is renamed in its honor (ST:DS9 S7E24, "The Dogs of War") .
Odo, having been cured of Section 31's disease, returns to his people to spread the cure to them (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind").
Dukat, having surgically altered himself to resemble a Bajoran, becomes a confidante of Kai Winn and manipulates her into helping him unlock the power of the Pah-wraiths in the Fire Caves on Bajor. Sisko arrives in time to stop him, but all three of them are considered dead (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
The Dominion War ends (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
The USS Voyager continues its journey home.
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres get married (ST:VOY S7E3, "Drive") .
Neelix leaves Voyager to join a Talaxian community (ST:VOY S7E23, "Homestead").
With the help of a time-travelling Admiral Janeway, Voyager successfully uses the Borg transwarp network to get back to Earth (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
Miral Paris is born (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
William Riker and Deanna Troi get married (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
The Enterprise-E discovers that Data's creator, Dr. Soong, had created an early prototype of Data known as B-4, which is more primitive than Data. Data tries to help by transferring his memories into B-4.
Picard comes to Romulus after a military coup puts Shinzon, a clone of Picard created by Romulans who ended up becoming the leader of the Remans. In the ensuing fight, Picard kills Shinzon, but Data is killed saving his crew (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
Ensign Tendi joins Rutherford, Mariner, and Boimler to serve on board the U.S.S. Cerritos, a ship dedicated to "second contact" encounters with new civilizations (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E1, "Second Contact") .
Boimler jumps at the chance of promotion to serve on board the U.S.S. Titan under the command of Captain William Riker, leaving behind his friends on the Cerritos (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E10, "No Small Parts") .
Thaddeus "Thad" Troi-Riker is born (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe").

The Future Is a Dark Place

Jean-Luc Picard puts the Data's Daughter painting into storage at the Starfleet Archive Museum (ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
Seven of Nne, working as a Fenris Ranger near the Romulan Neutral Zone, loses adopted son Icheb (a former Borg like herself) after Icheb is attacked by raiders looking for black market Borg implants (ST:PIC S1E5, "Stardust City Rag") .
When a star near Romulus goes supernova, the entire planet is destroyed, despite Spock's attempt to stop the explosion by injecting the star with Red Matter and creating a black hole. The black hole instead brings both his ship and the nearby Romulan mining vessel containing Nero into the past (Star Trek 2009) .

2388-89 (approximate):

In the wake of the destruction of Romulus, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards of Mars are destroyed by rebellious synthetic workers on First Contact Day (April 5), killing thousands and leaving Mars ablaze for years to follow (ST:ST "Children of Mars," ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
The Troi-Riker family moves to the outlying planet of Nepenthe (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
The original year that the Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant, prior to Janeway's temporal interference (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
While the future that Picard saw during his final confrontation with Q was eventually rewritten, this would have been the year in which Picard reunited his old crew to work together to stop the anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Thad Troi-Riker dies of mendaxic neurosclerosis at the age of 15 (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
Jean-Luc Picard, having left Starfleet years ago after the destruction of Romulus, meets Dahj, a frightened young woman with a mysterious connection to Data. She inspires him to leave retirement and investigate further ( ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance").
Picard's search to understand Dahj's origins leads him to assemble a ramshackle crew and discover Dahj's synth twin Soji, but in the race to save her and her fellow synths, Picard's terminal brain condition catches up with him and he dies in the climactic battle. Fortunately, his consciousness is saved and transplanted into a synthetic body, meaning that Picard has potentially years worth of adventure ahead of him (ST:PIC S1E10, "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2") .
Admiral Janeway, having spent years figuring out a plan, leaves her original timeline to travel to the year 2378 and change the past (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
The USS Discovery arrives in an uncharted future. What happens next is totally unknown (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2," ST:DIS Season 3) .

3200s (or potentially more):

1000 years into the future of the Discovery, the abandoned ship (run by a now-sentient computer) rescues an escape pod and forms a bond with its occupant (ST:ST "Calypso") .

Every Star Trek Show And Movie In Chronological Order

As a media phenomenon, "Star Trek" began on September 8, 1966 with the airing of "The Man Trap" (the sixth episode in production order, but the first aired). Originally, the show's writers, including creator Gene Roddenberry, used the concept of "stardates" to ensure the show's actual timeline was left vague; for several episodes, all audiences knew was that "Trek" was set in the future and that the future was a pretty keen place. It wouldn't be until the episode "The Naked Time" (seventh episode produced, fourth aired, first aired on September 29, 1966) that the Gregorian year would be mentioned out loud, and an actual timeline could begin to be constructed.

Since then, "Star Trek" has extrapolated an extensive, centuries long timeline of events, often skipping merrily back and forth through the centuries, adding more and more to the franchises complex chronology. The chronology of "Star Trek" is so complicated that entire books have been published tracking the various shows' and films' events. Because of the constant production of new "Star Trek," these books became dated immediately.

" Star Trek: Strange New Worlds " is set to debut on Paramount+ on May 5, and it is set immediately before the events of the original "Star Trek," making it the third "prequel" series to the original. To keep matters as clear as possible, here is a (very brief, by the standards of "Trek") rundown of "Star Trek" chronology from within its own canon.

NOTE : This list will not necessarily include single episodes wherein characters go back in time, but give an overall timeframe for each individual film and TV show.

1986: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Although beginning and ending within the proper chronology of the "Star Trek" future, Leonard Nimoy's 1986 feature film " Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home " is set largely in the earliest point in the franchise's timeline (again, excluding single time travel episodes of any given TV series, wherein Mark Twain, the 1950s, and other eras are regularly visited). In the film, the crew of the Enterprise must go back in time to rescue a pair of humpback whales from extinction in order to appease an enormous, inscrutable space monolith that has been draining future Earth of its oceans, looking for its own kind.

The bulk of "Voyage Home" takes place in 1986, and the film gained a lot of critical and audience attention for its fish-out-of-water humor and light tone; the previous three films had been comparatively dour, downbeat, or cerebral.

2024: Star Trek: Picard (Season 2)

As of this writing, the second season of "Star Trek: Picard" is still being released weekly on Paramount+, so the ultimate conclusion of the story is as yet unknown.

What is known is that the trickster god Q (John De Lancie), a playful villain from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," visited an elderly Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to warn him of a parallel universe. In this parallel universe, Earth is a genocidal conqueror race that has wiped out most life in the galaxy. Picard must travel back in time, paralleling the story of "Voyage Home" in order to stop the fascist timeline from starting. Thanks to the limited information they have, they travel to the year 2024, and the bulk of the season's action takes place there.

A bit of a continuity error already: In previously mentioned "Trek" canon, the Eugenics Wars — the conflagration that wrought Khan from "Star Trek II" — should have already happened by 2024 (I believe the original date for the Eugenics Wars was 1997), but, in "Picard," they had clearly been delayed. One of the subplots of the second season of "Picard,' however, involves a malevolent genetic engineer, so it looks like the Eugenics Wars may finally be nigh.

2063: Star Trek: First Contact

Although never directly filmed, there are constant references throughout "Star Trek" to World War III, an event that left the entire planet devastated. Despite destitution and technological ruin, an inventor named Zefram Cochran managed to invent an engine that allowed humanity to travel faster than light. This technology, when being tested for the first time in the solar system, attracted the attention of some Vulcans who just happened to be passing by. This was the First Contact mentioned in the title of the 1996 film " Star Trek: First Contact ."

In that film, the characters from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" travel back in time to foil a plot by a malevolent species of cyborgs called The Borg, and find themselves in the year A.D. 2063 where they could witness First Contact themselves. This was the event that essentially kicked off creator Gene Roddenberry's vision of a peaceful future. In meeting intelligent space aliens, a hobbled humanity learned that war was churlish, and that unity as a species was preferable in the face of a suddenly occupied cosmos.

"First Contact" is essentially the "Star Trek" origin story.

2151 - 2155: Star Trek: Enterprise

After first talking to Vulcans, humans were eager to take to the stars and join the galactic community. The conceit of the 2001 TV series " Star Trek: Enterpris e" (originally just called "Enterprise") was that the Vulcans, seeing how illogical and roughhewn humanity still was, encouraged them to stay on Earth for nearly a century before actually taking to the stars. In that century, humanity rebuilt, formed a Starfleet, and constructed its very first long-mission starship, the U.S.S. Enterprise NX-01. The show is about the adventures of the very first humans in space, circa A.D. 2151.

"Enterprise" took place before a lot of established "Trek" tech had been invented. There were transporters, but they weren't entirely safe for use on humans. There were no shields around the ship. There were no food replicators, and the Enterprise required a galley. Most notably, there wasn't a Prime Directive yet, so a lot of mistakes are bound to be made. It wouldn't be until 2161 — according to ancillary revelations — that the Federation would be formed.

2254: The Cage

The unused "Star Trek" pilot has probably gained more canonical traction than any other unused footage from any other work of filmed fiction. "The Cage" didn't air in its complete form until 1986, 20 years after its making. Previously, footage from "The Cage" was incorporated into a two-part "Star Trek" episode called "The Menagerie" (November of 1966).

In the pilot, we first meet Capt. Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and his ship the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. We were first introduced to Spock as well, although Spock would be the only character carried over into the second pilot that was eventually used. Majel Barrett played the Enterprise's first officer in "The Cage," and she would go on to play multiple other roles throughout "Star Trek," including Nurse Chapel, M'Ress, Lwaxana Troi, and the voice of the ship's computer.

The events of "The Cage" would also be revisited in the second season of "Star Trek: Discovery."

2256 - 2258: Star Trek: Discovery (seasons 1 and 2)

Another cataclysm that had been mentioned multiple times throughout "Star Trek" was a war between the Klingons and the Federation. The first season of "Star Trek: Discovery," which debuted on CBS All Access (now Paramount+) in November of 2017, dramatized those events explicitly, as seen through the eyes of the U.S.S. Discovery. This new ship was a science vessel that had figured out a way to tap into a galaxy-wide network of near-undetectable, microscopic spores into order to teleport anywhere in the galaxy instantaneously.

After surviving the Klingon war, the Discovery teamed up with the U.S.S. Enterprise while it was still being captained by Christopher Pike (now played by Anson Mount), putting the events of "Discovery" immediately after the original pilot. There were a lot — and I mean a LOT — of narrative excuses as to why the high-tech Discovery (realized with late-2010s special effects) didn't match the boxier, monochromatic world of "The Cage."

The show's writers also needed to come up with an organic reason why a ship that can teleport — a technology that would have fundamentally changed the world of "Star Trek" — was never mentioned in any of the "Trek" shows made from 1966 until 2017. As such, at the end of the second season of "Discovery," the ship was thrown almost 1,000 years into the future in order to outrun an insidious computer intelligence that would spread throughout the galaxy if knowledge of it was passed around. As such, the Discovery more or less deleted itself from existence. As panicked, narrative ass-saving measures go, it's a 7.

2258: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The appearance of Capt. Pike on "Discovery" was so well-received that Paramount+ elected to go back to the Enterprise, bring back the characters from "The Cage," lump in a few familiar faces from the 1966 "Star Trek," and make " Strange New Worlds ," a series that takes place only eight years prior to the events of the original TV series.

"Strange New Worlds" brings back Anson Mount as Pike, as well as a young Spock, a very young Uhura, a young Nurse Chapel, one of Khan's ancestors, and Dr. M'Benga, who showed up in a few episodes if the 1966 show. It also, notably, will not have season-long story arcs, but a single-hour episodic structure, standing in contrast with most of the other Paramount+-era "Star Treks," with "Lower Decks" being the proud exception.

2258 (KELVIN): Star Trek (2009)

Thanks to "Star Trek," the notion of parallel universes is quite well-known to the public. Incidentally, it's been quite odd watching the films and TV shows in the Marvel universe slow-walk the notion of a multiverse over the course of multiple installments when we've already seen Spock with a goatee.

Thanks to complicated studio politics, there was a split in Paramount in the mid-2000s, and the Paramount side of the schism — when wanting to make a new "Star Trek" feature film — was legally required to make something distinguishable from the TV shows. Enter J.J. Abrams and his 2009 feature film " Star Trek " which takes place at the same time as "Strange New Worlds," but in a parallel universe where the characters from the 1966 show now look like a new cast, the Enterprise looks brighter and sleeker, and everything is more intense and action-packed.

This new timeline would be created when a villain went back in time interfered with James T. Kirk right when he was born.

2259 (KELVIN): Star Trek Into Darkness

Although taking place far before the events of 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," J.J. Abrams' " Star Trek Into Darkness " (2013) drew a lot of story parallels to the Nicholas Meyer film. Taking place almost immediately after the 2009 film, "Into Darkness" involved the character of Khan who, in the timeline of the 1966 series, wouldn't be resurrected from cryogenic sleep for a few years hence. In "Into Darkness," he was awakened early, became involved in a plot to smuggle other cryogenically frozen compatriots.

Originally, the Eugenics Wars were meant to have started in the 1990s, but — as "Star Trek" persisted, and the '90s came and went in the real world — that timeline had to be altered several times. The timeline of the Eugenics Wars in "Into Darkness" are a little unclear. As we saw above in "Star Trek: Picard," we know that they'll now take place sometime after 2024.

2263 (KELVIN): Star Trek Beyond

In Justin Lin's " Star Trek Beyond " (2016), Kirk (Chris Pine) laments that his adventures have already become episodic. It's unusual that the 2009 film and the 2013 sequel are essentially origin stories about the young Kirk coming into his own, and "Beyond" skips ahead to the point where he's already tired of being on "Star Trek." We missed the actual "five year mission" part!

Another interesting wrinkle in "Beyond" is that it alludes to a time somewhere after "Star Trek: Enterprise": The evil Kroll (Idris Elba) was, in fact, a human captain named Edison who led his own starship in the "Enterprise" era. Before the film, he was mutated into an evil alien. "Beyond," in explicitly mentioning the Xindi wars and other events from "Enterprise," anchors the Kelvin films a little more solidly into the "Trek" timeline.

2265 - 2269: Star Trek

After "The Cage" was abandoned by Paramount, the studio and Gene Roddenberry reworked the show into the 1966 program we all know and love. As mentioned, Spock was the only character carried over from the original pilot, and "Star Trek" now featured William Shatner as Captain Kirk and a host of new characters besides. "Star Trek" began as a horror show — there are many monsters and scare moments in the first season — eventually tackling ethical issues in a sci-fi fantasy context.

"Star Trek" ran for three seasons, ending its initial run on June 3, 1969. Thanks to the gods of syndication, "Star Trek" would remain in reruns for the following decade, building up interest, spawning Trek conventions, and allowing the show to grow into a full-blown cultural phenomenon.

2269 - 2270: Star Trek: The Animated Series

In the opening credits of " Star Trek ," Shatner brazenly informed the audiences that the U.S.S. Enterprise was on a five-year mission. Given that the show was canned after only three years, there was more mission left to witness. In 1973, Roddenberry teamed up with Filmation to make an animated "Star Trek" series that would, by dint of its two seasons, ostensibly complete the five-year mission. Chekov (Walter Koenig) was absent from this show, but other unusual aliens took his place, including a cat woman named M'Ress and Mr. Aryx, a being with three arms. The animated format allowed for wilder ideas, aliens, and ships to be employed, and there are stories featuring flying serpents, aliens made of plants, an undersea episode, and a story with a 50-foot Spock.

This 1973 version of "Star Trek," in only running 30 minutes per episode, cut out a lot of extraneous character moments from the traditional "Trek" structure, and got straight to the story. It's a far more efficient show than the 1966 program, and it has a passionate following of fans.

2273: Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The decade of syndication, "Trek" conventions, and the financial success of George Lucas' sci-fi serial epic " Star Wars " in 1977 led Paramount to start thinking about restarting "Star Trek" on TV. A project was put into production that was to be called "Star Trek Phase II," and would have reunited several familiar "Trek" characters as well as introduce some new ones. For various reasons, "Phase II" was abandoned and elements of it were transformed into what would become the 1979 theatrical release " Star Trek: The Motion Picture ."

If all you had prior to "The Motion Picture" was a failed, low-budget TV show and a little-regarded animated series, this movie would feel grand in ways that you couldn't previously imagine. A lot of time was devoted to the size of the Enterprise, the importance of the characters, and mind-bending notions about the unending vastness of the cosmos. Here was a "Star Trek" film that is often compared to 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Good gracious was it enormous.

"The Motion Picture" was successful enough to warrant a sequel, but not so successful that Roddenberry was welcomed back. Remember that detail when we get to "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

2285: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2285 was a significant year. In the events of Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982), a thawed out Khan — the version played by Ricardo Montalbán from the 1967 "Star Trek" episode "The Space Seed," not the version played by Benedict Cumberbatch in "Star Trek Into Darkness" — hijacked a starship called the U.S.S. Reliant and set out on a mission of revenge against Admiral Kirk. The good admiral, we find, had forgotten about a lot of irresponsible actions taken in his past and had to face them head on just as he was looking down the barrel of old age. "Star Trek II" didn't end well for Kirk or for Spock. In that film, Spock famously dies.

Not wasting any time, however, Kirk and co. sprang back into action in Leonard Nimoy's " Star Trek III: The Search for Spock " (1984), which picks up immediately after "Khan" ended. Thanks to the fineries of Vulcan psychic powers, and a high tech radiation wave that can generate life out of nothing, Spock could potentially be resurrected, and Kirk hijacks the Enterprise in order to help a friend. In so doing, Kirk destroys the ship, rouses the ire of some Klingons, loses his son (killed by said Klingons), and possibly destroys his career in Starfleet. Oops.

Perhaps one of the reasons "Star Trek IV" (which began in 2286) was so popular was that it was the first "Trek" film to end on a wholly positive note.

2287: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Often cited as the worst of the "Trek" movies, William Shatner's "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989) starts with a promising concept, but was undone by a bad script hastily written during a strike, and a repeatedly cut FX budget. The film ultimately feels flimsy and ill-considered, not able to truly confront the interesting ideas it brings up. Shatner has apologized for the poor quality of his film, which was fraught with production troubles.

In "Frontier," a newly-built Enterprise is hijacked by Spock's half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), who is leading a cult of brainwashed followers, freed from pain by their leader's psychic powers. He seeks a mysterious planet at the center of the galaxy where he believes God physically lives. The final frontier of the title is not space, but the soul, religion, or spirituality. Many "Trek" purists will point out that seeking the center of the galaxy, and finding a deity there, is similar to an Animated Series episode called "The Magicks of Megas-Tu," wherein Kirk found the planet at the center of the galaxy is actually home to Satan.

Note : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" is far better than "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

2293: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Made after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nicholas Meyer's " Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country " (1991) was very clearly a metaphor for the end of the Cold War. In it, the Klingon Empire is crippled by the accidental explosion of one of their moons, leaving the entire government requiring Federation help. "Country" is about how difficult it is to give up being enemies, especially when so much of one's identity is tied in with hate. There's an assassination, a investigation, a trial, a prison break ... It's one of the best "Trek" movies.

One might glean from the title of the previous film in the series that the entire Kirk era was meant to end with "The Final Frontier." One might also glean that the poor reception and bad box office of "Final Frontier" led to one last go 'round. Fans may be relieved that the final feature film in the Kirk era was actually, y'know, a good one.

2364 - 2370: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Throughout the 1970s, Gene Roddenberry made tours on the convention circuit, talking about his vision for "Star Trek," and interacting with fans who were inspired by the peace, diplomacy, and calm that "Star Trek" has written into its DNA. Looking back over the 1966 show, notions of optimism and diplomacy are present, but they are mixed in with a lot of violence, sexism, and other now-backward ideas. After Roddenberry was essentially barred from involvement on the "Star Trek" feature films, he decided to make a purer, better version of his old show, set another 80 years in the future, and even more devoted to intelligence and diplomacy than ever before. Hence, 1987's " Star Trek: The Next Generation ."

Taking place on a new ship, the Enterprise NCC-1701-D, and featuring an all new cast, the update of "Star Trek" started a little clumsily, but eventually found its stride to become the best "Star Trek" has offered to date. The tech was more convincing than it ever was, and it featured professional, adult characters who deal with crises with stiff upper lips. More so, it more frequently addressed questions about the meaning of life that humanity will always, it seems, wrestle with.

"Next Generation" last for seven full seasons, and its characters ended up occupying just as large a place in the pop consciousness as the characters from the 1966 TV series.

Yes, "Next Generation" went back in time several times.

In terms of chronology, "Next Generation" overlapped with...

2369 - 2375: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

" Deep Space Nine " (1993 – 1999) was an unusual animal in many ways. It was the first time two "Star Trek" shows would run concurrently, and would take place over the same time frame (Picard from "Next Generation" appeared in the show's pilot). It was not about trekking at all, as it took place aboard a space station. It was also not set in the world of the Federation, often revolving alien species who were not offered protection from the organization. It was a show of healing and animosity. Of war and death. It started with an ensemble of seven or eight people, and eventually expanded to include about 30 main characters. "Deep Space Nine" is "Star Trek" via a Russian historical novel.

When taken as a unit, "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine," both excellent in their own rights, become a complementary mass that is greater than their sum. The strength of diplomacy vs. its breakdown. The avoidance of war vs. the involvement in it. The absence of fascism vs. its inevitable regrowth.

Yes, "Deep Space Nine" went back in time several times.

"Deep Space Nine's" chronology would overlap with "Star Trek: Voyager," as well as with...

2371: Star Trek: Generations

The 1994 feature film " Star Trek: Generations " was a strange excursion. Although "Next Generation" had already run for seven years, "Generations" was still insistent on "passing the torch" from Kirk to Picard, and it bent over backwards to create the means by which Kirk and Picard, separated by 87 years of history, could meet face-to-face. It was the fan crossover no Trekkie wanted. As such, "Generations" is a flimsy affair, speeding through a ridiculous plot about a mobile temporal nexus that serves as Heaven for the people it scoops up along its path.

Trekkies were even-headed enough to realize that Kirk and Picard weren't meant to meet, and that "Next Generation" was its own entity. The decision to aggressively tie the two shows even more closely together was just baffling.

Notable too: The Enterprise-D was destroyed in "Generations," and would be replaced by a big ol' ugly thing for three additional feature films.

2371 - 2378: Star Trek: Voyager

" Star Trek: Voyager " debuted in 1995 and ran concurrently with "Deep Space Nine" both on television and within the chronology of "Star Trek." To cleverly avoid any interference between the two shows, however — "Deep Space Nine" would eventually become embroiled in a galaxy-spanning war — "Voyager" was given a "Lost in Space"-style premise wherein the title ship was thrown all the way across the galaxy to a portion of space that has never been explored by Starfleet, and could otherwise only be reached by 70 years of space travel.

While the premise would perhaps lead a viewer to believe that "Voyager" was going to be about resource allocation and survival, it quickly became more about the Borg, a character played by actress Jeri Ryan, and Captain Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) steady slide into autocracy.

"Voyager" struggled with ratings for years, but still managed to last seven seasons like "Next Gen" and "Deep Space" before it. The final episode of "Voyager," a time travel story called " Endgame ," would air in March of 2001.

2375: Star Trek: Insurrection

While "Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" were running concurrently on television, the "Next Generation" crew were yukking it up in the overwhelmingly mediocre 1998 Jonathan Frakes film " Star Trek: Insurrection ." Like "The Final Frontier," "Insurrection" can be seen straining against the limits of its budget, with bad CGI, bland costumes, and locations clearly found in the California mountains. The cheapness of "Star Trek" has often served as a boon for its story, forcing writers to insert interesting and challenging ideas into their plywood sets. "Insurrection" has no such ideas, asking the ethical question of forced relocation, but never feeling threatening, and offering a magical curative radiation that would require study and collection.

Although one can admit this: "Insurrection" captures the tone of the "Next Generation" TV series far better than any of the other movies in this part of the series. It's a pity, though, that after the grand finale of "Next Generation," we find ourselves with suck lackluster films.

Speaking of lackluster films ...

2379: Star Trek: Nemesis

Released in 2002, Stuart Baird's " Star Trek: Nemesis " was poised to be the final gasp for "Star Trek." "Enterprise" was already taking the franchise in a new direction, and the "NextGen" cast was clearly too tired to handle a continued barrage of poorly planned action movies, and thrillers that didn't resemble the show they were inspired by. "Nemesis" is dark and action-packed and violent and takes a lot of structural cues from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

In it, Tom Hardy plays a character named Shinzon who is, in fact, a clone of Captain Picard, grown in a Romulan lab, and eventually discarded into a Romulan mine. Shinzon escaped the mine, built an army, and is poised to take a giant death ship into Federation space to revenge all over people. "Nemesis" is also the film in which Data (Brent Spiner) dies, and Captain Picard drives a dune buggy.

The sentiment of the time was reminiscent of T.S. Eliot's " The Hollow Men ." This is the way "Next Gen" ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

Worry not. There will be further whimpers for the NextGen crew.

2380 - ?: Star Trek: Lower Decks

Named after a seventh season episode of "Next Generation," and taking place in line with the end of "Nemesis" and "Voyager," " Star Trek: Lower Decks " debuted on Paramount+ in 2020 as part of a slew of "Star Trek"-related indicia that the company was desperate to exploit. And while the all-your-eggs-in-one basket approach to TV production affected by Paramount led to stinkers like "Discovery" and "Picard," it did lead to this surprisingly good animated program.

One of the more appealing aspects of "Star Trek" is that it's essentially a series of workplace shows. The characters are typically vocation-forward, and take their duty to their ship very seriously. Where a "Star Trek" character works speaks powerfully to who they are. "Lower Decks" follows the people who have the worst possible jobs on a Starfleet vessel, often tasked with cleaning holodecks, sanitizing floors, and arranging widgets for the senior staff. It's rough going for ensigns. They sleep in the hallway and are typically not deemed important enough to include on more exciting missions. What's more, the central ship on "Lower Decks" is a tiny, crappy ship with substandard tech. Surely such jobs would exist in "Star Trek."

"Lower Decks" is eager to make "Trek" references, and is clearly made by people who understand "Trek's" ethos, but who still have a raunchy sense of humor. The future is here. And it's still crappy for those on the bottom.

2383: Star Trek: Prodigy

Produced under the auspices of Nickelodeon, " Star Trek: Prodigy " (2021) was the first Trek series to be made explicitly with a younger audience in mind. The series follows a ragtag group of alien youths as they flee a prison mine and discover an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar. On board is an instructional hologram of Captain Janeway from "Voyager," and she teaches the kids how to behave like Starfleet officers, the importance of duty and compassion, and how their trauma does not define them. The design and the creatures are more reminiscent of "Star Wars" than "Star Trek" (the series features an evil emperor and his powerful masked servant, invoking the Emperor and Darth Vader), but it certainly functions as a generic space adventure. The "Star Trek" stuff is mere window dressing.

It's almost disappointing to include "Prodigy" on this timeline, as one of the show's central mysteries — at least for the first part of its first season, the only part to have aired as of this writing — is when and where it takes place. It was possible that "Prodigy" took place centuries or even millennia beyond the known Trek universe. The last we saw, however, the real Captain Janeway is still alive, giving "Prodigy" a known place in Trek chronology.

2399: Star Trek: Picard (Season 1)

After nearly 20 years of a world without Picard, Paramount+ convinced Patrick Stewart to reprise his role in a new show named for him. " Star Trek: Picard " debuted on Paramount+ in 2020, taking place further in the future than any other Trek show to date. In the timeline of "Picard," the Federation had become soured by xenophobia and openly discouraged the evacuation of Romulus, historically an enemy world, but now in dire straits after their sun went supernova (something something J.J. Abrams). Picard had left Starfleet in disgust, and had now retired to his winery.

The story of the first season is too convoluted to get into here, needless to say it involved a Romulan secret society, a planet of androids, a reclaimed Borg cube, and a robot Cthulhu. I'm not kidding.

It's a pity that "Picard" did not roll with its future setting more, establishing new tech or positive sea changes in the "Trek" universe. Instead, everything is devoted to a chewy, awful story about androids. Indeed, by the end, Picard himself would have his consciousness shunted into an android body. What a snore.

3188 - 3190: Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 3 and 4)

When last we saw the U.S.S. Discovery, it was being pulled through a time hole into the distant future. In the third and fourth seasons , Discovery's crew learns that they are stranded 930 years from home, and now must rediscover their function as Starfleet officers after the Federation went into hiding. A galaxy-wide disaster — The Burn — spontaneously destroyed millions of starships, and a fierce new criminal enterprise, The Emerald Syndicate, now rules the galaxy.

The 23rd-century ship now has to learn how to use 32nd-century technology. The Discovery was redesigned, and the new mission became to spread diplomacy in a galaxy unready for it. This is the premise, it seems, that Discovery should have started with two years prior. The writing is still rather weak, and the characters are callow and weepy, but "Discovery" does excel in one notable way: Queer representation. Seven of the main cast members are openly queer. After 55 years of a dodgy relationship with queerness, "Discovery" finally nailed it.

I just wish it were a better show.

Screen Rant

How to watch all star trek tv shows in timeline order.

The Star Trek TV franchise has existed for 57 years and consists of 12 shows (and counting). Here's how to watch them all in timeline order.

Watching Star Trek in timeline order allows viewers to experience the expansive and enduring universe that has spawned multiple TV series and films for over 57 years.
Star Trek: Enterprise serves as a prequel to the original series, showcasing the voyages of the original crew in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Captain Kirk's command.
Star Trek: Discovery introduces a new era of Star Trek, set ten years before the original series, and follows Commander Michael Burnham as she navigates through space and prevents a Klingon war.

Watching all of the Star Trek series in timeline order is a great way to experience the final frontier. Created by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek - now dubbed Star Trek: The Original Series - premiered in 1966. After only lasting 3 seasons on NBC, little could anyone have guessed that Star Trek would endure for over 57 years and spawn a dozen TV series (and counting) as well as 13 feature films (and possibly more).

Watching Star Trek in order was once relatively simple. Star Trek: The Original Series began with the 23rd-century voyages of the Starship Enterprise commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). After Star Trek was revived as a movie franchise in 1979, a spinoff titled Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987 and depicted the adventures of the new USS Enterprise-D in the 24th century. Two more spinoffs followed before the first prequel series set in the 22nd century, Star Trek: Enterprise , premiered in 2001. Today, Star Trek on Paramount+'s multiple series take place throughout the Star Trek timeline , from the 23rd century to the distant future of the 32nd century. Here's the proper timeline order to watch every Star Trek series.

Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show

13 star trek: enterprise (2001-2005), 22nd century: 2151-2161.

The earliest-set Star Trek series is Enterprise , later retitled Star Trek: Enterprise in season 3. Taking place almost a hundred years after Earth's First Contact with the Vulcans seen in Star Trek: First Contact, Enterprise centers on the voyages of the NX-01 Enterprise led by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) . Enterprise aired for four seasons, and Archer's adventures primarily took place in the 22nd century with a couple of caveats: Enterprise introduced a Temporal Cold War that impacted the 25th century, and the controversial Enterprise series finale , "These Are The Voyages..." depicts events from 2161 but was actually set during the 24th century of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7. Still, Enterprise remains the recognized beginning of Starfleet's mission of galactic exploration in Star Trek.

Star Trek: Enterprise

12 star trek: discovery seasons 1 & 2 (2017-2019), 23rd century: 2256-2258.

Premiering in 2017, Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2 were set in 2256 and 2258, about a hundred years after Star Trek: Enterprise . The first two seasons of Discovery also take place about a decade before Star Trek: The Original Series , which makes it a prequel (initially). Discovery brought Star Trek into the modern streaming TV era, but its feature film-quality production values and storytelling risks clashed with established Star Trek canon. At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2 , the series time jumps to the other end of the Star Trek timeline so that the rest of Star Trek: Discovery occurs during the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discovery

In 2018 and 2019, Star Trek released a series called Star Trek: Short Treks that supplemented events from Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2 and set up Star Trek: Picard season 1.

11 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022 onward)

23rd century: 2259 onward.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds picks up in 2259, months after Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and centers on Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Star Trek legacy characters reintroduced in Discovery season 2. Strange New Worlds is yet another prequel that takes place approximately 5-7 years before Star Trek: The Original Series , but it has been incredibly well received for bringing the optimistic and episodic voyages of the Starship Enterprise to modern audiences. By the end of Strange New Worlds season 2 , younger versions of James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Scotty (Martin Quinn) have also been successfully introduced.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

10 star trek: the original series (1966-1969), 23rd century: 2266-2269.

Star Trek: The Original Series was the first Star Trek show ever to air, but its mid-23rd century setting (2266-2269) now sets TOS as the fourth series in the Star Trek timeline . The original Star Trek is about the pioneering five-year mission of Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise to seek out new life and new civilizations. After TOS was canceled, it remained popular thanks to syndication, which opened the door to an aborted sequel series, Star Trek: Phase II , which was turned into 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture . TOS continued as a movie franchise for six more films, concluding with 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

After Star Trek rereuns became a hit in syndication in the 1970s, a revival series, Star Trek: Phase II , was planned before the success of Star Wars led Paramount to rework Phase II into Star Trek: The Motion Picture , launching the Star Trek movie franchise.

Star Trek: The Original Series

9 star trek: the animated series (1973-1974), 23rd century: 2269-2270.

Star Trek: The Animated Series continued the five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek: Original Series. TAS featured most of the Star Trek actors voicing their characters and many of the writers from the live-action series penned scripts. TAS can be regarded as Star Trek: The Original Series season 4 , but its canonical status was considered apocryphal for years. The more recent Star Trek series have included numerous references to TAS , making the animated Star Trek show relevant and canonical once more.

Star Trek: The Animated Series

In 2023, Star Trek released a series of animated shorts called Star Trek: very Short Treks that aren't considered Star Trek canon.

8 Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

24th century: 2364-2370.

Star Trek: The Next Generation begins in the mid-24th century, about 70 years after Star Trek: The Original Series. TNG is about the USS Enterprise-D led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Airing for 7 wildly successful seasons, Star Trek: The Next Generation 's cast inherited the Star Trek movie franchise, delivering four films from 1994-2002. Perhaps the most popular Star Trek series of all, TNG kicked off what is creatively the richest and most complex period of Star Trek , spawning three spinoff shows. Star Trek: The Next Generation' s legacy is concluded in Star Trek: Picard .

Star Trek: The Next Generation

7 star trek: deep space nine (1993-1999), 24th century: 2369-2375.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the first spinoff of Star Trek: The Next Generation , and it begins around the time of TNG season 6. The first Star Trek series starring a Black lead character, Commander and later Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), DS9 broke the Star Trek formula by being set on a space station guarding the Bajoran Wormhole. DS9 pioneered serialized storytelling in Star Trek , and the popular Klingon Worf (Michael Dorn) from TNG joined Deep Space Nine' s cast in season 4. Arguably DS9 's greatest storyline was the Dominion War, which altered the late 24th-century Star Trek galaxy and continued to impact Star Trek: Picard in the early 25th century.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

6 star trek: voyager (1995-2001), 24th century: 2371-2378.

The second spinoff of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager takes place at the same time as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the TNG movies in the 24th century. Voyager' s eponymous starship, led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), was stranded in the Delta Quadrant millions of light years from home. Janeway, the first female Captain to lead a Star Trek series , commanded the USS Voyager throughout its tumultuous 7-season journey back home to Earth. Voyager explored a region of the Star Trek universe never before seen and created a breakout character in the former Borg named Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).

Star Trek: Voyager

5 star trek: lower decks (2020 onward), 24th century: 2380 onward.

The first Star Trek animated comedy , Star Trek: Lower Decks is set in the late 24th century, beginning in 2380, about two years after the USS Voyager returned to Earth and a year after the final TNG film, Star Trek: Nemesis . Lower Decks is a continuation of Star Trek: The Next Generation' s era , but centering on the "less important" starship, the USS Cerritos, and its junior officers. Lower Decks proved a comedic Star Trek can work wonders, shedding a humorous new light on both the mundane and fantastic events of being a Starfleet Officer.

Star Trek: Lower Decks ' Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) played their characters in live-action in a comedic crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

4 star trek: prodigy (2021 onward), 24th century: 2383 onward.

Star Trek: Prodigy is designed to bring a new young audience to Star Trek and instill the values of Starfleet into new viewers. Star Trek: Prodigy 's cast consists of all-new teenage characters mentored by legacy Star Trek icons like Admiral Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. Star Trek: Prodigy begins in 2383 but incorporates time travel into its saga, with the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 poised to travel to an alternate 25th-century timeline and possibly beyond while touching upon every other iteration of the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy was canceled by Paramount+ but found a new streaming home in Netlfix, thanks in part to a dedicared #SaveStarTrekProdigy fan campaign.

3 Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)

24th-25th century: 2399-2402.

Star Trek: Picard depicts the sunset years of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard , who is joined by the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in Picard season 3. Star Trek: Picard season 1 is set in 2399, at the end of the 24th century, although Picard season 2 is a time travel adventure that brings the Starfleet legend and his motley crew to Los Angeles 2024. The 25th century formally begins in Star Trek: Picard season 3, set in 2401, and the popularity of Picard 's final season creates hope that the 25th-century era will continue in a new series dubbed Star Trek: Legacy .

Star Trek: Picard

2 star trek: discovery season 3, 4 & 5 (2020-2024), 32nd century: 3188-onward.

Star Trek: Discovery broke from its prequel chains to have the honor of blazing the 32nd century, the farthest known point of the Star Trek timeline . At the start of Discovery season 3, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) arrived in 3188, with her starship, the USS Discovery, joining her a year later. After back-to-back missions where the USS Discovery saved the galaxy, Captain Burnham is poised to embark on a hunt for "the greatest treasure in the known galaxy" in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 , the series' final season.

1 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2025)

32nd century ().

The newly announced Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is expected to be set in the 32nd century after Star Trek: Discovery ends . Discovery season 4 reintroduced Starfleet Academy, which was defunct for over a century following the galactic cataclysm called The Burn. The new Starfleet Academy show would logically explore the reborn institution and how it forges the next generation of 32nd-century Starfleet Officers, which would make Starfleet Academy the new farthest point in the Star Trek timeline.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Every Star Trek TV series except Star Trek: Prodigy is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Prodigy is available to stream on Netflix.

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Star Trek Movies & TV Series Timeline

A short overview of the chronology of all the Star Trek TV series and movies set in the Star Trek universe. A more detailed version can be found at the site of The Star Trek Chronology Project.

Movies or TV
IMDb Rating
In Theaters
Release Year

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

A century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

Stars: Scott Bakula , John Billingsley , Jolene Blalock , Dominic Keating

Votes: 59,112

2. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: The Brightest Star (2018)

TV-PG | 15 min | Short, Action, Adventure

Before he was the first Kelpien to join Starfleet, Saru lived a simple life on his home planet of Kaminar with his father and sister. Young Saru, full of ingenuity and a level of curiosity ... See full summary »

Director: Douglas Aarniokoski | Stars: Doug Jones , Hannah Spear , Robert Verlaque , Michelle Yeoh

3. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Q&A (2019)

TV-PG | 14 min | Short, Action, Adventure

Ensign Spock's first day aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise doesn't go as planned when he and Number One are unexpectedly stuck together in a turbo lift.

Director: Mark Pellington | Stars: Rebecca Romijn , Ethan Peck , Anson Mount , Samora Smallwood

4. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Cage (1966)

TV-PG | 63 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Capt. Pike is held prisoner and tested by aliens who have the power to project incredibly lifelike illusions.

Director: Robert Butler | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter , Susan Oliver , Leonard Nimoy , Majel Barrett

Votes: 7,171

5. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien.

Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green , Doug Jones , Anthony Rapp , Mary Wiseman

Votes: 135,062

6. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Runaway (2018)

On board the U.S.S. Discovery, Ensign Tilly encounters an unexpected visitor in need of help. However, this unlikely pair may have more in common than meets the eye.

Director: Maja Vrvilo | Stars: Mary Wiseman , Yadira Guevara-Prip , Mimi Kuzyk , Geet Arora

Votes: 1,034

7. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: The Escape Artist (2019)

TV-MA | 16 min | Short, Action, Adventure

Harry Mudd, back to his old tricks of stealing and double-dealing, finds himself in a precarious position aboard a hostile ship - just in time to try out his latest con.

Director: Rainn Wilson | Stars: Rainn Wilson , Dan Abramovici , Harry Judge , Barbara Mamabolo

8. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

9. star trek: short treks (2018–2020) episode: the trouble with edward (2019).

Newly minted Captain Lynne Lucero is excited to take command of the U.S.S. Cabot. That is, until she meets Edward Larkin, an ornery scientist who believes he has found a revolutionary new use for tribbles.

Director: Daniel Gray Longino | Stars: Anson Mount , Rosa Salazar , H. Jon Benjamin , Lisa Michelle Cornelius

Votes: 1,033

10. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Ask Not (2019)

TV-PG | 8 min | Short, Action, Adventure

When an attack on Starbase 28 leaves a surprise prisoner under Cadet Thira Sidhu's watch, she is faced with making a decision that may threaten her standing in Starfleet.

Director: Sanji Senaka | Stars: Anson Mount , Ethan Peck , Rebecca Romijn , Amrit Kaur

11. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

TV-PG | 52 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

Stars: Anson Mount , Ethan Peck , Christina Chong , Melissa Navia

Votes: 58,936

12. Star Trek (1966–1969)

TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Nichelle Nichols

Votes: 92,938

13. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975)

TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , George Takei

Votes: 8,184

14. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 96,623 | Gross: $82.26M

15. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 129,229 | Gross: $78.91M

16. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 86,174 | Gross: $76.47M

17. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Votes: 91,491 | Gross: $109.71M

18. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

PG | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

Director: William Shatner | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 64,210 | Gross: $52.21M

19. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Votes: 80,904 | Gross: $74.89M

20. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

TV-PG | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Brent Spiner , Jonathan Frakes , LeVar Burton

Votes: 136,030

Season 1 - Season 6 Episode 11 (before Deep Space Nine) Season 6 Episode 12 - Season 7 Final Episode (parallel to Deep Space Nine's first 2 Seasons)

21. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.

Stars: Avery Brooks , Rene Auberjonois , Cirroc Lofton , Alexander Siddig

Votes: 70,799

Season 1 - Season 2 (parallel to Next Generation) Season 3 Episode 1-7 (between Next Generation and Voyager) Season 3 Episode 8-18 (parallel to the beginning of Voyager)

22. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

TV-PG | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

Stars: Kate Mulgrew , Robert Beltran , Roxann Dawson , Robert Duncan McNeill

Votes: 77,342

Season 1 Episode 1-8 (parallel to Deep Space Nine)

23. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director: David Carson | Stars: Patrick Stewart , William Shatner , Malcolm McDowell , Jonathan Frakes

Votes: 87,051 | Gross: $75.67M

24. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Season 3 Episode 19 - Season 5 Episode 13 (parallel to Voyager)

25. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Season 1 Episode 9 - Season 3 Episode 16 (parallel to Deep Space Nine)

26. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.

Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 132,069 | Gross: $92.00M

27. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Season 5 Episode 14 - Season 7 Final Episode (parallel to Voyager)

28. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Season 3 Episode 17 - Season 5 Episode 20 (parallel to Deep Space Nine)

29. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

Votes: 79,471 | Gross: $70.12M

30. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Season 5 Episode 21 - Season 7 Final Episode

31. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan homeworld Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a peace treaty. Captain Picard and his crew discover a serious threat to the Federation once Praetor Shinzon plans to attack Earth.

Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 83,930 | Gross: $43.25M

32. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–2024)

TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Stars: Tawny Newsome , Jack Quaid , Noël Wells , Eugene Cordero

Votes: 24,982

33. Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024)

TV-Y7 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.

Stars: Rylee Alazraqui , Dee Bradley Baker , Brett Gray , Angus Imrie

Votes: 5,591

34. Star Trek (2009)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg , Leonard Nimoy

Votes: 620,296 | Gross: $257.73M

35. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldana , Benedict Cumberbatch

Votes: 497,098 | Gross: $228.78M

36. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.

Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Karl Urban , Zoe Saldana

Votes: 258,513 | Gross: $158.85M

37. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Children of Mars (2020)

12-year-old classmates Kima and Lil find themselves at odds with each other on a day that will change their lives forever.

Director: Mark Pellington | Stars: Joy Castro , Andrea Davis , Jason Deline , Ilamaria Ebrahim

38. Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

TV-MA | 46 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Michelle Hurd , Jeri Ryan , Alison Pill

Votes: 94,719

39. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Season 3 & 4

40. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Calypso (2018)

TV-PG | 18 min | Short, Action, Adventure

After waking up in an unfamiliar sickbay, Craft finds himself on board a deserted ship, and his only companion and hope for survival is an A.I. computer interface.

Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi | Stars: Aldis Hodge , Annabelle Wallis , Sash Striga , Fred Astaire

Votes: 1,124

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Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe

From the Original Series to Discovery, here’s how the Star Trek timeline fits together

Star Trek: Picard, which fits on the Star Trek timeline

The Star Trek timeline becomes more sprawling every week. There's little chance Gene Roddenberry, when he created the series back in the '60s, could have guessed that there would be a new episode of Star Trek made available every week (sometimes even two!).

With hundreds of hours of television spread across several TV shows and over a dozen movies, knowing where to begin with the Star Trek timeline is something of a challenge. The events of the ongoing series Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard don't exactly fit in seamlessly at the end. And if you're wanting to include Voyager or Nemesis on a watch/rewatch, then you're in for some complications.

With that in mind, we’ve assembled all the key events that shaped Federation history into one massive Star Trek timeline. We’ve even included the parallel "Kelvin" continuity of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and its sequels, an alternative sequence of events kickstarted when a rogue Romulan ship from the future destroyed the USS Kelvin – killing James T. Kirk’s dad, George, and forever altering Kirk and Spock’s destinies.

That said, because the numerous spin-off Trek comics and novels aren’t traditionally considered part of the official Star Trek timeline, we’ve left them out. We’ve also steered clear of the Mirror Universe, so there isn’t quite so much timey-wimey stuff going on that you’d have to be Spock or Data to understand it. But before we engage the warp drive and explore the history of the future, here’s an at-a-glance guide to how the various movies and TV shows fit into the Star Trek timeline:

The Kelvin Star Trek timeline

Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek timeline

Around 200,000 years ago: An ancient alien species is wiped out by an uprising of synthetic beings. They leave eight stars in an implausible arrangement, the Conclave of Eight, to serve as a warning to future generations. (Star Trek: Picard)

1893 - The time-travelling crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounters The Adventures of Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain in San Francisco. (Time’s Arrow, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

1930 - Having been sent back to 20th century New York by the malevolent ring the Guardian of Forever, James T Kirk is forced to allow peace campaigner Edith Keeler to die in order to save millions of lives in World War 2. (The City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: The Original Series)

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1947 - Ferengi Quark, Rom, and Nog crash land in 20th century Roswell, New Mexico, and are captured by US authorities who (correctly, to be fair) think they’re aliens. (Little Green Men, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

1986 - Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the original Enterprise crew kidnap a pair of humpback whales to save the future from an alien probe. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

1996 - Genetically enhanced tyrant Khan Noonien Singh and 84 of his followers escape the Eugenics Wars on Earth (remember those?), going into suspended animation on the SS Botany Bay. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

2024 – Picard and La Sirena crew arrive in the 21st century to fix the event that's created a dystopian alternative timeline. Along the way they meet a younger version of Guinan and an ancient ancestor of Data's creator. (Star Trek: Picard)

2063 - In the wake of World War 3, Zefram Cochrane makes Earth’s first successful warp flight, attracting the attention of some passing Vulcans who subsequently introduce Earth into the interstellar community – all while the crew of the Enterprise-E fight to stop the Borg assimilating the planet. (Star Trek: First Contact)

2151 - Suliban fighting in a Temporal Cold War shoot down Klingon warrior Klaang over Broken Bow, Oklahoma – bringing about humanity’s first contact with a Klingon. The prototype USS Enterprise (NX-01) sets off on a mission to return him to Qo’noS – against the wishes of the Vulcans and their massive superiority complex. (Broken Bow, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2153 - An alien probe fires a massive energy beam at Earth’s surface, causing destruction across the American continent. The Enterprise is redeployed to the Delphic Expanse to fight back against the perpetrators, the Xindi. (The Expanse, Star Trek: Enterprise) A group of Borg who survived the attempted invasion of Earth in 2063 are accidentally thawed by a research team in the Arctic. It doesn’t end well. (Regeneration, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2164 - The USS Franklin, commanded by Captain Balthazar Edison, goes missing – that might just prove important later… (Star Trek Beyond)

2230 - Spock is born on Vulcan.

2233 - James T Kirk is born.

2233 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Kelvin is destroyed by time-travelling 24th century Romulan ship Narada, kickstarting the so-called the Kelvin timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

Every Star Trek Discovery Easter egg and hidden reference you might have missed

2230s (exact date unknown) - After her parents are killed in a Klingon attack, Michael Burnham is adopted by Sarek and Amanda Grayson on Vulcan. Her adoptive brother, Spock, has his first sighting of a “ Red Angel ”. (Will You Take My Hand?, Star Trek: Discovery)

2254 - The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, discovers the survivors of crashed survey ship SS Columbia on Talos IV – though it turns out they’re an illusion created by the telepathic Talosians. (Star Trek: The Cage)

2256 - The USS Shenzou’s first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, defies the orders of Captain Philippa Georgiou, and is charged with mutiny. The Federation/Klingon War begins at the Battle of the Binary Stars. (The Vulcan Hello/The Battle at the Binary Stars, Star Trek: Discovery)

2257 - The Federation/Klingon War ends, with the hydro bomb Section 31 plant at the heart of Qo’noS helping maintain peace between feuding Klingon houses. (Will You Take My Hand, Star Trek: Discovery) With the Enterprise under repair, Christopher Pike assumes command of the Discovery on a mission to understand the so-called “Red Angels” – and track down his AWOL science officer, Spock. (Brother, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 – In order to save all life in the universe from a rogue Federation AI known as Control, Michael Burnham uses the Red Angel time travel suit (created by her parents) to carry data collected by a millennia-old alien probe into the future. The USS Discovery and its crew follow her on a one-way trip through the wormhole. (Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 (Kelvin timeline) - The Narada reappears and destroys Vulcan, as an act of revenge on Spock. The Enterprise (commanded by Christopher Pike) engages the Romulan ship, but with Pike incapacitated, James T Kirk eventually assumes command of the ship – and defeats the Narada. In the wake of Vulcan’s destruction, Admiral Alexander Marcus tries to increase Starfleet’s military capabilities – and subsequently discovers the SS Botany Bay years earlier than in the Prime timeline. Khan Noonien Singh is revived and recruited by shadowy spy branch Section 31. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2259 (Kelvin timeline) - Going under the name John Harrison, Khan wages a one-man war on the Federation – all in the name of recovering his crew from suspended animation. The Enterprise crew eventually defeat him and put him back into stasis, but Kirk dies in the process. Luckily Dr McCoy is able to use some of Khan’s blood to revive his captain – phew! (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2260 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Enterprise begins its (other) famous five-year mission. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2263 (Kelvin timeline) - Three years into the five-year mission (with things starting to get boring), the Enterprise is destroyed by Krall’s swarm ships, marooning the crew on an alien planet. It turns out Krall was the captain of the aforementioned USS Franklin, who’s spent the last century using alien tech to keep himself alive – and developing a colossal grudge against the Federation. He’s eventually killed on new Federation starbase, the USS Yorktown. James T Kirk and crew are assigned to a new ship, the Enterprise-A. The original Spock Prime – the one who travelled back in time – passes away on New Vulcan (Star Trek Beyond).

2266 - The USS Enterprise’s five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before, begins under the command of Captain James T Kirk. (Star Trek: The Original Series)

2267 - After Spock mutinies, a gravely injured Christopher Pike is taken to the off-limits Talos 4, and lives out a “normal” life thanks to the illusions of the telepathic Talosians. (The Menagerie, Star Trek: The Original Series) The Enterprise discovers SS Botany Bay, and awakens Khan Noonien Singh from suspended animation. After he tries to take over the ship, Khan and his crew are exiled to Ceti Alpha 5. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

Early 2270s (exact year unknown) - The refitted USS Enterprise (commanded once again by Admiral James T Kirk) encounters V’Ger, a 20th century space probe (Voyager 6 under an alias) that has gained sentience and threatens to destroy planet Earth. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

2285 - While on a training mission, the USS Enterprise is critically damaged by Khan Noonien Singh, who has escaped exile on Ceti Alpha V and wants revenge on Kirk. The Genesis planet is created by detonation of the top secret Genesis torpedo, and Spock dies after sacrificing himself to save the Enterprise. (Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan) Kirk, McCoy and the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew defy Starfleet orders to commandeer the ship for a mission to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body. After they unexpectedly encounter a hostile Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Kirk self-destructs the Enterprise – but Spock is resurrected. (Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock)

2286 - A mysterious space probe appears in Earth orbit, attempting to make contact with now-extinct humpback whales. Kirk and co pilot their commandeered Bird-of-Prey back to 20th century Earth to find some whales. Admiral Kirk is demoted to captain as punishment for his insurrection, and the USS Enterprise-A goes into active service. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

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2287 - The new Enterprise is commandeered by Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, who plans to meet God (yes, really) at the centre of the galaxy. The question “What does God need with a starship?” has never felt so pertinent. (Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier)

2290 - Hikaru Sulu assumes command of the USS Excelsior, breaking up the Enterprise “dream team” – it was probably about time, to be fair.. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

2293 - Praxis, the Klingon moon responsible for most of the empire’s power production, explodes. With Kirk and the classic crew due for retirement, they set off on one last mission to escort the Klingon ambassador to peace negotiations with the Federation – and end up having to foil a complex plot to scupper the whole thing. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country) Captain James T Kirk is presumed dead when the Nexus energy ribbon has a close encounter with the newly launched Enterprise-B. Predictably, it’s not the end, though… (Star Trek: Generations)

2330s (exact year unknown) - Data is created by pioneering scientist Dr Noonian Soong. (Datalore, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2344 - The USS Enterprise-C answers a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III. Surrounded by Romulan Warbirds, it faces certain destruction until it disappears into a mysterious temporal rift… (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2356 - Future Seven of Nine Annika Hansen is assimilated by the Borg, along with her parents on their ship, The Raven. (The Raven, Star Trek: Voyager)

2364 - Commander William T Riker joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Omnipotent being Q appears and puts humanity on trial. (Encounter At Farpoint, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2365 - Q shows up again, and transports the Enterprise to uncharted space for Starfleet’s first encounter with the Borg. (Q Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2366 - The Enterprise-C emerges from that aforementioned temporal rift and creates a new timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingons. (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation) The Borg show up in Federation space to start an invasion. Jean-Luc Picard is assimilated, becoming Locutus, and Starfleet is almost wiped out at the Battle of Wolf 359. (The Best of Both Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2368 - Now an ambassador, Spock turns up on Romulus trying to reunify the Vulcan and Romulan races. (Unification, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2369 - The Cardassians cease their occupation of Bajor and vacate their space station, Terok Nor. Starfleet moves in and renames it Deep Space Nine, with Benjamin Sisko taking command. It should be a relatively straightforward gig – until a wormhole opens to the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. (Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2370 - Starfleet makes first contact with the Dominion, an alliance of races led by shapeshifting Founders from the Gamma Quadrant. (The Search, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2371 - Turns out James T Kirk wasn’t dead after all – he was just living inside the Nexus energy ribbon where all your dreams come true. When El-Aurian scientist Dr Tolian Soran threatens to destroy entire worlds to get back inside the Nexus, Jean-Luc Picard enlists Kirk’s help to stop him – which doesn’t end well for Kirk, who ends up dead for the final time. The Enterprise-D also meets its end. (Star Trek: Generations) USS Voyager and a ship of Maquis freedom fighters are transported to the distant Delta Quadrant by an alien “caretaker”. The two crews become BFFs implausibly quickly – and for some reason, invite Neelix on board. (Caretaker, Star Trek: Voyager)

2373 - The Borg have another crack at invading Earth. Seemingly defeated, they launch a last ditch attempt to assimilate humanity in the past – so Jean-Luc Picard and crew take their shiny new Enterprise-E back in time to stop them. (Star Trek: First Contact) Meanwhile, back in the Borg’s home territory of the Delta Quadrant, Voyager forms an unlikely alliance with the Collective to battle Species 8472 from “fluidic space”. Borg drone Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 (AKA, Seven of Nine) joins the Voyager crew. (Scorpion, Star Trek: Voyager) The Dominion War kicks off between the Dominion and the Federation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2375 - The Dominion War ends. Benjamin Sisko, the Bajoran “emissary” moves into the wormhole to commune with its residents – aliens who have no sense of linear time. (What You Leave Behind, Deep Space Nine) The Enterprise crew uncovers a shady Federation plot to relocate the near-immortal inhabitants of a paradise planet, to harness its youth-giving properties. It’s difficult to care about any of it. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

2378 - USS Voyager finally makes it back to Federation space. After seven years away, Ensign Harry Kim is still an Ensign. (Endgame, Star Trek: Voyager)

2379 - Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard, takes control of the Romulan senate – and his overtures towards peace with the Federation turn out to be a front for war. The Enterprise eventually stops him, but Data has to sacrifice himself to save the day… (Star Trek: Nemesis)

2380 – The crew of the USS Cerritos travel around the galaxy, specialising in "second contact" situations. (Star Trek: Lower Decks)

2385 – Members of the Romulan Zhat Vash experience the Admonition on the “grief world” of Aia, driving many to madness and suicide. Their leader, Commodore Oh, instigates the uprising of synthetic workers at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, leaving 92,143 people dead and the planet burning. Facing heavy losses, Starfleet abandons its rescue mission to help rescue the residents of Romulus from an upcoming supernoval. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard resigns in protest. (Star Trek: Picard)

2387 - With a supernova threatening to destroy Romulus, Spock – still active after all these years, remarkably – attempts to save the planet by using “red matter” to create a black hole that will engulf the exploding star. He fails – and he, and Romulan ship the Narada, are sucked into the black hole, and back into the newly created parallel Kelvin timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

2390 – Starfleet vessel the Ibn Majid encounters a pair of synthetic lifeforms. Under orders from Commodore Oh, the captain executes the two androids before taking his own life. First Officer Chris Rios is so traumatised by the experience – expunged from Federation records – that he leaves Starfleet six months later. (Star Trek: Picard)

2399 – The long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years living on the family vineyard. Having discovered that the late Data had a pair of ridiculously advanced twin daughters, the long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years on the family vineyard. EXTRA BITS After some close encounters with rogue Romulans, militant AI, and a few Borg, Picard succumbs to his terminal Irumodic Syndrome – but is reborn in a new android body. (Star Trek: Picard)

2400 – Now running Starfleet Academy, Picard finds himself back on a starship when a spatial anomaly appears, broadcasting his name in multiple languages. After ending up in a totalitarian alternative timeline – possibly with a bit of help from Q – he gathers up the crew of La Sirena to travel back to a pivotal event in 2024. (Star Trek: Picard)

3069 – The so-called Burn causes the cataclysmic destruction of dilithium across the galaxy. The Federation is involved in a Temporal War that leads to a galaxy-wide ban on time travel. During this period, Temporal Agent Daniels travels back to 2151 to infiltrate Captain Archer's Enterprise, and overthrow a Suliban plot. (Star Trek: Enterprise/Star Trek: Discovery)

3188 – Michael Burnham emerges from the wormhole, and joins forces with courier Cleveland 'Book' Booker. (Star Trek: Discovery)

3189 – DIscovery arrives in the 32nd century and discovers a universe where the Federation has been decimated by the Burn – the biggest power is now criminal syndicate the Emerald Chain. With the spore drive now one of the most important resources in the galaxy, Captain Saru and crew work to discover the cause of the Burn – and restore the Federation to past glories. (Star Trek: Discovery)

3190 – As numerous worlds sign up to rejoin the resurgent Federation, a mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly destroys Book's homeworld and threatens all life in the Alpha Quadrant. (Star Trek: Discovery)

All caught up? Great, now come and discover the best Star Trek episodes that every Trekkie should watch right now, or watch the video below for a complete guide to the Star Wars timeline – that other sci-fi galaxy far, far, away...

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy.

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Star Trek Order: How to Watch the Movies and Series

It’s time to boldly go where no one has gone before. This post will tell you how to watch all the Star Trek movies and shows in the best way possible. Whether you’re a hardcore Trek fan who wants to know the chronological order or someone new to this franchise, I’ve got something for you.

What’s in the Star Trek Viewing Order?

Star trek movies in order, star trek series in order, star trek kelvin timeline, what order should you watch star trek, how to watch star trek in order, the complete star trek chronological order, frequently asked questions about the star trek timeline.

Trek creators only consider the episodes and films to be canonical in the Star Trek universe so we display them here in chronological order according to stardate (though stardate definitions have changed over time, so we work with what we have).

This list attempts to create a viewing order for all Star Trek television and films, but does not attempt to split up any episodes to view congruently. Instead, it focuses on an easy to follow viewing list. In the event that two works cover the exact same timeframe we first list the one published first. Additionally the placement within the timeline is often based on where the work ends rather than where it begins. There may be a few exceptions which will be pointed out in individual reviews. This timeline includes:

The Original Series (TOS)
The Next Generation (TNG)
Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Voyager (VOY)
Enterprise (ENT)
Short Treks
Lower Decks

So enjoy this table version of the timeline, and continue reading for a detailed breakdown of all this information.

Believe it or not, the Star Trek movies as they were released, are already in chronological order. So I don’t have to give you two orders here. Even the films in the Kelvin timeline are best watched in this order. I’ll get more into why that is, but the short answer is that for old Spock, the Kelvin timeline is still chronologically later than all of the other films.

Here is the films order:

Star Trek I: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)
Star Trek III: Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek VII: Generations (1994)
Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek IX: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek X: Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

All of that said, the films are fun, but the heart of Star Trek is really in the television series. So that’s what were going to talk about next.

Giving the order of the TV series is a little trickier, because several of them came out at the same time, and covered the same era. So we’ll be sure to break down those individually by season.

The release order look something like this:

The Original Series (1966-1969)
The Animated Series (1973-1974)
The Next Generation Seasons 1-5 (1987-1992)
The Next Generation Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine Seasons 1-2 (1992-1994)
Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-7/Voyager Seasons 1-5 (1994-1999)
Voyager Seasons 6-7 (1999-2001)
Enterprise (2001-2005)
Discovery (2017-)
Picard (2020-)
Lower Decks (2020-)
Prodigy (2021-)
Strange New Worlds (2022-)

And if you want to watch all of them chronologically, this is what that would look like:

Discovery Seasons 1-2
Strange New Worlds
The Original Series
The Animated Series
The Next Generation Seasons 1-5
The Next Generation Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine Seasons 1-2
Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-7/Voyager Seasons 1-5
Voyager Seasons 6-7
Discovery Season 3 and onward

Before we move on, let’s get into some of the details about how I place the new Star Trek movies in order.

First, let’s get one thing clear, the Kelvin universe is an alternate timeline from everything else, including Star Trek Discovery, and all of the new Star Trek TV shows.

However, there is one character from the main universe that shows up in the Kelvin universe, and that is old Spock. It’s his traveling back in time that creates this new universe.

So while this time period technically takes place before the events of the original series, I actually think a better place to watch them is where they take place chronologically, which would be after all of the main films, and after all of the series except for Picard in the later seasons of Discovery.

As of right now there are only three movies in the Kelvin timeline, and they are:

There is some debate on whether these are “good” Star Trek movies, as some say they are more like Star Wars , leaning heavily on the action. But whatever your opinion, it’s fair to say that these films are responsible for bringing in a whole new generation of Star Trek fans.

While the chronological order can be fun to do, especially for diehard Trek fans, I actually recommend going by release order if you want to watch everything.

Obviously, there is a lot to get through, so you might not want to watch everything, or if you do, you’ll want to pace yourself.

I would start with some of the films, and make your way through some of the most important episodes of The Original Series, as well as all of the shows that aired in the late 80s and 90s. That will get you caught up enough to be well-versed in Star Trek for the new shows that are coming out these days.

And I would definitely watch all of the films, because some of the most important events in Star Trek’s timeline take place in those films.

The best way to watch all of the Star Trek series and order is on Paramount+ which has pretty much everything.

However, if you don’t have Paramount+ and still want to get your Star Trek fix, there are a few other streaming services that have some of the older shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, though some of those streaming services are losing those shows as Paramount+ consolidates all of their Star Trek shows onto their own platform.

The other viable option is to buy them all for yourself, and there are links to do just that in the table above. This is particularly important if you want 4K versions of the films, you’re only interested in one specific type of show, or if you just don’t want to stream your Star Trek.

Personally, I would just go with Paramount+.

All right, now that we’ve outlined the release and chronological orders for Star Trek, let’s get into the full breakdown of everything together.

Enterprise (Year 2151-2161)

First, at least chronologically, we have Enterprise. This was a prequel to the original series, set at a time when humans were first sending out their warp five starships, i.e. the first starships that were able to go into deep space.

It is set during a time of uneasy alliances and contention between humans and other races, including even the Vulcans.

It also lays the groundwork for a number of key events, including the first contact with the Klingons, Romulans, Andorians, and many others.

It was canceled after four seasons, which at the time was the shortest run since the original series. It also marked the end of episodic Star Trek television for 12 years, until Star Trek Discovery appeared in 2017.

While definitely not the strongest of Star Trek shows, it still follows the basic formula, so if you like that, you will likely enjoy Star Trek Enterprise as well.

The Cage (Year 2254)

The Cage was a pilot episode to the original series that technically takes place before Star Trek Discovery. It actually takes place a number of years before the rest of the Original Series, and doesn’t even feature Capt. James T. Kirk as a character.

While some elements will be familiar to later trek fans, such as the USS Enterprise itself and Mr. Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), this really was a test ground for the series.

Although much of the original pilot would be scrapped in favor of a different Capt., several other different characters, and the shifting premise, overall The Cage would remain an important part of Star Trek canon, with a legacy that has built to the modern day with the introduction of Strange New Worlds, which features the same characters.

Discovery, Seasons 1-2 (Year 2255)

One of the newer entries of the franchise, Star Trek Discovery starts out in the years just before the time of The Original Series.

It focuses on a starship with a unique purpose, to discover the secrets of instant travel.

But doing so has consequences, and not to get too spoilery here, but let’s just say that, starting with season 3, the rest of this show takes place in a completely different time period.

The Original Series (Year 2265-2269)

The Original Series is what started it all when it aired in 1967, right at the height of the space race. It features Captain Kirk and a host of memorable cast as they elect to boldly go where no man has gone before.

It has since become iconic, spawning several films and multiple sequels until Star Trek became the media juggernaut that it is today.

Though a bit low on budget, and a little over the top in places, The Original Series still holds up remarkably well, and is a testament to how innovative and ahead of its time it truly was.

The Animated Series (Year 2269-2270)

Many people do not know that there was actually an animated series that followed the original series by a few years. I like to think of this series as the remaining two years in the supposed five year mission, following the original series cancellation after three years.

The animation looks a lot like the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the time, including the Flintstones and Scooby Doo, but the quality is not the best that Star Trek has seen overall, and this is definitely one that can be skipped unless you are a completionist.

The Original Series Films (Year 2273-2293)

In 1979, the first of the Star Trek films was released. It would be the first in a long line of Star Trek film and TV shows. There would be six films specifically focusing on the original Enterprise crew. Chronologically, these all take place after the original series but before The Next Generation.

The Next Generation, Seasons 1-5 (Year 2364-2469)

Next comes five full seasons of Star Trek: The next generation, which is one of the more uninterrupted periods of the chronological timeline.

This series deals with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) and his crew, as they continue the ongoing mission of the Star Trek Enterprise. It includes memorable characters such as Commander data, Commander Riker, Lieutenant Worf (the first Klingon with the Federation), and Chief Engineer Jordi Laforge.

The Next Generation, Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine, Seasons 1-2 (Year 2469-2471)

Following the first five seasons of The Next Generation, we get the final two seasons plus the first two seasons of Deep Space Nine.

The seasons overlap with each other, interweaving their narratives. If you want to know the exact episode order, I recommend referencing the table above.

The Deep Space Nine is a favorite Star Trek show for a lot of people. It involved some of the most memorable characters, including Captain Benjamin Sisko, who for many people, is the best captain. During the show they encounter a series of threats, including the Cardassian Union.

Star Trek: Generations (Year 2371)

I’m one of those few people who actually really love Star Trek Generations, the film that took place just after Star Trek The Next Generation, and involves the same cast. It also marks the final film appearance of William Shatner as Captain Kirk.

While many criticize it as being just an extended episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, I find this to be one of the films that is most true to its Star Trek roots, and feels the most like Star Trek.

Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-4/Voyager Seasons 1-2 (Year 2371-2372)

We get a few seasons of Deep Space Nine and the start of Star Trek Voyager following the events of Star Trek Generations.

Voyager is another Star Trek show that would run for seven seasons, and features a crew led by Captain Janeway as they tried to navigate an unknown region of space so they can return home.

Star Trek: First Contact (Year 2373)

Interrupting the ongoing shows is Star Trek First Contact, the Next Generation film that many people consider to be one of the Star Trek films of all time. It includes a definitive confrontation with the Borg, and some time travel shenanigans that lead to the witness of first contact with Earth.

It’s definitely one of the best films of Star Trek in general, largely due to Patrick Stewart’s brilliant performance, and an emphasis on character development for him in particular.

Deep Space Nine Seasons 5-7/Voyager Seasons 3-5 (Year 2373-2375)

As with many of these films, you will find several seasons of Deep SpaceNine and Star Trek Voyager in between. In this case you get the final two seasons of deep space nine, as well as two more seasons of Voyager.

Star Trek: Insurrection (Year 2375)

Next we get Star Trek Insurrection, which was not as well received as Star Trek First Contact. It’s plot was more mellow, trying to do too much, inject too much humor, and is overall a rather dull film. Nevertheless this film takes place right as Deep Space Nine ends, and should be watched at this point.

Voyager Seasons 6-7 (Year 2376-2378)

Here we finish off the last of the 90s era television shows. Star Trek Voyager ended with a bang, and although Star Trek Enterprise did come to take its place in 2001, by this time the golden age of Star Trek had kind of fizzled out.

In addition to Enterprise being canceled after four seasons, we will see with our next installment that people had rather grown tired of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Nemesis (Year 2379)

According to release date, Star Trek Enterprise would’ve been the next installment after Voyager, but chronologically our next step is Star Trek Nemesis. This Star Trek movie came out in 2002, to a weak box office return and lukewarm critical reception.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of this film, though it did lay the groundwork for a sort of Search for Data type of story, which I was very excited about at the time. And it does introduce us to Tom Hardy as the lead villain Shinzon.

Unfortunately this was the last we saw Star Trek for many years, and certainly the last of the Next Generation crew that we saw until just recently.

Lower Decks (Year 2380-2381)

With a revived interest in Star Trek television came an animated series called Lower Decks, which was a series geared for fans of adult animated series like Rick and Morty.

Though not quite is “adult” as Rick and Morty or similar television shows, it’s definitely not meant for kids. Chronologically, it takes place one year after Star Trek Nemesis, and spends a lot of time throwing Easter eggs and fun bits of Star Trek lore at us.

Overall, it’s a good time.

Prodigy (Year 2383)

Prodigy is another animated series, this time intended for children. It takes place just a few years after Lower Decks, and involves a group of young aliens coming across the USS Voyager.

It features the returning voice of Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway, and is a great entry point for younger fans of the Star Trek franchise.

Picard (Year 2399)

Picard is one of the flagship series in modern-day Star Trek. It shows the fallout of several key events, including the Romulan tragedy that resulted in Spock going back in time to inadvertantly start the Kelvin universe.

It takes place over a decade after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, and a lot has happened at that time. Of note is the fact that the former Captain Picard is no longer satisfied with the way Starfleet works, and he has to take some matters into his own hands.

Chronologically, this takes place several years after the last appearance of the Next Generation crew, but is technically not the end of the Star Trek timeline…

Discovery Season 3 and onward (Year 3188-89)

Finally we get back to Star Trek Discovery. Starting in season three, this show takes place nearly a thousand years after the main part of the timeline, and shows a very different universe than what we would expect.

To say more would be to spoil the show, so I won’t do that, but Star Trek Discovery is one of those shows that started off a little shaky, but has ended up being extremely good. I highly recommend it.

I’ve got a few extra questions that I get asked a lot related to this watch order, so I thought I’d include them in a short list here at the end.

Where does Star Trek Discovery Fit in the Timeline?

The first two seasons of Star Trek Discovery take place in 2255, just 10 years before the events of the original series. Beginning with the third season, Discovery takes place nearly a thousand years further in the future.

What is the Kelvin Timeline in Star Trek?

The Kelvin timeline is an alternate reality in Star Trek, one where Kirk’s parents died, Vulcan is destroyed, and a lot is different in general. It does not have any direct effect on the main timeline for Star Trek’s other shows. Right now it only consists of three films, the first two directed by JJ Abrams, and starring Chris Pine, along with a lot of other amazing actors.

When is the Picard Series in the Star Trek Timeline?

The Star Trek Picard series takes place in the year 2399, 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis.

Where does Lower Deck Take Place in the Timeline?

Star Trek Lower Decks takes place in the year 2380, one year after the events of Star Trek Nemesis.

Where does Star Trek Prodigy Take Place in the Timeline?

Star Trek Prodigy takes place in the year 2383, four years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, and three years after the events of Lower Decks.

Where Does Strange New Worlds Take Place in the Star Trek Timeline?

Strange New Worlds takes place in the year 2255, beginning immediately following the events of season two of Star Trek Discovery.

Do You Need to Watch Star Trek in Order?

No, you do not need to watch Star Trek in order. If you are a completionist, and want to watch everything in order, I recommend release order over chronological order. But most of the shows are designed to stand on their own, and can be watched without prior knowledge of the franchise.

Where is the Best Place to Start Watching Star Trek?

Star Trek began with the Original Series, but that show is hard for some to get through since we’re used to much higher modern standards. Generally, I encourage people to start with the first films (starting with Star Trek: The Motion Picture). The new Kelvin timeline can also be a good place to start, but be aware that those films are much different than most of the Star Trek media. As always, if you have questions or comments about this timeline, we recommend you visit our contact page .

22 thoughts on “Star Trek Order: How to Watch the Movies and Series”

Got a guy working on it.

Great, thx for the quick fix. I really appreciate the work you guys do. This site is a fennimonial tool.

Will this be updated when Discovery S03, Picard and Lower Decks come around?

Yep, it will be updated by the end of the year, then probably monthly or every other month after that.

I believe “The Cage” With Captain Pike happened before Star Trek Discovery season 1.

Are you sure First Contact takes place after In Purgatory’s Shadow? Because I am watching that episode right and Sisko mentioned the “recent Borg attack”

Right after season 1, though season 3 will be different.

Thomas Bates, on the Star Trek Fandom website it says, “ This episode mentions a Borg attack. This was intended to refer to the Battle of Sector 001 seen in Star Trek: First Contact. (AOL chat, 1997) However the stardate given in the film (50893.5) is later than the stardate given in this two-parter (50564.2; seen in the next episode, “By Inferno’s Light”). When asked about the inconsistency, Ronald D. Moore commented, tongue-in-cheek, “I am not at liberty to reveal the secret messages contained within the seeming “mistaken” stardates, but rest assured that it is another brilliantly conceived and skilfully executed Star Trek moment brought to you by the people who wrote “Meridian”.” (AOL chat, 1997).” So it was supposed to be about First Contact but in a way it is not.

You are aware that the Animated Series is not considered Canon by THe franchise owners.

Great site. But there seems to be an error in the release order when sorting Star Trek episodes by release dates

Technical problem. We’re working on it.

What happened to DS9 season 1 episode 8? It is missing from you list. Also when filtering out viewed episodes and movies in you r app it switches from Star Trek to Shakespeares… I enjoy Shakespeare and did Captain Jean-Luc Picard. However, I do not think he would appreciate the Enterprise’s computer doing something similar.

Yeah the app is experiencing some technical difficulties, but we’re working on it.

The cage is set between Enterprise and Discovery, not after Discovery. The events of Discovery Season 2 show that the events of the Cage have already occurred.

I think it is stupid to watch this series in any other order than the order of release. Thx for the list.

Star Trek Voyager season 4 episode 23 Living Witness takes place hundreds of years after the rest of the series

It’s the end of 2020 and Discovery S03 and Lower Decks aren’t on the list. When will the site be updated?

I guess you’ll be adding season 3 of Discovery AFTER Picard, but before Calypso. At least that’s where it would make sense.

Thank you for compiling this list! I’ve been watching Deep Space Nine and Voyager for this first time and simultaneously thanks to this timeline. Thank you, too, for including The Animated Series which has been repeatedly reinforced by CBS as canonical.

This is a good list. But you might want to make a small correction. Most of the time it makes sense to watch shows in the order in which they aired. But on rare occasions the show was originally aired out of order. In those cases, it makes more sense to watch them in the order in which they were MADE rather then the order in which they were AIRED. Such was the case with Star Trek TOS. Here is link to an alpha site that shows the list in the order they should be. [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series]]

One more thing about that list. Discover and Strange New Worlds take place after “The Cage” but Before everything else.

Also for some of you with the TNG movies. What I originally did when I was watching the show on dvd, was I looked at the date that they were released in Theaters and then looked at the airdates of the corresponding seasons of the shows airing at the time. I noticed that around that time, there was a gap in the airdates where the shows went on Hiatus for the holidays. That is where I placed the movies.

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How <i>Picard</i> Fits Into the <i>Star Trek</i> Timeline

How Picard Fits Into the Star Trek Timeline

I t’s been 26 long years since Star Trek: The Next Generation graced the small screen. But beginning Jan. 23, a new series centered around that show’s captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), will “boldly go” to the network’s streaming service, CBS All Access. Star Trek: Picard is about our titular captain’s life many years after his last fateful mission for Starfleet.

But how does Picard fit into the larger Star Trek timeline? The CBS series is set where no Trek has gone before, well past the events of TV’s Star Trek: Voyager and the last film of the Picard era, Star Trek: Nemesis. Many fan favorite characters are expected to return, including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Seven-of-Nine (Jeri Ryan).

For Trek nerds out there, this means Picard takes place in the “prime” timeline, which is where each of the television series and the original films live. In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with the film Star Trek, creating a new timeline for the already confusing Trek universe. In the film, a bad guy travels back in time and destroys the USS Kelvin, killing Captain Kirk’s father, George Kirk, in the process. All three of J.J. Abrams’ movies take place in this alternate timeline called the “Kelvin Timeline,” after the annihilated ship.

To familiarize yourself with the Trek universe, here are the two timelines:

Prime Timeline

Cast Portrait From 'Star Trek: Enterprise'

Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2161)

Airdate: 2001-2005

Plot: Set 100 years before the Enterprise ‘s mission in the original Star Trek , this series traces the adventures of the first Warp 4 capable Starfleet ship, also called Enterprise . Scott Bakula starred as the human captain Jonathan Archer, and Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan officer T’Pol.

Yeoh and Martin-Green kick off the new Star Trek with an action-packed episode on Sept. 24

Star Trek Discovery (2255)

Airdate: 2017-

Plot: Sonequa Martin-Green plays officer Michael Burnham, a human who was raised by Spock’s parents, Amanda and Sarek. Burnham has suppressed her human tendencies in order to assimilate into the hyper-logical Vulcan society but tries to reconnect with her emotional side when she serves Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and then Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek.

Star Trek (2265-2269)

Airdate: 1966-1969

Plot: The original Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry featured Captain James Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and the other Starfleet members on a mission of exploration and self-improvement. One of the most diverse shows on television at the time, Star Trek ran for three seasons and inspired future space sagas like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica .

Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

Airdate: 1973-1974

Plot: After the original series went off the air, Roddenberry created an animated series that continued the stories of Star Trek and reunited much of the same cast to do voice work for cartoon versions of their characters.

Original Star Trek movies (2273-2293)

Airdate: 1979-1991

Plot: Roddenberry leveraged the massive success of the syndicated series into a number of feature films starring Shatner and Nimoy. Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Star Trek V: The Finale Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country continued established storylines.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

Airdate: 1987-1994

Plot: Set 100 years after the events of the original Star Trek , this series followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew (Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis, among them) on the fifth iteration of the Enterprise , USS Enterprise-D .

Next Generation Movies (2293-2379)

Airdate: 1994-2002

Plot: In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Captain Picard teams up with the once-presumed-dead Captain Kirk. The story unites the casts from the two Star Trek series at the time, effectively passing the baton from Shatner to Stewart. The Next Generation cast went on to star in three more movies, sans the original cast: Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis .

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Airdate: 1993-1999

Plot: Set on a space station rather than a starship, Deep Space Nine focuses on the adventures of the people charged with guarding the opening to a wormhole at the end of the galaxy. Deep Space Nine was helmed by Trek’ s first black captain, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). It was also the first Trek series created without Roddenberry, who gave the concept his approval before he passed away in 1991.

Cast of Star trek Voyager, first season, from left: Neelix (Ethan Phillips), Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Harry S.L. Kim (Garrett Wang), Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Kes (Jennifer Lien), Thomas Eugene Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), Tuvok (Tim Russ), "The Doctor" (Robert Picardo), B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), 1995.

Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Airdate: 1995-2001

Plot: After the ship Voyager gets stranded in the Delta Quadrant (the far side of the Milky Way galaxy) while searching for a renegade ship, they must make the 75-year journey home. Voyager was fronted by Trek’ s first female captain, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

Star Trek: Picard (2399-?)

Airdate: 2020 — ? (A second season is already in the works)

Plot: Many years after a daring mission to save a dying planet, Captain Picard — now an Admiral — has left Starfleet (or, more accurately, Starfleet has left him). But when a mysterious young woman with a potential connection to a certain beloved android shows up at his doorstep, it sets in motion events that lead Picard back into space — albeit with a crew that’s more swashbuckler than Starfleet.

Kelvin Timeline

Star Trek (2233-2258)

Release date: 2009

Plot: A bad guy named Nero (Eric Bana), angry that his planet is destroyed in the future, travels back in time and kills Kirk’s father (in 2233). He then hangs out for a long time to destroy Vulcan (in 2258) in front of old Spock who has also traveled back in time (and is played by Leonard Nimoy) because Spock failed to save the baddie’s home planet. Current-day Kirk (Chris Pine) encounters old Spock who explains all the confusing time-jump mechanics to him. Together, current-day Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) become begrudging friends and save the universe.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Airdate: 2013

Plot: The second J.J. Abrams film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain that the marketing team really tried to convince people was not genetically-engineered superhuman Khan. (He was Khan.) Kirk leads a mission to capture Khan after her murders a bunch of Starfleet officers.

Star Trek Beyond

Airdate: 2016

Plot: Justin Lin took over for the third reboot film and threw in some motorcycles because he has a thing for fast vehicles. In this one, a baddie named Krall (Idris Elba) kidnaps part of Kirk’s crew in hopes that Kirk will exchange a powerful McGuffin for their safety.

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When is Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Set? Series' Timeline Explained

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is here, and here's where the series sits on the timeline.

when is star trek discovery season 5 set michael burnham

Published: 04 Apr 2024 11:21 AM +00:00 Updated: 04 Apr 2024 11:50 AM +00:00

Star Trek: Discovery is back, but with the show’s return come questions from fans. For instance, some are asking when Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is set . After all, the series did introduce some time-bending shenanigans in previous seasons.

As it has quite a complex story, it’s important to understand first exactly where Discovery sits in the Star Trek timeline, especially for those who need a refresher given that it has been two years since Season 4.

Discovery’s place on the star trek timeline, explained, when is star trek: discovery season 5 set, star trek: discovery season 5 premieres today: where to watch.

Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery, so proceed with caution.

The Star Trek franchise got a big boost when Discovery was released in 2017. This series was fairly easy to understand at first regarding how it fits the series’ timeline.

That’s because Star Trek: Discovery started as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series . Its first season was set ten years before the original show, meaning the story still took place in the 23 rd century.

Season 2 was also set at this time, though things changed in Season 3. That’s because Discovery’s third season had a time jump of over 900 years to the 32 nd century.

While the first two seasons were fairly well-received, the third season got acclaim for giving the show a fresh direction.

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Discovery’s fourth season directly followed Season 3’s story, and it featured some of the heaviest developments in the series yet.

Meanwhile, Season 5 will also directly follow Season 4 , though its story will be lighter and with more of a focus on adventure.

Thus, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is also set in the 32 nd century. As it’s a follow-up of Season 4, this latest season is also at the farthest end of the franchise’s timeline.

RELATED: Beam Me up Scotty, Star Trek 4 Is Back On

star trek discovery season 5 michael burnham

The show’s fourth season was streamed on Paramount+ from November 2021 to March 2022. This was a departure from the other seasons which aired on CBS All Access.

For Season 5, fans can watch new episodes also on Paramount+. Discovery Season 5’s first two episodes will be released today on the platform, with one new episode being released every Thursday until May 30.

Do you have any predictions about what would happen to Michael Burnham and the rest of the Discovery crew in Season 5? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Published Apr 24, 2024

Stuck in a Loop: The Best of Star Trek's Time-Jumping Episodes

From The Next Generation to Discovery, going around and around is sometimes very revealing.

Stylized graphic illustration of an arrow with Deltas on both ends swirling around several clocks

StarTrek.com

In the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 episode, " Face the Strange ," Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner find themselves both stuck in a loop, but also, jumping all around the timeline of the titular starship. From the point before the U.S.S. Discovery was launched, to pivotal moments in Season 4, Season 3, Season 2 and even very early in Season 1, Rayner notes at one point that, "We’ve gone back in time to when you went forward to the future. That’s a little confusing."

Throughout all of Star Trek 's history, time travel has been just as propulsive to the narratives as space travel. But, within the various time travel stories of Trek , there is a special kind of time-skipping episode — the time loop story. Discovery has recently shaken-up this formula with "Face the Strange," but many elements of this episode pay homage to a proud Star Trek tradition. Here’s the history of the best time loop, and time-jumping episodes across the entire Final Frontier.

" Cause and Effect ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 5, Episode 18)

"Cause and Effect"

Perhaps one of the greatest science fiction episodes of all time, The Next Generation set the gold-standard for how to do time loop episodes.

When the Enterprise collides with another starship in the first scene, this episode poses one question right off the bat: What happens after you blow up the ship — and everyone on it — before the credits roll? The answer is mostly connected to whether or not we can even remember when we're stuck in a loop. Without actually spoiling this classic episode, let's just say thank the stars for Dr. Crusher and Data.

The brilliance of "Cause and Effect" cannot be overstated, but the 21st Century legacy of this episode is utterly appropriate. When Geordi reveals how the time loop works, Riker says, "You mean we could have come into this room, sat at this table and had this conversation a dozen times already?" This scene has become a popular meme format across various social media platforms, satirizing the time loop of some aspects of the internet experience.

" Parallels ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Parallels"

Arguably, when Worf starts slipping between realities in "Parallels," the story is more focused on other dimensions, rather than a true time loop. But, each time he pops into a new reality, Worf does tend to reply to his own personal log, which is what began the episode.

Obviously, in each new timeline, Worf's personal log is different, and because he checks it so often in the episode, this gives "Parallels" the feeling of a time loop story, even though Worf is technically moving both forward in time, and also, side-to-side.

On top of all of this, "Parallels" feels time-loopy because so many ideas and plot points from previous seasons of The Next Generation are revisited here. From references to " The Best of Both Worlds ," to the return of Wesley Crusher, "Parallels" brings all the good things of TNG back around again for another look, from a different point of view.

" All Good Things... ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 25)

"All Good Things..."

Speaking of the best of The Next Generation , the immortal series finale is, from a certain point of view, one big time loop. As Jean-Luc Picard shifts between past, present, and future, the biggest mystery of "All Good Things…" is what caused the anomaly in the Devron system? Eventually, we learn that the ending and the beginning of this story are inextricably connected, a paradox that creates a kind of loop that must be broken.

Twenty-nine years later, in the Star Trek: Picard episode, " Imposters ," Captain Liam Shaw references this moment, and notes that Picard and Riker have a "real chicken and egg thing going on." It doesn’t get any more time-loopy than that!

" Visionary ," Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 3, Episode 17)

"Visionary"

When O'Brien starts seeing another version of himself appearing randomly throughout the station, Dr. Bashir briefly floats the idea that he's just having really boring hallucinations. But, as the episode goes on, it becomes clear that O'Brien is actually seeing brief moments in the future, and then, catching up to those moments in the present.

"Visionary" messes with what we expect from a time loop episode, because in all instances of future occurrences, there are literally two O'Briens present, and, when the past O'Brien catches up to the future moment, the duplication effect happens again, creating a kind of visual loop for the audience. The funny thing is, in several instances, the future doesn't play out exactly the way past O'Brien saw the first time, making this one of the wobblier time loops in all of Star Trek .

" Relativity ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 5, Episode 24)

"Relativity"

In a move very similar to Discovery 's "Face the Strange," this unforgettable episode of Voyager briefly takes us back to a point before the series even begins, showing us Janeway's first moments on Voyager before the ship left the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars. (In "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner see Discovery in a drydock on Earth well before the events of Season 1.)

But, Voyager 's jaunt into its own prehistory is just the beginning of a very specific type of time jumping episode. Here, Seven of Nine isn't exactly repeating a loop, but, making several attempts at different times, to prevent a bomb from destroying Voyager . As Tuvok aptly puts it when encountering one version of Seven from the future, "Like many time paradoxes, it's improbable, but not necessarily illogical." Because this episode features multiple versions of Seven, and leaps to various eras of Voyager , it pairs very nicely with Burnham and Rayner's similar jumps in "Face the Strange." Especially the moment where Seven meets herself.

" Shattered ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 7, Episode 11)

In Engineering, both Chakotay and Janeway with tactical supplies strapped to their bodies look into each other's faces as they shake hands in 'Shattered'

"Shattered"

Does Voyager have the best timey-wimey episodes in all of the Trek franchise? It's hard to say, but if there's another Trek episode that feels like an older sibling of Discovery 's "Face the Strange," it's almost certainly "Shattered," a fan-favorite episode from Voyager 's final season. Here, the captain and the first officer — Janeway and Chakotay — find themselves on a version of the ship that has been split into different time periods.

"Shattered" is one of Star Trek 's greatest retrospective episodes, touching on moments across all of Voyager 's story, and teaming past versions of characters with ones closer to the present. It's a touching story, and, structurally, it's wonderfully homaged in Discovery .

" Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ," Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1, Episode 7)

Harry Mudd forces Paul Stamets and Michael Burnham down the Discovery hallway as he trails behind them holding them at phaser gunpoint in 'Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad'

"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

One of Discovery 's stand-out moments from Season 1 fully set the stage for "Face the Strange" in Season 5. In "Magic to Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," Harry Mudd sets the ship on a true time loop, in which only Stamets can truly remember what is going on. Like in "Face the Strange," Stamets has a perception that exists outside of time, thanks to taking on the Tardigrade DNA in "Choose Your Pain."

This detail comes in handy in "Face the Strange," where Burnham and Stamets again have to re-team to get Discovery out of a time loop caused by nefarious enemies using time travel technology as a weapon. In Season 1, Burnham and Stamets barely knew each other, much like Burnham and Rayner's relationship in Season 5. But, if there's one thing a time loop or time-jumping episode can do, it’s make people who are just colleagues into best friends for life.

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Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

The full star trek timeline, explained..

Ever since 1966’s premiere of the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the entertainment world has never been the same. This franchise that has boldly gone where no property has gone before has captured the hearts and minds of millions around the world and has grown into a space-faring empire of sorts filled with multiple shows, feature length films, comics, merchandise, and so much more. That being said, the amount of Star Trek out in the world can make it tough to know exactly how to watch everything it offers in either chronological or release order so you don’t miss a thing. To help make things easier for you, we’ve created this guide to break down everything you need to know about engaging with this Star Trek journey.

It used to be a bit trickier to track down all the Star Trek shows and movies you’d need to watch to catch up, but Paramount+ has made it a whole lot easier as it has become the home of nearly all the past, present and future Star Trek entries.

So, without further ado, come with us into the final frontier and learn how you can become all caught up with the adventures of Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Spock, Pike, Archer, Burnham, and all the others that have made Star Trek so special over the past 56 years.

And, in case you're worried, everything below is a mostly spoiler-free chronological timeline that will not ruin any of any major plot points of anything further on in the timeline. So, you can use this guide as a handy way to catch up without ruining much of the surprise of what’s to come on your adventure! If you’d prefer to watch everything Star Trek as it was released, you’ll find that list below as well!

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

How to Watch Star Trek by Release Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

Star Trek: Enterprise is the earliest entry on our list as it takes place a hundred years before the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series. The show aired from 2001 to 2005 and starred Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, the captain of the Enterprise NX-01. This version of the Enterprise was actually Earth’s first starship that was able to reach warp five.

While the show had its ups and downs, it included a fascinating look at a crew without some of the advanced tech we see in other Star Trek shows, the first contact with various alien species we know and love from the Star Trek universe, and more.

2. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 1 and 2 (2256-2258)

This is where things get a little bit tricky, as the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery take place before Star Trek: The Original Series but Seasons 3 and 4 take us boldly to a place we’ve not gone before. We won’t spoil why that’s the case here, but it’s important to note if you want to watch Star Trek in order, you’ll have to do a bit of jumping around from series to movie to series.

As for what Star Trek: Discovery is, it's set the decade before the original and stars Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham, a Starfleet Commander who accidentally helps start a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. She gets court-martialed and stripped of her rank following these events and is reassigned to the U.S.S Discovery.

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also begins before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series and is set up by Star Trek: Discovery as its captain, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, makes an appearance in its second season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Pike first appeared in the original failed pilot episode “The Cage” of Star Trek: The Original Series and would later become James T. Kirk’s predecessor after the original actor, Jefferey Hunter, backed out of the show.

Fast forward all these years later and now we get to learn more about the story of Christopher Pike and many other familiar faces from The Original Series alongside new characters. It’s made even more special as the ship the crew uses is the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, the very same that would soon call Kirk its captain.

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

The fourth Star Trek series or movie you should watch in the order is the one that started it all - Star Trek: The Original Series . Created by Gene Roddenberry, this first Star Trek entry would kick off a chain reaction that would end up creating one of the most beloved IPs of all time. However, it almost never made it to that legendary status as its low ratings led to a cancellation order after just three seasons that aired from 1966 to 1969. Luckily, it found great popularity after that and built the foundation for all the Star Trek stories we have today.

Star Trek: The Original Series starred William Shatner as James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock, but the rest of the crew would go on to become nearly as iconic as they were. As for what the show was about? Well, we think Kirk said it best during each episode’s opening credits;

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

While Star Trek: The Original Series may have been canceled after just three seasons, its popularity only grew, especially with the help of syndication. Following this welcome development, Gene Roddenberry decided he wanted to continue the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 in animated form, and he brought back many of the original characters and the actors behind them for another go.

Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and told even more stories of the Enterprise and its adventures throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

The first Star Trek film was a very big deal as it brought back the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series after the show was canceled in 1969 after just three seasons. However, even it had a rough road to theaters as Roddenberry initially failed to convince Paramount Pictures it was worth it in 1975. Luckily, the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and other factors helped finally convince those in power to make the movie and abandon the plans for a new television series called Star Trek: Phase II, which also would have continued the original story.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James T. Kirk was now an Admiral in Starfleet, and certain events involving a mysterious alien cloud of energy called V’Ger cause him to retake control of a refitted version of the U.S.S. Enterprise with many familiar faces in tow.

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture written, but Paramount turned it down after the reception to that first film was not what the studio had hoped for. In turn, Paramount removed him from the production and brought in Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards to write the script and Nicholas Meyer to direct the film.

The studio’s decision proved to be a successful one as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered by many, including IGN, to be the best Star Trek film. As for the story, it followed the battle between Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise vs. Ricardo Montalban’ Khan Noonien Singh. Khan is a genetically engineered superhuman and he and his people were exiled by Kirk on a remote planet in the episode ‘Space Seed’ from the original series. In this second film, after being stranded for 15 years, Khan wants revenge.

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock continues the story that began in Wrath of Khan and deals with the aftermath of Spock’s death. While many on the U.S.S. Enterprise thought that was the end for their science officer, Kirk learns that Spock’s spirit/katra is actually living inside the mind of DeForest Kelley’s Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strange ever since the death of his friend. What follows is an adventure that includes a stolen U.S.S. Enterprise, a visit from Spock’s father Sarek, a run-in with Klingons, and so much more.

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

While it is undoubtedly great that Kirk and his crew saved Spock, it apparently wasn’t great enough to avoid the consequences that follow stealing and then losing the Enterprise. On their way to answer for their charges, the former crew of the Enterprise discover a threat to Earth that, without spoiling anything, causes them to go back in time to save everything they love. The Voyage Home is a big departure from the previous films as, instead of space, we spend most of our time in 1986’s San Francisco.

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier once again brings back our favorite heroes from Star Trek: The Original Series, but it’s often regarded as one of the weakest films starring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. In this adventure, our crew’s shore leave gets interrupted as they are tasked with going up against the Vulcan Sybok, who himself is on the hunt for God in the middle of the galaxy.

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the final movie starring the entire cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, and it puts the Klingons front and center. After a mining catastrophe destroys the Klingon moon of Praxis and threatens the Klingon’s homeworld, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon is forced to abandon his species' love of war in an effort to seek peace with the Federation. What follows is an adventure that calls back to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall and serves as a wonderful send-off to characters we’ve come to know and love since 1966, even though some will thankfully appear in future installments.

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

After you make it through all six of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, it’s time to start what many consider the best Star Trek series of all time - Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series, which starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, ran from 1987 through 1994 with 178 episodes over seven seasons.

There are so many iconic characters and moments in The Next Generation, including William Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher, and many of these beloved faces would return for Star Trek: Picard, which served as a continuation of this story.

While we are once again on the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this story takes place a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. However, there may just be a few familiar faces that pop up from time to time.

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

While Star Trek Generations is the first film featuring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, it also features a team-up that many had dreamed of for years and years between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain James T. Kirk.

Our heroes are facing off against an El-Aurian named Dr. Tolian Soran, who will do whatever is necessary to return to an extra-dimensional realm known as the Nexus. Without spoiling anything, these events lead to a meeting with these two legendary captains and a heartfelt-at-times send-off to The Original Series, even though not every character returned that we wished could have.

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

Star Trek: First Contact was not only the second film featuring the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it also served as the motion picture directorial debut for William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes. In this film, the terrifying Borg take center stage and force our heroes to travel back in time to stop them from conquering Earth and assimilating the entire human race.

This movie picks up on the continuing trauma caused by Jean-Luc Picard getting assimilated in the series and becoming Locutus of Borg, and we are also treated to the first warp flight in Star Trek’s history, a shout-out to Deep Space Nine, and more.

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

Star Trek: Insurrection, which unfortunately ranked last on our list of the best Star Trek movies, is the third film starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew and followed a story involving an alien race that lives on a planet with more-or-less makes them invincible due to its rejuvenating properties. This alien race, known as the Ba’Ku, are being threatened by not only another alien race called the Son’a, but also the Federation. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew disobey Federation orders in hopes to save the peaceful Ba’Ku, and while it sounds like an interesting premise, many said it felt too much like an extended episode of the series instead of a big blockbuster film.

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

The final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie is Star Trek: Nemesis , and it also isn’t looked at as one of the best. There are bright parts in the film, including Tom Hardy’s Shinzon who is first thought to be a Romulan praetor before it’s revealed he is a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but it also features a lot of retreaded ground. There are some great moments between our favorite TNG characters, but it’s not quite the goodbye many had hoped for. Luckily, this won’t be the last we’ll see of them.

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the fourth Star Trek series and it ran from 1993 to 1999 with 176 episodes over seven seasons. Deep Space Nine was also the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but instead with Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Furthermore, it was the first series to begin when another Star Trek Series - The Next Generation - was still on the air.

The connections between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine don’t end there, as there were a ton of callbacks to TNG in Deep Space Nine, and characters like Worf and Miles O’Brien played a big part in the series. Other TNG characters popped up from time to time, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and certain Deep Space Nine characters also showed their faces in TNG.

Deep Space Nine was a big departure from the Star Trek series that came before, as it not only took place mostly on a space station - the titular Deep Space Nine - but it was the first to star an African American as its central character in Avery Brooks’ Captain Benjamin Sisko.

Deep Space Nine was located in a very interesting part of the Milky Way Galaxy as it was right next to a wormhole, and the series was also filled with conflict between the Cardassians and Bajorans, the war between the Federation and the Dominion, and much more.

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series and it ran from 1995 to 2001 with 172 episodes over seven seasons. Star Trek: Voyager begins its journey at Deep Space Nine, and then it follows the tale of Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Kathryn Janeway (the first female leading character in Star Trek history!) and her crew getting lost and stranded in the faraway Delta Quadrant.

The episodes and adventures that follow all see the team fighting for one goal: getting home. Being so far away from the Alpha Quadrant we were so used to letting Star Trek be very creative in its storytelling and give us situations and alien races we’d never encountered before.

That doesn’t mean it was all unfamiliar, however, as the Borg became a huge threat in the later seasons. It’s a good thing too, as that led to the introduction of Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, a character who would continue on to appear in Star Trek: Picard and become a fan favorite.

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

Star Trek: Lower Decks debuted in 2020 and was the first animated series to make it to air since 1973’s Star Trek: The Animated Series. Alongside having that feather in its cap, it also sets itself apart by choosing to focus more on the lower lever crew instead of the captain and senior staff.

This leads to many fun adventures that may not be as high stakes as the other stories, but are no less entertaining. There have already been three seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the fourth season is set to arrive later this summer.

The series is also worth a watch as it is having a crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that will mix the worlds of live-action and animation.

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

Star Trek: Prodigy was the first fully 3D animated Star Trek series ever and told a story that began five years after the U.S.S. Voyager found its way back home to Earth. In this series, which was aimed for kids, a group of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship called the U.S.S. Protostar and attempt to make it to Starfleet and the Alpha Quadrant from the Delta Quadrant.

Voyager fans will be delighted to know that Kate Mulgrew returns as Kathryn Janeway in this animated series, but not only as herself. She is also an Emergency Training Holographic Advisor that was based on the likeness of the former captain of the U.S.S. Voyager.

The second season of Star Trek: Prodigy was set to arrive later this year, but it was not only canceled in June, but also removed from Paramount+. There is still hope this show may find a second life on another streaming service or network.

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Star Trek: Picard is the… well… next generation of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it brings back not only Partick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, but also many of his former crew members from the beloved series. The story is set 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis and we find Picard retired from Starfleet and living at his family’s vineyard in France.

Without spoiling anything, certain events get one of our favorite captains back to work and take him on an adventure through space and time over three seasons and 30 episodes.

The show had its ups and downs, but the third season, in our opinion, stuck the landing and gave us an “emotional, exciting, and ultimately fun journey for Jean-Luc and his family - both old and new - that gives the character the send-off that he has long deserved.”

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

While Star Trek: Discovery begins around 10 years before Star Trek: The Original Series, the show jumps more than 900 years into the future into the 32nd Century following the events of the second season. The Federation is not in great shape and Captain Michael Burnham and her crew work to bring it back to what it once was.

Star Trek: Discovery is set to end after the upcoming fifth season, which will debut on Paramount+ in 2024.

For more, check out our look at the hidden meaning behind Star Trek’s great captains, why Star Trek doesn’t get credit as the first shared universe, if this may be the end of Star Trek’s golden age of streaming, and our favorite classic Star Trek episodes and movies.

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How Do Star Trek Stardates Actually Work?

There are few handier delivery mechanisms for "Star Trek" exposition than a Captain's log entry, crucial Starfleet records that mark time with "stardates" — an enigmatic calendar system integrating decimals into each date. Although based on a real-world astronomical dating system, the Starfleet version doesn't make a ton of sense because it was never meant to, which is why the "Star Trek" timeline can seem confusing the deeper you dig into it.

As outlined in a 1967 "Star Trek" writer and director's guide, "The progression of stardates in your script should remain constant but don't worry about whether or not there is a progression from other scripts." Still, understanding the Julian date system can be a good starting point for those who care to try.

Speaking with The Space Review in 2019, "Star Trek: The Original Series" technical advisor Kellam de Forest explained that the futuristic calendar system was inspired by the Julian day — the solar day measurement used in the 365-day Julian solar dating system that predated the Gregorian calendar. Because the Julian day system creates a continued count of dates from the beginning of the Julian period, the ease of calculation between two dates without breaks has made it the preferred calendar for many scientific applications, including astronomical software. Julian dates are calculated by adding the Julian day — that is, the solar day since the beginning of the Julian calendar — and then adding a decimal point to indicate the fraction of the day that has passed since noon in Universal Time Code (UTC). Although the Julian date calculates days running into the millions, only the final five digits are commonly used by astronomers — and just four are used in "Star Trek."

Star Trek's stardates are intentionally difficult to calculate

According to the "Star Trek" writer's guide, the Starfleet calendar system was invented to deemphasize the in-universe date. As the guide puts it, "We invented 'Stardate' to avoid continually mentioning Star Trek's century (actually, about two hundred years from now), and getting into arguments about whether this or that would have developed by then."

Speaking on the 1988 documentary "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story," de Forest emphasized that this almost wasn't the case since the original script contained dates from the Gregorian calendar. Upon reviewing the script, de Forest felt this didn't feel right for the future spacefaring society. As a solution, he pitched the Julian-inspired concept, which the tech advisor felt had a futuristic vibe thanks to its use of decimals.

While "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry liked the concept as a jumping-off point, his version was always meant to be a little esoteric, as Samuel A. Peeples, who wrote the second pilot for "Star Trek: The Original Series," recounted in "Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and Man Behind Star Trek." According to Peeples, "We tried to set up a system that would be unidentifiable unless you knew how we did it." Conceptualizing the revised stardate system over drinks, Roddenberry and Peeples took into account the weirdness of space and relative time, ultimately concluding that any date-related continuity errors in "Star Trek" could be chalked up to these issues. Or as the "Star Trek" writer's guide put it, "Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode." In other words, don't think too hard about it.

Every Episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Ranked

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 was a varied and emotionally heavy season, and here's how critics and fans ranked each episode in the time-travel saga.

This article contains a brief mention of suicide.

The return of Jean-Luc Picard to the Star Trek universe was always meant to be a three-season affair. The second season was filmed during the height of the pandemic, and went through many iterations under the direction of three executive producers. In more ways than one, it was a tonal shift from the seasons on either side of it. How critics and fans ranked every episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 shows how challenging and contentious the middle chapter of this saga was. The story explored time travel, introduced an alternate timeline, and was bookended by a massively important moment in Starfleet's present.

Picard Season 2 was an emotionally heavy season with a clear political point of view and a sense of fun that comes with setting sci-fi characters in the contemporaneous present. In both the special features of The Complete Star Trek: Picard home release and the making-of book Star Trek: Picard: The Art and Making of the Series , the challenges in making this season are laid bare. With Rotten Tomatoes representing the critics and IMDB's user ratings representing the audience, each episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is ranked based on the story it told and the impact it had on both the characters and audience.

10 The Picard Season 2 Premiere Was Full of Promise

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 1 "the star gazer", star trek theory: picard retconned the divisive enterprise series finale.

Of all Star Trek: Picard 's ten sophomore episodes, "The Star Gazer" ranks the highest among its peers in Season 2 . It's a fantastic beginning to the story, which both ties up loose ends from Season 1 and sets the characters on a new adventure. Most importantly, however, it brings Starfleet back into the fold in a big way. Picard delivers a Starfleet Academy commencement address, and he is then summoned to the USS Stargazer to answer a plea for help.

The episode sends off Soji, an ambassador for her synthetic siblings on the galactic stage. Dr. Agnes Jurati is with her, but quickly beams aboard the Stargazer, commanded by (her ex) Captain Cristobal Rios. Raffi, Elnor and Laris return, the first two also in Starfleet and the latter still with Jean-Luc but yearning for something more. It ends with the return of Q who, at the last moment, whisks Picard away from certain death.

9 Picard Season 2 Almost Took Place in an Alternate Timeline

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 2, "penance".

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 debuted the same day, so it makes sense they are ranked close together. The strange new world this episode introduces may be why some viewers became disillusioned with the rest of the season's 21st Century setting. Executive Producer Terry Matalas said on Inglorious Treksperts that this episode mostly came from the Season 1 showrunner Michael Chabon before he left to adapt one of his novels for Paramount.

The characters were meant to spend more time in this alternate timeline , which reveres Adam Soong, one of many Brent Spiner lookalikes related to the creation of Data. The Earth is ravaged by climate change and seems very similar to the xenophobic Mirror Universe. Picard, Raffi, Seven of Nine, Elnor, Jurati and Rios have to bust a Borg Queen out of prison so that they can time travel and fix the past. Still, it might have been fun to spend more time in this evil, alternate future.

8 Season 2 Teamed Picard Up With a Character Tying TOS to TNG

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 5, "fly me to the moon".

Actor Orla Brady played Laris, who is absent from the season save for the first and final episodes. However, she returned to the cast as Talinn, the Romulan successor to Gary Seven from The Original Series . The character known as a "Watcher" was introduced as a potential spinoff from Gene Roddenberry for NBC. While it didn't take off, it did create an interesting bit of Star Trek lore. While Gary Seven was a human with access to advanced alien technology, Talinn is a Romulan tasked with protecting the timeline on Earth.

Laris is primarily responsible for the safety of Renée Picard, ancestor of Jean-Luc and the woman who discovers "a sentient microbe" on Europa that helps fix climate change. It's also the episode where the other political storyline (Rios and the present-day "Butterflies" being persecuted by ICE for helping undocumented migrants) are broken out of custody in a fun action sequence. It's also the episode where Agnes is injected with Borg nanoprobes by the queen, setting up the next episode in the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 ranked list.

7 A Gala, a Sassy Borg Queen and a Musical Number Shook Up Picard Season 2

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 6, "two of one", 'keep being noisy': picard star provides star trek: legacy update.

This version of the Borg Queen was played by Annie Wersching , who passed away in January 2023 from cancer. Great throughout the series, this episode features the Borg Queen and Jurati sharing a mind. As the Borg Queen tries to take over her body (reliant on emotional responses for control), the two make a great inside woman as they help Team Picard sneak into a gala. Allison Pill also does a rendition of the great Pat Benatar song, "Shadows of the Night."

"Two of One" doesn't just refer to the Borg-ified Jurati, either. This episode features Jean-Luc have a touching heart-to-heart conversation with his ancestor Renée. They are also two of a kind. Picard also faces off with Adam Soong, though he runs the Admiral down with his car. Because of his synthetic body, Rios, Raffi and his friends take him to Dr. Teresa Ramirez, leader of the Butterflies and physician who doesn't ask a lot of questions.

6 Picard Season 2 Does 'Star Trek: The Voyage Home'

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 3, "assimilation".

The third episode of Picard Season 2 is ranked high because it continued the breakneck pace established by the first two episodes. Team Picard time travels to the past with the help of the Borg queen, presenting the third new locale for the series: the 21st Century . However, this is where the bulk of the season takes place, much like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was mostly set in the then-contemporaneous present.

A lot happened in this episode. Seven of Nine and Raffi try to blend in to the 21st Century and scan for a person using technology too advanced for the time. Rios is meant to help, but he's injured and ends up in a clinic with Dr. Teresa Ramirez and her son Ricardo, who are eventually arrested by ICE. Agnes and Picard try to outwit the Borg Queen. However, the most important moment in the episode was the death of Elnor. Fatally wounded by Seven of Nine's alternate timeline husband, his death devastates Raffi.

5 Guinan Brought the Return of an Old Friend With a New Face

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 4, "watcher".

Whoopi Goldberg's affable bartender Guinan returned in the Picard Season 2 premiere , but the character returned in a big way played by Ito Aghayere. The first episode established that Guinan, an ageless El Aurian, can alter her appearance to older or younger as she sees fit. Picard has to convince her to help him save humanity, even though she doesn't think Earthlings are worth the effort.

This is the episode which focuses most heavily on the immigration story in Season 2, with Rios in ICE custody trying to explain why he has no identification. As Seven of Nine and Raffi try to find him, they discover how migrants can fall through the cracks of the system. This plays out while juxtaposed with Guinan's condemnation of humanity. However, Picard is able to make a plea based on what he knows of where humanity can go in the future, in a very Roddenberry-esque Star Trek moment.

4 Picard and Guinan Find Mercy and Vulcans from Agent Wells

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 8, "mercy", star trek's wil wheaton wants a crusher brothers spinoff series.

Introduced at the end of the previous episode, Jay Karnes makes his return to Star Trek . Having previously played a time agent in Star Trek: Voyager , in Picard Season 2, he plays FBI Agent Wells, who is a firm believer in alien activity and arrests both Guinan and Picard based on video footage he has of the latter transporting onto the street. He questions them both, threatening the mission and the timeline. It's revealed that he had a pre- First Contact Vulcan encounter as a child . He ultimately lets Picard and Guinan go, seemingly fired for bringing them in at all.

Meanwhile, the Borg Queen has control of Agnes, and Seven of Nine and Raffi have to try to find and capture her. They find her consuming metals from car batteries, which is toxic to Agnes, but is what the Borg Queen needs to assimilate more people. She doesn't kill Seven or Raffi, proving Agnes still has some measure of control. Borg Jurati then goes to Adam Soong, convincing him to help her steal La Sirena and strand Team Picard in the 21st Century.

3 Season 2 Brought Picard Face-to-Face With His Greatest Fear and Regret

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 7, "monsters".

This episode is ranked one of the lowest by Picard viewers, and it's understandable. Not a lot happens in the episode, despite the introduction of James Callis as a hallucination of a therapist and Picard's father . This episode dives deeply into the memories of guilt and the mystery of what happened to Jean-Luc's mother. It's emotionally heavy and does somewhat lag on the breathless urgency of trying to find Agnes and stop Adam Soong.

Still, this is an emotionally powerful episode that recontextualizes what viewers have been seeing about Picard's past. His father is revealed to not be the abusive villain fans thought. Picard's mother is not a victimized woman trying to be free, but rather someone suffering from mental illness or injury. It's a traumatic, frightening event and (with help of Watcher Talinn and some sci-fi telepathic technology), Picard works through it.

2 The New Borg Were the Best Thing Picard Season 2 Brought to Star Trek

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 10, "farewell".

While the finale of Picard Season 2, "Farewell" is mostly about denouement, outside of the last mission to ensure that Adam Soong doesn't kill Renée Picard. Talinn sacrifices herself. Rios decides to stay behind in the 21st Century. Wesley Crusher returns as a Watcher , and Q and Picard have a final heart-to-heart chat, just before he sends them all back to the proper future. He's even able to resurrect Elnor since he had a little power left over because Rios stayed behind.

The best part of the finale was the reveal that Agnes Jurati was the Borg Queen from the first episode of Picard Season 2. With the alternate timeline Borg Queen, she created a new kind of collective. People choose to join the Borg, and even retain some measure of individuality . These new Borg agree to stand guard against a rupture in spacetime through which an unknown threat has yet to emerge. They become provisional members of the Federation, continuing the Star Trek tradition of old enemies, eventually becoming allies.

1 Star Trek's Most Emotionally Heavy Episode Is About Picard's Guilt

Star trek: picard season 2 episode, "hide and seek".

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is a massive episode, both for its action and its emotional weight. There is a big battle at Chateau Picard where the new Jurati Borg assimilate mercenaries hired by Adam Soong. They try to kill Picard and his friends, but Agnes eventually convinces the Queen to try a different way than she had in the past, since in every timeline assimilation and violence leads to the Borg's destruction.

Most importantly, this episode reveals how Picard's mother died and why Jean-Luc felt so much guilt for it. His father locked her in a room to stop her from hurting herself. Jean-Luc unlocked the door and went to lie with his mother and comfort her. After he fell asleep, she took her own life. As much as Picard Season 2 was about fixing the past, outsmarting the Borg and other Star Trek things, Picard's revelation was the true mission . He had to forgive himself by letting go of the guilt that kept him at arm's length from people and preparing him to be a father.

The complete Star Trek: Picard is available to own on Blu-ray, DVD, digital and streams on Paramount+ .

Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 pits the iconic Admiral against his greatest nemesis Q for a time-travel adventure that exposes Jean-Luc's deepest secret.

DeForest Kelley Made A Change To Star Trek's Dr. McCoy In The Voyage Home

I t's unlikely that any of the actors who appeared on "Star Trek" in 1966 would assume they would be playing the same roles 18 years later, but "Star Trek" has had a curious habit of longevity. Each time the franchise dies out, the landscape shifts and the series is revived. That's certainly what happened in 1979 with the release of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (which isn't boring, despite its reputation) . After the original series was canceled in 1969, it was put into eternal syndication, allowing new audiences to find it for years thereafter. Trek conventions began in earnest in the mid-1970s, interest was renewed, and, lo, "Star Trek" returned. Sequel movies were put into production, and by 1986, the franchise released Leonard Nimoy's "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," the biggest hit in all of "Star Trek" until the release of J.J. Abrams' film in 2009.

Also by 1986, the characters had aged from their mid-30s to their mid-50s, and the cast had to consider the long careers of Starfleet officers. They were clearly eager to keep serving together but were now sporting higher ranks and were perhaps even aging out of the space adventure game. If you ask me, "The Voyage Home" still should have ended with the heroes all being drummed out of Starfleet for their many transgressions.

Back in 2014, StarTrek.com unearthed a 1986 audio interview with DeForest Kelley , who had played Dr. McCoy on and off for essentially two decades at that point. In the interview, the actor commented on the progress Dr. McCoy had made since the early days, and how large character developments had to be made from film to film, as opposed to the incremental character development he worked on during a weekly TV series. Notably, he said, Dr. McCoy had mellowed out a lot.

Read more: The 21 Best Star Trek Original Series Episodes, Ranked

McCoy And Spock

Kelley talked about the timeline of four feature films vs. the timeline of the 79 episodes of the original series, and how character arcs must be condensed for the latter. On a weekly show, a character isn't necessarily going to change in two weeks, but with a year or more between movies, new changes must be considered. Most notably, McCoy had to develop a new relationship with the Vulcan Spock (Nimoy). On the series, McCoy was openly annoyed by Spock's cold logic. After working with Spock for 20 years, though, that relationship had to evolve. Kelley said:

"It's very difficult to expand or flesh a character out in a motion picture, so to speak. When we're doing them, it takes a couple of years to get one out. If we were still doing the series, why, it would be a lot of fun to see how these characters change during the aging process. So what I tried to do in ['The Voyage Home'] is kind of ... not soften McCoy, but he's become a little more attuned to Spock and he's looking at him more or less with a bit of amusement, as opposed to becoming so irritated with him."

This made sense, especially after the events of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." In that film, McCoy carried Spock's consciousness inside his brain so that it could be salvaged and placed back in an empty body late in the movie. He also committed a brazen act of mutiny, helping Kirk (William Shatner) and his other crewmates hijack the U.S.S. Enterprise for entirely selfish ends. The hijacking would eventually lead to the destruction of the Enterprise. After so much sacrifice, McCoy would necessarily have to be warmer and more peaceful about working with Spock.

Being Likeable

Kelley also noted that a TV schedule allowed for more creative opportunities, specifically the opportunity to get things wrong every once in a while. When one is making 20-odd episodes a season and shooting on a tight, weekly schedule, there are bound to be stories that are a little rushed, and perhaps half-baked. Audiences would be forgiving, however, as there would be a new episode seven days later to "reset" any ill feelings. Kelley knew that a movie had to get everything right the first time, as they were released as major, infrequent events. He also continued elaborating on McCoy's relationship to Spock, saying:

"Not that he doesn't become irritated with Spock, but McCoy has mellowed a little bit during this timeframe. As I say, if we were doing even six 90-minute shows a year we could expand on that, but when you shoot one motion picture every two years, it's rather a problem because it's very difficult to satisfy everyone. We only did 79 episodes, but during those episodes, there was bound to be one episode that perhaps everybody would like. You can't do that with a motion picture because there's going to be somebody who's not going to like something about it."

Kelley went on to admit in the 1986 interview that he was a lazy actor, and that he would have been content with the "Star Trek" gig, even if it didn't lead to a prolonged film franchise. He, like several other Trek actors , didn't think the show would last very long and that a sci-fi series might even eat into some co-stars' professional credibility. "[W]hen I saw Leonard with his makeup with the ears," Kelley said. "I thought 'Well, he's had it.'"

Read the original article on SlashFilm

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Historic Timeline: Star Trek’s LGBTQ History

Published by Erica Leff on April 17, 2024 April 17, 2024

Star Trek’s LGBTQ History

I chose to make a timeline regarding one of my favorite things, Star Trek . It has a messy but increasingly positive history with LGBTQ issues. I would break Star Trek ‘s LGBTQ history into 3 “eras”:

The Original Series Era (1966-1987), where there’s no real depictions onscreen of LGBTQ issues, although fans in the late ’60s started writing Kirk/Spock fan fiction because of the characters’ relationship subtext. This is the start of the “slashfic” subgenre of fan fiction, depicting male/male relationships.
The Reboot Era (1987-2016), where the shows The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and Enterprise are released, as well as the TOS reboot movies Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). During this time, Star Trek occasionally touched on issues of gender and sexuality and were usually slightly ahead of the times on these issues. There is a lot of gay subtext in this era, as well as the controversial first female/female kiss in 1995.
The Second Reboot Era (2016-present), starting with Star Trek Beyond , the third reboot movie, where this version of Hikaru Sulu is revealed to be gay. After this, we get the shows Discovery , Picard , Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Strange New Worlds . Here we get explicitly LGBTQ characters and stories.

It should be noted that for decades, actors playing Star Trek captains and other characters voiced their desire for more representation. Scott Bakula, who played Captain Jonathan Archer on Enterprise , said “I haven’t heard anything coming down the pipeline, but I would be in favor of it. … It would be wonderful … if it was not such a huge issue, but was just there” (Starr, 2002). Fifteen years later, LGBTQ characters became a regular part of the Star Trek universe. While Star Trek is known for always having been a progressive franchise, the lack of true LGBTQ representation until after the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States is troubling.

Initially, when making this timeline, I simply found photos of the most important scenes. I realized that images on Imgur don’t upload very well into TimelineJS, so I decided to find videos on YouTube, which also made more sense, since a video can tell more of a story than a still image. I included the Original Series Era to make it visually clear where the eras begin and end, despite not including any points in time from that era. The timeline’s large gaps speak volumes about how afraid Star Trek and its owner, Paramount, were about including LGBTQ representation. I had a little trouble getting my timeline to work because I misunderstood the “publish to web” step. I thought I had to click out of window and copy the URL from the published version, not the spreadsheet itself. Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, it worked perfectly.

Starr, M. (2002, January 17). Starr report. New York Post .

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Star Trek Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

The Films and TV Shows (Combined)

The Days Before Space

The Dawn of the Warp Era

The Rise of Picard, Sisko, and Janeway

The Future Is a Dark Place

Every Star Trek Show And Movie In Chronological Order

1986: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

2024: Star Trek: Picard (Season 2)

2063: Star Trek: First Contact

2151 - 2155: Star Trek: Enterprise

2254: The Cage

2256 - 2258: Star Trek: Discovery (seasons 1 and 2)

2258: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

2258 (KELVIN): Star Trek (2009)

2259 (KELVIN): Star Trek Into Darkness

2263 (KELVIN): Star Trek Beyond

2265 - 2269: Star Trek

2269 - 2270: Star Trek: The Animated Series

2273: Star Trek: The Motion Picture

2285: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2287: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

2293: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

2364 - 2370: Star Trek: The Next Generation

2369 - 2375: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

2371: Star Trek: Generations

2371 - 2378: Star Trek: Voyager

2375: Star Trek: Insurrection

2379: Star Trek: Nemesis

2380 - ?: Star Trek: Lower Decks

2383: Star Trek: Prodigy

2399: Star Trek: Picard (Season 1)

3188 - 3190: Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 3 and 4)

Screen Rant

Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Discovery

11 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022 onward)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series

8 Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy

3 Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)

Star Trek: Picard

1 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2025)

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek Movies & TV Series Timeline

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

2. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: The Brightest Star (2018)

3. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Q&A (2019)

4. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Cage (1966)

5. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

6. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Runaway (2018)

7. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: The Escape Artist (2019)

8. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

10. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020) Episode: Ask Not (2019)

11. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

12. Star Trek (1966–1969)

13. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975)

14. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

15. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

16. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

17. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

18. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)