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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 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 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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This Is The Correct Order In Which To Watch The Star Trek Franchise

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in Picard

Don't look now, but "Star Trek" is a thing again. It's been a while — after redefining television in the 1960s and enjoying a resurgence in the '80s and '90s, the final episode of ""Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005 marked the beginning of a dark period in which there was simply no "Trek" to be had. Then, in 2017, the drought ended with the premiere of " "Star Trek: Discovery ," and when it rains, it pours. "Discovery" heralded the arrival of a whole new era of ""Star Trek," and that's just the beginning — Paramount+ will soon play host to two new "Star Trek" shows, with three more currently in development, and there's a new movie scheduled for release in 2023 . Suddenly, we are awash in "Trek," which means that if you're unfamiliar with Gene Roddenberry's universe, it's a pretty good time to jump on board. Only where do you start with a franchise this big — and more importantly, what's the proper watch order?

These are the questions we're here to answer. While it's tempting to try and watch "Star Trek" chronologically, using either the fictional timeline or release dates, we recommend an order that's a bit of a blend of both. Following this list should result in an experience that provides a complete picture of what "Star Trek" is while also remaining easy to binge. With that in mind (and with the understanding that a few spoilers are unavoidable ), it's time to boldly go where every previous "Star Trek" installment has gone before!

The Original Series

When you watch "Star Trek," you really need to begin at the beginning. Not with Enterprise, which is set earlier in the "Trek" timeline than any show, but with "Star Trek" — or as it's lovingly called these days, "The Original Series." This is the show that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969, forever altering the television medium, the science fiction genre, and the experience of being a fan. While some viewers may find the special effects laughable or the political themes unsubtle, the most astonishing thing about "TOS" is how well it holds up, even more than 50 years later. The first two seasons, in particular, are absolutely riddled with classic episodes, and while the third season is significantly worse due to changes in the creative team, it's still fun to watch William Shatner ham it up as Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy raise a single Vulcan eyebrow as Mr. Spock, and the original Starship Enterprise soar through space. Most importantly, though, those first 79 episodes introduce rules, concepts, and even characters that "Star Trek" is still playing with today, from Class M planets and the Prime Directive to Khan and the Klingons.

The Animated Series

The unofficial fourth and fifth seasons of "Star Trek," "The Animated Series" aired on NBC from 1973 to 1974, after tempers had cooled somewhat between NBC and Roddenberry, who left "Star Trek" after its second season out of frustration with the network. Not only was the entire original cast back (minus Walter Koenig), but so was Roddenberry, and so was D.C. Fontana, Roddenberry's longtime assistant who had grown into one of the most celebrated "Trek" writers and had also departed after Season 2. Between the return of some of the show's original creative minds and cast, and the fact that animation allowed them to do so much more than live action special effects of the era, "TAS" is pure, undiluted "Star Trek."

It's never been made explicitly clear whether "TAS" is canon, but considering the number of "TAS" ideas re-used in later live-action shows, plus the introduction in "TAS" of canon pieces of backstory, like Kirk's middle name, it's silly at this point to believe otherwise. And it's required viewing for completists who want to see every televised adventure undertaken by the original Enterprise crew.

The first six films

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was released by Paramount in 1979, and while it's not an especially good film, it holds historical importance as the launching point for the "Star Trek" movie franchise. The real highlights in this part of the list, though, are the three films that followed. The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home essentially form their own trilogy of movies within the larger "Trek" saga, and are some of the most popular and critically acclaimed installments in the franchise. "The Wrath of Khan," in particular, tends to show up near the top of "best science fiction films in history" lists, making the titular Khan such an iconic villain that he was recast for the J.J. Abrams reboot movies, while "The Voyage Home" is probably the most charming "Star Trek" film, as the Enterprise travels to the past to rescue the humpback whale species from extinction.

Even the most dedicated binge-watcher can safely skip the horrendous fifth movie, "The Final Frontier," but "The Undiscovered Country" is an absolute masterpiece, and taken together, these six films provide a worthy capstone to the franchise's inaugural era.

It might seem counterintuitive to follow up the oldest "Star Trek" series with one of the newest, especially given that "Star Trek: Discovery" actually takes place prior to "The Original Series." But there's a good reason to jump from the tales of Kirk and Spock to the tales of Michael Burnham and...well, and Spock, who shows up in Season 2. "The Original Series" and its accompanying animated and film extensions are foundational to "Discovery," which is set shortly after the events of the rejected "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage." And characters from "The Cage" show up in Season 2 and are also appearing in their own spinoff, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

While an in-universe chronological watch order would put the first two seasons of "Discovery" before "TOS" and the third season at the very end (as the crew travels forward in time to the far future) it makes more sense to us to treat "Discovery" as its own story. The third season does occasionally reference "past" events from other shows, but that does lead nicely into the next "Trek" installment...

The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)

For many Trekkies today, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was their introduction to the franchise, and for good reason. If any one series beyond the original can lay a claim to being the single most iconic "Star Trek" story, it's Next Generation, which premiered in 1987 and went on to not only have seven seasons of its own, but to jumpstart a chain of interlocking "Star Trek" shows that would thoroughly dominate the 1990s. Before that, though, the first five seasons of Next Generation stood alone, and if you're trying to get somebody instantly hooked on Trek, this might actually be the place to start, despite the fact that the first couple of seasons don't hold up incredibly well.

If you're absorbing all of "Star Trek," though, "Next Generation" has to be the place to start. After all, it's the next generation of what, exactly? The answer is the Starship Enterprise, which comes with an entirely new cast and crew, introducing the world to Worf, Data, Counselor Troi, and Geordi LaForge, and permanently branding the hearts of a thousand Trekkies with the image of Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard .

The Next Generation (Season 6) / Deep Space Nine (Season 1)

Okay, this is where it gets weird. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" debuted in January 1993, just a few months after "Next Generation" kicked off its sixth season — a season full of unmitigated classics, incidentally, from the return of Montgomery Scott in "Relics" to the legendary two-parter "Chain of Command." Picard even makes a cameo in the first episode of "DS9," which takes place aboard a space station and uses the ideas and events of earlier "Next Generation" episodes to inform characters like Commander Benjamin Sisko and Quark. It's essentially impossible to understand Sisko's backstory, for example, without first having seen the "Next Generation" episode "The Best of Both Worlds."

Despite the fact that they take place over roughly the same time period, we recommend watching the entirety of Season 6 of "Next Generation" followed by the entirety of Season 1 of "DS9," if for no other reason than the former has more episodes than the latter, making it a complicated process to intercut between them. But however you choose to do it, these two seasons really should be watched back to back.

The Next Generation (Season 7) / Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

Similarly, the second season of "DS9" coincides with the last "Next Generation" season. While it might lack the standout episodes of earlier seasons, Season 7 manages a few achievements. For one thing, it puts a bow on one of the most beloved shows in television history with a flourish, ending the program with an ambitious, timeline-jumping two-parter that ties directly into the events of the very first episode. It also inadvertently lays the groundwork for a much more modern "Trek" show with an episode about junior officers called "Lower Decks." But most importantly, it ties into and reinforces "Deep Space Nine," most notably in the penultimate episode "Preemptive Strike," which deals with concurrent "DS9" problems like the Cardassians and the Maquis.

By the end of Season 2, "DS9" has already proven capable of standing on its own, having picked up and ran with the Maquis threads from earlier "Next Generation" episodes, returned to the Mirror Universe first introduced in the original series, and introduced the Dominion and the Jem'Hadar, who will serve as the series' primary antagonists. But the stories of Picard and company were far from over...

Generations

The four feature films built around the cast of "Next Generation" are a direct continuation of the movies that came before, not least because the first one, 1994's "Generations," serves as a bridge between "TOS" and its descendant, and between Kirk and Picard, in about the most literal way you could imagine. This movie marks the final appearance of several characters from the original show, including Kirk himself (the one played by William Shatner, at any rate) which makes it a crucial piece of the "Star Trek" timeline, as does the introduction of Data's emotion chip. Of course, some might consider the movie worth it just to see Malcolm McDowell chew the scenery like he hasn't eaten in three days, and we can't say they're wrong.

"Generations" launched Picard's crew onto the big screen almost immediately after their exit from the small one, meaning they would continue to be the face of "Star Trek" for the remainder of the decade. But back in the realm of "Trek" TV, things were only heating up, as a new series prepared to take the field and challenge "DS9" for television dominance.

Deep Space Nine (Season 3) / Voyager (Season 1)

Once again, it's time to switch between two seasons of "Star Trek," as the third season of "DS9" overlaps with the debuting "Star Trek: Voyager." The first "Trek" series to feature a woman (Kathryn Janeway) in the captain's chair, "Voyager" also had a unique and fascinating premise. Much of the "DS9" action is driven by the existence of a nearby wormhole that leads to the Gamma Quadrant, a section of space far away from the Federation's native Alpha Quadrant. This allows the titular space station and its intrepid crew to encounter any number of new and dangerous alien species. "Voyager" goes even farther, literally — a solitary ship finds itself transported to the even more distant Delta Quadrant and spends the rest of the series trying to get home.

Due to this premise, there's no reason whatsoever to jump between individual episodes of these two seasons, as the events of one show don't affect the other in any way. But jumping between shows by the season provides a fun and accurate experience of what it was like to watch the interlocking "Star Trek" programs of the 1990s.

Deep Space Nine (Season 4) / Voyager (Season 2)

Like most "Star Trek" shows, "Voyager" takes a couple of seasons to find its feet, and Season 2 in particular contains some of its most notoriously bad episodes, from the tone-deaf Native American implications of "Tattoo" to Janeway and Voyager pilot Tom Paris turning into salamanders and having salamander babies together in "Threshold" to the utter abomination that is "Tuvix." At least it has the consideration to get them all out of the way early on.

"DS9," meanwhile, was encountering its own problems in Season 4, which took a sharp turn away from the burgeoning conflict with the Dominion and instead spent most of its time dealing with the newly antagonistic Klingon Empire. Fortunately, even as the overarching plot went briefly off the rails, the writing was getting better and better, and the diversion is, if nothing else, entertaining. As a bonus, Season 4 features one of television's first lesbian kisses, and also brings in Worf, the Klingon security officer from "Next Generation" — until Picard, Michael Dorn was the only actor to star in the main casts of two different "Star Trek" shows.

First Contact

As a result of his dual roles, Worf would spend the next several years hopping back and forth between television and the movies. One reason it's important to watch Season 4 of "DS9" prior to watching "First Contact," the second film starring the "Next Generation" cast, is because in order to include Worf in the story, the latter is obligated to include a scene in which the Enterprise rescues another ship called the Defiant, introduced in "DS9" and captained by Worf himself. Future "Next Generation" movies, which decline in quality moving forward, come up with increasingly hand-wavy reasons for his presence on the Enterprise bridge.

"First Contact" itself, however, is by far the best of the "Next Generation" films and one of the best "Star Trek" films in general, as the crew travels back in time to prevent the cybernetic hive mind known as the Borg from altering history. Not only is "First Contact" a great movie (and the film directorial debut of Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander William Riker), it also kicks off a spectacular "Star Trek" run that can stand up against any other period in franchise history.

Deep Space Nine (Season 5) / Voyager (Season 3)

With Season 5, "DS9" gets back on track after the previous outlier season, quickly focusing around a single unified threat thanks to an alliance between the show's original antagonists the Cardassians and the Dominion. The presence of the sinister Changelings adds an intrigue element to the story, as any character could potentially be a Changeling in disguise — a concept that would be used to great effect years later in the 2004 reboot of "Battlestar Galactica." The season concludes with the official start of the Dominion War, a conflict that would dominate the remainder of the show.

"Voyager," meanwhile, was also getting back on track in its third season, which generally sees an uptick in quality — particularly toward the end, with episodes like "Before and After," "Real Life," and "Worst Case Scenario." Robert Picardo, who plays Voyager's holographic doctor, also gets to make a cameo in "DS9" as the Doctor's creator, Lewis Zimmerman, in the episode "Doctor Bashir, I presume." And Season 3 ends with the first installment of "Scorpion," which catalyzed "Voyager's" official rise to greatness in part thanks to a memorable new character.

Deep Space Nine (Season 6) / Voyager (Season 4)

These two overlapping seasons, airing in late 1997 and early 1998, represent the pinnacle of "Star Trek's" '90s golden age. In "DS9," the Dominion War is in full swing, the series' much-discussed religions themes are building in prominence, the mysterious Section 31 is introduced, foreshadowing its prominent role in both "Enterprise" and "Discovery," and most memorably, the showrunners do what almost no iteration of "Star Trek" has ever dared to do: permanently kill off a member of the main cast.

Casting changes are also a major part of Season 4 of "Voyager," which jettisons the little-loved character of Kes and officially introduces Seven of Nine , a liberated Borg drone played by Jeri Ryan who quickly joins the ranks of the franchise's most widely known characters. It's an oversimplification to suggest that the overall brilliance of Season 4 is the direct result of Ryan joining the cast, but no matter how much of it you attribute to her, it's a phenomenal season of television, filled from start to finish with some of the best "Voyager" episodes (and also "Retrospect," but we don't talk about that one).

Insurrection

It's not "First Contact," but 1998's "Insurrection" is still a pretty good "Next Generation" movie, another solid offering from Jonathan Frakes. While "Insurrection" doesn't interact much with the events of "DS9" or "Voyager," watching it at this point in the "Trek" timeline provides an overall context for the state of the Federation, which has been intermittently challenged, as the movie's primary villain points out, by the Borg, the Cardassians, and the Dominion. A sense of the Federation being assailed from all sides isn't strictly necessary for the film's story of familial betrayal on a planet that confers immortality, but it does make viewing it a more interesting experience (though again, the perfunctory inclusion of Worf simply because he's expected to be in "Next Generation" movies is potentially jarring for "DS9" fans who have become invested in his character development, which "Insurrection" largely ignores).

"Insurrection" is Frakes' last "Star Trek" movie as director (though he would later direct episodes of "Discovery" and "Picard") and marks the beginning of the end of the '90s "Trek" boom. There's still plenty of great "Trek" ahead, but the curve is now pointing down.

Deep Space Nine (Season 7) / Voyager (Season 5)

The final season of "DS9" represents one of the single greatest creative accomplishments in "Star Trek" history, as no "Trek" show to date has managed to stick such an ambitious and satisfying landing. In a unique move, the last 10 episodes of the season form a single, series-ending story, and the feature-length finale, "What You Leave Behind," is considered one of the greatest "Trek" episodes of all time. "DS9" had been great for at least two seasons prior to this one, but the success of Season 7 cemented it as a foremost jewel in the crown of the "Star Trek" franchise.

"Voyager," meanwhile, continued its stellar run of episodes, capping off a three-year rehabilitation effort that saw one of the franchise's shakiest shows become one of its best. It was good timing, too, because with "DS9" wrapping up ("What You Leave Behind" aired the week after the Season 5 "Voyager" finale, "Equinox"), Captain Janeway and her crew were suddenly the only starship in the galaxy. And you, intrepid binge-watcher, can finally stop switching between two different shows.

Voyager (Seasons 6-7)

Unlike "DS9," the final seasons of "Voyager" are not its best, though admittedly, after Seasons 4 and 5, that's a high bar to clear. Season 6 comes close with a steady stream of classics, introducing both the popular Holodeck scenario Fair Haven and the "Pathfinder" storyline that sees "Next Generation" vets Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi join up as recurring characters. By Season 7, however, the quality of "Voyager" has begun to dip noticeably — the final season contains few memorable episodes and at least one extremely ill-conceived romantic subplot. It earns some redemption, however, with the two-part series finale "Endgame," which, whether you like it or not, at least fulfills the promise of the show's premise and comes to a definitive conclusion about whether the ship and its crew are ever getting back to the Alpha Quadrant. It's a moment that would have been easy to shy away from, and "Voyager" meets it head on.

"Endgame" aired in May 2001, and in retrospect, the title didn't only apply to "Voyager." The continuous story that "Star Trek" had been telling for the past 14 years over the course of three different shows and three different movies was over. There was, however, one last (incredibly depressing) chapter to get through.

The final "Next Generation" film, released in 2002, is by far the worst of them, and the worst "Star Trek" movie in general since 1989's "The Final Frontier." It was so bad, in fact, that it notoriously killed "Star Trek" — plans for a fifth "Next Generation" movie were scrapped after "Nemesis" bombed at the box office, and creatively, it's an absolute nightmare, introducing a Romulan sister planet with the unfortunate name of Remus, blatantly attempting to restart Data's entire character arc via a literal copy with the also unfortunate name of B-4, and tying these and other unfortunate decisions together with a nonsensical plot featuring Tom Hardy as a secret clone of Picard. After "Nemesis," the scuttling of future franchise installments can honestly be seen as a mercy killing.

"Star Trek" wasn't quite dead in 2002, however. While we've now officially made it through the combined stories of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager," there's one more show, independent from the others, that now enters the viewing order. And watching it involves going back to the very beginning... and even before that.

In a chronological viewing, "Star Trek: Enterprise" would actually be the first show you watch, since it takes place a hundred years prior to "The Cage." Indirectly spinning off from the events of "First Contact," it tells the story of Earth's first warp starship, appropriately named the Enterprise and captained by Scott Bakula's Jonathan Archer, and of humanity's early relationships with alien species like the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians. Despite its status as a prequel, the sheer degree to which "Enterprise" relies on its audience having knowledge of other "Star Trek" properties makes it almost impossible to recommend as an entry point. It fits much better here, as the official end of the franchise's second major era, especially given that the final episode, "These Are The Voyages...," frames itself as a holodeck simulation being watched by the Enterprise crew from "Next Generation."

"There Are The Voyages..." aired on May 13th, 2005. There wouldn't be another "Star Trek" show for more than 12 years. At this point, our watch order breaks away from order of release, but we feel strongly that it's how "Star Trek" from 1987 to 2005 should be watched.

Lower Decks

If you think 12 years is a long gap between "Star Trek" installments, that's nothing compared to the 45 years that went by between "Trek" stories told via animation. "Short Treks" was technically the first "Trek" show since "The Animated Series" to include animated episodes, and that aired in 2019, but 2020 gave us the first season of "Lower Decks," an entirely animated show about the people who don't get to hang out on the bridge.

The first franchise installment to ever concern itself primarily with characters who are not in command of a starship or space station, "Lower Decks" is the "Star Trek" equivalent of shows like HBO's "Harley Quinn" — an irreverent, adult-oriented comedy that revels in its TV-MA rating, delivering violence, sex, and swearing at warp speed frequencies. Chronologically, it's set shortly after the events of "Nemesis," but more importantly to the binge-watcher, it's the dessert following a feast — a vital dose of pure fun after absorbing almost four full decades of space drama.

The Kelvin timeline

After the box office failure of "Nemesis" brought an abrupt end to the "Next Generation" movies, there wasn't a new "Trek" film until 2009. And far from being a continuation of the existing movie franchise, this new version, simply called "Star Trek," was a reboot of "The Original Series," casting new, younger versions of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the first Enterprise crew. Sequels to the reboot followed in 2013 and 2016.

Watching these three movies as part of a "Star Trek" binge is pretty much entirely optional, since they take place in an alternate timeline created when the USS Kelvin was destroyed in battle with time-traveling Romulan ship from the 24th century, leaving an infant James T. Kirk without a father in the process. Moreover, the trilogy is widely considered to be of uneven quality (though the third movie, "Star Trek Beyond," is considerably better than its predecessor, possibly due to the departure of director J.J. Abrams). Still, if you're going to watch them, this is the place in the viewing order to do it, as a key plot point of the first film — the Romulan sun going supernova — plays a major role in "Picard."

Short Treks

The Kelvin movies might not exert much direct influence over the larger plot of "Star Trek," but they played a major role in the future of the franchise by bringing in Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman is the showrunner on "Discovery," and with the exception of "Lower Decks," he has been directly involved in every modern "Trek" series. In 2018, after the successful first season of "Discovery" led to a new expansion of the "Star Trek" franchise, Kurtzman and co-creator Bryan Fuller (formerly a writer on "DS9" and "Voyager") premiered "Short Treks," an anthology series of short, unrelated stories. As of this writing, there have been two seasons and 10 total episodes, some live-action, some animated.

"Short Treks" spans almost the entire "Star Trek" timeline — two episodes are set in the period of time between "Enterprise" and "The Original Series," while a third takes place in the far future. As a result, watching it requires a sense of the entire scope of the "Trek" universe. It's the penultimate entry in this watch order, however, because the Season 2 finale, "Children of Mars," leads directly into the final entry: "Picard."

"Star Trek: Picard" is the first of the modern "Trek" offerings to look forward rather than back, giving us a story set after the events of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager." Indeed, not only does the series follow up with Jean-Luc Picard 20 years after we last saw him (and 12 years after the Romulan sun went supernova) but it also brings in an older version of Seven of Nine, once again portrayed by Jeri Ryan. As mentioned, Picard also ties into the most recent installment of "Short Treks," which involves a terrorist attack by synthetic life forms that eventually leads to a ban on their creation — one of the many plot elements of "Picard" that has drawn criticism for being inconsistent with the original utopian vision of "Star Trek."

With so many new "Trek" shows on their way, this list will quickly become outdated. But all the upcoming series will reward previous "Trek" viewing, from Janeway's return on "Star Trek: Prodigy" to a show focused entirely on Section 31. So if you're going to binge all of "Star Trek," you might want to get started now!

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The Best Order to Watch All of Star Trek

Whether you’ve overlooked Star Trek for the past 60 years, looking to finally catch up, or are a die-hard fan setting out on a new binge, this list is here help you figure out the best order to watch everything the long-running sci-fi series has to offer.

There are really three ways to approach a binge of this size and complexity: chronologically, by release, or the mythical “best.” Here we’ll provide you with the full list of how to do each one and you can choose for yourself from there.

How to Watch All of Star Trek in Release Order

Watching by release date is probably the easiest way to do this, though it might not deliver the best overall experience. Considering this is how much of the fanbase got hooked, however, it’s a perfectly valid way to get into Trek . It also helps with the times when later shows reference earlier ones, ensuring you’ve seen everything that’s being referenced. It should be noted here that many series and films — especially the current Paramount+ ones — overlap. For these moments, which are noted below when shows/movies were on at the same time, it might be wise to stagger your viewing of the seasons as there may be overlap in their storylines.

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Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974) — (Note: Maybe not canon but maybe also is.)
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)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) — (Note: some characters overlap with TNG )
Star Trek: Generations (1994) — (Note: Overlap with TNG )
Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) — (Note: While rare, some characters overlap with DS9 )
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2024)
Star Trek: Short Treks (2018-2020) — (Note: Bridges gaps between Discovery seasons)
Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-Present) (Note: Overlaps with SNW )
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-Present)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present) — (Note: Overlaps with Discovery and Lower Decks )
Star Trek: Very Short Treks (2023) — (Note: Not canon)

How to Watch All of Star Trek in Chronological Order

Watching a franchise with as many entries as Star Trek in chronological order can be pretty tricky since some newer shows and films take place in the earlier in the timeline while older shows take place later. There’s also the films starring Chris Pine that take place on a different timeline entirely (the Kelvin timeline). That’s not to mention that time travel is an accepted and heavily regulated science in-universe and a popular plot mechanic, so almost every crew has, at some point, done it. That raises the question of where to put films like The Voyage Home , which has the TOS crew traveling back to the 1980s, or something like Discovery , which starts in the TOS era, spends half its first season in a parallel dimension, and then jumps millennia forward. Let’s not even get started on the ending of Enterprise . The point being is that chronological order is a terrible way to watch this franchise. If you must, though, here is the correct order, based on what time period each crew called “home” originally.

Star Trek: Enterprise (Stardates: 2151-2156)
Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks (First two seasons: 2256-2258, Final three seasons: 3188-?)
Star Trek (2258-2259 Kelvin Timeline)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2259-2260 Kelvin Timeline)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-??)
Star Trek Beyond (2263 Kelvin Timeline)
Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2273)
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (2285)
Star Trek: The Search for Spock (2285)
Star Trek: The Voyage Home (2286)
Star Trek: The Final Frontier (2287)
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (2293)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)
Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)
Star Trek: Generations (2371)
Star Trek: First Contact (2373)
Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-??)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-??)
Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)
Star Trek: Very Short Treks — (Not canon)

How to Watch All of Star Trek in the Best Order

As you can tell from the two very long lists above, there is a lot of Star Trek to watch. Those lists don’t even do it justice considering that even without all the new streaming shows and movies, there are 709 episodes. That is a lot of time to dedicate to one franchise (and it is totally worth it), but if you’re going to do it, you’ll want an order that gets you hooked. Release date order may work for some, but it’s not the best way to get into great Trek right away. Instead use the method below to enjoy your journey through Star Trek to its fullest.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Start with what is easily the most accessible series and, for many, still the best. The first two seasons can be a little rocky, but they build the foundations for basically all Trek to come. The majority of Star Trek’s greatest episodes reside within this series, making it easy to get into and stick with. The episodic nature also makes it a good series to binge in free time to get your addiction kicked off without paying 100% attention. Yes, there are references and cameos from TOS , Voyager , and DS9 but not enough to not recommend simply watching TNG on its own straight through.

Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek movies I-VI

Now that you’re hooked, go back to the start. TOS may be a bit dated and wonky, but it’s all Trek , and it’s incredibly ahead of its time. The contrast between Kirk and Picard as Captains will also play off each other by watching these series back-to-back. Once you’re done, jump into the TOS films, which will keep things chronological for a good while as none of these films cross over with the TV shows in any way.

Star Trek Kelvin Timeline Films

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter where you watch Star Trek , Star Trek Into Darkness , or Star Trek Beyond as long as you’ve watched TOS and its films already. The movies are heavily connected to that series but kick off an entirely different timeline from every other show and film. Since they’re separate, you can really watch these at any point post- TOS , but watching it right after will give you the best experience of Star Trek ‘s “What if…?” storylines.

Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and TNG Films

Here’s where things get a little mushy. You can quite easily binge these three completely separately as they have minimal impact on each other. However, the best experience is probably to watch these as audiences of the time would. That means binging Deep Space Nine for two seasons, then alternating between episodes with Voyager while watching the TNG films during the seasons they came out before capping it all off with Star Trek: Nemesis . This order should give a good variety through a very long stretch of what can be some fantastic television and film. Fair warning, however, that the groundbreaking, serialized, final season of DS9 is going to be very hard to pause for even one episode of Voyager .

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy , having recently been renewed by Netflix , pops up in a weird place in the watch order because it’s just hard to place. Geared towards engaging younger viewers in Trek , it’s absolutely fantastic. Honestly, if you’re watching with a child, it could even be a perfect way to start your viewing. However, the Voyager cast play a large role in the first season, so watching it after Voyager is really helpful if you care about plotlines and canon like any well-respected adult should. Can you watch it any time after your Voyager binge? Sure, but why not dive into something really good before you start Discovery ?

Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Short Treks , and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

You have to watch Discovery to get to SNW , which is the only reason this list doesn’t have SNW higher. The second season of Discovery functions as a backdoor pilot to SNW while also being the best season of Discovery . Once the latter show jumps to the far future, they’re entirely separate so there’s no need to alternate viewing between the two if you feel like binging all of Discovery before moving onto SNW . You’ll need to watch Short Treks between the Discovery seasons they debuted before as they have some plot points in them you would miss otherwise.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Look, there’s very obviously a lot of not-so-great Trek to get through at the end of this list, but the goal is to be such a fan by this time that you’ll watch it anyway. Enterprise isn’t as bad as you may have heard, but it isn’t good either. Get through it. Enjoy the weird season set almost entirely in a hidden portion of the universe known as The Expanse, and then get just as angry as everyone else at its idiotic conclusion. At least you’ll be able to complain with the best of them once you’re done.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

We’re going to break up the suck with some of the best Trek on TV right now. Lower Decks is a Star Trek parody made by Star Trek . As such, you can’t really appreciate it until you’ve watched everything else. In fact, thanks to binging the rest, you may appreciate it more than most as you pick out deep cuts and references that those who watched the shows as they aired might miss. It’s a great reminder why you’re watching all of this before having to suffer through the final show.

Star Trek: Picard

One might expect that you’d just keep the good times rolling by watching Picard right after TNG . The show is, after all, a continuation of that series built on nostalgia and some unfinished plotlines. However, the first two seasons of Picard are so terrible that doing so would be like eating filet mignon and then instantly washing it down with some moonshine. Plus, the third and only decent season, is a massive nostalgia trip that can only be fully appreciated if you’ve spent the hours and hours and hours it takes to get through all of Trek . It’s the perfect victory lap for what you’ve just accomplished.

Bonus: Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: Very Short Treks

Is it canon? Is it not? Who cares. TAS is weird, dumb, poorly animated, and kind of hard to watch — but there’s some great episodes in there. You can avoid it entirely and be totally fine or slot it into any watch order you want post- TOS . Very Short Treks are just some fun YouTube shorts released in the style of TAS . Watch them whenever too.

Dupli-Kate's death in Invincible Season 2, Part 2

What is the best order to watch the Star Trek movies?

Image: ©Paramount Pictures

Since 1966, Star Trek has been one of the most dynamic, progressive sci-fi franchises ever created. Promising to boldly go where no one has gone before, Star Trek has taken on the form of television shows, films, books, comics, games, toys and much, much more.

Today I’m going to talk about the Star Trek movie series – specifically the best order to watch the films. This post should help to make it clear for all franchise newcomers what films to watch, and how to watch them in order to get the best experience.

OK, let’s ‘engage’ with the timelines/viewing orders.

The original timeline order

First up, the original Star Trek movie timeline. A timeline that is comprised of ten films, divided up between two distinct eras.

The first ear is spearheaded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), who appears in seven consecutive movies beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). The second era is led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart), who appears in four movies beginning with Star Trek: Generations (1994).

This viewing order is as follows:

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)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

As you can see from the list above, the first six movies have a number in the title, making it clear what order they are to be viewed in. The numbering system was dropped for the seventh movie, which also marked the transition from Kirk’s era of Trek movies, to Picard’s era.

Of course, should you only like the Kirk era, or vice-versa, then you could simply divide them up as follows:

Star Trek: Generations (1994 )

The rebooted timeline order

Following the underwhelming response to Star Trek: Nemesis , plus a strong desire to update the Trek brand for a new era, the franchise was given a reboot (of sorts) in 2009. This reboot began with Star Trek – a prequel which started the series back at the beginning, with a new Captain Kirk (this time played by Chris Pine).

If you wish to watch the rebooted timeline, the order is as follows:

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

And now for some housekeeping. Although 2009’s Star Trek kick-starts a new run of Trek movies, the film – and its sequels – are still connected to the original timeline.

During the course of 2009’s Star Trek it is established that an alternate timeline has been created – one that allows the original timeline to exist, while a new one is formed. As such, while these films can be viewed separately, they can also be viewed as part of one big Trek -verse with the Kirk/Picard movies.

Production order

Should you simply want to watch all of the Star Trek movies in the order of their release, then you should opt for the production order. If you watch the films this way, then you will be able to follow the story as it moves from Kirk to Picard, before heading back to Kirk for the alternate timeline.

Watching the Star Trek films in production order is as follows:

If I were to choose an order to watch the Star Trek films, then I would opt for production order. This order follows the original timeline, then explains the divergence into a new timeline and beyond.

Should you want to go further than the movies, there are various Trek series’ to watch, from Star Trek: The Original Series through to Star Trek Discovery and more.

My favourite of all the Trek shows is Star Trek: The Next Generation – aka the Picard era. Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Blu-ray from Amazon UK and Amazon US .

So, what is your favourite way to watch the Trek films? Do you watch them all in order or do you pick a specific era (Kirk, Picard, Kirk Mark II, etc) and watch those? More importantly, which is the best Star Trek movie? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading – until next time, happy viewing.

Disclaimer: I earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article .

What's The Best Order For Watching Star Trek?

Thread starter SageShinigami
Start date Jul 24, 2022

SageShinigami

Jul 24, 2022

I'm trying to get into watching Star Trek. Thus far I've done Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season one since it was only one season. I've seen two of the three reboot movies, and now I'm looking at this massive franchise and like...LOL. Where do I begin? I can watch The Original Series--I don't mind watching '60s shows, but I wasn't in the mood for it so I started watching TNG instead. I'm on episode 10 or so, but is there a better entry point? And should I just go in order? Also, worth noting. Q is annoying as fuck. And Wesley fuckin' sucks.

Watch DS9 and when it finishes watch DS9 again! Enterprise is actually pretty good as well. The last 2 seasons are worth it!

SageShinigami said: Also, worth noting. Q is annoying as fuck. And Wesley fuckin' sucks. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Mod of the Year 2006

TNG really is the best place to start. It's not too dated (though you have to get through S1, which is very rough)

Going in order is best. How I watched them growing up and it'll help you learn the universe, alliances etc. Voyager can be watched seperately I guess, as it takes place in a different part of the galaxy. So if you're skipping the 60s series, I'd go TNG, Deep Space Nine (my favorite) Voyager, Enterprise and Discovery. Once you're done with TNG you can then also watch their movies in order.

TNG is fantastic...two seasons in. Prepare for misery if you continue watching the first two seasons of TNG. They're certainly some moments of brilliance in there worth watching but uh...brace youself. A lot of the early scripts were meant for the continuation of the original series that never happened. You played yourself because you are in fact sort of watching a 60's show! As for order? Probably Original Series > Animated Series > Original Series movies? > TNG > DS9 > Voyager > Enterprise > Galaxy Quest > JJ movies > Discovery > Picard > etc. TNG, DS9, and Voyager overlap and very minimally cross over so you'll want to check air dates when you get deep into TNG. Good luck hopefully someone gives a better list then mine.

fragamemnon

Use a very abbreviated episode guide for TOS-really shouldn't be more than 15 or so episodes, and some of those scifi stories in them are basically timeless. Then check out the TOS movies. I want to say one thing-if you've finished Strange New Worlds, you MUST watch Ep 14 in TOS ("Balance of Terror") ASAP. TNG is huge, so you really want a 'survey course' style list of must-watch. If you want more there's probably another 30+ episodes that are great to watch beyond the must-watch ones. Then you can watch Generations. From there you can look to DS9-but that is a BIG investment, because IMO you are probably looking at at least 1/2 to 2/3 of the series as a must-watch. Halfway through DS9 you can swap over to watch First Contact. Voyager is something you can open up once you are through DS9 season 4 or so of what you're going to watch from DS9. I wouldn't mess with it until after I finished DS9. Same for Enterprise.

Gabe’s little helper

Every series and film, in order. Alternatively, if you're not willing to dedicate the next few years of your life to Star Fleet, there are many watch guides out there that will assist you in picking out the best of Trek while avoiding the crap episodes. Because, frankly, there are entire seasons of crap episodes out there. Season 3 of The Original Series has very little to recommend about it, for example, likewise the first two seasons of The Next Generation.

I would suggest watching a "best of" list of TOS episodes. Like, Balance of Terror, Amok Time, Mirror Mirror, Space Seed, and City on the Edge of Forever. That's just five episodes I grabbed off a "best of" list, and they're all must-watch. Like, stop TNG and go watch these episodes. Then the original movies, minus #5 if you wanna save some time. Be aware that movie #1 is kinda slow. #2 is a legendary classic, and #6 is a perfect end to TOS. Then you can jump back to TNG. Plenty of people suggest skipping most of the first season, but if you're 10 episodes in and don't want to quit, maybe keep going. Just know that TNG gets better.

Teenage Fansub

I just watched the movies as a kid. That worked for me. I'd almost say go straight to movie 4 if you grew up with stupid 80's comedies. That might be a good bridge into the world.

Ignore the people that only recommend 15 episodes or less of TOS. There's at least that many episodes in the first season that are good.

TOS: Spock's Brain TNG: Sub Rosa DS9: Move Along Home VOY: Threshold ENT: Extinction and so on and so forth

nachum00 said: Ignore the people that only recommend 15 episodes or less of TOS. There's at least than many episodes in the first season that are good. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

davepoobond

Best way is chronological But I think you have to be a fan or at least like Star Trek before doing that. I think you need to watch some random episodes out of order of mid-series TNG, TOS, voyager and some ds9 then go back to the beginning and watch from there.

Uzzy said: I got up to 14! Where No Man Has Gone Before The Enemy Within Miri Dagger of the Mind The Corbomite Manuever The Menagerie Balance of Terror Shore Leave Arena Space Seed A Taste of Armageddon The Devil in the Dark Errand of Mercy The City on the Edge of Forever You can and should also add The Cage to this. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Watch in order and use an essential watch list. If you feel like you want more by thdd we end of it then feel free to fill in the gaps, and since it is mostly episodic you won't lose much by doing it that way.

Exist 2 Inspire

Rassilon said: TOS: Spock's Brain TNG: Sub Rosa DS9: Move Along Home VOY: Threshold ENT: Extinction and so on and so forth Click to expand... Click to shrink...

echoshifting

Very salt heavy.

Just watch the movies and then watch TNG. If you like the last couple seasons of TNG watch DS9 too. PS fully half the movies are notoriously awful. There's a lot of shit to wade through in Star Trek. Personally I find the first movie an excruciating viewing experience. But the highs outweigh the lows. edit: do not skip Galaxy Quest, it's the best one. It's your reward for enduring all the nonsense.

echoshifting said: Just watch the movies and then watch TNG. If you like the last couple seasons of TNG watch DS9 too. PS fully half the movies are notoriously awful. There's a lot of shit to wade through in Star Trek. Personally I find the first movie an excruciating viewing experience. But the highs outweigh the lows. edit: do not skip Galaxy Quest, it's the best one. It's your reward for enduring all the nonsense. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Uzzy said: Every series and film, in order. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Soap said: I don't know about that. Even the worst of the classic Trek films have something interesting to say. I won't get into spoilers, but I will say the search for Spock and the final frontier both have some great scenes and ideas. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

The Chosen One

Casual Route TNG -> DS9 -> Discovery Normal Route TNG -> DS9 -> VOY - TOS -> Discovery Hard Route TOS -> TNG -> DS9 > VOY -> Enterprise -> Discovery Insanity Route TOS -> Animated Series -> TOS Movies -> TNG -> Generations Movie -> DS9 -> TNG Movies -> VOY -> Enterprise -> JJ Movies -> Discovery -> Picard I just finished a rewatch of the Hard Route myself this past year. For newer trek fans I always recommend TNG as the lead-off series because it's not too dated and you get a better grasp of the Trek universe and aliens. The alien races in the OT series are completely unrecognizable in the modern shows. And I think DS9 is a good follow-up after TNG because it gives a good contrast of the styles of Trek. If you don't like either TNG or DS9, then you probably won't like much else. TOS is great for nostalgia but if you're gong in fresh, I think it's better to watch TOS after you've already watched a couple of the modern shows and you're already invested in the trek universe. i know some people like doing a sampler plate of episodes, but I honestly it's best just to watch the seasons all the way through. If a particular episode is cringe, you can either skip it or just have the show run in the background while you do work or something.

I haven't really watched star trek but I saw this clip in a previous reset era thread, apparently people really like it. Just watch it on loop forever I think it won't do you any harm. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urixf-E6SWE

Sacrilicious

TNG is the best starting point imo, but season 1 is notoriously bad. Even if you don't like skipping first seasons, consider making this an exception. Season 2 is better, though still takes a while to find its footing. The Measure of a Man is the first genuinely great episode, and the show picks up from there. Season 3 onward is really enjoyable for the most part. Q's first episode isn't great, but he has some very good episodes later on. Give him time. Wesley also gets less annoying as the show goes on, though he's not a particularly compelling character (and definitely a Mary Sue).

My alternate watch order is The Measure of a Man That's it, Just watch that on repeat forever

I would watch an abbreviated best of TOS. I watched it all and there's basically 3 or 4 stories that are copy pasted. Worth watching a bunch of it though for that unique sort of 60s feel. TNG like everyone says watch an abbreviated run of season 1/2, find a viewing list online, then continue with season 3 onwards straight.

Sacrilicious said: TNG is the best starting point imo, but season 1 is notoriously bad. Even if you don't like skipping first seasons, consider making this an exception. Season 2 is better, though still takes a while to find its footing. The Measure of a Man is the first genuinely great episode, and the show picks up from there. Season 3 onward is really enjoyable for the most part. Q's first episode isn't great, but he has some very good episodes later on. Give him time. Wesley also gets less annoying as the show goes on, though he's not a particularly compelling character (and definitely a Mary Sue). Click to expand... Click to shrink...

SageShinigami said: Its weird 'cause normally kid characters don't bother me, but he just feels so out of place. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

WinniethePimp

Have fun watching one of the best serialized TV shows of all time.

PrivateWHudson

The even numbered movies up through six. Don't know if that holds true for TNG movies.

weemadarthur

Community resettler.

OP is doing it right, even if accidentally. TNG is the most approachable of the series, because it's missing some of the worst sexism and stupidity from the 60s. The cast is all likeable [sometimes this is because they're rather bland, but you can't have everything], and because they all share the same goal as shipmates, it's easy to drop in and see what to root for. DS9 is set in a political corner where the Federation are dealing with a bunch of non-Federation powers, but until you know something of what the Federation stands for and why some other quadrant powers are not joining up, a viewer would have more initial work to do to understand the various parties involved. Voyager has a less memorable cast and some truly bummer writing here and there.

excelsiorlef

SageShinigami said: And Wesley fuckin' sucks. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I've been meaning to get through all the Trek's at some point. Managed fine with TOS and Discovery, but early TNG was so bad I just had to stop. Every character was fucking unbearable, including Picard. It's annoying that DS9 and Voyager were essentially direct continuations of TNG because my brain won't let me start them until I drag myself through TNG.

I watched the first two seasons of TNG a while back, and some of season 3. I guess I will provide as a reason of warning, while there are some good bits in those first two seasons the vast majority was so turgid that by the time I got to the 'good' stuff I was so burned out by some of the bad stuff I lost interest. I'll get back to it eventually I guess, but I have to imagine there is an optimal 'guide' out there for the episodes that you 'must' watch from the first 2 seasons which skims over the rotten and offensively dated shit, like the all african planet where they fight for their wives or the one with a colony of Irish travellers who have to fuck another colony into being more genetically diverse. Apparently Riker is a fan favourite but he was nothing but an uber creep in the episodes I watched unfortunately. I did enjoy basically every Q episode tho, and most of the Data episodes and Picard centric ones also. Funnily enough, I didn't mind Wesley either except for the very teenage-ey hormone focused episodes.

tidewatersouthern

My recommendation would be to just power through those early not great episodes of TNG. Don't listen to the haters - mid S2 is where the show really starts getting good and it's mostly an upward rise to greatness from there. Then it's up to you. DS9 would make the most sense next, since it's a direct continuation of TNG, but you could fit TOS in between them. Between the references in TNG and DS9, plus an episode of DS9 that takes place during a TOS episode, you might want to watch it first. Plus there's all the SNW references that you'll have more context for. The rest of the series have call backs and Easter eggs, but are also mostly stand alone and can be watched in any order.

PrivateWHudson said: The even numbered movies up through six. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Wrexis said: You are a monster. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Pluto said: You can't watch 2 and 4 without 3 in between, the story of 4 would make no sense. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I used the letswatchstartrek guide to get through TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Well worth it, and cuts out a lot of the bad episodes. You eventually get a feel for things that you can start to deviate from the guide to watch or skip episodes depending on the synopsis or characters in it.

svacina said: And TMP is actually OK. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Pluto said: When it comes to TOS movies the only advise I'd give is skip 5 and if you have to pee during TMP do it during the 10 minute sequence of them flying around the Enterprise looking at it. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

PrivateWHudson said: The even numbered movies up through six. Don't know if that holds true for TNG movies. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

excelsiorlef said: Ok let's throw down. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

SageShinigami said: Tell this lil dude to go study or something and get off the upper decks lol. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

TNG then DS9.

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How to Watch Every Star Trek Movie and TV Show in Order

If you're looking to boldly go where no streamer has gone before, here's where to watch star trek tv shows and movies..

Star Trek is a multi-generational franchise and cultural touchstone that has turned into a streaming juggernaut. By subscribing to Paramount+ , you get access to every TV show in the franchise, including new Star Trek series like Discovery , Picard , and Strange New Worlds . But while the service holds the bulk of Star Trek content, many of the films are streaming elsewhere. You need a subscription to Max if you want to watch The Wrath of Khan, First Contact , and others, for example. Here is where you can find every Star Trek show and movie.

Where to Watch Star Trek TV Shows

Star Trek has always been best on television. When you think of the adventures of Kirk and Picard, episodic storytelling is what comes to mind first. In recent years, Paramount has decided to go all in on Star Trek TV in order to recapture some of the magic from past years.

If you're looking to watch some Star Trek—whether it be the classic shows or new streaming productions—you will find everything on the Paramount+ streaming service. If you don't pay for Paramount+, you can still get a taste of Star Trek through Pluto TV , a free ad-based streamer also owned by Paramount. This service only has the first season of various shows, but it's better than nothing!

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)

Pluto TV (Season 1 Only)

Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Pluto TV (Season 3 Only)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2024)

Short Treks (2018-2020)

Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)

Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-Present)

Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-Present)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)

Where to Watch the Star Trek Films

Even as as television-first franchise, Star Trek has always been very cinematic in nature. That's why the show lends itself so well on the big screen. Where else can you get a real sense for the epic scale of command ships and space battles than in a feature film?

While all the TV shows are on Paramount+, the films depicting the continuing adventures of the Enterprise crews from The Original Series and The Next Generation are all on Max. However, if you want to see the reboot films starring Chris Pine, those are still on Paramount+.

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)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek Watch Order

There are two main ways to watch Star Trek—release order and chronological order. Star Trek has been very linear for much of its existence. It has only been since Paramount's new Trek shows that the series has moved around the timeline.

As such, release order is the standard watch order and is recommended for anyone new to Star Trek. Advanced viewers who have gone through the series multiple times may want to change things up and stream everything in chronological order.

Release Order

By watching in release order, you get to see William Shatner as James T. Kirk in The Original Series before transitioning to Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard on The Next Generation . From there, you will watch Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and Enterprise before moving on to Discovery , Picard , and the other streaming shows.

Since the original films were released after the conclusion of their associated TV shows, it's easy to slip them in to the watch order. TNG and DS9 overlap to some degree, but you may want to finish the first series and its films before transitioning to Deep Space Nine , though that's up to you.

Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
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)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek: Discovery (2017-Present)

Short Treks (2018-2020)
Star Trek: Picard (2020-Present)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-Present)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-Present)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)

Chronological Order

Now, if you are a seasoned veteran and want to view things a little differently, try watching everything in chronological order based on when events take place in-universe. Watching things this way would have you start out with Enterprise , then the first two seasons of Discovery . Strange New Worlds will then pick up here. You then have the option to watch the reboot films, or skip them entirely and head straight for The Original Series .

Once you get to The Next Generation , things get a little complicated. You can either watch all of TNG or switch off with DS9 starting with season six. By season three of DS9 , you can then start switching off with Voyager before finishing with Nemesis . Considering the complexity, though, it's perfectly fine to silo each show before moving on. You would then pick up with Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Picard before returning to Discovery for season three and beyond.

Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2156)
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 & 2 (2256-2258)
Short Treks (2256-2258)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259)
Star Trek (2258) - Optional
Star Trek Into Darkness (2259) - Optional
Star Trek Beyond (2263) - Optional
Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2273)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)
Star Trek: Generations (2371)
Star Trek: First Contact (2373)
Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)
Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2383)
Star Trek: Picard (2399-2401)
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 (3188-3190)

Note that before you get heavily invested here, remember that this is just for fun. Star Trek has a continuity, but it isn't vital to enjoying your time with Starfleet. Feel free to watch any movie or TV show that calls to you; it will all make sense in the end.

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The beginner's guide to Star Trek: What to watch first

The Star Trek television world consists of eleven full and distinct television series released across the decades, going all the way back to the mid-1960s. While some of the older sets and effects are certainly dated, some of the issues the shows grappled with back in the day are as relevant now as they were almost 60 years ago.

When Star Trek debuted on September 6, 1966, it was a relatively low-budget TV series with only lukewarm network support. It took two pilot episodes before the series was picked up by NBC, only to be unceremoniously cancelled three years later. Nobody back then knew that Star Trek would create cultural touchstones and iconic characters, or that it would go on to spawn ten more TV series (so far) and thirteen movies (also, so far).

Today, Star Trek is deeply entrenched in modern mythology, with characters like James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard as familiar to us as Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo.

But not everyone is fully up to speed on all things Trek . Perhaps you're seeing promotions for the new shows coming out this year and wonder what all the fuss is about. Perhaps you want to introduce Star Trek to a younger generation or catch up after a long hiatus.

No matter what, we're here to help. In this guide, I'm going to take you through the TV series and help you understand what each is about, give you some hints about watching order, and share with you my subjective perspective on the shows.

Also: 14 unofficial Star Trek series and films

Star Trek has inspired a tremendous amount of media. Beyond the TV shows, there are movies, video games, books, comics, fan fiction and productions, collectables, and more. Because the commercial world of Star Trek fandom is so huge, I'm going to limit our discussion to just the TV shows -- although there will be a few mentions of one or two movies that are requisite viewing for later series' continuity.

How to get started

There are four Star Trek series currently in production right now. More are rumored to be on the way. And there's even a Seth McFarland-helmed homage to Star Trek called The Orville that carries on the Trek spirit (new episodes will be broadcast on Hulu in June).

So, you could get started watching a current show, especially since the visuals and production quality are top-notch. If you feel strongly about starting with new material, I'd recommend kicking off your watching with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on the Paramount+ streaming service. I'll talk more about SNW (most Trek series get abbreviations) in a bit. Another choice would be the gorgeous animated series Star Trek: Prodigy . It's intended to bring kids into the Star Trek universe, but it fires on all cylinders for adults just as well.

But I recommend you start where it all started: Star Trek , the original series ( TOS ) produced in the 1960s. It's here you'll meet Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty the engineer. This is where it all began, and everything builds upon this fundamental mythology.

And with that, let's get started!

1. Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)

The series that began it all.

Production Years: 1966-1969
Trek Timeline Years: 2266-2269
Seasons: 3
Episodes: 79
Stream on: Paramount+
Buy: Amazon

This is it. The series that began it all. I recently rewatched the entire run of TOS after not having seen it in years, and the thing that made the biggest impression on me was how much they got right in those early years. Roddenberry was building a mythos out of thin air, and yet many of the foundational elements that Star Trek folks know and love today were written into those early shows.

Of course, Roddenberry didn't get it perfect right out of the gate. He did two pilots which introduced Captain Christopher Pike instead of Captain Kirk and a female "Number One" as second in command. This pilot, called " The Cage " never made it on the air but was repurposed into a two-parter late in the first season. You'll want to remember Pike and Number One because they're prominent in the new modern-day Trek series currently being released.

Some episodes of this very early series age well, while others are deeply cringeworthy. Because it's 1960s entertainment (and relatively low-budget entertainment at that), it can be a bit tedious at times. And yet, it touched on some really important themes. Martin Luther King Jr. actually reached out to Nichelle Nichols , who played Lt. Uhura , when she was considering leaving the show. He urged her to stay on because he saw her role as a very important inspiration.

If you want to understand all the Trek lore that comes after, this is the place to start.

Must watch episodes: The City on the Edge of Forever, Space Seed, The Trouble with Tribbles

Movies: There were six movies made with the TOS cast. Of them, the best two are The Wrath of Khan (which sets up a lot of subsequent mythos) and The Voyage Home , which is probably the most fun of them all.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)

The story forward 100 years.

Production Years: 1987-1994
Trek Timeline Years: 2364-2370
Seasons: 7
Episodes: 178

Star Trek's continuing popularity during the eighteen years after NBC cancelled the original series was unexpected. Star Trek , that weird space show with the pointy-eared alien, turned out to have legs. It took ten years of fan pressure and conventions, but in 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released. It was... not so good. But three more movies came out over the next eight years, and they were great. So the momentum was in place for a Star Trek reboot.

Rather than recasting the original characters, Roddenberry decided to move the story forward almost 100 years, create a version of the Enterprise starship whose interior decor most resembled a Marriott hotel in outer space, and give it warp nacelles and photon torpedos. This was The Next Generation , with Captain Picard, first officer William Riker, the android Data, the boy wonder Wesley Crusher, his mom, the Klingon Worf, and unlucky-in-love engineer Geordi La Forge. Roddenberry even created the role of a mental health counsellor (Deanna Troy) as a key member of its bridge crew.

While Patrick Stewart's Picard was much more Captain Stubing than Shatner's Captain Kirk, there's no doubting this Shakespearean actor's talents. Brent Spiner, as the android-who-wants-to-be-human, was another standout performer. The first two seasons were a little rocky. Remember: back then, nobody knew whether this show would last, and the actors and showrunners were still trying to come to terms with how to move beyond TOS . But subsequent years are among the best science (and societal) fiction you'll ever see on TV.

Must watch episodes: The Measure of a Man, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Best Of Both Worlds I and II

Movies: There were four movies made with the TNG cast. The first one, Generations , also included key members of the TOS cast. I recommend you watch First Contact because it's a really good movie. And you might want to watch Nemesis because it sets up some details you'll need in later series (but it's definitely not the best movie made).

Also: Best video streaming service

To boldly go...

Once you've watched TOS and TNG , you're pretty much ready to travel wherever you want throughout the Star Trek franchise. You'll have a good foundational understanding of the Federation, the various alien species, the rules and regulations of Starfleet, and most of the iconic characters.

My recommendation is to wrap up the early Trek productions by taking in the two seasons of the first animated series. Then, move on to the middle period of Star Trek production, with Voyager, Deep Space 9 , and Enterprise , and then jump forward to the current productions. That's how I'm going to present the remaining series to you, but you can pretty much choose any order you want once you've made it this far.

3. Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS)

Worthwhile animation with tos voices.

Production Years: 1973-1975
Trek Timeline Years: 2269-2270
Seasons: 2
Episodes: 22
Buy: Amazon

A few years after NBC canceled TOS , Roddenberry managed to convince studio heads to let him produce an animated version of the show. While it was considerably less expensive to produce than the live-action Star Trek , the animated series was the most expensive animated show airing at the time, but that was mostly because nearly all the original series actors (Walter Koenig as Chekov was missing) lent their voices to the show.

While the series was intended as a kid's show, it hews pretty closely to classic Star Trek themes and can be considered a proper sequel to TOS . Watching it in 2022 is a bit weird because cartoons from the 1970s definitely seem a bit weird to our 2022 mindset, but TAS is a worthwhile romp, especially since it features the voice work from the core actors who first made Star Trek .

Must watch episodes: Yesteryear, The Slaver Weapon, More Tribbles, More Troubles (because...Tribbles)

4. Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (DS9)

Thought-provoking, must-watch tv.

Production Years: 1993-1999
Trek Timeline Years: 2369-2275
Seasons: 7
Episodes: 176
Stream on: Paramount+ , Netflix
Buy: Amazon

By many measures, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 is as good as Star Trek (or science fiction overall, for that matter) gets. Rather than exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations, Deep Space 9 takes place mostly on the eponymous space station, Deep Space 9.

The station sits at the junction of a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant (a far off part of space) and the planet Bajor, a planet previously occupied by Cardassians' warlike race (not to be confused with the Kardashians). DS9's leader is played by actor Avery Brooks, who starts off with the Starfleet rank of Commander and later gets promoted to Captain. DS9 starts off slow but ends with a massive war and some of the best space battles ever put on film.

While there are a few silly episodes, most plotlines are tight, deep, and thought-provoking. Characters develop complex and compelling personalities. And the show takes some powerful swings at issues of the day, with Far Beyond the Stars an absolute standout showing issues of racism in 1950s America and yet fitting totally in with the rest of DS9 . If anything can be considered must-watch TV, chock full of religious and political intrigue, it's Star Trek: Deep Space 9 .

Must watch episodes: Far Beyond the Stars, The Visitor, Trials And Tribble-Ations (because...Tribbles)

5. Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)

A female badass captain who guides her crew on the uss voyager.

Production Years: 1995-2001
Trek Timeline Years: 2371-2378
Episodes: 172

The series starts with the crew of the Voyager chasing after a Maquis raider ship in a rough part of space. Suddenly, both ships get pulled into a spatial distortion, only to wind up far, far away from home. A super-powerful being called the Caretaker brought both ships to the Delta quadrant as part of its quest to help a species it cared for.

The plot of the pilot is a bit convoluted, but the Captain Kathryn Janeway makes a decision that strands Voyager and the crew of the Maquis ship in the Delta quadrant. The voyage home will take 75 years. Kate Mulgrew was not the franchise's first choice for a Janeway captain. Instead, Geneviève Bujold was originally cast in the role, but she apparently crashed and burned in a day and a half . That's fortunate because Mulgrew absolutely owns the part, turning the Janeway character into a tough, sensitive, compassionate, and absolutely kick-ass leader.

The Voyager crew becomes a blended crew with both Starfleet and Maquis. Early episodes playoff that dynamic, but the early crew conflicts tend to slip away as the series progresses and the crew coalesces. Throughout it all, the series is about how this crew survives all on its own, trying to find a way home and the adventures along the way.

Must watch episodes: Tinker, Tailor, Doctor, Spy, Year of Hell (two-parter), Timeless Worst episode in any science fiction, ever: Threshold

6. Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)

The start of the prime universe.

Production Years: 2001-2005
Trek Timeline Years: 2151-2161
Seasons: 4
Episodes: 98
Stream on: Paramount+

With Enterprise (the series debuted without the " Star Trek: " prefix), we're starting to move around the "Prime Universe" timeline. So, okay, some definitions are in order. In 2009, J. J. Abrams did a reboot of the original Star Trek crew in a three-movie set. That reboot changed some of the Star Trek canon (its established mythology) and became known as the "Kelvin Universe". All the Star Trek that exists in the unaltered (or mostly unaltered) mythology is called the "Prime Universe." All of the TV shows so far (but not all the movies) are considered Prime Universe.

In the Prime Universe, series timelines span centuries . The majority of established canon takes place in the TNG era, which is 2364-2379. TOS , Discovery , and Strange New Worlds take place 100 or so years earlier than TNG , while Discovery eventually jumps to about a thousand years later. But Enterprise is a prequel to all of that, showcasing a ship just beginning to travel between the stars. It takes place starting in 2151, a century before the days of Kirk and Spock.

There are some nods to the idea that technology wasn't as advanced in 2151 as it was in later centuries, but since Enterprise itself was made 35 years after TOS , the production value and effects made it seem somewhat more advanced. That will prove to be an ongoing problem with Trek prequels: what do you do when the real tech to produce the prequel is half a century more advanced? What do you do when the actual tech we have in our pockets seems far more advanced than the "future" tech shown in the early shows? Artistic license is used.

The NX-01 Enterprise is led by Captain Jonathan Archer (played by Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula) and his Number One is a Vulcan named T'Pol (played by Jolene Blalock). In Enterprise's time frame, trust between Earth and the Vulcans is tenuous, and that tension plays out over the series. Unfortunately, Enterprise only lasted four seasons. It, like most other Trek , was a bit rocky in the first seasons, but by Season 4, it was producing excellent television.

My biggest question about Enterprise is about Porthos, Archer's adorable beagle. Porthos spent most of his time in Archer's cabin, but I've always been curious about how Porthos took care of business. Did they just walk him around the decks and some crewmember cleaned it up? Was there a spot of grass somewhere in an unused cabin? It keeps me up at night.

In any case, I consider Enterprise criminally underrated. It was a great show.

Must watch episodes: In a Mirror, Darkly (two-parter), Carbon Creek, Similitude, Twilight, The Breach (because...Tribbles)

7. Star Trek: Discovery (DIS)

Discover the fun in star trek.

Production Years: 2017-current
Trek Timeline Years: 2255-2259, 3188-3190 (so far)
Seasons: 4 (so far)
Episodes: 55 (so far)

Star Trek production effectively went into shutdown for about a decade after Enterprise . After the success of the reboot movies in the late 2000s, Star Trek TV experienced a resurgence in Discovery . Discovery is a hard beast to pin down, and this had the effect of turning off some of the entrenched Star Trek fanbase. That said, it's still great TV. Discovery was the first of the modern-day Star Trek series to be available solely on streaming, via what was then CBS All Access and is now Paramount+.

Somehow (spoiler alert), Micheal Burham goes from the Federation's first mutineer with a life sentence to a beloved starship captain. Burnham is Spock's human sister (yeah, that was a surprise to everyone). Played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the standout feature of Discovery is some of its great performances and characterizations.

My favorites are the gangly alien Saru (played with absolute perfection by Doug Jones), the mirror universe emperor Georgiou (played with scenery-eating intensity by Michelle Yeoh), cranky under-utilized engineer Jett Reno (played by the wonderful-in-anything Tigg Notaro), and Captain Christopher Pike, reimagined from the pilot for TOS (who was played to such perfection by Anson Mount that the minute he hit the screen, everyone knew a series had to be made around him -- which became Strange New Worlds ).

The first season takes place ten years before the original series. Klingons don't really look like Klingons, Burnham starts a war, Discovery travels to the mirror universe where everything is Bizarro World , and chaos ensues. The second season is back in the home universe where the crew tries to stop an AI bent on destroying all life in the universe. To avoid that fate, the crew travels 930 years into the future and...okay, let's take a breather for a second.

Do. Not. Try. To. Make. Sense. Of. All. This. Discovery is weird enough to be pretty much the Twin Peaks of Star Trek . Just enjoy the fact that the visuals are impressive, the characters (at least most of them) are great, and the stories hold together long enough to make it through each episode as long as you don't think about it too much. Discovery can be annoying and sappy, to be sure. But it's also a heck of a lot of fun.

Must watch episodes (so far): An Obol for Charon, The Sound of Thunder, Short Trek: The Trouble with Edward (because...Tribbles)

8. Star Trek: Lower Decks (LD)

Focus on life onboard for low-ranking members of starfleet.

Production Years: 2020-current
Trek Timeline Years: 2380- (so far)
Seasons: 2 (so far)
Episodes: 20 (so far)

Back in 1994, there was an episode of TNG called Lower Decks . It focused on lower-ranking crew members and looked at what life onboard a starship was like for the non-hero characters of Starfleet. In 2020, Mike McMahan, previously known for his work on the animated comedy Rick and Morty , took the lower decks concept into an entire animated Star Trek series.

And it works. McMahan also addressed a lot of fan complaints about Discovery by including an almost overwhelming array of Star Trek Easter eggs as fan service in the series. If you've ever wondered about Cetacean Ops , for example, McMahan has an entire episode devoted to Starfleet's underwater crew.

Overall, Lower Decks delivers fully Star Trek plots, along with a lot of genuinely funny moments. But it doesn't sacrifice good storytelling either for laughs or nostalgia.

Must watch episodes (so far): No Small Parts, First First Contact, An Embarrassment of Dooplers

9. Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO)

Animated and visually stunning.

Production Years: 2021-current
Trek Timeline Years: 2383- (so far)
Seasons: 1 (so far)
Episodes: 9 (so far)

Prodigy is the second animated series currently in production. It has a completely different theme and art style from Lower Decks and is most definitely its own thing.

The premise is that a bunch of enslaved tweenagers of varying non-human species in the Delta Quadrant find a dormant Federation starship. While exploring, they activate the "emergency training hologram," which turns out to be an animated Captain Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew herself). Hologram Janeway thinks the interlopers are cadets and helps them start the ship up so they can make their escape.

The series is Nickelodeon-branded and is supposed to be for kids, but the episodes are well-written and even suspenseful. The first season ended on a cliffhanger that both newbies to Star Trek and long-time fans will find compelling. And can we talk about the visuals? This series is just absolutely gorgeous. Watch it on the largest, brightest TV you can. It's that good.

Must watch episodes (so far): Time Amok, First Con-tact, Kobayashi

10. Star Trek: Picard (PIC)

New adventures of an older captain picard.

Trek Timeline Years: 2399- (so far)
Seasons: 2 (so far)
Episodes: 20 (so far)

The premise behind Star Trek: Picard is simple. Thirty years after TNG , Admiral Picard goes back out into space for new adventures. Picard (and Patrick Stewart) are much older, and the series addresses the challenges of ageing and how someone who was once the galaxy's hero deals with becoming irrelevant -- just as events reach out to bring the retired admiral back onto center stage once again.

Have you noticed how most of the Star Trek series have three-letter abbreviations? Star Trek: Picard's should be WTF. There are moments in Picard that are wonderful. But a lot of Picard is just plain terrible. If you even try to think about all the plot holes and paradoxes in just the final episode of Season 2, you'll find your brain sucked into a wormhole. As much as it's an absolute pleasure to see Patrick Stewart in anything, Star Trek: Picard is undeniably the worst television Star Trek has yet produced.

Like all of the current-era Star Trek , it's gorgeous. There's fan service everywhere, and we do get to meet some of the TNG characters again. More are promised for Season 3. But something went horribly wrong in the writers' room for the storylines in most of the episodes to be this convoluted, self-referential, internally inconsistent, and rather unbelievable (trust me, suspending disbelief often just doesn't work here). If anything, Season 2 is even more disastrous than Season 1, and that's saying something.

All that said, should you watch Star Trek: Picard ? Of course. It's a hoot. Plus, the episode Nepenthe (where we get to meet a gray-haired Captain Riker and his wife, Deanna Troy, along with their daughter Kestra) makes the whole series worthwhile.

Must watch episodes: Nepenthe, Stardust City Rag

11. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)

Referential to established canon for entrenched trek fans.

Production Years: 2022-current
Trek Timeline Years: 2259- (so far)
Seasons: 1 (so far)
Episodes: 4 (so far)

Strange New Worlds has been jokingly called the longest order from the pilot to series in television history, but there's some truth to that. The very first TOS pilot back in the 1960s spotlighted the main characters of Strange New Worlds . As the legend goes, NBC didn't like those characters, so Roddenberry retooled and the result was Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

Today, however, Anson Mount is center stage, along with Ethan Peck as the third actor to play Spock, and Rebecca Romijn playing Number One. We haven't seen too many episodes yet, but so far it's good. Really, really good. Sure, this U.S.S. Enterprise is supposed to be from a time ten years before Kirk's in TOS , and it's far fancier. But that's what you get with 2022 budgets and CGI compared to the hand-me-downs that went into the original Star Trek .

You can follow the story well enough without having seen any other Star Trek , so it makes for a good first series. But it also is so reverently referential to established canon (while blazing its own way as well) that deeply entrenched Trek fans will undoubtedly enjoy it as well.

Must watch episodes (so far): Strange New Worlds, Children of the Comet, Ghosts of Illyria, Memento Mori

Also: The 7 best free video streaming services: Watch movies for free

What are the worst to best Star Trek series?

This is a highly subjective list, but I know you're going to want to know. So here it is. My call for worst series to best. You'll be surprised.

10. Picard : I had high hopes, I love the reunions, but the plots don't hold together if you think about it for just one minute.

9. The Original Series : Yes, it started everything. And yes, they got a lot right. But some of it is just downright hard to watch.

8. The Animated Series : Like TOS , it's a rough ride to watch. Pacing is very late sixties.

7. Lower Decks : I'm not a huge animation fan, and the silliness is a bit annoying.

6. Prodigy : Prodigy is gorgeous, and the plots hold together well. But I'm not as into it as I could be. Perhaps with more seasons.

5. The Next Generation : TNG defines Star Trek , and while there are some great shows there, it's getting old. I'm just not that invested anymore.

4. Discovery : I really like some of the characters and the modern visuals are spectacular. The focus on one character as a Mary Sue gets tiresome, as do the somewhat lazy resolutions for season-long mysteries.

3. Voyager : Some of the premise broke down in early years, but the overall crew survival dynamic makes for worthwhile TV. I've become attached to some of the characters after watching them grow into their responsibilities.

2. Enterprise : Yes, I consider Enterprise among the best Star Trek ever, even though it died an early death. From Archer's relationship with the Andorian commander Shran (played by the wonderful Jeffrey Combs) to some really excellent standalone episodes, I miss Enterprise more than any other series.

1. Deep Space 9 : Yeah, this is just about the best science fiction you're going to find anywhere.

* Strange New Worlds : I'm not rating Strange New Worlds yet. I've only seen a few episodes. But from what I've seen, it has the potential to be among the favorites.

What about you? What's your favorite Star Trek series? Are you Trek-curious and just getting started? Are you coming back after a long hiatus? Share with us in the comments below. Live long and prosper.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

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10 Anime Series to Watch This Spring

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It’s already been a good 2024 for anime. Most notably, you have “The Boy and the Heron” winning Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, making for the first anime film to win the prize since another Hayao Miyazaki classic, “Spirited Away,” did so back in 2002. But outside of that big accomplishment, the year has also birthed a ton of great shows already, with a strong winter 2024 season that included great new shows like “Delicious in Dungeon,” “Bucchigiri,” and “Sengoku Youko.”

If Winter 2024 was a great start, Spring 2024 promises to be even more packed. That’s mainly because two of the biggest series currently ongoing are debuting their new seasons this April, the type of blockbuster series even non-anime fans might have heard of. Premiering its seventh season and 139th episode, “My Hero Academia” — an action series about the exploits of students at an academy for superheroes — will release on Crunchyroll beginning May 4. Later that month on May 12, the fourth season of “Demon Slayer,” the ultra-popular anime about a young man in feudal Japan who becomes a demon hunter to avenge his family, will premiere its first episode.

“My Hero Academia” and “Demon Slayer” alone promise a lot of attention, but they’re not the only known quantities returning this Spring. There’s also acclaimed comedy series “KonoSuba,” appropriately titled-comfort watch “Laid-Back Camp,” fantasy adventure “Mushoku Tensei,” and “Black Butler,” which returns to television for a new season after over a decade. That’s on top of shows like “Spice and Wolf” and “Bartender,” remakes of series that premiered back in the aughts.

With this many already-popular franchises, it can be difficult for a new series to break through. But hopefully, some will, and there’s already at least one very hyped new series in the form of “Kaiju No. 8,” a manga sci-fi series about battling giant monsters that’ll hopefully scratch the itch recently converted “Godzilla” fans might be having. Add on promising manga adaptations like “Go! Go! Loser Ranger” and interesting originals like “Astro Note,” and there’s something for pretty much any fan this season.

With the spring already blooming, IndieWire took a look at the anime worth staying inside for as the weather gets warmer. Selections are ranged in chronological order of premiere date. Read on for 10 anime series to watch this Spring.

‘Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf’ (April 1, Crunchyroll)

Beloved but sadly short-lived, the 2008 anime series ‘Spice and Wolf’ provided a unique spin on your typical fantasy adventure, prioritizing small-scale business rather than epic adventure. The story of a traveling merchant forced to care for a 600-year-old wolf-deity who’s taken the form of a teen girl, the series fleshed out a deep fictional economy through the character’s travels, pairing it with a heartwarming story of their growing bond. The series ended before it could cover all of Isuna Hasekura’s original light novel, but now it’s receiving a remake that will cover the whole thing from studio Passione.

‘Train to the End of the World’ (April 1, Crunchyroll)

An original series, ‘Train to the End of the World’ boosts an intriguing premise that promises some major reveals and big surprises. When Shizuru Chikura’s friend Yuka disappears from town, along with several other residents, the young girl is determined to uncover what happened. To do so, she gathers up three other friends and journeys on an abandoned and seemingly mystical train out of town to discover the greater world.

‘Bartender: Glass of God’ (April 3, Crunchyroll)

One of the great pleasures of anime is how the medium can take seemingly any profession and crank the stakes up to 11, no matter how low-key it might seem. Case in point: ‘Bartender: Glass of God,’ an adaptation of Araki Joh’s manga about a bartender who is really, ridiculously, incredibly good at his job. So good in fact, that his cocktails are capable of soothing his rich customers and giving them the inner strength to make difficult decisions in their lives. It’s absurd, but a premise with potential for some interesting episodic storytelling.

‘Wind Breaker’ (April 3, Crunchyroll)

There’s been a recent renaissance of sorts for good old-fashioned anime about delinquent high school students beating the tar out of each other; ‘Tokyo Revengers’ and ‘Bucchigiri,’ to name two popular recent examples. ‘Wind Breaker,’ a martial arts show based on Satoru Nii’s manga series, adds to the trend with the story of a first-year high schooler attempting to battle his way to the top of his high-school hierarchy. The series, from CloverWorks, features scripts from Hiroshi Seko, who has previously worked on acclaimed series like ‘Vinland Saga’ and ‘Chainsaw Man.’

‘Astro Note’ (April 5, Crunchyroll)

A promising original series, ‘Astro Note’ mixes slice-of-life antics with sci-fi adventure. The main character, Takumi, is an aspiring chef that gets fired from his job and winds up as the chef at an apartment building that serves complimentary breakfast. His food wins over the bubbly landlady Mira, but he’s shocked when he learns that the gorgeous woman comes from outer space.

‘Go! Go! Loser Ranger!’ (April 7, Hulu)

Everybody loves the ‘Power Rangers,’ the rainbow-colored superheroic masked defenders of Earth. ‘Go! Go! Loser Ranger’ is a clever parody of the iconic franchise (well, the ‘Super Sentai’ franchise that the American ‘Power Rangers’ is adapted from) that takes the perspective of D, one of the faceless grunts that battles the Rangers-esque Dragon Keeper heroes. When the invading alien army D is a part of is defeated, the grunts are assigned to, essentially, slavery, and forced to stage a weekly battle with the Dragon Keepers so the organization can keep its good standing with the world. Fed up with the situation, D decides to take the heroes down by infiltrating their ranks from the inside. The manga from Negi Haruba will receive an anime from Yostar Pictures, with Keiichi Satō — the man behind popular superhero series ‘Tiger and Bunny’ — directing.

‘The Fable’ (April 7, Hulu)

Nothing quite hits like a good old-fashioned Yakuza story, but that’s not exactly what you get from ‘The Fable.’ The title doesn’t refer to a fairy tale; it’s the code name of the central figure, a professional killer feared throughout the Japanese underworld. But when his sponsor abruptly orders him to lead the life of an ordinary citizen in Osaka for a year, the killer finds himself forced to reconnect with his inner humanity. The series comes from Tezuka Productions and will air on Hulu.

‘KonoSuba’ (April 10, Crunchyroll)

One of the funniest anime series currently running, ‘KonoSuba’ is a deranged, delightfully mean parody of your average isekai (a genre of shows that follow people transported from the real world to a fantasy one). You have your hero Kazuma, who dies young and gets set to a MMORPG-esque realm, and forms an adventuring party with goddess Aqua, magician Megumin, and crusader Darkness to defeat the Devil King. The problem is that the group is highly dysfunctional from the jump: Kazuma is a selfish leech, Aqua is a greedy crybaby, Megumin is obsessed with explosions, and Darkness has a masochist fetish. The foursome has fantastic chemistry, and their squabbles make for laugh-out-loud episodic stories. The series, based on the light novel by Natsume Akatsuki, will premiere its third season this April.

‘Kaiju No. 8’ (Crunchyroll, April 13)

After ‘Godzilla Minus One’ and ‘Godzilla X Kong,’ the kaiju genre is clearly hot right now. So there’s literally never been a better time for the anime adaptation of Naoya Matsumoto’s manga ‘Kaiju No. 8,’ a sci-fi action series about a boy who gains the ability to turn into a monster and uses it to defend the world against bigger, more violent monsters. The series comes from Production I.G. and boosts an impressive pedigree: Khara, the studio from ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ creator Hideaki Anno, created the monster designs, while ‘Code Geass’ writer Ichirō Ōkouchi wrote the script for the season. Will ‘Kaiju No. 8’ be a deep show? That’s to be determined, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll be a fun time.

‘T・P Bon’ (May 22, Netflix)

The manga ‘Doraemon’ is a little obscure to Western anime fans, but artistic duo Fujiko Fujio’s series about a robot cat is one of the most popular franchises in Japan, running from 1969 to 1997 and spawning three anime series and over forty animated films. ‘Time Patrol Bon,’ a series from Fujio member Hiroshi Fujimoto, is even less well-known in the states, which makes the upcoming Netflix adaptation ‘T・P Bon’ even more intriguing. From studio Bones, the series focuses on a teenager recruited by an inter-dimensional agency tasked with traveling through time to save specific people’s lives.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Paramount Plus

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is an American science fiction series created by the duo of Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. In this edition, Captain Burnham decides to pursue a lead involving an abandoned 800-year-old Romulan vessel. Things soon go south, giving way to an exciting chase. Saru receives the opportunity of a lifetime but remains conflicted about the cost attached to the offer.

Here’s how you can watch and stream Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 via streaming services such as Paramount Plus.

Is Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is available to watch via streaming on Paramount Plus.

Season five kicks off with Captain Burnham and the U.S.S. Discovery embarking on a perilous mission to extract a lost 800-year-old Romulan vessel. However, when the artifact hidden inside the ship gets stolen, Captain Burnham engages in a high-octane chase to retrieve it. Elsewhere, Saru receives a lucrative offer involving an upgrade in his position. Meanwhile, Tilly tries to provide aid but is instead snuck into a vortex of secrecy.

Sonequa Martin-Green is once again seen leading the line of the show as Michael Burnham. The additional cast also features Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, and David Ajala, among others.

Watch Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 streaming via Paramount Plus

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is available to watch on Paramount Plus.

Paramount's in-house streaming service not only features content from CBS, Paramount Pictures, and other Viacom-owned networks but also houses all the titles that fall under the Star Trek label.

You can watch via the show Paramount Plus by following these steps:

Go to ParamountPlus.com
Select ‘Try It Free’
$5.99 per month or $59.99 per year (Essential)
$11.99 per month or $199.99 per year (with SHOWTIME)
Enter your personal information and create your account

The Paramount Plus Essential plan includes tens of thousands of episodes and movies, the NFL on CBS, the UEFA Champions League, 24/7 news coverage with CBS News, and limited ads.

Furthermore, the Paramount Plus with SHOWTIME plan includes all of the above, removes the ads except in limited circumstances, and also includes SHOWTIME originals, movies, and sports along with CBS live TV and college football. Nonetheless, you’re able to download shows to your mobile device.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 synopsis is as follows:

“The fifth and final season finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.”

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Paramount Plus appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

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What time star wars: the bad batch season 3, episodes 10 & 11 release on disney plus.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 & 11 will continue the final season with a highly-anticipated double-drop on the Disney+ service.

The Bad Batch season 3 continues with 2 episodes dropping on Disney+, likely focusing on Omega's importance to the Empire.
The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 release at 12am PT, 3am ET, and 8am BST.
Asajj Ventress' return hinted at a dark turn in the story with potential Empire attacks on Pabu in episodes 10 and 11.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 will continue the animated series with a double episode drop on Disney+. Since the ending of The Bad Batch season 3's premiere , the show has been slowly ramping up toward its finale. Stemming from the teases surrounding Palpatine's Star Wars resurrection, The Bad Batch season 3 has focused on the titular Clone Force 99 deducing why Omega is such a valuable target to the Empire.

This continued in T he Bad Batch season 3, episode 9, which saw the return of Star Wars' Asajj Ventress . Ventress tested Omega for a Midi-chlorian count, as the Batch grew ever closer to finding out what makes their newest member so special in the eyes of the villainous Doctor Hemlock. With only six episodes of the Star Wars TV show remaining, it is expected that The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 will reveal more about Hemlock's plans, propelling the show to its culmination with a two-episode drop on Disney+.

How Disney Turned The Phantom Menace's Most Controversial Idea Into The Foundation Of Modern Star Wars

What time the bad batch season 3, episodes 10 & 11 release.

For the first time since Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 6 and 7, two episodes will release on the same day. With that in mind, Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 will be released on Disney+ at 12:00 AM PT, 03:00 AM ET, and 08:00 AM BST on April 2. While previous episodes were released at 07:00 AM GMT, episodes 10 and 11 will be released at 08:00 AM due to the transition between GMT/Greenwich Mean Time and BST/British Summer Time in the U.K.

T he release time for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 remains entirely unchanged for PT and ET time zones.

What To Expect From Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3, Episodes 10 & 11

After the appearance of Asajj Ventress in the show, a dark change in the story can be expected in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 . The title of the episode centering around Asajj Ventress was "The Harbinger," a term often attributed to something or someone who heralds something bleak on the horizon. This coincides with Ventress' warning that Clone Force 99 is not as safe on Pabu as they thought, potentially hinting at what is to come in The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11.

This warning, and the title of "The Harbinger," could hint that the Empire will find Pabu in The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11. The two-part episode could focus on the Empire's attack on Pabu, the Batch's escape, and set up the story for the final four episodes of the season. While this is just speculation, the context clues of Ventress' appearance in the show tease dark plot elements for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 as the two episodes release on Disney+.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

*Availability in US

Not available

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an action-adventure animated series set after the events of The Clone Wars, following Clone Force 99 (a.k.a. the Bad Batch.) Finding themselves immune to the brainwashing effects of Order 66, the Bad Batch become mercenaries for hire while outrunning the empire, now seeing them as fugitives of the law.

What to Watch Today

Elsbeth is back, a major grey’s return, star trek: discovery’ s end begins and more.

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On TV this Thursday: Elsbeth is back with two new episodes, Dr. Arizona Robbins returns to Grey’s Anatomy and Star Trek: Discovery begins it swan song. Here are 12 programs to keep on your radar. (Also check out our weekly TVLine-Up of premieres and finales and monthly streaming guide .)

Showtimes for April 04, 2024

Series premiere (first six episodes): Arthur creator Marc Brown presents a new cartoon set in a fantastical world full of dragons, trolls and talking banjos.

Season 2 finale : An old enemy threatens everything that Mark holds dear. ( Check renewal status .)

Movie premiere : Director Rudy Mancuso plays a street performer with synesthesia navigating family and romance; Camila Mendes ( Riverdale ) co-stars. ( Watch trailer .)

Limited series premiere (all eight episodes): A grifter (played by Fleabag’ s Andrew Scott) accepts a job that leads to a life of deceit, fraud and murder. ( Watch trailer .)

Star Trek: Discovery

Final season premiere (two episodes): Captain Burnham and her crew must retrieve an artifact inside an old vessel. ( Watch trailer ; plus, get scoop on Star Trek Easter eggs .)

Season 2 finale : Jake and Katagiri zero in on a crucial piece of evidence for their case; Sato prepares for a major power move. (Not yet renewed.)

Young Sheldon

Baby CeeCee is caught in the middle of a conflict stemming from Georgie and Mandy’s wedding plans. ( Watch Montana Jordan and Emily Osment Q&A .)

Buck grows envious as Eddie forms a close bond with someone else; the 118 rescue a woman who’s stuck on receiving a rose at the Bachelor mansion . ( Good news! )

Trevor’s brother (played by comedian Jon Glaser) checks into Woodstone after finding a loophole in the rewards program. ( More good news! )

Grey's Anatomy

Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) returns to Grey Sloan; the interns answer for past mistakes; Teddy is ready to get back to work. ( Even more good news! )

Episode 2 casts Linda Lavin as a co-op president and Jane Krakowski as a high-powered real estate broker, while Episode 3 features Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a volatile reality-TV producer. ( Get scoop .)

Son of a Critch

Season 3 finale : Mark is tasked with delivering the graduation speech, causing him to reflect on the family and friends who have shaped him. (Not yet renewed.)

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Ghosts! Star Trek

And Alex Rider! Was hoping Amazon would continue the early drop and they did.

911 ABC TONIGHT

Discovery Premiere though I can’t watch until Saturday.

Sheldon Son of a Critch

Ghosts 9-1-1 Young Sheldon

Elsbeth Tokyo Vice 9-1-1 Ghosts

Grey’s but just to see Jessica Capshaw !

Ripley, 9-1-1, Station 19.

TNA IMPACT! On axstv New Japan pro wrestling on axstv 911 Station 19 Elsbeth x2 Ghosts Son of a critch

9-1-1 Ghosts Elsbeth X 2 Ripley

Busy Thursday Young Sheldon Ghosts Elspeth (x2) 911

Young Sheldon Ghosts Elsbeth Next Level Chef House Hunters Intl

Star Trek: Discovery Grey’s RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor’s Service. 10:00pm on PBS. Elsbeth- tomorrow Colbert

Star Trek: Discovery Young Sheldon Ghosts Son of a Critch Elsbeth (2)

Ghosts Son of a Critch

There three best (by far) sitcoms on TV today are on tonight: Young Sheldon, Son of a Critch and Ghosts. Young Sheldon in its final season and SOAC sadly has not yet been renewed by its Canadian network. Would be a shame for it to not follow young Mark into high school.

Son of a Critch is hilarious 😂 😃 Looking forward for more seasons

GHOSTS!! Elsbeth

I thought they were airing back to back episodes of Young Sheldon.

Tokyo Vice, one of the best shows on tv (along with Shogun)

9-1-1 Ghosts Grey’s Anatomy Station 19

Sheldon Ghost Elsbeth I love this show

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IMAGES

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Star Trek news and discussion
The "production" order. If you're committed to watching everything eventually, and want to do it the "right" way, we recommend the following:. TOS 1 → TAS → Films (1-6) → TNG → Generations (Film 7) → DS9 → First Contact (Film 8) → VOY → Films 9-10 2 → ENT → Films 11-13 3 → DSC → PIC → LD → PRO → SNW. 1 It's often recommended to skip "The Cage" on your initial ...
In which order should I start watching Star Trek?
TOS-era Movies: General rule for movies 1-6: the odd numbers are nowhere near as good as the even. Star Trek: The Motion Picture suffers from being written like an episode, not a movie. II, III, and IV are a longer story arc involving easily the most tumultuous time in TOS. II is likely the best Trek film.
How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline
Where to Watch: Paramount+ 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 ...
How To Watch Every Star Trek Series & Movie In The Right Order
In a choice between whether to watch the Star Trek TV series and movies in the order of release or watching the saga unfold throughout its in-universe continuity, here's how a Trekker can do either. When Star Trek: The Original Series premiered in 1966, no one dreamed it would launch a franchise that would last 55 years, and Star Trek is still going strong.
Which order should I watch the new Star Trek shows?
Lower Decks can be watched in any order. There isn't a plot that starts in Lower Decks that continues in SNW. Shadownet said: I would start with Star Trek Discovery and at some point I believe in S3 or S4 they introduced the some of the cast of Star Trek Strange New World. It's end of S1 and then S2 actually.
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Star Trek in Order: How to Watch Every Episode of Your Favorite
Especially with a science-fiction universe that has time travel, multiple universes, concurrent shows and entirely new timelines. Fear not, as we have created a handy binge-watch guide using the Stardate of each series and film. Here is our guide on how to watch every Star Trek series and movie in the right order.
This Is The Correct Order In Which To Watch The Star Trek ...
In 2018, after the successful first season of "Discovery" led to a new expansion of the "Star Trek" franchise, Kurtzman and co-creator Bryan Fuller (formerly a writer on "DS9" and "Voyager ...
The Best Order to Watch All of Star Trek
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) Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 ...
What is the best order to watch the Star Trek movies?
The rebooted timeline order. Image: ©Paramount Pictures . Following the underwhelming response to Star Trek: Nemesis, plus a strong desire to update the Trek brand for a new era, the franchise was given a reboot (of sorts) in 2009. This reboot began with Star Trek - a prequel which started the series back at the beginning, with a new Captain Kirk (this time played by Chris Pine).
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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Max. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Max. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Max. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Max. Star Trek ...
What's The Best Order For Watching Star Trek?
Like, Balance of Terror, Amok Time, Mirror Mirror, Space Seed, and City on the Edge of Forever. That's just five episodes I grabbed off a "best of" list, and they're all must-watch. Like, stop TNG and go watch these episodes. Then the original movies, minus #5 if you wanna save some time.
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By subscribing to Paramount+, you get access to every TV show in the franchise, including new Star Trek series like Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. But while the service holds the bulk ...
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It's intended to bring kids into the Star Trek universe, but it fires on all cylinders for adults just as well. But I recommend you start where it all started: Star Trek, the original series ( TOS ...
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Some of the top VPN service providers in the game are ExpressVPN, Nord VPN, Proton VPN, Cyberghost, and Private Internet Access, to name a few. All you have to do is connect to a country where The Star Trek Universe is streaming. You can now watch the series even if unavailable in your region. There are many unpaid VPN services at hand or free ...
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For the first time since Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 6 and 7, two episodes will release on the same day. With that in mind, Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 and 11 will be released on Disney+ at 12:00 AM PT, 03:00 AM ET, and 08:00 AM BST on April 2.While previous episodes were released at 07:00 AM GMT, episodes 10 and 11 will be released at 08:00 AM due to the ...
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How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

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

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

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

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

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

How to Watch Star Trek by Order of Release

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This Is The Correct Order In Which To Watch The Star Trek Franchise

The Original Series

The Animated Series

The first six films

The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)

The Next Generation (Season 6) / Deep Space Nine (Season 1)

The Next Generation (Season 7) / Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

Generations

Deep Space Nine (Season 3) / Voyager (Season 1)

Deep Space Nine (Season 4) / Voyager (Season 2)

First Contact

Deep Space Nine (Season 5) / Voyager (Season 3)

Deep Space Nine (Season 6) / Voyager (Season 4)

Insurrection

Deep Space Nine (Season 7) / Voyager (Season 5)

Voyager (Seasons 6-7)

Lower Decks

The Kelvin timeline

Short Treks

The Best Order to Watch All of Star Trek

How to Watch All of Star Trek in Release Order

How to Watch All of Star Trek in Chronological Order

How to Watch All of Star Trek in the Best Order

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek movies I-VI

Star Trek Kelvin Timeline Films

Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and TNG Films

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Short Treks , and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Picard

Bonus: Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: Very Short Treks

What is the best order to watch the Star Trek movies?

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What's The Best Order For Watching Star Trek?

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