Monkeybot

I'd have to say TNG is the best -- the best characters, the best actors (although admittedly, Patrick Stewart brings up the average a great deal), and in Who Watches the Watchers, one of the best anti-religion rants on network television. (It's the one where this primitive planet thinks Picard is a god, and he goes off on a rant about how he will not damn them to primitive superstitions and fairy tales, etc. etc....) While TNG certainly had its flaws, I think that overall its successes far outweighed its failures.

I liked DS9 for a while. I'd say the second through fourth seasons were probably my favorite. As others have mentioned, it was quite a bit darker than the preceding Trek series, and I respect that, even though it didn't always work out. DS9 also had some of my favorite minor characters; Garak springs to mind, as does the deliciously evil Gul Dukat.

It was definitely a strength of DS9 that it could sustain storylines for longer periods of time, such as the Maquis, the emergence of the Changelings & the Dominion, and that conflict with the Klingons. At the same time, I think this became DS9's biggest flaw; by the end of the series, they were so bogged down with the Dominion conflict that it just got monotonous. I really got the impression that the writers had painted themselves into a corner by creating this super-evil super-powerful conglomerate of evil, and weren't quite sure how to deal with the monster they had created. To be sure, some awesome episodes came out of the Dominion arc. As someone else mentioned, In The Pale Moonlight is a GREAT episode. Sisko's final line was a perfect stinger.

And finally, I'm also a bit of a Voyager fan. It's not the best Trek series by far, but it works for me. They pull out some pretty interesting episodes, I have to say.

I like the original trek, but I haven't watched very much of it. I have to confess, I haven't been able to get into Enterprise very much at all.

Jagged

I cannot believe how many of you people think DS9 was a good trek series!! Quark and Dax were the *only* decent characters of the lot. (I enjoyed looking at Bashir but not hearing him speak or act). My sister and I nicknamed Kira 'Ms. Hot-and-Bothered' (okay so we were like 14 and 11, give us a break). She and Odo deserve each other. Admittedly political storylines don't do much for me in general, otherwise I might have gotten more out of DS9.

Voyager was light-years ahead of DS9 on my personal-enjoyment scale. Not the best series overall, but the *cohesion* and affection among the cast was very special, and the characters not so inclined toward pompous chest-beating as the TNG set. Still, TNG was the best series all things considered--the most visionary, imaginative, provocative, socially-relevant writing, the most variety within episodes, Picard, Q, other consistently excellent core cast. My vote for series ranking:

1. TNG
2. TOS
3. Voyager
4. DS9
5. I refuse to watch Enterprise on principal--Scott Bakula is NOT Federation Captain material and I'm convinced it would be too painful to watch the attempt.

Captains follow identical to series order imo. Sisko had a great voice but that was ALL and it got OLD real fast. Janeway's understated strength is often overlooked--she was an excellent leader. William Shatner could not act but he's such a fun, positive, easygoing guy, I forgive him. (love that look of his when he's caught in the rays of the week's equivalent of the death beam, hands on either side of his face... classic cornball)

In terms of doctors, Voyager's EMH is a terrific character! I don't know the actor's name offhand, but he did very subtle, unassuming yet excellent work on Voyager. In particular the relationship between himself and Seven of Nine was really endearing and genuine. Much more pleasant to watch than ego-maniac Brent Spiner's Data (okay so he was still excellent, just not very humble about it). Spock was the ultimate non-human character, Nimoy the strongest of the TOS cast.

Ah. Now that I've set you all straight I feel much better

Godbert

1) TNG (by a wide margin)
2) Voyager
3) DS9
4) Enterprise
5) TOS (complete crap, except Spock)

cjack

Ahhh...an important difference...DS9 was the best series, IMHO, but not necessarily the best trek series.

Of course, Star Trek is all about "going where no man has gone before" and the "prime directive" and all.

TOS was basically "Wagon Train" in space, with a bit of utopian idealism thrown in for good measure. TNG, Voyager, and even Enterprise followed this formula...people on a ship, going somewhere, with a higher purpose in mind.

DS9 differed from the trek formula in that there was not much exploration and discovery going on, and IIRC, the prime directive didn't exactly come up every week!


So on that level, DS9 was not really a great "Star Trek" series, but I found it to be much more satisfying television than the other "new" series.

Deadbeat

The only thing worse than Star Trek is listening to people TALK about Star Trek....

*covers head and runs away very quickly*

Jacey

DS9's greatness emanated from Sisko. I never bought Kirk or Picard as tough guys at all, so anytime they got into a fight it looked ridiculous. Sisko looks like he could rip the heads of two Cardassians at once and bite the face off a third. I always knew watching the show that he could fuck someone's shit up bad, he was like the Stone Cold Steve Austin of the Trek world to me.

That said, TNG is still the better series, although it had some IPUawful shows and was too idealistic at times for me.

Wyz_sub10

Yes, but Picard was always portrayed as mentally tough, more than physically tough. When they did allude to his physical prowess, it was more as a young hot-head, than a skilled fighter.

There were many awful TNG episodes, but if you were to take the top 10 episodes from all the series, I bet at least 7 would be TNG.

Jagged

Hmmm.... good idea for a thread....

*firing phaser blasts at Deadbeat's retreating form*

Hey, you wanna run with the geeks, you gotta put up with the Trek talk, buddy!!!!!

Abacus

I voted for TNG. Not necessarily because it is better, but because it is the series I grew up with, and thus have fond memories of it.

trekbette

...but "favorite" and "Next" Generation. Sorry. I'm a proofreader.

I am partial to the entire Star Trek, Next Generation Universe. In order:
1. Next Generation--in love (or serious lust) with Data (Brent Spiner)
2. Deep Space Nine--Sisko/Avery Brooks had the greatest voice in the entire world
3. Enterprise--Prime Directive? What's a Prime Directive?
4. Voyager--"We don't need no stinkin' Prime Directive!"
And in very, very last place, Original Series.

My favorite movie would be First Contact. Generations was wonderful simply for the fact that Kirk dies, twice!

I admit to being a Star Trek geek. I go to conventions and everything. Actually, just yeasterday, I emailed Creation Conventions (creationent.com) to look into volunteering for conventions.