Every Star Trek Series Ranked

Today, "Star Trek" is one of the broadest franchises in all of entertainment, with shows, movies, multiple reboots and revivals to watch, and even more media to explore: video games, comics, books, and a most deserved etcetera. But at its core, "Star Trek" has always been at its best on television, where these brave crews could delve into complex stories, examine serious issues, and dive into the depths of its characters far more than any movie could. 

These days, there are more than a dozen titles in the small-screen "Star Trek" library, but, believe it or not, more than half have been produced in the past decade. And although fans are divided on many of the newer entries, they've offered up a broader canvas of stories for the franchise, each with its own unique tone. If you've ever wondered how they all stack up, you needn't go to red alert, because we've got you covered. Whether judged on merits of popularity, writing, visuals, or culturural status, we've ranked every "Star Trek" series, worst to best.

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" wasn't the first time that the crew of the Enterprise returned to screens after the cancellation of the original 1966 series. That honor goes to the 1974 Saturday morning cartoon, "Star Trek: The Animated Series." Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver much in the way of drama, and is so poorly produced that it often borders on unintended farce, making it one of the worst animated series based on a live-action franchise. 

The series does benefit from the presence of the original cast (sans Walter Koenig), who reprise their roles from the original series, while beloved sci-fi writers like Larry Niven and "Trek" scribes D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold contribute scripts. But due to its half-hour runtime, its youthful demographic, and extremely cheap — often entirely static — animation, the series is rarely very good, save for a few standout installments like the Spock-centered episode "Yesteryear." Nevertheless, it was surprisingly mature for a kids' show, with adult themes and moral messaging that does the 1966 series proud.

Overall, if you're looking for great "Trek," you won't find it in "Star Trek: The Animated Series." But as a look back at the history of the franchise — and perhaps as a guilty pleasure — it has its merits. Frankly, it's worth watching for its zaniness alone.

• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols
• Creator: Gene Roddenberry
• Episode Count: 22
• IMDb Score: 7.2

"Star Trek: Scouts" is the most recent series in the "Trek" pantheon, and we won't be surprised if some of our readers haven't heard of it. That's because it dropped in 2025 with almost no promotion, released as a series of YouTube shorts aimed at toddlers. Thus, it earns a place near the bottom of our list by default: It's not a series where you can expect anything more than a few minutes of brightly colored action and space adventure. But if that's what you want, it does it well.

Laser focused on its young audience, "Scouts" is a series of four-minute adventures centering on a group of 8-year-old explorers. Together with a couple of animal sidekicks, these Starfleet hopefuls go on a series of mini missions. But because this is for toddlers, the missions are all fairly innocuous. The stakes are low, but the colors are bright, and it's sure to keep the attention of your kids while you're trying to do the laundry. But unlike "Star Trek: Prodigy," which boasts stories that can appeal to any Trekkie, there's not much to enjoy here if you're over the age of five. 

• Cast: Hudson Brooks, Monique Thomas, Paul Castro, Jr.
• Episode Count: 9 (still airing new episodes)
• IMDb Score: 6.8

"Star Trek: Discovery" ushered in a new era for the franchise, with big-budget, prestige format episodes, and shorter seasons released directly to streaming. It also meant nearly a year between seasons, and so, to tide fans over during an extended wait, a series of mini episodes was produced that constitute the short-form series "Star Trek: Short Treks."

"Short Treks" is an anthology series comprised of mini episodes (and a handful of funnier "Star Trek: very Short Treks"), with each installment telling a different story, sometimes with a different setting and cast. There are two seasons, with standout stories including "The Brightest Star," an episode that explores the tragic backstory of Commander Saru (Doug Jones), and "Q&A," a one-act play set aboard a turbolift where Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) are briefly stranded amid a ship malfunction.

Though the episodes vary in quality, it's the series' wide array of stories that sets it apart. There's also an Emmy-nominated animated episode ("The Girl Who Made the Stars") and even a short that serves as a prequel to Season 1 of "Star Trek: Picard."

• Cast: H. Jon Benjamin, Rainn Wilson, Aldis Hodge
• Creator: Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Akiva Goldsman
• Episode Count: 10
• IMDb Score: 7.1

Despite what fans seem to agree is a stellar third season that served as a strong reunion for the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Picard," as a whole, left a lot to be desired. Debuting in 2020, "Picard" sees the return of Patrick Stewart as the former Enterprise captain, who is now on the outs with Starfleet after the destruction of Romulus and the decimation of the fleet by a rogue army of synths. 

The emergence of a young android woman who's much like his old friend Commander Data (Brent Spiner), however, sends him on a quest to find the truth about her existence. Season 2 sent Picard and a new rag-tag crew on a time travel adventure orchestrated by Q (John de Lancie).

These often plodding first two seasons are saved somewhat by the show's superb finale season. And despite its many flaws, there's still a lot to love about the series. Stewart remains at the top of his game, there are some genuinely satisfying subplots, and it explores several classic characters in new and intriguing ways.

• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd
• Creator: Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer
• Episode Count: 30
• IMDb Score: 7.5

2001's "Star Trek: Enterprise" was a prequel series, set some hundred years before the days of Kirk and Spock. With a decidedly more contemporary feel, it chronicled the early days of Starfleet, where the headstrong Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) takes the NX-01 Enterprise into deep space for the first time.

Though not much of a hit, "Star Trek: Enterprise" might be the most underrated "Trek" series. Because while it never lived up to its potential, its prequel setting often makes for truly compelling "Trek" stories. The NX-01 doesn't have the technological advantages of its successors, its crew doesn't have allies in the Federation, and there are no starbases to aid in their missions. For the first time, the crew is on their back foot, and the series tells some powerful stories. Even if it feels aimless on occasion.

Later in the series, producer Manny Coto arrived to help focus the series, with long-form story arcs and deeper connections to "Star Trek" lore. It's far from the best "Trek" series, but retrospective looks back reveal a show that is better than you remember, deserving more recognition today.

• Cast: Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer
• Creator: Rick Berman, Brannon Braga
• Episode Count: 98
• IMDb Score: 7.6

No matter where we put "Star Trek: Discovery" on a list of "Trek" shows, there's going to be an outcry. Those who enjoy the show feel it's among the franchise's best, while those who don't think it's not even worthy of the name "Star Trek." Nevertheless, the overall consensus is that, while it may not be for everyone, it does a lot right — including acknowledging its own missteps.

The first "Trek" TV series in over a decade, "Discovery" was the first-ever streaming series in the franchise, which itself was controversial. The choice to set the series 10 years before the 1966 series upset some, while its visual departure from both that series had many believing it wasn't even canon. Embracing fast-paced action and adventure riled even more Trekkies up. Still, the series is well written, features some of the franchise's finest visuals, and often dives into its characters in a way previous shows rarely did.

When it works, "Discovery" soars as some of the best sci-fi of its day. But when it doesn't, it's clunky and overwrought at best, cringeworthy at worst. Thankfully, the series does attempt to course-correct, sending the ship 1000 years into the future to free itself from continuity issues after its second season.

• Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Michelle Yeoh
• Creator: Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller
• Episode Count: 65
• IMDb Score: 7.0

Following the success of its new crop of live-action shows aimed at adults, Paramount+ launched "Star Trek: Prodigy," a CGI-animated series aimed at kids. But though fans might have bristled upon its announcement, they eventually found that the series was more than lightweight kiddy fare. In fact, the stories are so well done and the characters nuanced and complex that many felt it was as good or better than any live-action show they'd seen. Despite low viewership, the show proved so good that Netflix saved it from cancellation.

Set five years after the events of "Star Trek: Voyager," the 2021 series opens in the far-flung reaches of the galaxy, where a group of children are kept as forced labor on an alien world. These four kids — Dal (Brett Gray), Rok Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), and Zero (Angus Imrie), along with the sludgy critter Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) — discover an abandoned Starfleet vessel that they use to escape. With the help of a holographic assistant patterned after Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). 

But their former jailors (John Noble and Jimmi Simpson) aren't the only ones looking for them: the real Janeway is also hot on their trail. The ship they've discovered was once captained by her old friend Chakotay — who went missing when he took the experimental USS Protostar into the Delta Quadrant. 

• Cast: Ella Purnell, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Mantzoukas
• Creator: Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman
• Episode Count: 40
• IMDb Score: 7.6

Though "Star Trek" has criss-crossed genres, it was always a drama first. That changed with the debut of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," created by "Rick & Morty" writer Mike McMahan, which is a wacky adult comedy set aboard a lesser Starfleet vessel called the USS Cerritos. Unlike every other "Trek" series, the focus of the show wasn't the command crew, but the lower-ranked officers who do all the dirty work.

The series follows the comical misadventures of Ensigns Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), Tendy (Noel Wells), and Mariner (Tawny Newsome) — who also happens to be the rebellious daughter of the ship's commanding officer, Captain Freeman (Dawn Wells). Met with skepticism by diehard fans when it first launched, the show's off-the-wall humor and surprisingly strong stories won the audience over. Its success even prompted sister-series "Strange New Worlds" to produce a crossover episode that brought Quaid and Newsome into live-action for a time-travel adventure that saw Boimler and Mariner meeting Captain Pike and the crew of the Enterprise.

• Cast: Jack Quaid, Tawny Newsome, Eugene Cordero
• Creator: Mike McMahan
• Episode Count: 50
• IMDb Score: 7.8

The first "Star Trek" series to feature a woman in the captain's chair, "Star Trek: Voyager" was the first spin-off to debut after the end of "The Next Generation." With a high concept premise, the series follows newly-installed Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Voyager after they are inadvertently sent millions of light-years across the galaxy during a mission to capture a ship of Starfleet renegades called the Maquis.

Stranded in the remote Delta Quadrant, the Voyager and the Maquis must join together as one crew and fight for survival in a lawless frontier while they try to find a way back to Federation space. It's a journey that could take decades. The series never quite does its premise justice, as it quickly becomes a routine "Trek" adventure. It does boast some fascinating characters, from the full-blooded Vulcan Tuvok (Tim Russ) to the former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who joins the series in Season 4.

One of the most-watched "Star Trek" shows on streaming, "Voyager" featured more action and adventure, while still boasting moral tales and buckets of social commentary in the finest of "Trek" traditions.

• Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Tim Russ
• Creator: Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor
• Episode Count: 168
• IMDb Score: 7.9

Debuting in 2022 and spinning out of Season 2 of "Star Trek: Discovery," "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" brings the franchise back to its roots with episodic stories in lieu of season-long arcs. Set aboard the original USS Enterprise in the years before Captain Kirk, the series follows Captain Pike (Anson Mount), his stalwart first officer Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and a younger, less experienced Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck). 

Bold, confident, and full of swagger, "Strange New Worlds" is everything fans were looking for in a "Trek" series, with stories of exploration, discovery, and adventure. Classic sci-fi parables mixed with hard-hitting action and a healthy dose of light-hearted humor, it's a series that's also family-friendly, like its classic predecessors. Its big budget is put to good use, too, as it's also the best-looking "Trek" series we've ever seen. 

"Strange New Worlds" also takes plenty of fun risks, with a musical episode, a crossover with "Lower Decks," and even an upcoming puppet episode. Its first year of stories is the franchise's best debut season, and, as the show barreled towards the events of the original series, it also added classic characters like Scotty (Martin Quinn) and a young James Kirk (Paul Wesley) to the cast. 

• Cast: Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck
• Creator: Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet
• Episode Count: 46 (still airing new episodes)
• IMDb Score: 8.2

In the early 1960s, science fiction wasn't known for hard-hitting drama, but for kid-friendly adventure. "Star Trek," however, blazed a trail for the genre on television with the adventures of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the starship Enterprise, whose missions were more than mere fanciful tales of space action. With dramatic stories and compelling characters, the original "Star Trek" series set a new bar for the genre, influencing all who would follow. Even "Star Wars" creator George Lucas.

Kicking off what is arguably the greatest science fiction franchise of all time, "Star Trek" changed the face of TV forever, and its importance to broader pop culture cannot be overstated. But its influence and cultural impact are not just because it was memorable, but because it remains one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever made, featuring powerful stories and deeply complicated characters. 

A cultural touchstone, "Star Trek" is sci-fi at its best, with some the show's finest episodes exploring seriously political themes. Issues of race, religion, and the class divide are explored, as well as plenty of social allegory that examined then-current events like the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement.

• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols
• Creator: Gene Roddenberry
• Episode Count: 78
• IMDb Score: 8.4

Following success in theaters, "Star Trek" was revived on television in 1987 with "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a reboot the likes of which the medium had rarely seen. With a dynamic new crew led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), the series stumbled out of the gate with a dreadful first season, but quickly recovered to become a hit. Now it's one of the most widely beloved shows of its generation, a pop culture sensation that brought sci-fi into the mainstream.

Like its predecessor, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" saw its crew of Starfleet heroes exploring the galaxy aboard the USS Enterprise. Against all odds, the series didn't just carve out its own identity, it became its own cultural phenomenon. With a cast of classic characters, iconic villains, sharp scripts, and memorable storylines, It's proven to be just as beloved as the original series. If not more. "TNG" also spawned a feature film franchise and at least one TV sequel, the previously mentioned "Picard."

• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner
• Creator: Gene Roddenberry
• Episode Count: 178
• IMDb Score: 8.7

"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" launched while the wildly popular "Next Generation" was still on the air, and as a result, it often goes overlooked. But the 1993 series is the best "Star Trek" series, even if it isn't the most celebrated. That's largely thanks to its complex storylines, nuanced characters, and its exploration of the less utopian side of the "Star Trek" universe.

A massive departure for the franchise, "DS9" isn't set aboard a ship exploring the galaxy, but aboard a space station that sits on the edge of a wormhole that connects to the distant Gamma Quadrant. This unique setting ultimately serves as a springboard to discuss social and political issues of the day, providing opportunities for a wide variety of stories. Indeed, the series tackles far more serious subject matter, like the horrors of war and even religious violence, while featuring ethically questionable heroes, including a self-described terrorist.

Darker at times than fans were used to, "DS9" also delights in its silliness more than you'd expect. Though not recognized by pop culture as much as "TOS" or "TNG," the series revels in its uniqueness, which elevates it to a greatness the franchise has rarely seen since.

• Cast: Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois
• Creator: Rick Berman, Michael Piller
• Episode Count: 173
• IMDb Score: 8.1