Let's face the sad fact that J.J. Abrams new Star Trek films are here to stay. While they are increasing the number of people who are aware of Star Trek and have seen the movies, most of these new people are often viciously reprimanded that they chose the wrong installment to enter Trek. Indeed, the new films are truly dumbed down action pieces with little substance and lackluster plots. Action was never the lure for Trekkies, it was the gravy.
Speaking personally, every time I've told someone to try to watch the older Trek, they usually express intimidation at the size of the franchise, and with 726 episodes plus 12 films, I don't blame them. What I've done for them is pare the franchise down to absolute essentials. Instead of watching six full series, they only watch a sampling of each of them to get gist of them. Ideally, this is enough to hook them into watching more, but if not, they can at least counter the reprimands of the die hard trekkies with an informed decision.
Original Series: The original show that started it all in 1966. While it covered a wide array of topics, these episodes lay the central groundwork of franchise that would be referenced later.
Balance of Terror
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
Errand of Mercy
Mirror, Mirror
Trouble with Tribbles
Journey to Babel
The Tholian Web
Day of the Dove
Movies: After the original series wrapped, six films were made. Unfortunately, the first one wasn't very engaging. Star Trek II was the first to treat its audience as newcomers. Star Trek V also had issues and doesn't really connect well to anything before or after.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
The Next Generation: The first spin off of the show and a fan favorite for many. Most of the episodes were stand alone episodes of the week. Consequently, I have trimmed it down to episodes that were part of an overall story or had an impact of future spin offs.
Encounter at Farpoint
Where No One Has Gone Before
The Battle
Haven
Datalore
Skin of Evil
The Neutral Zone
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Contagion
Q Who
The Emissary
The Price
Yesterday's Enterprise
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
Menage a Troi
The Best of Both Worlds
Family
Brothers
Reunion
Final Mission
The Wounded
Data's Day
The Host
The Mind's Eye
Redemption
Ensign Ro
Disaster
Unification
New Ground
I Borg
Deep Space Nine: DS9 is the fork in the road for delving into the franchise. This show was heavily serialized, so more episodes are required to get the whole story. In a way it was ahead of its time as serialized shows weren't that popular at the time, but are very attractive to modern audiences. It ran parallel to Next Generation (TNG) for a season and a half, so I have marked the TNG episodes in the same list.
Emissary
TNG - Chain of Command
Past Prologue
TNG - Face of the Enemy
TNG - Tapestry
The Nagus
Battle Lines
TNG - Suspicions
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets
TNG - Descent
The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Rivals
TNG - The Pegasus
Prophet and Loss
Blood Oath
TNG - Journey's End
The Maquis
TNG - Firstborn
The Wire
The Collaborator
TNG - Preemptive Strike
TNG - All Good Things...
The Jem'Hadar
The Search
The House of Quark
Second Skin
The Abandoned
Defiant
MOVIE: Star Trek Generations: Once TNG wrapped, the show went to the big screen for four films. The overall quality was lower than the previous films, but they are necessary for the story.
Voyager: DS9 ran parallel with Voyager for the rest of its run. Voyager (VOY) switched back to an episode of the week format, so it likewise has fewer must-see episodes. Furthermore, Voyager's impact on the other series was minimal. It also had problems with continuity and poorer writing quality. One could skip all of Voyager and not be confused by any references to it.
VOY - Caretaker
VOY - Parallax
VOY - Time and Again
Life Support
VOY - Phage
Heart of Stone
VOY - State of Flux
Improbable Cause
The Die is Cast
VOY - Faces
Family Business
Shakaar
The Adversary
The Way of the Warrior
Hippocratic Oath
VOY - Parturition
Indiscretion
VOY - Cold Fire
Little Green Men
VOY - Maneuvers
Homefront
Paradise Lost
VOY - Alliances
Crossfire
VOY - Meld
Return to Grace
VOY - Dreadnaught
Sons of Mogh
Bar Association
VOY - Lifesigns
Accession
VOY - Investigations
VOY - Deadlock
For the Cause
To the Death
VOY - Basics
Body Parts
Broken Link
Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for Par'mach in all the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
VOY - Future's End
MOVIE: Star Trek First Contact
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
VOY - Blood Fever
Doctor Bashir, I Presume
VOY - Unity
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
VOY - Before and After
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms
VOY - Scorpion
VOY - The Gift
VOY - Day of Honor
A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
VOY - Revulsion
Behind the Lines
VOY - The Raven
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
VOY - Scientific Method
You Are Cordially Invited
The Magnificent Ferengi
VOY - Mortal Coil
Waltz
VOY - Message in a Bottle
Far Beyond the Stars
VOY - Hunters
VOY - Prey
VOY - The Killing Game
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Reckoning
Profit and Lace
Tears of the Prophets
Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
VOY - Extreme Risk
The Siege of AR-558
Covenant
VOY - Thirty Days
MOVIE: Star Trek Insurrection
Its Only a Paper Moon
VOY - Dark Frontier
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
VOY - Someone to Watch Over Me
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
The Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind [DS9 Finale]
Pathfinder
Collective
Lifeline
Unimatrix Zero
Imperfection
Flesh and Blood
Human Error
Homestead
Endgame
MOVIE: Star Trek Nemesis
Enterprise: This was the final series before Abrams reboot and was a contributing factor to the franchise's decay. I don't really recommend this series for newcomers unless you're committed to watching every series, in which case you could also check out the Animated Series.
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