How to introduce Star Trek to someone

People like science fiction for different reasons. Does this friend like tv/movies that are interpersonal in nature? Or do they prefer action/adventure.

People oriented

• Measure of a Man
• Inner Light
• Time's Arrow
• Carbon Creek

Fun

• QPid
• Bride of Chaotica
• Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
• Little Green Men
• Take Me Out to the Holosuite
• and of course, both episodes "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Trials and Tribulations"

Action

• Best of Both Worlds
• Yesterday's Enterprise
• Chain of Command
• and, of course, In the Pale Moonlight

TOS
Pros: The main characters are iconic and fundamental to pop culture. The Big Three have a chemistry that is seldom matched across series and genres. There's a strong mix of action, humor, drama, philosophy across the series. The message and portrayal of a hopeful future is tremendous.

Cons: The style of storytelling is probably different from most modern sensibilities. Which is to say, most series aren't so completely episodic that almost nothing in that happens in one episode matters in any other episode. I'm trying to think of an exception and am coming up blank. Some people will think of it as campy, and/or be spoiled/annoyed by things like Shatner's mannerisms. Also, while both the special effects and the politics were pretty good for the 60s, they are pretty tame by today's standards. In particular, it might be hard to get over the notion that we in 2021 are in some ways more technologically and socially advanced than the future Roddenberry and co. envisioned. The lesser four don't get enough development. If you've seen one Kirk kills an AI or outwits a human with godlike powers, you've seen them all. I think there is also the highest differential between the really great episodes and the subpar ones.

Top 5 recommended episodes:

Amok Time: Seeing Spock lose his shiznit and fight Kirk is always enjoyable. The classic line about having not being so pleasing a thing as wanting. The end when Spock can't repress his emotions that Kirk is still alive. All top notch IMO

Balance of Terror: Great action, and again I love the notion of Kirk telling the dude that bigotry has no place on his bridge.

Space Seed: Khan is of course a classic villain.

Trouble with Tribbles: One of the funniest episodes in Trek

City on the Edge of Forever: One of the most lauded episodes in sci-fi and put forth as an example of Shatner stepping up his acting game.

TNG
Pros: It took a while to find its voice, but when/while it did, TNG was pumping out bangers left and right. Picard, Data and Worf are IMO great and fun characters, and the rest of them aren't bad either. You still have the great mix of the elements of TOS with a more modern spin both in terms of special effects, storytelling and politics. There are some story arcs and the structure allows most of the main crew to have their moments to shine.

Cons: TNG arguably started the trend of characters who were almost too perfect and boring. There are a whole lot of cringey episodes, particularly in the first couple seasons and in S7 where it seemed like the writers were on fumes and just kept giving us random relatives of the crew. You still don't have as much development as you should of about half the regulars. Wesley, especially in his early days, is particularly annoying.

Recommended episodes:

The Measure of a Man: I like courtroom drama and there's some good acting and philosophical issues raised.

Yesterday's Enterprise: Of the many alt-future episodes in Trek, this is probably the best.

Best of Both Worlds I and II: I love the arc of Riker stepping up to the plate against the backdrop of the action. Yes, it has its flaws, but it still stands out.

Chain of Command I and II: I like the shakeup of the status quo on the Enterprise, and PStew puts on a clinic as he portrays Picard trying to maintain his dignity through torture.

Darmok: I think that particularly on first viewing when you don't know what's up with the Tamarians, the episode is very unique

(I could and would probably recommend a lot more, but I'll stick with those five)

DS9
Pros: It is the first (and arguably only) Trek series to flesh out its main characters (well, with the arguable exception of both Daxes). Indeed, I would say most of the recurring characters on DS9 are better developed than main characters in most of the other shows. It is heavily arced, which I think pays off if you are willing to invest the time. For me, it strikes the best balance between the utopian undercurrent of Trek and the reality that people are still people with all the capacity to have flaws and to mess things up. It is also willing to wrestle with some heavier themes like the effects of war and racism in more of a down-and-dirty and complicated way. I think it is perhaps the best planned series of Trek (which admittedly may not be saying a lot, and may not be true, but they did a great job of faking it, lol.) I personally like that it has a greater focus on aliens that most of Trek, and technically speaking, among the main characters, there's only one normal, pure human.

Cons: As good as DS9 is, it's not really (for me, anyway) the sort of show that you want to just randomly want to watch a random single episode of. And if you don't have the background knowledge of the arcs, a given episode may not resonate as well as it should. This is one of the places where some fans are going to complain about it being too political (as if the other entries in Trek were not political).

Most recommended episodes:

The Visitor: It's a very well assembled episode, perhaps the most moving in Trek. The story of a boy so devastated by the early loss of his father and how it shapes him will always hit me in the feels.

In the Pale Moonlight: Garak shows why he's better than most main Trek characters, and we get a look at how the happy shiny Federation ideals hold up in the face of adversity.

Trials and Tribbleations: It's fun to see this homage to the TOS episode

Our Man Bashir: I'm a sucker for James Bond, so even though holodeck/holosuite episodes often suck, I will make an exception for this one. Actually, most DS9 holosuite episodes are pretty good....Bada Bing Bada Boom, Take Me to the Holosuite, It's Only a Paper Moon...''

Emissary: I think this is one of the few Trek pilots where I would say even with the benefit of hindsight it holds up pretty darn well.

I may revisit this to talk about some or all of the remaining live-action series, but I probably would have a newcomer watch episodes from these three series before any of the others.

Oh man, I forgot about Our Man Bashir. Probably the best holodeck malfunction episode. And you're right that DS9 had the most consistently good holodeck episodes. It's Only a Paper Moon was an incredible episode, especially given that it focused entirely on two side characters.

It's amazing how Darmok seemed absurd when it first aired, but now we've basically replicated that communication style with meme culture.

Well, there are still some ridiculous things about Darmok ("we've never been able to communicate with these people, but somehow we have a database of their culture's myths and legends stored in our computer!").

Not that that stops it from being one of my favorite episodes, but still...

Indeed, and I'd argue that by that point in series, Nog was a side character in credits only. He got a far stronger story arc than Harry Kim (and a promotion before he did! )

It's a shame Aron Eisenberg passed away before PIC because I'd love to have gotten a cameo of him somewhere in there.

Really? Two pages and no one has suggested this?

"Bickendan, meet Star Trek."

"Star Trek, meet Bickendan."

In fairness, I think the database (or at least the first set of connections) wasn't from the Children of Tamar themselves but from a similar neighboring culture.

That's Children of Tama.

The Children of Tamar are a culture devoted entirely to dredging up personal information on people and wallowing in messageboard drama.

After how TNG shat all over the Ferengi, I'd love to have seen at least a Short Trek about Picard having to work with Nog and learning to trust and respect a Ferengi for the first time in his life.

And rightfully so. They were a stupid creation.

DS9 marginally redeemed them, but all in all the Trek universe would be just fine without them. (Quark could have easily been from another race.)

Yes, I just committed fictional genocide.

I mean.... was there any species TNG didn't make stupid just so Picard could make a speech about them?

@Bickendan ,I think it would be best to start your friend off with what most of us started off with with ST & SW: TOS & the Classic 1977-1983 SW Trilogy.

Oh, good god, no. If you want someone to like Star Trek, do NOT start them off with the original series? I mean ..., seriously, have you even tried to watch one episode in the last ten years?

I started James off with DS9 because he's more into action stories than people oriented stories. Then we moved on to Voyager and TNG last. Eventually, we both tried to watch TOS, but we only got about half way through the second season and that was pushing it.

I watched all of TOS on Netflix and I decided 1. I will never do that again and 2. There are only about 15 TOS episodes I really like. It was quite a slog.