Greetings, reader!
Well, next week marks the sixtieth anniversary of Star Trek (1966-1969) airing its first episode. The original series only lasted three seasons, but its cultural impact cannot be overstated - and the franchise that it spawned has been going strong for six decades and counting. I thought back and forth on what angle to take in this post - I've already done a ranking of the twelve TV shows in the franchise, as well as a ranking of the fourteen movies, on my blog. Thankfully, Martta had a brilliant suggestion - instead of lecturing about Star Trek to the two or three people in my followers who are already fans, I'm recommending the franchise to all of you by listing the top 10 reasons why you should become acquainted with what I consider to be the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time!
10. It's slow-paced in just the right way
Now, first of all - Star Trek isn't a monolith, so this part isn't relevant to all of the franchise. If slow-paced media is an absolute turn-off for you, I still do think there are parts of the franchise you might like - J.J. Abrams' reboot film trilogy (2009-2013), as well as spin-off shows like Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2024) and Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-2025) are quite fast-paced. But yes, a vast majority of the franchise, especially the more classic stuff from past decades, is quite slow - in an absolutely therapeutic way.
While I have nothing against fast-paced storytelling, it does sometimes bug me how it seems to be a downright requirement these days - a vast majority of popular new TV shows and movies seem to be almost forced to maintain a certain speed, likely because their creators know that our attention spans are being shortened by social media, clickbait articles and addictive algorithms. I'm always trying not to fall victim to that, but I'll admit that it's challenging - so much of the new media that I consume is made with that in mind, so it can sometimes be challenging to keep fully locked in when watching a slower-paced old movie or show. But it's challenging in a way that I love, which is one of the big selling points of old classics to me - I refuse to go down without a fight in this universal attention span crisis, and I think that watching an old classic every now and then is one of the many ways in which we can combat what the algorithms are doing to us.
Star Trek, particularly when it comes to the original series and The Next Generation (1987-1994), is one of the best examples. In both shows, the plot for the average episode could be told in about 20 minutes, and probably would be if most modern TV writers got their hands on it - but they wouldn't be half as good that way. The shows are filled with the kind of scenes that people just aren't bold enough to make anymore - the characters might be sitting in a room, calmly talking one at a time about which course of action to take when facing a dilemma, and the debate might last five minutes without even having a clear resolution. And honestly, stuff like that feels so good to watch - and I severely recommend that to any likeminded souls who feel like everything is moving a bit too fast nowadays. Star Trek gives you room to breath, doesn't hurry when building its characters and atmosphere, and manages to be slow without getting boring (it helps that the episodes are also fun as hell).
9. The cultural relevance is staggering
If you're at all into science fiction, watching Star Trek is such a "recommended reading" activity - the franchise is such a classic, and it has affected the genre (as well as pop culture in general) on so many levels that you have to see it in order to believe it. Watching the shows and movies for the first time is so fun, because you uncover so many "holy shit, THAT is where that comes from?!" moments - from character archetypes through narrative tropes to popular phrases, there are countless ways in which this influential franchise has shaped TV and movies in general (but especially the sci-fi genre). It feels similar to reading one of the big classics of literature - you can feel the historical impact as you consume it, and it's a magical feeling.
8. Once you've gotten into it, it's the ultimate emotional support safehaven
Depending on where to start (I'd say that the best starting point is either the original series, The Next Generation, Prodigy or the 2009 movie depending on your personality), it might take a solid while to really get into the franchise. Some fans are swept away straight out of the gate, but even for them, it takes a while to get a grasp on the lingo and worldbuilding nuances, as the fictional universe is so vast. However, once it has become familiar - there's hardly any media that's as comforting.
The exact way in which it functions as comfort viewing really depends on the viewer, as the beauty of Star Trek is largely in the fact that every fan has their own personal relationship to the franchise. I can't say what your favorite show out of the franchise will be, but whichever one it is, that will become such an ultimate safehaven - I'm a Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) guy myself, and while pretty much anything from the franchise feels comforting and nostalgic to me, DS9 in particular is one of those shows that just listening to the theme song will make me feel warm and safe. The characters in your favorite cast will become like family to you, and returning to your favorite episodes will feel like seeing an old friend.
7. The greatest fan base in the world
Of course, every fandom does have its unfortunate parts - but my experience is that with Star Trek, the jerks are a much, much smaller minority than in any other fandom. For every one "Ugh, I liked Star Trek before it got all woke and political" asshole, there are about fifty fans who do have basic media literacy skills. When compared to major fan bases like Marvel or Star Wars, it's almost shocking how generally respectful, positive and non-toxic a vast majority of the Star Trek fandom is. I've really found a sense of belonging there, based on online experiences alone - I can only imagine how it would be better yet if I attended conventions and such.
6. No matter what kind of TV you like, my guess is Star Trek has you covered
When your franchise contains twelve different TV shows, not to mention fourteen movies, across seven decades - the variety you get is pretty crazy. Yes, the baseline genre is always science fiction and there are certain franchise-wide conventions, but other than that, Star Trek ranges across so many different genres and subgenres of television.
Shows like Deep Space Nine are more serialized with long-term storylines if that is your thing, whereas shows like The Next Generation are much more episode-of-the-week if that is your cup of (Earl Grey) tea. The Original Series is campy and light, whereas Discovery is serious and dark. Lower Decks is a chaotic sci-fi comedy with fast-paced dialogue, whereas Voyager has a nice slow pace and keeps things real. Prodigy is kid-friendly fun for the whole family, whereas Picard deals with mature, complex themes. There's a bit of something for everyone!
5. For completist viewers: you'll be happily busy for the next several years
Now, if you aren't the kind of nerd who feels the pressing need to become intimately familiar with every facet of a new special interest, down to the most obscure details - don't worry, this item from the list isn't for you, but the next one is. But for those of us who have that completist streak - I can't think of more fulfilling project than the Star Trek franchise.
You have about a thousand episodes, spread across fourty-nine seasons, from a selection of twelve different TV shows. Not to mention those fourteen movies. And of course, being a major franchise with an unhinged fan base, you have eternal amounts of semi-canon novels, comic books, video games and fan fiction stories - I have never come close to having the time to get into those, as the firmly canon stuff is already so deliciously time-consuming. So, if you're a nerd who has plenty of time on their hands and wants a new fictional universe to jump into, this one will keep you delightfully busy for a long time - the rest of your life, if you want it to, when you factor in stuff like re-watch value.
4. And for casual viewers: you definitely don't have to watch all of it
Here we have the other side of the coin - if you're interested in Star Trek for any number of reasons but the sheer scale of it scares you, worry not. You can stop any time you want, and skip any number of stuff that feels like it isn't for you. A vast majority of the franchise's material is written with an understanding that every viewer isn't a mega-nerd who has watched and memorized everything that happened before in the franchise, so pretty much any of the shows or movies should be accessible to keep up with even if you haven't seen it all.
Of course, if you watch Star Trek III: The Search for Spock without seeing the first two movies, or start legacy series Star Trek: Picard without the context of The Next Generation, or start Deep Space Nine from its fifth season, you might be confused and won't fully get all the payoffs. But basically, the franchise is full of great potential starting points. To recap my earlier point: depending on what kind of viewer you are, I could recommend either The Original Series, The Next Generation, Prodigy or the movie Star Trek (2009) as your starting point.
But really, you can just watch the stuff you're interested in, and that's totally fine. I love basically all Star Trek, but I totally get that some old-school viewers couldn't get through Discovery because it felt too modern / dark / fast-paced, or that some modern viewers couldn't get past the camp and poorly aged stuff from The Original Series. You get to build your own relationship to the franchise, and that's pretty beautiful.
3. It reads as a testament to the evolution of TV (and sci-fi)
If you're interested in television as a medium, and its history, then this franchise is almost a must-watch, just because it's such a brilliant time capsule for the evolution of the format. You have the light, adventure-of-the-week cowboy vibe of the sixties, the cruddy animated spin-off and forced cinematic sequel of the seventies, the wildly varying quality between episodes and turn of movie sequels for the brilliant in the 80's, the character-driven ensemble drama and flirtation between episode-of-the-week and longer-term storylines in the 90's, the prequel/reboot craze of the 00's, the cinematic blockbuster style and fully serialized archs of the 10's, and the ambitious gimmick-y genre-benders of the 20's.
The franchise also takes you on a journey regarding the evolution of science fiction - you see many of the genre's tropes being either introduced or perfected, and so many different styles and subgenres of sci-fi in the making. And then there's still the third level - the level of human history across seven decades being reflected. While the stories take place in the future, the franchise has always been a commentary on a bunch of stuff going on in the real world - so you have metaphors for Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement in The Original Series, parallels on apartheid and abortion in The Next Generation, a clumsy but well-intentioned take on 9/11 in Enterprise, and commentary on ICE and MAGA populism in Picard.
2. It's the greatest science fiction franchise of all time
I mean - it just is. Trust me. Klingons? The Borg? The Q continuum?! Absolutely unreal stuff. The collective creativity of the writers and other crew that gave us the tapestry of fictional alien species, planets and other worldbuilding elements is next-level when compared to Star Wars, Doctor Who, Dune or any of the other greats. Star Trek came up with so many concepts that have become genre staples, while perfecting others like time travel and parallel universes. If you like sci-fi and haven't gotten into Star Trek, you don't know what you're missing out on.
Vulcans? The Mirror universe? The Neutral Zone?! Come on, man. Nothing comes close.
1. It's relevant as hell, and we could all learn a thing or two from it
My wife and I are watching The Next Generation, and literally just yesterday we happened to watch an episode that is a perfect example for what I mean - The Defector from season 3. In this Romulan thriller, there's a scene where Captain Picard talks with his android officer Data about the difficult brink-of-war situation that they're in. Picard asks Data to be objective and record all that is about to happen, because he knows that the next moments might shape history, and he wants it all on record - no matter what happens. Due to the moral dilemma of the episode, Picard can't be sure if the Enterprise is going into a trap or not, and whether their actions (and the actions of the Romulans) will start a war or prevent one. Instead of going the cliché route of "we have to be perceived as the good guys no matter what", seen in so much western media, the protagonist here goes "We'll try our best to do the right thing, but if we fail, the world should know what we did". Because the truth, and the ability to admit if you were wrong, is that important to Captain Picard. We should all be more like him.
That's just one of many examples. One of the central tenets of the franchise, all the way from Gene Roddenberry's original vision in the 60's to the current material in the 2020's, has been IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. A hill I will die on is that a huge amount of the world's problems would be solved if more people were exposed to Star Trek - the stories in this franchise will teach you to celebrate diversity instead of fearing it, be curious about other cultures instead of focusing on your own perceived superiority, and strive to improve our society through culture, intellectual growth and people selflessly helping each other, instead of capitalist greed and chasing individual riches at the expense of others.
In the utopian future that Roddenberry envisioned, humanity has found a way to move past warfare, nationalism, money and other forms of oppressing and dividing one another. Star Trek is so idealistic that its version of the future often feels impossible, especially when contrasted to the bullshit going on in the world right now - but at other times, it feels so real that it gives the viewer something the world desperately needs more than ever: hope. When the lore behind that utopian future is explored in instalments like Star Trek: First Contact, the episode Past Tense from Deep Space Nine and the final season of Enterprise, it doesn't feel far-fetched or naive; it makes you go "Yeah - we could do that, we f**king are capable of that". Of course, that would require a shit-ton of work - raising class consciousness, protesting and lobbying, demanding real structural change, and doing whatever it takes to get rid of the Trumps and Netanyahus of the world (and dismantling the systems that allow them to hold on to power).
It seems like a big task, but honestly, this fictional franchise is probably one of the biggest reasons why I have as much hope as I do, and a drive to be a part of the necessary change. One of my favorite social media accounts, @leftistlawyer, has a pinned post on Instagram that I go back to every now and then, and it always brings me to tears. In it, she highlights a scene from Star Trek: First Contact, and why it is so important to her. I won't spoil the specifics here, but let's just say that in the scene, two characters have a conversation with crystal-clear real-world parallels: while living in times like this often feels like a curse, it can also be a blessing in the grand scheme of things. As long as we believe that we can change the course of this world for the better, our role is a thankless but beautiful one: we get to, and have to, be that change. "Burning our lives to make a sunrise that we know we'll never see", to quote another great sci-fi franchise.
And this, more than any other reason, is why Star Trek is so important. You can go as far back as the original series in the 60's, and find that the central lessons are still painfully relevant: war and imperialism are bad, societies driven by greed are bad, and we should be working on bettering ourselves and helping each other. The same messages ring even clearer throughout The Next Generation, and particularly my favorite, Deep Space Nine. Star Trek helped shape my political views, because the people who made it had some truly deep insight into both the problems and the potential of humanity, and that's the big reason why I recommend the franchise to absolutely everyone.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I continue celebrating Star Trek's sixtieth anniversary - with a ranking of every decade that the franchise has been active, based on how good the franchise was in that decade.
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