Ranking every Star Trek series from the worst to the greatest
![Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.Pictured left to right: Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATIONScreen grab: ©1989 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.Pictured left to right: Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATIONScreen grab: ©1989 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/8aafb2955824d14a1c5003e9e5b4ec799223b040f3c066895c5565bba049e7e8.jpg)
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
Just barely shy of our number one spot is Star Trek: The Next Generation, the show most frequently cited as the best Trek has to offer. For many fans, this was their first introduction to Star Trek. It premiered in the late ’80s, when fans of the original show were now old enough to have children of their own to be watching Trek with. And boy, did they have a show to be watching. Every week, The Next Generation served up razor-sharp storytelling that tackled deeply complex emotional quandaries — like The Original Series, but on steroids.
From “Inner Light” to “Darmok” to “I, Borg,” The Next Generation approached science-fiction through the eyes of morality and philosophy and wrapped elegant stories up in the comforting colors of the carpeted bridge, manned by none other than the French captain with a British accent, Jean-Luc Picard. Patrick Stewart’s tour-de-force performance is a high point of the entire series, and his world-class acting never wavers, even when the writing isn’t at its best.
The rest of the bridge crew as just as memorable: Brent Spiner as Data, the android who longs to become human; Jonathan Frakes as First Officer Riker; LeVar Burton as blind engineer Geordi La Forge — the list goes on and on.
Although the first two seasons started out a little shaky, by the time The Next Generation found its rhythm, it gave fans some of the best science-fiction ever to air on television.