The Ultimate Star Trek Viewing Guide: TV & Streaming Details For Every Single Episode And Movie

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The series that started it all, The Original Series, aired from 1966 to 1969 in the United States, before entering syndication. It premiered in the UK on the BBC in 1969. The first pilot, The Cage, failed to secure a series order, but impressed NBC executives enough to order a second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before.

The show was remastered in the '90s, updating the effects with new CGI enhancements. These are the versions currently available on Paramount+. 

The show was groundbreaking, despite struggling with viewership at the time. Its impact was such that it was followed by an animated series in 1973 and a motion picture in 1979. 

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In 1973, Star Trek returned to television, with one small difference. The cast had travelled through a wormhole and come out the other side - in 2D animated form! The Animated Series ran for two seasons, with the second being six episodes, introducing key canon elements - such as Captain James Tiberius Kirk's middle name.

Episodes like Yesteryear are crucial for the universe's understanding of Vulcans, while the show also introduced Larry Niven's Kzinti to canon - something this writer is eternally grateful for.

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There are currently 13 theatrically released Star Trek films, beginning with The Motion Picture in 1979 and ending with Star Trek Beyond from 2016. In 2025, a direct-to-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31, premiered on Paramount+.

The first six films concentrate on the crew from The Original Series, while the following four focus on the crew from The Next Generation. In 2009, director J.J. Abrams rebooted The Original Series with his trilogy, set in the so-called Kelvin timeline. Section 31 takes place in the Lost Era between the original and next generations.

The streaming versions are largely the original versions seen in theatres. For remasters, director's cuts, and extended editions, one needs to source the physical media for each. It should be said that this is a solid investment, as some of the films aren't truly complete without these editions. 

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In 1987, Star Trek returned to television with The Next Generation, a show set 78 years after the events of The Original Series. Contemporary reviews of that first season weren't kind - how dare they attempt to change Star Trek? This wasn't my Trek, they cried! 

The Next Generation, it's fairly safe to say, won over the audience as it went along and is now celebrated as one of the greatest science fiction television shows of all time. Patrick Stewart originated a very different kind of captain from William Shatner's Kirk, and Captain Picard would go on to be a symbol of diplomacy in the franchise.

The supporting cast from The Next Generation returned in the final season of the follow-up show, Star Trek: Picard, largely due to their popularity both on and off screen. Episodes like The Best Of Both Worlds are credited with changing how television handled cliff-hangers, while All Good Things remains one of the greatest series finales ever made.

If one were just starting their Star Trek journey, The Next Generation would be a strong starting point. 

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine represented a maturing of the Trek universe. It was the first show released after franchise creator Gene Roddenberry's death in 1991, with early seasons still emulating those earlier shows. With the third season, a shift in tone saw increased militarism, with all-out war breaking out in the fourth and fifth seasons.

Deep Space Nine was the first Star Trek show to be led by a black man, Avery Brooks, as Commander, later Captain, Ben Sisko. In 1993, when the pilot Emissary aired, this was a radical move for the universe. While Star Trek had attempted to display equality since its inception, it still took nearly 30 years for a black lead actor to arrive.

Sisko was not just in command of the station, but was also a single father, raising his son Jake alone. He was a strong male role model for people in the '90s, not to mention a strong black role model as well. 

Deep Space Nine succeeded with middling viewership ratings during its run, which ironically allowed it to be much more experimental than previous shows, which has led to the show ageing particularly well in the years that have followed. 

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Star Trek: Voyager launched in 1995 as the flagship show for the new UPN - a network that would eventually morph into the CW. Voyager was unique in Star Trek for having a woman as the captain of the ship and the star of the show. Kate Mulgrew was cast as Captain Kathryn Janeway, leading a blended crew of Starfleet and Maquis individuals.

The show started strong, then its truncated first season lent several episodes to its second season. The big change comes in season four with the arrival of Jeri Ryan's Seven Of Nine. From there, the show was firing on all cylinders through to the finale.

This was the first Star Trek show to air in the 21st Century, taking advantage of the advancements in CGI as the seasons went on. Though there has yet to be a true sequel series, the stories have continued in various other Treks since then, not least in Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Picard, as well as the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

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Star Trek: Enterprise was the first Trek series to debut in the 21st Century, being the first of the iterations to use exclusively computer-generated imagery, outside of the movies. Led by Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, this show turns the clock back, visiting the earliest days of Starfleet over 100 years before the adventures of Kirk and Spock.

Though initially hamstrung by its prequel status, Enterprise quickly grew into its own, with strong episodes in its first and second seasons. The third season saw the show tackle the war on terror with its Xindi Arc, bringing season-long serialisation into the franchise for the first time.

Though cancelled at the end of its fourth season, Enterprise has aged well, securing its place as one of the more beloved entries in the universe. The recent return of one of its main stars in Star Trek: Lower Decks has also helped to reignite interest in the show, despite being off the air for twenty years. 

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In 2017, after a gap of 12 years on the small screen, Star Trek returned with the Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman-created series Star Trek: Discovery. Like Voyager before it, this show would launch a new way to watch Star Trek, serving as the flagship show for CBS All Access, which would later rename itself to Paramount+.

Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Commander Michael Burnham, securing several firsts for the franchise. This was the first show led by a black woman and the first show not to feature the ranking officer as the central star. Michelle Yeoh and Jason Issaacs pull double duty as captains in the first season, but this show revolves around Michael Burnham,

Like Enterprise, this was also a prequel, though one that used the advancements in computer technology to full effect. It is a new type of Trek, wearing its streaming status on its sleeve, embracing 21st-century freedoms, and pitfalls throughout its five-season run.

The show was not without controversy and frequently drew strong reactions from audiences, yet it managed to reignite Star Trek for the small screen and streaming after a fallow period. 

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After a gap of 20 years, Patrick Stewart returned to the role of Captain, now Admiral (retired), Jean-Luc Picard in the eponymous series. Despite expectations being high for a Next Generation sequel series, fans would have to wait for the full reunion to take place, as the first two seasons focus mostly on JL and the new cast of characters.

The show is best viewed as an anthology series, featuring common characters across its three-season run. The effects are glorious, while the updated ships of the 24th and 25th Centuries are a wonder to behold in 4K definition. 

The show was always planned as a three-season run, so there is a sense of closure to the story's end. With cameos and treats for Trek fans new and old, this show helped breathe new life into the stories from the 24th Century, partnering with some other series on this list. 

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Between seasons one and two, then two and three of Star Trek: Discovery, Paramount and CBS decided to release a series of short Star Trek stories, with the collective being named Short Treks. These were low-risk examples of experimentation, allowing the filmmakers to give certain characters extra time, introduce entirely new characters, and tease the then-upcoming Star Trek: Picard.

Most of the episodes are self-contained, with experiments in form. Ephraim & Dot is entirely animated, while The Girl Who Touched The Stars is rendered in beautiful CGI. Children Of Mars serves as a prologue to Picard, while Calypso teases the coda for Star Trek: Discovery.

The Short Treks are divided into two seasons, with the second season offering more time with the crew of the Enterprise, introduced in Discovery's second season. It's worth the investment to see Spock and Number One sing in a turbolift alone! 

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Lower Decks! Lower Decks! Mike McMahan's animated Star Trek series, set in the years after Star Trek: Nemesis, arrived in 2020 to a lot of confused fans - delighting them in the process. This was the first official Star Trek series to be fully animated since 1973, so there was a risk that it would not take off. Add to this the fact that it would be aiming for a much more comedic style than any previous series, and people were scratching their heads.

Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome, and Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid, were instantly lovable, if a little chaotic. The show made its mission clear in the series pilot Second Contact. This was about a ship that was as far from pomp and prestige as it was possible to get, allowing the writers to really have some fun. There are more easter eggs than you could shake a phaser at, so this one is definitely a treat for long-time Trek fans, but is highly accessible for first-time viewers as well. 

Five seasons may be too short a run, but it was five seasons of hilarity from start to finish. As the Vulcan Ensign T'Lynn might comment, it was "fascinating".

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There is a long story behind Star Trek: Prodigy, but let me open with this: this is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful pieces of the Star Trek universe that too many people never got the chance to see. The show was given the green light for forty episodes from the jump, though halfway through post-production on season two, Paramount pulled the show from its streaming service, while allowing it to complete that production.

The show was then picked up for streaming by Netflix, which streamed both seasons in their entirety, until season one was removed this year, with season two having also now departed. For Star Trek: Prodigy, which is easily the best Star Trek the audience has been offered in years, the best and only place to watch is by picking up the physical editions. There is no doubt that the investment is worth any cost, as the animation, the performances, the story, and the characters, both new and old, are among the very best that the franchise has ever produced. 

If nothing else, watch it for the return of Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Janeway, with some other genuine surprises thrown in along the way. 

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The longest pilot-to-series order in the history of the franchise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows the adventures of the USS Enterprise - before the arrival of Captain Kirk. Anson Mount stars as Captain Christopher Pike, Kirk's predecessor as commander of the Enterprise, boldly going in the decade before Kirk's posting.

The show was greenlit in response to audience reactions to Pike, Spock, and Number One appearing on Star Trek: Discovery (although the savvy mind suspects it had been in the works regardless). It has been an experiment in style, as well as substance, offering several franchise firsts. Star Trek's first musical arrived late in its second season, as well as the first animation to live-action crossover with Lower Decks.

The show is set to run for a further two seasons, so now is a good point to jump in and get caught up. It is produced in such a way that one does not need to watch any of the previous shows to really understand the plot - but of course, it helps! 

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For the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series, CBS commissioned a series of Very Short Treks, created in the Filmation style of that earlier show, designed to celebrate the history of Star Trek animation. 

The entire run of episodes is available for free on Star Trek's YouTube channel, with each episode of varying quality. While they may have missed the mark when it came to actually celebrating the franchise, the Very Short Treks did show that the style of animation could still be fun when applied to modern stories. They all saw the return of several Star Trek alumni from shows past.

Holograms All The Way Down, written by Aaron Waltke, remains the best of the series, packed full of fun moments for the keen-eared fans. 

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Where Star Trek: Prodigy was mislabelled as a kids' show from the beginning, Star Trek: Scouts is definitely for the youngest audiences. It aims to introduce toddlers to the world of Trek through educational and interactive episodes, releasing weekly on Star Trek's YouTube channel.

Each week, the intrepid band of scouts battle new asteroids flying towards their base, using an array of defensive means - like rubber duckies. This is one for the little ones, but there are still a few easter eggs in there for the grown-ups watching along at the same time. 

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This audiodrama began life as a three-episode television series when it was announced several years ago, penned by Star Trek alumnus Nicholas Meyer, director of The Wrath Of Khan, The Undiscovered Country, and co-writer of The Voyage Home.

The show changed formats, switching from visual to audio, becoming an audio drama with a full cast, including Naveen Andrews as Khan Noonien-Singh, Wrenn Schmidt as Lt. Marla McGivers, Tim Russ as Ensign Tuvok, and George Takei as Captain Hikaru Sulu.

The show explores the years that Khan and his people spent marooned on Ceti Alpha V, both before and after the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI. The show has been compelling, introducing audiences not only to a new version of these characters but a new method of expanding the Star Trek universe. The roughly 30-minute episodes are easily digestible and are best heard through headphones to truly enjoy director Fred Greenhalgh's excellent sound design and environment.

As an experiment, Star Trek: Khan is a success, which will hopefully lead to future audiodramas to continue the Trek landscape.

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The newest series from the Star Trek universe is Starfleet Academy, the long-gestating exploration into life at the esteemed school for new officers. Though the initial pitch occurred in the '80s, which was to feature a young Kirk and Spock, this version is zooming forward to the 32nd Century, taking place after the events of Star Trek: Discovery.

Despite the show's future setting, audiences were thrilled to learn that Star Trek alumnus Robert Picardo would be reprising his role as the Emergency Medical Hologram, last seen in Star Trek: Prodigy. Oscar-winner Holly Hunter leads the cast as Captain and Academy Chancellor, Nahla Ake. Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti joins the cast as the main antagonist for the show's first season.

The show focuses on the first class of cadets at the Academy in over one hundred years, aboard the Academy ship USS Athena, allowing the series to spend time both on Earth and in deep space. The show has already begun production on its second season, so hopefully any cliffhanger endings won't leave the audience with too much time to sweat. 

The show premiered in January 2026, debuting the same year as Star Trek's sixtieth anniversary, which falls on September 8th, 2026.