startrekexplained

I'm hoping this doesn't start a fight, I'm just curious what the political orientation is of this community. I grew up in a liberal (in the American sense) family, and I identify now as a socialist, though a lot of the liberalism I grew up in has stuck with me, like interest in LGBTQ and women's rights, environmentalism, etc. Wondering where people here land?

Not to be confused with favorite series. I think my favorite season is ENT sesson 4, which is funny because the series overall is def on the weaker end of the spectrum, and i dont think any particular episode of the fourth season is Star Treks very best, its just the season that has more good than bad episodes of any season of Trek I can remember. Next would be DS9 season 6 and TNG season 3 and so on. Whats your choice?

I have the series on DVD but I've never seriously cracked it, only seen a few episodes. Was wondering what people here think, is it as good as the internet often says it is? I know it was an inspiration for one of my favorite franchises (Mass Effect) and The Orville had a cute reference to it by making its main actor the president of the Planetary Union, but that's the extent of my B5 knowledge. So anyway, should I binge the series?

Mine are The UrQuan Masters and Mass Effect (the original trilogy anyway) Havent played Starfield yet so wondering if that will measure up.

So whats yours?

I asked this question sometime ago on The Orville's subreddit, and surprisingly got mixed responses. I assume most here however, are going to prefer Star Trek, specifically TNG that its aping from. For the record I do prefer TNG as well, but rewatching The Orville, after you get past its kinda sucky first season, I really enjoyed the show and feel it's a very good successor to TNG just with added humor and levity which I think is a good thing. And there are elements I find better in The Orville. And now that Lower Decks is back (a show I'm now a fan of after dismissing it for so long), I felt the need to return to The Orville and see if I still liked it. I'm really hoping it at least gets a fourth season. Anyway, what do you guys think?

(Not including the reboot trilogy as that's a different altogether topic)

I was recently in a mood to binge the first ten Star Trek films as I hadn't seen any of them in several years, and I notice that the TOS films are better than the TNG films. Which is weird because when it comes to the tv series, I far prefer TNG and its spin-offs over TOS but when it came to the films, it's the opposite. I love First Contact, and like Generations but Insurrection and Nemesis are pretty bad IMO, whereas the only TOS film I truly dislike is V. (My favorites are IV and VI) Was wondering what others here thought, I think this may be the standard opinion in fact.

As for why they're better, I think for whatever reason the TOS movies feel more cinematic, whereas the TNG films were mostly trying to capture the TNG feeling and not as much be cinematic?

Just looking for some recommendations because I'm in a sci fi mood. And btw, my favorite sci fi film is Planet of the Apes (original).

Bored tonight so wondering what the international composition is of this space. Im from Phoenix, Arizona. How about you?

Here's a few examples:

The Popcast (recently made a video warning of the "dangers" of the Barbie movie because it's feminist. Now Im going to go see it lol), Midnights Edge (general right wing conspiracy theories regarding media, occasional delving into new age crank too), Nerdrotic (thinks Hollywood is engineering a communist Red Guards plot to kill conservatives), The Critical Drinker (typical edgelord anti feminist), Dave Cullen (extreme anti feminist who believes in all the QAnon, Agenda 21 conspiracy theories).

And it goes on and on. I know there's popular left wing and liberal reviewers too, but for whatever reason so many of the ones I run into are far right. Is there some sort of draw for conservatives to geekdom or is something else going on?

I was born in 1989, so I grew up with the TNG era and ENT, and I always dismissed TOS as a kid as the cheesy 60s original version that TNG remade and left in the dust. It wasn't until high school that I actually sat down and watched TOS and fell in love with it. I even now wonder if Kirk is better than Picard, it's a debate I have with myself often. Was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience with TOS?

I still think TNG is better, but TOS is great in its own right.

Just interested if there's an episode of a particular series you find yourself going back to? Not necessarily "the best" or your favorite, just one you gravitate toward for a comfort re-watch? Here's the episodes from each series I find myself re-watching a lot:

TOS: Mirror, Mirror (instant classic, love the episode)

TNG: The Offspring (favorite Data episode, gives me a lump in the throat)

DS9: The Visitor (similar feeling to The Offspring)

VOY: Blink of an Eye (brilliant episode, even if it apparently rips off a novel but it's cool to see the concept on TV)

ENT: Similitude (love the drama, love the theme and emotions)

DIS: Need to rewatch the first four seasons to find an episode that I'd want to rewatch

PIC: Vox (Okay, for the ENT-D reveal..)

SNW: Momento Mori (the first season is way better than the second season, and this episode is really cool IMO)

Haven't seen enough of TAS, Prodigy, and Lower Decks to select any.

I'm currently rewatching it, and at first I admit I hated the season and didn't understand all the praise it got, but on this second viewing, I am actually warming up a bit to it. It still is deeply flawed, with a lot of things that don't make sense or could have been done better, but I kinda like it regardless. What do you think?