# Star Trek: The Original Series

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Star Trek: The Original Series and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for strong writers and actors, self-contained episodes and an optimistic view of science and humanity; critics note cringeworthy moments for modern audiences and uneven episodes.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong writers and actors (2 comments): "had to be carrier by great actors and writing, which it absolutely was. It's still my favourite Star Trek to this day." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46722833)) "TOS was blessed with some really good writers, and was very lucky with the actors." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50295863))
- Self-contained episodes, not cliffhangers (2 comments): "They are collections of self-contained short stories rather than an endless series of cliff hangers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585965)) "focuses on doing one mostly self contained short story per episode even better than TNG" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033461))
- Optimistic view of science and humanity (2 comments): "TOS and TNG are very good at creating positive feelings about science and technological progress" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015344)) "It's nice to watch something that highlights the best of humanity in a future setting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50296391))
- Scientifically grounded science fiction (2 comments): "Ironically the most scientifically grounded series is TOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015259)) "But, I watch it for the science fiction." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47394844))

## What people warn about

- Dated for modern audiences (2 comments): "the TOS has its fair share of cringeworthy moments for modern audiences" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50313068)) "they absolutely felt like an earlier generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50296771))
- Uneven quality, panned season 3 (2 comments): "Some episodes were better (and aged better) than others." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49710179)) "Season 3 was widely panned." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47393966))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Halt and Catch Fire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/halt-and-catch-fire.md): 166 recommend
- [Babylon 5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/babylon-5.md): 86 recommend
- [Silicon Valley (TV series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silicon-valley.md): 52 recommend
- [Andor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/andor.md): 52 recommend
- [The Wire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wire.md): 39 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Star Trek: The Original Series", https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-the-original-series/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).