I Tell Everyone To Watch Star Trek And Start With Strange New Worlds

I tell everyone to watch Star Trek and to start with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The Star Trek franchise is wonderfully expansive and immersive, with over 900 hours of television and 13 feature films - but that is also an incredibly daunting amount of content for a layman who may be interested in Star Trek but doesn't know where to start or is intimidated by the commitment of spending years learning Star Trek. While any Star Trek TV series or movie can be a gateway to the franchise, for someone totally new who wants to sample what Star Trek is all about, the best starting point is Strange New Worlds.

Sure, starting at the beginning, Star Trek: The Original Series, or Star Trek: The Next Generation, would work, too. But both series carry drawbacks, as well. The original Star Trek is almost 60 years old; at its best, TOS retains its enduring charm and magic, but it's also dated to modern sensibilities. Like TOS, Star Trek: The Next Generation features some of the greatest episodes of Star Trek ever produced, but starting from the beginning means wading through the problematic TNG season 1. In 2009, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek was a perfect gateway, and millions sampled Star Trek for the first time because of the 'one with Chris Pine'. Today, however, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an even better, more inviting entry point than Abrams' alternate timeline movie that conveys the best aspects of Star Trek.

Strange New Worlds Features Star Trek's Most Iconic Characters & Starship

But there's also plenty to discover about the Starship Enterprise

After six decades in pop culture, almost everyone has heard of Captain Kirk, Spock, and the Starship Enterprise. They're all in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - with a cool twist. As a prequel, Strange New Worlds has Spock (Ethan Peck), Kirk (Paul Wesley), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Scotty (Martin Quinn), Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), impeccably cast in the flower of their youth. And, unlike J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, these are not alternate timeline Star Trek characters. These are the real deal Star Trek icons who will mature into the Captain Kirk played by William Shatner, Spock played by Leonard Nimoy, Uhura played by Nichelle Nichols, etc. And they fly the same Starship Enterprise, which looks sleeker and cooler than ever.

However, there's so much new to discover about Strange New Worlds, like Star Trek's original skipper, Captain Pike, played with equal amounts of heart and authority by Anson Mount. Rebecca Romijn is a stunning Number One, the Enterprise's unshakable First Officer. New characters like Christina Chong's Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh and Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas are captivating. Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M'Benga redefines what a Star Trek doctor can be, and the Enterprise's two Chief Engineers, Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) and Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) are delightful surprises. Strange New Worlds is colorful, daring, reassuring, and embodies the best classic elements of Star Trek as if it's The Original Series being made for audiences today.

Strange New Worlds Never Stops Being Innovative Star Trek

Being episodic lets Strange New Worlds take big swings that work wonderfully

Star Trek: Discovery brought Star Trek into today's serialized streaming era, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is episodic, like the classic Star Trek of yore, and this versatility is one of its greatest strengths. Each episode of Strange New Worlds is a complete story with character arcs that continue throughout the series. Strange New Worlds' characters grow and evolve as the show deftly changes genres with each episode. A heart-stopping and deadly encounter with the Gorn will give way to a Vulcan comedy of manners, and a tragically romantic time travel adventure will then shift into Star Trek's first-ever musical episode. Strange New Worlds is a cornucopia with no limits.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can be any type of show and is proven capable of delivering any type of story, which makes the series constantly surprising and richly rewarding. Strange New Worlds' talented cast is adept at making every weird and wonderful encounter aboard the Starship Enterprise believable and real. The bizarre aspects of Star Trek feel at home on Strange New Worlds, and Star Trek's fundamentals of friendship, romance, and the daring to boldly explore what's possible are present in every character and in every episode. Star Trek is a universe of infinite diversity in infinite combinations, and, if there's someone who needs to know where to start, the best gateway to everything possible in Star Trek today is to board the Starship Enterprise with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.