Ask Slashdot: How To Introduce Someone To Star Trek?

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Ask Slashdot: How To Introduce Someone To Star Trek?

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 20, 2012 @12:24PM from the trouble-with-tribbles dept.

First time accepted submitter red$hirt writes "I have a few friends, plus my girlfriend, who I would like to introduce to Star Trek. They do have a general interest to watch it, but I'm not sure what's the best way to start. There are so many series and movies and I would like to pick an order that keeps them interested. My first idea is to start off with a few good TNG episodes, and then let them watch First Contact. What does Slashdot think? I'm sure some of you have introduced others to Star Trek before. How did you do it, and how successful were you? Which particular episodes would you recommend watching for someone who is completely new to all this?"

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Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! by greg_barton · 2012-06-20 12:26 · Score: 5, Informative

KHAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!
1. Re:Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! by magarity · 2012-06-20 12:38 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Watch the original series episode that introduces Khan back to back with the movie.
2. Re:Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! by Nationless · 2012-06-20 13:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  For future reference the title of that episode is "Space Seed" which, unfortunately, sounds like a porn version of Star Trek.
3. Re:Khaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! by TWX · 2012-06-20 15:09 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  There's Always:
  
  Sex Trek
  
  Sex Trek: The Search for Cock
  
  Sex Trek: The Next Penetration
  
  Sex Trek: Deep Sixty-Nine
  
  Sex Trek: Voyeurism
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
My advice by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-20 12:26 · Score: 5, Funny

If you want to keep your girlfriend, forget about Star Trek.
1. Re:My advice by AngryDeuce · 2012-06-20 13:05 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Or find a girlfriend that like Star Trek...
2. Re:My advice by jellomizer · 2012-06-20 13:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The joy in Trek is largely nostalgic. As a kid Star Trek was one of the first "grown up shows" I watched. While it covered issues and topics I didn't always get until I was older, but a Space Ship, Aliens who wern't scary, and cool tech, was enough to keep me interested. As I got older and watching the shows over again I found more complexity in the plot. As I went into adolescence it was a family approved show with babes in tights or short skirts where you sometimes get a panty shot. Then you get more of the plot. After that it is a lot nostalgic of when you were a kid and life was easy.
  For most people the debat over TOS TNG DS9 VGR and ENT falls what you watched when you were 8-12 years old.
  If you didn't watch Trek as a kid, you are probably not going to get that into it. For one the age of the shows covers many issues that are no longer a big deal. Second the plots and acting while ok are for the most part not spatactular.
  That said... I think Deep Space 9 is the best bet. It isn't as campy as the other Trek and there is growth in all the charactors.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
3. Re:My advice by EdIII · 2012-06-20 18:43 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  My dear fellow, you make it sound so insidious!
  How else does one distinguish themselves amongst a galaxy of replicator clad humanoids if not for fine quality hand made fabrics carefully assembled in the styles of the day?
Odd question. by methano · 2012-06-20 12:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

People either know all about Star Trek or they don't. If they don't, it's because they don't want to. You'll only annoy them by trying to "introduce" them.

Sometimes I'm glad that I'm old. Sheesh, "Introduce" somebody to Star Trek. What a weird concept.
Re:What not to! by 0100010001010011 · 2012-06-20 12:31 · Score: 5, Insightful

Why not? I think it's the best. It's pretty much a soap opera in space. Story arcs some tech babble thrown in.
Re:Well... by Sasayaki · 2012-06-20 12:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

Also, don't fucking go on a massive rant about Subject X. If she asks, "What is Warp?" Just say, "It lets the ship go faster than light." Don't regurgitate the entire Memory Alpha article that you've memorized or possibly helped write.

--
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
The Inner Light by KingSkippus · 2012-06-20 12:35 · Score: 5, Informative

Get them to watch The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light." This was by far one of the best hours of television in history. Then maybe "City on the Edge of Forever" from the original series. If those don't hook them, don't bother trying any further, it's a hopeless cause.
Re:Next Gen Q by magarity · 2012-06-20 12:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

No, while Q was acted well, he was the worst plot device in the entire franchise and is guaranteed to put off any new viewer. Even worse than the holodeck on Voyager.
Re:What not to! by poity · 2012-06-20 13:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

I think DS9 was the best. It was the most emotionally complex Trek series, and showed a future that wasn't so clean and utopian, with people who weren't so predictable. The introspective and rather cynical view it took of the Federation was by itself enough to elevate it above other series.

--
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
The main problem with Voyager by WinstonWolfIT · 2012-06-20 13:17 · Score: 5, Funny

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip...
Re:What not to! by AngryDeuce · 2012-06-20 13:25 · Score: 5, Interesting

Agreed. It's the only series that's really put forth the possibility that the Federation as a whole wasn't necessarily the "good guys" that knew what was best for everyone. Avery Brooks might actually be my favorite Captain, even above Picard. Definitely a BMF.
Re:Well... by Randle_Revar · 2012-06-20 13:27 · Score: 5, Insightful

If "It lets the ship go faster than light." is too technical, it is time for a new girlfriend.

--
Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
Shared interests = good relationship by k(wi)r(kipedia) · 2012-06-20 13:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

My thoughts exactly. If your girlfriend can't stand Star Trek, and you're a costume-wearing Trekkie, then you're in for a world of grief. She doesn't have to be Uhura, but she should like the franchise enough to watch the series without looking like she wants to be doing something else without you. If you're not really a Star Trek fan, forget it. Watch Twilight or Lincoln Vampire Hunter with her.
Don't lead w/the Movies... by Fubari · 2012-06-20 16:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

I would personally skip the movies for a while; "Wrath of Khan" and "Save The Wales / Nuclear Wessles" movies are fun, but largely because the fan-base knew the characters and enjoyed seeing the actors back in the saddle.
Your friends will enjoy the moves a lot more after they absorb the chemistry; McCoy + Spock don't really hit their stride until the end of the first season. Anyway, while people with no background in StarTrek certainly can enjoy the movies, people with some background in StarTrek will enjoy the movies at least twice as much. (I say it is worth the wait; you asked for how to best introduce your friends to Star Trek... so realizing there is no need to rush anything will help you do a better job with that introduction).
TOS stories are (mostly) all well done. And the concepts are ground breaking when you consider they were presented in 1968. Some of the social points are astonishing; equality, moral dilemmas, and so on - especially(!) when you compare them to other shows that were airing in the late 60's early 70's. (Myself, I like using TOS as a mirror to get a glimpse of that generation's culture.)
So... maybe show them 3 TOS episodes then leave it at that; more than that will risk burning them out. If they like TOS they'll follow up on their own, or come back for more "home video nights." (And if you can do it, go with the re-mastered TOS; they really do look nicely done).
Maybe for a later "video night" in a do a few TNG episodes. Or they may be grooving on working through TOS. *shrug* Either way, at that point, they will ask for more or just politely nod and focus on other things.
Lastly, and this could be the most important part, show some restraint in pacing and tempo with what you play for your friends. And express interest in what your audience likes and is passionate about; you might find something new that you like, and you will almost certainly learn more about your friends.
Re:I don't know the best way by Magic5Ball · 2012-06-20 22:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

One could show Star Trek without Star Trek, by staring with good stories.
TNG: Darmok
DS9: The Visitor
VOY: Blink of an Eye
TOS: The Devil in the Dark, The City on the Edge of Forever
(and a few others)
Such stories are accessible to new viewers since they do not depend on much cannon or story arcs or character history to be fully enjoyable. The major cannon episodes that series fans enjoy for being loaded with many intersections of individual motivations, big conflicts, implicit story, and consequence (e.g., "The Best of Both Worlds") would be lost to anyone who had not been exposed to the big players and landmarks. Starting with character development episodes would bet too much on new viewers caring about the characters on first exposure, and similarly with arc development episodes.

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There are 1.1... kinds of people.