Having just finished the First Season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, I thought I'd engage in one of my favorite activities ... ranking the first seasons of all Star Trek shows!
Let me start by saying that the more recent shows have a slight advantage- obviously, with fewer shows to make in a season, there is less of a problem with "filler" material. Even so, I thought it was illuminating to go back and review some of the older shows and see how everything stood up.
Finally, a note- this is just for the completed first season of each show. It is not a ranking of how the show ended, developed, or the overall quality of the show. Just the first season. In addition, this really hurts the TNG family of shows, as most of them didn't hit their stride until later; most people acknowledge that TNG didn't git gud until S3, for example.
One more thing- no animated series. If I were to rank the animated shows, I'd probably have Lower Decks around #3, the Animated Series in the middle, and no rating for Prodigy as I haven't watched it.
RANKINGS THAT ARE GUARANTEED AWESOME AND ACCURATE!
1. ST: TOS.
People can forget this, but TOS (The Original Series) only ran for three total seasons. Of those three seasons, two (the first and second) were stone-cold classics, and the third ... was pretty good. But in the twenty-nine (29!) episodes that aired in 1966-67, TOS set an almost insane standard of excellence. With writers like D.C. Fontana, Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, and others, the show hit the ground running and established many of the themes that are still utilized in the franchise today. All the tropes- from Romulans to Klingons to the Gorn (ahem) ... all of it is in Season 1 of Star Trek. It's not just classic TV, it's one of the all-time great launches of a science fiction franchise, one that we still keep returning to today.
2. ST: SNW.
Yeah, I'm willing to stake my position here. This is TOS, modernized. I would watch an entire season of this crew just hanging out, chilling with Captain Pike and his amazing hair while he makes them delicious food. The worst that can be said about any episode in the 10-run first season is that it might not be as good as many of the all-time killer classics that they've already given us. But after a number of misfires, it's shocking to see how right a Star Trek series can feel. Just give me a crew that works together, a sense of optimism, good science fiction plots, and some fun. It sounds so easy ... and the cast makes it look easy.
3. PICARD.
I am not here to speak for the second season. Instead, I will say only that the first season was like a good cup of Earl Grey Tea. It was pleasant and soothing to see Jean Luc again.
4. ST: DISCO.
Weren't expecting that, were you? Discovery has had problems ... but the first season, despite numerous curious choices ... was decent. Sure, the show wrote a lot of checks that the acting couldn't cash, and the "twists" weren't that at all, but it was a fairly decent shot at a first season.
5. ST:TNG.
This was a tough one. I want to be clear- the first season of TNG was ... dire. There was a lot of Wesley (more than you remember). There was Denise Crosby's character getting killed off in a way that is ... well, I mean .... The only saving grace was probably Patrick Stewart's acting, and the hints of things to come (like the Romulans in the season finale or Q in the first episode). But it was brutal. So why do I have it ranked so high? Because it was practically a rite of passage to have really bad first seasons at this point ...
6. STS9.
Arguably the best Star Trek by the end, DS9 was dogged at the beginning by the B5 controversy and complaints that it wasn't true to the philosophy of Star Trek (the optimism of Rodenberry). Before really finding its feet with the Dominion (first mention was in Season 2) the show worked hard to find that sweet spot from underneath the shadow of TNG.
7. ST:VOY.
It is inarguable that the first three seasons of Voyager are the worst ones. One of the primary characters associated with Voyager (Seven) doesn't even join the cast until Season 4. Season 4 is probably the best season of this show ... and, notably, it's not season 1. Just a brutal watch.
8. ST:ENT.
It's been a long road/Getting from there to here/It's been a long time/But my time is finally near/And I can feel the change in the wind right now/Nothing's in my way/And they're not gonna hold me down no more/No, they're not gonna hold me down
'Cause I've got faith of the heart
Ugh. Enterprise had a lot of problems. But the biggest (other than the theme music) was that they chose to make some kind of silly and stupid temporal cold war the basis for the show. Never go full time travel, Trek. NEVER GO FULL TIME TRAVEL. It was a mess, and drove off most of the viewership (and killed Star Trek as a viable ongoing TV presence) before they course-corrected. So this will probably always be the worst first season.
So I am putting this up for discussion. Am I correct, or am I absolutely correct? You be the judge!
Let me start by saying that the more recent shows have a slight advantage- obviously, with fewer shows to make in a season, there is less of a problem with "filler" material. Even so, I thought it was illuminating to go back and review some of the older shows and see how everything stood up.
Finally, a note- this is just for the completed first season of each show. It is not a ranking of how the show ended, developed, or the overall quality of the show. Just the first season. In addition, this really hurts the TNG family of shows, as most of them didn't hit their stride until later; most people acknowledge that TNG didn't git gud until S3, for example.
One more thing- no animated series. If I were to rank the animated shows, I'd probably have Lower Decks around #3, the Animated Series in the middle, and no rating for Prodigy as I haven't watched it.
RANKINGS THAT ARE GUARANTEED AWESOME AND ACCURATE!
1. ST: TOS.
People can forget this, but TOS (The Original Series) only ran for three total seasons. Of those three seasons, two (the first and second) were stone-cold classics, and the third ... was pretty good. But in the twenty-nine (29!) episodes that aired in 1966-67, TOS set an almost insane standard of excellence. With writers like D.C. Fontana, Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, and others, the show hit the ground running and established many of the themes that are still utilized in the franchise today. All the tropes- from Romulans to Klingons to the Gorn (ahem) ... all of it is in Season 1 of Star Trek. It's not just classic TV, it's one of the all-time great launches of a science fiction franchise, one that we still keep returning to today.
2. ST: SNW.
Yeah, I'm willing to stake my position here. This is TOS, modernized. I would watch an entire season of this crew just hanging out, chilling with Captain Pike and his amazing hair while he makes them delicious food. The worst that can be said about any episode in the 10-run first season is that it might not be as good as many of the all-time killer classics that they've already given us. But after a number of misfires, it's shocking to see how right a Star Trek series can feel. Just give me a crew that works together, a sense of optimism, good science fiction plots, and some fun. It sounds so easy ... and the cast makes it look easy.
3. PICARD.
I am not here to speak for the second season. Instead, I will say only that the first season was like a good cup of Earl Grey Tea. It was pleasant and soothing to see Jean Luc again.
4. ST: DISCO.
Weren't expecting that, were you? Discovery has had problems ... but the first season, despite numerous curious choices ... was decent. Sure, the show wrote a lot of checks that the acting couldn't cash, and the "twists" weren't that at all, but it was a fairly decent shot at a first season.
5. ST:TNG.
This was a tough one. I want to be clear- the first season of TNG was ... dire. There was a lot of Wesley (more than you remember). There was Denise Crosby's character getting killed off in a way that is ... well, I mean .... The only saving grace was probably Patrick Stewart's acting, and the hints of things to come (like the Romulans in the season finale or Q in the first episode). But it was brutal. So why do I have it ranked so high? Because it was practically a rite of passage to have really bad first seasons at this point ...
6. STS9.
Arguably the best Star Trek by the end, DS9 was dogged at the beginning by the B5 controversy and complaints that it wasn't true to the philosophy of Star Trek (the optimism of Rodenberry). Before really finding its feet with the Dominion (first mention was in Season 2) the show worked hard to find that sweet spot from underneath the shadow of TNG.
7. ST:VOY.
It is inarguable that the first three seasons of Voyager are the worst ones. One of the primary characters associated with Voyager (Seven) doesn't even join the cast until Season 4. Season 4 is probably the best season of this show ... and, notably, it's not season 1. Just a brutal watch.
8. ST:ENT.
It's been a long road/Getting from there to here/It's been a long time/But my time is finally near/And I can feel the change in the wind right now/Nothing's in my way/And they're not gonna hold me down no more/No, they're not gonna hold me down
'Cause I've got faith of the heart
Ugh. Enterprise had a lot of problems. But the biggest (other than the theme music) was that they chose to make some kind of silly and stupid temporal cold war the basis for the show. Never go full time travel, Trek. NEVER GO FULL TIME TRAVEL. It was a mess, and drove off most of the viewership (and killed Star Trek as a viable ongoing TV presence) before they course-corrected. So this will probably always be the worst first season.
So I am putting this up for discussion. Am I correct, or am I absolutely correct? You be the judge!