They did a fine job considering the budget and time constraints. You know what, let me amend my statement:
they were able to make engaging stories that even with dated sets & costumes so many awful hair styles*
*if my fiancee watches anything produced between 1978 and 1995** she will comment on awful hair
**After Season 2 of Frasier, Kelsey Grammar stopped doing that jiggly mullet thing, allowing her to enjoy the show fully
The episodes listed are about a quarter of the show in total including the pilot and finale. We've done this with a few series, take a tour and then go back for more if/when you feel like it/have the time.
DS9 has been on the list for a while, I'll probably fully commit when I get to it.
Voyager I re-visited in chunks for a work thing (odd situation), and yeah, it's fine but I don't need to go back.
Yeah, the hair sticks out and the 80s color palette for TNG. I have found that the set design is still really good; especially because modern Trek has swung so strong with the stereotypical hack approach with the damn lighting. The Enterprise-D is such a welcoming, comfortable ship. It is very much a demonstrative of the Federation in that time period, and the feel of the US post-Berlin Wall. For that one decade in the 90s the world felt safe, satisfied to the point that fucking families are on starships. The D is almost a cruise ship in its luxury. But then the Federation gets that wake-up call at Wolf 359. Ships built after the Borg Attack are much more spartan, much meaner, more militaristic.
That "To Be Continued" in that Borg episode with Picard turned into Locutus was one of the all-time great cliffhangers... Speaking of Locutus....
And also yes, Frasier's hair is so out of place in the first couple seasons. It is rather shockingly bad even for the early 1990s. That and the three button suits! So 90s.
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For TNG, I would say you could watch Seasons 3 and 4 completely through. They were fucking killing it nearly every episode in those two seasons. Season 5 is mostly good.
But definitely for DS9. I can give you a good list for Seasons 1 and 2 so you can skip most of those seasons because they were very slow. DS9 did a 180 starting with the last episode of Season 2 onward. Pure gold from Season 3 on.
It is very weird, because one recognizes that DS9 was the first Post-9/11 TV series despite ending in 1999. It so well explores the issues of the 2000s that it is almost as if the show writers could see the future.
And of course Ron Moore took a lot of these themes when he made BSG.
But above all, DS9 is simply one of the greatest series ever from a character development standpoint. No other Trek series goes so far to make their people flawed and imperfect. But the result is such incredible growth and an amazingly rich tapestry of characters; so much so that even the reoccurring characters become key players. There are entire episodes where 90% of the plot is moved by the guest stars to the point the main cast is not even missed.
When you get to DS9 I will share with you the characters to watch for in terms of growth.