To commemorate Star Trek Day, I thought we could share our entry points to the franchise. I expect we’ll find the full range of experiences.
Watching TOS reruns and the movies with my dad on Sunday afternoons when I was a child. Soon afterwards followed by TNG with my older brother. Then VOY was released when I was about 9 years old and that got me hooked for good. For some odd reason, I completely missed out on DS9 until much later in life - I started watching it in my early 20s. Once I watched that, I did a full rewatch of every show of the franchise, including TAS and I still don’t know what to think of it. :D Long story short, Star Trek made me a much better person and had a huge impact on me very early in life.
Original series shortly after it went into syndication. The episode I first remember is “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” and it has shaped my view of society greatly.
I was too young for most of TNG but stuck with TNG sometime in season 6. I was a kid with single digit age when they destroyed the Enterprise D in the movie and it really messed with me. Then I grew up watching the entirety of DS9 and Voyager, and outgrew it by the end of VOY. Strange New Worlds pulled me back in as an adult.
I actually don’t have a satisfactory answer to my own question.
Star Trek was a prominent part of the popular culture when I was a kid, so it was easy to have a basic knowledge of TOS without actually seeing it.
I think I probably saw Star Trek IV first, and the first episode I can clearly remember watching is “Unification II”, though I’m pretty certain I saw something before then.
Mother watched it while I was in the womb. I came out already addicted.
TOS ‘The Devil in the Dark’ in first run.
I was barely in school, but my slightly older neighbour who’d hooked me on Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, convinced me that Star Trek must be seen.
I quickly caught up during the hiatus reruns, and have seen absolutely all of it in first run since.
TNG 4x17 - Night Terrors
Still a fave.
My divorced mom was a big fan of TOS, so much so that I was almost named Kirk.
Being divorced w/ 3 kids the TV was a pretty good babysitter. Something to keep us distracted while she did cooked and cleaned.
I’ve seen every episode of TOS at least 20 times, over the years, so remembering the first one is impossible. However as a kid my favorite one was the one with Gorn!
Trying to get out of doing homework, me and my siblings would join my mom to watch her Star Trek - she didn’t object. Most times, it was TNG, with the occasional bit of DS9 or VOY.
She had actually gotten into TNG as a teenager - she’d read a few novels from her local library and kind of liked it. She then found Wil Wheaton hot enough to actually watch the show. (She may have watched a bit before that, but that’s my recollection, at least).
I have never really been into Star Trek but that’s mostly because I have never properly introduced myself to it.
My first contact was the 2009 film Star Trek, which upon looking at the rest of the franchise feels so grandiose in the action genre but also had a few great character moments. I enjoyed that one and then the Black Mirror parody episode U.S.S Callister was really good too
Besides that I have seen a few odd scenes and memes but really want to get into the series someday.
Used to watch and record episodes of TOS off TV55 onto VHS to rewatch later. Lots of fun kids will never experience today.
My dad watched TOS with me when it first aired, but I was too young to remember it. My first recollection is watching it in syndication. I went on to read my dad’s many books, especially the Star Trek Concordance and the James Blish adaptations.
I remember watching “Encounter at Farpoint” when it originally aired. I had only heard of Star Trek, maybe seen a photo of Spock or whatever — I must have been ten or so — but I was hooked on TNG from that episode on, and eventually caught up on the TOS episodes and films.
I don’t remember exactly what lead up to it, but I ended up watching reruns of Voyager with my dad every day back when Spike TV was still a thing. I think that really improved my relationship with him.
Germany, 1992: During a lesson, my music teacher played the theme from “Raumschiff Enterprise” - that’s what TOS is called here - to test his new sound system. 🎼
I wanted to have this track, searched in music and video stores, and the only thing I found was a VHS tape of Star Trek 6. And guess what: this particular music theme was not used in the movie, but the plot and effects captivated me. 🖖
Around the same time, the second season of TNG had its first run in Germany 📺. This series had a similar piece of music 🎶, so I stayed tuned - and lucky me, a few months later there was a rerun of seasons 1 and 2 almost every weekday, followed by the remaining seasons every weekday from summer 1993 until summer 1994. And during that time I also found the Soundtrack with the TOS theme. ✌️