Star Trek means 12 shows across 60 years — 1966 to 2026 — and 702 hrs 45 in total.
Where we would start: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) — 40 episodes, 30 hrs 20. That is 4% of the whole.
Why Strange New Worlds and not the 1966 show
Three reasons, all readable in the table. It is episodic: a story starts and ends within the episode, so you can stop whenever without leaving a plot hanging — the exact opposite of what makes a sixty-year franchise daunting. It is a prequel to the 1966 show, so nothing to know before pressing play. And it is thirty hours, not seven hundred: if it does not land, you will have spent a handful of evenings, not a season of your life.
The list follows release order. Ratings appear only for the 8 of 12 shows that reach 500 votes — below that, a rating rests on too few people.
Everything the franchise holds
- 1966 — Star Trek — 79 ep. — 66 hrs 22 — 8.0/10
- 1973 — Star Trek — 22 ep. — 8 hrs 48
- 1987 — Star Trek: The Next Generation — 176 ep. — 135 hrs 45 — 8.4/10
- 1993 — Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — 173 ep. — 131 hrs 58 — 7.9/10
- 1995 — Star Trek: Voyager — 169 ep. — 129 hrs 57 — 7.8/10
- 2001 — Star Trek: Enterprise — 97 ep. — 70 hrs 39 — 7.5/10
- 2017 — Star Trek: Discovery — 65 ep. — 55 hrs — 6.9/10
- 2020 — Star Trek: Lower Decks — 50 ep. — 22 hrs 26
Then: 2020 — Star Trek: Picard — 30 ep. — 25 hrs 13 — 7.2/10; 2021 — Star Trek: Prodigy — 39 ep. — 15 hrs 56; 2022 — Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — 40 ep. — 30 hrs 20 — 7.9/10; 2026 — Star Trek: Starfleet Academy — 10 ep. — 10 hrs 21.
And after that, in what order
The next step is not chronology, it is quality: The Next Generation (1987) is the highest-rated in the whole franchise, and by far the longest — 176 episodes, over 135 hours. Its reputation says it only truly starts in season three, which its rating does not tell you and which is worth knowing. Then Deep Space Nine (1993), which tells one war over seven years instead of exploring, and which many hold to be the best of them. The 1966 show works fine later on: it is sixty years old and it shows, but it is where all of this begins.
Track Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on WatchTrailWho it is for
For anyone who never dared, because twelve shows and seven hundred hours looks like a wall. For anyone who tried a random episode and understood none of it. If you want one serialised story from beginning to end, Star Trek is not built that way: it is a shared universe, not a single plot.
FAQ
Do I have to watch in order? No. The shows sit in different eras and nearly all stand alone. Internal chronology is not release order.
Is 702 hours really everything? It is the total for the 12 scripted shows. We count neither 'Short Treks' (a shorts anthology) nor documentaries about the franchise.
What about the thirteen films? They are not in this count: this article is about the shows. They sit on top of it, and none is a good starting point.
Last updated: November 3, 2026 — TMDB data verified on August 16, 2026.