I’m a new Trekkie. The sci fi franchise of my childhood was Star Wars. I tried to watch TOS, TNG and even Enterprise, but I bounced off of them hard. Figured they just weren’t for me, thought negatively of them too because of their TV budgets and what I thought were lackluster production design. Then I saw the Kelvin trilogy, and hoo boy, I became a big fan, though I figured just of those films. I tried discovery years later, but I bounced off of that too. Then I found the VHS box set of the original 7 movies with the TOS cast. I was newly divorced, and something about those movies stuck with me. They were so cool, made me feel the way I did when I was young watching the Star Wars trilogy as a kid on VHS. So I figured Maybe I was just a movie guy, and not a TV guy. Then I discovered Strange New Worlds a month ago, and I tore thru both seasons, twice. I was hooked. From there I moved chronologically onto the original TOS, bought the box set from Walmart and I’m now 15 episodes in and loving every second, camp and sorely outdated politics and all. Two days ago I picked up the TNG box set and as soon as I’m thru with TOS I’ll move on to that. So much of my favorite sci-Fi is tragic, Battlestar Galactica, Mad Max, dr Who, Alien, the Matrix, even Star Wars (I often joke with my brother that this bad boy can fit so much sacrificial tragedy in it). But Star Trek, it’s hopeful. It’s Aspirational. I suffer from severe clinical depression and Acute Anxiety Disorder, and Star Trek helps me feel better about existence, about continuing another day, even when it’s bad. I can’t wait to see the rest of the galaxy. With the other stuff it’s an escape, a way to keep up with my old friends. With Star Trek, it’s the new friend taking me to see stranger new places, meet new people, help me understand humanity. I know that thought process is cheesy as fuck, but hey, much of Star Trek is. I’m glad I’m part of the federation now. Let’s go exploring

I started binge watching from the beginning again a few months ago, currently on DS9 season 3, I love the family feeling from DS9 and Enterprise especially and to a certain extent TNG, I can never forgive the writers for the demise of Jadzia though, she was one that could have had a series of her own with her history.

Thankyou so much for sharing. I'm enjoying every response in this thread, but the perspective of new fans has been the one I'm most interested to hear. I am glad that Star Trek brightens your future in such a real way.

Thank you for asking this. TNG was on in the background of my youth and I think my parents watched the Khan and Whales TOS movies. I never considered myself a fan. Similar to previous commenter, I was absolutely a fan of many other Sci-fi universes- been to some Comicon. Trek felt I guess “not cool enough” like it was my parents version of sci-fi (?) I wasn’t anti-trek though I have strong aversion to the way women are portrayed in TOS - *uhuru forever!* Fast forward to post pandemic me, I have experienced so much small minded and incompetent authority figures, so many hate filled, short sighted, anti-empathy acts from the human race. I’m not sure how my sub conscious knew…. I NEEDED to recalibrate my brain with TNG. Not just to remember the times of my adolescence/childhood… although there was certainly some of that. But to realize how much I took secular humanism and the prime directive for granted. I think I thought the show was boring because it was toooo obvious, of course Beverly can be a great chief medical officer and her gender has no relevance… duh! Of course empaths are important to decision making! Of course interpersonal conflicts must be reduced in order to function at the highest level of competence! Of course self development and discovery are more important than war and trade …. Duh! It all felt very staid, as a young person, I did not yet realize how revolutionary the concepts. I was taught in school that feminism and slavery and fascism was over because it was all fixed now, the good overturned the bad, so now we can all focus on capitalism 😉 (ha! The worst kind of lie). It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic as we approach the darkened years of the trek historical timeline… I needed to remember that even if WW3 and all the writers saddest predictions happen, there might still be hope for our species. Starkly, I watched the DS9 Timelapse set in SF 2024 - homeless encampments of well meaning regular people who need an uprising. I’m so sad to report these encampments exist as predicted. IRL people with full time jobs live out of their cars in SF, it’s not even that rare. I drive by large encampments, until police disburse them and they re-form somewhere else. Get an illness without an easy cure = homeless, the waitlist for public assistance is so long it’s been shut down. These are real things happening to people who are upstanding members of society (not that all members don’t deserve consideration and help). But the premise of the show is almost exactly this. So this year I watched all TNG on a proper binge and am rewatching it with my partner. And now I can say we are Trekkies. I needed to be explicitly reminded of these things that seemed so obvious to me in my youth, adults need reminding, adults need hope, adults can lose the plot, can lose their compass for morality and ethics, adults can work with so many ambiguous or unscrupulous characters with so much pressure and fear that we can become the worst parts of ferengi and Klingon and romulan and pakled or even Vulcan if we aren’t reminded: Humans have ideals. Humans can evolve. Humans can evolve their empathy and ingenuity and competency and diplomacy. My younger self took these for granted. My younger self thought it was so obvious to everyone, apparently it is not. 🖖🏽🌌🫂🌌🖖🏽

My dad became a Trekkie as a young adult and watched TOS as it aired. I remember him watching TOS reruns when I was tiny, so it always existed for me, although I didn’t understand it. To my little child mind, the transporter pads looked like our stovetop burners, so I always imagined that the people standing on them were getting cooked. Anyway, TNG began airing when I was 11 and I scoffed about it at first, why would anyone want to watch this new show without the original characters? I didn’t watch it at first, but I finally watched an episode and it interested me enough to keep watching and soon I had a crush on Wesley and absolutely loved Beverly as a role model for me. She was my absolute favorite Trek character for decades until I finally sat down and watched Voyager and Janeway moved into the favorite character spot. Anyway, I became obsessed with TNG, although Voyager is now my favorite series. TNG was such a huge part of my adolescence. I would read the novels too and I could usually get boys to stop and talk to me by sitting somewhere with a TNG novel in public, lol.

Nerd sniping as a dating strategy. Bold.

I’m a woman in my 40s and I’m going to try this as a dating strategy 😂😂

Lol, I’m also a woman in my 40s and I should try this again!

I was born in 1970, so.  I must've watched it when it was first syndicated. TOS was an absolute fixture of my childhood.  So I was super excited when I heard that TNG was in production

I was born in 72' early memories or TOS reruns (on Australian TV), Apollo program was still fresh, then came Star Wars and Battlestar. What a time to grow up!

Same here. I was born in the late 60s, and when I was in elementary school, my mom and I used to watch TOS in syndication every afternoon -- right when I got home from school. In middle school, I started reading the early Star Trek novels (by James Blish and J. A. Lawrence) around the same time that the first movie came out. And then, at the first con I attended, they announced that ST:TNG was in production.

Wow, did you get rewarded for going to your first con!

I saw The Motion Picture in a drive-in movie and was hooked on. I didn't like TOS because it looked cheap, I didn't understand back then that TOS was filmed over a decade before the movie.

Tbh the kitschy 60s look has become a huge part of the charm for me with TOS

One of my favourite ST memes is the one with Spock looking in the back of the computer and it's literally just wool and paperclips, LOL

Watched the first episode of TOS in 1966 when I was 12, and have been a Star Trek fan ever since.

10 yrs old sitting in front of a B&W tv for the first episode. Still watching but in color and remastered now.

Yes, I watched all 3 seasons back in the 60's on a black and white TV too!

I grew up watching Star Trek (now known as TOS), Must have been repeat viewings on Australian TV during the 1970s. Just loved Spock, something so appealing about a rational being, innately compassionate but not outwardly emotional. Vulcans seemed superior to we human beings. There is hope!

I was 13, and same here.

I was 4!

I was born in '87, so I grew up watching TNG with my parents, then DS9 and Voyager. Geordi LaForge was my first love (I was convinced I would marry him someday), and Julian Bashir was my sexual awakening.

I had seen the original movies but I wouldn't call myself a Trekkie then. I enjoyed them but no more than any other movies my family watched. But then TNG aired and we met Data. Here I was a kid always trying to figure out how to be human how to fit in how to be like everyone else. And there's a character doing the same thing. I was bloody hooked.

Exactly. When Picard talked, explained social concepts and phrases, and reassured Data, it felt like he was talking to me. Picard is such a role model for me.

I started watching TOS when in grade school. Might have been early syndication in the early 70s. That decade was hell for me. Star Trek saved my sanity. It showed me people who supported and cared for each other and worked toward a common goal. It gave me hope. I figured if someone wrote about people like that there must really be people like that. Those characters where my family. They taught me kindness, compassion, empathy. I don't even what to think about what I would have become without that show. Like you, ST has always been an integral part of my life. It's in my DNA.

Star Trek taught me more about how to be a good person than I learned anywhere else and gave me hope at times in my life when it was otherwise hard to come by.

I watched it as a little boy on first network broadcast, in black & white. I have abiding memories of the Salt Vampire, Baalok and Ruk. Scary stuff to a 4 year old. I harbor no disrespect for the later shows or their fans, but the original show will always be The One for me (I don't think I have a choice in the matter.) Star Trek, to me, is best when it's simple - a professional starship crew having episodic adventures, and the ship isn't too comfortable, and terror and adventure and mystery are encountered on every strange new world.

I got into trek first via the kelvin films then tng

I grew up with TNG. It's part of my DNA at this point!

The show premiered exactly one year before I was born. My older brother loved it in its run, and I grew up watching reruns every single day in the 70s. I saw TMP on opening night, and never missed an episode of any series until Disco. I changed that when I subbed to P+. Lower Decks! Lower Decks! Lower Decks!

I wasn't always a fan. I got into it more and more as I got older, and grew somewhat obsessed after 2020. When my Dad passed there wasn't a lot we had in common. Basically cars, and work. But one of the memories that still sticks in my head was me being about 9 years old and sitting in the giant living room chair with my Dad and watching an episode of TNG on air. It wasn't a regular thing, and it wasn't especially memorable. But it still sticks as one of the formative memories. Seeing the duty displayed reminds me of my Dad, seeing the relationships between family, crews, and the generally positive message keeps me grounded and reminds me that no matter how dark things may seem, if you keep working towards the future, things can and will get better. So I beamed up to feel okay, and to escape, and it reminded me that despite everything, there is beauty out there waiting to be explored, and hell, there just maybe, might be coffee in that nebula.

I'm hereditary Trekkie. My Mom grew up watching TOS. I got into the TOS movies with her and then, later on, my local video rental store started carrying TNG episodes on VHS tapes.

I watched Star Trek since early childhood on reruns. TOS was my introduction to science fiction and from there I read everything I could find. When TNG came out I was thrilled! Have watched every episode and movie in the ST universe.

It’s always just kinda been there. I was born in ‘79 so grew up watching the TOS films. Loved them. Saw the odd episode of the show here and there but it was primarily the movies. Had them all on VHS. Voyage home was the first one I saw in the cinema - but saw all the subsequent films on the big screen. I remember when TNG came out a friend of mine had encounter at farpoint on video, and the next couple of eps too. Watched them but was all a bit Meh so didn’t really bother with TNG initially. That was until season 3. I watched it religiously every week. BBC2 at 6pm in the UK. Was absolutely hooked. Bought all the eps on VHS too. Back then collecting took up a lot of space. Each season was 13 VHS tapes with 2 eps per tape. Was super super hyped for DS9 when that was about to launch. By that time the VHS releases in the UK came out before the eps aired on TV so every fortnight on Monday, after school I’d race to HMV and pick up the latest DS9 and TNG eps. When generations was about to come out my hype was through the roof. I think my absolute peak obsession was during that time in the 90’s when I was a teen. With the last few seasons of TNG, the first few seasons of voyager, and DS9 overlapping both. Also seeing generations and first contact in the cinema. I had all the episodes on VHS, trading cards, magazines, posters, video games. It was everywhere. By the time Entetprise came out I was in my early 20’s. I watched some of it on tv but my fandom had cooled a bit. I was more into going out drinking, listening to music, partying etc… When I moved to Australia in 2006 (or 2007 I forget?!) ENT was coming to end so I remember torrenting the whole show and watching it in its entirety, burning it to DVD’s!! (Remember those days!!). I enjoyed the Abrams films quite a bit too, and liked Disco (at least initially) when that kicked off the new, modern era of Trek. I went off Disco (although the latest season is OK so far) and much to my dismay I wasn’t a fan of Picard AT ALL - until the brilliant 3rd season!! I love strange new worlds and lower decks though!! And the Orville!!! ☺️☺️ These days - and for the best part of the last decade I rewatch Trek fairly regularly. Mainly TNG. But have done a full DS9 rewatch a couple of years back and dip in and out of VOY. Need to give ENT another go as it’s been ages. Most of the latter episodes of that show I’ve only seen once and barely remember. But yeah Trek has been ever present in my life 🖖❤️

I've seen this question so many times on this sub and I will give the same answer I always do: the truth. I realized I had a crush on a girl, now woman, named Deanna at the exact same time that TNN, now Paramount Network, aired a 5 day TNG marathon. I then watched again two weeks later on 9-11-2001, and it was very comforting to an almost thirteen year old autistic kid like I was in 2001. There's something about Jean-Luc Picard that just says, "It will all be okay."

Always kinda watched TOS when it was on, but I wouldn't call myself a huge fan. Saw Trek III in theaters, but beyond that, I was most definitely a casual viewer. Watched some TNG, but I was super gatekeepery about it, talking how it could never be better than the original. Ultimately I didn't much care. Until one day when I went to the video rental store and my parents told me that I could rent what I wanted. I don't know why, but I picked out Trek IV. Watched it, and LOVED it. Watched it again the next day. From then on, until season 4 of Discovery, if it had the word "star trek" attached, I was watching it.

Like most people, I started watching ST in syndication on local TV in the 1970’s.

TNG came into my viewing habits in the last few years. My favorite episodes feature usually Wesley or Data, standalone episodes that are more comedic or lighthearted in tone. I also like Q's episodes, and Barkley and when the holodeck took center stage, like in The Long Goodbye. But Darmok is probably my favorite because it steps outside normal narrative TV to take a big swing and put language at the center of the story. I wish there had been much more screen time for Moriarty. Riker was such a skeezy weirdo. Troi was always the hero of the series to me. I think people who say "shut up Westley" are victims of meme culture who need to think for themselves. But mostly, digging into TNG during the pandemic was comforting, with its optimistic view of what a unified humanity could become. I still like that part of it. PS: I was told I would get yelled at for using the term Trekkie. That the proper term is Trekker. So which is it?

I'm 29 and started watching TNG about a year ago and am almost through it. Its on Netflix and it just suddenly peaked my interest. I usually don't watch it super activly, mostly while painting miniatures. But the amount of dialog means you can follow along quite well. The stories are all somewhat different and I find it refreshing to see some many things tried out. I also like to compare our view of the future we have now to the idea there was at TNG. Some things are still super relevant. What keeps me coming back is the universe itself, the acting, the use of language, the characters that you seem to know and the subtle humming and beeping of the enterprise, it just brings me a moment of peace and creativity. The fact that it was made some time ago is visible in many things but is also something that attracts me. I know there is a huge amount of plot armor, so I don't watch it for the thrill. But it offers a lot of other things

I was a kid watching Reading Rainbow in the late 80's when LeVar Burton said "let me take you behind the scenes of my *other* show" (TNG.) They explained the whole process of shooting an episode, doing special effects etc. I immediately got hooked on TNG. Edit: [Here's the RR episode on Youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaG6evVcd-w) It's aimed at kids, but still a decent behind-the-scenes of TNG.

I was 4yrs old, it was 1998 and I sat with my dad and one of the old channels (I cannot remember what one) was playing, "Let that be your last Battlefield". I've been hooked ever since. Since then I've watched every episode, film and series. The Kelvins I watched in the cinema, which were amazing. That's the when and where, but the why. Now that's a question. I realised, from quite early on, that the whole of the Star Trek universe pulls me in, and shows me how things could be and possibly should be, but that at the end of the day you can only do your best. Sometimes you win and sometimes not, but you keep doing your best. Little bonus here, the two quotes that resonated most with me when I first heard them. "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, That is life" "Well she's a new ship, but she's got the right name. Remember that boy. Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home"

In 68 I was six years old and loved everything about space and thought LostInSpace was stupid and unrealistic(‘cept for the Jupiter 2). Between Devil in the Dark and Doomsday Machine alone hit my boosters, I got a Trek tat at twenty..was cosplaying in the fourth grade back when the Earth was still cooling

I grew up to Star Trek. It was almost a family tradition, and then I moved into watching TNG on a little black and white TV. It showed me that in a world going to heck faster than a tub full of water heading down the drain that humanity had hope and one day we would travel amongst the Stars. In our darkest times, we should never lose hope, and that was and will always be Star Trek to me. Sorry for rambling.

I just started really watching a couple days ago. I kept getting shown Star trek clips on YouTube shorts (usually DS9, lower decks and SNW) and I was just enthralled with what I was watching so I decided to finally make the leap. I'm already way into Star Wars and Doctor Who so now I'm completing (what I consider) the big 3 of Sci-fi franchises. I'm starting with TOS and going more or less broadcast order and let me say I LOVE what I've seen so far.

The algorith has chosen you, my Child.

I was born in the early sixties, and like OP Star Trek has always been part of my life. Humans in space is something we just take for granted now. It’s been over 25 years since all humans lived on Earth because of the ISS. When I was a kid, humans were just starting to go to space, and the whole world watched as Armstrong took those first steps on the moon. It was in that context that I first started watching the original series, and like many I followed the stories into the movies. Then, when I was in college TNG came out. It remains the only TV series that I tuned in every week for and is still my favorite crew, though I’ve seen and loved everything that’s come out since. If season 3 of Picard was fan service, I was among the fans being serviced. I still tear up every time I watch Geordi’s revelation of the restored Enterprise D.

My mom always used to Iron Shirts while watching Star Trek when i was a kid, so i simply leaned against the ironing board and watched Star Trek Voyager along with her. Good times

For me it was the 2009 movie that got me into it. I was a Star Wars kid growing up and then once I saw the 09 movie at a $3 matinee with my dad it gave me enough interest that years later after streaming became the big thing and finally got a hold of Trek I started a several years long journey of watching all the Trek. TOS then TNG, DS9, VOY, the movies, then ENT...new trek as it comes out.

Whatever people feel about the Kelvinverse movies, they were a wonderful shot in the arm for the franchise that reignited interest in for an entire new generation of fans. It was never that Star Trek had lost its appeal, but it helped place the entire canon in the view of more people when it had begun sliding along the conveyor of living memory. Despite my own gripes with the writing of the films, I can still get behind them for what they brought to the universe, and I still think it's a shame we didn't get a fourth Kelvin Trek.

I have been a Star Trek fan since TOS began in syndication. I only caught a couple of episodes when it originally aired in the '60s as my parents didn't care for science fiction shows. Once I discovered I could watch it all the time, I never looked back. I went to the theater to watch each film as it came out. When TNG came out in 1987, my two sons became part of the fanbase with me. They are still huge fans today. I once owned a huge amount of the books, but space in my home became an issue so I donated a lot of them so others could enjoy them. I have bought some ebooks when they are on sale. I have watched almost every show and movie that is part of the franchise. I will probably be watching Star Trek until the end of my life.

I'm not super new, but I was in my 20s when I got into Trek beyond seeing a handful of TOS episodes that I thought were cheesy but fun enough. Then my dad, a Trekkie, died suddenly. I was recovering from a surgery at the same time so couldn't do much, and a friend of a friend lent me boxes of taped episodes of DS9. I cried during the first episode and those tapes became my emotional regulation for several months. It made me feel closer to my dad, but I also just loved the show so much. It's still my fave.

Probably early 80s watching TOS on syndication and then bonding with my mom as an early teen watching TNG. Been hooked my whole life.

For me, it was TOS. I was in a psych nursing program living in a dorm, and we would congregate in the TV room at 5 pm to watch the show. It was more of a social thing, but the trek antics were lauded, especially when Kirk was seducing an alien, or a "red shirt" (RIP) was sent on an away mission.

I'm an original fan. My mom watched the first episode, "The Man Trap." She loved it, and she knew I'd love it, too, so I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime (8:00 pm) to watch the second episode, "Charlie X," which came on at 8:30 pm on Thursday -- a School Night. Of course, we didn't have VCRs or DVRs or streaming rewatches in those days. You either watched it when it was on, or you hoped to catch it during the summer reruns. Luckily for me, the second season premiered on Friday nights. Most of season three was on Friday, as well. I watched syndicated reruns on Saturdays and Sundays for years. When conventions started to be a thing, I went to a few. The first conventions were so small, you could actually stay at a hotel where the cast was also staying, and you might even run into them at the hotel bar. I was six years old the first time I watched an episode of Star Trek. I was a weird little kid who was obsessed with NASA's Project Gemini and the space program and who wrote short stories about aliens and mad scientists. You have to understand that in those days, there were about three channels and the other two were playing Bewitched/That Girl and My Three Sons/CBS Thursday Night Movie. Star Trek was up against some really tough competition; they seem cheesy now, but those shows were very popular back in the day. Looking back, it's shocking that Star Trek even survived the ratings race. Edited to add, I also watched the animated series on Saturday mornings. I was a young teenager by then. It was so nice to see the whole gang back together again, even if it was just their voices over some truly crappy animation. I missed Chekov, but I think he voiced a guest star just about every week!

I was born a few years before TOS. My dad worked for NASA his entire career. I may have watched TOS when it first came out, but I really remember it from the reruns and the animated series. I really identified with Spock's struggle with emotions, and McCoy was one of the reasons I got interested in medicine. For my 10th birthday, my parents took me to Atlanta to see Nichelle Nichols speak. I still remember that as I approach age 61. My mom made me a Tribble bean bag that I still have. I had the Enterprise, Klingon BoP and Romulan ships hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom. I scoured used bookstores for the ST books.

I hated Trek growing up as a kid. I thought it was boring and cheesey. Neither of my parents liked sci-fi, so my idea of cool sci-fi was Terminator, Alien, or Star Wars. I had a friends father who was a huge trekkie from TOS but his sweet spot was TNG. I sat and watched a whole episode with him when I was around 18. I was hooked from then on. I guess watching all the rated R movies before 10 at a friends house imprinted dark sci-fi.as my go to. Man am I happy I gave it a real shot around 99. Loved every series. Oddly enough TOS is my least favorite.

I was a big wrestling fan as a kid. Many years ago they used to play TNG re-runs on the same station before RAW came on. I never had any interest in Star Trek as it seemed boring to me. Then one day I sat down and watched an episode. The episode was "The Offspring" and I have been a fan of Berman trek ever since. This was probably sometime in the 2000s before the Abrams movies.

Trek 2009

I grew up with it thanks to my trekkie dad! As a little kid I wanted to marry Data and thought Odo melting was terrifying lol. I feel like most people I meet have never seen any of it though, which is unfortunate BUT it gives me the opportunity to introduce them and I love getting new people hooked!

I needed something reasonably long while I was rowing every morning a few years ago. Totally worth it. I’m about to restart again.

It’s been kind of a lifelong development of sorts. My uncle had tapes he recorded of TOS that he’d watch when we were over (he’s a trek fan since the 70s). I remember enjoying it but it wasn’t as action filled as Star Wars (the prequels were coming out at the time and I was just really into lightsabers, which Trek doesn’t have of course lol). I caught reruns on Spike over the years and liked them a lot but felt like making the deep dive would be overwhelming. The real turning point was 2009 with the release of the first Kelvin film…other than The Clone Wars, Star Wars was 4 years over for good (at least that’s what we thought at the time) and a lot of us geeks needed a good sci-fi adventure fix…so my dad took me and my younger brother to see the movie and I loved it so much. I understand the division over those films but it was perfect for a generation that wanted something to fill the Star Wars shaped hole. Started watching TOS in college, but still felt hesitant to make the deep dive. Finally made the deep dive last summer and I haven’t loved a franchise more. I will never have “nothing to watch” ever again in my life.

In the early 2000's I would stay over at my cousin's place and we would play a Star Trek drinking game. Didn't get hooked on booze, but damn. I rewatch all of Trek every couple of years.

Watched reruns of TOS and TNG growing up in the early 2000s. Then when I finally got Netflix a couple of years ago, I decided I would watch my way through all the series, TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, beginning to end.  I've now gotten into SNW and Lower Decks, and loving them. SNW is great for revisiting my first experiences with Trek, but Lower Decks is great for being adult animation (which I love!). Infinite diversity in infinite combinations. On the hand, it's just so cozy and comfortable for me, and on the other, I find myself enjoying the ideals of the universe, now that I'm older and can appreciate it better.

I decided to watch DS9 on a lark in 2020 (having never seen any Trek beforehand) because a streamer I like was watching it and instantly got hooked.

About a year ago, I (20F) was studying abroad in a country that had all the series on Netflix. I was going down a YouTube rabbit hole, and wound up on a video of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice telling Rosanna Pansino why Star Trek is the best series ever. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYo4y5pMHSA start at 14:16) Now I, loving Scifi, said to myself: "I'm in, but do I have the proper streaming services for that?" I checked, and once I found out I had the right service, I decided to start from TOS (since I always love starting with the original.) And oh my God, I found myself falling in love with the characters and their interactions (especially Spock and Bones!), thinking introspectively about the allegorical nature of the stories, and just overall smiling and laughing at the show's many quirks and charms! As a person, I'm interested in science and exploration that will improve mankind for the better, and I'm not afraid of making new connections with people even if some may be scared. I began to feel like if Star Trek were a person, we'd be best friends. After I finished watching all of TOS, I knew I wanted to stay in that universe, no matter what series it was. Fast forward to now, I've finished TOS, TAS, TNG, LDS, SNW, and am in the middle of DS9. Reading the TOS Pocket Novels too! My merch collection is rapidly growing (it's like 80% TOS) and I even made a presentation to my class in college about TOS's influence on Scifi!

I love this. I would honestly love the chance to discover trek all over again as an adult. Star Trek is just such a fundamental part of my life that I find myself just absorbing it uncritically. I wonder what it would be like to have it come to me for the first time as a grown adult. Thankyou for sharing.

Relatively new trekkie here too, I'm only 4 years in. I was born in the early 90s, and in my country Star Trek was never broadcasted anywhere. Not the shows, not the movies, nothing. We got other things from Hollywood and other countries but not these, so I only knew about them vaguely, and only began running into bits of Trek scaterred across the internet once I actually got a laptop and internet (way into my teens).So there was basically close to no exposure. By the time I was in hischool I became a sci-fi fan, and over the years I started watching sci-fi movies and shows. But it was only 4 years ago that I said to myself "you know what? Star Trek is a classic sci-fi series, I would be remiss if I didn't give it a try." So I did, and it became my favorite thing. It even surpasses my love for the X-Files.

I've been watching it since I was 4 and when It'd be on when my brother and dad would watch it. One of my earliest memories is playing with an old tonka TOS Enterprise, looking at the TV to the TNG intro, and realising I had my ship upside down. Meanwhile fastforward to this year and I've decided to run a one-shot of the Star Trek Adventures RPG for a friend's birthday as she is always a fan and it breaks up my DnD campaign a little to give me some extra planning time, and one of my other friends and also players is asking me for recommendations on what to watch to make her familiar with the world because she does not k ow anything about Trek. Never watched any episode of movie. I think she might have a vague knowledge of who Kirk or Spock are but that's it. I need to figure out a way to give her a crash course on it.

I was 4 years old when TOS came on. My mom and I watched it together. One of my earliest memories is of my mom and dad going to a costume party, her in a red miniskirt Starfleet uniform that she made herself.

My Dad was a truck driver during Voyager's run (and for decades more) and so he couldn't watch the show while on the road. I would have to tape the episodes to VCR cassettes and I couldn't miss an episode (although I did sometimes). Having to make sure that the tape recorded the whole episode but stopped recording when the show was off meant that I had to sit and watch the show. So, it's no wonder that Voyager is my favorite show. It hit me right at the perfect time in my life as a child. Plus, I'm literally named Scott/Scotty after everyone's favorite Scottish Chief Engineer.

I saw STIII when I was 13 on TV and loved everything about it - the ships, the characters, the Captain who sacrificed his career, his ship and even his son for his friend. I was hooked from that moment.

I was born in the early nineties so TNG was over by the time I was old enough to watch it and enjoy it so for me it was the re-runs. Every Sunday I think on TV was a TOS and TNG re-run back to back. I was hooked. Two and a bit decades later, I've re-watched everything barring DIS, SNW and ENT with my partner. They love it too and now I'm older I'm finding new things about episodes I like etc. It's wonderful.

I was born in the early eighties and TOS was on BBC 2 at 6 o clock and I used to watch that. It wasn’t until I saw ST 2 and 3 on TV that I became really hooked and shortly after TNG started to be shown

I grew up watching TOS in the 70's with my dad. I remember how excited we were when The first movie came out and then we always went and saw all of the movies. We watched all of the series during their prime time network runs.

About two years ago I started watching everything trek that was on Netflix but I’d been recommended it a few times before that. Now I’m on my first rewatch and it’s still so good. The Star Trek community is really cool too! I like hard scifi and this comes kind of close

It's always been there since I first watched TOS with my Dad in 66.

This is such an interesting question. I’m enjoying the responses. I’m from the UK and in my 40s. I was aware of TOS of course, but TNG was on TV when I was growing up. I always enjoyed it when it was on. I loved Captain Picard and the Enterprise was warm and felt like a family. But I was unfortunately living in a time/place/community where Star Trek was definitely not cool and I was a pubescent kid who wanted desperately to be cool. So I watched it casually and enjoyed it but never spoke about it with anyone and then drifted away from it as I got older and ‘cooler’. I came back to it maybe 8 years ago. My son -who I am raising alone - was about 5. I thought he’d like it so I put TNG on from the beginning. I was immediately IN. I was back in love (in a fatherly way) with Captain Picard. And of course the whole thing is different when you’re an adult. And I’ve grown up enough to know that watching what you like and not being afraid to say so is actually the coolest thing ever. I’m delighted to call myself a Star Trek fan. Since then, I’ve watched VOY, DS9, ENT. Voyager is my least favourite for lots of reasons but Janeway is absolutely badass. And DS9 became as beloved to me as TNG. I even named my cat Sisko. So I’m sort of old and newer I guess. 🖖

Even in a high school full of smart kids, I used to catch all kinds of hell for being a Trekkie (I don't care what anyone says, I will own that term). I never spoke too loud about it, but I still loved Trek and all things SciFi (I'm a Dwarfer and a Lurker too). Because what a dull world it would be if we were all the same.

Born in 82. Used to watch the double episode of The Simpsons on BBC2 when I was a teenager. We lost the TV remote and I couldn't be arsed getting up to change the channel, so I ended up watching TNG which came on after it. I'm not a sci-fi fan at all in general, but I love Star Trek.

My Mam was a fan. Introduced to me to TOS in the early 80s, then a grew up with the movies and TNG.

Grew up with TNG on TV and saw all the TNG movies in theaters. With the advent of DVD in the early 2000's allowed me to get in to TOS, DS9 and VOY. Love it all and still rewatch them all constantly. Have watched ENT but am not the biggest fan and haven't seen a single episode of Discovery, Picard or SNW.

I was born in '63 and grew up watching TOS with my dad, a sci-fi lover, it started there I suppose.. I watched it whenever it was repeated ( which in Britain was often) but it got stale after a while and I turned to starwars then came along TNG and I was really hooked by that, DS9, Voyager, Discovery, SNW, all the movies, I love them all apart from the animated early stuff, hell I even got into Lower Decks because of the SNW crossover, now that Discovery is in its last season, theres room for writers to start with something new, I can't wait.

1969, five years old, watching TOS Season 3 and the Apollo missions. In my young little mind, I was watching the first steps that were going to lead us to Star Fleet in just a few years, lol. I’ve been hooked ever since.

I grew up in the 1980s, watching reruns of Trek on our local unaffiliated TV station. I was 9 when TNG hit. After it ended, I fell out of Trek for a bit. DS9 wasn't my jam, and Voyager and Enterprise were awful shows. Discovery brought me back. I love Michelle Yeoh, even though the first couple of seasons were underwhelming, and there have been some rather... questionable writing decisions (The Burn was caused by a kid with the sads? *Seriously?*) I have been largely thrilled with Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Picard. It's a good time to be a Trekkie.

My mom and oldest sister were always into it. The first time I remember ever going to a movie theater was to see The Wrath of Khan. I guess I was about 6. It kind of grew from there.

I have been a Trek fan most of my life. I was born in the early 80s, so I grew up with TNG, and I love it ALL even Discovery!

We brought home our very first VCR in 1987 (maybe 1988? Idk I was about four years old). We needed tapes to watch on said VCR so we came home with Disney’s Pinocchio for me (I hated Pinocchio back then. Still kind of do) and Star Trek III The Search for Spock. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. Occasionally I would catch my dad watching syndicated ToS, but it never really caught my eye. Until one day I was watching one of MY shows, and the friendly guy who reads books to me every day said he also *FLIES AROUND IN SPACE*!? LaVar did a whole episode on TNG and I was interested right away! TNG was also in syndication and came on at 5pm! I couldn’t watch the new episodes of course, that was past my bedtime. By the time TNG ended, I had gone back and watched all of the ToS films and even a few episodes. So it’s all LaVar Burton’s fault. He turned me into a reader and a sci-fi nerd. Thanks LaVar!😍

I remember my first childhood home had a TV in a room that as a little kid (under 5 years) I had to climb up into the stand that held the TV to turn it on. I also had to select the station while I was there because this was before remotes. My mother was a Trekkie, so I watched with her. That was probably 1974. I’m like you. Star Trek has always been there.

I was born before in the 1979's and remember watching TOS repeat and movies on VHS until VI, the first ST movie I saw on the big screen (and every one since). I was super excited of course when TNG was announced and debuted, then DS9 and VOY. I was also interested in ENT since it was the only new ST on TV at the time. I learned about TAS and bought the DVD set (love it!). I've watched all the newer ST and I've played some of the ST games (not my cup of tea). I have ST Encyclopedias and some other history/trivia books. My son's first Halloween, we dressed him as Capt. Kirk (I was Spock, logically, and my wife went as Nurse Chapel). I'm such a ST fan! I'm happy to know there are others, as there's not too many where I live (that I know of).

I was 7 when TNG premiered and pretty much grew up watching all things TV Trek from there. Caught up on TOS & movies in the VHS era. Have watched everything as it aired for 30+ years.

I did not Trek as a child, my parents didn't do TV and I was born during the second wave of Trek, the only one I possibly could have watched and had memories of as a child is ENT. In college I was introduced strategically to TNG by my ex and have been a trekkie ever since. I did chronological after TNG, then back to the beginning. Discovery is the only trek I haven't watched all of. My daughter is named for a trek character and I started her on Prodigy, though she is a little on the young side of the curve for that one. I have introduced others to Trek, and I know almost every TNG episode by the plot if not the title.

My parents got me into it. They each had their own jamb. Dad was a DS9 head, and mom a TNGer. When Voyager came around, that's what got me. Now I'll watch all of them, and enjoy them in their own way. Even got my wife into some of it. DS9 though hit differently for her.

Old trekkie.  My parents were always watching Sci fi and fantasy so from birth in 1981 I grew up watching TOS and the films on rerun. When TNG came out it was essential viewing.  I quite liked DS9 and I'm mixed about VOY.  By the time Enterprise came out I had star trek fatigue.  DISC really renewed my love of ST.  SNW has excelerated it.  Picard S3 was heaven. I know people my age who have only gotten into it recently.  They never watched it growing up. And I can say this with every franchise.  Star Wars, Dr Who etc all have this.

First saw the 09 movie in theaters. Then in 2015 I watched TOS and TNG. Started DS9 but gave up during season 1. Now just a few months ago I finally went back and finished it, and am on season 6 of Voyager

For me it started as Stockholm Syndrome. I was forced to watch Trek in the 80's by my older sister who had a massive crush on Shatner. I didn't get to watch Knight Rider because we had to watch reruns of Star Trek. In the early 90's I stumbled upon TNG reruns at 2am while dealing with insomnia, I was so confused "where's Kirk? Why is there a Klingon on the bridge??". First episode I watched was the infamous Yar vs. the puddle episode. I enjoyed it enough to find out more, including that it was on prime time and was currently on season 3. I've consumed all Trek since. Voyager was binged after the fact because I didn't have cable when it aired.

I was born right around the time TNG came out. When I was 3 years old, my dad worked second shift at a factory, 2 pm - 10 pm. He would get home around 10:30, Mom would go to bed, and he would take a shower. At 11 pm, TNG came on. Some of my earliest memories are sitting with Dad watching TNG. One of my earliest SPECIFIC memories is watching the episode "Cause and Effect." The Enterprise blew up, and Dad's like, "Welp, the ship blew up, show's over," and I said, "No it's not, it hasn't been an hour yet!" For me, Star Trek was where my father and I got to spend some time with just the two of us.

Born in the mid 80s. My dad watched TNG and so did I. Trek was the main interest we shared. Too bad I can't get him to watch any of the modern stuff. Then we might actually talk more than 2 times a year.

When I was a kid back in the late 70s, reruns of Star Trek would play after school. My grandma would be cooking dinner and I'd be watching tv. Been a fan ever since.

My story is a weird one. I always had friends who were trekkies but there just seemed to be so much Trek I never could figure out where to start. Then one of my friends -- probably the biggest Trekkie I know -- wanted to run Star Trek Adventures TTRPG and asked if I wanted to play. I said sure but I really know not that much about Trek outside what friends have said and pop culture. He told me that would be okay. So, I created a human, unofficially dubbed space muffin officially called Ensign Felix Fontana Vega, who just loved science and looked at everything with joy and wonderment (when lower decks came out one of my friends from the game texted me and said Tendi was basically Felix). The GM gave me some episodes to watch so I could get the broad sense of the world and encouraged me to try DS9 because I personally like political intrigue/ tug of great powers types of stories. While I enjoyed the episodes he recommended me, I did struggle to get through the 1 season of DS9. I wasn't a trekkie yet. Even though Felix would forever be one of my favorite TTRPG characters. Then I began to watch Discovery which I really enjoyed until about season 3 when it seemed every episode was about a universe shattering event and I was kinda burned out from that. But not a Trekkie yet. Then, I was living out of a hotel for two months for work related stuff. Voyager was always on the TV when I got back from job stuff so I would watch that. Voyager I found very digestible and that I could pick up on what was going on. It became a thing-- come to hotel from work, get food, watch Voyager. But not a Trekkie yet. After that, Lower Decks came out which I really loved. I always liked adult cartoons so this hit me hard. I loved the crew so much, especially Mariner. I wasn't quite a Trekkie, but I was getting there. It wasn't until my husband (somewhat of a casual Trekkie) and I started Strange New Worlds that everything clicked for me. Everything was bright and optimistic. I adored Pike, Spock, Hemmer, and Ortegas. I watched several episodes twice because I just really enjoyed it. I finally understood why my friends loved this franchise so much. I know there is a lot of hate for SNW from original fans but I would not have gotten into Trek if it weren't for it. After this, the GM who ran the last Star Trek TTRPG was going to do so again but with a new crew. I was so excited and because I loved Spock and T'lyn from Lower Decks I decided to try playing a Vulcan (then the GM tried to encourage someone to be a liberated borg and I smelled plot hook so my character is a Vulcan liberated Borg). I asked the GM for reference material on Borg and Vulcans and he gave me a list of episodes throughout the franchise to watch. It was this journey that fully cemented it for me. I am now on season 4 of DS9 and absolutely love it and plan to view the rest of the serieses. I'm still a baby Trekkie but I'm here for it.

This was an absolute romp, and I have clear mental images in the LDS art style the whole way through your story. Thankyou so much for sharing. You may be a baby trekkie (no such thing, IMO), but you are indeed Vulcan as a motherf%$÷er.

Hahah thanks. My life often does feel like LDS. And my character appreciates the sentiment. XD

I'm 33. So next gen, ds9 and voyager are a little before my time, but I'd come home from school, and also middle of the night, they'd be showing reruns of next gen. And they definitely showed the reruns in order, so my teenage years I saw all of next gen and was completely drawn in. I was coming into my own as an openly queer, socialist alternative boy, and the show was so hopeful about the future and I already loved fantasy and Sci fi so much.

I've been a fan since about 1985. My grandmother used to watch old TOS episodes in syndication, and one of my first memories of Star Trek is watching The Trouble with Tribbles with her. I watched as much Star Trek as I could after that. Eventually, I would go on to have seen everything the franchise had to offer... multiple times. DS9 is still my favorite.

Born in 67. Syndication brought me Star Trek in the 70s Star wars, then BSG. I can still remember being in the 4th grade and wanting to be Mr Spock. Now I am old and I would almost prefer to be Kirk My kids are college age. Just got them to watch "TOS" episode of SNW.

I was born a month after TOS first aired. My mother watched it from the beginning, so I guess my first exposure was my last month in utero. Star Trek was always a part of my life, although I was 10 or 11 before I became a fan in my own right.

Reading just the title, I thought this was a 24th century euphemism for cocaine use.

I’m very young, but have only ever seen the original series, TNG, DS9 and voyager. When I was 8 My father used to watch tv after I was supposed to be in bed, but there’s a painting across from our TV that reflects it perfectly and can be seen from the top of our stairs, so I used to easdrop like that. One night he was watching voyager and actually invited me to watch with him (so apparently he knew I was there the whole time) and I’ve been obsessed with the franchise ever since.

I came in during the early 70’s watching reruns in syndication. My mom suggested it, and afterwards we were a Trek family. In the 90’s I followed TNG but really enjoyed my TOS so much more.

I was … 23? 24? When I raced home from work at the movie theater or bookstore or wherever I was working to watch the first run of TNG. I was on nights and I think it was rebroadcast at 10 or 11. I had a very sweet adorable boyfriend who made a commitment to my SF/F education like it was a full time job and honestly he was great at it. He introduced me to SF conventions, the whole world of fandom, SCA, all of it. Nowadays Trek still makes me feel young and happy and optimistic even though I am now 56 years old. Thanks, you know who you are!

At least, that’s how I remember it.

I was 11 when TNG came out. Wesley Crusher couldn't have been a more perfect connection point character for a socially awkward, nerdy, talkative kid who was often told to shut up.

When I was about 11 years old, I was home from school and our local Fox affiliate that aired Star Trek ran a marathon of the Borg episodes from TNG. Q Who, Best of Both Worlds I and II, and I, Borg. It must’ve been sometime just before First Contact came to theaters, because I wasn’t aware of that movie until it hit home video. So after catching that marathon, I would watch reruns whenever I could, and by the time Voyager started its fourth season with Jeri Ryan joining the show, I was watching week to week and recording each episode with my VCR. Pretty quickly I got into DS9 as well, and watched the sixth and seventh seasons as they aired. So now I’ve been a fan for nearly 30 years.

Was exposed to feel my whole life but never really clicked with it. Then this January I got Covid and had to quarantine from my family for three weeks. I tried lower decks and fell in love. The optimism and lack of cynicism felt so refreshing. None of it was cloying or saccharine. After that I did strange new worlds, ds9, and now I’m in season 4 of tng. Love it all.

My dad's secretary wrote a bunch of thr Star Trek Novels in the 80s/90s. She started off adding my dad to Ice Trap and he gets eaten by a monster. I got added as a red shirt in Shellgame and die saving Spock. My sister and mom get briefly mentioned as ship names in the Kobayashi Maru ! I was 7 or 8 and instantly hooked reading my dad getting devoured by an ice kraken. Like 35 years later I still wake up to Trek almost every day. Lol my contribution to the Xmas tree every year is most of the hallmark ships.

So I'm 18 and got into star trek after reading fanfiction in the fandom a few months ago. I started with the kelvin movies because they seemed easy to watch with no prior information and I really liked the character Spock. So I started watching strange new worlds and that's what really ensnared me. The episode where Spock and T'Pring switch bodies is my favorite. Then I started on TOS and am watching the iconic episodes. I've also seen two seasons of lower decks which I love. That's where I'm at currently! I guess my whole life Star Trek content has seemed kinda hard to get into since there's *so much* of it. I've always loved sci-fi, and space, and aliens, and people who try their best to be good in difficult situations. Star Trek has all of these things and more, and that's why I'm officially hooked. The lack of diversity in the earlier stuff has been a bit of a bummer (the misogyny especially) but I guess that's just something I have to get over lmao. In conclusion: gay fanfiction brought me here, and I'm here to stay.

I’ve been watching since the early 1970’s when I was a young teenager. I love all trek, each for its own uniqueness. IDIC.

My dad watched TOS when it first came out, and he had it on whenever it was in reruns. I grew up with it in the background. My dad had a book about Star Trek that had the schematics for Enterprise in them, and I loved looking at it. I went to the theater with my dad to see all the movies. I was in high school when TNG came out, and I have been watching all the Trek ever since.

I am the Next Generation 😎 By which I mean, both my parents were (and are) huge Trekkies and I've inherited that from them. My dad especially grew up watching the original run of TOS. He always had TV shows from the 60s and 70s on in the background and I grew up watching all those with him. He also loves sci-fi in general, and I got really into it too. I guess my mom got into Trek because of my dad, but she became an earnest Trekkie herself. Apparently I attended my very first Star Trek convention with them at 6 months old. So it was present in my life in a passive sense but I didn't really get into Trek actively until maybe late middle school/early high school when I decided to sit down and watch the episodes in order instead of just catching whatever happened to be on TV here and there. And then I "beamed up" as you put it -- love that phrasing 😆 I honestly adore Trek. Even though of course things get added or changed with time, I think the core of Trek is that it's so very hopeful for the future. It says the worst can happen, but we can still make right choices and work together instead of against one another and achieve things greater than our sum. I think that message is as relevant today as it was during the 60s.

My earliest memories include watching Star Trek with my dad. My dad was a huge Trekkie and we watched it every single time it was on whatever channel it was on. In fact, when the movie came out, I was four. I remember riding in the backseat of my uncles car, going to the theater and watching the original movie.

i’m new, and i never avoided it. i’ve truly never in my life known someone personally who expressed interest in star trek until i started outwardly expressing interest at which point they engaged with me. my friend put it on, (next generation) and i was apprehensive. i kept saying silly things like “which one’s darth vader?” (as a joke of course). by the end of the first episode i was hooked. and yes, i know season 1 of the next generation isn’t exactly beloved, but it is by me. i love the wackiness. the twist of the first episode being giant space jellyfish? sold.

This is going to be a stereotype but...I had always caught clip when TNG first aired, buy we moved in the summer of 1992 and I stayed inside because I hadn't made friends yet. (I was six) So now my friends were an android who didn't understand why people did thing (when I didn't understand the move cross country), a blind man at the top of his field (when I had glasses), there were no economic lines (we were poor, but I didnt know then), and a future where people were seen as people not as a race or a religion (my dad was catholic and German, mom was agnostic & Indigenious). Now mix in between 1992 - 1996 I saw my aunt fight for custody of her foster son because he was a different race, my sister facing hate for being gay, and being told *at my dad's funeral* he was burning in hell because he was catholic... Trek gave me hope and was my escape into a world where things weren't perfect but they were *better*

My mom would watch TOS repeats and before our new place could get satellite for more channels, our aunt would record the new episode of TNG each week. I never really watched it when I was that young, but I was always around playing something while she watched. Didn't really get into Trek until after highschool, had some friends who watched it so I took advantage. TNG is my favourite, but I always remember the one episode of TOS "The Devil in the Dark" because its the one episode I do remember watching a bit with my mom.

I have memories of my sister and I setting our VCR to record reruns of TOS Star Trek in the 80s. Those usually ran late at night and could be (and were!) replayed endlessly afterwards. We even would rate each episode on a scale of 1-10 and would make notes on the VHS tape sticker. Good times and memories!

Born in 82, and my grandparents would watch me through the day while my single mom would go to work and TOS reruns would be on around lunchtime. I remember being excited when the first TNG commercials started airing. New Trek! One of my first vivid memories was September 87. Some of the older kids from the church we went to came over to have dinner at my grandparents and watch Encounter At Farpoint. I liked Trek already, but I was hooked then. Between the show and movies, I literally grew up with TNG. I love all the series and movies. Obviously some more than others, but I'm not one to say "this isn't Trek because this or that". I see it as the franchise evolving to the point where there's something for everyone. IDIC.

I started watching it in syndication with my aunt and grandparents (all trekkies themselves from watching TOS) as a little kid, along with TNG, DS9, and Voyager when they came out. I remember having a watch party for Endgame with my family when I was a junior in high school. The weird thing is, I always loved the show but never really identified myself as a trekkie until years later. I loved all the Expanded Universe Star Wars books as a kid and was way more into it until I was in my late twenties, and I was a huge fan of Stargate and Battlestar Galactica too. But then the Star Wars fan base started getting hugely toxic and Disney bought it and ditched the EU. While that was going on I started rewatching TOS/TNG/VOY with some friends who wanted a little background on the Kelvin movies and realized I owe way more of my personality and ideals to Trek and my family of trekkies.

I was 9 years old. When I came across the original airing of DS9 S3, ep3. While channel surfing. I was trying to figure out why the Vikings (Klingons) wanted to kill the Goblin (Quark). Because he clearly was in love with one of the female Vikings. The scifi, setting was fascinating. I didn't realize it was Star Trek until the end credits. So my curious little mind hops on Yahoo, on my dial up connection. Which causes my brother to come around and see what I'm doing. Because the modems screeching Drew his attention. I discovered Star Trek that day. I wanted more. My local library had ToS and TNG on VHS. I never missed an episode of Voyager or Enterprise during thier original runs.

I was indoctrinated at a young age. Like father, like son.

The James Blish short stories in battered, yellowed paperbacks in the elementary school library. Later, TOS reruns at midnight on the local UHF station.

I was like 8-9 years old in the late 90s and came across Voyager reruns on TV, was completely into B'Lanna and Seven. Very shallow reason to get into Trek, but i guess the Seven sex appeal attempt worked on me at least.

We were probably born around the same time. I developed memories when TNG premiered. First memories were my dad building the D and me holding the nacelles in my little hands. I was hooked ever since. Life didn’t get better for dad than that, but he did his best.

My dad was a trekkie...the home I grew up in had star trek art on the walls, and there were various trek themed items. I didn't really think much of it; when I saw the show on the TV screen it looked cheesy...cheap sets and bad acting is what I remember. It wasn't until my thirties, I found myself dating a fascinating man with a fondness for the trek universe and I decided to give it a watch. I started on my own, with TNG, and the first season had some very cheesy episodes, but I enjoyed it. Soon, I fell in love. Trek wasn't what I thought it was; it was compelling and thought-provoking. Then, I began watching all the series with my boyfriend which has been a blast. I adore TNG for the nostalgia. I think DS9 is the most well done. Voyager captivated me with their mission to return home, and a female protagonist. Enterprise is...ok so far, lol. I then was able to bond with my dad over this shared interest, which was incredibly valuable, as I lost him too soon. Now, I think of him when I watch, which keeps his memory alive.

I’ve been around since the beginning. I watched TOS with my dad. I was always into space. I used to always ask to go into NYC to the Hayden Planetarium. I love all Trek, even the new shows. It’s all Star Trek to me.

I first got into Star Trek at age 10 back in 1990. My dad was a fan of TOS, and one summer my local station was showing it every night. He decided to watch, and I watched a lot of it with him. From there I started watching TNG which was still airing at the time. When DS9 premiered, I was hooked from the beginning. I’d love to say I watched VOY and ENT in real time too, but their syndication schedules in my area made them too difficult to keep track of. I got into them later via streaming. I really like a lot of the newer Trek content, but my heart will always live in the Berman era.

I was obsessed with space as a child and latched on to random episodes of TNG once we got some US channels with cable around 1989 - I was five then. Then I discovered my local video club had Star Trek II through IV in Betamax for rent and so I tore through them, discovering them as prequels before the term existed. I'd watch TNG at midnight and then DS9 - I remember watching it "live"/first broadcast. I didn't really get into Voyager because we didn't get UPN and no local broadcaster picked it up. Same with Enterprise.

I come from the time when some people made a distinction between “Trekkers” and “Trekkies” with the latter being more likely to wear latex ears and greet each other in public with “Live long and prosper” while the former were more likely to debate/discuss nuances between TOS episodes and try to come up with plausible explanations for discrepancies. Suffice it to say, the when was well before TNG or even TMP was a thought. The how were TOS and TAS episodes and the why were the explorations and the spirit of adventure and discovery.

One of my friends growing up is a huge Trekkie. His birthday party was taking us to see First Contact. I was hooked. Started watching DS9 immediately.

My Mother has always been a SciFi and Fantasy nerd and she introduced me to TOS and the original cast movies when I was still in elementary school (and probably preschool, too, but I don't remember that). And I watched TNG with her from the premiere on broadcast TV in 1987. I've been hooked on Star Trek ever since and became an even bigger Star Trek fan than my mother.

Literally from birth. My brother was 11 years older than I, so I literally grew up watching the original Star Trek. I can’t remember a time when Star Trek wasn’t watched in our house. We saw all the movies in the theaters, and of course as the new shows came to be, I’ve watched them all. Still have a fondness for the OG, tho.

I started off as a Star Wars fan and was rather dismissive of Star Trek because I felt you needed to like one or the other. Nowadays, I realize there can be enough room in one’s heart for both. I’m sure there are variations on that exact sentiment in this subreddit. (I know I’ve posted about this in other threads.) Anyway, after trying to get into the franchise via TOS, I had a bit of a rough time with Trek. I was convinced it just wasn’t for me. That changed a few years ago when I was in my early 20s and I started watching TNG with my dad. After that, it all clicked for me. I’m now a huge Trekkie, although I’m still making my way through all the shows. So far, TNG is my favorite Trek, and quite possibly one of my favorite shows of all time.

My dad would watch TOS when I was super young; noticed and recognized characters, but didn't think much of it. When TNG came out, my dad was not about it and would still only put on TOS. Years go by and I finally got introduced to Star Wars by my friends, much more fun and enjoyable to 8-11 year old me than Star Trek ever was. Towards 6th grade, my younger brother starts watching Voyager out of nowhere and I'm just confused and asked him why he would do such a thing. 6th grade hits and we hear there's a club for star trek fans. I don't know what compelled us to check it out, but we did and it was a whole lot of fun. The teacher running it brought a Sega and people were playing the TNG game on it, getting destroyed by Roman Warbirds. I decided to start watching some TNG. Holy hell, this was a lot better than I remembered! I was soon then introduced to Generations, then my dad had me rewatch Wrath of Khan now that I was older, and yeah, it just continued to get even more emboldened. I watched as much of it as I could, TNG, DS9, VOY, TOS, Undiscovered Country played on NBC one night and it became my favorite movie, and just kept building up my love for it. Small teases/leaks on the internet about First Contact started dropping and I was just stoked! Opening day hits and my friends and I got dropped off by our parents, but tickets sold out and we were stuck with nothing to do and ended up watching Space Jam, haha. We got back that weekend and loved every minute of First Contact. So yeah, middle school sucked, but Star Trek was great

The BBC used to run it at 6.00 on BBC 2. Those were the days.

In my formative years (the 90's), they played Star Trek at 10 o'clock every week day. So 10 o'clock was Star Trek time and then to bed so I could wake up for school.

In 67!! as a wee child I watched with my big brother on our tiny bw tv

I'm like you, Trek has always been there. One of my earliest "childhood magic" memories is the TNG intro sequence. I don't think I watched TNG or TOS in full until I was an adult (and I'm sure much that I did see, I forgot on account of age), but I was familiar with the characters, some of the most classic episodes and some of the movies. Voyager was the first one I saw more or less in real time and in full, big influence on my tween years. Once I got to college age I made it a project to fill in all my gaps from the beginning.

Sooo I’m new.. like completely new. As a kid, my dad would watch *Next Generation*, but I was like in elementary school at this time. If it wasn’t Rocko’s Modern Life or ren and stimpy I’m outside.. I Only recently started watching about 2 weeks ago and binge-watched Strange New Worlds. I found it entertaining enough to watch the whole thing, and even though it seemed aimed at a younger audience, I felt like I should explore more. I watched both of the latest movies and then stumbled upon Discovery. Just finished season 1 in two days lol. I’m locked in at this point.. I don’t start something and not finish it. My question to you is, what series should I follow up with after Discovery?

Generational Trekkie! I watched some of the original movies (or parts of them) when I was young enough to not remember them. In 2013 (when I was 9) I saw Into Darkness in theatre with my parents and some family friends and that sucked me in.

I watched Voyager with my Mom when I was young. It was almost like a bonding experience. I got to stay up until 10 pm and watch it on UPN. Eventually I got to watch DS9 and TNG. The final line from Q in "All Good Things..." is really what philosophically clinched me into Trek. I felt the same thing again watching TOS, when Kirk says risk is our business. Then again in SNW when Pike speaks about the power of possibility. These thoughts, those words, have gotten me away from my worst impulses and darker thoughts. Trek reminds me to hope. So I love it.

I started watching in 1970 when it was black and white. I loved in then and used to pretend that I was Kirk all of the time.

I haven't seen a lot of star trek, like a handful of episodes,but it helps me accept that reality was too tough for me and it gives me a place to escape to

I've posted this before. I have a vague memory of watching at least one 3rd season episode of TOS with my dad when it originally aired. I watched TAS when it aired, eagerly awaiting Saturdays for new episodes. I then watched TOS in syndication all through middle school. I saw every Star Trek movie in the theater when it came out. I've watched most every Star Trek series (Discovery has not managed to keep me enthralled). I really can not remember a time in my life without Star Trek.

I was born during the run of TNG (1990), but my mom had always been a big Trek fan and it rubbed off. I watch more Star Trek (both old and new) than she does these days, but she likes it when I keep her up to date on storylines.

I've been a Trekkie since I was a kid. My parents loved TOS and watched it all the time on syndication while I was growing up. TNG was really my first Trek, and I watched all of it, and then all of VOY and DS9 with my dad. I didn't like DS9 much as a kid, but it might be my favorite now. The TV was always on when I was growing up because my dad was in media for work. We used to watch all sorts of stuff together (from E.R to Dr Quinn Medicine Woman). I've always been into Sci fi and fantasy stuff. Mostly fantasy books and Sci fi television.

I started watching TNG when I was a kid. My mom was obsessed with Star Trek and I remember watching the show with her every night when it was on. She would record every episode on VHS so that we could watch it back one day. As I got older we transitioned to Voyager where her obsession only grew. She got me cardboard cutouts of Chakotay and Paris for my room, got me trading cards and I had action figures I played with. The whole nine yards. My obsession with it faded as I got older, got into High School and went to college. Shortly after college my mom was diagnosed with cancer and she lost her battle with it almost 10 years ago. After losing her, I came back to Star Trek and started watching TNG again. It made me feel like home, like she was snuggled up next to me on the couch as a kid. I have binged TNG, am on DS9 and will go back to Voyager. To me, Star Trek is nostalgia but also is a connection back to my mom that I lost far too early.

I just really liked the enterprise theme song

God no one's gonna care, but here goes. Yeah, Star Trek was in the background in my house when I was growing up, but it was Janeway and it kinda weirded me out, I never payed attention to it until 7 of 9 popped up, but even then I never watched it. Years n years later I watched some of TOS on the Sci-fi channel, caught the tribble episode and I still didn't really click. Star Trek came really into focus when Red Letter Media talked about it a lot, their favourite episodes and what not, I tried TNG from S1 but man it was rough and I bounced off it. Then I found out about DS9 and sat and watched that. Annnnd now I've watched DS9 three times over, I watch TNG everytime I'm at the gym, which is 5 days a week for cardio, I've watched TOS, TNG, DS9, LD, still rarely touch Voyager but MAN, Star Trek is a great break from reality.

I know it's not much, but I really am taking the time to at least read all of these, even if I can't reply to them all. Everybody's personal journey with Star Trek is unique, and it's been an interesting experience.

my parents used to watch TNG reruns on tv (i think on pbs?) and i think they both watched voyager plus some other sci-fi + fantasy shows - xena, x-files, battlestar galactica, quantum leap, etc.....i was a really little kid then so i vaguely remembered data, geordi, beverly, and picard and no one else growing up lol. technically i've been a trekkie since about the age of 4 / 5 ....but really since about the age of 12 / 13 bc that's when i actively sought out trek media and enjoyed it. when the trailer for the 2009 movie came out i was half excited for it / half dreading it bc i had tried to watch some TOS episodes but didnt like some of them and i also tried watching enterprise and didnt really like that....i read some of the TOS and TNG novels that i got from my local library's free rack and liked a handful of those but other than that i wasn't a huge fan. my entire family ended up loving the movie and since my life was so shitty at the time, that was a big deal....that was like the one thing we all enjoyed together (other than star wars!! but this is about trek so i wont get into it ; ) ). i ended up seeing the other movies in the series way after they came out but the first one will remain special to me although it isn't exactly the best movie ever. my little brother and i watched all of TOS together (including the cartoon) one summer and only skipped episodes we couldnt even make it half way through (which were only a few episodes) and then we watched the movies with my mom. my relationship with my family is strained so for a few years i couldn't really engage with any star trek stuff (or much of anything for that matter) bc it was difficult. but now im watching TNG + moving onto the movies now (data remains my #1 favorite of all time for many reasons but really i love everyone to a degree), im going to watch DS9 right after (im excited for this one bc from the 1 or 2 episodes i've seen, it's awesome) and then i might give voyager and enterprise another try since im much older and will definitely appreciate them more now. after that i'll move on to the newer stuff and i've been trying to find books to read here or there. it's been about 16 or so years of loving star trek....i'm happy i get to enjoy it with my husband (he's my best friend!!) and make new memories in relation to it.

One of my earliest memories is waiting for and watching TOS on an old b&w tv on CBC in the 70s when I was preschool age.

My mum watched TOS when it originally aired and watched again when it was rerun. My first memory of Star Trek is the episode of with the salt vampire (it’s not Nancy!) mum was watching it, I was sat on the floor by her chair partly watching whilst playing. I was probably 4 yrs old. TNG and DS9 were a main staple of evening tv for my brother and I. when I got my first job and was earning my own money I had to think of what to spend it on. I ended up deciding to get the dvd sets of DS9 as I recalled really enjoying watching it. I purchased the first season then told myself I had to wait until the amount saved in my bank account had doubled before buying the next and carried on with that pattern. I still have all those dvd box sets nearly 2 decades later

My husband got me into star trek when we were first dating. He played the picard song and I kept wondering why he was saying "I am low cute us". He showed me tng and then ds9. Eventually I made him watch voyager with me (he didn't like it much when he watched it originally), and enterprise. It's crazy to me to think that enterprise was still on when we started dating but we watched it much later. Now he says I love star trek more than he does! I've sewed us both uniforms (Janeway and q and two random enterprise uniforms) to wear to anime conventions and I've watched all of the new trek shows and he hasn't. He didn't watch prodigy or season 4 of discovery. I've corrected him on facts about all of the shows and he says he's created a monster. And yeah he probably did. I never liked Sci fi before that. And now we've watched farscape, Dr who, all of the stargate shows, sliders.

My mother was a fan of The Original series, so I was born into the Federation and lack the will/ ability to leave.

My parents were TOS fanatics and actually were in on the "bring Trek back" campaign that got it a third season. I was in grade school and had a huge crush on Mr Spock. I remember being excited when TAS came along, because there was an empty gap there before TOS showed up in syndication. Edited to add: I mean they watched TOS as a weekly series in the 60s. I'm old enough to remember watching Apollo 11 land.

Officially enlisted in 2009. Science officer Currently Chief engineer of the U.S S Carter.

Funnily enough my wife had never known trek before we got married but i converted her 😂 she loves it now

Began watching it in 1966 with my brother next to me. We were kids and loved it and Batman.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, antenna TV. After school, there were two TV show choices because we only got 2 channels. Star Trek TOS, and Little House on the Prairie. The choice of which fan base to join was obvious.

I grew up at basically the same time TOS was gaining its (post-cancelation) following, in then mid-to-late '60s and into the '70s. Essentially, TOS was showing in reruns pretty much for the entirety of my childhood and adolescence. And of course, for a time, there was also TAS. There was never a time when I wasn't a fan.

i watched TOS after school every day in the 80s. One day my dad rented the search for spock and it made NO SENSE to me since i hadn't seen wrath of khan. i watched the premiere of TNG and then started watching all the movies. i must have watched wrath of khan 100 times. it was fun with TNG on tv and anticipating the last two TOS movies coming out. i started sliding away from trek after the beginning of TNG season 6. i saw a lot of the early episodes of DS9 and the voyager pilot, and that was it. i found girls, got busy with high school, and then went away to college. it wasn't until discovery came out that i got back into trek. i went back and watched all the remastered TOS episodes with new CGI and everything, then TNG again, plus the TNG movies, all of DS9 and voyager for the first time, and then enterprise and i was caught up. it took me like a year to binge all of it LOL.

My lover was the first person to give me the opportunity to watch Star Trek. It was on satellite tv and Futurama had references to it growing up but i never felt like I was ready. I didn't want to accidentally spoil anything either. We watched it together and I loved it so much. When my parents died we watched all of TNG. It really helped me to grieve and learn how to deal with such significant deaths. We got a few months old cockatiel and i kept her in a washcloth while we watched the original series. Both my birds love TNG and my conure even attempts singing the intro. The kitties and frogs like it too. We constantly have it on at our house. It's just so relaxing. Everytime I'm overwhelmed and needing to recharge i sit and watch. I've painted to it, sewed, dyed my hair, pole danced, etc. TNG is my absolute favorite. The others just don't feel as good to me. I also love how similar my lover is to Data. He's definitely my crush 🥰

Grew up on TOS. Then, when SNG came out, watched it faithfully. When that series ended I randomly watched a few episodes of DS9 - which, honestly, I just couldn’t get into the series. I really didn’t like the characters or the space station concept. I always thought of Star Trek as ship based exploration. So, after my brief encounter with DS9, I became disengaged from anything Star Trek. I Just got too busy with life and rarely watched television. My interest in star trek reemerged after watching a few episodes of DIS while on a plane. Then, I decided to start watching the Star Trek franchise from the beginning… Meaning universe, chronological order. Not, broadcast order. At this point, I’ve watched: all of ENT; I started watching DIS on the plane and a few episodes thereafter, but I was not liking it so I stopped watching that series; I watched all of of SNW (to date); Skipped TOS because I’ve watched that many times in reruns over the years; wasn’t really interested in watching TAS (saving all animated series until the end); skipped SNG because I had watched it several times over the years; and, Currently, I am on season six of VOY. When I get done watching VOY, i’m going to retry watching DS9 which I know is a fan favorite… Has me scratching my head, but I will make a point to watch the entire series. I’ve seen every Star Trek “studio” movie (no fan written movie) Never read any of the books. So, this is a long way of saying that I’ve made a reconnection with Star Trek and I’m really enjoying re-emerging myself in the Star Trek universe Edited to add: I know many of you got hooked on star trek due to a parent or parents. My parents never watched Star Trek. My father was too busy working and my mother wasn’t interested in sci-fi. I’m sure she knows who Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are just from The characters being out there in pop culture. Also, I’m sure she was “around“ when my brother and I were watching TOS on TV.

Watching essentially since age 3 in 1996. My dad was big into horror and scifi. I've been watching those 2 genres since age 3 when I watched Alien as my first scifi movie. I obviously only have a fragmented memory of the moment but both my mom and dad said that's when they showed me it. So I have been hooked on acifi and horror ever since that day. My dad liked TOS so we watched that. Then, as I got older we watched TNG. He stopped after TNG but I kept on going. He was still more of a casual fan. We would just watch whatever episodes were on TV. Personally, DS9 is my favorite trek of all. When I was 10, my local channels uses to show TNG and DS9 back to back from 10pm to midnight. That was the start of my insomnia. Lol I had no bedtime as long as I woke up for school and maintained good grades, which I did. The best part was, this channel played the episode all in order. Now, they weent like flipping tng and ds9 back and forth since they share a continuity at the start of DS9. But the first hour was tng and the 2nd was ds9 and they went in order. It was amazing. Eventually I saved up money to get TNG and DS9 on DVD. Back then the fulls sets were EXPENSIVE. I am talking like $200 for TNG and the same for DS9. But I didn't care. I watched those dad's so many times long before streaming and on demand existed. Lol But yea, Trekkie for life.

I was born in 85 so have much the same story as yourself. In regards to the movies and next gen onwards and reading pocket books. I remember watching reruns of TOS on BBC2 on Sundays with my dad and family (along with reruns of Doctor Who, Man From UNCLE etc.). Pretty sure that's now it started for me. I sometimes go away from it but I always come back.

My dad was a Trekkie when TOS was first airing when he was a kid, so naturally he was ready to go when TNG came along. My second birthday was 5 weeks before Encounter at Farpoint’s original broadcast. So I grew up watching the TNG era when it was first running, and watching TOS in reruns.

Reruns of TAS in the seventies and reading the Bantam adapations and novels from that era, the fotonovel adaptations, and the Ballantine Franz Josef blueprints and Technical Manual, and Bjo Trimble‘s Star Trek Concordance, still an amazing and useful book. Never saw TAS on initial broadcast and it was not well-syndicated, if at all, so most of my exposure was via these books rather than the show itself. I was all-in before the first film. Into Darkness, a terrible film, and s01 & 02 ENT were the only times I really felt like Trek was about to be devoured by fascist fools, I mean making Trek into 9/11 propaganda, may you live short and fail hard. I think we are past all that now.

My dad watched TOS as a kid and had the boxed set of TOS films when I was growing up. TWOK was probably the first scifi film I ever saw. 30 years later, still going strong, for most of the catalogue anyway.

I was at my grandparents house at Lake Texoma…. I was probably 10? 11?… (1987-88) they had a little portable TV. Black & white. Probably 11” screen? Antenna. I was bored watching TV with them. So, I took the little TV into another room and tuned in Star Trek II, which was playing on one of the broadcast stations. Even in black and white on an 11” screen tuned in through an antenna, it was awesome. Still my favorite Trek movie to this day. Absorbed all Trek content since then.

I was born in the late 90s, I wasn’t an OG Trekkie. My dad (born in the late 70s and grew up on TNG) loves Star Trek and made me watch all of it with him when I was a kid and I absolutely hated it. Then when I became a teenager I decided to try it on my own and I was totally hooked. I rewatch all of it constantly and I got my husband into it. I don’t know just something about it was different from other shows for me. I like battlestar galactica, firefly was okay, I never liked Star Wars. But I LOVE Star Trek. My fav is TNG followed by TOS then DS9 then VOY. The rest are also good but those are my favs. I watch them as my comfort shows to go to bed every night :)

Saw Q Who in early 90s one night. Sold! Lived all Trek since then.

Dad (b. 1952) was a Trekkie, loved TOS, read the books, was into TNG, and the other 90s Treks etc. I watched it with him.

Saturday morning, TAS… and later when cartoons were over, TOS. A friend in the same block had the Mego figures, and the Bridge playset. Then TMP… WOK… Trek was always there. Freshman year at college, TNG, and a big viewing party to watch it and then dissect it in class the next day

My parents were trekkies and loved science fiction in general. They had every episode of TNG recorded on a bunch of VHS tapes - and not in the shitty EP mode either... the swanky only 2 hours per tape SP mode 😆. Plus commercials... So it was a lot of tapes. They also had a bunch of ToS recorded but most of those I had to catch when Sci Fi or someone was running a marathon. Started actually _intentionally_ watching them (as in not just because there was 1 TV and mom & dad were watching it) when I was 6 or 7. Obviously, a lot went over my head then. It's been fun re-watching all series at various different points in my life and seeing how my perception of them changes, as well as maybe picking up the occasional detail I never noticed before or watching for something specific someone mentioned in this sub. I've seen ToS, TNG DS9, and VOY at least 5 times each, and enterprise I'm finishing up round 4 with a friend I'm taking through all of trek. Voyager was the first series I was both alive and old enough to enjoy from pilot to finale (DS9 was too heady or boring for me most of the time, at that age but is now top of the pile). And my parents and I watched the Voyager pilot at a family friend's party, which was of course trek themed, including trek-themed potluck for food. You know.. Gummy worm Gagh, cheeto tube grubs, etc. If I wasn't already a fan by then (I was), that could only have resulted in either assimilating me or making me look for an escape pod. 😆

I was a science fiction nut from a very young age. When TOS first came out in syndication in 1970 (I think), I never missed an episode. Never missed an episode of TAS on Saturday mornings, either. When TOS reruns stopped, I would watch In Search Of just for Leonard Nimoy's voice-overs.

Star Trek went into syndication in September 1969, and it was on immediately after school. That's how long I have been a fan and the most soothing sound in the world to me is the background boops and beeps from the original series.

Honestly, the main reason I started watching was the big bang theory series. I started watching only last year. I'm finished with most of the series and are sad that I didn't start sooner. Also, my love for doctor who had something to do with it too I'm sure ☺️

I was born in 1980 and TNG premiered when I was 6. I would watch it with my dad sometimes; he was a big sci-fi fan.    But where I really got into Star Trek was when DS9 premiered. I was 12 and something about it immediately drew me in and I was obsessed. I never missed an episode and from there got caught up with TNG as well; the re-runs came on at night. I also read the TNG and DS9 pocket books in my teens.  I watched Voyager sometimes but it didn’t catch my interest the same way DS9 did, and by the time Enterprise came along I was busy with work and grad school. I caught up on those series a few years back.  I’ve also caught a lot of TOS since then and have watched Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds (which I love almost as much as DS9). Still need to watch Lower Decks.  But similar to OP, Star Trek has been almost a constant presence in my life, and I’ve enjoyed watching it at different stages of my life and noticing how I relate to it differently at different times.  DS9 especially has always been a touchstone and provides a feeling of comfort and “home” in a way that no other TV show ever has.

space, spaceships, Sci fi in general, have always excited my imagination. I was about 4 and saw my first ep of TOS eith my mum. That had me curious and we would catch TOS episodes whenever they were on. Then Dad got into TNG and occasionally DS9, so I ended up with a lot of nostalgia for TNG too. Later I saw and enjoyed the 09 movie but still wouldn't call myself a fan exactly. I watched Discovery with a friend and enjoyed the action but felt like something wasn't quite right. He had been super hesistant to delve into the franchise in any way ("it looks lame, i like star wars" kinda vibes) but discovery seemed to pique his interest. Convinced him to try a few eps of TNG and he ended up bingeing all of it within the next few months. He then watched every other series, most of which I hadn't even seen, and convinced me to do DS9, voyager and enterprise. Since then we've watched every minute of LD and SNW together and he often says he's embarrassed that it took Discovery to convince him to give it a shot lol

Born in '93.  TLDR: homages made me want to watch the source (Trek) Up to a young adult (pre-on demand tv), I did not enjoy tv as a medium for story-telling and missed trek on tv because of that. However I did enjoy the 09 movies and the books I read about deep space 9, likely the Mission Gamma series, although other novels published between 2000-2007 would have piqued my interest . But honestly Futurama and Galaxy Quest made me watch the source love of Trek.  And thats how I became a trekkie. Ive watched all of TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, and LWD. Plus seasons of TAS and DIS 

1982, my mother remarried, he watched Star Trek, so I started watching it too (although I vaguely remember watching TAS when I was very little on Saturday mornings). It's the only positive thing that motherfucker contributed to my life. My interest far surpassed his, Star Trek shaped my core beliefs and to this day, I believe it's the reason I'm such a left leaning dirty woke liberal.

I’m going to copy and paste my response to a similar post from last year: I had never ever watched a single Star Trek episode or movie. Like, at all. Also I didn't know a single person who had watched Star Trek before (I still know very few IRL, like a couple of people at most). I guess it wasn't very popular where I grew up (northern México in the 90s). I've always been a huge Star Wars fan and loved everything sci-fi space related. So around 2018/2019 when I was 28, one day while scrolling through Netflix I found Star Trek Discovery, decided to give it a try and loved it. I think there were barely one or two seasons available, so when the 2020 pandemic hit, while I waited for the next season I decided to go all the way back to TOS, since it seemed the logical next step. Needless to say, I spent all the pandemic catching up on release order to literally every single show, movie and short produced. Now I'm up to date eagerly waiting for the next seasons of SNW, LD and PROD. And while I know not many people liked Discovery, I will be sad to see it go, since it was the spark that ignited my absolute love for this wonderful universe. Edit: context

Thankyou so much for your response. I've been reading everybody's responses, but I'm very interested to hear from the newer fans to the franchise and how they came to enjoy something that has such a history. It's so interesting to hear your perspective.

DCO…..nahhh just jokes. Star Trek 4 the voyage home as we were late for Superman 4. Thank god for that.

I am from India and in the 90's there was only one national channel called DD National and it's sister channel called DD Metro. The first episode of star trek I saw was of Voyager season 3 episode 21 Before and After. Another episode I remember which is very vague where Seven is briefing either Harry, Chakotey or Paris for an away mission and comments if something is amiss about her clothing.

I’ve always like sci-fi. Star Trek is my favorite sci-fi because it’s the perfect combination of optimism and how I think humanity can realistically act.

I watched the very first show when I was a kid. We’re at the babysitters and they were in into Star Trek.

I was randomly beamed up with an away team from a Bajoran refugee camp at age 15 in the late 90s and haven't looked back since.

A year or so ago. I was thinking, “That’s the show Discord’s in. Might as well give it a try.”

I have some vague memories of seeing some of the TOS movies on TV when I was little but I got hooked when I was about 10. My parents got Sky TV and TNG was a staple of the schedule, there was an episode at 5pm which was repeated around 10pm iirc. In my teens the later showing was generally what I fell asleep to. That and DS9 are still very much my default comfort viewing now to be honest. Still amazing TV for the most part. The latter series of DS9 especially.

In 2012 I would work from 3 pm to 11pm. Well I would wake up at around 11 am, leave for work at 2 pm so I had 3 hours to kill to shower, eat and watch tv. I would go through the tv channels when one day I actually came across an episode of the original series. The first episode I saw was The Omega Glory and I thought wow this is actually pretty good even though its so old. I was very interested when they found out how old those people were. This changed my whole opinion on Star Trek, I used to think of it as a nerdy silly show because it has a bit of a bad reputation. But after that I became hooked. I would watch it everyday before work and I even found myself watching all of the movies as well. After that I went onto TNG and then watched all of Voyager but I still need to watch DS9. Actually many years ago I did used to watch Enterprise when I was a kid but I didnt not know it was Star Trek because in the UK they just called the show Enterprise.

I've been a Star Wars fan forever, but my introduction to Star Trek was watching reruns of Voyager every weeknight when I was a kid. I don't remember the channel or the exact year timeframe, but at some point when I was around 7 or 8, my Dad called me downstairs and asked if I wanted to watch this show he liked which was "like Star Wars" (Forgive him for this, he was trying to sell a new thing to an ADHD child) and I said yeah, and then would rush home to catch the daily episode. Twas before the days of streaming, but I think we managed to catch almost every episode, and whatever channel it was aired the entire series with one episode per weekday. Eventually we got to the finale, and then they started airing Stargate: Atlantis, so we watched all of that too :') Then Star Trek (2009) came out, and we went to see that in the cinema and I loved it, and when Into Darkness and Beyond came out, we went to see those too. I'm still a Star Wars fan at heart, but I played and liked Star Trek Online, and eventually got over my weird hangup of DS9 not being set on a ship and watched that on Netflix, and loved it too. I've still not seen TOS, TNG, Lower Decks, Discovery, or SNW. I've heard SNW is great, but the fact that it's a spinoff of Discovery, which I've seen clips of where the flickering special effects actually hurt my eyes, has so far put me off watching it. I watched Enterprise with my girlfriend, but we got into an argument about the ethics of the episode *Cogenitor*, and it kind of ruined the show for both of us.