star trek franchise timeline

How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

The full star trek timeline, explained..

Ever since 1966’s premiere of the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the entertainment world has never been the same. This franchise that has boldly gone where no property has gone before has captured the hearts and minds of millions around the world and has grown into a space-faring empire of sorts filled with multiple shows, feature length films, comics, merchandise, and so much more. That being said, the amount of Star Trek out in the world can make it tough to know exactly how to watch everything it offers in either chronological or release order so you don’t miss a thing. To help make things easier for you, we’ve created this guide to break down everything you need to know about engaging with this Star Trek journey.

It used to be a bit trickier to track down all the Star Trek shows and movies you’d need to watch to catch up, but Paramount+ has made it a whole lot easier as it has become the home of nearly all the past, present and future Star Trek entries.

So, without further ado, come with us into the final frontier and learn how you can become all caught up with the adventures of Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Spock, Pike, Archer, Burnham, and all the others that have made Star Trek so special over the past 56 years.

And, in case you're worried, everything below is a mostly spoiler-free chronological timeline that will not ruin any of any major plot points of anything further on in the timeline. So, you can use this guide as a handy way to catch up without ruining much of the surprise of what’s to come on your adventure! If you’d prefer to watch everything Star Trek as it was released, you’ll find that list below as well!

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

How to Watch Star Trek by Release Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

Star Trek: Enterprise is the earliest entry on our list as it takes place a hundred years before the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series. The show aired from 2001 to 2005 and starred Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, the captain of the Enterprise NX-01. This version of the Enterprise was actually Earth’s first starship that was able to reach warp five.

While the show had its ups and downs, it included a fascinating look at a crew without some of the advanced tech we see in other Star Trek shows, the first contact with various alien species we know and love from the Star Trek universe, and more.

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

This is where things get a little bit tricky, as the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery take place before Star Trek: The Original Series but Seasons 3 and 4 take us boldly to a place we’ve not gone before. We won’t spoil why that’s the case here, but it’s important to note if you want to watch Star Trek in order, you’ll have to do a bit of jumping around from series to movie to series.

As for what Star Trek: Discovery is, it's set the decade before the original and stars Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham, a Starfleet Commander who accidentally helps start a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. She gets court-martialed and stripped of her rank following these events and is reassigned to the U.S.S Discovery.

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also begins before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series and is set up by Star Trek: Discovery as its captain, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, makes an appearance in its second season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Pike first appeared in the original failed pilot episode “The Cage” of Star Trek: The Original Series and would later become James T. Kirk’s predecessor after the original actor, Jefferey Hunter, backed out of the show.

Fast forward all these years later and now we get to learn more about the story of Christopher Pike and many other familiar faces from The Original Series alongside new characters. It’s made even more special as the ship the crew uses is the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, the very same that would soon call Kirk its captain.

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

The fourth Star Trek series or movie you should watch in the order is the one that started it all - Star Trek: The Original Series . Created by Gene Roddenberry, this first Star Trek entry would kick off a chain reaction that would end up creating one of the most beloved IPs of all time. However, it almost never made it to that legendary status as its low ratings led to a cancellation order after just three seasons that aired from 1966 to 1969. Luckily, it found great popularity after that and built the foundation for all the Star Trek stories we have today.

Star Trek: The Original Series starred William Shatner as James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock, but the rest of the crew would go on to become nearly as iconic as they were. As for what the show was about? Well, we think Kirk said it best during each episode’s opening credits;

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Its 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.”

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

While Star Trek: The Original Series may have been canceled after just three seasons, its popularity only grew, especially with the help of syndication. Following this welcome development, Gene Roddenberry decided he wanted to continue the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 in animated form, and he brought back many of the original characters and the actors behind them for another go.

Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and told even more stories of the Enterprise and its adventures throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

The first Star Trek film was a very big deal as it brought back the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series after the show was canceled in 1969 after just three seasons. However, even it had a rough road to theaters as Roddenberry initially failed to convince Paramount Pictures it was worth it in 1975. Luckily, the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and other factors helped finally convince those in power to make the movie and abandon the plans for a new television series called Star Trek: Phase II, which also would have continued the original story.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James T. Kirk was now an Admiral in Starfleet, and certain events involving a mysterious alien cloud of energy called V’Ger cause him to retake control of a refitted version of the U.S.S. Enterprise with many familiar faces in tow.

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture written, but Paramount turned it down after the reception to that first film was not what the studio had hoped for. In turn, Paramount removed him from the production and brought in Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards to write the script and Nicholas Meyer to direct the film.

The studio’s decision proved to be a successful one as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered by many, including IGN, to be the best Star Trek film. As for the story, it followed the battle between Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise vs. Ricardo Montalban’ Khan Noonien Singh. Khan is a genetically engineered superhuman and he and his people were exiled by Kirk on a remote planet in the episode ‘Space Seed’ from the original series. In this second film, after being stranded for 15 years, Khan wants revenge.

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock continues the story that began in Wrath of Khan and deals with the aftermath of Spock’s death. While many on the U.S.S. Enterprise thought that was the end for their science officer, Kirk learns that Spock’s spirit/katra is actually living inside the mind of DeForest Kelley’s Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strange ever since the death of his friend. What follows is an adventure that includes a stolen U.S.S. Enterprise, a visit from Spock’s father Sarek, a run-in with Klingons, and so much more.

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

While it is undoubtedly great that Kirk and his crew saved Spock, it apparently wasn’t great enough to avoid the consequences that follow stealing and then losing the Enterprise. On their way to answer for their charges, the former crew of the Enterprise discover a threat to Earth that, without spoiling anything, causes them to go back in time to save everything they love. The Voyage Home is a big departure from the previous films as, instead of space, we spend most of our time in 1986’s San Francisco.

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier once again brings back our favorite heroes from Star Trek: The Original Series, but it’s often regarded as one of the weakest films starring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. In this adventure, our crew’s shore leave gets interrupted as they are tasked with going up against the Vulcan Sybok, who himself is on the hunt for God in the middle of the galaxy.

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the final movie starring the entire cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, and it puts the Klingons front and center. After a mining catastrophe destroys the Klingon moon of Praxis and threatens the Klingon’s homeworld, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon is forced to abandon his species' love of war in an effort to seek peace with the Federation. What follows is an adventure that calls back to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall and serves as a wonderful send-off to characters we’ve come to know and love since 1966, even though some will thankfully appear in future installments.

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

After you make it through all six of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, it’s time to start what many consider the best Star Trek series of all time - Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series, which starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, ran from 1987 through 1994 with 178 episodes over seven seasons.

There are so many iconic characters and moments in The Next Generation, including William Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher, and many of these beloved faces would return for Star Trek: Picard, which served as a continuation of this story.

While we are once again on the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this story takes place a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. However, there may just be a few familiar faces that pop up from time to time.

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

While Star Trek Generations is the first film featuring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, it also features a team-up that many had dreamed of for years and years between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain James T. Kirk.

Our heroes are facing off against an El-Aurian named Dr. Tolian Soran, who will do whatever is necessary to return to an extra-dimensional realm known as the Nexus. Without spoiling anything, these events lead to a meeting with these two legendary captains and a heartfelt-at-times send-off to The Original Series, even though not every character returned that we wished could have.

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

Star Trek: First Contact was not only the second film featuring the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it also served as the motion picture directorial debut for William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes. In this film, the terrifying Borg take center stage and force our heroes to travel back in time to stop them from conquering Earth and assimilating the entire human race.

This movie picks up on the continuing trauma caused by Jean-Luc Picard getting assimilated in the series and becoming Locutus of Borg, and we are also treated to the first warp flight in Star Trek’s history, a shout-out to Deep Space Nine, and more.

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

Star Trek: Insurrection, which unfortunately ranked last on our list of the best Star Trek movies, is the third film starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew and followed a story involving an alien race that lives on a planet with more-or-less makes them invincible due to its rejuvenating properties. This alien race, known as the Ba’Ku, are being threatened by not only another alien race called the Son’a, but also the Federation. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew disobey Federation orders in hopes to save the peaceful Ba’Ku, and while it sounds like an interesting premise, many said it felt too much like an extended episode of the series instead of a big blockbuster film.

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

The final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie is Star Trek: Nemesis , and it also isn’t looked at as one of the best. There are bright parts in the film, including Tom Hardy’s Shinzon who is first thought to be a Romulan praetor before it’s revealed he is a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but it also features a lot of retreaded ground. There are some great moments between our favorite TNG characters, but it’s not quite the goodbye many had hoped for. Luckily, this won’t be the last we’ll see of them.

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the fourth Star Trek series and it ran from 1993 to 1999 with 176 episodes over seven seasons. Deep Space Nine was also the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but instead with Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Furthermore, it was the first series to begin when another Star Trek Series - The Next Generation - was still on the air.

The connections between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine don’t end there, as there were a ton of callbacks to TNG in Deep Space Nine, and characters like Worf and Miles O’Brien played a big part in the series. Other TNG characters popped up from time to time, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and certain Deep Space Nine characters also showed their faces in TNG.

Deep Space Nine was a big departure from the Star Trek series that came before, as it not only took place mostly on a space station - the titular Deep Space Nine - but it was the first to star an African American as its central character in Avery Brooks’ Captain Benjamin Sisko.

Deep Space Nine was located in a very interesting part of the Milky Way Galaxy as it was right next to a wormhole, and the series was also filled with conflict between the Cardassians and Bajorans, the war between the Federation and the Dominion, and much more.

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series and it ran from 1995 to 2001 with 172 episodes over seven seasons. Star Trek: Voyager begins its journey at Deep Space Nine, and then it follows the tale of Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Kathryn Janeway (the first female leading character in Star Trek history!) and her crew getting lost and stranded in the faraway Delta Quadrant.

The episodes and adventures that follow all see the team fighting for one goal: getting home. Being so far away from the Alpha Quadrant we were so used to letting Star Trek be very creative in its storytelling and give us situations and alien races we’d never encountered before.

That doesn’t mean it was all unfamiliar, however, as the Borg became a huge threat in the later seasons. It’s a good thing too, as that led to the introduction of Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, a character who would continue on to appear in Star Trek: Picard and become a fan favorite.

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

Star Trek: Lower Decks debuted in 2020 and was the first animated series to make it to air since 1973’s Star Trek: The Animated Series. Alongside having that feather in its cap, it also sets itself apart by choosing to focus more on the lower lever crew instead of the captain and senior staff.

This leads to many fun adventures that may not be as high stakes as the other stories, but are no less entertaining. There have already been three seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the fourth season is set to arrive later this summer.

The series is also worth a watch as it is having a crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that will mix the worlds of live-action and animation.

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

Star Trek: Prodigy was the first fully 3D animated Star Trek series ever and told a story that began five years after the U.S.S. Voyager found its way back home to Earth. In this series, which was aimed for kids, a group of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship called the U.S.S. Protostar and attempt to make it to Starfleet and the Alpha Quadrant from the Delta Quadrant.

Voyager fans will be delighted to know that Kate Mulgrew returns as Kathryn Janeway in this animated series, but not only as herself. She is also an Emergency Training Holographic Advisor that was based on the likeness of the former captain of the U.S.S. Voyager.

The second season of Star Trek: Prodigy was set to arrive later this year, but it was not only canceled in June, but also removed from Paramount+. There is still hope this show may find a second life on another streaming service or network.

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Star Trek: Picard is the… well… next generation of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it brings back not only Partick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, but also many of his former crew members from the beloved series. The story is set 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis and we find Picard retired from Starfleet and living at his family’s vineyard in France.

Without spoiling anything, certain events get one of our favorite captains back to work and take him on an adventure through space and time over three seasons and 30 episodes.

The show had its ups and downs, but the third season, in our opinion, stuck the landing and gave us an “emotional, exciting, and ultimately fun journey for Jean-Luc and his family - both old and new - that gives the character the send-off that he has long deserved.”

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

While Star Trek: Discovery begins around 10 years before Star Trek: The Original Series, the show jumps more than 900 years into the future into the 32nd Century following the events of the second season. The Federation is not in great shape and Captain Michael Burnham and her crew work to bring it back to what it once was.

Star Trek: Discovery is set to end after the upcoming fifth season, which will debut on Paramount+ in 2024.

For more, check out our look at the hidden meaning behind Star Trek’s great captains, why Star Trek doesn’t get credit as the first shared universe, if this may be the end of Star Trek’s golden age of streaming, and our favorite classic Star Trek episodes and movies.

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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-)

Series Overview and Abbreviation Guide: Star Trek Universe

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 - E-Squared
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 of the Binary Stars
DIS Season 1, episode 3 - Context is for Kings
DIS Season 1, episode 4 - The Butchers Knife Cares Not for the Lambs 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 - Momento 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 No Truth in 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 Bow 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 - Menage a 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 a 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 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 - Prophesy
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, Excretes
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 - Vox
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 two 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 Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

Boldly go through the eons of Trek.

It began so simply: A man named Gene Roddenberry wanted to make a TV show set in the future, featuring characters who would represent the best of humanity, boldly going where no one has gone before. Now, Star Trek has become one of pop culture's most enduring touchstones, constantly evolving with the times.

It is not an easy thing to put together a coherent timeline for a franchise that consists of over 50 years of films and TV (nine series and 13 films, to be exact). Yet Star Trek , when you break it down, does hold together pretty well for a narrative that has been crafted by literally dozens of writers and directors over the decades. This is especially impressive given the amount of time travel that's been built into the story, as well as some conflicting dates (for example, the Eugenics War makes things complicated ).

Choosing the most important dates of Trek history to focus on was at times difficult, but an effort was made to pinpoint moments where the franchise’s relationship with time was most complicated — after all, the ultimate goal of this article is to take over 50 years of sci-fi adventure and make it relatively comprehensible. With that in mind, The timeline below is restricted to the film and TV entries in the Trek universe, in part because the books, comics, and other media are fascinating enhancements to the narrative (especially when they push forward into the future) but are not widely considered to be officially canon.

Given that many of these events take place on different planets — with, thus, different year cycles — some dates are approximated, especially when their placement in the timeline is based on statements like "a thousand years ago." (If Trek 's stardate dating system was easier to compute, then it would have been incorporated here. Alas.) But even when some dates don't quite line up, the franchise's central principles are rarely lost.

[Editor's note: This article was updated on September 14, 2021 to incorporate "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 1.]

The Films and TV Shows (Combined)

The Age of Shatner and Nimoy

Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 (1966-1967)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2 (1967-1968)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 3 (1968-1969)
Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 1 (1973-1974)
Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2 (1974)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The Next Generation Begins

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 (1987-1988)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 (1988-1989)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (1989-1990)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (1990-1991)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 (1991-1992)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 (1992-1993)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 (1993)
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 (1993-1994)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 (1993-1994)
Star Trek Generations (1994)

The Next Next Generation

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3 (1994-1995)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 (1994-1995)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 (1995-1996)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 (1995-1996)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 (1996-1997)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 (1996-1997)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 (1997-1998)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 (1997-1998)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7 (1998-1999)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 (1998-1999)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 6 (1999-2000)
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7 (2000-2001)

The Enterprise Era

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 (2001-2002)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (2002-2003)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 (2003-2004)
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 (2004-2005)

The Kelvin-verse

Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The CBS All Access Age

Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 (2017-2018)
Star Trek : Short Treks Season 1 (2018)
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 (2019)
Star Trek : Short Treks Season 2 (2019-2020)
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 (2020)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season (2020)

Note: Spoilers follow for all of the above, including the season premiere of Picard .

The Days Before Space

4.6 Billion BCE (or maybe even more):

The birth/arrival/creation of the Guardian of Forever on its ancient planet (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever").

4 Billion BCE:

An unknown humanoid species, to quote Geordi LaForge, "scattered this genetic material into the primordial soup of at least 19 different planets across the galaxy," explaining why most sentient species look the same (ST:TNG S6E20, "The Chase").

3.5 Billion BCE:

The beginnings of life in the Alpha Quadrant are threatened by Q's anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things") .

400 CE (approximately):

Approximate time when the Changelings founded what would become the Dominion, with the Jem'Hadar

900 CE (approximately):

Kahless the Unforgettable slays the Qo'noS tyrant Molor and becomes the first Emperor of the Klingon Empire.
First known sign of the Borg in the Delta Quadrant.

1600 CE (approximately):

The beginnings of Bajoran space exploration leads to first contact between the Cardassians and Bajorans. (It does not go well for them.)

1800 CE (approximately):

Establishment of the Cardassian Union.
Picard, La Forge, Troi, Riker, and Crusher arrive in San Francisco after the discovery of Data's severed head in their century. Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain) gets caught up in their efforts to save him (ST:TNG S5E26-S6E1, "Time's Arrow").
Kirk and Spock chase a drugged and disoriented McCoy through the time portal known as the Guardian of Forever to New York City. While there, Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler, a social worker whose life McCoy saved, but Kirk must ultimately let die, in order to preserve the timeline and prevent Germany from winning World War II (ST:TOS S1E28, "The City on the Edge of Forever").
The Briori abduct several hundred humans from Earth and bring them to the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart (ST:VOY S2E1, "The 37's") .

1944 (alternate universe):

Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise NX-01 crew find themselves in an altered version of World War II, where the Nazis have invaded America (ST:ENT S4E1-E2, "Storm Front").
Quark, Rom and Nog crash their ship in Roswell, New Mexico and have to escape from the U.S. Military (ST:DS9 S4E8, "Little Green Men") .
The Enterprise travels back to this year to prevent an agent from interfering with events, because Starfleet had a record of them doing so. Time travel is fun that way (ST:TOS S2E26, "Assignment: Earth"). The Enterprise also went on a similar mission in 1969 (ST:TOS S1E19, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday") .
Kirk and friends, in search of humpback whales to save the future, arrive in San Francisco, where they meet marine biologist Gillian Taylor, invent transparent aluminum, and teach Spock how to swear (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
The Eugenics Wars rage on (at least, according to almost all sources ). When the Enterprise first discovers genetically enhanced Khan Noonien Singh (ST:TOS S1E24, "Space Seed") , Spock says that during these years, Khan had conquered most of the Earth, before fleeing the Earth with 84 of his followers to drift through space in the S.S. Botany Bay.
In this version of 1996 (perhaps because they've just ended?), there's no sign of the Eugenics Wars in action when the Voyager is pulled to sunny Southern California by a 29th century time ship. Despite being featured on local news broadcasts, the Voyager and its crew manage not to damage the timeline before returning to the 24th century (ST:VOY S3E8-9, "Future's End") .

December 27, 1999:

One of Captain Janeway's ancestors gets caught up in the controversy surrounding the construction of the Millennium Gate tower, a self-sufficient structure built in Indiana that would become the model for the colonization of Mars (ST:VOY S5E23, "11:59") .
Archer and T'Pol arrive in Detroit to stop the Xindi from annihilating the human race with a bioweapon — they succeed (ST:ENT S3E11, "Carpenter Street) .

Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2024:

Thanks to a transporter accident, Sisko, Dax and Bashir arrive in a very different San Francisco from the modern world, and get caught up in the Bell Riots, a historical event which eventually led to massive reform of America's social issues (ST:DS9 S3E11-E12, "Past Tense") .

2026 – 2053:

World War III ravages Earth, killing six hundred million humans.

The Dawn of the Warp Era

April 4, 2063:

The Enterprise-E arrives at Earth after chasing a Borg sphere from the 24th century, just as the Borg plan to disrupt the launch of Zefram Cochrane's extremely important prototype warp drive flight (Star Trek: First Contact) .

April 5, 2063:

Thanks to the Enterprise-E, Cochrane successfully completes his flight and, later that day, a Vulcan ship arrives on Earth, initiating first contact and beginning humanity's journey to its future as an architect of the Federation (Star Trek: First Contact).
Colonies on Mars are established.
An elderly Zefram Cochrane vanishes, after heading out on one last space voyage (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
The Enterprise NX-01, the first starship capable of traveling at Warp 5, begins its mission to explore the galaxy. A major part of its adventures have to do with the Temporal Cold War, in which the crew found itself caught up in time travel conflicts.

March 2153:

The Xindi attack Earth, firing a blast that causes destruction from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million people. The NX-01 refocuses its mission on trying to stop the Xindi from causing further destruction.
For the first time, Starfleet officers travel to the Mirror Universe, encountering a far darker version of their world (ST:ENT S4E18-E19, "In a Mirror, Darkly") .
Discussion of uniting various planets for some sort of... federation, perhaps, begins (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .

2156–2160:

A four-year war with the Romulans leads to the creation of the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Captain Archer speaks to the Coalition of Planets about the need to create...
The United Federation of Planets, which is officially born that year (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .
Starfleet Academy is also founded.
In an alternate timeline, the crew of the Defiant was sent back in time to this year, crashing on a planet called Gaia. While Kira died, the survivors eventually built a society of eight thousand people. This society, however, was wiped out of existence when the Odo living on Gaia prevented the Defiant from replicating that journey into the past, to save Kira's life (ST:DS9 S5E22, "Children of Time") .

March 22nd, 2233:

In the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk is born aboard a USS Kelvin shuttlecraft as time-traveling Romulan Nero attacks the ship now being captained by James' soon-to-be-deceased father George (Star Trek 2009) .
In the Prime Timeline, Kirk is born (exact location unknown, but could have still been aboard the USS Kelvin, albeit under more peaceful circumstances), and eventually raised in Iowa by George and Winona Kirk.
Michael Burnham's family was killed at Doctari Alpha, following which Sarek brought her into his home and made her Spock's adoptive sister (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, launches its second five-year mission to explore the universe.
Captain Pike, Lieutenant Spock and the Enterprise visit the planet of Talos IV (ST:TOS S1E15-E16, "The Menagerie") .
The USS Shenzhou is called to investigate damage done to an interstellar array on the edge of Federation space, which leads to the ship being overwhelmed by an onslaught of Klingon ships. In the conflict, Captain Georgiou is killed, and Lieutenant Michael Burnham not just committing mutiny, but triggering a war between the Federation and the Klingons (ST:DIS S1E1-E2, "The Vulcan Hello"-"Battle at the Binary Stars") .

November 2256:

Michael Burnham is, via a roundabout set of circumstances, transferred from prison to the USS Discovery under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca (ST:DIS S1E3, "Context Is For Kings") .
The Discovery arrives in the Mirror Universe thanks to Lorca, who had secretly snuck into the Prime Universe. The ship eventually returns home, but with the devious Mirror Universe version of Georgiou on board (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue").
By making a pact with L'Rell and stopping an attack on the Klingon homeworld, Burnham is able to end the Federation-Klingon War (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue") .
As the Enterprise needs repairs and the Discovery needs a (temporary?) captain, Captain Pike fills in the gap, introducing the mission to discover what's going on with the "Red Angel" who keeps appearing in multiple spots across the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
Burnham learns that the Red Angel is herself, from the future, and ultimately chases that predestination paradox (ST:DIS Season 2) .
The Discovery, with a limited crew, travels to the year 3186. Those who stay behind, including Pike, Spock and Number One, adhere to the pact that speaking of the Discovery or its crew ever again is a treasonable offense (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2") .

2258 (Kelvin-verse):

The Prime Universe version of Spock arrives from the future — which is just what Nero has been waiting for, for 25 years (Star Trek 2009) .
James Kirk is just about to finish his time at Starfleet Academy when the planet of Vulcan is destroyed by Nero. Kirk and his new crew ultimately take down Nero, and end up taking over the Enterprise for a mission of exploration (Star Trek 2009) .

2259 (Kelvin-verse):

Khan Noonien Singh arises to try to tear down the Federation. Kirk dies, but does not stay dead (Star Trek Into Darkness) .

2260 (Kelvin-verse):

The Enterprise sets out on its five-year mission (Star Trek Beyond) .

2263 (Kelvin-verse):

Three years into said mission, the Enterprise crew saves the space station Yorktown from destruction — destroying their ship in the process, but the Enterprise-A immediately gets commissioned (Star Trek Beyond) .
The Prime Universe Spock, having lived in the Kelvin timeline for seven years, passes away at the age of 162 (Star Trek Beyond) .
James T. Kirk takes command of the USS Enterprise for another five-year mission, encountering Klingons, con men and more.
McCoy, after an unfortunate injection, rushes to the surface of an alien planet and escapes to the year 1930 thanks to the Guardian of Forever (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever") .
The Enterprise experiences plenty of wacky experiences, but few as memorable as a trip to Deep Space Station K-7 to handle an agricultural situation aggravated by a tribble infestation (ST:TOS S2E13, "The Trouble With Tribbles") .
After a time traveler tries to interfere with the events of DSS K-7, Captain Sisko and his crew arrive to make sure Kirk keeps the Klingons from sabotaging things (ST:DS9 S5E6, "Trials and Tribble-ations") .
The Enterprise discovers Zefram Cochrane marooned on a remote planetoid, but ultimately leaves him behind with an alien consciousness with which he is in love (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
At the end of the five-year mission, Kirk is promoted to the rank of Admiral, while Will Decker becomes captain of the USS Enterprise.
When an alien-retrofitted version of Voyager returns to Earth, Kirk resumes control over the Enterprise to save Earth (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) .
The Prime Universe Khan gets his chance at conquering the galaxy. Spock dies in the successful effort to thwart him (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) .
Kirk steals the Enterprise, but Spock is successfully resurrected thanks to the planet Genesis's extraordinary properties. They return Spock to Vulcan so he can recuperate (Star Trek III: The Search For Spock) .
An alien probe broadcasting humpback whale song doesn't get any response, and starts trying to destroy the planet Earth as a result. To prevent this, Kirk and his friends travel back in time (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
Kirk is demoted to the rank of Captain, and thus he can return to being the Captain of the Enterprise (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
The Enterprise crew goes on another adventure, which might be boiled down to this memorable incident: Captain Kirk asks the question "What does God need with a starship?" (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) .
Hikaru Sulu becomes captain of the USS Excelsior.
Kirk is framed for the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, and he and McCoy even go to prison for that presumed crime, but their friends rescue them in time to prevent another assassination. Kirk saves the peace talks and is told to bring the Enterprise back to Earth. He might end up taking his time getting there (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) .
Tuvok serves under Captain Sulu aboard the Excelsior (ST:VOY S3E2, "Flashback") .
Later that year, Kirk and other crew members are visiting the newly commissioned Enterprise-B. After an encounter with the Nexus that destroys a good part of the ship, Kirk is considered dead (Star Trek Generations) .
Captain Rachel Garrett and the Enterprise-C are lost while defending a Klingon settlement, an event which proved pivotal to creating peace between the Klingons and the Federation — so pivotal that when it didn't happen in an alternate universe, it led to a far worse future (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
War between the Federation and Cardassian Union begins, with conflicts tapering off in the 2350s.
The USS Pegasus is considered missing after experimenting with phasing technology ( ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .

The Rise of Picard, Sisko, and Janeway

Seven years later, Picard re-experiences this first mission, because it is revealed that the trial which Q began during the trip to Farpoint had never actually ended ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Lieutenant Natasha Yar is killed in action (ST:TNG S1E23, "Skin of Evil") .
The Enterprise encounters the Borg for the first time, after being flung into the Delta Quadrant by Q (ST:TNG S2E16, "Q Who") .
The Enterprise-C arrives in a very changed version of the universe, 22 years after it disappeared into a temporal rift. Captain Garrett and her crew eventually return to the point of their disappearance to preserve the original timeline, with Tasha Yar (who did not die in this new timeline) returning with them (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
Jean-Luc Picard gets abducted by the Borg, and a battle he spearheads as Locutus of Borg, known as Wolf 359, is a brutal moment for the Federation. Benjamin Sisko's wife Jennifer is one of the many, many casualties (ST:TNG S3E26-S4E1, "The Best of Both Worlds"; ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
With the ascension of Gowron as Emperor, the Klingon Civil War begins.
The Klingon Civil War ends, with Gowron maintaining his control over the Empire (ST:TNG S5E1, "Redemption II") .
Ambassador Spock travels to Romulus to try to reunite the Vulcans and Romulan people — unsuccessfully. (ST:TNG S5E7-8, "Redemption I-II") .
Commander Benjamin Sisko arrives at the station Deep Space Nine, where he encounters the "wormhole aliens," AKA "the Prophets," and devotes himself to bringing local planet Bajor into the Federation as Bajor rebuilds after Cardassian occupation (ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
The Enterprise-D recovers long-lost Montgomery Scott from a transporter buffer, and Scotty sets out to go exploring the galaxy (ST:TNG S6E4, "Relics").
Commander Riker, struggling to decide what to do when his old commanding officer Admiral Pressman asks for his help, uses the holodeck to look back at Captain Archer's big speech to the Coalition of Planets (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages..."; ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .
The Federation-Cardassian Treaty is signed, officially ending hostilities and creating a demilitarized zone that left several planets previously colonized by Federation citizens under Cardassian control. This leads to the creation of the Maquis, former Federation members who rebel against the Cardassians (ST:DS9 S2E20-21, "The Maquis") .
Picard begins to shift in time, from his past to his future, which lead to him discovering that Q has spent the last seven years evaluating the human race, based on the adventures of Picard and his crew. Ultimately, Picard convinces Q of humanity's value ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Picard learns that his brother and nephew have ben killed in a fire at his family vineyard (Star Trek Generations) .
The Enterprise-D gets caught up in Dr. Soran's attempt to reach the Nexus, a realm outside of space and time that can feel like paradise. Picard, inside the Nexus, meets Kirk, who he convinces to leave the Nexus with him to stop Soran. They succeed, but Kirk is killed and the Enterprise is destroyed (Star Trek Generations) .
The USS Voyager departs Deep Space Nine to track down a missing Maquis ship, but both ships end up getting dragged 75,000 light years away from Earth. The Starfleet and Maquis crews end up working together to try to get back to the Alpha Quadrant (ST:VOY S1E1-2, "Caretaker") .
The USS Defiant, a new ship to be captained by Benjamin Sisko, arrives at Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S3E1, "The Search, Part I") .
Odo learns that his people, the Changelings, are the Founders of the Dominion, which controls the Gamma Quadrant, and now aims to take over the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DS9 S3E1-2, "The Search, Parts I/II") .
The Enterprise-E is launched.
Thanks to Changeling infiltration at the highest levels of government, war erupts between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Worf joins the crew of Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S4E1-2, "The Way of the Warrior") .
After the Battle of Sector 001, in which the Borg gets close to attacking the Earth, the Enterprise-E launches into action, following a Borg Sphere back into the past (Star Trek: First Contact) .
When the Changeling impersonating General Martok is revealed, war between the Federation and the Klingons ends (ST:DS9 S5E1, "Apocalypse Rising") .
The Federation first learns about the existence of the non-corporeal Pah-wraiths, enemies of the Bajoran Prophets, when one of them takes over the body of Keiko O'Brien (ST:DS9 S5E5, "The Assignment") .
Bashir, without anyone's knowledge, is replaced by a Changeling, which is not uncovered for a month (ST:DS9 S5E14-15, "In Purgatory's Shadow"/"By Inferno's Light") .
The Dominion, as part of the deal, helps Cardassia completely eliminate the Maquis.
To avoid war with the Dominion, the Bajorans sign a non-aggression treaty (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
The Dominion takes over the Bajor sector as the Federation departs, beginning the Dominion War (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
Voyager assists the Borg in fighting off Species 8472, and a drone known as Seven of Nine gets marooned on their ship (ST:VOY S4E1, "Scorpion, Part II") .
Meanwhile, crew member Kes leaves the ship to explore her psychic abilities (ST:VOY S4E2, "The Gift") .
The Dominion War is fought on multiple fronts, with Kira leading a resistance effort on Deep Space Nine while Sisko and the Defiant battle to eventually retake the station (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
Gul Dukat's daughter Ziyal is killed by Damar during the battle over DS9 (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
Worf and Jadzia Dax get married (ST:DS9 S6E7, "You Are Cordially Invited...") .
First major appearance of Section 31 (in the Prime timeline), as an agent attempts to recruit Bashir (ST:DS9 S6E18, "Inquisition") .
Thanks to Sisko working with the ruthless Garak, the Romulans join the war against the Dominion (ST:DS9 S6E19, "In the Pale Moonlight") .
Dukat, having snuck onto DS9, kills Jadzia Dax and releases a Pah-wraith which closes the Bajoran wormhole permanently (ST:DS9 S6E26, "Tears of the Prophets") .
The Dax symbiont is joined with a Trill named Ezri (ST:DS9 S7E1, "Image in the Sand") .
After having left DS9 for a short time, Sisko recovers the Orb of the Emissary, and returns to reopen the wormhole (ST:DS9 S7E2, "Shadows and Symbols") .
Dukat now leads a cult devoted to the worship of the Pah-wraiths (ST:DS9 S7E9, "Covenant") .
The Enterprise-E crew, including Worf, work together to reconcile the Son'a and Ba'ku people after a century of distrust (Star Trek: Insurrection) .
Sisko makes plans for life after the Dominion War, and also marries long-time girlfriend Kasidy Yates (ST:DS9 S7E18, "'Til Death Do Us Part") .
Kira, Odo and Garak go to Cardassia to help Damar, now in open rebellion against the Dominion, lead a resistance movement. Odo learns that he has been infected by the virus killing the Changelings, which was created by Section 31 (ST:DS9 S7E21, "When It Rains...") .
The Defiant is destroyed by the Breen, and a new ship is renamed in its honor (ST:DS9 S7E24, "The Dogs of War") .
Odo, having been cured of Section 31's disease, returns to his people to spread the cure to them (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind").
Dukat, having surgically altered himself to resemble a Bajoran, becomes a confidante of Kai Winn and manipulates her into helping him unlock the power of the Pah-wraiths in the Fire Caves on Bajor. Sisko arrives in time to stop him, but all three of them are considered dead (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
The Dominion War ends (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
The USS Voyager continues its journey home.
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres get married (ST:VOY S7E3, "Drive") .
Neelix leaves Voyager to join a Talaxian community (ST:VOY S7E23, "Homestead").
With the help of a time-travelling Admiral Janeway, Voyager successfully uses the Borg transwarp network to get back to Earth (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
Miral Paris is born (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
William Riker and Deanna Troi get married (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
The Enterprise-E discovers that Data's creator, Dr. Soong, had created an early prototype of Data known as B-4, which is more primitive than Data. Data tries to help by transferring his memories into B-4.
Picard comes to Romulus after a military coup puts Shinzon, a clone of Picard created by Romulans who ended up becoming the leader of the Remans. In the ensuing fight, Picard kills Shinzon, but Data is killed saving his crew (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
Ensign Tendi joins Rutherford, Mariner, and Boimler to serve on board the U.S.S. Cerritos, a ship dedicated to "second contact" encounters with new civilizations (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E1, "Second Contact") .
Boimler jumps at the chance of promotion to serve on board the U.S.S. Titan under the command of Captain William Riker, leaving behind his friends on the Cerritos (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E10, "No Small Parts") .
Thaddeus "Thad" Troi-Riker is born (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe").

The Future Is a Dark Place

Jean-Luc Picard puts the Data's Daughter painting into storage at the Starfleet Archive Museum (ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
Seven of Nne, working as a Fenris Ranger near the Romulan Neutral Zone, loses adopted son Icheb (a former Borg like herself) after Icheb is attacked by raiders looking for black market Borg implants (ST:PIC S1E5, "Stardust City Rag") .
When a star near Romulus goes supernova, the entire planet is destroyed, despite Spock's attempt to stop the explosion by injecting the star with Red Matter and creating a black hole. The black hole instead brings both his ship and the nearby Romulan mining vessel containing Nero into the past (Star Trek 2009) .

2388-89 (approximate):

In the wake of the destruction of Romulus, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards of Mars are destroyed by rebellious synthetic workers on First Contact Day (April 5), killing thousands and leaving Mars ablaze for years to follow (ST:ST "Children of Mars," ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
The Troi-Riker family moves to the outlying planet of Nepenthe (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
The original year that the Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant, prior to Janeway's temporal interference (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
While the future that Picard saw during his final confrontation with Q was eventually rewritten, this would have been the year in which Picard reunited his old crew to work together to stop the anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
Thad Troi-Riker dies of mendaxic neurosclerosis at the age of 15 (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
Jean-Luc Picard, having left Starfleet years ago after the destruction of Romulus, meets Dahj, a frightened young woman with a mysterious connection to Data. She inspires him to leave retirement and investigate further ( ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance").
Picard's search to understand Dahj's origins leads him to assemble a ramshackle crew and discover Dahj's synth twin Soji, but in the race to save her and her fellow synths, Picard's terminal brain condition catches up with him and he dies in the climactic battle. Fortunately, his consciousness is saved and transplanted into a synthetic body, meaning that Picard has potentially years worth of adventure ahead of him (ST:PIC S1E10, "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2") .
Admiral Janeway, having spent years figuring out a plan, leaves her original timeline to travel to the year 2378 and change the past (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
The USS Discovery arrives in an uncharted future. What happens next is totally unknown (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2," ST:DIS Season 3) .

3200s (or potentially more):

1000 years into the future of the Discovery, the abandoned ship (run by a now-sentient computer) rescues an escape pod and forms a bond with its occupant (ST:ST "Calypso") .

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Star Trek: Movies & TV Shows In Chronological Timeline Order

These are the Movies, TV Shows, From Star Trek in Chronological Timeline Order.

Movies or TV
IMDb Rating
In Theaters
Release Year

1. 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: 58,981

Year: 2151-2155; 2373 (Season 1-4)

2. 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: 3,132

Year: 2230's-2385 (Season 1-2)

3. 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: 133,860

Year: 2256-2257; 3188-3190 (Season 1-4)

4. 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: 58,551

Year: 2259 (Season 1) Year: 2260 (Season 2)

5. 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: 92,713

Year: 2265-2269 (Season 1-3)

6. 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: 8,156

Year: 2269-2270 (Season 1-2)

7. 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: 96,492 | Gross: $82.26M

8. 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: 129,099 | Gross: $78.91M

9. 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: 86,079 | Gross: $76.47M

Year: 2285 (After the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

10. 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: 91,377 | Gross: $109.71M

11. 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: 64,139 | Gross: $52.21M

12. 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: 80,822 | Gross: $74.89M

13. 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: 135,672

Year: 2364-2370 (Season 1-7)

14. 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: 70,640

Year: 2369-2375 (Season 1-7)

15. 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: 77,168

Year: 2371-2378; 3074 (Season 1-7)

16. 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: 86,965 | Gross: $75.67M

17. 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: 131,947 | Gross: $92.00M

18. 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: 79,389 | Gross: $70.12M

19. 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: 83,850 | Gross: $43.25M

20. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020– )

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: 24,848

Year: 2380-2381 (Season 1-4)

21. 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: 5,550

Year: 2383 (Season 1-2)

22. 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: 94,495

Year: 2399-2402 (Season 1-3)

23. Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)

Action, Adventure, Drama | Filming

In Star Trek: Section 31, Emperor Philippa Georgiou, joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.

Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi | Stars: Michelle Yeoh , Humberly González , Kacey Rohl , Avaah Blackwell

24. Untitled Star Trek expand

Adventure, Drama | Pre-production

Plot under wraps.

Director: Toby Haynes

Year: 2208 (50-years before the events of the Star Trek Franchise in the Kelvinverse)

25. 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: 619,903 | Gross: $257.73M

Year: 2258 (Kelvinverse)

26. 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: 496,809 | Gross: $228.78M

Year: 2259 (1-year after the events of Star Trek (2009) in the Kelvinverse)

27. 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: 258,257 | Gross: $158.85M

Year: 2263 (4-years after the events of Star Trek Into Darkness in the Kelvinverse)

28. Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel

Action, Adventure, Mystery | Pre-production

Plot kept under wraps. The follow-up to Star Trek Beyond (2016).

Stars: Chris Pine , Zoe Saldana , Karl Urban , Simon Pegg

Year: 2266 (3-years after the events of Star Trek Beyond in the Kelvinverse)

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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.

A Complete Timeline of Star Trek

Star Trek stands as one of the most enduring and influential pop-culture franchises on the planet. From a comparatively humble cult TV series, it has expanded into an entire universe of speculative future history encompassing dozens of movies and TV shows. With more projects on the way, it doesn't look to slow down anytime soon. That can lead to a convoluted timeline, particularly in the early days when no one expected it to last as long as it has.

Star Trek: The Original Series producers didn't worry about what came before or after their show, and series creator Gene Roddenberry had a way of simply ignoring episodes he considered sub-par. Writers Michael and Denise Okuda are largely credited with firmly establishing a canonical Star Trek timeline during the expansion of the franchise following Star Trek: The Next Generation . That's resulted in a definable, if complicated, fictional history to chart the rise of the United Federation of Planets and its development through centuries of galactic history. Here's a breakdown of the Star Trek in-universe timeline, divided roughly by era.

The Early Years of Star Trek's Timeline Are Vague

Wrath of khan creates star trek's biggest plot hole, and the real-life explanation is hilarious.

The early years of Star Trek 's timeline run into a number of real-world continuity issues. This was most notable with the Eugenics Wars , which originally took place in the 1990s, but has since been retconned to an indeterminate point in the future. They're linked to the rise of genetically augmented humans who conquer and rule much of the planet, led by the notorious Khan Noonien Singh. The Eugenics Wars culminate in a Third World War, and the ensuing nuclear apocalypse all but destroys civilization. Khan and his followers escape the planet in a stasis ship, and await their rendezvous with Captain Kirk in The Original Series episode, "Space Seed."

The most important event after that arrives on April 5, 2063, subsequently known as First Contact Day. As depicted in Star Trek: First Contact , scientist Zefram Cochrane develops a faster-than-light engine and tests it in his vessel, the Phoenix . A Vulcan survey vessel notices the feat and makes first contact with Cochrane in Bozeman, Montana that evening. With the Vulcans' help, humanity quickly gets back on its feet. Hunger and poverty are eliminated by the early 22nd century, and even war itself has ended on the planet by 2113. A world government is established in 2150, uniting the globe under a single unifying body for the first time in human history.

Enterprise Reveals The Founding of the Federation

Why star trek: enterprise used shuttles instead of transporters.

The events of Star Trek: Enterprise begin just one year later, in 2151, as humanity launches its first earnest efforts to explore the galaxy. Captain Archer and the crew of the Enterprise spearhead the effort, resulting in key first contact with such important species as the Andorians and the Tellarites. It also comes with new conflicts, notably the Xindi crisis of 2153 which lasts for nearly a year. That is followed in 2156 by the Earth-Romulan War , which stretches out over four years. Humanity, Andorians, Vulcans, and Tellarites all join forces against the common threat, resulting in the defeat of the Romulans and the establishment of the Neutral Zone.

The victory leads immediately to the founding of the United Federation of Planets in San Francisco in the year 2161, organized by the four victorious species. Several decades of peaceful exploration and expansion follow, led by Starfleet vessels who set out to explore in the name of peace, coexistence, and scientific understanding. That marks the end of the events of Star Trek: Enterprise and a relative blank spot in the timeline for a little less than a century.

The 23rd Century Brings War, Peace, and The Original Series

The complete history of vulcans in the federation era of star trek.

With the exception of a few peripheral events, the next few decades are quiet as far as canon events go. The timeline picks up again properly with the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery as open war breaks out between the Federation and the Klingon Empire in the year 2256 . The war lasts for a year and proves costly to both sides, ending thanks to efforts of the USS Discovery to stabilize the political situation in the Empire. The Discovery vanishes approximately one year later during the battle with the rogue AI Control , jumping ahead in time to the 32nd century in the process.

With the end of the war comes another era of peaceful expansion and exploration. That encompasses the events of both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series , as Starfleet "boldly goes where no one has gone before." As the 23rd century continues, the franchise shifts to the first six big-screen Star Trek movies. That culminates in the events of Star Trek VI in 2293, resulting in the Khitomer Accords and long-term peace with the Klingon Empire . Captain Kirk is presumed dead a short time later as depicted in the movie Star Trek: Insurrection , officially bringing The Original Series era to a close.

The Next Generation Kicks off The 24th Century

10 best star trek: the next generation characters.

The early decades of the 24th century are another blank spot in the Star Trek calendar, marked by a few notable events but otherwise leaving a good deal open for speculation. The most important development during that time is the Battle of Narendra III in 2344 , where the Federation vessel USS Enterprise-C sacrifices itself to defend a Klingon colony from Romulan attackers. This results in a formal alliance between the Federation and the Klingons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation officially begins in the year 2364, with the Federation enjoying a golden age of peace and prosperity. The Enterprise-D under Captain Picard serves as Starfleet's flagship, conducting missions of diplomacy and peaceful exploration. The Enterprise first encounters the Borg in 2366 , during The Next Generation's Season 2 episode "Q Who." The Borg invade the Federation a year later, and come within a hair's breadth of destroying the Earth before the Enterprise crew saves the day during the Season 4 premiere, "The Best of Both Worlds Part II."

The Dominion War and the Delta Quadrant Mark DS9 and Voyager

How star trek: the next generation disserviced this fan-favorite character.

In 2369, a stable wormhole to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant opens near the planet of Bajor, kicking off the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . What at first seems a conduit to a whole new sector of space soon becomes an existential threat. The Dominion is a powerful totalitarian government in the Gamma Quadrant ruled by a species of shape-shifting Changelings. The Dominion sets its sites on the Alpha Quadrant , and launches an invasion in 2373. The Federation is forced to rally its long-time foes in the Romulan Empire to its side, who join with Starfleet and the Klingons to finally defeat the Dominion in 2375.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Borg launch another attack on Earth in 2373, and again come perilously close to assimilating the entire Federation before Jean-Luc Picard and his crew put a stop to them during the events of Star Trek: First Contact. Amid it all, the USS Voyager vanishes in the year 2371, having been flung into the far reaches of the Delta Quadrant and launching a seven-year journey to return to Federation space.

The 24th Century Ends with Peace and Old Enemies

Star trek: lower decks paid off a deep space nine character arc.

The end of the Dominion War marks the beginning of another extended period of Federation-led peace. Voyager returns from its long journey in 2378 , and the Enterprise averts a surprise attack from the Romulan Empire in 2379 during the events of Star Trek: Insurrection . Beyond that, peace prevails, which leads the way to lighter Star Trek series such as Star Trek: Lower Decks (which begins in 2381) and Star Trek: Prodigy (which begins in 2383).

That comes to an end with the implosion of the Romulan Empire, whose sun is doomed and whose most militant factions sabotage any chance at Federation aid by orchestrating the destruction of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on April 5, 2385. Two years later, the Romulan sun goes nova, seemingly killing Mr. Spock, who was attempting to halt the explosion and creating the Kelvinverse timeline of the 2010s big-screen Star Trek movies. It renders the Romluans a scattered and defeated people. Jean-Luc Picard is able to repair some of the damage done to the two powers in Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, then rejoin with his crewmates in Season 3 to defeat a unified Dominion/Borg attack on the Federation in the year 2402.

The Far Future Beckons

'we broke barriers': star trek: discovery star celebrates show's diversity.

Star Trek canon comes to a halt at the beginning of the 25th century after the events of Picard Season 3. That leaves a vast stretch of centuries that have not yet been defined in Star Trek canon, and will presumably be filled in by series to come. In that time, the Federation continues to expand until it is more than double the size it was in the 24th century. Then disaster strikes in the form of an event called The Burn, which instantly renders all dilithium in the galaxy inert in the year 3069. Every active warp engine detonates, causing widespread disaster and rendering interstellar travel exponentially more difficult.

The arrival of the Discovery in the year 3188 -- beginning with the premiere in Season 3 -- changes all of that. After destroying the tyrannical Emerald Chain, Captain Michael Burnham and her crew set about restoring the shattered Federation, which leads to the events of Discovery's final three seasons. With the series bowing out at the end of Season 5, subsequent Star Trek projects will have a new final frontier in the 32nd century -- uncluttered by earlier shows -- thanks to the leap forward in time.

Star Trek is currently streaming on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Created by Gene Roddenberry

First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Latest Film Star Trek: Nemesis

First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series

Latest TV Show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Cast Nichelle Nichols, Scott Bakula, Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan

TV Show(s) Star Trek: Animated, Star trek, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks

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.

Star Trek Timeline

A holistic view of the chronological timeline of events in the Star Trek universe(s).

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By Significance

The Original Series
The Animated Series
The Next Generation
Deep Space Nine
Short Treks
Lower Decks
Strange New Worlds

This is a fan-created site dedicated to providing a holistic view of the chronological timeline of events in the Star Trek universe(s). Most material is sourced from the Memory Alpha fandom wiki site .

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Event Summary

How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

The full star trek timeline, explained..

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

How to Watch Star Trek by Release Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

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

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and told even more stories of the Enterprise and its adventures throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

The series is also worth a watch as it is having a crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that will mix the worlds of live-action and animation.

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Without spoiling anything, certain events get one of our favorite captains back to work and take him on an adventure through space and time over three seasons and 30 episodes.

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

Star Trek: Discovery is set to end after the upcoming fifth season, which will debut on Paramount+ in 2024.

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Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer looks at the time stream in 'Star Trek Enterprise'

A Trekkie’s Guide To Navigating the Star Trek Timeline

With a narrative that spans seven decades and more than three times as many shows and movies, determining how to watch Star Trek might seem like a daunting prospect. Whether you’re new to the franchise or want to know how to watch the series following the in-universe chronology, this guide should help.

What is a stardate?

To avoid placing Star Trek in a specific century, the franchise has its own system of time: the stardate system. Originally inspired by the Modified Julian date system used by astronomers, writers, and producers have selected numbers using different methods over the years (some more arbitrary than others), which makes it impossible to convert all of the stardates to equivalent calendar dates.

What to know about the Star Trek timeline?

How time works in Star Trek, and how it’s impacted by Starfleet’s time travel shenanigans, is debated amongst the most devoted followers of the Church of Trek. But for casual fans, the first thing it’s necessary to know is that the Star Trek Universe consists of two timelines: the prime timeline and the Kelvin timeline. Although two timelines exist, most of the franchise’s films, shows, and tie-ins take place on the prime timeline.

The second thing to know is that Star Trek’s timelines are always subject to change. Due to the nature of time travel in the franchise, entries appearing earlier on the prime timeline can be impacted and changed (very important to remember) by events that happen later on. For example, the Star Trek: Enterprise season 2 episode “Regeneration” follows up on the events of Star Trek: First Contact .

How to watch the Star Trek prime timeline in chronological order

Here’s how to watch Star Trek ‘s prime timeline in chronological order:

Star Trek: Enterprise (stardates: 2151 – 2155)

Star Trek: The Original Series pilot “The Cage” (stardate: 2254)

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

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (stardates: 2259 – 2260)

Star Trek: The Original Series (stardates: 2265 – 2269)

Star Trek: The Animated Series (stardates: 2269 – 2270)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (stardate: 2272)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (stardate: 2285)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (stardate: 2285)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (stardate: 2286)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (stardate: 2287)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (stardate: 2293)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (stardates: 2364 – 2370)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (stardates: 2369 –2375)

Star Trek Generations (stardate: 2371 and some in 2293)

Star Trek: First Contact (stardate: 2373)

Star Trek: Insurrection (stardate: 2375)

Star Trek: Voyager (stardates: 2371 –2378)

Star Trek: Nemesis (stardate: 2379)

Star Trek: Lower Decks (stardates: 2380 – 2381)

Star Trek: Prodigy (stardates: 2383 – 2384)

Star Trek: Picard (stardates: 2399 – 2402)

Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 and 4 (stardates: 3188 – 3190)

What about the J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie trilogy?

As touched on above, there are two timelines in Star Trek . The J.J. Abrams movies take place on the Kelvin timeline, a parallel timeline created when a 24th-century Romulan, Nero, travels back in time to 2233 (between Ent and Disco season 1, for those keeping track) and splits the timelines in two.

Most of the Kelvin timeline takes place around the TOS ‘s timeframe but on an alternate timeline. Well, at least so far.

Here’s how to watch all three movies in the Kelvin timeline in chronological order:

Star Trek (2233)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2259 – 2260)

Star Trek Beyond (2263)

(featured image: Paramount Pictures)

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A New ‘Star Trek’ Prequel Film Is in the Works at Paramount

It would mark the franchise’s 14th spin-off movie..

star trek prequel film movie jj abrams producing cinemacon announcement 2009 flick saga franchise series details release date

Star Trek keeps moving further and further back in time. The space franchise is constantly growing – it counts 13 movies and the original Star Trek TV show has quite literally been renamed Star Trek: The Original Series to differentiate it from all its spin-offs.

The latest addition to the Star Trek saga, however, arrives in the form of a film. The news was announced at Paramount CinemaCon and while there aren’t any specific plot details, the movie will serve as a prequel to 2009’s Star Trek, which was directed by J.J. Abrams and starred Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock.

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Screen Rant

13 times star trek: voyager's emh said bones mccoy's "i'm a doctor, not a ...".

The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager adopted Dr. Leonard McCoy's iconic catchphrase from Star Trek: The Original Series as his own.

The Doctor, portrayed by Robert Picardo in Star Trek: Voyager, humorously uses Dr. McCoy's catchphrase, "I'm a doctor, not a...", and establishes franchise continuity.
The Doctor showcases ethical integrity and progression, facing various challenges while maintaining a professional and exploratory purpose.
Each instance of The Doctor saying McCoy's line highlights character development, relationships, and technology in intricate storylines.

Star Trek: Voyager 's Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), AKA The Doctor (Robert Picardo), frequently repeated the iconic catchphrase of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) from Star Trek: The Original Series. Somewhat temperamental and impatient, The Doctor was the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Voyager in the (initial) absence of other medical staff. Evolving considerably over Voyager 's seven seasons, Picardo's Doctor is an essential character who showcases not only creative talents and ability but also ethical and moralistic integrity with a professional and exploratory sense of purpose.

Joining Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the cast of Star Trek: Voyager on their travels through the Delta Quadrant, Picardo's Doctor is progressive yet demonstrates several qualities that reflect traits or viewpoints from the franchise's past. One such facet is the use of the catchphrase, " I'm a doctor, not a ..." initially made famous by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek: The Original Series . It's a nice nod to continuity, allowing Picardo's technologically unusual character a grounded sense of familiarity and purpose. Here's a look at every time Voyager 's Doctor said Bones McCoy's most famous line.

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

13 "i'm a doctor, mr. neelix, not a decorator.", star trek: voyager season 1, episode 5 - "phage".

Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 5, "Phage," marks the first instance of The Doctor using Dr. McCoy's famous TOS catchphrase. In an amusing scene between an increasingly frustrated Doctor and an ailing Neelix (Ethan Phillips) , Picardo's determined Doctor administers vital medical treatment following the unexpected removal of Neelix's lungs. Despite his condition, Neelix maintains a healthy spirit and even makes a lengthy list of requests for improved comfort and aesthetic enjoyment, suggesting the addition of " a nice tapestry or a painting " and commenting on the ugly sickbay ceiling. The Doctor remarks that he is " a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator ," and delegates the requested tasks.

This Star Trek: Voyager season 1 scene showcases the resilience of both characters - each discomforted by their unexpected circumstances and ongoing events yet masking concerns with surface-level frustration and ambivalence. Despite the Doctor's electronic and emotional nature, Picardo's character demonstrates real patience and an appropriately gentle countenance designed to comfort and care for patients.

12 "I'm a doctor, not a performer."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 20 - "investigations".

Appointed as the USS Voyager's official morale officer, Neelix designs an " uplifting and optimistic " daily news program to be broadcast to the ship and attempts to enlist other officers for different segments. The Doctor initially dismisses Neelix's request, saying, " I'm a doctor, not a performer. I don't have time for such nonsense ." Neelix perseveres, suggesting a segment on " healthful living " and suggesting that such a feature might considerably propel the Doctor's celebrity and influence within the crew.

The Doctor later reconsiders and demands two segments from a distracted Neelix the following day: how to keep your nostrils happy and the hidden mysteries of the adrenal gland. Star Trek: Voyager , season 2, episode 20 offers a sentimental insight into the Doctor's slightly nerdy personality and multi-character perspectives on life on board a starship, countering the soft glimpses with an overall plot around espionage and deception.

11 "I'm a doctor, not a bartender."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 6 - "twisted".

An unexpected spatial anomaly interrupts Kes' (Jennifer Lien) surprise birthday party in the ship's holodeck and envelops the USS Voyager with an energy field. The Doctor, attending as the simulated scenario's bartender, clarifies that his presence is primarily in an official capacity and lists several unpleasant potential medical conditions that could arise. As Voyager's communications and technological systems malfunction, the Doctor's attempts to return to sickbay and leave the holodeck are unsuccessful. Having drawn the attention of the overly-affectionate simulated bar's owner, Sandrine (Judy Geeson), Picardo's exasperated Doctor exclaims, " How many times do I have to tell you, Madam, I am a doctor, not a bartender."

It deftly weaves intimate character narratives with grand and perplexing confrontations with the unknown.

The multilayered Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 6 is a testament to the show's intricate storytelling. It deftly interweaves intimate character narratives with grand and perplexing confrontations with the unknown. The Voyager crew's collective response to the spatial anomaly, juxtaposed with the holographic Doctor's struggle to return to sickbay and his inadvertent antagonizing of several other holographic characters, adds layers of complexity, amusement, and endearment.

10 "I'm a doctor, not a voyeur."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 7 - "parturition".

The USS Voyager sets course to a planet rich in protein and amino acid readings, dubbed "Planet Hell," to alleviate the ship's growing food issues . Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 7 sees essential progression in the characterization of several crucial Voyager crew members and their respective relationships, balancing the more weighty developments with less profound interactions among the ship-board crew.

As Voyager approaches the planet, the Doctor contacts the bridge. Having eavesdropped on a conversation between Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) , the Doctor informs them of a skin irritation issue from the planet's trigemic vapors and suggests that automatic EMH inclusion in such discussions would prevent the need for routine eavesdropping to " monitor issues involving the health of the crew." As Janeway questions the frequency of this habit, the Doctor says, " I'm a doctor, not a voyeur. I am programmed to be discreet."

Star Trek: Voyager Series Ending Explained - How The Crew Gets Home

9 "i'm a doctor, not a counter-insurgent.", star trek: voyager season 3, episode 1 - "basics, part ii".

Star Trek: Voyager 's gripping season 3 premiere episode continues the Voyager season 2 finale as the back half of a major Star Trek: Voyager two-parter . With the bulk of the USS Voyager crew stranded and struggling for survival on a desolate and hostile planet, only a few officers remain on board the starship with 89 villainous Kazon.

The Doctor is not just a hologram - he is a Starfleet hologram.

Following examining a young child - the first Cardassian-Kazon hybrid - the Doctor ponders aloud about the futility of the ship's current situation and the limitations of his holographic presence. Asking, " What am I supposed to do? Lead a revolt with a gang from Sandrine's? Conjure up holograms of Nathan Hale and Che Guevara? I'm a doctor, not a counter-insurgent . " The characteristically dramatic statement and subsequent theorizing about a self-taught program on guerrilla warfare adds mounting tension to the unfolding events, culminating in a realization that the Doctor is not just a hologram - he is a Starfleet hologram.

8 "I'm a doctor, not a database."

Star trek: voyager season 3, episode 9 - "future's end, part ii".

In this second part of another Star Trek: Voyager two-parter , Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager attempt to preserve the security of the past after the ship is heavily damaged by Henry Starling's (Ed Begley Jr.) attack in the previous episode. Starling, having downloaded a proportion of Voyager's databanks - including the Emergency Medical Hologram program - equips The Doctor with a mobile holo-emitter and later schemes to travel into the future to steal more advanced technology

Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 9 introduces a significant character development for the Doctor, with the implementation of a major hardware upgrade.

When Starling demands Captain Kathryn Janeway 's psychological profile from The Doctor, the defiant EMH responds, "I'm a doctor, not a database," Starling comments, "I'd say you're a little bit of both," referring to the hologram's technological makeup. Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 9 introduces significant character development for the Doctor, with the implementation of a major hardware upgrade.

7 "I'm a doctor, not a peeping Tom."

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 2 - "drone".

The Doctor's mobile holo emitter is damaged during a survey mission when the shuttlecraft encounters spatial turbulence. Back on the USS Voyager, Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) informs the Doctor that some circuits in the mobile emitter were fused during transport back to the ship. The following morning, oblivious to social cues and normalcy, The Doctor calls for an update at an inopportune moment , leading to an amusingly awkward situation.

As Lt. Torres prepares to enter a sonic shower, The Doctor tells her, " I'm a doctor, not a peeping Tom. There's nothing I haven't seen before. " Frustrated, Torres throws her towel over the communications display screen. Despite the Doctor's general demonstration of respect, consideration, and patient confidentiality, moments such as this underscore the character's lack of social sensitivity and an accompanying sense of empathy and humility, resulting in an odd blend of personality traits for a character whose entire existence is designed for healthy interactions with others.

6 "I'm a doctor, not a battery."

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 13 - "gravity".

The Doctor, Tuvok (Tim Russ) , and Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) are stranded on a desert planet when their shuttle crash lands in a temporally distorted area of space. Following the repair of the Doctor's damaged mobile emitter, Tuvok suggests that the EMH program should stay offline as much as possible, given the limited resources to preserve the option of the emitter as a power source. Affronted, the Doctor exclaims, "I'm a doctor, not a battery , " drily adding that Paris' sub-par hunting skills should perhaps necessitate a similar status.

The Doctor's limited scope in "Gravity" highlights an adaptability and innate frustration at technological limitations.

Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 13 is bittersweet, told in a series of flashbacks, with Tuvok exploring the lessons of his past to make sense of his present. The curious exploration of race, technology, and natural phenomena is rich and considered, with the characters' sentiments and outlooks working to complement and disrupt. Despite the enhanced potential of Picardo's character, the Doctor's limited scope in "Gravity" highlights an adaptability and innate frustration at technological limitations.

1 Star Trek Actor Starred Alongside 5 Classic Captains

5 "i'm a doctor, not a dragon slayer.", star trek: voyager season 5, episode 14 - "bliss".

Star Trek: Voyager, season 5, episode 14, "Bliss," offers an interesting premise involving The Doctor. The Voyager crew is affected by a giant " beast " capable of neurogenic telepathy and manipulation. Amid several other unaffected crew members, Picardo's Doctor identifies peculiarities in the crew's dopamine levels and becomes suspicious. Although The Doctor is promptly deactivated to prevent interference in the creature's scheme, the EMH is later reactivated and ultimately instrumental in saving the ship.

Following the creature's defeat, The Doctor is offered a place to work alongside Qatai (W. Morgan Shepard). The Doctor responds, " I'm a doctor, not a dragon slayer. My program requires that I do no harm ." Interestingly, the Doctor uses a similar phrase upon reactivation in Voyager's sickbay when Qatai requests access to the ship's weapons manifest, stating, " This is a sickbay, not an arsenal ." "Bliss" showcases the Doctor's proclivities towards peace and well-being against a backdrop of disruption and telepathic and biological manipulation.

4 "I'm a doctor, not a zoo keeper."

Star trek: voyager season 6, episode 24 - "life line".

Voyager's Doctor temporarily transfers to the Alpha Quadrant's Jupiter Station to treat the creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram, Lewis Zimmerman (Robert Picardo), who is dying of a fatal condition. Believing he can adapt a Borg regeneration technique, The Doctor's files are condensed for efficient transport. However, it soon becomes clear that Zimmerman is not particularly interested in the Doctor's aid.

In Star Trek: Voyager , season 6, episode 24, "Life Line," Robert Picardo plays two visually similar characters - one human, one electronic. With the aid of Counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) , the Doctor ultimately achieves a successful medical outcome despite Zimmerman's attitude. When the Doctor deactivates Dr. Zimmerman's talking holographic iguana Leonard with an explanatory " I'm a doctor, not a zoo keeper, " Zimmerman electronically transfers the EMH to another room. It's a whimsical and frustrating study of family, stubbornness, and fear, with the characters' similarities and differences working well to heighten the drama, tension, and chaos.

3 "I'm a doctor, not an engineer."

Star trek: voyager season 7, episode 9 - "flesh and blood".

Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 9, "Flesh and Blood," is the first installment of a two-part story in which the USS Voyager crew encounters the Hirogen, a race of hunters, and a ship of holograms. When The Doctor's program is stolen by a fleeing vessel, the EMH appears on a ship of holograms needing his medical expertise. The Doctor protests that he is " a doctor, not an engineer ."As Picardo's The Doctor argues that the technological nature of the damaged holograms requires repair from an engineer, not healing from a doctor, the officer in charge, Iden (Jeff Yagher), convinces the reluctant EMH to offer assistance. The Doctor's connection to both crews provides an exciting, deep insight into Picardo's evolving and complex EMH character. Part of and loyal to the Voyager crew, the Doctor shares significant overlap in physical presence with the holograms.

2 "I'm a doctor, not a commando."

Star trek: voyager season 4 episode 14 - "message in a bottle".

Robert Picardo's Doctor risks uncertain transportation to the USS Prometheus in the far-away Alpha Quadrant in Star Trek: Voyager , season 4, episode 14, "Message in a Bottle." Teaming up with the initially-hesitant medical hologram EMH-2 (Andy Dick), the Doctor must figure out how to reclaim the ship from Romulans to complete his mission and contact Starfleet. Intelligently exploring the technological capacity and ingenuity of the Doctor's holographical nature and abilities through character interaction and upgrade, "Message in a Bottle" uses the Doctor as a beacon of hope and accessibility.

The evolving interaction between Picardo's Doctor and the EMH-2 is an amusing and fascinating display of sophisticated Starfleet programming.

The evolving interaction between Picardo's Doctor and the EMH-2 is an amusing and fascinating display of sophisticated Starfleet programming. Quickly identifying the Doctor as an " inferior " design, the EMH-2 comments on the " beady eyes" and " inferior bedside manner " and deactivates its program to await rescue. When Voyager's Doctor reactivates the program and insists they work together to retake the ship, the EMH-2 claims, " I'm a doctor, not a commando ."

1 "I'm a doctor, not a door stop."

Star trek: first contact.

Robert Picardo plays the EMH Mark I Doctor on the USS Enterprise-E in Star Trek: First Contact . Faced with invasion by the Borg and imminent assimilation on the Enterprise, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) activates the Emergency Medical Hologram and orders a diversion to allow the crew to flee to safety. The Doctor responds, " This isn't part of my program. I'm a doctor, not a doorstop. " Ultimately, the Doctor offers the attacking drones an analgesic cream for theoretical skin irritation caused by Borg implants.

While the EMH in Star Trek: First Contact isn't the same Doctor as on Star Trek: Voyager , it's a crowd-pleasing movie cameo for Robert Picardo.

The Doctor is a fascinating character in Star Trek: Voyager and the overall franchise, offering a slow yet complex look at evolving technology and its relationship with individualism. Ironically, then, The Doctor's regular use of Dr. Leonard McCoy's catchphrase is not indicative of this quality but instead offers an upbeat and nostalgic nod to franchise continuity, simultaneously developing a sense of affection and warmth to Picardo's iconic and creatively ambitious character.

Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Original Series are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

Star trek: the original series.

IMAGES

Chronology
Official Timeline of Star Trek
Star Trek Chronological Timeline in 2022
Timeline Infographic Of Televised Star Trek Series [UPDATED] : r/startrek
A Timeline of The Future: The ultimate Star Trek timeline
Star Trek Timeline Explained: From The Original Series to Picard

COMMENTS

Timeline of Star Trek
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Star Trek has been one of the premiere science fiction franchises in the world for over 50 years, but the sprawling timeline can sometimes be intimidating to new viewers, so we're laying out the definitive guide to the final frontier.. Over its half century of existence, Star Trek has rarely told its stories in a straight, chronological line; time travel tropes, alternate realities, and ...
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Star Trek Timeline
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How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

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

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

How to Watch Star Trek by Order of Release

In This Article

IGN Recommends

The Ultimate Chronological Star Trek Viewing Guide

The 21st Century

The 24th Century

The 25th Century

Series Overview and Abbreviation Guide

April 5th, 2063:

Early 2230s

2233 - A sidenote about universes/timelines:

2233 (Prime)

2266-Notes on The Original Series

2369, Part 1

2369, Part 2

2370, Part 1

2370, Part 2

2371, Part 1

2371, Part 2

2372, Part 1

2372, Part 2

2373, Part 1

2373, Part 2

2374, Part 1

2374, Part 2

2375, Part 1

2375, Part 2

2381, Part 1

2381, Part 2

2233 - (Kelvinverse)

2258 - (Kelvinverse)

2259 - (Kelvinverse)

2263 - (Kelvinverse)

Far Future:

Star Trek Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

The Films and TV Shows (Combined)

The Days Before Space

The Dawn of the Warp Era

The Rise of Picard, Sisko, and Janeway

The Future Is a Dark Place

Star Trek: Movies & TV Shows In Chronological Timeline Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

2. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020)

3. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

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

5. Star Trek (1966–1969)

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

7. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

5 Optional Star Trek: The Animated Series