Summary
Star Trekhas been on the small screen since the golden age of television, and the original series was canceled after only three seasons. Today, twelve shows are playing on various streaming services, with another,Star Trek: Starfleet Academycurrently in production and expected to launch in late 2025.
The following shows are ranked in order of their release in real life as opposed to their chronological order in the fictional universe, which might be hard to pinpoint these days due to some selections taking place in different centuries. Fans will continue to argue over which is the best as they look forward to more shows in the future, considering how popular the franchise continues to be.
Upcoming - Starfleet Academy
The Starfleet Academy, a famous place in San Francisco of the 23rd century, is an entity that is frequently mentioned in theStar Trekuniverse. It’s been used as a setting and a reference point in several other movies, shows, video games, and various other media in the franchise.
Not much is known about the finer details yet, but confirmed details include that the show takes place in the 32nd century after a cataclysmic event, and follows a group of cadets as they pursue careers in space.
12Star Trek: The Animated Series
A Forgotten Part Of Trek History
There was a long hiatus between the end ofTOSin the late 1960s andThe Next Generationairing its first episode in 1989, which is one of the reasons why these 22 animated shows fell into obscurity for several years.
Star Trek: The Animated Seriesis currently showing on Paramount and Netflix after being lost in the vault for decades, and despite the animation quality, the voice acting of the original cast is solid, and the writing is still of Roddenberry quality.
11Picard
The Future Of The Next Generation
The Next Generationwas popular enough to last for seven years, in addition to the cast being featured in several movies. It seems to have taken a long time for another series to celebrate its best and most popular character with a new adventure.
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Picardtakes place when the planet Romulus has been destroyed, and Starfleet is still reeling from the events ofStar Trek: Nemesis. It’s acharacter study of Picard, but the usual goal of adventure and discovery is still a part of the show.
10Prodigy
Part Of Voyager’s History
It’s not exactly aVoyagersequel or spinoff, but it’s intended to take place in the years afterVoyagerreturned to Earth, and features some of the same characters. Captain Janeway returns in animated form in a unique show that’s designed for a younger audience but still has universal appeal.
The story ofStar Trek: Prodigybegins when the main characters find the wreck of the USS Protostar, and despite their differences, manage to make it fly again.
9Voyager
Lost In The Delta Quadrant
Instead of being explorers, the crew of the USS Voyager had to be survivalists. The ship were sucked into the Delta Quadarant and had to dodge, defeat, and live through some of the wildest and most dangerous parts of deep space. It took seven years for them to get back, or twenty-seven, depending on the timeline.
Star Trek: Voyagerbroke new ground in the universe by giving audiences its first female captain as a leading cast member and featuring some of the most terrifying, up-close and personalencounters with the Borg.
8Enterprise
The Human Race In Space
This show was so deep in prequel territory that its original title was simply “Enterprise” without the “USS” prefix to drive home the point that this show takes place before the formation of Starfleet. Earth is still a novice among the more advanced races in the galaxy, like the Vulcans, and there’s more rivalry than respect in the early days of space travel.
Star Trek: Enterpriseended abruptly and only lasted for a few seasons, but at least the adventures of Jonathan Archer and his crew live on in several novels and books.
Modern And High-Tech Trek
Star Trek: Discoveryis another prequel series, but not exactly in the same spirit as Enterprise.Discovery’sfirst season takes place only about ten years before the start of the Original. In the next few seasons, the timeline skips to the 32nd century, which explains the higher level of technology and the focus on Section 31 and the Mirror Universe.
The show was controversial for some of its writing choices, but it defied the critics and was popular enough to inspire a spinoff show.
6Short Treks
Part Of The Discovery Storyline
This series ran concurrently withDiscovery, included the same characters, sets, and settings, but also added some other exotic locations in theStar Trekuniverse. The episodes were consistently only 18 to 20 minutes long, hence the name, and were always standalone episodes that could fit anywhere in the overall timeline.
Several episodes ofStar Trek: Short Trekswere released as part of the publicity for the nextStar Trekshow, which started beforeDiscoveryended.
5Strange New Worlds
The Stars Of The Original Pilot
The popularity of legacy characters like Christopher Pike and Spock drove the momentum for thisDiscoveryspinoff, which tellsthe story of the USS Enterprisebefore James Kirk was the captain. This was also the setting featured in the pilot episode almost fifty years ago, but the cast and crew were changed almost completely whenTOSofficially started.
Younger versions of both Kirk and Spock appear on the show, along with several characters who were present in the pilot orTOSbut never got a chance to shine.
Another Animated Idea
The animated style ofLower Decksis part of the comedy aesthetic, referencing other shows likeFamily GuyandAmerican Dad, which are also popular animated shows for adults. The twist here is that the main characters aren’tofficers or famous people, but lowbies with menial and unromantic jobs.
There’s still a lot of adventure, even though the main characters aren’t exactly the ones at the helm, but fans seem to like a change to the usual formula.
3Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Mission Continues
Patrick Stewart, a dedicated thespian, only took the job because he thought the show would be canceled within two seasons at most. Seven years, a few movies, and a spinoff series later, it’s easy to make the argument thatTNGisthe most popularStar Trekseriesof them all, and Picard one of the best-loved characters.
Other shows often referenceStar Trek: The Next Generation, given that it covers such a substantial history of the 24th century as part of its timeline. That includes some of humanity’s first encounters with the Borg and the Q Continuum.
