So, it took me almost a year to watch 930 episodes, 13 films, and 10 Short Treks. It’s unlikely I’ll do this again. Was it worth it? The original Star Trek debuted when I was an infant, so I knew nothing about the show until 1971 when we got this marvelous bit of technology called “cable.” For $10 a month, we could see all the UHF channels and watch the Browns out of Toledo when home games were blacked out. My mother liked to tell me I would get scared when she would watch Dark Shadows. So she would flip the channel to Edge of Night, only to have her then-only child pitch a tantrum because, let’s be honest, Barnabas Collins was kinda cool. (Too cheesy for me to watch when I was older, but cool in that low-budget Hammer Films kind of way.) I do remember my first sight of Star Trek was McCoy vaporizing a mugato, which had a similar effect. Also, Mom picked up on something completely altering my life the way Elvis had for her some 17 years earlier.
A few years later, NBC gave us an animated continuation of Star Trek. For a season and a half, I was happy. New adventures with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. And Uhura took charge. Twice. Then this movie called Star Wars came out in 1977. Which made Star Trek: The Motion Picture an easy sell. TMP begat The Wrath of Khan begat four more movies begat Star Trek: The Next Generation. Except for a seven-year interruption in the mid-2000s, there has been Star Trek of one form or another since 1980.
I did one chronological binge before, during the lockdown. Fairly easy. When you’re home all the time, it’s not hard to take over the man cave with a laptop and work with all the shows going. But working a full-time job (still mostly remote) and with a new business beginning, I had to work viewing in around the rest of my life. On the upside, I have an office with a television that is much more comfortable than my old office.
So, my impressions?
Enterprise
Enterprise doesn’t get a lot of respect because it ended too soon and is a prequel. Honestly, the knock on prequels always annoyed me. But subsequent rewatches reveal it’s not a bad show. It’s just a show too far. It was rushed into production as Voyager ended, which gave the writing staff no time to recover. It didn’t help that, like Voyager, it ran on UPN, a low-rated network that killed too many of its own shows through interference.
Yes, the original Enterprise looks more advanced than Shatner’s Enterprise. But they eventually manage to squeeze one more appearance from the 1960s bridge while making it fit in with 1990s/2000s filming techniques. But maybe it’s making Starfleet, the Vulcans, and even the Klingons look like something less-than-iconic. Jonathan Archer’s Starfleet has more in common with the early NASA than it does the group sending Jean-Luc Picard out to boldly go. The Vulcans are full of themselves (and apparently forgetful of what Surak taught.) The Klingons are less-than-organized and terrified of these humans barging in just to say hello. Everyone we know of in later Treks is overly cautious while humans take the approach of “Leeeeroooooy Jenkins!” The show was canceled as it competed with the likes of Battlestar Galactica. But then so was UPN shortly thereafter.
CBS Studios
Short Treks
I wish they hadn’t stopped making these. They gave us an animated backstory on Michael Burnham pre-Spock and Saru’s origin. (And how many of us didn’t really buy Michelle Yeoh as a young lieutenant?) They also predicted an ending for Discovery and gave a gut-punch teaser for Picard. But their greatest achievement was serving as a backdoor pilot for Strange New Worlds after Discovery Season 2 was in the can.
“The Cage”
Going from legacy Trek Enterprise to a handful of Short Treks shot before and during the pandemic is not too seamless. Going from two digitally filmed Short Treks featuring Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck to a pilot shot on a $10 budget. But this is the birth of Trek, and while remastering with reshot space effects mitigates some of the low-budget feel of the show, it’s still a product of 1965. Some of Pike’s (Jeffrey Hunter) lines are cringey, and sound effects and vibe would be obsolete by the time “Man Trap” would air a year later. Nonetheless, you knew they were on to something when NBC said it was “too cerebral” (Really? Too smart?) and Lucille Ball was enthusiastic for the show anyway. Hunter did not have enough time to establish Pike, but both Bruce Greenwood and Anson Mount took their cues nicely from him. Discovery would even use the episode in a “Previously, on Star Trek…” open.
Discovery (Seasons 1 & 2)
When Enterprise ended in 2005, it would be four years before we would see another movie and twelve years before another television series took to the air. They wanted to make it new and edgy and modern-looking. They also did not want to do a retread of what came before. But they went dark. Even Deep Space Nine, which reveled in dark episodes, took the occasional breather and offered comic relief. And let’s be honest, don’t mess with certain things. JJ Abrams revamped the Klingons, leaving them identifiably Klingon. CBS wanted new Klingons. We got pale-skinned onionheads instead of people with ridged heads. Strike one. The lead character–but not the captain–is Michael Burnham, who is Spock’s foster sister. It doesn’t violate canon, but it is a hard sell. And holograms in Starfleet before Kirk became captain of the Enterprise? Also, what about the spore drive? Why hasn’t anyone heard of this?
Discovery is well-done, with Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham and Doug Jones as Saru. Lorca, a hardass, might have been a good continuing captain, but he was sacrificed to the Mirror Universe plotline. Too much had changed from even the nineties Trek, and Discovery stumbled in the ratings. So enter Anson Mount as Captain Pike. Season 2 is not so much a reboot of Discovery as it is a backdoor pilot (along with some Short Treks) for Strange New Worlds. The show even revisits TNG’s “Rightful Heir” and TOS’s “The Cage.” But the show had to sell fans on Burnham never being mentioned, how spore drive could exist in a dilithium-powered world, and take Discovery out of 23rd century where it can’t trip over canon anymore. There were simpler explanations (Spock never talks about his family, possibly to conceal Sybok’s cousin Oliver, spore drive can’t be replicated, Starfleet bans holograms after the Control incident.) The constant shifting of Discovery‘s identity, along with its failure to highlight most of the bridge crew, that hamstrung it finding a proper following.
Strange New Worlds
The most die-hard TOS fans love this show. Perhaps it’s because the updated Enterprise is designed to allow the same camera angles as the original 1960s set. Props for the Trek team for getting that original bridge to work up through 2005, but in today’s high-def world with theatrical width and incredible detail, the original would look like it was shot in someone’s basement. But it’s the cast that sells it. Jeffrey Hunter and Majel Barrett never had time to establish Pike and Number One. And putting the cast into a more episodic format, with story arcs more like TNG than Discovery‘s blink-and-you’ll-miss-something storylines, it’s not hard to believe this is a show that took 55 years to get picked up.
Star Trek
Speaking of TOS, remastering has taken some of the cheese out of the original. Back then, writers didn’t know what they were doing. They were happy the show lasted more than one season. Little did they know it would spawn an animated series, thirteen movies, and twelve spin-offs. But Shatner, Nimoy, and the rest of the cast sell this. For all their ups and downs, this cast has the best chemistry of any cast, save maybe TNG. So even when a movie bombs, like Star Trek V, the cast’s interaction carries the story. TOS is the bar every Trek has to clear to be taken seriously.
The Animated Series
Animation allowed Uhura to take command, to have aliens in the crew, and for the aliens to look different from the humanoids dictated by budget constraints. While it’s relationship to canon is looser than any other series, it allowed the cast to do their thing. It might have been a Saturday morning cartoon, but it was anything but a kids’ show.
The Original Series Films
Between the movies, TNG, and DS9, this is peak Trek. And the TOS movies’ misses are more impressive than the later series’ hits in places. While the pacing of The Motion Picture was not right for its 1979 post-Star Wars release, it did bring big-budget effects and more nuanced storylines to Star Trek. Star Trek V was unintentionally funny and managed to get by on cast chemistry. But it’s the involvement of Nicholas Meyer in this era that sells it. Meyer came in, along with executive producer Harve Bennett, to sell this iteration of Trek, still defined by its characters and the Enterprise. Meyer would direct The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country, but his presence is felt on the Nimoy-directed The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. His fingerprints are even on the look and feel of The Final Frontier. Trek critic Steve Shives even refers to The Undiscovered Country as the perfect finale for TOS.
Paramount
The Next Generation
This had to be the riskiest endeavor of Trek history. A new Trek? With new characters? And an edict by Gene Roddenberry to avoid all but the most fleeting references to the original? The first season would be uneven and have Trek’s one black mark on its reputation. But we will never speak of that episode again.
But 1987 was a time of more patience. With a sixth TOS movie in doubt, fans stuck with the show for two years before it found its footing in Season 3 with a finale/Season 4 premier, Best of Both Worlds. Such a watershed was this episode, it would echo through the rest of the series, spawn the movie First Contact, and weave itself throughout DS9, Voyager, and even Enterprise (which deftly sidestepped canon issues by leaving the Borg as one of those unexplained mysteries promptly squelched by Section 31.) And it would define Picard.
Sure, it was hard watching the first two seasons. But the characters were endearing, and it ended up nearly eclipsing TOS before merging with it in most people’s minds.
The Next Generation Movies
Generations and, especially, First Contact are cultural touchstones. The first comes off as an extended episode, but First Contact rivals The Wrath of Khan in stature and execution. Together, they made for a promising start for the TNG cast on the big screen. Unfortunately, Insurrection was a weak movie, barely enough for a two-part episode and complicating the Deep Space Nine Dominion War story arc. Nemesis was possibly the most tone-deaf Trek movie ever. Many point at Stuart Baird’s only (to date) directorial effort as the moment that killed the franchise.
Deep Space Nine
A Trek that stays in place? And with such a dark setting? Without Gene Roddenberry? Thanks to syndication, it worked. It even embraced story arc. Was it really a rip-off of Babylon 5, another excellent station-based space opera? No, though Ira Behr and J. Michael Starczynski suspect Paramount execs might have used parts of JMS’s original B5 pitch as Trek in their notes to the DS9 writing staff. So bad was the fan rivalry that Bill Mumy (Lenier on B5) and Majel Barrett had notable guest spots on their opposite shows, both vocally telling fans to knock it off. (Sadly, no similar solution exists for whiny Star Wars fans. Why I abandoned that franchise.) But Sisko was groundbreaking, and not just for being the first black commander. The possibility had been hinted at as far back as “Court-Martial” in 1967 with Commodore Stone raking Kirk over the coals. Sisko, Bashir, and Quark were morally ambiguous, yet fundamentally decent, even when Quark was being a cad. Odo was a man out of time. Worf had to learn to be Klingon all over again, only to end up shaming his own people. And Kira, the first officer, is a former terrorist. This is not your father’s Star Trek. It had its misses, but “In the Pale Moonlight,” “Beyond the Farthest Star,” and “What You Leave Behind” are high points for Trek.
Voyager
Back to seven people on a ship. Voyager had an epic premise: Starfleet vessel on a 70-year journey home. But they wrote themselves into a corner with Neelix’s usefulness waning from day one as a scout and Kes’s incredibly short lifespan. It also did not get off to an auspicious start despite a strong pilot. Producers cast Genevieve Bujold as Captain Janeway, the first female lead in a Star Trek series. Her scenes are available on YouTube, and let’s just say Bujold had already quit the show by the time she finished her scenes. Enter Kate Mulgrew, who placed her hands on her hips, demanded a cup of coffee as consoles exploded around her, and glared at a bunch of judgmental UPN execs while breathing life into Kathryn Janeway. The network interference showed in the show’s unevenness, but the cast gelled. Even when Jeri Ryan had to work to fit in as Seven of Nine, the chemistry worked. Hell, we’re waiting on Paramount to green-light a Seven-led Legacy. My one suggestion would have been to lean into the parallels with The Odyssey more.
Lower Decks
Gleefully, unapologetically fan service, and it will slap anyone who says that’s a bad thing. (No, Steve Shives. That’s lazy critiquing. Get over it!) Lower Decks is a love-letter to Star Trek, even fleshing out the universe we’ve all come to know and love. It takes itself seriously without taking itself seriously. And only Lower Decks could pull off a live-action crossover with Strange New Worlds. And Lower Decks owes its existence to the TNG episode “The Lower Decks.” It even ties back to it with Beckett Mariner revealed to be close friends with the late Sito Jaxa.
Prodigy
This wasn’t a kids’ Star Trek. This was a serious Star Trek aimed at kids. Unlike Discovery, which tried to work without a captain lead, this one made more sense by having a holographic (and eventually a real) Janeway as the mentor figure. Discovery tried to upend the Trek formula too much. Prodigy‘s band of adolescent misfits did the same by blundering into the world we know, even sprinkling in a few Delta Quadrant baddies merely minding their own business. Paramount wisely moved this to Netflix, and while the switch to pump-and-dump was a bit jarring, it let them use a Firefly motif to essentially continue Voyager. Like in Picard, many of the characters we know are present without appearing off-screen. And making Wesley Crusher essentially a Time Lord without directly referencing Doctor Who expanded the TNG storyline and beefed up later parts of Picard previously unimaginable.
The Kelvin Timeline Movies
Not your father’s Star Trek. Trek needed something new, and Paramount wasn’t much interested in dragging out the 1990s legacy Treks, particularly since Enterprise limped into cancelation while Nemesis, for all intents and purposes, killed the franchise. JJ Abrams opted to bend it more toward Star Wars, but with Alex Kurtzman, a Trek fan and eventually executive producer, on board. Most of the cast had to echo the originals despite this being an alternate timeline. Spock, in particular, doesn’t alter course until he is placed on Pike’s Enterprise. Fortunately, we get two Spocks: “our” Spock, played by an aging Leonard Nimoy and a young Spock, played by Zachary Quinto. The duo provide a smooth transition from one vision of the franchise to the next. Karl Urban and Simon Pegg are pitch perfect as McCoy and Scotty while John Cho imbues Sulu with the gravitas delivered by George Takei. Uhura is not Nichelle Nichols Uhura (but then Celia Rose Gooding will get the honor of filling that backstory in), but Zoe Saldana delivers on the promise Nichelle Nichols made us over the years. Plus we get a Chekov played by an actual Russian, Anton Yelchin.
Chris Pine has the most thankless task: Rebooting Kirk. He can’t be the Kirk we all know and love because he is literally at the epicenter of the timeline. It does make it easier for Paul Wesley to become that same Kirk, but this Kirk is a completely different character: Rebellious at a much younger age and growing into the mature Kirk we meet in TOS.
The new timeline gives the producers and staff a more leeway in storytelling, but a Enterprise bigger than TNG’s and the destruction of Vulcan made some fans balk. And it falls apart with Into Darkness being a pointless and unwanted remake of The Wrath of Khan. Star Trek Beyond benefits from avowed Trekkies Simon Pegg and Justin Lin bent the series back to the Trek fans know and love.
Picard
This one was the most questionable of the new Treks. Discovery would pivot, adapt, and spin off before jumping to the 32nd century to dodge further canon bullets. But Season 1 messed with the storytelling. Still, it planted seeds. Season 2 got back to traditional Trek, even if it more resembled Firefly than Voyager. Season 3 hit a homerun with a surprisingly excellent finale for TNG to wash away the bad taste of Nemesis. But while Picard is Jean Luc in twilight, the show’s real selling point is Seven of Nine. An outcast because of her Borg past, she arrives already far along a journey helped along by Janeway (not seen but ever-present) and Picard. Jeri Ryan takes the character the rest of the way, eventually leaving her as the captain of the new Enterprise and Star Trek: Legacy waiting in the wings.
Discovery (Seasons 3-5)
I’ll be honest. Discovery should have started here, in the 32nd century. It still had a schizophrenic identity problem. It’s edgy and dark. But wait. Bend it back to canon. Now it’s a backdoor pilot for Strange New Worlds. Season 3 begins with what seems like a two-part pilot and an entirely new series, not to mention an obvious backdoor pilot for Section 31 (now a movie, which does not disappoint me.) Like Picard Season 2, it’s a bit disjointed, but a lot of first seasons are. Still, building out this strange new Trek universe is a better vehicle for Spock’s previously unknown foster sister than actually dropping her into “The Cage” era. Season 4 might have been a more action-filled version of The Motion Picture and Season 5 a riff on Indiana Jones, but the ended with it finding its stride. Like Enterprise, it was never allowed to find its own identity. And yet it will live on in Starfleet Academy, an idea that has finally found a suitable vehicle. (The Academy was my least favorite part of the Kelvin Timeline.) Just as Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks have added some luster to the criminally short-lived Enterprise, Starfleet Academy may raise Discovery‘s stock. Unfortunately, while it had a much better finale than Enterprise‘s pointless ending (holodeck making things worse), it had to force fit the Short Trek “Calypso,” set literally 2000 years after “The Cage,” with no real explanation why Discovery was retrofit to its Season 1 configuration and left out by itself for a millennium. (Poor Zora.)