Over the last few years my family and I have binged all of Star Trek, then moved on to Star Trek adjacent shows like The Orville and Stargate. At the moment we’re not really watching anything sci-fi. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for similar shows (or maybe some books) that fill the void left by Star Trek. In particular I really like the episodes that deal with interacting with other civilizations, diplomacy, and exploration more-so than say, an anomaly episode.
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For All Mankind is the Star Trek prequel we should have had. Co-created by Ron Moore (Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica), the show has a bunch of Trek alumni working behind the scenes. It features human drama (and sometimes melodrama), geopolitical diplomacy, sweeping cultural change and scientific adventure against the backdrop of a multi generational future history, starting with the first moon landing.
I mean, the Expanse is fantastic sci fi, both book and show. It’s not that Star Trek like though.
I liked the “Lost in Space” series, tbh… Exploring is key lost in space on alien planets.
There’s so much modern Trek at this point I don’t even know if that’s necessary.
Anyway, I’d say I see a ton of overlap between liking Trek and liking The Expanse, although it’s more political and less “alien of the week diplomacy”. Still, it goes places, give it a look.
For me and a few other fans Discovery and first 2 seasons of Picard don’t exist. Season 3 of Picard and Strange New Worlds I like.
I don’t like any Picard and I do really like all of Discovery.
But even then, there’s so much right now that even discarding those there are two animated series and one live action show left. That’s still quite a bit of homework. And given that Picard and Disco are divisive but not universally hated, I’d say if you’re into Trek you still want to check those out and see if they’re for you or not.
No animated stuff for me, live action only. I guess if you enjoyed discovery, new trek has found its audience and it’s time for me to go elsewhere, some good recommendations on this thread.
Up to you. Disco starts a bit rough, and I get why people didn’t enjoy the gritty tone and the reworked Klingons in Season 1, although I wasn’t as outraged by them (frankly, Disco S1 is no more off-tone than early Enterprise or late DS9, if you ask me). However, by Season 2 they had course corrected hard and later seasons of Discovery mostly just differentiate from Strange New Worlds in that SNW is episodic and Disco does season-long arcs. Otherwise they’re pretty much bang-on tonally. I think a lot of the pushback these days comes from people bouncing off early, making it a crusade to hate it and never checking back. Which, again, big Enterprise undertones right there.
But yeah, if you’re out there going “nuTrek sucks” to me these days you come across pretty detached. Watch what you like, obviously, but new Trek is all over the place in tone and feel and there’s tons of great stuff in there, as far as I’m concerned.
Also, Lower Decks season 1 feels off to me and always has, but it gets pretty good later and depending on your tolerance for watching cartoons meant for younger kids, Prodigy is pretty much just a sequel to Voyager, so if you’re more continuity and nostalgia driven you may want to give it a look.
I’ve watched 3 seasons of Discovery (quit after 2 but my friend forced me to watch the third one). I think RedLetterMedia perfectly articulates my frustrations with Discovery and first 2 seasons of Picard. Good watch on YouTube.
Of the new Trek, as I mentioned, Strange New Worlds and Picard season 3 left me satisfied. Looking forward to more of that!
Babylon 5 and Farscape are great.
Babylon 5 is more like Trek with diplomacy and semi-realisitic plots, while Farscape leans a bit more toward Star Wars; fun, campy, weird at times but well-written.
You may also like Red Dwarf which is like the IT crowd, but in space.
Your last line has sold me on red dwarf 😂
Its very old, be prepared for some content that is not appropriate today.
Also if you do watch it. Kryten’s way of speaking is based on Robert Llewewllyns visit to vancouver canada and how he felt people in vancouver spoke, or at least thats the story i remember. Doesnt really factor into the show, i just thought it was an interesting choice given the distinct way Kryten speaks
Haha cheers for the heads up!
It’s not exactly like Star Trek to be sure, but it’s possible you might enjoy continuum. Definitely deals with moral issues, but it’s not space based, or as futuristic
Good suggestion. I forgot about this show. It has a good ending.
Very good, but it’s rough
If you like British comedy then Red Drarf was surprisingly good imo
The summary I just read sounds great, thanks for the tip!
Ooh… I’m not sure if a summary really can set expectations in this case. But do give it a try! It’s silly but it’s hilarious.
Highly recommend the Culture Novels by Iain M Banks. They’re not necessarily family friendly due to some adult themes and moments, but diplomacy, exploration and intrigue are the main focuses with a bit of action sprinkled in.
