The Best Star Trek Series of the Modern Era (and the Worst)

Star Trek's vast and evolving universe, spanning decades and multiple iterations, allows for a fascinating era-by-era analysis. From the classic Original Series of the late 1960s, through the iconic films featuring the original crew, the Rick Berman era (encompassing The Next Generation to Enterprise), and finally, the current Paramount+ era that began with Discovery in 2017, the franchise has consistently reinvented itself.

This Paramount+ era is particularly noteworthy, having produced, in less than eight years, five new series (including two animated shows), a collection of Short Treks, and now, the first straight-to-streaming TV movie, Star Trek: Section 31 (initially conceived as a series). The diverse approaches taken—from straightforward sci-fi drama to comedy, animation, shorts, and feature-length films—make direct comparisons challenging. Furthermore, show quality can fluctuate across seasons. Therefore, our rankings consider each series' complete run, not just peak performance.

So, prepare for warp speed as we boldly go where no ranking has gone before!

Ranking the Best and Worst Modern Era Star Trek Series

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