star trek shows in order of release

How to watch Star Trek in order – both release and chronological orders

From The Original Series to Strange New Worlds, here's how to watch the entire Star Trek canon in order.

• David Craig
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It's a hugely exciting time to be a Star Trek fan, especially after the news that we'll be getting a new prequel movie from the director of Andor!

The Star Trek franchise has enjoyed a dramatic revitalisation in recent years, returning to its original home on the small screen to launch a sprawling shared universe of exciting shows.

Coming up next in the world of Star Trek, we've got Star Trek: Discovery season 5 to look forward to, as well as Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 after the series was saved by Netflix – and more! Meanwhile, Star Trek: Picard wrapped up with a third and final season, while we got renewals for shows like Lower Decks .

With all these interconnecting stories, it's not surprising that newcomers to the franchise want to ensure they are watching in the correct order. Fortunately, we can help with that.

Below, we've compiled how to watch Star Trek in release and chronological order, while we also weigh in on the pros and cons of each method. Once you have all the information you need, venture forth into the final frontier.

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How to watch star trek in release order.

Arguably, the most faithful way of watching Star Trek is in the order each series was made, allowing you to follow the franchise from its inception and explore its universe as the original fans did decades ago.

It makes sense to do it this way as while the shows do jump around in terms of time period, they still find ways to build on what came before in order of release.

In that sense, you're likely to get a slightly more complete picture of Star Trek by watching in this order, instead of piecing the shows together in a chronological timeline.

Star Trek release order (films listed in italics )

• Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS)
• The first six Star Trek films (The Motion Picture up to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
• Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)
• Star Trek films 8-10 (First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)
• Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond
• Star Trek: Discovery (DSC)
• Star Trek: Short Treks*
• Star Trek: Picard (PIC)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (LOW)
• Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)
• Untitled Toby Haynes Star Trek prequel film

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* Star Trek: Short Treks premiered after Discovery, hence the listing here. However, Short Treks season 2 sets up some plot threads picked up in Discovery season 2 and beyond, so it's best to alternate between them if you can.

Some people who watch in this order choose to skip over the first three steps and begin with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There is a belief among certain Trekkies that TNG has aged better than The Original Series, making it an easier entry point for newcomers to the franchise.

It would be worth watching the first few episodes of TOS to see what you think of it, but if William Shatner's Captain Kirk doesn't quite cut it for you, feel free to move on to the dulcet tones of Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard. The two shows have relatively few connections, so you don't need to worry about feeling lost (although they do eventually cross over in a major way in the Star Trek: Generations movie).

How to watch Star Trek in chronological order

As previously stated, the various shows in the Star Trek universe take place at different points in a sprawling timeline, so an alternative method is to watch in chronological order.

This comes with pros and cons: on the one hand, it allows you to begin with a modern show, which may be preferable to some people. But on the other hand, some of the references contained in more recent episodes may not land with you in the way they were intended.

Star Trek chronological order (films listed in italics )

• Star Trek: Enterprise (Year: 2151-2161)
• Short Trek: The Girl Who Made the Stars (Year: 2230s)
• Short Trek: The Brightest Star (Year: 2239)
• Star Trek: The Cage – The Original Series one-off pilot episode (Year: 2254)
• Short Trek: The Escape Artist (Year: 2250s)
• Short Trek: Q&A (Year: 2253)
• Star Trek: Discovery season 1 (Year: 2256)
• Short Trek: Runaway (Year: 2257)
• Star Trek: Discovery season 2 (Year: 2258)
• Short Trek: The Trouble with Edward (Year: 2250s)
• Short Trek: Ask Not (Year: 2250s)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Year: 2259)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (Year: 2265-2269)
• Short Trek: Ephraim and Dot (Year: 2267-2285)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series (Year: 2269-2270)
• The first six Star Trek films (Year: 2273-2293)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (Year: 2364-2370)
• Star Trek films 7-10: Generations up to Nemesis (Year: 2293-2379)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Year: 2369-2375)
• Star Trek: Voyager (Year: 2371-2378)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380)
• Star Trek: Prodigy (Year: 2383)
• Short Trek: Children of Mars (Year: 2385)
• Star Trek: Picard seasons 1-3 (Year: 2399-2402)
• Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3-4 (32nd Century)
• Short Trek: Calypso (far future, year unknown)

Note – Star Trek: Short Treks was a two-season anthology series, which visits various periods on the franchise timeline. Anything listed as a Short Trek is a single episode of this show (with a runtime between 8 and 18 minutes).

It's not currently confirmed where precisely Toby Haynes' film will sit in the chronology but we do know it'll be a prequel film, taking place "decades" before Star Trek (2009).

For those wondering, the recent trilogy of Star Trek movies directed by JJ Abrams and Justin Lin – Star Trek, Into Darkness and Beyond – are set in an alternate universe, meaning they do not connect to a chronological order of the series.

They do, however, contain references to The Original Series – most notably the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock – but can be watched at any point as standalone stories.

Star Trek: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Netflix .

Star Trek: Picard is exclusive to Prime Video. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that.

Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds can be found on Paramount Plus. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight.

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How to watch Star Trek in order

Whether you're wanting to check out the Original Series or Discovery, figuring out how to watch Star Trek in order is a breeze with this easy guide!

Is it just us or is figuring out how to watch Star Trek in order getting more and more complex with each passing year? The prospect of watching Star Trek in order would be daunting for even the most decorated of starship captains with multiple series being brought to life on both the big and small screens. But fear not Trekkies - we've got you covered!

If you've ever tried to watch the Marvel movies in order , you'd be forgiven for thinking that was the most complicated franchise on the planet, but we kid you not - it has nothing on Star Trek. The 55-year-old sci-fi franchise includes nine (soon to be 11) TV shows and 13 movies and it spans 1000 years, making for one super complicated and vast timeline.

So, what is the best way to watch Star Trek in order? Well, that depends. For you purists out there, you might like to opt for viewing this franchise by release date, just like all the original Trekkie fans did back in the day. This will allow you to follow along as they did and get a similar experience. While the timeline does jump around, ( Star Trek: Discovery , for example, is set at the end of the 32nd century but was released before Star Trek: Picard , which is set in the 24th century), it gives you a more complete picture. 

Because the Star Trek franchise involves movies and TV series that take place at different times, another option is to watch everything in chronological order. This means you get to start with something a little bit more modern, but the one problem with this is that references will often be made to films you've not yet seen, which could make certain elements difficult to follow. 

To be honest, just like we recommend in our guide to how to watch the Star Wars movies in order , it really is a matter of personal preference. As long as you have one of the best TVs , you'll find you enjoy this franchise no matter what order you decide to watch it in.

So, without further ado, here's how to watch Star Trek in order - based on release date and in-universe continuity...

Star Trek TV shows and movies in chronological order

This is probably the list you're looking for if you're trying to figure out how to watch Star Trek in order. It's where things get really interesting, as Star Trek movies and TV shows have a habit of jumping around the franchise's chronology with sequels, prequels and bits in between. There are even two distinct timelines – but don't worry, we'll explain all that.

The original ‘Prime’ timeline was started by the Original Series, the Next Generation-era TV shows, and the first ten movies, The alternative ‘Kelvin’ timeline, meanwhile, was created in JJ Abrams’ first Star Trek (2009) to allow the familiar Enterprise crew of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov to have new adventures without contradicting canon . To avoid confusion, we've defined the two timelines as separate entities below.

This list doesn't, however, include all of the brief Short Treks – short stories which are mostly set around the Star Trek: Discovery era – and adventures where Starfleet crews time-travelled to the eras before any of the shows/movies are set (eg visits to 1986 in The Voyage Home and 2063 in First Contact). We've also left out upcoming Discovery spin-off Star Trek: Section 31 , since it's not yet in production. (Also, we're not entirely sure exactly when it'll be set.)

Let's start with everything in one big list. 

• Star Trek: Enterprise (seasons 1-4)
• ‘The Cage’
• Star Trek: Discovery (seasons 1-2)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Star Trek: The Original Series  (seasons 1-3)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series 
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture 
• Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan 
• Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock 
• Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home 
• Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier 
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country 
• Star Trek: Generations (opening sequence)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (seasons 1-5)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (seasons 6-7), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 1-2)
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 3-4), Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 1-2)
• Star Trek: First Contact 
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (seasons 5-6), Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 3-4)
• Star Trek: Insurrection 
• S tar Trek: Deep Space Nine (season 7), Star Trek: Voyager (season 5)
• Star Trek: Voyager (seasons 6-7)
• Star Trek: Nemesis 
• Star Trek: Lower Decks
• Star Trek: Prodigy
• Star Trek (2009) – Prime timeline sequences
• Star Trek: Picard
• Star Trek: Discovery (season 3-)
• Short Treks: 'Calypso'

If you watch in the order given above, you'll get a continuous ‘history’ of the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 32nd centuries according to the Star Trek timeline. That said, you will notice some odd discrepancies – thanks to the time in which respective shows were made, the technology in prequel show Star Trek: Discovery is significantly more advanced than what Kirk and Spock used in the Original Series.

Below, we'll explain how the different eras of the shows and movies break down for context. 

Note that Gene Roddenberry's original pre-Kirk Star Trek pilot, 'The Cage', is counted as an instalment of the Original Series. You'll usually find it listed as a bonus episode as part of season one when you're watching it on streaming services.

Star Trek: Enterprise era (22nd century) Begins and ends with: Star Trek Enterprise seasons 1-4

About a century before James T Kirk and his crew embark on their famous five-year mission in Star Trek: The Original Series, Captain Jonathan Archer leads Earth's first steps into the wider universe.

Star Trek: The Original Series era (23rd century) Begins with: 'The Cage' Ends with: Star Trek: Generations (opening sequence)

For many this is the most familiar era of Star Trek, since it involves Kirk, Spock and the classic Enterprise crew.  

This section of the Trek timeline kicks off with the original unaired Star Trek pilot, 'The Cage' . Next up in franchise chronology are the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery , which work as a prequel to the Original Series (they even feature a younger version of Spock), but it's all change in season 3 – the events of the season 2 finale send the crew into the distant future of the 32nd century. More on that later...

Upcoming spin-off Strange New Worlds will follow the adventures of Captain Pike, Number One and Spock on the Enterprise after the USS Discovery travelled to the future. And at some point after that, Captain James T Kirk will take command of Starfleet's most famous ship – a role he filled throughout The Original Series , The Animated Series and the first six Star Trek movies ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , The Wrath of Khan , The Search for Spock , The Voyage Home , The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country ).

The latest point we've seen (so far) in the 23rd century era is James T Kirk being taken away by the Nexus ribbon in the prologue of Star Trek: Generations . This is the event that allows Kirk to meet Picard when the Next Generation crew take on the mantle of headlining the big screen franchise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation era (24th century) Begins with: Star Trek: The Next Generation Ends with: Star Trek (2009) – Prime timeline sequences

The richest, most complicated period in Star Trek chronology. During The Next Generation era, Star Trek was experimenting with the idea of a shared universe years before Marvel got in on the act, with three TV shows (TNG, Deep Space Nine and Voyager ) and four movies ( Generations , First Contact , Insurrection and Nemesis ) interweaving through the same timeline – Voyager's Captain Kathryn Janeway even shows up in Star Trek: Nemesis as a newly promoted admiral.

New animated comedy spin-off Lower Decks is set a year after Picard and the Next Generation crew's final mission in Star Trek: Nemesis, while Nickelodeon kids' cartoon Star Trek: Prodigy will see Kate Mulgrew reprising her role as Voyager's captain, Kathryn Janeway. That suggests it will presumably be set at a similar point in the Star Trek timeline.

In JJ Abrams' first Star Trek movie (2009), the destruction of Romulus and Spock Prime's accidental trip back to the pre-Original Series era (in the Kelvin timeline) also take place after the events of Nemesis.

In the list above, we've shown how the movies (roughly) fit into the chronology of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. 

Picard era (turn of the 25th century) Begins with: Picard Ends with: ???

Aside from glimpses of the destruction of Romulus in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Picard gives us our first post-Star Trek: Nemesis look at what the United Federation of Planets has become. 

Since we last saw Jean-Luc Picard, he's retired to his vineyard in France, an android uprising on Mars has led to a ban on all synthetic life, and a disabled Borg Cube (known simply as the 'Artifact') is being mined for technology.

Distant future (32nd century) Begins with : Star Trek: Discovery season 2 (finale) Ends with: ???

In order to save the galaxy, the brave crew of the USS Discovery set off on a one-way mission 900 years into the future in Star Trek: Discovery 's season 2 finale. Their 32nd century destination is new territory for Star Trek – thanks to the mysterious 'Burn', most of the dilithium in the galaxy has been destroyed, making warp travel impossible. As a result, the Federation is a shadow of its former self – even Earth has decided to go it alone.

This isn't, however, the furthest Star Trek has ventured into the future – Short Trek ' Calypso ' is set on the Discovery in a distant future where the ship's computer has become sentient.

Star Trek's alternate 'Kelvin' timeline explained

In 2009's Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams, Spock Prime tries to save Romulus from a supernova, inadvertently creates a black hole while doing so, and gets pulled into the past, along with Romulan mining vessel the Narada. Once there, the Narada attacks the USS Kelvin on the day James T Kirk is born. The ship is destroyed as Kirk's father, George, sacrifices himself to save the rest of the crew. 

When all that happens, the alternative ‘Kelvin’ timeline is created, with events unfolding in parallel (but with remarkable similarity) to the original Prime timeline.

Got all that? There are just three movies set in the Kelvin timeline:

• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek TV shows and movies in release date order

• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986)
• ‘The Cage’ (previously unavailable Star Trek pilot from 1965, given VHS release in 1986)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
• Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) 
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• Star Trek: Discovery (2017-)
• Short Treks (2018-2020)
• Star Trek: Picard (2020-)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-)
• Star Trek: Prodigy (2021, TBC)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TBC)

Considering The Original Series was cancelled after just three seasons in 1969, it's remarkable that Star Trek is still around half a century later. But as the show's popularity grew in syndication on US TV, Trek fandom became a big enough force for the five-year mission to resume via Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. Most of the original cast – with the notable exception of Walter Koenig (Chekov) – were enticed back to voice their characters. 

Then, helped by Star Wars turning sci-fi into the hottest genre in Hollywood, Star Trek beamed onto the big screen with 1979's The Motion Picture . The original crew headed up five more movies ( The Wrath of Khan , The Search for Spock , The Voyage Home , The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country ) before bowing out in 1991. The ’80s also gave the world a hint of the Star Trek that never was when 'The Cage' , the original unaired pilot, was released on VHS in 1986 (it appeared on TV two years later). Of the pilot crew, only Leonard Nimoy's Spock went on to reprise his role in the TV show, though footage from 'The Cage' was used extensively in the Original Series’ only two-parter, 'The Menagerie'. 

While the Enterprise was making it big in cinemas, the franchise returned to its TV roots in 1987 with The Next Generation . Set over 70 years after Kirk and Spock's final mission, it featured a new crew – led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard – on board a new starship Enterprise. The Next Generation was arguably even more successful than the Original Series, spawning two spin-off series: Deep Space Nine (which began in 1993) played with the Trek format by focusing on a space station, while Voyager (1995) dumped its crew on the other side of the galaxy, hundreds of light years from home. 

The Next Generation crew also fronted four movies of their own ( Generations , First Contact , Insurrection and Nemesis ) between 1995 and 2002.

After Voyager came to an end in 2001, Star Trek left the Next Generation era behind, and went in a completely different direction – Star Trek: Enterprise was a prequel set a century before Kirk and Spock's adventures. Enterprise lasted only four seasons, however (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager all made it to seven), and was canceled in 2005.

These were also dark times for the movie branch of the Trek franchise, as the disappointing box office performance of Nemesis had put the film saga on hiatus – it wasn't until 2009 that Star Trek warped back onto the big screen. 

Future Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams (already hot property as director of Mission: Impossible 3 and co-creator of Lost) gave the franchise an action blockbuster makeover, recasting Kirk, Spock and the rest of the original crew as rookies on their first mission. The reboot, simply titled Star Trek , made more than twice as much at the box office as any of its predecessors, and two sequels ( Star Trek into Darkness , Star Trek Beyond ) followed. 

Star Trek belatedly returned to TV in 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery . Set a decade before the Original Series, it was a darker, more serialized Trek than we’d seen before – more in tune with the prestige shows of the so-called Golden Age of TV. As it’s turned out, it was just the beginning of Star Trek's renewed assault on TV...

A series of brief Short Treks appeared online ahead of Discovery's second season, while The Next Generation follow-up Star Trek: Picard left spacedock in January 2020. Animated series Lower Decks followed in August 2020, and Discovery spin-off Strange New Worlds – featuring Anson Mount's Captain Pike, Rebecca Romijn's Number One and Ethan Peck's Spock on the pre-Kirk Enterprise – is now in production. 

There's also another cartoon offering heading for the Alpha Quadrant, in the form of animated kids show Star Trek: Prodigy.

And there's potentially even more to come, as the much-talked about Michelle Yeoh vehicle Section 31 is still in development. But with Paramount Plus programming boss Julie McNamara telling Variety that the streaming service's current aim is to debut "a new Trek every quarter", we may have to wait for Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks and/or Strange New Worlds to stand aside before we get a new TV iteration of Trek.

To keep things simple, all the shows above are listed by the date their first episode aired. While the chronology does jump around if you watch Star Trek in order of release date, there are some benefits. For example, the prequel shows assume a fair bit of knowledge of earlier series, like the Borg's appearance in Star Trek: Enterprise episode 'Regeneration', or Star Trek: Discovery's revelations about the ultimate fate of Christopher Pike (the Enterprise captain in 'The Cage', who later shows up in 'The Menagerie'). Moments like that undoubtedly make more sense in the context of later events in the Star Trek timeline. 

How to stream Star Trek TV shows and movies

If you just want to know how to stream the 13 Star Trek movies and eight TV shows in the US and the UK, we've laid it out below. 

In the US, the newly rebranded Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access) is definitely the place to go, with every TV show available to watch. In the UK, Netflix hosts all the Star Trek series except for Picard and Lower Decks.

Watching the 13 Trek movies is a rather more complex affair, with the films spread across numerous streaming services in the US and UK – and some of them you'll have to pay to rent/buy.

The TV shows

• Star Trek: The Original Series ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: Voyager ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: Enterprise ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: Discovery ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Netflix)
• Star Trek: Picard ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Amazon Prime Video)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks (US: Paramount Plus US: Amazon Prime Video)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
• Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
• Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
• Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek: Generations ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
• Star Trek: First Contact ( US: Paramount Plus UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek: Insurrection ( US: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek: Nemesis ( US: Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video UK: Only available to rent/buy)
• Star Trek 2009 ( US: DirectTV UK: Sky Cinema/Now TV)
• Star Trek Into Darkness ( US : FX Now UK: Amazon Prime Video)
• Star Trek Beyond ( US: Amazon Prime, Hulu UK: Amazon Prime Video)

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Richard is a freelance journalist specialising in movies and TV, primarily of the sci-fi and fantasy variety. An early encounter with a certain galaxy far, far away started a lifelong love affair with outer space, and these days Richard's happiest geeking out about Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and other long-running pop culture franchises. In a previous life he was editor of legendary sci-fi and fantasy magazine SFX, where he got to interview many of the biggest names in the business – though he'll always have a soft spot for Jeff Goldblum who (somewhat bizarrely) thought Richard's name was Winter.

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How to Watch Every Star Trek Series (and Movie) in the Right Order

Ready for a rewatch but not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Have you ever wondered what the best way is to stream Star Trek from start to finish? Look no further.

Approaching the chronological watch of a franchise that’s been on over fifty years can be daunting. Especially with a science-fiction universe that has time travel, multiple universes, concurrent shows and entirely new timelines.

Fear not, as we have created a handy binge-watch guide using the Stardate of each series and film. Here is our guide on how to watch every Star Trek series and movie in the right order.

Pocket-lint

How to watch the star trek movies and tv shows in order.

The universe is composed of 13 films and eight TV shows. Here's how to watch them all.

Key Takeaways

• Explore the Star Trek universe by watching the franchise in chronological order, based on stardates.
• The original Star Trek timeline includes the TV show Enterprise and the first two seasons of Discovery.
• The original series, The Animated Series, and the first Star Trek movie are important parts of the franchise's origins.

With the Star Trek franchise rapidly expanding on Paramount+ , now is the perfect time to boldly go explore the Star Trek Universe.

The universe is composed of 13 films and nine TV shows. Now, it'd be easy enough to watch them all in the order they premiered, but if you prefer to watch everything chronologically (when the events take place), we've compiled an ultimate viewing guide for you. Below, you'll find the entire franchise organized by stardates. It starts with the oldest event in the original Star Trek timeline.

Speaking of timelines, there are two in Star Trek: The original, which includes nearly all the films and TV shows; and Kelvin, an alternative timeline that kicked off with the latest three reboot films. To better understand what we're talking about, please read the guide below. Those of you who want to proceed spoiler-free, however, can scroll all the way to the bottom for the list version of this guide.

Also at the bottom, we've included another spoiler-free list. It's structured by order of release - or when each film and TV show premiered.

How to watch every Marvel movie and TV show in chronological order

The original star trek timeline.

The thing to remember about this order is that it is chronological - based entirely on the stardate time system in the Star Trek franchise. Think of stardates as years. In that case, the order below starts with the oldest events in the Star Trek Universe - but it excludes the Kelvin timeline films.

There are spoilers below.

1 Star Trek: E nterprise

The first to boldly go where no man has gone before, star trek: enterprise.

Stardate: 2151 to 2156

Enterprise follows the adventures of one of the first starships to explore deep space in the Star Trek Universe.

Set right before the founding of the Federation of Planets (and about 100 years before the original Star Trek series), Star Trek: Enterprise is a TV show that follows the adventures of Captain Jack Archer, played by Scott Bakula, and the Starship Enterprise crew. This ship is the first Federation vessel to have Warp 5 capabilities, allowing its crew to be among the first deep-space explorers.

The series introduces many of the different alien species important to the Star Trek Universe, such as the Vulcans and Klingons. It also begins to lay the groundwork for the Federation of Planets, in the fourth and final season.

2 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2

Discover a new type of starship, set ten years before the original series, star trek: discovery.

Stardate: 2256

The first two seasons of Discovery is set ten years before the original series as the crew of the titular ship tests an impressive new warp drive.

Star Trek: Discovery follows Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the first officer aboard the USS Shenzhou before she is found guilty of mutineering. However, with the Federation at war with the Klingons, the captain of the new Discovery ship, Gabriel Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs, enlists Burnham to help get the ship’s experimental warp drive properly working.

Discovery's early setting in the Star Trek universe was changed with a leap through time at the end of season two, which is why we're placing the recently released third season elsewhere on our list.

3 Star Trek: Strange New World

A direct prequel to the original series., star trek: strange new worlds.

Stardate: 2258

Strange New Worlds follows the early adventures of the Starship Enterprise, before Kirk became its captain.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike.

Pike will be a familiar name to Star Trek fans, as Pike is the man who commanded the starship Enterprise before Captain Kirk. The series follows Pike doing just that, in his final five-year mission as captain of the Enterprise before he becomes Fleet Captain and hands the reigns to Captain Kirk.

This being a prequel to the original Star Trek series, there are also other recognizable names, with Ethan Peck playing Spock and Celia Rose-Gooding as Uhara. A third season is currently in production.

4 Star Trek: The Original Series

Where it all began, star trek: the original series.

Stardate: 2266 to 2269

The original Star Trek series follows Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew as they boldly go where no man has gone before.

This is the original Star Trek TV show. It began airing in 1966 and primarily follows the crew of the USS Enterprise, starting with them embarking on a five-year mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”.

The series introduces William Shatner’s Captain James T Kirk and Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, too.

It also gives us the basis for the universe that makes Star Trek so successful, from introducing numerous alien species like the Vulcans and Klingons to showing us the inner workings of the Federation of Planets. The origins of the Star Trek Universe wouldn’t exist without it.

5 *Optional* Star Trek: The Animated Series

Continue the journey with the original crew, star trek: animated.

Stardate: 2269 to 2270

Continue the adventures of the original series in this animated version that sees most of the cast return to voice their characters.

After The Original Series ended, it quickly became a cult classic. Creator Gene Roddenberry then began work on an animated series that saw most of the original cast provide voice work for the animated versions of their characters. The show essentially functions as the fourth season of the original series, with the original characters navigating unexplored sections of space.

However, it was eliminated from canon by Roddenberry himself, when the rights were renegotiated following the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So, if you want to consume every drop of Star Trek content, add this to your list.

6 Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The first star trek movie, star trek: the motion picture.

Stardate: 2273

Captain Kirk, his crew, and a newly remodeled Enterprise head out to investigate an alien entity known as V'ger.

This is the first feature film in the Star Trek Universe. It sees Captain James T Kirk retake the helm of a renovated USS Enterprise to investigate a mysterious cloud of energy that is moving toward Earth. The energy cloud destroys a Federation monitoring station, as well as three Klingon ships, but before Kirk is able to engage it, he must learn to operate an unfamiliar USS Enterprise.

7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star trek: the wrath of khan.

Stardate: 2285

The crew of the Enterprise faces off against it's most fearsome adversary, Khan.

The second Star Trek movie is perhaps the most successful entry in the franchise. It sees Captain James T Kirk taking command of a USS Enterprise staffed with untested trainees in order to track down the adversary Khan Noonien Singh and his genetically engineered super soldiers.

In the process of escaping a planet that Kirk trapped him on, Khan learns of a secret device known as Genesis, capable of re-organizing matter to terraform (make them habitable) planets. Khan tries to steal the device, but, of course, Kirk will do all he can to stop him.

8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The crew of the enterprise try to resurrect spock, star trek iii: the search for spock.

Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise set out on a mission to recover Spock's body and bring him back to life.

Following their battle with Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns home to Earth in this third feature film.

Once there, Leonard H “Bones” McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, begins to act strangely, leading to him being detained. Captain James T Kirk, with the help of Spock’s father, Sarek, played by Mark Lenard, then learns that Spock transferred his Katra into McCoy before dying.

If nothing is done, McCoy will die from carrying Spock’s Katra. So, the crew of the USS Enterprise go back to the site of their battle with Khan - in the hopes of retrieving Spock’s body. To top it all off, they must battle with the Klingon Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd, over control of the Genesis Device. The Search for Spock is also directed by Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

9 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Earth is in danger and the only hope is humpback whales, star trek iv: the voyage home.

Stardate: 2286

The Enterprise travels back in time to 1986 and has to untangle a mystery involving humpback whales and an alien probe.

In this film, a mysterious ship begins orbiting Earth and destroys the planet's power grid. It emits strange noises, too, and the newly resurrected Spock realizes the sound is similar to the now-extinct humpback whale. Believing the strange ship is expecting to hear back the song of humpback whales, the crew goes around the Sun and travels back in time to 1986 to get a humpback whale.

Nimoy returned to direct this film, as well.

10 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

The enterprise crew must face off with spock's brother, sybok, star trek v: the final frontier.

Stardate: 2287

The Enterprise heads out on a mission to rescue hostages from the planet Nimbus 3.

After finishing a mission, Kirk, Spock, and Bones are enjoying a camping trip in Yosemite in this film when they are ordered to rescue hostages on the planet Nimbus III. But, once arriving on the planet, the crew realizes Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, is responsible for taking the hostages in order to lure a starship, with the hopes of reaching the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree and meeting a God.

Sybok realizes he’ll need Kirk’s expertise to navigate through the barrier at the centre of the Milky Way that leads to this mythical planet. Along the way, the Klingon Kraa decides to hunt Kirk. The Final Frontier is also the only Star Trek film directed by William Shatner.

11 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The final film starring the original series cast, star trek vi: the undiscovered country.

Stardate: 2293

After being framed for a political assassination, Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise must unravel the conspiracy to avoid war with the Klingon Empire.

In the final film of this series, we see the Klingon homeworld nearly destroyed, leading the hostile empire to engage in peace talks with the Federation. Captain James T Kirk is assigned to escort the Klingon ambassador, but is instead blamed when assassins beam aboard the Ambassador’s ship and kill him. The Klingons then sentence Kirk and McCoy to life imprisonment on a frozen asteroid.

At that point, Spock and the rest of the crew must find the true culprits behind the attack of the Klingon ship and rescue Kirk and Bones.

12 Star Trek: The Next Generation

The next generation takes over the uss enterprise, star trek: the next generation.

Stardate: 2364 to 2370

A new crew takes over the Enterprise and heads out on a five-year mission to explore the unknown.

Set 71 years after the USS Enterprise’s last mission with Captain James T Kirk at the helm, The Next Generation introduces us to a new USS Enterprise staffed with the next generation of Starfleet officers, led by Captain Jean Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart).

This TV series also shows us new species of aliens, the Cardassians and the Borgs, which replace the now-friendlier Klingons as the Federation’s primary adversaries.

The Next Generation ran for seven seasons and featured a couple of cameos from The Original Series, like Spock and Bones, among others.

13 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Everyday life in the deepest reaches of space, star trek: deep space nine.

Stardate: 2369 to 2375

Set on a stationary space station instead of an exploring starship, Deep Space Nine explores what life in space is like after the exploring part is done.

This TV show overlaps with the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It focuses on the former Cardassian space station, a backwood outpost that the Federation now controls and has ordered a Starfleet crew to run, with Avery Brook’s Benjamin Sisko as the commanding officer.

It's not about a starship exploring the unknown, but rather the trade disputes and political manoeuvring surrounding a crucial military hub.

14 Star Trek Generations

The two enterprise crews unite to take on a force with the power to destroy stars, star trek: generations.

Stardate: 2371

The first Star Trek film to feature the Next Generation crew also brought back the Enterprise crew from the original series.

Star Trek Generations is the first film to feature the crew of The Next Generation while also starring some of The Original Series cast.

The plot primarily centres around an El-Aurian, named Dr Tolian Soran (played by Malcolm McDowell), as well as an energy ribbon known as the Nexus.

You see, in 2293, Soran is rescued from the Energy Ribbon by a retired Captain James T Kirk, who is attending a maiden voyage of a new USS Enterprise. Then, in 2371, while answering a distress call, Captain Jean Luc Picard finds Soran - and he has a weapon capable of destroying stars.

15 Star Trek: Voyager

A federation starship stranded in uncharted space, star trek voyager.

Stardate: 2371 to 2378

Follow a Captain Janeway and her crew of the USS Voyager as they attempt to find their way home after being stranded in space.

After leaving Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in search of a group of Maquis rebels, the Starship Voyager, led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), is captured by an energy wave that sends it - and a ship of Maquis rebels - into the middle of the unexplored Delta Quadrant. With both ships damaged and far from home, the crews agree to join forces and begin a 75-year journey back to Earth.

16 Star Trek: First Contact

The crew of the enterprise travels back before the first warp drive was used, star trek: first contact.

Stardate: 2373

The Enterprise must travel back in time to prevent a Borg ship from assimilating all of Earth.

In this film, the USS Enterprise tries to help defeat a Borg Cube attacking Earth, with Captain Jean Luc Picard assuming command of a fleet of starships. However, just before the Cube is destroyed, it releases a smaller ship that enters a temporal vortex. The USS Enterprise gives chase through the vortex, but in the process, realizes the Borg traveled back in time and assimilated the entire planet.

And once through the Vortex, the crew arrives in 2063. More specifically, they arrive one day before Zefram Cochrane (played by James Cromwell) uses the first warp drive system, which draws the attention of the Vulcans, leading to humanity's first contact with an alien race.

17 Star Trek: Insurrection

The enterprise must uncover the mystery around a nearly immortal group of people, star trek: insurrection.

Stardate: 2375

The crew of the USS Enterprise uncovers a conspiracy involving the forced relocation of a peaceful alien race.

The action now centres around a planet with a type of unique radiation that rejuvenates its people, known as the Ba’ku. The effects of the radiation make the Ba’ku nearly immortal.

In this film, Brent Spinner’s Data is sent undercover to monitor the Ba’ku people and soon begins to malfunction, which causes Captain Jean Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise to investigate.

They uncover a conspiracy between a species, which is hostile to the Ba’ku, and Admiral Mathew Doherty, a Starfleet officer played by Anthony Zerbe. The crew of the Enterprise must stop them both in order to save the Ba’ku from being forcibly removed from their home planet.

18 Star Trek: Nemesis

Picard vs picard, star trek: nemesis.

Stardate: 2379

Captain Picard and the crew face a new, dangerous enemy in the form of a clone of Picard himself.

Captain Jean Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise crew are sent on a mission to meet with the leader of the Romulans, Shinzon, played by a super young Tom Hardy. Once there, they learn that Shinzon is actually a clone of Picard, created in the hopes that he would one day be able to infiltrate the Federation. The Romulans had abandoned the plan and sent Shinzon into slavery.

He led a rebellion, however, and created his own starship, the Scimitar. Soon, the Enterprise learns Shinzon’s true plan is to use a form of radiation poisonous to all life in order to attack the Federation and destroy Earth.

19 Star Trek: Picard

Picard's forced out of retirement one more time

Star Trek: Picard

Stardate: 2399

Captain Picard's retirement is about as full of adventure as his career on the Enterprise.

One of the most popular starship captains in the Star Trek Universe, Jean Luc Picard had retired to a life of wine-making, but a new mission set 20 years after the events of Nemesis sees Captain Jean Luc Picard return to space along with many of his old friends. The first season sees Picard struggling with the events that led to his retirement from Starfleet -- when he's forced into a conflict that sees him thrust into a captain's chair again.

The second season sees Picard transported to an alternate timeline by the interdimensional being known as Q (John De Lancie), who originally appeared in The Next Generation. The third and final season of Picard recently got a teaser and is slated to premiere in spring 2023.

20 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 and beyond

The discovery's journey picks up later than any other star trek content.

Stardate: 3188

Catch up with the rest of Discovery after a timejump shifts the story to the end of the Star Trek timeline.

Burnham and the crew of the Discovery make a jump through time that lands them further in the future than we've ever seen in the Star Trek Universe.

There, Burnham is separated from the rest of the crew of Discovery.

While trying to locate the ship, she learns that the United Federation of Planets has fallen following the event known as The Burn, which saw ships simultaneously explode throughout the entire galaxy. The fuel for Star Trek's ships, Dilithium, has also become extremely rare, which makes travel across wide distances of space much harder. In the fourth season, Burnham and the crew of the Discovery begin the process of rebuilding the Federation of Planets. A fifth season of Star Trek Discovery is slated to premiere in 2024.

Kelvin timeline: The alternate Star Trek timeline

These films kick off JJ Abrams' alternate Star Trek timeline. Officially called the Kelvin timeline, it's named after the USS Kelvin. If you want to watch them, you can do so either before or after Star Trek: The Original Series. We prefer you watch it after - in fact, watch it after you've finished the original Star Trek timeline, because it literally takes place in a different timeline.

Every Star Trek Show And Movie In Chronological Order

As a media phenomenon, "Star Trek" began on September 8, 1966 with the airing of "The Man Trap" (the sixth episode in production order, but the first aired). Originally, the show's writers, including creator Gene Roddenberry, used the concept of "stardates" to ensure the show's actual timeline was left vague; for several episodes, all audiences knew was that "Trek" was set in the future and that the future was a pretty keen place. It wouldn't be until the episode "The Naked Time" (seventh episode produced, fourth aired, first aired on September 29, 1966) that the Gregorian year would be mentioned out loud, and an actual timeline could begin to be constructed. 

Since then, "Star Trek" has extrapolated an extensive, centuries long timeline of events, often skipping merrily back and forth through the centuries, adding more and more to the franchises complex chronology. The chronology of "Star Trek" is so complicated that entire books have been published tracking the various shows' and films' events. Because of the constant production of new "Star Trek," these books became dated immediately. 

" Star Trek: Strange New Worlds " is set to debut on Paramount+ on May 5, and it is set immediately before the events of the original "Star Trek," making it the third "prequel" series to the original. To keep matters as clear as possible, here is a (very brief, by the standards of "Trek") rundown of "Star Trek" chronology from within its own canon. 

NOTE : This list will not necessarily include single episodes wherein characters go back in time, but give an overall timeframe for each individual film and TV show.

1986: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Although beginning and ending within the proper chronology of the "Star Trek" future, Leonard Nimoy's 1986 feature film " Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home " is set largely in the earliest point in the franchise's timeline (again, excluding single time travel episodes of any given TV series, wherein Mark Twain, the 1950s, and other eras are regularly visited). In the film, the crew of the Enterprise must go back in time to rescue a pair of humpback whales from extinction in order to appease an enormous, inscrutable space monolith that has been draining future Earth of its oceans, looking for its own kind. 

The bulk of "Voyage Home" takes place in 1986, and the film gained a lot of critical and audience attention for its fish-out-of-water humor and light tone; the previous three films had been comparatively dour, downbeat, or cerebral.

2024: Star Trek: Picard (Season 2)

As of this writing, the second season of "Star Trek: Picard" is still being released weekly on Paramount+, so the ultimate conclusion of the story is as yet unknown. 

What is known is that the trickster god Q (John De Lancie), a playful villain from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," visited an elderly Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to warn him of a parallel universe. In this parallel universe, Earth is a genocidal conqueror race that has wiped out most life in the galaxy. Picard must travel back in time, paralleling the story of "Voyage Home" in order to stop the fascist timeline from starting. Thanks to the limited information they have, they travel to the year 2024, and the bulk of the season's action takes place there. 

A bit of a continuity error already: In previously mentioned "Trek" canon, the Eugenics Wars — the conflagration that wrought Khan from "Star Trek II" — should have already happened by 2024 (I believe the original date for the Eugenics Wars was 1997), but, in "Picard," they had clearly been delayed. One of the subplots of the second season of "Picard,' however, involves a malevolent genetic engineer, so it looks like the Eugenics Wars may finally be nigh.

2063: Star Trek: First Contact

Although never directly filmed, there are constant references throughout "Star Trek" to World War III, an event that left the entire planet devastated. Despite destitution and technological ruin, an inventor named Zefram Cochran managed to invent an engine that allowed humanity to travel faster than light. This technology, when being tested for the first time in the solar system, attracted the attention of some Vulcans who just happened to be passing by. This was the First Contact mentioned in the title of the 1996 film " Star Trek: First Contact ." 

In that film, the characters from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" travel back in time to foil a plot by a malevolent species of cyborgs called The Borg, and find themselves in the year A.D. 2063 where they could witness First Contact themselves. This was the event that essentially kicked off creator Gene Roddenberry's vision of a peaceful future. In meeting intelligent space aliens, a hobbled humanity learned that war was churlish, and that unity as a species was preferable in the face of a suddenly occupied cosmos. 

"First Contact" is essentially the "Star Trek" origin story.

2151 - 2155: Star Trek: Enterprise

After first talking to Vulcans, humans were eager to take to the stars and join the galactic community. The conceit of the 2001 TV series " Star Trek: Enterpris e" (originally just called "Enterprise") was that the Vulcans, seeing how illogical and roughhewn humanity still was, encouraged them to stay on Earth for nearly a century before actually taking to the stars. In that century, humanity rebuilt, formed a Starfleet, and constructed its very first long-mission starship, the U.S.S. Enterprise NX-01. The show is about the adventures of the very first humans in space, circa A.D. 2151.

"Enterprise" took place before a lot of established "Trek" tech had been invented. There were transporters, but they weren't entirely safe for use on humans. There were no shields around the ship. There were no food replicators, and the Enterprise required a galley. Most notably, there wasn't a Prime Directive yet, so a lot of mistakes are bound to be made. It wouldn't be until 2161 — according to ancillary revelations — that the Federation would be formed. 

2254: The Cage

The unused "Star Trek" pilot has probably gained more canonical traction than any other unused footage from any other work of filmed fiction. "The Cage" didn't air in its complete form until 1986, 20 years after its making. Previously, footage from "The Cage" was incorporated into a two-part "Star Trek" episode called "The Menagerie" (November of 1966). 

In the pilot, we first meet Capt. Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and his ship the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. We were first introduced to Spock as well, although Spock would be the only character carried over into the second pilot that was eventually used. Majel Barrett played the Enterprise's first officer in "The Cage," and she would go on to play multiple other roles throughout "Star Trek," including Nurse Chapel, M'Ress, Lwaxana Troi, and the voice of the ship's computer. 

The events of "The Cage" would also be revisited in the second season of "Star Trek: Discovery."

2256 - 2258: Star Trek: Discovery (seasons 1 and 2)

Another cataclysm that had been mentioned multiple times throughout "Star Trek" was a war between the Klingons and the Federation. The first season of "Star Trek: Discovery," which debuted on CBS All Access (now Paramount+) in November of 2017, dramatized those events explicitly, as seen through the eyes of the U.S.S. Discovery. This new ship was a science vessel that had figured out a way to tap into a galaxy-wide network of near-undetectable, microscopic spores into order to teleport anywhere in the galaxy instantaneously. 

After surviving the Klingon war, the Discovery teamed up with the U.S.S. Enterprise while it was still being captained by Christopher Pike (now played by Anson Mount), putting the events of "Discovery" immediately after the original pilot. There were a lot — and I mean a LOT — of narrative excuses as to why the high-tech Discovery (realized with late-2010s special effects) didn't match the boxier, monochromatic world of "The Cage." 

The show's writers also needed to come up with an organic reason why a ship that can teleport — a technology that would have fundamentally changed the world of "Star Trek" — was never mentioned in any of the "Trek" shows made from 1966 until 2017. As such, at the end of the second season of "Discovery," the ship was thrown almost 1,000 years into the future in order to outrun an insidious computer intelligence that would spread throughout the galaxy if knowledge of it was passed around. As such, the Discovery more or less deleted itself from existence. As panicked, narrative ass-saving measures go, it's a 7.

2258: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The appearance of Capt. Pike on "Discovery" was so well-received that Paramount+ elected to go back to the Enterprise, bring back the characters from "The Cage," lump in a few familiar faces from the 1966 "Star Trek," and make " Strange New Worlds ," a series that takes place only eight years prior to the events of the original TV series. 

"Strange New Worlds" brings back Anson Mount as Pike, as well as a young Spock, a very young Uhura, a young Nurse Chapel, one of Khan's ancestors, and Dr. M'Benga, who showed up in a few episodes if the 1966 show. It also, notably, will not have season-long story arcs, but a single-hour episodic structure, standing in contrast with most of the other Paramount+-era "Star Treks," with "Lower Decks" being the proud exception.

2258 (KELVIN): Star Trek (2009)

Thanks to "Star Trek," the notion of parallel universes is quite well-known to the public. Incidentally, it's been quite odd watching the films and TV shows in the Marvel universe slow-walk the notion of a multiverse over the course of multiple installments when we've already seen Spock with a goatee. 

Thanks to complicated studio politics, there was a split in Paramount in the mid-2000s, and the Paramount side of the schism — when wanting to make a new "Star Trek" feature film — was legally required to make something distinguishable from the TV shows. Enter J.J. Abrams and his 2009 feature film " Star Trek " which takes place at the same time as "Strange New Worlds," but in a parallel universe where the characters from the 1966 show now look like a new cast, the Enterprise looks brighter and sleeker, and everything is more intense and action-packed. 

This new timeline would be created when a villain went back in time interfered with James T. Kirk right when he was born.

2259 (KELVIN): Star Trek Into Darkness

Although taking place far before the events of 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," J.J. Abrams' " Star Trek Into Darkness " (2013) drew a lot of story parallels to the Nicholas Meyer film. Taking place almost immediately after the 2009 film, "Into Darkness" involved the character of Khan who, in the timeline of the 1966 series, wouldn't be resurrected from cryogenic sleep for a few years hence. In "Into Darkness," he was awakened early, became involved in a plot to smuggle other cryogenically frozen compatriots. 

Originally, the Eugenics Wars were meant to have started in the 1990s, but — as "Star Trek" persisted, and the '90s came and went in the real world — that timeline had to be altered several times. The timeline of the Eugenics Wars in "Into Darkness" are a little unclear. As we saw above in "Star Trek: Picard," we know that they'll now take place sometime after 2024.

2263 (KELVIN): Star Trek Beyond

In Justin Lin's " Star Trek Beyond " (2016), Kirk (Chris Pine) laments that his adventures have already become episodic. It's unusual that the 2009 film and the 2013 sequel are essentially origin stories about the young Kirk coming into his own, and "Beyond" skips ahead to the point where he's already tired of being on "Star Trek." We missed the actual "five year mission" part!

Another interesting wrinkle in "Beyond" is that it alludes to a time somewhere after "Star Trek: Enterprise": The evil Kroll (Idris Elba) was, in fact, a human captain named Edison who led his own starship in the "Enterprise" era. Before the film, he was mutated into an evil alien. "Beyond," in explicitly mentioning the Xindi wars and other events from "Enterprise," anchors the Kelvin films a little more solidly into the "Trek" timeline.

2265 - 2269: Star Trek

After "The Cage" was abandoned by Paramount, the studio and Gene Roddenberry reworked the show into the 1966 program we all know and love. As mentioned, Spock was the only character carried over from the original pilot, and "Star Trek" now featured William Shatner as Captain Kirk and a host of new characters besides. "Star Trek" began as a horror show — there are many monsters and scare moments in the first season — eventually tackling ethical issues in a sci-fi fantasy context. 

"Star Trek" ran for three seasons, ending its initial run on June 3, 1969. Thanks to the gods of syndication, "Star Trek" would remain in reruns for the following decade, building up interest, spawning Trek conventions, and allowing the show to grow into a full-blown cultural phenomenon.

2269 - 2270: Star Trek: The Animated Series

In the opening credits of " Star Trek ," Shatner brazenly informed the audiences that the U.S.S. Enterprise was on a five-year mission. Given that the show was canned after only three years, there was more mission left to witness. In 1973, Roddenberry teamed up with Filmation to make an animated "Star Trek" series that would, by dint of its two seasons, ostensibly complete the five-year mission. Chekov (Walter Koenig) was absent from this show, but other unusual aliens took his place, including a cat woman named M'Ress and Mr. Aryx, a being with three arms. The animated format allowed for wilder ideas, aliens, and ships to be employed, and there are stories featuring flying serpents, aliens made of plants, an undersea episode, and a story with a 50-foot Spock. 

This 1973 version of "Star Trek," in only running 30 minutes per episode, cut out a lot of extraneous character moments from the traditional "Trek" structure, and got straight to the story. It's a far more efficient show than the 1966 program, and it has a passionate following of fans. 

2273: Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The decade of syndication, "Trek" conventions, and the financial success of George Lucas' sci-fi serial epic " Star Wars " in 1977 led Paramount to start thinking about restarting "Star Trek" on TV. A project was put into production that was to be called "Star Trek Phase II," and would have reunited several familiar "Trek" characters as well as introduce some new ones. For various reasons, "Phase II" was abandoned and elements of it were transformed into what would become the 1979 theatrical release " Star Trek: The Motion Picture ."

If all you had prior to "The Motion Picture" was a failed, low-budget TV show and a little-regarded animated series, this movie would feel grand in ways that you couldn't previously imagine. A lot of time was devoted to the size of the Enterprise, the importance of the characters, and mind-bending notions about the unending vastness of the cosmos. Here was a "Star Trek" film that is often compared to 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Good gracious was it enormous. 

"The Motion Picture" was successful enough to warrant a sequel, but not so successful that Roddenberry was welcomed back. Remember that detail when we get to "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

2285: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2285 was a significant year. In the events of Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982), a thawed out Khan — the version played by Ricardo Montalbán from the 1967 "Star Trek" episode "The Space Seed," not the version played by Benedict Cumberbatch in "Star Trek Into Darkness" — hijacked a starship called the U.S.S. Reliant and set out on a mission of revenge against Admiral Kirk. The good admiral, we find, had forgotten about a lot of irresponsible actions taken in his past and had to face them head on just as he was looking down the barrel of old age. "Star Trek II" didn't end well for Kirk or for Spock. In that film, Spock famously dies. 

Not wasting any time, however, Kirk and co. sprang back into action in Leonard Nimoy's " Star Trek III: The Search for Spock " (1984), which picks up immediately after "Khan" ended. Thanks to the fineries of Vulcan psychic powers, and a high tech radiation wave that can generate life out of nothing, Spock could potentially be resurrected, and Kirk hijacks the Enterprise in order to help a friend. In so doing, Kirk destroys the ship, rouses the ire of some Klingons, loses his son (killed by said Klingons), and possibly destroys his career in Starfleet. Oops. 

Perhaps one of the reasons "Star Trek IV" (which began in 2286) was so popular was that it was the first "Trek" film to end on a wholly positive note. 

2287: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Often cited as the worst of the "Trek" movies, William Shatner's "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989) starts with a promising concept, but was undone by a bad script hastily written during a strike, and a repeatedly cut FX budget. The film ultimately feels flimsy and ill-considered, not able to truly confront the interesting ideas it brings up. Shatner has apologized for the poor quality of his film, which was fraught with production troubles.

In "Frontier," a newly-built Enterprise is hijacked by Spock's half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), who is leading a cult of brainwashed followers, freed from pain by their leader's psychic powers. He seeks a mysterious planet at the center of the galaxy where he believes God physically lives. The final frontier of the title is not space, but the soul, religion, or spirituality. Many "Trek" purists will point out that seeking the center of the galaxy, and finding a deity there, is similar to an Animated Series episode called "The Magicks of Megas-Tu," wherein Kirk found the planet at the center of the galaxy is actually home to Satan. 

Note : "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" is far better than "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

2293: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Made after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nicholas Meyer's " Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country " (1991) was very clearly a metaphor for the end of the Cold War. In it, the Klingon Empire is crippled by the accidental explosion of one of their moons, leaving the entire government requiring Federation help. "Country" is about how difficult it is to give up being enemies, especially when so much of one's identity is tied in with hate. There's an assassination, a investigation, a trial, a prison break ... It's one of the best "Trek" movies. 

One might glean from the title of the previous film in the series that the entire Kirk era was meant to end with "The Final Frontier." One might also glean that the poor reception and bad box office of "Final Frontier" led to one last go 'round. Fans may be relieved that the final feature film in the Kirk era was actually, y'know, a good one.

2364 - 2370: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Throughout the 1970s, Gene Roddenberry made tours on the convention circuit, talking about his vision for "Star Trek," and interacting with fans who were inspired by the peace, diplomacy, and calm that "Star Trek" has written into its DNA. Looking back over the 1966 show, notions of optimism and diplomacy are present, but they are mixed in with a lot of violence, sexism, and other now-backward ideas. After Roddenberry was essentially barred from involvement on the "Star Trek" feature films, he decided to make a purer, better version of his old show, set another 80 years in the future, and even more devoted to intelligence and diplomacy than ever before. Hence, 1987's " Star Trek: The Next Generation ." 

Taking place on a new ship, the Enterprise NCC-1701-D, and featuring an all new cast, the update of "Star Trek" started a little clumsily, but eventually found its stride to become the best "Star Trek" has offered to date. The tech was more convincing than it ever was, and it featured professional, adult characters who deal with crises with stiff upper lips. More so, it more frequently addressed questions about the meaning of life that humanity will always, it seems, wrestle with.

"Next Generation" last for seven full seasons, and its characters ended up occupying just as large a place in the pop consciousness as the characters from the 1966 TV series. 

Yes, "Next Generation" went back in time several times.

In terms of chronology, "Next Generation" overlapped with...

2369 - 2375: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

" Deep Space Nine " (1993 – 1999) was an unusual animal in many ways. It was the first time two "Star Trek" shows would run concurrently, and would take place over the same time frame (Picard from "Next Generation" appeared in the show's pilot). It was not about trekking at all, as it took place aboard a space station. It was also not set in the world of the Federation, often revolving alien species who were not offered protection from the organization. It was a show of healing and animosity. Of war and death. It started with an ensemble of seven or eight people, and eventually expanded to include about 30 main characters. "Deep Space Nine" is "Star Trek" via a Russian historical novel. 

When taken as a unit, "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine," both excellent in their own rights, become a complementary mass that is greater than their sum. The strength of diplomacy vs. its breakdown. The avoidance of war vs. the involvement in it. The absence of fascism vs. its inevitable regrowth. 

Yes, "Deep Space Nine" went back in time several times. 

"Deep Space Nine's" chronology would overlap with "Star Trek: Voyager," as well as with...

2371: Star Trek: Generations

The 1994 feature film " Star Trek: Generations " was a strange excursion. Although "Next Generation" had already run for seven years, "Generations" was still insistent on "passing the torch" from Kirk to Picard, and it bent over backwards to create the means by which Kirk and Picard, separated by 87 years of history, could meet face-to-face. It was the fan crossover no Trekkie wanted. As such, "Generations" is a flimsy affair, speeding through a ridiculous plot about a mobile temporal nexus that serves as Heaven for the people it scoops up along its path. 

Trekkies were even-headed enough to realize that Kirk and Picard weren't meant to meet, and that "Next Generation" was its own entity. The decision to aggressively tie the two shows even more closely together was just baffling. 

Notable too: The Enterprise-D was destroyed in "Generations," and would be replaced by a big ol' ugly thing for three additional feature films.

2371 - 2378: Star Trek: Voyager

" Star Trek: Voyager " debuted in 1995 and ran concurrently with "Deep Space Nine" both on television and within the chronology of "Star Trek." To cleverly avoid any interference between the two shows, however — "Deep Space Nine" would eventually become embroiled in a galaxy-spanning war — "Voyager" was given a "Lost in Space"-style premise wherein the title ship was thrown all the way across the galaxy to a portion of space that has never been explored by Starfleet, and could otherwise only be reached by 70 years of space travel. 

While the premise would perhaps lead a viewer to believe that "Voyager" was going to be about resource allocation and survival, it quickly became more about the Borg, a character played by actress Jeri Ryan, and Captain Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) steady slide into autocracy. 

"Voyager" struggled with ratings for years, but still managed to last seven seasons like "Next Gen" and "Deep Space" before it. The final episode of "Voyager," a time travel story called " Endgame ," would air in March of 2001.

2375: Star Trek: Insurrection

While "Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" were running concurrently on television, the "Next Generation" crew were yukking it up in the overwhelmingly mediocre 1998 Jonathan Frakes film " Star Trek: Insurrection ." Like "The Final Frontier," "Insurrection" can be seen straining against the limits of its budget, with bad CGI, bland costumes, and locations clearly found in the California mountains. The cheapness of "Star Trek" has often served as a boon for its story, forcing writers to insert interesting and challenging ideas into their plywood sets. "Insurrection" has no such ideas, asking the ethical question of forced relocation, but never feeling threatening, and offering a magical curative radiation that would require study and collection. 

Although one can admit this: "Insurrection" captures the tone of the "Next Generation" TV series far better than any of the other movies in this part of the series. It's a pity, though, that after the grand finale of "Next Generation," we find ourselves with suck lackluster films. 

Speaking of lackluster films ...

2379: Star Trek: Nemesis

Released in 2002, Stuart Baird's " Star Trek: Nemesis " was poised to be the final gasp for "Star Trek." "Enterprise" was already taking the franchise in a new direction, and the "NextGen" cast was clearly too tired to handle a continued barrage of poorly planned action movies, and thrillers that didn't resemble the show they were inspired by. "Nemesis" is dark and action-packed and violent and takes a lot of structural cues from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." 

In it, Tom Hardy plays a character named Shinzon who is, in fact, a clone of Captain Picard, grown in a Romulan lab, and eventually discarded into a Romulan mine. Shinzon escaped the mine, built an army, and is poised to take a giant death ship into Federation space to revenge all over people. "Nemesis" is also the film in which Data (Brent Spiner) dies, and Captain Picard drives a dune buggy. 

The sentiment of the time was reminiscent of T.S. Eliot's " The Hollow Men ." This is the way "Next Gen" ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

Worry not. There will be further whimpers for the NextGen crew.

2380 - ?: Star Trek: Lower Decks

Named after a seventh season episode of "Next Generation," and taking place in line with the end of "Nemesis" and "Voyager," " Star Trek: Lower Decks " debuted on Paramount+ in 2020 as part of a slew of "Star Trek"-related indicia that the company was desperate to exploit. And while the all-your-eggs-in-one basket approach to TV production affected by Paramount led to stinkers like "Discovery" and "Picard," it did lead to this surprisingly good animated program. 

One of the more appealing aspects of "Star Trek" is that it's essentially a series of workplace shows. The characters are typically vocation-forward, and take their duty to their ship very seriously. Where a "Star Trek" character works speaks powerfully to who they are. "Lower Decks" follows the people who have the worst possible jobs on a Starfleet vessel, often tasked with cleaning holodecks, sanitizing floors, and arranging widgets for the senior staff. It's rough going for ensigns. They sleep in the hallway and are typically not deemed important enough to include on more exciting missions. What's more, the central ship on "Lower Decks" is a tiny, crappy ship with substandard tech. Surely such jobs would exist in "Star Trek." 

"Lower Decks" is eager to make "Trek" references, and is clearly made by people who understand "Trek's" ethos, but who still have a raunchy sense of humor. The future is here. And it's still crappy for those on the bottom. 

2383: Star Trek: Prodigy

Produced under the auspices of Nickelodeon, " Star Trek: Prodigy " (2021) was the first Trek series to be made explicitly with a younger audience in mind. The series follows a ragtag group of alien youths as they flee a prison mine and discover an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar. On board is an instructional hologram of Captain Janeway from "Voyager," and she teaches the kids how to behave like Starfleet officers, the importance of duty and compassion, and how their trauma does not define them. The design and the creatures are more reminiscent of "Star Wars" than "Star Trek" (the series features an evil emperor and his powerful masked servant, invoking the Emperor and Darth Vader), but it certainly functions as a generic space adventure. The "Star Trek" stuff is mere window dressing. 

It's almost disappointing to include "Prodigy" on this timeline, as one of the show's central mysteries — at least for the first part of its first season, the only part to have aired as of this writing — is when and where it takes place. It was possible that "Prodigy" took place centuries or even millennia beyond the known Trek universe. The last we saw, however, the real Captain Janeway is still alive, giving "Prodigy" a known place in Trek chronology. 

2399: Star Trek: Picard (Season 1)

After nearly 20 years of a world without Picard, Paramount+ convinced Patrick Stewart to reprise his role in a new show named for him. " Star Trek: Picard " debuted on Paramount+ in 2020, taking place further in the future than any other Trek show to date. In the timeline of "Picard," the Federation had become soured by xenophobia and openly discouraged the evacuation of Romulus, historically an enemy world, but now in dire straits after their sun went supernova (something something J.J. Abrams). Picard had left Starfleet in disgust, and had now retired to his winery. 

The story of the first season is too convoluted to get into here, needless to say it involved a Romulan secret society, a planet of androids, a reclaimed Borg cube, and a robot Cthulhu. I'm not kidding. 

It's a pity that "Picard" did not roll with its future setting more, establishing new tech or positive sea changes in the "Trek" universe. Instead, everything is devoted to a chewy, awful story about androids. Indeed, by the end, Picard himself would have his consciousness shunted into an android body. What a snore.

3188 - 3190: Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 3 and 4)

When last we saw the U.S.S. Discovery, it was being pulled through a time hole into the distant future. In the third and fourth seasons , Discovery's crew learns that they are stranded 930 years from home, and now must rediscover their function as Starfleet officers after the Federation went into hiding. A galaxy-wide disaster — The Burn — spontaneously destroyed millions of starships, and a fierce new criminal enterprise, The Emerald Syndicate, now rules the galaxy.

The 23rd-century ship now has to learn how to use 32nd-century technology. The Discovery was redesigned, and the new mission became to spread diplomacy in a galaxy unready for it. This is the premise, it seems, that Discovery should have started with two years prior. The writing is still rather weak, and the characters are callow and weepy, but "Discovery" does excel in one notable way: Queer representation. Seven of the main cast members are openly queer. After 55 years of a dodgy relationship with queerness, "Discovery" finally nailed it.

I just wish it were a better show.

This Is The Correct Order In Which To Watch The Star Trek Franchise

Don't look now, but "Star Trek" is a thing again. It's been a while — after redefining television in the 1960s and enjoying a resurgence in the '80s and '90s, the final episode of ""Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005 marked the beginning of a dark period in which there was simply no "Trek" to be had. Then, in 2017, the drought ended with the premiere of " "Star Trek: Discovery ," and when it rains, it pours. "Discovery" heralded the arrival of a whole new era of ""Star Trek," and that's just the beginning — Paramount+ will soon play host to two new "Star Trek" shows, with three more currently in development, and there's a new movie scheduled for release in 2023 . Suddenly, we are awash in "Trek," which means that if you're unfamiliar with Gene Roddenberry's universe, it's a pretty good time to jump on board. Only where do you start with a franchise this big — and more importantly, what's the proper watch order?

These are the questions we're here to answer. While it's tempting to try and watch "Star Trek" chronologically, using either the fictional timeline or release dates, we recommend an order that's a bit of a blend of both. Following this list should result in an experience that provides a complete picture of what "Star Trek" is while also remaining easy to binge. With that in mind (and with the understanding that a few spoilers are unavoidable ), it's time to boldly go where every previous "Star Trek" installment has gone before!

The Original Series

When you watch "Star Trek," you really need to begin at the beginning. Not with Enterprise, which is set earlier in the "Trek" timeline than any show, but with "Star Trek" — or as it's lovingly called these days, "The Original Series." This is the show that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969, forever altering the television medium, the science fiction genre, and the experience of being a fan. While some viewers may find the special effects laughable or the political themes unsubtle, the most astonishing thing about "TOS" is how well it holds up, even more than 50 years later. The first two seasons, in particular, are absolutely riddled with classic episodes, and while the third season is significantly worse due to changes in the creative team, it's still fun to watch William Shatner ham it up as Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy raise a single Vulcan eyebrow as Mr. Spock, and the original Starship Enterprise soar through space. Most importantly, though, those first 79 episodes introduce rules, concepts, and even characters that "Star Trek" is still playing with today, from Class M planets and the Prime Directive to Khan and the Klingons.

The Animated Series

The unofficial fourth and fifth seasons of "Star Trek," "The Animated Series" aired on NBC from 1973 to 1974, after tempers had cooled somewhat between NBC and Roddenberry, who left "Star Trek" after its second season out of frustration with the network. Not only was the entire original cast back (minus Walter Koenig), but so was Roddenberry, and so was D.C. Fontana, Roddenberry's longtime assistant who had grown into one of the most celebrated "Trek" writers and had also departed after Season 2. Between the return of some of the show's original creative minds and cast, and the fact that animation allowed them to do so much more than live action special effects of the era, "TAS" is pure, undiluted "Star Trek."

It's never been made explicitly clear whether "TAS" is canon, but considering the number of "TAS" ideas re-used in later live-action shows, plus the introduction in "TAS" of canon pieces of backstory, like Kirk's middle name, it's silly at this point to believe otherwise. And it's required viewing for completists who want to see every televised adventure undertaken by the original Enterprise crew.

The first six films

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was released by Paramount in 1979, and while it's not an especially good film, it holds historical importance as the launching point for the "Star Trek" movie franchise. The real highlights in this part of the list, though, are the three films that followed. The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home essentially form their own trilogy of movies within the larger "Trek" saga, and are some of the most popular and critically acclaimed installments in the franchise. "The Wrath of Khan," in particular, tends to show up near the top of "best science fiction films in history" lists, making the titular Khan such an iconic villain that he was recast for the J.J. Abrams reboot movies, while "The Voyage Home" is probably the most charming "Star Trek" film, as the Enterprise travels to the past to rescue the humpback whale species from extinction.

Even the most dedicated binge-watcher can safely skip the horrendous fifth movie, "The Final Frontier," but "The Undiscovered Country" is an absolute masterpiece, and taken together, these six films provide a worthy capstone to the franchise's inaugural era.

It might seem counterintuitive to follow up the oldest "Star Trek" series with one of the newest, especially given that "Star Trek: Discovery" actually takes place prior to "The Original Series." But there's a good reason to jump from the tales of Kirk and Spock to the tales of Michael Burnham and...well, and Spock, who shows up in Season 2. "The Original Series" and its accompanying animated and film extensions are foundational to "Discovery," which is set shortly after the events of the rejected "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage." And characters from "The Cage" show up in Season 2 and are also appearing in their own spinoff, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

While an in-universe chronological watch order would put the first two seasons of "Discovery" before "TOS" and the third season at the very end (as the crew travels forward in time to the far future) it makes more sense to us to treat "Discovery" as its own story. The third season does occasionally reference "past" events from other shows, but that does lead nicely into the next "Trek" installment...

The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)

For many Trekkies today, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was their introduction to the franchise, and for good reason. If any one series beyond the original can lay a claim to being the single most iconic "Star Trek" story, it's Next Generation, which premiered in 1987 and went on to not only have seven seasons of its own, but to jumpstart a chain of interlocking "Star Trek" shows that would thoroughly dominate the 1990s. Before that, though, the first five seasons of Next Generation stood alone, and if you're trying to get somebody instantly hooked on Trek, this might actually be the place to start, despite the fact that the first couple of seasons don't hold up incredibly well.

If you're absorbing all of "Star Trek," though, "Next Generation" has to be the place to start. After all, it's the next generation of what, exactly? The answer is the Starship Enterprise, which comes with an entirely new cast and crew, introducing the world to Worf, Data, Counselor Troi, and Geordi LaForge, and permanently branding the hearts of a thousand Trekkies with the image of Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard .

The Next Generation (Season 6) / Deep Space Nine (Season 1)

Okay, this is where it gets weird. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" debuted in January 1993, just a few months after "Next Generation" kicked off its sixth season — a season full of unmitigated classics, incidentally, from the return of Montgomery Scott in "Relics" to the legendary two-parter "Chain of Command." Picard even makes a cameo in the first episode of "DS9," which takes place aboard a space station and uses the ideas and events of earlier "Next Generation" episodes to inform characters like Commander Benjamin Sisko and Quark. It's essentially impossible to understand Sisko's backstory, for example, without first having seen the "Next Generation" episode "The Best of Both Worlds."

Despite the fact that they take place over roughly the same time period, we recommend watching the entirety of Season 6 of "Next Generation" followed by the entirety of Season 1 of "DS9," if for no other reason than the former has more episodes than the latter, making it a complicated process to intercut between them. But however you choose to do it, these two seasons really should be watched back to back.

The Next Generation (Season 7) / Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

Similarly, the second season of "DS9" coincides with the last "Next Generation" season. While it might lack the standout episodes of earlier seasons, Season 7 manages a few achievements. For one thing, it puts a bow on one of the most beloved shows in television history with a flourish, ending the program with an ambitious, timeline-jumping two-parter that ties directly into the events of the very first episode. It also inadvertently lays the groundwork for a much more modern "Trek" show with an episode about junior officers called "Lower Decks." But most importantly, it ties into and reinforces "Deep Space Nine," most notably in the penultimate episode "Preemptive Strike," which deals with concurrent "DS9" problems like the Cardassians and the Maquis.

By the end of Season 2, "DS9" has already proven capable of standing on its own, having picked up and ran with the Maquis threads from earlier "Next Generation" episodes, returned to the Mirror Universe first introduced in the original series, and introduced the Dominion and the Jem'Hadar, who will serve as the series' primary antagonists. But the stories of Picard and company were far from over...

Generations

The four feature films built around the cast of "Next Generation" are a direct continuation of the movies that came before, not least because the first one, 1994's "Generations," serves as a bridge between "TOS" and its descendant, and between Kirk and Picard, in about the most literal way you could imagine. This movie marks the final appearance of several characters from the original show, including Kirk himself (the one played by William Shatner, at any rate) which makes it a crucial piece of the "Star Trek" timeline, as does the introduction of Data's emotion chip. Of course, some might consider the movie worth it just to see Malcolm McDowell chew the scenery like he hasn't eaten in three days, and we can't say they're wrong.

"Generations" launched Picard's crew onto the big screen almost immediately after their exit from the small one, meaning they would continue to be the face of "Star Trek" for the remainder of the decade. But back in the realm of "Trek" TV, things were only heating up, as a new series prepared to take the field and challenge "DS9" for television dominance.

Deep Space Nine (Season 3) / Voyager (Season 1)

Once again, it's time to switch between two seasons of "Star Trek," as the third season of "DS9" overlaps with the debuting "Star Trek: Voyager." The first "Trek" series to feature a woman (Kathryn Janeway) in the captain's chair, "Voyager" also had a unique and fascinating premise. Much of the "DS9" action is driven by the existence of a nearby wormhole that leads to the Gamma Quadrant, a section of space far away from the Federation's native Alpha Quadrant. This allows the titular space station and its intrepid crew to encounter any number of new and dangerous alien species. "Voyager" goes even farther, literally — a solitary ship finds itself transported to the even more distant Delta Quadrant and spends the rest of the series trying to get home.

Due to this premise, there's no reason whatsoever to jump between individual episodes of these two seasons, as the events of one show don't affect the other in any way. But jumping between shows by the season provides a fun and accurate experience of what it was like to watch the interlocking "Star Trek" programs of the 1990s.

Deep Space Nine (Season 4) / Voyager (Season 2)

Like most "Star Trek" shows, "Voyager" takes a couple of seasons to find its feet, and Season 2 in particular contains some of its most notoriously bad episodes, from the tone-deaf Native American implications of "Tattoo" to Janeway and Voyager pilot Tom Paris turning into salamanders and having salamander babies together in "Threshold" to the utter abomination that is "Tuvix." At least it has the consideration to get them all out of the way early on.

"DS9," meanwhile, was encountering its own problems in Season 4, which took a sharp turn away from the burgeoning conflict with the Dominion and instead spent most of its time dealing with the newly antagonistic Klingon Empire. Fortunately, even as the overarching plot went briefly off the rails, the writing was getting better and better, and the diversion is, if nothing else, entertaining. As a bonus, Season 4 features one of television's first lesbian kisses, and also brings in Worf, the Klingon security officer from "Next Generation" — until Picard, Michael Dorn was the only actor to star in the main casts of two different "Star Trek" shows.

First Contact

As a result of his dual roles, Worf would spend the next several years hopping back and forth between television and the movies. One reason it's important to watch Season 4 of "DS9" prior to watching "First Contact," the second film starring the "Next Generation" cast, is because in order to include Worf in the story, the latter is obligated to include a scene in which the Enterprise rescues another ship called the Defiant, introduced in "DS9" and captained by Worf himself. Future "Next Generation" movies, which decline in quality moving forward, come up with increasingly hand-wavy reasons for his presence on the Enterprise bridge.

"First Contact" itself, however, is by far the best of the "Next Generation" films and one of the best "Star Trek" films in general, as the crew travels back in time to prevent the cybernetic hive mind known as the Borg from altering history. Not only is "First Contact" a great movie (and the film directorial debut of Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander William Riker), it also kicks off a spectacular "Star Trek" run that can stand up against any other period in franchise history.

Deep Space Nine (Season 5) / Voyager (Season 3)

With Season 5, "DS9" gets back on track after the previous outlier season, quickly focusing around a single unified threat thanks to an alliance between the show's original antagonists the Cardassians and the Dominion. The presence of the sinister Changelings adds an intrigue element to the story, as any character could potentially be a Changeling in disguise — a concept that would be used to great effect years later in the 2004 reboot of "Battlestar Galactica." The season concludes with the official start of the Dominion War, a conflict that would dominate the remainder of the show.

"Voyager," meanwhile, was also getting back on track in its third season, which generally sees an uptick in quality — particularly toward the end, with episodes like "Before and After," "Real Life," and "Worst Case Scenario." Robert Picardo, who plays Voyager's holographic doctor, also gets to make a cameo in "DS9" as the Doctor's creator, Lewis Zimmerman, in the episode "Doctor Bashir, I presume." And Season 3 ends with the first installment of "Scorpion," which catalyzed "Voyager's" official rise to greatness in part thanks to a memorable new character.

Deep Space Nine (Season 6) / Voyager (Season 4)

These two overlapping seasons, airing in late 1997 and early 1998, represent the pinnacle of "Star Trek's" '90s golden age. In "DS9," the Dominion War is in full swing, the series' much-discussed religions themes are building in prominence, the mysterious Section 31 is introduced, foreshadowing its prominent role in both "Enterprise" and "Discovery," and most memorably, the showrunners do what almost no iteration of "Star Trek" has ever dared to do: permanently kill off a member of the main cast.

Casting changes are also a major part of Season 4 of "Voyager," which jettisons the little-loved character of Kes and officially introduces Seven of Nine , a liberated Borg drone played by Jeri Ryan who quickly joins the ranks of the franchise's most widely known characters. It's an oversimplification to suggest that the overall brilliance of Season 4 is the direct result of Ryan joining the cast, but no matter how much of it you attribute to her, it's a phenomenal season of television, filled from start to finish with some of the best "Voyager" episodes (and also "Retrospect," but we don't talk about that one).

Insurrection

It's not "First Contact," but 1998's "Insurrection" is still a pretty good "Next Generation" movie, another solid offering from Jonathan Frakes. While "Insurrection" doesn't interact much with the events of "DS9" or "Voyager," watching it at this point in the "Trek" timeline provides an overall context for the state of the Federation, which has been intermittently challenged, as the movie's primary villain points out, by the Borg, the Cardassians, and the Dominion. A sense of the Federation being assailed from all sides isn't strictly necessary for the film's story of familial betrayal on a planet that confers immortality, but it does make viewing it a more interesting experience (though again, the perfunctory inclusion of Worf simply because he's expected to be in "Next Generation" movies is potentially jarring for "DS9" fans who have become invested in his character development, which "Insurrection" largely ignores).

"Insurrection" is Frakes' last "Star Trek" movie as director (though he would later direct episodes of "Discovery" and "Picard") and marks the beginning of the end of the '90s "Trek" boom. There's still plenty of great "Trek" ahead, but the curve is now pointing down.

Deep Space Nine (Season 7) / Voyager (Season 5)

The final season of "DS9" represents one of the single greatest creative accomplishments in "Star Trek" history, as no "Trek" show to date has managed to stick such an ambitious and satisfying landing. In a unique move, the last 10 episodes of the season form a single, series-ending story, and the feature-length finale, "What You Leave Behind," is considered one of the greatest "Trek" episodes of all time. "DS9" had been great for at least two seasons prior to this one, but the success of Season 7 cemented it as a foremost jewel in the crown of the "Star Trek" franchise.

"Voyager," meanwhile, continued its stellar run of episodes, capping off a three-year rehabilitation effort that saw one of the franchise's shakiest shows become one of its best. It was good timing, too, because with "DS9" wrapping up ("What You Leave Behind" aired the week after the Season 5 "Voyager" finale, "Equinox"), Captain Janeway and her crew were suddenly the only starship in the galaxy. And you, intrepid binge-watcher, can finally stop switching between two different shows.

Voyager (Seasons 6-7)

Unlike "DS9," the final seasons of "Voyager" are not its best, though admittedly, after Seasons 4 and 5, that's a high bar to clear. Season 6 comes close with a steady stream of classics, introducing both the popular Holodeck scenario Fair Haven and the "Pathfinder" storyline that sees "Next Generation" vets Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi join up as recurring characters. By Season 7, however, the quality of "Voyager" has begun to dip noticeably — the final season contains few memorable episodes and at least one extremely ill-conceived romantic subplot. It earns some redemption, however, with the two-part series finale "Endgame," which, whether you like it or not, at least fulfills the promise of the show's premise and comes to a definitive conclusion about whether the ship and its crew are ever getting back to the Alpha Quadrant. It's a moment that would have been easy to shy away from, and "Voyager" meets it head on.

"Endgame" aired in May 2001, and in retrospect, the title didn't only apply to "Voyager." The continuous story that "Star Trek" had been telling for the past 14 years over the course of three different shows and three different movies was over. There was, however, one last (incredibly depressing) chapter to get through.

The final "Next Generation" film, released in 2002, is by far the worst of them, and the worst "Star Trek" movie in general since 1989's "The Final Frontier." It was so bad, in fact, that it notoriously killed "Star Trek" — plans for a fifth "Next Generation" movie were scrapped after "Nemesis" bombed at the box office, and creatively, it's an absolute nightmare, introducing a Romulan sister planet with the unfortunate name of Remus, blatantly attempting to restart Data's entire character arc via a literal copy with the also unfortunate name of B-4, and tying these and other unfortunate decisions together with a nonsensical plot featuring Tom Hardy as a secret clone of Picard. After "Nemesis," the scuttling of future franchise installments can honestly be seen as a mercy killing.

"Star Trek" wasn't quite dead in 2002, however. While we've now officially made it through the combined stories of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager," there's one more show, independent from the others, that now enters the viewing order. And watching it involves going back to the very beginning... and even before that.

In a chronological viewing, "Star Trek: Enterprise" would actually be the first show you watch, since it takes place a hundred years prior to "The Cage." Indirectly spinning off from the events of "First Contact," it tells the story of Earth's first warp starship, appropriately named the Enterprise and captained by Scott Bakula's Jonathan Archer, and of humanity's early relationships with alien species like the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians. Despite its status as a prequel, the sheer degree to which "Enterprise" relies on its audience having knowledge of other "Star Trek" properties makes it almost impossible to recommend as an entry point. It fits much better here, as the official end of the franchise's second major era, especially given that the final episode, "These Are The Voyages...," frames itself as a holodeck simulation being watched by the Enterprise crew from "Next Generation."

"There Are The Voyages..." aired on May 13th, 2005. There wouldn't be another "Star Trek" show for more than 12 years. At this point, our watch order breaks away from order of release, but we feel strongly that it's how "Star Trek" from 1987 to 2005 should be watched.

Lower Decks

If you think 12 years is a long gap between "Star Trek" installments, that's nothing compared to the 45 years that went by between "Trek" stories told via animation. "Short Treks" was technically the first "Trek" show since "The Animated Series" to include animated episodes, and that aired in 2019, but 2020 gave us the first season of "Lower Decks," an entirely animated show about the people who don't get to hang out on the bridge.

The first franchise installment to ever concern itself primarily with characters who are not in command of a starship or space station, "Lower Decks" is the "Star Trek" equivalent of shows like HBO's "Harley Quinn" — an irreverent, adult-oriented comedy that revels in its TV-MA rating, delivering violence, sex, and swearing at warp speed frequencies. Chronologically, it's set shortly after the events of "Nemesis," but more importantly to the binge-watcher, it's the dessert following a feast — a vital dose of pure fun after absorbing almost four full decades of space drama.

The Kelvin timeline

After the box office failure of "Nemesis" brought an abrupt end to the "Next Generation" movies, there wasn't a new "Trek" film until 2009. And far from being a continuation of the existing movie franchise, this new version, simply called "Star Trek," was a reboot of "The Original Series," casting new, younger versions of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the first Enterprise crew. Sequels to the reboot followed in 2013 and 2016.

Watching these three movies as part of a "Star Trek" binge is pretty much entirely optional, since they take place in an alternate timeline created when the USS Kelvin was destroyed in battle with time-traveling Romulan ship from the 24th century, leaving an infant James T. Kirk without a father in the process. Moreover, the trilogy is widely considered to be of uneven quality (though the third movie, "Star Trek Beyond," is considerably better than its predecessor, possibly due to the departure of director J.J. Abrams). Still, if you're going to watch them, this is the place in the viewing order to do it, as a key plot point of the first film — the Romulan sun going supernova — plays a major role in "Picard."

Short Treks

The Kelvin movies might not exert much direct influence over the larger plot of "Star Trek," but they played a major role in the future of the franchise by bringing in Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman is the showrunner on "Discovery," and with the exception of "Lower Decks," he has been directly involved in every modern "Trek" series. In 2018, after the successful first season of "Discovery" led to a new expansion of the "Star Trek" franchise, Kurtzman and co-creator Bryan Fuller (formerly a writer on "DS9" and "Voyager") premiered "Short Treks," an anthology series of short, unrelated stories. As of this writing, there have been two seasons and 10 total episodes, some live-action, some animated.

"Short Treks" spans almost the entire "Star Trek" timeline — two episodes are set in the period of time between "Enterprise" and "The Original Series," while a third takes place in the far future. As a result, watching it requires a sense of the entire scope of the "Trek" universe. It's the penultimate entry in this watch order, however, because the Season 2 finale, "Children of Mars," leads directly into the final entry: "Picard."

"Star Trek: Picard" is the first of the modern "Trek" offerings to look forward rather than back, giving us a story set after the events of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager." Indeed, not only does the series follow up with Jean-Luc Picard 20 years after we last saw him (and 12 years after the Romulan sun went supernova) but it also brings in an older version of Seven of Nine, once again portrayed by Jeri Ryan. As mentioned, Picard also ties into the most recent installment of "Short Treks," which involves a terrorist attack by synthetic life forms that eventually leads to a ban on their creation — one of the many plot elements of "Picard" that has drawn criticism for being inconsistent with the original utopian vision of "Star Trek."

With so many new "Trek" shows on their way, this list will quickly become outdated. But all the upcoming series will reward previous "Trek" viewing, from Janeway's return on "Star Trek: Prodigy" to a show focused entirely on Section 31. So if you're going to binge all of "Star Trek," you might want to get started now!

The Ultimate Chronological Star Trek Viewing Guide

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Newly added: Discovery Season 5!

Newly added: Lower Decks Season 2!

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Abbreviation Guide

The 21st Century

The 22nd century, the 23rd century.

    (DIS,SNW,TOS,TAS)

The 24th Century

    (TNG,DS9,VOY,LDS,PRO,PIC)

The 25th Century

The 31st century, the 32nd century, introduction.

This Star Trek viewing guide will assist you through watching the entire franchise, based not on production dates, but on in-universe story order, all the way from the 21st to the 32nd centuries.  As it is a viewing guide and not a rigid chronology, some episodes are shifted to keep things as clear and fun as possible. The site is updated regularly to stay current. 

There is now a print-friendly version without the graphics as well.

To avoid spoilers, I’ve moved discussion of the thinking behind some less clear-cut decisions to a separate “methodology” page . Opinions and feedback are welcome!

Series Overview and Abbreviation Guide

Past Shows:

    TOS —> Star Trek - The Original Series (1964, 1966-1969)

    TAS —> Star Trek - The Animated Series    (1973-1974)

    TNG —> Star Trek - The Next Generation    (1987-1994)

    DS9 —> Star Trek - Deep Space Nine     (1993-1999)

    VOY —> Star Trek - Voyager (1995-2001)

    ENT —> Star Trek - Enterprise (2001-2005)

    SHO —> Star Trek - Short Treks (2018-2020)

    PIC —> Star Trek - Picard (2020-2023)

    MOV —> Theatrical Movies (1979-1991, 1994-2002, 2009-2016)

Current Shows:

    DIS —> Star Trek - Discovery (2017-2024)

    LDS —> Star Trek - Lower Decks (2020-)

    PRO —> Star Trek - Prodigy (2021-)

    SNW —> Star Trek - Strange New Worlds (2022-)

April 5th, 2063:

Star Trek essentially begins on this date, when Zefram Cochrane creates faster-than-light travel (“warp drive”) allowing humans to meet extraterrestrial life, the Vulcans, for the first time. We will see this event later in the viewing order, but for now it’s just backstory.

We start with Star Trek: Enterprise (technically just titled Enterprise until season three). While the first in the timeline, this show was actually the sixth Star Trek series made, and includes many fun hints of future events.  We will mostly follow the release order, but will skip some episodes in Seasons two and four until later in the viewing order.

• ENT    Season 1, episode 1    -    Broken Bow, Part 1
• ENT    Season 1, episode 2    -    Broken Bow, Part 2
• ENT    Season 1, episode 3    -    Fight or Flight
• ENT    Season 1, episode 4    -    Strange New World
• ENT    Season 1, episode 5    -    Unexpected
• ENT    Season 1, episode 6    -    Terra Nova
• ENT    Season 1, episode 7    -    The Andorian Incident
• ENT    Season 1, episode 8    -    Breaking the Ice
• ENT    Season 1, episode 9    -    Civilization
• ENT    Season 1, episode 10    -    Fortunate Son
• ENT    Season 1, episode 11    -    Cold Front
• ENT    Season 1, episode 12    -    Silent Enemy
• ENT    Season 1, episode 13    -    Dear Doctor
• ENT    Season 1, episode 14    -    Sleeping Dogs
• ENT    Season 1, episode 15    -    Shadows of P'Jem
• ENT    Season 1, episode 16    -    Shuttlepod One
• ENT    Season 1, episode 17    -    Fusion
• ENT    Season 1, episode 18    -    Rogue Planet
• ENT    Season 1, episode 19    -    Acquisition

• ENT      Season 1, episode 20      -      Oasis
• ENT      Season 1, episode 21      -      Detained
• ENT      Season 1, episode 22      -      Vox Sola
• ENT      Season 1, episode 23      -      Fallen Hero
• ENT      Season 1, episode 24      -      Desert Crossing
• ENT      Season 1, episode 25      -      Two Days and Two Nights
• ENT      Season 1, episode 26      -      Shockwave, Part I
• ENT      Season 2, episode 1      -      Shockwave, Part II
• ENT      Season 2, episode 2      -      Carbon Creek
• ENT      Season 2, episode 3      -      Minefield
• ENT      Season 2, episode 4      -      Dead Stop
• ENT      Season 2, episode 5      -      A Night in Sickbay
• ENT      Season 2, episode 6      -      Marauders
• ENT    Season 2, episode 7    -    The Seventh
• ENT    Season 2, episode 8    -    The Communicator
• ENT    Season 2, episode 9    -    Singularity
• ENT    Season 2, episode 10    -    Vanishing Point
• ENT    Season 2, episode 11    -    Precious Cargo
• ENT    Season 2, episode 12    -    The Catwalk
• ENT    Season 2, episode 13    -    Dawn
• ENT    Season 2, episode 14    -    Stigma
• ENT    Season 2, episode 15    -    Cease Fire
• ENT    Season 2, episode 16    -    Future Tense
• ENT    Season 2, episode 17    -    Canamar
• ENT    Season 2, episode 18    -    The Crossing
• ENT    Season 2, episode 19    -    Judgment

• ENT    Season 2, episode 20    -    Horizon
• ENT    Season 2, episode 21    -    The Breach
• ENT    Season 2, episode 22    -    Cogenitor

We are skipping episode 23 (“Regeneration”) for now, but will return to it later.

• ENT    Season 2, episode 24    -    First Flight
• ENT    Season 2, episode 25    -    Bounty
• ENT    Season 2, episode 26    -    The Expanse
• ENT    Season 3, episode 1    -    The Xindi
• ENT    Season 3, episode 2    -    Anomaly
• ENT    Season 3, episode 3    -    Extinction
• ENT    Season 3, episode 4    -    Rajiin
• ENT    Season 3, episode 5    -    Impulse
• ENT    Season 3, episode 6    -    Exile
• ENT    Season 3, episode 7    -    The Shipment
• ENT    Season 3, episode 8    -    Twilight
• ENT    Season 3, episode 9    -    North Star
• ENT    Season 3, episode 10    -    Similitude
• ENT    Season 3, episode 11    -    Carpenter Street
• ENT    Season 3, episode 12    -    Chosen Realm
• ENT    Season 3, episode 13    -    Proving Ground
• ENT    Season 3, episode 14    -    Stratagem
• ENT    Season 3, episode 15    -    Harbinger

• ENT    Season 3, episode 16    -    Doctor's Orders 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 17    -    Hatchery
• ENT    Season 3, episode 18    -    Azati Prime 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 19    -    Damage 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 20    -    The Forgotten 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 21    -    E² 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 22    -    The Council
• ENT    Season 3, episode 23    -    Countdown 
• ENT    Season 3, episode 24    -    Zero Hour 

In its fourth and final season, Enterprise, under the guidance of a new showrunner, really takes advantage of its ability to foreshadow events in later chronologically-placed stories. Please pay attention to the episode numbers as we skip episodes 18, 19, and 22 for now and watch them later.

• ENT    Season 4, episode 1    -    Storm Front, Part 1
• ENT    Season 4, episode 2    -    Storm Front, Part 2
• ENT    Season 4, episode 3    -    Home
• ENT    Season 4, episode 4    -    Borderland
• ENT    Season 4, episode 5    -    Cold Station 12
• ENT    Season 4, episode 6    -    The Augments
• ENT    Season 4, episode 7    -    The Forge
• ENT    Season 4, episode 8    -    Awakening
• ENT    Season 4, episode 9    -    Kir'Shara
• ENT    Season 4, episode 10    -    Daedalus
• ENT    Season 4, episode 11    -    Observer Effect
• ENT    Season 4, episode 12    -    Babel One
• ENT    Season 4, episode 13    -    United
• ENT    Season 4, episode 14    -    The Aenar
• ENT    Season 4, episode 15    -    Affliction
• ENT    Season 4, episode 16    -    Divergence
• ENT    Season 4, episode 17    -    Bound 

• ENT    Season 4, episode 20    -    Demons 
• ENT    Season 4, episode 21    -    Terra Prime 

Although we will be moving on from Enterprise for now, we will return to watch the skipped episodes and the series finale later. Even so, the two-parter above is near-universally considered a better end-point for this point in the story.

The Earth-Romulan War, which was first mentioned in the original 1960s series, occurs here. Enterprise intended to cover this starting in the fifth season, but was unfortunately cancelled after Season Four. While we don't get to see the conflict on screen, its impact is felt throughout Enterprise and beyond. During the war, Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites form a loosely structured Coalition of Planets which manages to push back the Romulans. This Coalition leads directly to…

…the formation of the United Federation of Planets, the primary political setting of the Star Trek franchise.

From this point on, Star Trek focuses on the Federation, depicting its periods of peace, war, expansion, and decline, which will set the agenda for much of the franchise.

Early 2230s

An adaptation of an (actual) ancient African legend, told to a young girl we will meet again later as an adult, this is our first “Short Treks” episode. These mini-episodes are not tied to any specific time or place in the Star Trek franchise and will appear occasionally throughout this list.

• SHO    Season 2, episode 5    -    The Girl Who Made the Stars 

2233 - A sidenote about universes/timelines:

There are two main “universes” in the Star Trek franchise: the Kelvin timeline (consisting of three feature films) and the Prime timeline (covering everything else). This year, 2233, is when events occur which split the universe into the Kelvin and Prime timelines. For now, we will stay with the Prime timeline in this viewing order, but keep in mind the Kelvin timeline for later. Note that there is a third universe, the "Mirror" universe, and occasional alternate timelines. However, for simplicity, our visits there will not be separated from the Prime episodes.

2233 (Prime)

The USS Kelvin flies through space, exploring strange new worlds. 

Nothing happens. 

All is well.

• SHO    Season 1, episode 3    -    The Brightest Star

After a quick Short Trek in which we meet a young ensign reporting to his new ship, we reach the very first Star Trek episode produced: The Cage, dating from 1964-65. Rejected by NBC for being "too cerebral," studio owner Lucille Ball convinced the network to give the show another chance at a pilot. While much of The Cage’s footage is reused in a later episode, "The Menagerie," we recommend that you don't skip either one. The character of Captain Pike becomes highly significant shortly, and both episodes offer valuable insights into him and Spock.

Viewing notes: When referring to the original 1960s "Star Trek," this guide uses the abbreviation TOS (The Original Series). TOS is available in two versions: the classic 1960s version and a CGI- enhanced remastered version made from 2006-08. The remastered versions do not alter the stories in any way making the version you choose a matter of personal preference.  

• SHO    Season 2, episode 1    -    Q&A 
• TOS    Season 0, episode 1    -    The Cage 

We now begin Star Trek: Discovery, which is the seventh Star Trek series produced, but only the second series chronologically. It also is the first series to significantly revamp the visual designs, departing from the previous assumption that the 23rd century looked the same as it did in the original 1960s series. Discovery updates the designs, and we are trusted to accept that they have "always" looked this way, affecting uniforms, ships, alien makeup, and more. The Klingons, in particular, received a dramatic redesign, though it was significantly backtracked after the first season. These are not continuity issues, and should not be viewed as such, though we could certainly nitpick details if we chose to. 

• DIS    Season 1, episode 1    -    The Vulcan Hello
• DIS    Season 1, episode 2    -    Battle at the Binary Stars
• DIS    Season 1, episode 3    -    Context is for Kings
• DIS    Season 1, episode 4    -    The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
• DIS    Season 1, episode 5    -    Choose Your Pain
• DIS    Season 1, episode 6    -    Lethe
• DIS    Season 1, episode 7    -    Magic to Make the Sanest Man go Mad

• DIS    Season 1, episode 8    -    Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
• DIS    Season 1, episode 9    -    Into the Forest I Go

Watching Trek in this order presents a quirk in episode 10, where the USS Defiant is, to avoid spoilers, somewhere it shouldn't be. The show assumes that we know the explanation, but don't worry about it. We will learn why when we reach 2268, but in the meantime, it is entirely unimportant to how the story in Discovery unfolds.

• DIS    Season 1, episode 10    -    Despite Yourself
• DIS    Season 1, episode 11    -    The Wolf Inside
• DIS    Season 1, episode 12    -    Vaulting Ambition
• DIS    Season 1, episode 13    -    What's Past is Prologue
• DIS    Season 1, episode 14    -    The War Without, The War Within
• DIS    Season 1, episode 15    -    Will You Take My Hand?
• SHO    Season 1, episode 1    -    Runaway
• SHO    Season 1, episode 4    -    Escape Artist
• DIS    Season 2, episode 1    -    Brother
• DIS    Season 2, episode 2    -    New Eden
• DIS    Season 2, episode 3    -    Point of Light
• DIS    Season 2, episode 4    -    An Obol for Charon
• DIS    Season 2, episode 5    -    Saints of Imperfection
• DIS    Season 2, episode 6    -    The Sound of Thunder
• DIS    Season 2, episode 7    -    Light and Shadows
• DIS    Season 2, episode 8    -    If Memory Serves
• DIS    Season 2, episode 9    -    Project Daedalus
• DIS    Season 2, episode 10    -    The Red Angel
• DIS    Season 2, episode 11    -    Perpetual Infinity
• DIS    Season 2, episode 12    -    Through the Valley of Shadows
• DIS    Season 2, episode 13    -    Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1
• DIS    Season 2, episode 14    -    Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

I will avoid spoilers, but after watching the episode listed just above, it will be clear why we are pausing our viewing of Discovery, even though there are more episodes left to watch. We will come back to the series at the appropriate time to continue the series.

• SHO    Season 2, episode 2    -    The Trouble with Edward
• SHO    Season 2, episode 3    -    Ask Not

We now move away from the Discovery crew to follow Capt. Pike, back in command of the Enterprise, for an absolutely delightful series that deliberately throws back to 1960s Trek in many ways, including the first appearances of some characters we will continue to see for many years to come.

• SNW    Season 1, episode 1    -    Strange New Worlds
• SNW    Season 1, episode 2    -    Children of the Comet
• SNW    Season 1, episode 3    -    Ghosts of Illyria
• SNW    Season 1, episode 4    -    Memento Mori
• SNW    Season 1, episode 5    -    Spock Amok
• SNW    Season 1, episode 6    -    Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach
• SNW    Season 1, episode 7    -    The Serene Squall
• SNW    Season 1, episode 8    -    The Elysian Kingdom
• SNW    Season 1, episode 9    -    All Those Who Wander
• SNW    Season 1, episode 10    -    A Quality of Mercy
• SNW    Season 2 episode 1    -    The Broken Circle
• SNW    Season 2, episode 2    -    Ad Astra per Aspera
• SNW    Season 2, episode 3    -    Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
• SNW    Season 2, episode 4    -    Among the Lotus Eaters
• SNW    Season 2, episode 5    -    Charades
• SNW    Season 2, episode 6    -    Lost in Translation

Skipping Episode 7 for later…

Pay attention to the possible future laid out in this next episode; we see how the timeline actually plays out later in this chronology.

• SNW    Season 2, episode 8    -    Under the Cloak of War
• SNW    Season 2, episode 9    -    Subspace Rhapsody
• SNW    Season 2, episode 10    -    Hegemony

Here’s that second Original Series pilot Lucille Ball fought for, now with (most) of the classic 1960’s Star Trek crew. Still no Dr. McCoy, Uhura, or Chekov, Kirk has a different middle initial, the uniforms and sets still aren’t quite right… but we are for the first time recognizably in the world of the show that started it all.

• TOS    Season 1, episode 3    -    Where No Man Has Gone Before

2266-Notes on The Original Series

Just to clarify - the original Star Trek will appear less advanced in terms of its designs and aesthetic compared to the other Star Trek shows we have watched so far, but this is only due to the limitations of television production at the time. This is not “true” in story terms - the technology and society in TOS should be read as on par with Discovery and Strange New Worlds, which all take place at roughly this point in the timeline, and the Enterprise, despite looking different, should be accepted as the exact same ship Pike commanded in Strange New Worlds.

As for the actual viewing order, to fully appreciate the development of the show, it's recommended to watch TOS in production order instead of by air date.  In general, don’t get too hung up on continuity with the rest of the franchise in these early days - they take quite a while to pin some stuff down that the rest of the franchise takes for granted.

The Menagerie is largely reedited from The Cage, which we watched a while back, but don’t skip it - after spending so much time with Spock and Pike since, this episode is absolutely essential.

• TOS    Season 1, episode 10    -    The Corbomite Maneuver 
• TOS    Season 1, episode 6    -    Mudd's Women
• TOS    Season 1, episode 5    -    The Enemy Within
• TOS    Season 1, episode 1    -    The Man Trap
• TOS    Season 1, episode 4    -    The Naked Time
• TOS    Season 1, episode 2    -    Charlie X

Next we revisit SNW’s season 1 finale, “A Quality of Mercy”, and see how differently events play out with Kirk in command of the Enterprise.

• TOS    Season 1, episode 14    -    Balance of Terror
• TOS    Season 1, episode 7    -    What Are Little Girls Made of?
• TOS    Season 1, episode 9    -    Dagger of the Mind
• TOS    Season 1, episode 8    -    Miri
• TOS    Season 1, episode 13    -    The Conscience of the King
• TOS    Season 1, episode 16    -    The Galileo Seven
• TOS    Season 1, episode 20    -    Court Martial
• TOS    Season 1, episode 11    -    The Menagerie (Part I)
• TOS    Season 1, episode 12    -    The Menagerie (Part II)
• TOS    Season 1, episode 15    -    Shore Leave
• TOS    Season 1, episode 17    -    The Squire of Gothos
• TOS    Season 1, episode 18    -    Arena
• TOS    Season 1, episode 27    -    The Alternative Factor
• TOS    Season 1, episode 19    -    Tomorrow is Yesterday
• TOS    Season 1, episode 21    -    The Return of the Archons
• TOS    Season 1, episode 23    -    A Taste of Armageddon
• TOS    Season 1, episode 22    -    Space Seed
• TOS    Season 1, episode 24    -    This Side of Paradise
• TOS    Season 1, episode 25    -    Devil in the Dark
• TOS    Season 1, episode 26    -    Errand of Mercy
• TOS    Season 1, episode 28    -    The City on the Edge of Forever
• TOS    Season 1, episode 29    -    Operation: Annihilate!

• TOS    Season 2, episode 7    -    Catspaw
• TOS    Season 2, episode 9    -    Metamorphosis
• TOS    Season 2, episode 11    -    Friday's Child
• TOS    Season 2, episode 2    -    Who Mourns for Adonais?
• TOS    Season 2, episode 1    -    Amok Time
• TOS    Season 2, episode 6    -    The Doomsday Machine
• TOS    Season 2, episode 14    -    Wolf in the Fold
• TOS    Season 2, episode 3    -    The Changeling
• TOS    Season 2, episode 5    -    The Apple
• TOS    Season 2, episode 4    -    Mirror, Mirror
• TOS    Season 2, episode 12    -    The Deadly Years
• TOS    Season 2, episode 8    -    I, Mudd
• TOS    Season 2, episode 15    -    The Trouble with Tribbles
• TOS    Season 2, episode 25    -    Bread and Circuses
• TOS    Season 2, episode 10    -    Journey to Babel
• TOS    Season 2, episode 19    -    A Private Little War
• TOS    Season 2, episode 16    -    The Gamesters of Triskelion
• TOS    Season 2, episode 13    -    Obsession
• TOS    Season 2, episode 18    -    The Immunity Syndrome
• TOS    Season 2, episode 17    -    A Piece of the Action
• TOS    Season 2, episode 22    -    By Any Other Name
• TOS    Season 2, episode 20    -    Return to Tomorrow
• TOS    Season 2, episode 21    -    Patterns of Force
• TOS    Season 2, episode 24    -    The Ultimate Computer
• TOS    Season 2, episode 23    -    The Omega Glory
• TOS    Season 2, episode 26    -    Assignment: Earth

While Mirror, Mirror is the episode that first introduces the Mirror universe, we’ve already been there on Discovery. Enterprise had a two-part episode there too, actually, but that’s one of the ones we skipped for later viewing and will be arriving at shortly.

• TOS    Season 3, episode 6    -    Spectre of the Gun
• TOS    Season 3, episode 13    -    Elaan of Troyius
• TOS    Season 3, episode 3    -    The Paradise Syndrome
• TOS    Season 3, episode 2    -    The Enterprise Incident
• TOS    Season 3, episode 4    -    And the Children Shall Lead
• TOS    Season 3, episode 1    -    Spock's Brain
• TOS    Season 3, episode 5    -    Is There in Truth No Beauty?
• TOS    Season 3, episode 12    -    The Empath
• TOS    Season 3, episode 8    -    For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
• TOS    Season 3, episode 7    -    Day of the Dove
• TOS    Season 3, episode 10    -    Plato's Stepchildren
• TOS    Season 3, episode 11    -    Wink of An Eye
• TOS    Season 3, episode 17    -    That Which Survives
• TOS    Season 3, episode 15    -    Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
• TOS    Season 3, episode 14    -    Whom Gods Destroy
• TOS    Season 3, episode 16    -    The Mark of Gideon
• TOS    Season 3, episode 18    -    The Lights of Zetar
• TOS    Season 3, episode 21    -    The Cloud Minders
• TOS    Season 3, episode 20    -    The Way to Eden
• TOS    Season 3, episode 19    -    Requiem for Methuselah
• TOS    Season 3, episode 22    -    The Savage Curtain
• TOS    Season 3, episode 23    -    All Our Yesterdays
• TOS    Season 3, episode 24    -    Turnabout Intruder

In one of the more fun examples of the shows tying together, the next three episodes we watch have a TOS episode leading into two of the Enterprise episodes we skipped, PLUS they finally explain why the Discovery detected the USS Defiant in the Mirror Universe.

• TOS    Season 3, episode 9    -    The Tholian Web
• ENT    Season 4, episode 18    -    In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I
• ENT    Season 4, episode 19    -    In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II

We finish Kirk's Five-Year Mission with Star Trek: The Animated Series. Is TAS in continuity? Debatable. In later years, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry liked to say it was not, but later works in the franchise certainly seemed to disagree, with Enterprise’s Vulcan arc as well as the first of the Kelvin films borrowing heavily from Yesteryear, Robert April appearing in Strange New Worlds, numerous references in Lower Decks, etc.,  so I see no reason not to consider it as canon as everything else. Besides, “La mort de l'auteur” means we don’t have to listen to Gene.

• TAS    Season 1, episode 5    -    More Tribbles, More Troubles
• TAS    Season 1, episode 6    -    The Survivor
• TAS    Season 1, episode 7    -    The Infinite Vulcan
• TAS    Season 1, episode 8    -    The Magicks of Megas-tu
• TAS    Season 1, episode 9    -    Once Upon a Planet
• TAS    Season 1, episode 10    -    Mudd's Passion
• TAS    Season 1, episode 11    -    The Terratin Incident
• TAS    Season 1, episode 12    -    The Time Trap
• TAS    Season 1, episode 13    -    The Ambergris Element
• TAS    Season 1, episode 14    -    The Slaver Weapon
• TAS    Season 1, episode 15    -    The Eye of the Beholder
• TAS    Season 1, episode 16    -    The Jihad
• TAS    Season 2, episode 1    -    The Pirates of Orion
• TAS    Season 2, episode 2    -    Bem
• TAS    Season 2, episode 3    -    The Practical Joker
• TAS    Season 2, episode 4    -    Albatross
• TAS    Season 2, episode 5    -    How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
• TAS    Season 2, episode 6    -    The Counter-Clock Incident
• TAS    Season 1, episode 1    -    Beyond the Farthest Star
• TAS    Season 1, episode 2    -    Yesteryear
• TAS    Season 1, episode 3    -    One of Our Planets is Missing
• TAS    Season 1, episode 4    -    The Lorelei Signal

Movie time! Some background here. Paramount was planning on making a new network, and intended a new Star Trek series, "Star Trek Phase II", to anchor it. Scripts were written, sets were built, and actors cast. When network plans fell through, and Star Wars became a hit, they decided to take one of those scripts and streeeeeeeeeetch it out into a movie.

So…. Is it way too long for the amount of plot it has? Yes, though it has its charms. And isn’t it basically a retread of Nomad from the episode "The Changeling" anyway? It is. And hey, isn’t that the pedophile Dad from 7th Heaven? mm-hmm. Anyway, if you have access to it I recommend the Director’s Cut, in which pacing is much improved and some particularly flawed effects are redone, but either version works story-wise.

• MOV    Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Following The Motion Picture, the franchise underwent a significant transformation with the release of the next film, adopting a different style and tone that many, including the author, believe resulted in the best Star Trek movie to date.

• MOV    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• MOV    Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Ephraim and Dot ’s continuity really makes no sense anywhere, but it’s cute so who cares. Anyway, this seemed the BEST place to put it.

• SHO    Season 2, episode 4    -    Ephraim and Dot

• MOV    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Or, to use the all-but-official secondary title, “The One With The Whales”

• MOV    Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

A criminally underrated film.

• MOV    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Sidenote: The opening sequence of the film. Star Trek: Generations takes place this year, a few months after The Undiscovered Country. I very much do not expect people to watch things in pieces, but as there IS a clear delineation in the film, you can, optionally, watch the beginning of Generations and stop when the “78 years later” caption comes up. Or you can just not worry about it, and watch the whole film in one sitting when we reach 2371. 

We now jump forward 70-odd years to see a far more established Federation, and perhaps the most popular and beloved Star Trek series of all, Star Trek - The Next Generation. That said, it is extremely rough at the outset, so you’ll need to give it some time. I promise you, the series gets a lot better later on and absolutely earns the affection it still receives to this day. 

• TNG    Season 1, episode 9    -    The Battle
• TNG    Season 1, episode 10    -    Hide and Q
• TNG    Season 1, episode 11    -    Haven
• TNG    Season 1, episode 12    -    The Big Goodbye
• TNG    Season 1, episode 13    -    Datalore
• TNG    Season 1, episode 14    -    Angel One
• TNG    Season 1, episode 15    -    11001001
• TNG    Season 1, episode 16    -    Too Short a Season
• TNG    Season 1, episode 17    -    When the Bough Breaks
• TNG    Season 1, episode 18    -    Home Soil
• TNG    Season 1, episode 19    -    Coming of Age
• TNG    Season 1, episode 20    -    Heart of Glory
• TNG    Season 1, episode 21    -    The Arsenal of Freedom
• TNG    Season 1, episode 22    -    Symbiosis
• TNG    Season 1, episode 23    -    Skin of Evil
• TNG    Season 1, episode 24    -    We'll Always Have Paris
• TNG    Season 1, episode 25    -    Conspiracy
• TNG    Season 1, episode 26    -    The Neutral Zone
• TNG    Season 1, episode 1    -    Encounter at Farpoint, Part 1
• TNG    Season 1, episode 2    -    Encounter at Farpoint, Part 2
• TNG    Season 1, episode 3    -    The Naked Now
• TNG    Season 1, episode 4    -    Code of Honor
• TNG    Season 1, episode 5    -    The Last Outpost
• TNG    Season 1, episode 6    -    Where No One Has Gone Before
• TNG    Season 1, episode 7    -    Lonely Among Us
• TNG    Season 1, episode 8    -    Justice

This season introduces the most popular and iconic character of the entire Star Trek franchise: Riker’s Beard. More seriously, due to a writers strike this year the producers had to dip into episodes written for the early 70’s Phase II series that was never made. Will Riker and Troi were ALWAYS a revamp of the original plans for Will Decker and Ilia, but the season opener was literally written in the 70s with Ilia in the place of Troi.

The series doesn’t truly find its footing until Season 3, but “The Measure of a Man” is widely considered TNG’s first “great” episode, a sign of many more to come. 

• TNG    Season 2, episode 9    -    The Measure of a Man
• TNG    Season 2, episode 10    -    The Dauphin
• TNG    Season 2, episode 11    -    Contagion
• TNG    Season 2, episode 12    -    The Royale
• TNG    Season 2, episode 13    -    Time Squared
• TNG    Season 2, episode 14    -    The Icarus Factor
• TNG    Season 2, episode 15    -    Pen Pals
• TNG    Season 2, episode 16    -    Q Who?
• TNG    Season 2, episode 17    -    The Samaritan Snare
• TNG    Season 2, episode 18    -    Up the Long Ladder
• TNG    Season 2, episode 19    -    Manhunt
• TNG    Season 2, episode 20    -    The Emissary
• TNG    Season 2, episode 21    -    Peak Performance
• TNG    Season 2, episode 22    -    Shades of Gray
• TNG    Season 2, episode 1    -    The Child
• TNG    Season 2, episode 2    -    Where Silence Has Lease
• TNG    Season 2, episode 3    -    Elementary, Dear Data
• TNG    Season 2, episode 4    -    The Outrageous Okona
• TNG    Season 2, episode 5    -    Loud as a Whisper
• TNG    Season 2, episode 6    -    The Schizoid Man
• TNG    Season 2, episode 7    -    Unnatural Selection
• TNG    Season 2, episode 8    -    A Matter of Honor

• TNG    Season 3, episode 1    -    Evolution
• TNG    Season 3, episode 2    -    The Ensigns of Command
• TNG    Season 3, episode 3    -    The Survivors
• TNG    Season 3, episode 4    -    Who Watches the Watchers?
• TNG    Season 3, episode 5    -    The Bonding
• TNG    Season 3, episode 6    -    Booby Trap
• TNG    Season 3, episode 7    -    The Enemy
• TNG    Season 3, episode 8    -    The Price
• TNG    Season 3, episode 9    -    The Vengeance Factor
• TNG    Season 3, episode 10    -    The Defector
• TNG    Season 3, episode 11    -    The Hunted
• TNG    Season 3, episode 12    -    A Matter of Perspective
• TNG    Season 3, episode 13    -    The High Ground
• TNG    Season 3, episode 14    -    Deja Q
• TNG    Season 3, episode 15    -    Yesterday's Enterprise
• TNG    Season 3, episode 16    -    The Offspring
• TNG    Season 3, episode 17    -    Sins of the Father
• TNG    Season 3, episode 18    -    Allegiance
• TNG    Season 3, episode 19    -    Captain's Holiday
• TNG    Season 3, episode 20    -    Tin Man
• TNG    Season 3, episode 21    -    Hollow Pursuits
• TNG    Season 3, episode 22    -    The Most Toys
• TNG    Season 3, episode 23    -    Sarek
• TNG    Season 3, episode 24    -    Ménage à Troi
• TNG    Season 3, episode 25    -    Transfigurations
• TNG    Season 3, episode 26    -    The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1

• TNG    Season 4, episode 1    -    The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2
• TNG    Season 4, episode 2    -    Family
• TNG    Season 4, episode 3    -    Brothers
• TNG    Season 4, episode 4    -    Suddenly Human
• TNG    Season 4, episode 5    -    Remember Me
• TNG    Season 4, episode 6    -    Legacy
• TNG    Season 4, episode 7    -    Reunion
• TNG    Season 4, episode 8    -    Future Imperfect
• TNG    Season 4, episode 9    -    Final Mission
• TNG    Season 4, episode 10    -    The Loss
• TNG    Season 4, episode 11    -    Data's Day
• TNG    Season 4, episode 12    -    The Wounded
• TNG    Season 4, episode 13    -    Clues
• TNG    Season 4, episode 14    -    Devil's Due
• TNG    Season 4, episode 15    -    First Contact
• TNG    Season 4, episode 16    -    Galaxy's Child
• TNG    Season 4, episode 17    -    Night Terrors
• TNG    Season 4, episode 18    -    Identity Crisis
• TNG    Season 4, episode 19    -    The Nth Degree
• TNG    Season 4, episode 20    -    Qpid
• TNG    Season 4, episode 21    -    The Drumhead
• TNG    Season 4, episode 22    -    Half a Life
• TNG    Season 4, episode 23    -    The Host
• TNG    Season 4, episode 24    -    The Mind's Eye
• TNG    Season 4, episode 25    -    In Theory
• TNG    Season 4, episode 26    -    Redemption, Part 1

• TNG    Season 5, episode 1    -    Redemption, Part 2
• TNG    Season 5, episode 2    -    Darmok
• TNG    Season 5, episode 3    -    Ensign Ro
• TNG    Season 5, episode 4    -    Silicon Avatar
• TNG    Season 5, episode 5    -    Disaster
• TNG    Season 5, episode 6    -    The Game
• TNG    Season 5, episode 7    -    Unification I
• TNG    Season 5, episode 8    -    Unification II
• TNG    Season 5, episode 9    -    A Matter of Time
• TNG    Season 5, episode 10    -    New Ground
• TNG    Season 5, episode 11    -    Hero Worship
• TNG    Season 5, episode 12    -    Violations
• TNG    Season 5, episode 13    -    The Masterpiece Society
• TNG    Season 5, episode 14    -    Conundrum
• TNG    Season 5, episode 15    -    Power Play
• TNG    Season 5, episode 16    -    Ethics
• TNG    Season 5, episode 17    -    The Outcast
• TNG    Season 5, episode 18    -    Cause and Effect
• TNG    Season 5, episode 19    -    The First Duty
• TNG    Season 5, episode 20    -    Cost of Living
• TNG    Season 5, episode 21    -    The Perfect Mate
• TNG    Season 5, episode 22    -    Imaginary Friend
• TNG    Season 5, episode 23    -    I, Borg
• TNG    Season 5, episode 24    -    The Next Phase
• TNG    Season 5, episode 25    -    The Inner Light
• TNG    Season 5, episode 26    -    Time's Arrow, Part 1

2369, Part 1

We now reach my personal favorite series: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, which will eventually feature Star Trek’s first significant attempt at serialized storytelling. Like other shows in the franchise, it has a slow start, but once it gets going it’s a real joy. To stay in the correct chronological order, we’ll be bouncing between TNG and DS9, and later DS9 and Voyager, with occasional minor tweaks to avoid interrupting story arcs in progress. 

• TNG    Season 6, episode 1    -    Time's Arrow, Part 2
• TNG    Season 6, episode 2    -    Realm of Fear
• TNG    Season 6, episode 3    -    Man of the People
• TNG    Season 6, episode 4    -    Relics
• TNG    Season 6, episode 5    -    Schisms
• TNG    Season 6, episode 6    -    True-Q
• TNG    Season 6, episode 7    -    Rascals
• TNG    Season 6, episode 8    -    A Fistful of Datas
• TNG    Season 6, episode 9    -    The Quality of Life
• TNG    Season 6, episode 10    -    Chain of Command, Part 1
• TNG    Season 6, episode 11    -    Chain of Command, Part 2
• DS9    Season 1, episode 1    -    Emissary, Part 1
• DS9    Season 1, episode 2    -    Emissary, Part 2
• DS9    Season 1, episode 3    -    Past Prologue
• DS9    Season 1, episode 4    -    A Man Alone
• DS9    Season 1, episode 5    -    Babel
• TNG    Season 6, episode 12    -    Ship in a Bottle
• TNG    Season 6, episode 13    -    Aquiel

2369, Part 2

Pay attention to this next episode - it will be important (much, much) later.

• DS9    Season 1, episode 6    -    Captive Pursuit
• DS9    Season 1, episode 7    -    Q-Less
• TNG    Season 6, episode 14    -    Face of the Enemy
• DS9    Season 1, episode 8    -    Dax
• TNG    Season 6, episode 15    -    Tapestry
• DS9    Season 1, episode 9    -    The Passenger
• TNG    Season 6, episode 16    -    Birthright, Part 1
• TNG    Season 6, episode 17    -    Birthright, Part 2
• DS9    Season 1, episode 10    -    Move Along Home
• DS9    Season 1, episode 11    -    The Nagus
• TNG    Season 6, episode 18    -    Starship Mine
• TNG    Season 6, episode 19    -    Lessons
• DS9    Season 1, episode 12    -    Vortex
• DS9    Season 1, episode 13    -    Battle Lines
• DS9    Season 1, episode 14    -    The Storyteller
• TNG    Season 6, episode 20    -    The Chase
• TNG    Season 6, episode 21    -    Frame of Mind
• TNG    Season 6, episode 22    -    Suspicions
• DS9    Season 1, episode 15    -    Progress
• TNG    Season 6, episode 23    -    Rightful Heir
• DS9    Season 1, episode 16    -    If Wishes Were Horses
• TNG    Season 6, episode 24    -    Second Chances
• DS9    Season 1, episode 17    -    Dramatis Personae
• DS9    Season 1, episode 18    -    The Forsaken
• DS9    Season 1, episode 19    -    Duet
• TNG    Season 6, episode 25    -    Timescape
• DS9    Season 1, episode 20    -    In the Hands of the Prophets
• TNG    Season 6, episode 26    -    Descent, Part 1

2370, Part 1

By the end of this year we’ll have bid farewell to The Next Generation with the fantastic series finale “All Good Things,” we’ll have finally watched Enterprise’s far less popular finale “These are the Voyages…”, and we will have been introduced to The Dominion, the major story driver for most of Deep Space Nine. 

• TNG    Season 7, episode 5    -    Interface
• TNG    Season 7, episode 6    -    Phantasms
• DS9    Season 2, episode 6    -    Melora
• TNG    Season 7, episode 7    -    Dark Page
• DS9    Season 2, episode 7    -    Rules of Acquisition
• DS9    Season 2, episode 8    -    Necessary Evil
• TNG    Season 7, episode 8    -    Attached
• TNG    Season 7, episode 9    -    Force of Nature
• DS9    Season 2, episode 9    -    Second Sight
• DS9    Season 2, episode 10    -    Sanctuary
• TNG    Season 7, episode 10    -    Parallels
• DS9    Season 2, episode 11    -    Rivals
• DS9    Season 2, episode 12    -    The Alternate
• TNG    Season 7, episode 11    -    Inheritance
• TNG    Season 7, episode 12    -    Homeward
• TNG    Season 7, episode 13    -    The Pegasus
• ENT    Season 4, episode 22    -    These Are the Voyages...
• TNG    Season 7, episode 1    -    Descent, Part 2
• DS9    Season 2, episode 1    -    The Homecoming
• DS9    Season 2, episode 2    -    The Circle
• DS9    Season 2, episode 3    -    The Siege
• TNG    Season 7, episode 2    -    Liaisons
• TNG    Season 7, episode 3    -    Gambit, Part 1
• TNG    Season 7, episode 4    -    Gambit, Part 2
• DS9    Season 2, episode 4    -    Cardassians
• DS9    Season 2, episode 5    -    Invasive Procedures

2370, Part 2

• DS9    Season 2, episode 13    -    Armageddon Game
• TNG    Season 7, episode 14    -    Sub Rosa
• TNG    Season 7, episode 15    -    Lower Decks
• DS9    Season 2, episode 14    -    Paradise
• DS9    Season 2, episode 15    -    Whispers
• DS9    Season 2, episode 16    -    Shadowplay
• TNG    Season 7, episode 16    -    Thine Own Self
• TNG    Season 7, episode 17    -    Masks
• DS9    Season 2, episode 17    -    Playing God
• TNG    Season 7, episode 18    -    Eye of the Beholder
• DS9    Season 2, episode 18    -    Profit and Loss
• TNG    Season 7, episode 19    -    Genesis
• DS9    Season 2, episode 19    -    Blood Oath
• TNG    Season 7, episode 20    -    Journey's End
• DS9    Season 2, episode 20    -    The Maquis, Part 1
• DS9    Season 2, episode 21    -    The Maquis, Part 2
• TNG    Season 7, episode 21    -    Firstborn
• TNG    Season 7, episode 22    -    Bloodlines
• DS9    Season 2, episode 22    -    The Wire
• TNG    Season 7, episode 23    -    Emergence
• DS9    Season 2, episode 23    -    Crossover
• TNG    Season 7, episode 24    -    Preemptive Strike
• DS9    Season 2, episode 24    -    The Collaborator
• DS9    Season 2, episode 25    -    Tribunal
• DS9    Season 2, episode 26    -    The Jem’Hadar
• TNG    Season 7, episode 25    -    All Good Things, Part 1
• TNG    Season 7, episode 26    -    All Good Things, Part 2

2371, Part 1

Like Phase II was intended to do, and Discovery does again a few decades later, Star Trek Voyager is launched as the centerpiece of a new network: the short-lived UPN, home of Shasta McNasty and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfieffer. Note that Voyager episode orders, particularly in season two, jump around a bit due to some production weirdness.

• DS9    Season 3, episode 8    -    Meridian
• VOY    Season 1, episode 3    -    Parallax
• MOV    Star Trek: Generations
• DS9    Season 3, episode 9    -    Defiant
• DS9    Season 3, episode 10    -    Fascination
• DS9    Season 3, episode 11    -    Past Tense, Part 1
• DS9    Season 3, episode 12    -    Past Tense, Part 2
• VOY    Season 1, episode 4    -    Time and Again
• DS9    Season 3, episode 13    -    Life Support
• DS9    Season 3, episode 14    -    Heart of Stone
• VOY    Season 1, episode 5    -    Phage
• DS9    Season 3, episode 15    -    Destiny
• VOY    Season 1, episode 6    -    The Cloud
• DS9    Season 3, episode 16    -    Prophet Motive
• VOY    Season 1, episode 7    -    Eye of the Needle
• DS9    Season 3, episode 17    -    Visionary
• VOY    Season 1, episode 8    -    Ex Post Facto
• DS9    Season 3, episode 1    -    The Search, Part 1
• DS9    Season 3, episode 2    -    The Search, Part 2
• DS9    Season 3, episode 3    -    The House of Quark
• DS9    Season 3, episode 4    -    Equilibrium
• DS9    Season 3, episode 5    -    Second Skin
• DS9    Season 3, episode 6    -    The Abandoned
• DS9    Season 3, episode 7    -    Civil Defense
• VOY    Season 1, episode 1    -    Caretaker, Part 1
• VOY    Season 1, episode 2    -    Caretaker, Part 2

2371, Part 2

• VOY    Season 1, episode 9    -    Emanations
• VOY    Season 1, episode 10    -    Prime Factors
• DS9    Season 3, episode 18    -    Distant Voices
• VOY    Season 1, episode 11    -    State of Flux
• DS9    Season 3, episode 19    -    Through the Looking Glass
• VOY    Season 1, episode 12    -    Heroes and Demons
• DS9    Season 3, episode 20    -    Improbable Cause
• DS9    Season 3, episode 21    -    The Die is Cast
• VOY    Season 1, episode 13    -    Cathexis
• DS9    Season 3, episode 22    -    Explorers
• VOY    Season 1, episode 14    -    Faces
• DS9    Season 3, episode 23    -    Family Business
• VOY    Season 1, episode 15    -    Jetrel
• DS9    Season 3, episode 24    -    Shakaar
• VOY    Season 1, episode 16    -    Learning Curve
• VOY    Season 2, episode 3    -    Projections
• VOY    Season 2, episode 4    -    Elogium
• DS9    Season 3, episode 25    -    Facets
• DS9    Season 3, episode 26    -    The Adversary
• VOY    Season 2, episode 6    -    Twisted
• VOY    Season 2, episode 1    -    The 37’s

2372, Part 1

• VOY    Season 2, episode 2    -    Initiations
• VOY    Season 2, episode 5    -    Non Sequitur
• DS9    Season 4, episode 1    -    The Way of the Warrior, Part 1
• DS9    Season 4, episode 2    -    The Way of the Warrior, Part 2
• DS9    Season 4, episode 3    -    The Visitor
• DS9    Season 4, episode 4    -    Hippocratic Oath
• VOY    Season 2, episode 7    -    Parturition
• DS9    Season 4, episode 5    -    Indiscretion
• VOY    Season 2, episode 8    -    Persistence of Vision
• VOY    Season 2, episode 9    -    Tattoo
• VOY    Season 2, episode 10    -    Cold Fire
• DS9    Season 4, episode 6    -    Rejoined
• VOY    Season 2, episode 11    -    Maneuvers
• DS9    Season 4, episode 7    -    Starship Down
• DS9    Season 4, episode 8    -    Little Green Men
• DS9    Season 4, episode 9    -    The Sword of Kahless
• VOY    Season 2, episode 12    -    Resistance
• DS9    Season 4, episode 10    -    Our Man Bashir
• DS9    Season 4, episode 11    -    Homefront
• DS9    Season 4, episode 12    -    Paradise Lost
• VOY    Season 2, episode 13    -    Prototype
• VOY    Season 2, episode 18    -    Death Wish
• VOY    Season 2, episode 14    -    Alliances
• DS9    Season 4, episode 13    -    Crossfire
• VOY    Season 2, episode 15    -    Threshold
• DS9    Season 4, episode 14    -    Return to Grace

2372, Part 2

• VOY    Season 2, episode 16    -    Meld
• VOY    Season 2, episode 17    -    Dreadnought
• VOY    Season 2, episode 19    -    Lifesigns
• VOY    Season 2, episode 20    -    Investigations
• VOY    Season 2, episode 21    -    Deadlock
• DS9    Season 4, episode 15    -    Sons of Mogh
• DS9    Season 4, episode 16    -    Bar Association
• DS9    Season 4, episode 17    -    Accession
• VOY    Season 2, episode 22    -    Innocence
• DS9    Season 4, episode 18    -    Rules of Engagement
• DS9    Season 4, episode 19    -    Hard Time
• DS9    Season 4, episode 20    -    Shattered Mirror
• VOY    Season 2, episode 23    -    The Thaw
• DS9    Season 4, episode 21    -    The Muse
• VOY    Season 2, episode 24    -    Tuvix
• DS9    Season 4, episode 22    -    For the Cause
• VOY    Season 2, episode 25    -    Resolutions
• DS9    Season 4, episode 23    -    To the Death
• DS9    Season 4, episode 24    -    The Quickening
• DS9    Season 4, episode 25    -    Body Parts
• DS9    Season 4, episode 26    -    Broken Link
• VOY    Season 2, episode 26    -    Basics, Part 1

2373, Part 1

• VOY    Season 3, episode 8    -    Future's End, Part 1
• VOY    Season 3, episode 9    -    Future's End, Part 2
• DS9    Season 5, episode 7    -    Let He Who is Without Sin
• DS9    Season 5, episode 8    -    Things Past
• VOY    Season 3, episode 10    -    Warlord
• MOV    Star Trek: First Contact
• VOY    Season 3, episode 1    -    Basics, Part 2
• DS9    Season 5, episode 1    -    Apocalypse Rising
• DS9    Season 5, episode 2    -    The Ship
• VOY    Season 3, episode 7    -    Sacred Ground
• VOY    Season 3, episode 5    -    False Profits
• VOY    Season 3, episode 2    -    Flashback
• VOY    Season 3, episode 3    -    The Chute
• VOY    Season 3, episode 6    -    Remember
• VOY    Season 3, episode 4    -    The Swarm
• DS9    Season 5, episode 3    -    Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
• DS9    Season 5, episode 4    -    Nor the Battle to the Strong
• DS9    Season 5, episode 5    -    The Assignment
• DS9    Season 5, episode 6    -    Trials and Tribble-ations

Only took 222 years, but after this next episode, we’ll have completed all of Star Trek Enterprise.

• ENT    Season 2, episode 23    -    Regeneration
• DS9    Season 5, episode 9    -    The Ascent
• VOY    Season 3, episode 11    -    The Q and the Grey
• DS9    Season 5, episode 10    -    Rapture
• DS9    Season 5, episode 11    -    The Darkness and the Light
• VOY    Season 3, episode 12    -    Macrocosm
• VOY    Season 3, episode 13    -    Fair Trade

2373, Part 2

• VOY    Season 3, episode 14    -    Alter Ego
• DS9    Season 5, episode 12    -    The Begotten
• DS9    Season 5, episode 13    -    For the Uniform
• VOY    Season 3, episode 15    -    Coda
• VOY    Season 3, episode 16    -    Blood Fever
• DS9    Season 5, episode 14    -    In Purgatory's Shadow
• DS9    Season 5, episode 15    -    By Inferno's Light
• VOY    Season 3, episode 17    -    Unity
• VOY    Season 3, episode 18    -    Darkling
• DS9    Season 5, episode 16    -    Doctor Bashir, I Presume
• VOY    Season 3, episode 19    -    Rise
• DS9    Season 5, episode 17    -    A Simple Investigation
• DS9    Season 5, episode 18    -    Business as Usual
• DS9    Season 5, episode 19    -    Ties of Blood and Water
• VOY    Season 3, episode 20    -    Favorite Son
• DS9    Season 5, episode 20    -    Ferengi Love Songs
• DS9    Season 5, episode 21    -    Soldiers of the Empire
• DS9    Season 5, episode 22    -    Children of Time
• VOY    Season 3, episode 21    -    Before and After
• VOY    Season 3, episode 22    -    Real Life
• VOY    Season 3, episode 23    -    Distant Origin
• VOY    Season 3, episode 24    -    Displaced
• DS9    Season 5, episode 23    -    Blaze of Glory
• VOY    Season 3, episode 25    -    Worst Case Scenario
• DS9    Season 5, episode 24    -    Empok Nor
• DS9    Season 5, episode 25    -    In the Cards
• DS9    Season 5, episode 26    -    Call to Arms
• VOY    Season 3, episode 26    -    Scorpion, Part 1

2374, Part 1

Voyager gets a much needed shot in the arm with the introduction of Seven of Nine, and Deep Space Nine delivers a great season as the Dominion War arc reaches full swing. 

• DS9    Season 6, episode 6    -    Sacrifice of Angels
• VOY    Season 4, episode 6    -    The Raven
• VOY    Season 4, episode 7    -    Scientific Method
• DS9    Season 6, episode 7    -    You are Cordially Invited
• VOY    Season 4, episode 8    -    Year of Hell, Part 1
• VOY    Season 4, episode 9    -    Year of Hell, Part 2
• DS9    Season 6, episode 8    -    Resurrection
• VOY    Season 4, episode 10    -    Random Thoughts
• DS9    Season 6, episode 9    -    Statistical Probabilities
• VOY    Season 4, episode 11    -    Concerning Flight
• DS9    Season 6, episode 10    -    The Magnificent Ferengi
• DS9    Season 6, episode 11    -    Waltz
• VOY    Season 4, episode 12    -    Mortal Coil
• VOY    Season 4, episode 14    -    Message in a Bottle
• VOY    Season 4, episode 1    -    Scorpion, Part 2
• VOY    Season 4, episode 2    -    The Gift
• VOY    Season 4, episode 3    -    Day of Honor
• VOY    Season 4, episode 4    -    Nemesis
• VOY    Season 4, episode 5    -    Revulsion
• DS9    Season 6, episode 1    -    A Time to Stand
• DS9    Season 6, episode 2    -    Rocks and Shoals
• DS9    Season 6, episode 3    -    Sons and Daughters
• DS9    Season 6, episode 4    -    Behind the Lines
• DS9    Season 6, episode 5    -    Favor the Bold

2374, Part 2

• VOY    Season 4, episode 13    -    Waking Moments
• DS9    Season 6, episode 12    -    Who Mourns for Morn?
• DS9    Season 6, episode 13    -    Far Beyond the Stars
• DS9    Season 6, episode 14    -    One Little Ship
• VOY    Season 4, episode 15    -    Hunters
• DS9    Season 6, episode 15    -    Honor Among Thieves
• DS9    Season 6, episode 16    -    Change of Heart
• VOY    Season 4, episode 16    -    Prey
• VOY    Season 4, episode 17    -    Retrospect
• VOY    Season 4, episode 18    -    The Killing Game, Part 1
• VOY    Season 4, episode 19    -    The Killing Game, Part 2
• DS9    Season 6, episode 17    -    Wrongs Darker than Death or Night
• DS9    Season 6, episode 18    -    Inquisition
• DS9    Season 6, episode 19    -    In the Pale Moonlight
• VOY    Season 4, episode 20    -    Vis À Vis
• VOY    Season 4, episode 21    -    The Omega Directive
• DS9    Season 6, episode 20    -    His Way
• VOY    Season 4, episode 22    -    Unforgettable
• DS9    Season 6, episode 21    -    The Reckoning
• DS9    Season 6, episode 22    -    Valiant

We are skipping Voyager episode 23 (“Living Witness”) for now, and will be watching it later.

• VOY    Season 4, episode 24    -    Demon
• DS9    Season 6, episode 23    -    Profit and Lace
• VOY    Season 4, episode 25    -    One
• DS9    Season 6, episode 24    -    Time's Orphan
• VOY    Season 4, episode 26    -    Hope and Fear
• DS9    Season 6, episode 25    -    The Sound of her Voice
• DS9    Season 6, episode 26    -    Tears of the Prophets

2375, Part 1

• VOY    Season 5, episode 1    -    Night
• VOY    Season 5, episode 2    -    Drone
• VOY    Season 5, episode 3    -    Extreme Risk
• VOY    Season 5, episode 4    -    In the Flesh
• VOY    Season 5, episode 5    -    Once Upon a Time
• VOY    Season 5, episode 8    -    Nothing Human
• VOY    Season 5, episode 6    -    Timeless
• DS9    Season 7, episode 1    -    Image in the Sand
• DS9    Season 7, episode 2    -    Shadows and Symbols
• DS9    Season 7, episode 3    -    Afterimage
• DS9    Season 7, episode 4    -    Take Me Out to the Holosuite
• DS9    Season 7, episode 5    -    Chrysalis
• DS9    Season 7, episode 6    -    Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
• DS9    Season 7, episode 7    -    Once More Unto the Breach
• DS9    Season 7, episode 8    -    The Siege of AR-558
• VOY    Season 5, episode 9    -    Thirty Days
• DS9    Season 7, episode 9    -    Covenant
• VOY    Season 5, episode 7    -    Infinite Regress
• VOY    Season 5, episode 10    -    Counterpoint
• DS9    Season 7, episode 10    -    It's Only a Paper Moon

There’s no place where Insurrection’s references to the Dominion War and the presence of Worf really make perfect sense, but this is probably the closest to working. I’m not going to go too nuts about it.

• MOV    Star Trek: Insurrection
• DS9    Season 7, episode 11    -    Prodigal Daughter
• VOY    Season 5, episode 11    -    Latent Image
• VOY    Season 5, episode 12    -    Bride of Chaotica
• DS9    Season 7, episode 12    -    The Emperor's New Cloak
• VOY    Season 5, episode 13    -    Gravity
• DS9    Season 7, episode 13    -    Field of Fire
• VOY    Season 5, episode 14    -    Bliss
• DS9    Season 7, episode 14    -    Chimera
• VOY    Season 5, episode 17    -    The Disease
• DS9    Season 7, episode 15    -    Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
• DS9    Season 7, episode 16    -    Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

2375, Part 2

• VOY    Season 5, episode 18    -    Course: Oblivion
• VOY    Season 5, episode 15    -    Dark Frontier, Part 1
• VOY    Season 5, episode 16    -    Dark Frontier, Part 2
• VOY    Season 5, episode 19    -    The Fight
• VOY    Season 5, episode 20    -    Think Tank
• DS9    Season 7, episode 17    -    Penumbra
• DS9    Season 7, episode 18    -    'Til Death Do Us Part
• DS9    Season 7, episode 19    -    Strange Bedfellows
• DS9    Season 7, episode 20    -    The Changing Face of Evil
• DS9    Season 7, episode 21    -    When it Rains
• DS9    Season 7, episode 22    -    Tacking into the Wind
• DS9    Season 7, episode 23    -    Extreme Measures
• DS9    Season 7, episode 24    -    The Dogs of War

Farewell, DS9. I’ll always love you best. 

• DS9    Season 7, episode 25    -    What You Leave Behind, Part 1
• DS9    Season 7, episode 26    -    What You Leave Behind, Part 2
• VOY    Season 5, episode 21    -    Juggernaut
• VOY    Season 5, episode 22    -    Someone to Watch Over Me
• VOY    Season 5, episode 23    -    11:59
• VOY    Season 5, episode 24    -    Relativity
• VOY    Season 5, episode 25    -    Warhead
• VOY    Season 5, episode 26    -    Equinox, Part 1

• VOY    Season 6, episode 1    -    Equinox, Part 2
• VOY    Season 6, episode 2    -    Survival Instinct
• VOY    Season 6, episode 3    -    Barge of the Dead
• VOY    Season 6, episode 4    -    Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
• VOY    Season 6, episode 7    -    Dragon's Teeth
• VOY    Season 6, episode 5    -    Alice
• VOY    Season 6, episode 6    -    Riddles
• VOY    Season 6, episode 8    -    One Small Step
• VOY    Season 6, episode 9    -    The Voyager Conspiracy
• VOY    Season 6, episode 10    -    Pathfinder
• VOY    Season 6, episode 11    -    Fair Haven
• VOY    Season 6, episode 15    -    Tsunkatse
• VOY    Season 6, episode 12    -    Blink of an Eye
• VOY    Season 6, episode 13    -    Virtuoso
• VOY    Season 6, episode 16    -    Collective
• VOY    Season 6, episode 14    -    Memorial
• VOY    Season 6, episode 17    -    Spirit Folk
• VOY    Season 6, episode 18    -    Ashes to Ashes
• VOY    Season 6, episode 19    -    Child's Play
• VOY    Season 6, episode 20    -    Good Shepherd
• VOY    Season 6, episode 23    -    Fury
• VOY    Season 6, episode 21    -    Live Fast and Prosper
• VOY    Season 6, episode 24    -    Life Line
• VOY    Season 6, episode 22    -    Muse
• VOY    Season 6, episode 25    -    The Haunting of Deck Twelve
• VOY    Season 6, episode 26    -    Unimatrix Zero, Part 1

• VOY    Season 7, episode 1    -    Unimatrix Zero, Part 2
• VOY    Season 7, episode 3    -    Drive
• VOY    Season 7, episode 4    -    Repression
• VOY    Season 7, episode 2    -    Imperfection
• VOY    Season 7, episode 5    -    Critical Care
• VOY    Season 7, episode 6    -    Inside Man
• VOY    Season 7, episode 7    -    Body and Soul
• VOY    Season 7, episode 8    -    Nightingale
• VOY    Season 7, episode 9    -    Flesh and Blood, Part 1
• VOY    Season 7, episode 10    -    Flesh and Blood, Part 2
• VOY    Season 7, episode 11    -    Shattered
• VOY    Season 7, episode 12    -    Lineage
• VOY    Season 7, episode 13    -    Repentance
• VOY    Season 7, episode 14    -    Prophecy
• VOY    Season 7, episode 15    -    The Void
• VOY    Season 7, episode 16    -    Workforce, Part 1
• VOY    Season 7, episode 17    -    Workforce, Part 2

• VOY    Season 7, episode 18    -    Human Error
• VOY    Season 7, episode 19    -    Q2
• VOY    Season 7, episode 20    -    Author, Author
• VOY    Season 7, episode 21    -    Friendship One
• VOY    Season 7, episode 22    -    Natural Law
• VOY    Season 7, episode 23    -    Homestead
• VOY    Season 7, episode 24    -    Renaissance Man
• VOY    Season 7, episode 25    -    Endgame, Part 1
• VOY    Season 7, episode 26    -    Endgame, Part 2

• MOV    -    Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek returns to animation with its ninth series, and first all-out comedy, Star Trek: Lower Decks, aimed towards a more adult audience than The Animated Series or Prodigy.

• LDS    Season 1, episode 1    -    Second Contact
• LDS    Season 1, episode 2    -    Envoys
• LDS    Season 1, episode 3    -    Temporal Edict
• LDS    Season 1, episode 4    -    Moist Vessel
• LDS    Season 1, episode 5    -    Cupid’s Errant Arrow
• LDS    Season 1, episode 6    -    Terminal Provocations
• LDS    Season 1, episode 7    -    Much Ado About Boimler
• LDS    Season 1, episode 8    -    Veritas
• LDS    Season 1, episode 9    -    Crisis Point
• LDS    Season 1, episode 10    -    No Small Parts

2381, Part 1

• LDS    Season 3, episode 3    -    Mining The Mind's Mines
• LDS    Season 3, episode 4    -    Room for Growth
• LDS    Season 3, episode 5    -    Reflections
• LDS    Season 3, episode 6    -    Hear All, Trust Nothing
• LDS    Season 2, episode 1    -    Strange Energies
• LDS    Season 2, episode 2    -    Kayshon, His Eyes Open
• LDS    Season 2, episode 3    -    We’ll Always Have Tom Paris
• LDS    Season 2, episode 4    -    Mugato, Gumato
• LDS    Season 2, episode 5    -    An Embarrassment of Dooplers
• LDS    Season 2, episode 6    -    The Spy Humongous
• LDS    Season 2, episode 7    -    Where Pleasant Fountains Lie
• LDS    Season 2, episode 8    -    I, Excretus
• LDS    Season 2, episode 9    -    wej Duj
• LDS    Season 2, episode 10    -    First First Contact
• LDS    Season 3, episode 1    -    Grounded
• LDS    Season 3, episode 2    -    The Least Dangerous Game

We now travel back for our last Strange New Worlds episode, which is ABSOLUTELY a delight.

• SNW    Season 2, episode 7    -    Those Old Scientists
• LDS    Season 3, episode 7    -    A Mathematically Perfect Redemption
• LDS    Season 3, episode 8    -    Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus
• LDS    Season 3, episode 9    -    Trusted Sources
• LDS    Season 3, episode 10    -    The Stars at Night

2381, Part 2

• LDS    Season 4, episode 1    -    Twovix
• LDS    Season 4, episode 2    -    I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee
• LDS    Season 4, episode 3    -    In the Cradle of Vexilon
• LDS    Season 4, episode 4    -    Something Borrowed, Something Green
• LDS    Season 4, episode 5    -    Empathological Fallacies
• LDS    Season 4, episode 6    -    Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place
• LDS    Season 4, episode 7    -    A Few Badgeys More
• LDS    Season 4, episode 8    -    Caves
• LDS    Season 4, episode 9    -    The Inner Fight
• LDS    Season 4, episode 10    -    Old Friends, New Planets

The first Star Trek since The Animated Series to be geared explicitly for kids, Star Trek: Prodigy takes place on the border of the Delta Quadrant last seen in Voyager, and features the return of several characters from that series. Don’t dismiss this as “just a kids show” though — it’s quite complex, quite good, and quite Star Trek.

• PRO    Season 1, episode 1    -    Lost & Found, Part 1
• PRO    Season 1, episode 2    -    Lost & Found, Part 2
• PRO    Season 1, episode 3    -    Starstruck
• PRO    Season 1, episode 4    -    Dream Catcher
• PRO    Season 1, episode 5    -    Terror Firma
• PRO    Season 1, episode 6    -    Kobayashi
• PRO    Season 1, episode 7    -    First Con-tact
• PRO    Season 1, episode 8    -    Time Amok
• PRO    Season 1, episode 9    -    A Moral Star
• PRO    Season 1, episode 10    -    A Moral Star, Part Two
• PRO    Season 1, episode 11    -    Asylum
• PRO    Season 1, episode 12    -    Let Sleeping Borg Lie
• PRO    Season 1, episode 13    -    All the World’s a Stage
• PRO    Season 1, episode 14    -   Crossroads
• PRO    Season 1, episode 15    -    Masquerade
• PRO    Season 1, episode 16    -    Preludes
• PRO    Season 1, episode 17    -    Ghost in the Machine
• PRO    Season 1, episode 18    -    Mindwalk
• PRO    Season 1, episode 19    -    Supernova, Part 1
• PRO    Season 1, episode 20    -    Supernova, Part 2

As of this update, no episodes of this season have aired in a language I speak. It is possible that when they are viewed, I will wish to update their placement in this list. The below is tentative.

Also note, the listed titles are derived from their French-language titles, and their eventual English titles may vary.

• PRO    Season 2, episode 7    -    The Race
• PRO    Season 2, episode 8    -    Veritas?
• PRO    Season 2, episode 9    -    The Time Devouring Scavengers, Part 1
• PRO    Season 2, episode 10    -    The Time Devouring Scavengers, Part 2
• PRO    Season 2, episode 11    -    The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 1
• PRO    Season 2, episode 12    -    The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 2
• PRO    Season 2, episode 13    -    A Tribble Called Bridule
• PRO    Season 2, episode 14    -   The Mirror Universe
• PRO    Season 2, episode 15    -    The Ascent, Part 1
• PRO    Season 2, episode 16    -    The Ascent, Part 2
• PRO    Season 2, episode 17    -    On the Brink
• PRO    Season 2, episode 18    -    Behind Enemy Lines
• PRO    Season 2, episode 19    -    Ouroboros, Part 1
• PRO    Season 2, episode 20    -     Ouroboros , Part 2
• PRO    Season 2, episode 1    -    Into the Breach, Part 1
• PRO    Season 2, episode 2    -    Into the Breach, Part 2
• PRO    Season 2, episode 3    -    Who Saves the Saviors?
• PRO    Season 2, episode 4    -    Temporal Mechanics 101
• PRO    Season 2, episode 5    -    The Mystery Spiral
• PRO    Season 2, episode 6    -    Imposter Syndrome

The events of this Short Trek set the events of Star Trek - Picard, which we’ll be coming to shortly, in motion.

• SHO    Season 2, episode 6    -    Children of Mars

Okay. Deep breath. In 2387 the Romulan sun goes supernova, devastating the Romulan empire. A failed attempt by Starfleet to help stop this accidentally sends the Romulan mining vessel Narada back to 2233, creating an alternate reality  known as the “Kelvin Universe” or “Kelvinverse.” We'll be watching the three movies set in this universe next. It's essential to note that this new timeline DOES NOT replace the original “Prime” timeline, which still exists as it always has and to which we will be returning shortly.

2233 - (Kelvinverse)

The USS Kelvin is destroyed by the Narada, newly arrived from the Prime Universe 2387. This begins the divergence from the Prime timeline.

2258 - (Kelvinverse)

Too action-oriented for some, and plot-holes galore, 2009’s “Star Trek” is not what I would want Star Trek to be all the time, but is a quite fun alternate take on the original series, with some great acting and effects. Don’t overthink the chronology and details of this batch of movies though, or you’ll start seeing all kinds of things that make no sense.

• MOV    Star Trek (2009)

2259 - (Kelvinverse)

• MOV    Star Trek Into Darkness

2263 - (Kelvinverse)

• MOV    Star Trek Beyond

This film, while a solid improvement on Into Darkness, did not perform to expectations, meaning that the long-promised fourth film has been in-and-out of production for years, and I cannot say if we’ll ever see the Kelvin timeline again.

Therefore, we now return to the Prime timeline, already in progress.

• PIC    Season 1, episode 1    -    Remembrance
• PIC    Season 1, episode 2    -    Maps and Legends
• PIC    Season 1, episode 3    -    The End is the Beginning
• PIC    Season 1, episode 4    -    Absolute Candor
• PIC    Season 1, episode 5    -    Stardust City Rag
• PIC    Season 1, episode 6    -    The Impossible Box
• PIC    Season 1, episode 7    -    Nepenthe
• PIC    Season 1, episode 8    -    Broken Pieces
• PIC    Season 1, episode 9    -    Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1
• PIC    Season 1, episode 10    -    Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2

I gotta say, I strongly feel the Picard seasons all would make much more sense if you assume A LOT more time takes place between them than what the official sources say, but it is what it is.

• PIC    Season 2, episode 1    -    The Star Gazer
• PIC    Season 2, episode 2    -    Penance
• PIC    Season 2, episode 3    -    Assimilation
• PIC    Season 2, episode 4    -    Watcher
• PIC    Season 2, episode 5    -    Fly Me to the Moon
• PIC    Season 2, episode 6    -    Two of One
• PIC    Season 2, episode 7    -    Monsters
• PIC    Season 2, episode 8    -    Mercy
• PIC    Season 2, episode 9    -    Hide and Seek
• PIC    Season 2, episode 10    -    Farewell
• PIC    Season 3, episode 1    -    The Next Generation
• PIC    Season 3, episode 2    -    Disengage
• PIC    Season 3, episode 3    -    Seventeen Seconds
• PIC    Season 3, episode 4    -    No Win Scenario 
• PIC    Season 3, episode 5    -    Imposters
• PIC    Season 3, episode 6    -    The Bounty
• PIC    Season 3, episode 7    -    Dominion
• PIC    Season 3, episode 8    -    Surrender
• PIC    Season 3, episode 9    -    Võx
• PIC    Season 3, episode 10    -    The Last Generation

As you watch this you’ll see why the exact placement can be debatable, but 3074ish seemed best. With this episode, we finish Star Trek: Voyager. Keep in mind that this episode takes place entirely in the Delta quadrant, far away from most of the events of the franchise.

• VOY    Season 4, episode 23    -    Living Witness

Several hundred years later, we rejoin Star Trek: Discovery, already in progress, to discover what has happened in the interim.

• DIS    Season 3, episode 1    -    That Hope is You, Part 1

• DIS    Season 3, episode 2    -    Far From Home
• DIS    Season 3, episode 3    -    People of Earth
• DIS    Season 3, episode 4    -    Forget Me Not
• DIS    Season 3, episode 5    -    Die Trying
• DIS    Season 3, episode 6    -    Scavengers
• DIS    Season 3, episode 7    -    Unification III
• DIS    Season 3, episode 8    -    The Sanctuary
• DIS    Season 3, episode 9    -    Terra Firma, Part 1
• DIS    Season 3, episode 10    -    Terra Firma, Part 2
• DIS    Season 3, episode 11    -    Su’Kal
• DIS    Season 3, episode 12    -    There is a Tide…
• DIS    Season 3, episode 13    -    That Hope is You, Part 2

• DIS    Season 4, episode 1    -    Kobayashi Maru
• DIS    Season 4, episode 2    -    Anomaly
• DIS    Season 4, episode 3    -    Choose to Live
• DIS    Season 4, episode 4    -    All is Possible
• DIS    Season 4, episode 5    -    The Examples
• DIS    Season 4, episode 6    -    Stormy Weather
• DIS    Season 4, episode 7    -    …But to Connect
• DIS    Season 4, episode 8    -    All In
• DIS    Season 4, episode 9    -    Rubicon
• DIS    Season 4, episode 10    -    The Galactic Barrier
• DIS    Season 4, episode 11    -    Rosetta
• DIS    Season 4, episode 12    -    Species Ten-C
• DIS    Season 4, episode 13    -    Coming Home

As of this update, only four episodes of this season have aired. It is possible that when they are viewed, I will wish to update their placement in this list. The below is tentative.

• DIS    Season 5, episode 1    -    Red Directive
• DIS    Season 5, episode 2    -    Under the Twin Moons
• DIS    Season 5, episode 3    -    Jinaal
• DIS    Season 5, episode 4    -    Face the Strange
• DIS    Season 5, episode 5    -    Mirrors
• DIS    Season 5, episode 6    -    Whistlespeak
• DIS    Season 5, episode 7    -    Erigah
• DIS    Season 5, episode 8    -    Labyrinths
• DIS    Season 5, episode 9    -    Lagrange Point
• DIS    Season 5, episode 10    -    Life, Itself

Far Future:

Calypso is intentionally somewhat mysterious, and we have yet to learn exactly how it fits into the Star Trek timeline, but for now it seems to be the final part of our Star Trek Viewing Guide. There are still questions here. I expect Disco to answer them in Season 5, which will be the final season.

• SHO    Season 1, episode 2    -    Calypso

Click here to read about my methodology and intentions with this list.

If you use or have an opinion on this viewing order, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Star Trek movies in order: Chronological and release

Untangle the different timelines and get the popcorn: Here are the Star Trek movies in order — both chronological and release.

• Chronological order
• Prime Timeline

The Original Series movies

The next generation movies.

• Kelvin Timeline
• Release order

Upcoming Star Trek movies

We've got a guide to watching the Star Trek movies in order, decloaking off our starboard side!

So long as movies stick numbers on the ends of their titles, it’s easy to watch them in order. Once they start branching out, however, things can get a little muddled, especially when reboots come along and start the whole process over from scratch. 

You may have heard that the even-numbered ones are good and the odd-numbered ones are not. That’s spot on for the films starring the cast of The Original Series (aka Kirk and friends) falls apart once you reach the tenth entry in the series. It would probably be worth your while to have this list of the Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best around to steer clear of the clunkers. Look, we’re not going to pretend everything here is worth two hours of your day, we’re just letting you know which came out after which.

Should your Trek appetite remain unsatiated after your movie watchathon, feel free to pull from either our list of the best Star Trek: The Original series episode s or best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes . Either one will set you up for a weekend jam-packed with great Trek moments. Consult our Star Trek streaming guide for all the details on where to watch the movies and shows online 

Star Trek movies: Chronological order

Below is the quick version of our list if you just need to check something to win an argument, but it comes with a lot of in-universe time travel-related caveats that we'll explain below.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Prime Timeline

The first thing you need to know about the Star Trek films is that while they travel back and forth in time, they also diverge into two (for now) different timelines. The films of the original crew (well, the first iteration of them, anyway – more on that later) are all in what is known as the Prime Timeline. 

Within the Prime Timeline, the movies are then split between The Original Series movies and The Next Generation movies.

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

• Release date: December 8, 1979
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

This is the film that brought the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise to the big screen. An energy cloud is making its way toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Kirk and crew intercept it and discover an ancient NASA probe at the heart of the cloud. Voyager – known as V’ger now – encountered a planet of living machines, learned all it could, and returned home to report its findings, only to find no one who knew how to answer. It’s a slow-paced film, and the costumes are about as 70s as they come, but there’s classic Star Trek at the heart of this film.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

• Release date: June 4, 1982
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban

Ask a Star Trek fan what the best Star Trek movie is and more often than not, you’ll get Khan as your answer. A sequel to the events of the “Space Seed” episode of The Original Series, Khan is a retelling of Moby Dick with Khan throwing reason to the wind as he hunts his nemesis, James T. Kirk. Montalban delivers a pitch-perfect performance, giving us a Khan with charisma and obsession in equal parts.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Release date: June 1, 1984

Spock might have died in The Wrath of Khan, but this third entry set up the premise for his return, with the creation of the Genesis planet. Essentially a heist movie in reverse, Search for Spock has the crew defying orders from Starfleet in an attempt to reunite Spock’s consciousness with his newly-rejuvenated body. It’s not a great movie, but it does include two very important events: the rebirth of Spock and the death of Kirk’s son at the hands of the Klingons. That’ll be important a few flicks from now.   

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

• Release date: November 26, 1986
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

If Star Trek fans don’t say Khan is the best Star Trek movie, odds are very high they say Voyage Home is. It’s a funny film where the mission isn’t destruction, but creation – or more accurately, repairing the devastating effects of humankind’s ecological short-sightedness. 

A probe arrives at Earth, knocking out the power of everything in its path as it looks for someone to respond to its message (yeah, it happens a lot). This time, however, the intended recipient is the long-extinct blue whale. To save Earth, Kirk and co. go back in time to 1980s San Francisco to snag some blue whales. The eco-messaging isn’t exactly subtle, but it doesn’t get in the way of a highly enjoyable movie.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

• Release date: June 9, 1989

A writers’ strike and Shatner’s directorial skills (or lack thereof) doomed this film before a single scene was shot. The core plot is actually pretty good: Spock’s half-brother hijacks the Enterprise so that he can meet God, which he believes to be… himself. Some Star Trek fans have an odd fondness for this movie, as it showcases the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy when they’re off-duty.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• Release date: December 6, 1991
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer

Right, so if that Star Trek fan you’ve been talking to doesn’t choose either Khan or Voyage Home as the best Star Trek movie ever, they almost certainly name Undiscovered Country (and if they don’t, they have highly questionable taste, frankly). The Klingon moon of Praxis explodes, putting the entire Klingon race at risk. The Enterprise hosts a diplomatic entourage of Klingons, much to Kirk’s discomfort. 

Remember how Klingons murdered Kirk’s son? Well, he certainly hasn’t forgotten. Kirk’s lingering rage makes him the perfect patsy for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor, sending him and McCoy to a prison planet and setting the stage for war. Christopher Plummer is perfection as a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general with no taste for peace.

7. Star Trek: Generations

• Release date: November 18, 1994
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

And thus the torch is passed from the crew of The Original Series to that of The Next Generation. It’s a bit of a fumble, to be honest, but they all did their best to get Kirk and Picard into the same film and have it make sense. Malcolm McDowell plays Soran, a scientist who will stop at nothing to control the Nexus, a giant space rainbow that exists outside of space-time. 

Soran lost his family when his home world was destroyed and he wants to re-join them (or at least an illusion of them) in the Nexus. He’s not so much a villain as a tragic figure, but the Nexus makes a meeting between Kirk and Picard possible. Not all that sensible, but possible.

8. Star Trek: First Contact

• Release date: November 22, 1996
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige

Okay, no, for real, if your Star Trek pal didn’t pick Khan or Voyage Home or… oh, nevermind. Cueing off the iconic two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg, First Contact sees the collective traveling back in time in order to disrupt First Contact, the day Earth’s first foray into space attracted the attention of the Vulcans, kicking off the events that would eventually lead to Starfleet’s victory over the Borg. The Borg Queen torments Picard with visions of the past and tempts Data with humanity, going so far as to give him some human skin. 

The fight with the Borg aboard the Enterprise is thrilling, and the work on the surface to get first contact back on track is fun. Plus, there’s just nothing like Patrick Stewart turning it up to 11 as he lashes out at the enemy that haunts his dreams.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection

• Release date: December 11, 1998
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham

Essentially an episode inflated for the big screen, Insurrection is about the Federation conspiring to displace a planet’s population in order to harvest the planet’s unique resource – super healing metaphasic particles. In addition to the rejuvenating natural resource, the Ba’ku also have access to exceptional technology, which they shun in favor of a more simple lifestyle. 

Data malfunctions, the villains are Federation allies (and former Ba’ku!), Picard gets to knock boots with a local – Insurrection is the very definition of “fine.” Chronologically, Insurrection is relevant for rekindling the romance between Riker and Troi, but not much else.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis

• Release date: December 13, 2002
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy

Before he mumbled his way into our hearts as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon, a clone of Picard the Romulans created in an eventually abandoned attempt to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon is dying, and all that will save him is a transfusion of Picard’s blood. Unfortunately, Shinzon also happens to be a megalomaniac who happens to want to destroy all life on Earth and maybe a few other planets, too, if he’s feeling saucy. 

Nemesis is notable mostly for killing Data with a noble sacrifice, only to resurrect him moments later in a duplicate body found earlier by the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline

The last of the Prime Timeline movies failed to impress at the box office, so it was a few years before anyone tried to bring the Enterprise back to the big screen. Rather than lean on any of the TV crews, this new slate of movies would serve as a reboot, welcoming new audiences while honoring long-time fans. Welcome to the Kelvin Timeline. (For all the ins and outs, check out our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article).

11. Star Trek

• Release date: May 8, 2009
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban

Back to the beginning! Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” McCoy as they meet and join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though the plot is a relatively straightforward affair of a Romulan named Nero trying to destroy the Earth. His anger borne out of grief, what matters most is how it all came to be. In the future, Spock – the Prime Timeline version – tries to save Romulus from being destroyed by a supernova, but fails. Both his ship and Nero’s are kicked back in time, setting off a chain of events that diverge from the original, “true” timeline. 

The name “Kelvin” refers to the U.S.S. Kelvin, the ship heroically captained by Kirk’s father, which is destroyed in the opening moments of the movie.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness

• Release date: May 16, 2013
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefit of the Kelvin Timeline is that it not only allows Star Trek to explore canon material – such as Khan (he of the Wrath) – but to do something completely new with it. Khan features heavily in Into Darkness, but he has no beef with Kirk. Instead, a Starfleet Admiral is threatening the lives of Khan’s crew, forcing them to craft weapons of mass destruction. 

Khan inevitably eludes captivity and strikes out against Starfleet, killing Captain Pike (and a bunch of others) in the process. Kirk and company eventually take Khan down, but not before Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew. Don’t worry, these things don’t last in either Star Trek timeline, as Kirk gets better moments later thanks to *checks notes* Khan's super blood.

13. Star Trek Beyond

• Release date: July 22, 2016
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Beyond leans into the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy now that they’ve had some time together, much to the movie’s benefit. The Enterprise is lured to Altamid under false pretenses, leading to much of the crew being marooned on the planet. The architect of the deception was Krall, who wants an opportunity to return to a galaxy where war is the order of the day. 

Beyond is a significant point in the timeline for two reasons. First, it sadly marked the death of Spock Prime due to the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Second, it culminates in the Enterprise embarking on the five-year-mission that started everything back in 1966.

Star Trek movies: Release order

If you can't be bothered remembering two different orders for the Star Trek movies then we've got good news for you — the release order is identical to the chronological order that we've shown above (accounting for the Kelvin timeline as it's own entity anyway).

The full run of Star Trek films currently tops out at 13 entries; the fate of the 14th was hidden within a nebula of conflicting information. “Star Trek 4” was slated for December 22, 2023, but given that filming had yet to begin as of July 2022, it seems inevitable that date will change. Back in February 2022, Paramount that the principal cast would be returning for the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, a claim quickly disputed by the agents of those selfsame actors. Awkward.

Soon after, however, Chris Pine eventually signed on the dotted line, and his shipmates reached their own agreements. As of right now, Kirk (Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban, assuming he can make it work around filming of The Boys), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Sulu (John Cho) are all ready to beam up and get filming. Sadly, this will be the first of the Kelvin films to not feature Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Yelchin died in an accident at his home in 2016. It’s currently unclear if Chekov will be recast or if a different character will take his place on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Though the Kelvin timeline is often referred to as “J.J. Abrams Trek,” he won’t be directing Star Trek 4; Matt Shakman will take on that responsibility, leaving Abrams to produce. As for what it will be about, that’s anyone’s guess, but Chris Pine told Deadline he hopes this one tells a smaller story that appeals to the core Trek audience. “Let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek,” he said. “Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great.” It’s a strategy that makes sense; the disappointment with recent Trek films hasn’t been their content so much as their box office. A Trek film with a smaller scope (and budget) would almost certainly have a very healthy profit margin while also resonating with the fanbase.   

With no new announcements coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it seems that we’ll have to wait for any more insight into the next Star Trek film. Sill, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety . 

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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STAR TREK - All the films, all the TV episodes, in order of release.

There are many more, but I think I have managed to filter out most of the irrelevant and the unwatchable. I have another list of 22 items which closely follows the Stardate timeline then picks up the KELVIN timeline.

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Star Trek (1966–1969)

TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Nichelle Nichols

Votes: 92,973

TV Series. AKA: Star Trek - The Original Series (TOS) S1 1966-67 30 episodes S2 1967-68 27 episodes S3 1968-69 24 episodes Total episodes: 81 My copies are: >>> Remastered<<<

2. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975)

TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , George Takei

Votes: 8,186

TV Series. S1 1974 16 episodes S2 1974 6 episodes Total episodes: 22 Originally aimed at kids. Now cult viewing for adults.

3. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 96,639 | Gross: $82.26M

4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 129,249 | Gross: $78.91M

5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 86,188 | Gross: $76.47M

6. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Votes: 91,503 | Gross: $109.71M

7. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

TV-PG | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Brent Spiner , Jonathan Frakes , LeVar Burton

Votes: 136,141

TV Series. AKA: Star Trek - TNG S1 1987-88 25 episodes S2 1988-89 22 episodes S3 1989-90 26 episodes S4 1990-91 26 episodes S5 1991-92 26 episodes S6 1992-93 26 episodes S7 1993-94 25 episodes Total episodes: 176

8. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

PG | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

Director: William Shatner | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 64,218 | Gross: $52.21M

9. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Votes: 80,912 | Gross: $74.89M

10. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.

Stars: Avery Brooks , Rene Auberjonois , Cirroc Lofton , Alexander Siddig

Votes: 70,826

TV Series. S1 1993 19 episodes S2 1993-94 26 episodes S3 1994-95 26 episodes S4 1995-96 25 episodes S5 1996-97 26 episodes S6 1997-98 26 episodes S7 1998-99 25 episodes Total episodes: 173

11. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director: David Carson | Stars: Patrick Stewart , William Shatner , Malcolm McDowell , Jonathan Frakes

Votes: 87,067 | Gross: $75.67M

12. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

TV-PG | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

Stars: Kate Mulgrew , Robert Beltran , Roxann Dawson , Robert Duncan McNeill

Votes: 77,374

TV Series. S1 1995 15 episodes S2 1995-96 26 episodes S3 1996-97 26 episodes S4 1997-98 26 episodes S5 1998-99 25 episodes S6 1999-00 26 episodes S7 2000-01 24 episodes Total episodes: 168

13. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.

Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 132,090 | Gross: $92.00M

14. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

Votes: 79,483 | Gross: $70.12M

15. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

A century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

Stars: Scott Bakula , John Billingsley , Jolene Blalock , Dominic Keating

Votes: 59,131

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan homeworld Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a peace treaty. Captain Picard and his crew discover a serious threat to the Federation once Praetor Shinzon plans to attack Earth.

Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 83,944 | Gross: $43.25M

Film - 10th

17. Star Trek: Odyssey (2007–2011)

Short, Sci-Fi

A Star Trek fan production based on the Homer's The Odyssey telling the story of a spaceship trying to go home after getting lost in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Stars: Brandon McConnell , Michelle G. O'Neil , Julia Morizawa , Matthew Montgomery

TV Series based on TOS Fan Production, ?? min episodes S1 2007.......5 episodes S2 2008.......3 episodes S3 2010-11...2 episodes Total episodes: 10

18. Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007 Video)

87 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

It is the year 2306. Thirteen years have passed since Captain James T. Kirk was swept away by the Nexus, after saving the crew of the USS Enterprise-B. The remaining crew members of the ... See full summary  »

Director: Tim Russ | Stars: Walter Koenig , Nichelle Nichols , Alan Ruck , Garrett Wang

Votes: 1,492

Star Date: 2306 (not classified for a timeline yet)

19. Star Trek (2009)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg , Leonard Nimoy

Votes: 620,366 | Gross: $257.73M

Film - 11th

20. Star Trek Continues (2013–2017)

45 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The further adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise.

Stars: Vic Mignogna , Todd Haberkorn , Christopher Doohan , Grant Imahara

Votes: 3,504

TV Series based on TOS Fan Production, 45 min episodes S1.....2013 1 episode ........2014 2 episodes ........2015 2 episodes ........2016 2 episodes ........2017 4 episodes Total Episodes: 11 episodes

21. Star Trek: Secrets of the Universe (2013 TV Movie)

82 min | Documentary

The special delves into the science of Star Trek, the possibility of alien worlds, the physics of warp drive, and the possibilities of us someday living in a world similar to the one we see in Star Trek.

Director: Anthony Giacchino | Stars: J.J. Abrams , Bryan Burk , Paul Doherty , April Eden

Wow a documentary. The content seems quite interesting. Unfortunately it appears to be unobtainable.

22. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldana , Benedict Cumberbatch

Votes: 497,134 | Gross: $228.78M

Film - 12th

23. Star Trek: Renegades (2015–2017)

88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Set a decade after the U.S.S Voyager's return to Earth, a rag-tag crew of renegades and outcasts must covertly work with Admiral Chekov and Tuvok to stop forces threatening the Federation from outside, and within.

Stars: Walter Koenig , Adrienne Wilkinson , Manu Intiraymi , Gary Graham

Votes: 3,702

TV series. Sequel to TNG. S1...2015...2 episodes Judging by the score it could be a dud.

24. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.

Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Karl Urban , Zoe Saldana

Votes: 258,552 | Gross: $158.85M

Film - 13th

25. Star Trek: Captain Pike (2016)

Tells a pre-Kirk story about what happened on Rigel VII prior to The Cage episode of the original Star Trek series. This is the story of Captain Pike when he first takes command of the Enterprise and his first mission aboard her.

Director: Todd Shawn | Stars: Chase Masterson , Eric Roberts , Linda Park , Ray Wise

TV episode. A prequel to TOS. 1 episode 45 mins in length

26. Star Trek: Progeny (2016– )

55 min | Sci-Fi

Set 50 years after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Progeny is reportedly based on the events from the episode "Bread and Circuses". The series takes place in the ... See full summary  »

Stars: Cassandra Scerbo , Francine York , Carlos Carrasco , Anne Marie Howard

Animation. S1...2016 2 episodes

27. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien.

Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green , Doug Jones , Anthony Rapp , Mary Wiseman

Votes: 135,222

TV Series. S1 2017-18......15 episodes S2 2019...........14 episodes S3 2020-21......13 episodes S4 2021-??........7 episodes Total episodes: 49 episodes

28. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020)

TV-PG | 10 min | Short, Action, Adventure

A series of stand-alone short films featuring characters and storylines from Star Trek: Discovery (2017).

Stars: Anson Mount , Rebecca Romijn , Ethan Peck , Jenette Goldstein

Votes: 3,148

TV Series based on TOS 10-20 min duration episodes S1.....2018 3 episodes .........2019 6 episodes .........2020 1 episode

29. Star Trek: The Section 31 Files (2020– )

Stars: Carissa DeWitt , Mark Kalita , Elie Hirschman , Judah Friese

TV series. 1 episode. No more info available.

30. Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

TV-MA | 46 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Michelle Hurd , Jeri Ryan , Alison Pill

Votes: 94,748

TV Series. S1 2020......10 episodes S2 2021......?? episodes Total episodes: 10

31. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–2024)

TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Stars: Tawny Newsome , Jack Quaid , Noël Wells , Eugene Cordero

Votes: 25,001

TV Series. S1 2020 10 episodes S2 2021 10 episodes Total episodes: 20 Not for kids (Rated 15).

32. Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024)

TV-Y7 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.

Stars: Rylee Alazraqui , Dee Bradley Baker , Brett Gray , Angus Imrie

Votes: 5,596

Animation. S1...2021 2 episodes

33. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

TV-PG | 52 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

Stars: Anson Mount , Ethan Peck , Christina Chong , Melissa Navia

Votes: 58,979

TV Series, a prequel to TOS No episode info yet. Continuation of Discovery? Don't know I've lost the plot.

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Guide to Watching the Babylon 5 Series in Order

The renowned “Babylon 5” universe, crafted by J. Michael Straczynski, started with a two-hour TV pilot titled “Babylon 5: The Gathering”, which debuted on February 22, 1993. The show’s history is checkered with controversy, notably involving allegations of story elements being similarly explored by Paramount’s “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”. These two series ultimately came to be appreciated on their own merits, each garnering a distinctive following despite their concurrent presence on television.

The “Babylon 5” series officially launched in January 1994, a year after the pilot, and has since amassed a rich collection of spin-offs, movies, and additional media. Below, we at /Film have compiled a comprehensive guide to experiencing all the film media within this franchise in the right sequence.

Order by Release Date

When exploring the Babylon 5 landscape, it’s recommended to view the content in its release order. The main TV series is interspersed with TV movies, and we’ve marked the series in bold.

• “Babylon 5: The Gathering” (1993) – TV Movie
• “Babylon 5,” seasons 1-4 (January 26, 1994 to October 27, 1997) – TV series
• “Babylon 5: In the Beginning” (January 4, 1998) – TV movie
• “Babylon 5,” season 5, episodes 1-17 (January 21, 1998 to June 17, 1998) – TV series
• “Babylon 5: Thirdspace” (July 19, 1998) – TV movie
• “Babylon 5,” season 5, episodes 18 and 19 (October 28, 1998 and November 4, 1998) – TV series
• “Babylon 5: The River of Souls” (November 8, 1998) – TV movie
• “Babylon 5,” season 5, episodes 20-22 (November 11, 1998 – November 25, 1998) – TV series
• “Babylon 5: A Call to Arms” (1999) – TV movie
• “Crusade” (June 9 – September 1, 1999) – TV series
• “Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight” (January 19, 2002) – TV movie
• “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales” (2006) – Straight-to-video anthology special
• “Babylon 5: The Road Home” (2023) – Straight-to-video movie

The franchise’s abundant universe also includes novels, comics, and games. Plans for a series reboot have also been discussed by Straczynski, who is currently searching for a production partner.

Mythology-Based Viewing Order

Engaging with the Babylon series in the intended sequence is pivotal for reaping the intricate narrative benefits. The storyline, set aboard the Babylon 5 space station—a hub for galactic diplomacy—features complex inter-species politics, and genuine mythic prophecy. Unlike the utopian vibe of “Star Trek”, “Babylon 5” never shies away from depicting a tumultuous human and alien society.

Viewers must acclimate themselves to various in-world conflicts such as the Shadow War and the Telepath War, while also recognizing the significant differences between “Babylon 5” and “Star Trek”. Notably, some “Star Trek” actors, including Walter Koenig, have notably made their appearances in the “Babylon 5” universe.

What is the first piece of media I should watch in the Babylon 5 franchise?

Begin with “Babylon 5: The Gathering”, which is the original TV movie pilot that aired in 1993.

Do I need to follow the release order to understand the Babylon 5 series?

While it’s not mandatory, following the release order will provide a coherent understanding of the evolving storytelling and mythos.

Can I watch “Babylon 5” without having knowledge of “Star Trek”?

Absolutely. Despite similarities and historical controversy, “Babylon 5” stands as a separate entity with its own distinct narrative and universe.

Are there other materials in the “Babylon 5” universe besides the series and movies?

Yes, the universe also includes novels, comic books, and board games, contributing to the richness of the Babylon 5 storyline.

Exploring the “Babylon 5” universe involves delving into an expanse of intricate narratives that flourished independently of the “Star Trek” juggernaut. This guide to the ordered experience of the Babylon franchise is designed to optimize your journey through the complex and politically rich space opera. Whether you are new to this universe or revisiting it, the correct viewing order will amplify the epic storytelling that makes “Babylon 5” a unique and compelling saga in the realm of science fiction.

Screen Rant

Every star wars tv show ranked from worst to best.

The first Star Wars TV show released back in the 1980s - so how do they all compare, from live-action to animation, from Clone Wars to Ahsoka?

• Star Wars Visions' fantastic animation and unforgettable scripts show a deep understanding of the Force.
• Andor sets a new standard with mature, politically-aware storytelling and great dialogue.
• The Bad Batch stumbles in the beginning but ultimately becomes one of the best Star Wars shows.

With the modern explosion of content on Disney+, it's easy to forget that there have been Star Wars TV shows since 1985. George Lucas always knew he was building something far bigger than a film franchise. The first Star Wars tie-in novel, Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye , was published in 1978 - before the release of The Empire Strikes Back . When Lucas wrapped up the original trilogy with 1983's Return of the Jedi , his attention initially turned to the small screen, where he continued to license stories set in a galaxy far, far away.

Disney has evolved Star Wars into a trailblazing transmedia franchise; the films have essentially been on hiatus since the end of the sequel trilogy, but the saga continues in high-profile Disney+ TV shows. These have had an unprecedented cultural impact, ensuring Star Wars remains a vital part of popular culture. But how do all these diifferent Star Wars TV shows compare, ranked from worst to best?

Star Wars Movies In Order: How To Watch Release Order, Chronologically & With The TV Shows

The Star Wars franchise initially seemed to be over after Return of the Jedi . Then, in 1984, viewers tuned in to watch a family-friendly feature-length adventure starring the Ewoks. Lucas believed Star Wars was principally aimed at children, and the Ewoks - never named in the Skywalker saga - were created to appeal to kids. The film sired an animated TV shows by Nelvana, the animation house behind the Care Bears .

Ewoks is an odd show, not even marketed using the Star Wars brand, and it always sat uncomfortably with the lore. The quality of character designs and animation visibly declines as Ewoks continues, although season 2 feels better-written than the first. The final episode twists away into standard Star Wars , with the Empire arriving on Endor to steal Ewoks ' MacGuffin, the mystical Sunstar. It feels as though Ewoks suddenly remembered the galaxy it was supposed to be part of.

13 Star Wars: Droids

Ewoks may have forgotten it was part of the Star Wars galaxy, but its companion Star Wars: Droids was much more important to canon. Podracing plays a major part in the first arc, there's a four-armed alien who feels like a proof of concept for Dexter Jettster in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones , and even some planets are name-dropped in Lucas' prequel trilogy. Modern viewers will be taken aback by the character of Kea Moll from the first episode, who bears a striking resemblance to Rey; later, there's a space pirate with the name " Kybo Ren. "

Viewers can check out Star Wars: Droids on Disney+, with the House of Mouse making a Star Wars show available that, for years, had been almost impossible to watch. It's a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of Star Wars , and it may well have had more of an impact on the franchise's evolution than it seems at first glance. Unfortunately, that still doesn't stop it feeling rather dated.

12 Star Wars: Resistance

A TV show set far later in the canon Star Wars timeline, Star Wars Resistance explores the battle against the First Order during the sequel era. The characters do grow as the two seasons progress, and there are some occasions where Resistance feels as though it adds something of real value to the ongoing narrative. Here, for example, is an explanation for the swift advance of the First Order, or a bit more detail on Hosnian Prime, the planet destroyed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

It really didn't feel as though Lucasfilm cared too much about this spinoff

Sadly, Resistance is undermined by an inconsistent narrative, and it really didn't feel as though Lucasfilm cared too much about this spinoff in the Skywalker saga. This is likely because Lucasfilm kept changing their plans for the sequels, so it would have been impossible to tie Star Wars Resistance into the story. In the end, this particular transmedia experiment unfortunately failed.

11 The Book of Boba Fett

Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc, and the gun-for-hire became star of his own Disney+ TV show set after the events of Return of the Jedi . The Book of Boba Fett is another odd TV show, with the first few episodes dividing their time between a story in which Boba Fett becomes a Tatooine crime boss and flashbacks explaining why he's become so different. The fundamental problem, though, is that it fails to make this new status quo particularly gripping ; in fact, by the end of the show, it's really not clear what Boba Fett even does as a crime boss.

Even the show's writers seem to lose interest in their reinvention of Boba Fett, pivoting away from him and essentially turning the last three episodes into The Mandalorian season 2.5. There are character moments for Din Djarin and Grogu that really should be in their own shows. All in all, there does feel like potential, but The Book of Boba Fett fails to realize it.

The Book of Boba Fett

10 genndy tartakovsky's star wars: clone wars.

It's difficult to place Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars in.any ranking like this. The Emmy award-winning animated TV show is so good - and yet its cultural impact has become sadly muted over time, simply because it was rendered non-canon long before Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney in 2012. Inspired by Japanese animation, Star Wars: Clone Wars is a swashbuckling adventure in which the Jedi lead from the front in the battle against Count Dooku and his Separatists.

The villains are tremendous, with General Grievous feeling like a genuine threat to the Jedi, while the heroes' struggle to maintain balance even in a time of conflict feels tremendously powerful. Many fans suggest this should be seen as in-universe pro-Republic propaganda, a smart way of giving Star Wars: Clone Wars continuing relevance. It will always be loved.

9 Obi-Wan Kenobi

Featuring the return of Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor, the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ TV show should have been one of the biggest event series in the history of Star Wars . To be fair, it's compellingly written, with some fascinating ideas in play and a standout young Leia Organa. It also occupies a unique space, because it's cleverly positioned so it can be considered part of the old Expanded Universe timeline as easily as it stands in the modern Disney canon.

The problem, though, is that Obi-Wan Kenobi feels as though it had too much potential, meaning it was doomed to disappoint. CG, sets, and costumes look surprisingly cheap, and the final confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader is murky and difficult to follow. Sadly, it now looks as though Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 is unlikely to happen.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2: News, Updates, & Everything We Know

Obi-wan kenobi, 8 star wars: tales of the jedi.

The Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi series hopefully shows the future of the franchise's animations. These shorts focus on key moments in the lives of two characters; they tell the story of Dooku's fall to the dark side, and add more depth and detail to Ahsoka Tano's life. They aren't without their problems; several details sit uncomfortably with canon, reinforcing the sense that Lucasfilm Television is a law unto itself, and the final episode erases an important LGBTQI+ character from E.K. Johnston's novel Ahsoka . Still, they're tremendously effective and beautifully animated, with sharp and concise storytelling.

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi

7 the mandalorian.

It's impossible to overstate the importance of The Mandalorian for the evolution of Star Wars . The Mandalorian was a huge success for Disney+, with the first episode premiering alongside the release of the entire streaming platform; Lucasfilm had managed to keep Baby Yoda (now known as Grogu) a secret, meaning the first live-action Star Wars TV show immediately went viral. The first season of The Mandalorian was an absolute hit, justifiably so, with strong and compelling character arcs.

There have been massive flaws, however, explaining why the show doesn't rank higher on this list. Season 2 lost momentum to fan-service, while season 3 struggled to head in a new direction, with inconsistent story arcs that meant the retaking of Mandalore lacked the emotional weight it deserved. Still, hopefully Lucasfilm's upcoming movies set during this era will fix these problems.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Ending Explained

The mandalorian.

Helmed by Dave Filoni, Ahsoka is very difficult indeed to place on this Star Wars ranking. It features some of the best casting in Star Wars to date, with Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eman Esfandi, and the late Ray Stevenson all worthy of particular praise; Rosario Dawson puts in a creditable performance as the titular character too. Helmed by Dave Filoni, this is essentially a continuation of the story he began with Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels , albeit with an additional time-jump to ensure viewers new and old are on a level playing field in terms of needing to adjust.

Ahsoka is notable for taking some of the biggest swings in Star Wars history, introducing an entirely new galaxy to Star Wars , which makes it delightful for its boldness. The main problem with Ahsoka is that it feels a little incomplete after its first season; although that's a deliberate creative choice, it means the story just doesn't quite stand alone well enough to satisfy. There wiill be problems going forward with Ahsoka season 2, in light of the sad passing of Ray Stevenson, which will surely require a recast.

Ahsoka Season 2: Story, Updates, Everything We Know

5 star wars: the bad batch.

Starring Clone Force 99, a group of mutant clones created by the Kaminoans, Star Wars: The Bad Batch is set immediately after the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith . This group of clones refused to comply with Order 66, and they wound up on the run from the Empire. The first season struggled to establish its characters, and the second had some pacing problems; but these issues were almost all resolved for the incredible season 3.

Over the course of The Bad Batch 's three seasons, the characters become the heart of the show. Tech's death in season 2's finale was shocking, and left many viewers hoping he'd be brought back through a Winter Soldier twist. The reality, though, is that the stakes really are this high. Star Wars: The Bad Batch may have stumbled a little in the beginning, but it became one of the best.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

4 star wars: the clone wars.

Created by George Lucas and Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set between the events of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith . It's one of the most popular and beloved Star Wars TV shows, and for good reason, featuring tremendous character arcs and intriguing narratives. There are problems, though; animation is inconsistent, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars initially hops around the timeline with impunity, making some narratives difficult to follow.

Disney canceled Star Wars: The Clone Wars after they acquired Lucasfilm, but they clearly came to regret this decision . Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 released on Disney+, with the final episodes set at the same time as Anakin's fall to the dark side. Season 7 is widely considered some of the best Star Wars to date, and with good reason. It features Lucasfilm Animation's writers and artists at their level best.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

3 star wars rebels.

Fans of Star Wars animation are divided in the best way over Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels ; there's intense debate over which is better. Set during the Dark Times of the Empire's reign, this stars a ragtag group (including a former Jedi and, later, Ahsoka Tano) who struggle to stand for the light. Threats escalate, with Inquisitors pursuing the Jedi and Darth Vader himself turning up to confront his former Padawan.

Showrunner Dave Filoni has learned lessons from the previous series

This ranking places Star Wars Rebels above Star Wars: The Clone Wars , simply because showrunner Dave Filoni has learned lessons from the previous series , and the storytelling is so much more confident. Star Wars Rebels is notable for what is still the best episode of Star Wars animation to date, "Twin Suns," the final duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul on the desert sands of Tatooine. It has recently secured a legacy in live-action, which characters appearing in both The Mandalorian and Ahsoka .

Star Wars Rebels

The best live-action Star Wars TV show to date is unquestionably Andor . This live-action Disney+ TV show serves as a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , explaining how Diego Luna's Cassian Andor became part of the nascent Rebel Alliance. It's surprisingly mature, a politically-aware exploration of the creeping nature of fascism, and season 1 placed themes and characterization above fan-service and Easter eggs.

Andor has learned from Lucas' prequel trilogy mistakes, somehow making politics in the Star Wars galaxy intense and evocative, and it features some of the best dialogue (and monologues) in the history of the franchise. Andor season 2 will air next year, running more quickly through Cassian Andor's time in the Rebel Alliance, even as the Empire prepares to unleash the Death Star. Hopefully Andor has set a new pattern for Star Wars going forward, with more mature content mixed with all-ages family shows.

Andor Season 2: Story, Updates, & Everything We Know

1 star wars visions.

The first non-canon show released after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Visions offers fantastic reinterpretations of the Skywalker saga. The various animation styles are tremendous, the scripts are unforgettable, and there's an odd sense in which Star Wars: Visions understands the Force better than most of the canon. Incredibly, Star Wars Vision s season 2 actually exceeded the first season, with a tremendous narrative running through all the animated episodes. This delightful Star Wars show proves canonicity is not the same thing as quality, and that storytelling matters more than lore.