I completely agree, but I think just getting past that initial stigma is what's important for getting someone to like Trek, or at least getting them to give it a reasonably open-minded shot. I've found that ST09 does that well.

It seems Billy and Jim have perished in a transporter accident. Let's hold a funeral for them that looks more like a party.

Gotta side a bit with HI here, but if you feel you have to try, then honestly ST09 may be your best bet.

Also, I am claiming victory. DS9 WAS the surprise!

Kind of hilarious…
…to use the comment count as a defense for sticking with TNG, given that many of those comments were recommending other shows to review.

Yeah, Kings actually got a fair amount of promotion, at least for the pilot. And, let's face it: if you weren't interested in the premise or cast (both shown effectively in the promos), you weren't going to watch that show.

Yeah, reading about/watching three-eps-a-week doesn't sound fun either.

Datapaaaaad Wriiiiiteeerrrrrr

Given that Riker had about six lines combined in the episodes this week, I guess he doesn't have much to say.

Also, shooting a big computer into space is not the same thing as manned spaceflight.

@Zack Another idea might be Wonderfalls. Not sure how much of this audience would follow it, but I think it's a great summer show to more casually watch and review.

I can definitely agree that BSG is significantly more ambitious, though I think the gap narrows a little if you factor in the differences between the TV eras in which they respectively aired. Indeed, it may be that very ambition that causes BSG to stumble harder and more often than DS9 in my estimation.

I don't know, Horse, I think early BSG will hold up. I mean, its early themes don't apply exclusively to the war-on-terror, etc. It tackles issues that have plagued human societies for decades, and, unfortunately, will likely continue to.

It is my opinion that DS9 >> BSG. Is that the consensus here, or am I crazy, guys?

@Dan Well played. On a related note, I'm annoyed that I can't rate this episode individually.

Moonlight is probably #2 for me, Jim. Can't fault you putting it first.

@Zack That's tricky, because I assume you'd want it to be something that could be completed in three months, and there aren't that many 1 or 2 season sci-fi shows that are worth covering.

No "one of." It's the best episode of the whole franchise.

This is about the time when I became "too cool" (or maybe just too busy) for Star Trek, and I've only seen another dozen episodes at most between here and the end of the series (this includes the finale, of course). I'm excited to finally have a reason to go back and watch them all, though judging by most of the…

Also (and, sorry, I know I harp on the poetry of this episode a lot), I like the poetry of there being only one probe, and it only being capable of interacting with one person before shutting down. I mean, presumably they had the technology to spam the galaxy with probes, or at least to make a reusable one that could…