I think at this time it is. I know there are 11 episodes left, but right now it is my favorite first season. TOS and TAS were before my time and I never enjoyed them. TNG is great and my second favorite Trek show but the first season was terrible. DS9 is my favorite Trek show and favorite TV show of all time, but the first season was ok at best. Voyager started promising with the pilot, but then went downhill. The NuTrek shows have all had good seasons, but Prodigy is quite frankly the best season 1 of any Trek. Agree or disagree?
Star Trek Prodigy: Best season 1 of any Trek series?
- Thread starter ELCHawk
- Start date
I'd say TOS.
Best first season for me would be Lower Decks.
Also very good, Prodigy just was better out of the gate for me. Love both shows.
If it’s not the best, it’s certainly tied for the best. A lot of the other beloved Trek shows started out very rough before they “grew the beard.”
Prodigy has one of the better first seasons of Star Trek. It's way up there. It's better than most first seasons of Star Trek. But, for me, TOS has the best first season of Old Trek and PIC has the best first season of New Trek.
But, to be fair, PIC is built on top of TNG. So if we're talking about a series starting from scratch, then Prodigy has the best first season so far, aside from TOS. I love the first season of DSC, and I know that's a minority opinion (unlike with other people, the rockiness is part of what I like about it), but the first season of PRO progresses a lot more smoothly.
TNG Season 1 wasn't that great and neither were any of the first seasons from the Berman-created series.
But, to be fair, PIC is built on top of TNG. So if we're talking about a series starting from scratch, then Prodigy has the best first season so far, aside from TOS. I love the first season of DSC, and I know that's a minority opinion (unlike with other people, the rockiness is part of what I like about it), but the first season of PRO progresses a lot more smoothly.
TNG Season 1 wasn't that great and neither were any of the first seasons from the Berman-created series.
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The first seasons of TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT all began very rough and uneven. There were good episodes peppered in and alternating with some of the worst episodes in all of Star Trek. I don’t think Prodigy has had any episodes like “The Naked Now,” “Code of Honor,” “Move Along Home,” “Threshold,” etc. I seem to recall the season 1 finale of TNG wasn’t particularly memorable, either.
TOS and LD had the best first seasons, to me. Disco and DS9 were second, both very good, but bumpy rides. I haven't finished Prodigy so i can't comment, but so far so good. Voyager did what it would do for the next seven years, a few good episodes, the rest meh. PIC was mostly good until the end, but when it went bad, there were no half measures. ENT Season 1 and TNG season one are probably both equally bad.
I liked TNG season 1. Those were exciting times. Just having another Star Trek series was a miracle. And I loved DS9 season 1.
I guess my bias against animated shows is showing but I wouldn’t put any of animated seasons above any of the live action seasons.
Prodigy is OK. I like it more than Lower Decks but not the other series, including TAS.
I'd still say TOS...though of course Prodigy isn't even half way through season one yet.
I don't any Trek show after TOS has produced a better first season. Although, LD comes pretty close.
My own feelings on the rankings of the first seasons:
PRO (Thought everything other than one episode was fantastic this season)
TOS (Lots of great episodes, but a few stinkers)
LDS (1/2 great, 1/2 okay, nothing bad)
PIC (Enjoyed half of the individual episodes tremendously, but...the ending was a major letdown)
DS9 (Some real standouts, but a few misses, and a lot of meh)
DIS (Mostly middle of the road with maybe two standouts. Downgraded for botching the serialized plot)
VOY (Fine, but little which stood out)
ENT (Like VOY, but slightly worse)
TNG (Only a few good ones, and lots of crap at the beginning)
PRO (Thought everything other than one episode was fantastic this season)
TOS (Lots of great episodes, but a few stinkers)
LDS (1/2 great, 1/2 okay, nothing bad)
PIC (Enjoyed half of the individual episodes tremendously, but...the ending was a major letdown)
DS9 (Some real standouts, but a few misses, and a lot of meh)
DIS (Mostly middle of the road with maybe two standouts. Downgraded for botching the serialized plot)
VOY (Fine, but little which stood out)
ENT (Like VOY, but slightly worse)
TNG (Only a few good ones, and lots of crap at the beginning)
The best first season of a show? I have to say TOS. Every Trek afterward had the Star Trek formula to follow and still managed to mess things up, the fact that TOS is as good as it is out of thin air boggles my mind.
But if someone were to ask me where to start watching Star Trek? No matter what age they are I would tell them their first season should be Prodigy. You could finish it in an evening if you tried and it still manages to introduce so much. Not only the technical details like "here's what replicators/transporters/phasers/etc are" but also an episode that introduces characters from the history of the franchise. I know "Kobayashi" felt gratuitous to us but I think if someone were being introduced to Trek through Prodigy it's a fantastic teaser for the rest of the franchise. A little taste of some of the characters they'll meet if they continue to watch and a great chance for us to say "Oh yeah, Jellyman is great. You want to know what species he is? I'm not going to spoil it, you'll have to watch DS9!"
The writers also managed to fit in the Prime Directive, a basic run-down of the Federation's ideals, Ferengi/Tellarites/Medusans/Caitians, Star Trek Time Shenanigans™, the idea that uniforms are just going to change with no explanation and you're going to have to just deal with it, and so much more.
Yet even though this seems like a huge infodump for ~3 hours it still manages to be a fun show with a great heart. Doesn't hurt that it's visually stunning either most of the time. The creators wanted to make a show that worked as an introduction to Trek and they knocked it out of the park.
But if someone were to ask me where to start watching Star Trek? No matter what age they are I would tell them their first season should be Prodigy. You could finish it in an evening if you tried and it still manages to introduce so much. Not only the technical details like "here's what replicators/transporters/phasers/etc are" but also an episode that introduces characters from the history of the franchise. I know "Kobayashi" felt gratuitous to us but I think if someone were being introduced to Trek through Prodigy it's a fantastic teaser for the rest of the franchise. A little taste of some of the characters they'll meet if they continue to watch and a great chance for us to say "Oh yeah, Jellyman is great. You want to know what species he is? I'm not going to spoil it, you'll have to watch DS9!"
The writers also managed to fit in the Prime Directive, a basic run-down of the Federation's ideals, Ferengi/Tellarites/Medusans/Caitians, Star Trek Time Shenanigans™, the idea that uniforms are just going to change with no explanation and you're going to have to just deal with it, and so much more.
Yet even though this seems like a huge infodump for ~3 hours it still manages to be a fun show with a great heart. Doesn't hurt that it's visually stunning either most of the time. The creators wanted to make a show that worked as an introduction to Trek and they knocked it out of the park.
Here's my current season 1 rankings (not including the Animated Series, which I haven't seen in ages).
- Lower Decks - No bad episodes and the last couple of stories are awesome.
- Discovery - Very consistent with some real highlights.
- Picard - A whole lot of 'eh, it was alright', boosted by the excellent Remembrance and Nepenthe.
- Original Series - Some really great episodes and some absolutely terrible ones as well.
- Prodigy
- Voyager - Pretty watchable, nothing amazing.
- Short Treks - Inconsistent quality, but The Escape Artist was good.
- TNG - It's not all that controversial to say TNG started badly.
- DS9 - I might be being too harsh on it because I know what the series becomes.
- Enterprise - It doesn't feel like the writers' hearts were in it.
Of the new Treks, probably. I really ended up liking Lower Decks season 1 when I rewatched that before Season 2 came out. I was not a fan of the Discovery (Too unfocused) and Picard (Failed to stick the landing and my reservations about episode 5) season 1's. If I were to rank them, I would probably do it this way:
1. Lower Decks - It was just fun and the end of the season was great all the way through
2. Star Trek - The original did it best, and it has the episode which basically sums up what Star Trek is, Devil in the Dark.
3. Prodigy - Probably the Star Trek series that has shocked me the most. I went in wondering if I should watch it being a Kids show, and now I can't wait till the new episodes
4. Voyager - I think this season was pretty consistent throughout, and it started the whole Seska arc
5. Deep Space Nine - When the episodes were good like Emissary, Battle Lines, Duet, and In the Hands of the Prophets, they were really really good
6. Enterprise - It was decent. It was too much like Voyager though
7. Discovery - Like I said, it was a tale of two halves, and they dropped the ball on the Klingon War and Lorca's character
8. TNG - I love the series, but Season 1 was not great
9. Picard - I hated hated hated Episode 5 (Maybe my opinion will change when I do a rewatch later this month to get ready for season 2) and the finale fell flat. Nepenthe was the best episode though
I don't include Short Treks since I see that as more of an anthology. Still, The Escape Artist and The Brightest Star were good.
1. Lower Decks - It was just fun and the end of the season was great all the way through
2. Star Trek - The original did it best, and it has the episode which basically sums up what Star Trek is, Devil in the Dark.
3. Prodigy - Probably the Star Trek series that has shocked me the most. I went in wondering if I should watch it being a Kids show, and now I can't wait till the new episodes
4. Voyager - I think this season was pretty consistent throughout, and it started the whole Seska arc
5. Deep Space Nine - When the episodes were good like Emissary, Battle Lines, Duet, and In the Hands of the Prophets, they were really really good
6. Enterprise - It was decent. It was too much like Voyager though
7. Discovery - Like I said, it was a tale of two halves, and they dropped the ball on the Klingon War and Lorca's character
8. TNG - I love the series, but Season 1 was not great
9. Picard - I hated hated hated Episode 5 (Maybe my opinion will change when I do a rewatch later this month to get ready for season 2) and the finale fell flat. Nepenthe was the best episode though
I don't include Short Treks since I see that as more of an anthology. Still, The Escape Artist and The Brightest Star were good.
A
Amaris
Guest
Best? I don't think so. I would give that honor to TOS.
Smoothest? Absolutely. The first season is consistently written, unlike many other Trek shows which are uneven their first (and sometimes second and third) seasons.
Smoothest? Absolutely. The first season is consistently written, unlike many other Trek shows which are uneven their first (and sometimes second and third) seasons.
Ok, since I can't resist a lists thread...
season one rankings:
TOS
Prodigy
Short Treks
Lower Decks
DS9
Voyager
TAS
TNG
Enterprise
Discovery
Picard
season one rankings:
TOS
Prodigy
Short Treks
Lower Decks
DS9
Voyager
TAS
TNG
Enterprise
Discovery
Picard
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