What's your favourite Star Trek series, films and characters?

Wow. seems I am the only one who doesn't like Q.

 

Well, I DO kinda like the dynamic between Q and Picard, but the rest is not my cup of tea.

In general I really dislike episodes in which the crew is not at least in some way in control of the situation.
Being not in control is something that reminds me too much of my real life I guess. Thus the most-hated episodes for me in TV shows are the ones in which the crew is captured or something like that.

I do like exploratory stuff in movies (especially in Sci-Fi), exploring a world/ship/whatever and its special properties, using science, diplomacy and occasionally violence to overcome the problems.
I also like when the crew has to make ethical decisions and live with the consequences in a larger picture.

Fun fact:
Those things are what nowadays makes me kinda like one TNG episode (despite being 1980s-typical cheesy) that I really hated as a kid: Episode 1x08 "Justice" is an archetypical Star Trek episode IMO. It covers a real world topic (different cultures and judicial systems seeing justice very differently). The crew has the opportunity to do almost everything, including just beaming up Mr. Crusher and just fly away. They still struggle with the decision and find a solution.

That's also the reason why I kinda like TOS 3x15 "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" which is about racism. The message is good IMO. Although a bit dark, because there is really not a solution in the end.

For me the DS9 episode 1x06 "Captive Pursuit" is also comparable. O'Brien (also one of my favourite characters) has the problems with the "right" way to handle things, which inspires thinking about such topics.

Star Trek is more than just entertainment, it encourages the viewer to think about such problems without confronting him too directly, just by having all that stuff happen far away and in the future, with much more diversity than we have.

There are of course other Sci-Fi shows that do the same. Stargate and Babylon 5 for example have similar episodes.

EDIT:
A more simple, less mentally challenging episode that I like nevertheless is TNG 1x21 "The Arsenal of Freedom". Kinda dystopic (the weapons still exist after all of the guys who built them are dead, eradicated by them) but also exploring the relationships between characters and including some action and showing off why Data is awesome. But again, something to think about (the whole AI/weapons thing).

 

Another two interesting episodes (although not really good, I admit that. Some call them the worst two episodes ever) exploring cultural differences are:
TNG 1x14 "Angel One"
TNG 1x4 "Code of Honor"

They may be bad, but the ideas are not bad IMO and they show the way ST works: Translating real world problems into another frame of reference.

 

And also I agree with MOST of what is listed here:
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek/38697/star-trek-the-next-generation-s-25-must-watch-episodes

 

My thought on Star Trek is that the Star Trek franchise is so big that there are parts of Star Trek that are brilliant and their parts of Star Trek that are garbage (though I do not believe Star Trek has any parts that are flaming garbage).

I believe none of the various branches of the Star Trek franchise are devoid of having some gems and none of them are devoid of having some abominations.

One thing I noticed is that one man's treasure is another man's trash applies to Star Trek.

I like the Star Trek plots that involve a lot of politics. Other people find the diplomatic stuff boring.

I happen to generally dislike the Star Trek episodes involving time travel, parallel universe, malfunctioning holo-decks or Q to be annoying. Other people tell me those are their favorite episodes. I like the episodes where the heroes have to defeat a villain or threat while suffering some weird affliction. Like the episode of DS9 when half the main cast was shrunk to the size of ants or the episode of Star Trek where half the main cast was turned into children.

I also like the heavy combat episodes.

Basically I'll watch any episode once. But I only circle back for a re-watch for certain episodes. Sometimes I'll re-watch an episode and skip to the good parts. Yay digital streaming.

I think time travel, parallel dimensions and Q are just lazy writing to try to come up with exotic things in space. If you happen to be a fan of Q, I will respect your opinion, but I am only giving my like button to Star Trek posts that do not praise Q.

The Original Series: I am going to give it props for being the first major sci-fi universe that was optimistic. And for their era their special effects was impressive and they were ahead of their time on fighting racism relatively speaking.

They were also perfect for their era of TV. If I watch one episode of this series per week, I am reasonably entertained, but I cannot binge watch this show. In small doses the corniness is endearing. In large doses it is annoying. Also, you can pretty much watch the episodes in random order and not really notice.

The original series movies are not able to hold my attention unless I'm watching with friends and we have agreed to heckle the movie. Then it's fun.

Watch Galaxy Quest. Whether you loved the original series or hated it, this is a good movie for anyone familiar with the old Star Trek.

The Animated Series: Never saw it. I've never met anyone who watched it who wasn't a HUGE Star Trek nerd.

The Next Generation: This is a better version of the original. The characters are a little bit less one dimensional and have better character arcs. Patrick Stewart is an amazing actor. I don't want to disparage the other actors (much) but Stewart's depiction of Picard elevated the entire show.

Like the original series the episodes were mostly self contained, but there was enough continuity to make it worth watching from beginning to end. I watched this on old fashioned TV during college, not through streaming so I missed an episode here or there while watching some episodes multiple times.

I found the movies disappointing but I couldn't answer why. I guess like they felt like mediocre Star Trek TNG episodes stretched to movie length. Mister Plinket, the greatest film critic of all time artfully ripped these into pieces.

Deep Space Nine: My favorite by far. I watched a few episodes on TV. Once I got Hulu I binge watched it straight through in a few weeks. Then I watched through it again later, skipping the few parts I didn't like.

Sisko, Kira, Garok, Gul Dukat, Nog, Odo, Worf, Dax, and Bashir all have fairly compelling character arcs. O'Brien didn't really have a character arc in that he starts and ends the series as basically the same person, but he does have interesting story plots. O'Brien gets the Scalenex Cup for suffering.

I could actually spew on DS9 for a long time, but I'll keep it short. I do think Gul Dukat is the greatest Star Trek villain ever. Maybe even the greatest villain of all television. An honorable mention to Kai Winn, who was also a fine villain. Gul Dukat was a great foil for his nemesis Sisko and Kai Winn was a great foil for her nemesis Kira.

And as I mentioned, I enjoy political plots and this story has lots of that. It was interesting to watch Bejor's freedom fighters have to become the Man. It was interesting to watch the Cardassian Union, Ferengni Alliance, and Klingon Empire evolve. Even the Federation grew and changed a bit. Sisko passed up a chance to reform the Trill homeworld in order to save Dax. One of the many reasons Dax was my least favorite character.

Again, I better keep my adoration for and criticisms of DS9 short. I have more criticisms of DS9 than the others but only because I love it more.

Voyager: I have barely seen any episodes of Voyager but I intend to remedy this.

Enterprise: No one I've met said anything good about this show. Note, few people have said the show was garbage. It seems meh. I don't have a strong desire to watch this, but I might give it a try because I have a Hulu subscription and Enterprise is available.

Discovery: I'm not paying for CBS All Access just to watch this. It's CBS. I don't want to pay money for CBS. I see there is a fierce debate on whether or not the show is good and it's done with all the politeness and peaceful decorum that permeates all Internet debates. The best critique I found, which I cannot seem to find again manages to hit the nail on the head for why there is such impassioned defenders and detractors. Discovery has skilled actors, skilled cinematography, nuanced plots, and modern special effects BUT Discovery has deviated from a lot of traditions of Star Trek. It's less optimistic. It's less familiar. So it's going to grind the gears of Star Trek fans.

Reminds of me of DC's new show Titans. The show has a compelling story and skilled actors but it doesn't really carry the spirit of the old Teen Titans cartoon that so many fans love.

Picard placates Q with inspiring speeches and Q keeps coming back. Sisko punched Q in the face.

"You hit me! Picard never hit me!"
"I'm not Picard."

Very useful for setting the tone of DS9 early. Picard is a natural diplomat who can take on a warrior's mantle if required. Sisko is a natural warrior who can take on a diplomat's mantle if required.

Also, despite Q saying the fact that Sisko was easier to provoke was "good for me." Q never bothered Sisko again. I also liked that he kept talking about Picard like a jealous spurned lover trying to pretend he is over the breakup. Add this to the pathetic-ness that pining after Picard's ex-girlfriend also showed an unhealthy obsession with Picard. He rarely spoke outside a whiny tone in that episode. I want to punch him in the face too.

Per above. Janeway was just his way of bargaining because she was a Picard-like figure. At least more Picard-like than Sisko.

I understand Captain Janeway managed to humiliate Q in one case tying him to a mast. Looking forward to it.

My favorite characters are Picard, then the entire cast of DS9 minus Dax. Then the entire cast of TNG minus the doctors, Westley, and the security chief who died. Then Dax who I actually didn't dislike, she just didn't hold up to her costars.

I have not seen enough Voyager to rank them, but I'm expecting I'll turn out liking some of them.

EDIT: One thing that interests me an aspiring writers is what happens as new writers take over. In the Original Series, Spock who is half-human/half Vulcan opted to act MORE Vulcan than the Vulcans to compensate for his half breed status. By the time Next Generation rolled around, each new writer made the Vulcans more Vulcan to the point where Spock was a wild renegade (at least comparatively).

Roddenberry helped create the concept of Ferenghi basically because he wanted a threatening alien that happened to be short of stature. He hadn't got much deeper than that. It's only after Roddenberry lost creative control then passed away that the Ferenghi evolved into being more nuanced and interesting.

Don't want to speak ill of the dead. Roddenbery was a creative genius. But every writer should welcome the input of others because every creative person has blind spots.