Star Trek

NOT the episode First Contact.

There are certain parts which might turn people away from it because of certain things Riker did in that episode.

The first episode I ever watched was "Relics". I was a major fan of TOS, and refused to consider any other series. The fact that Scotty was in that epised probably helped to ease the transition a little bit. Then I watched "Data's Day," and I was hooked.

Relics doesn’t really mean anything to a Star Trek virgin, I mean they sorta know who Scotty is and the he beams people up, but that’s about all. And although I love Data’s Day, it needs backstory.

That’s the problem, finding basically stand alone episodes that you can understand and relate too but are also very Trek, and show you what TNG is all about. 

And I like First Contact because it shows how they try to stay out of things, Prime Directive and all that. Riker is just Riker and it’s what he does, more or a character thing, not a Trek thing.

show them the tribbles!

thats what got me started!

Did I not repeatedly say that I am showing TNG? THUS this being in the TNG board. THUS the TNG conversations. 

Ok, maybe you just did not read my initial post. Which is a serious pet peeve of mine.

..Yes Trouble With Tribbles is awesome, but TOS can be hoakey for first time viewers, especially for people born late 80s, early 90s. 

Thus TNG being the best intro to Star Trek. DS9 is not a trek at all really, since they aren’t out adventuring really. And VOY is just, ...well, just no, not the best intro to Trek. ENT needs all the backstory it can get, which in and of itself is a humorous ironic statement.

Also added for sure to that list posted on page 2 is The Neutral Zone, because we need to see who our main enemy is, besides the Borg, who you cannot show a Trek version without ruining it.

I would start off by showing them Encounter at Farpoint. Stress the point that this was the late 80's so the visual effects are not the most spectacular. That episode, for me, represents what Star Trek is all about. Seeking out new life and honoring the idea that all life in the Universe is precious, even the ones we don't understand fully. And of course, Q.

Then skip the rest of Season 1 except maybe "Skin of Evil" for obvious reasons. Then pick and choose from Season 2. Episodes that might have resonated through the rest of the series like "Elementary, Dear Data" which is later revisited with "Ship in a Bottle." And I'd completely skip "Shades of Grey"!! Blech!

Season 3 on are all great. Some better than others. I would introduce your friends to TOS after TNG. Watching an older series first might turn them off, but it would be cool to look back on after a later series.

Some of my faves:

Who Watches the Watchers, The Hunted, The Wounded, Where No Man Has Gone Before(The Traveler), The Nth Degree, Face of the Enemy, Transfigurations, Data's Day, Devil's Due, Hollow Pursuits, The Pegasus, The Best of Both Worlds I II....I could go on.

Well this is if they don’t want to see TNG from the beginning, i.e. Farpoint, otherwise I would have put that on the list.

And I love Face of the Enemy and was going to have that on there too, but then I realized I had a bunch of Romulan episodes already and needed to cut back. I doubt I’ll even show The Defector, which I also think is great representation of just how corrupt and paranoid the Romulan government/military can be, Face of the Enemy being its opposite in many aspects.

Actually I just like Romulans and Romulan episodes XD

I had completely forgotten about Devil’s Due! I love it because it has a lot of TOS aspects in there!

Ok, new list time!

For sure on the list (in order of appearance):

1.The Neutral Zone

6.The Enemy

3.Darmok

4.Cause and Effect

I was going to also have Timescape, but I already have Cause and Effect, plus the whole Romulan thing again, so that’s out.

The others I am considering (again, from page two, just re-iterating):

1.Where No One Has Gone Before

2.Hide and Q

3.The Big Goodbye

4.Who Watches The Watchers

5.The Hunted

6.Frist Contact

7.The Inner Light.

Am leaning toward numbers 1, 3, 4 and 7. Is 8 hours a good enough intro to TNG for a Trek virgin?

It was Sins of the Father that hooked me into the show. Who Watches the Watchers is another good one to start with, because it showcases a lot of what Star Trek is about. Also The Offspring.

You and many others have mentioned that Sins of the Father really made them want to watch TNG. Maybe I should include that as well.

GAH so many good episodes! I almost hope they just say they want to start from the beginning! XD But not really, because then they might not want to wait for it to get good.

Indecision is bothersome. And fun.

Whoa, whole new list! Have you decided yet???

It’s actually the same exact list, just separated into ones I know I would show and ones I am still not 100% one.

But I am adding Who Watches the Watchers to the for sure list, because it is a great Trek/Prime Directive episode and I personally love it.

That's a good idea. So when will you be showing it to your friends?

When we both are not busy with college stuff, hopefully soon. And my other and best friend is in Korea right now visiting her husband, so whenever she gets back, which she has been trying to do for about a month now, but alas, the military planes fill up fast and even if you reserve a seat on a flight out any soldier who needs the seat can get it instead of you. Understandable but annoying.

AND one of my guy friends is completely willing and exciting to watch TNG, we just have to make time around college, yet again. And I have to explain to him how ST 09 works and can still be canon. Which is such a big convoluted story that it has to be done in person because typing it all out would be ridiculously long and confusing.

I have only gotten one of my friends hooked. Well, not counting her little sister also. Her sister's so funny, whenever you ask her who her favorite TNG character is she says "Spot!" LOL, very cute. (She's in 5th grade.)

I want to eat an olive really bad right now.

.........Almost as bad as I want to meet Brent Spiner. (Well, not QUITE that much..........)