Spent 20 minutes trying to find a thread that fit what I wanted but everyone seems to be willing to watch all of Star Trek. I tried TOS and while it’s not bad I don’t want to watch every single episode of Star Trek to get into the show…
What’s the best order to watch the most universally enjoyed Star Trek series’ and movies? I really enjoyed Lower Decks as a fan of Final Space and Strange New World’s looks incredible. I want to start with the earlier series but not have to watch all of it!
As others have said, watch the best episodes of TOS. Because the best ones are brilliant. I’m sure there are a ton of best episodes lists out there to use as a guide. But aside from the two part Menagerie (which is a must watch) they are all standalone episodes. I reckon 10-20 episodes are enough to experience the best.
Other ones that spring to mind:
City on the Edge of Forever Amok Time Operation Annihilate Balance of Terror Space Seed The Devil in the Dark Mirror, Mirror
The movies are also important, but feel free to skip 1 and 5. 3 is so-so, but it isn’t really skippable because it resolves 2 and sets up 4.
For TNG watch the best episodes of S1 and S2, then all of S3.