Star Trek: The Original Series
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 17 of 60 TV series by recommenders
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.
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.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong writers and actors
“had to be carrier by great actors and writing, which it absolutely was. It's still my favourite Star Trek to this day.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide over "heroes"” “TOS was blessed with some really good writers, and was very lucky with the actors.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died” Self-contained episodes, not cliffhangers
“They are collections of self-contained short stories rather than an endless series of cliff hangers”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Stranger Things Creator Says Turn Off "Garbage" Settings” “focuses on doing one mostly self contained short story per episode even better than TNG”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Babylon 5 Is Now Free to Watch on YouTube” Optimistic view of science and humanity
“TOS and TNG are very good at creating positive feelings about science and technological progress”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “Babylon 5 Is Now Free to Watch on YouTube” “It's nice to watch something that highlights the best of humanity in a future setting.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died” Scientifically grounded science fiction
“Ironically the most scientifically grounded series is TOS”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “Babylon 5 Is Now Free to Watch on YouTube” “But, I watch it for the science fiction.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Animated 'Firefly' Reboot in Development from Nathan Fillion, 20th TV”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dated for modern audiences
“the TOS has its fair share of cringeworthy moments for modern audiences”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: To Honor Sir Patrick Stewart, Enjoy the TNG Episode Guessing Game” “they absolutely felt like an earlier generation”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died” Uneven quality, panned season 3
“Some episodes were better (and aged better) than others.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Oracle’s 6am layoff emails hit staff amid new wave of cuts” “Season 3 was widely panned.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Animated 'Firefly' Reboot in Development from Nathan Fillion, 20th TV”
Other TV series people recommend
The four most recommended other TV series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halt and Catch Fire | 166 | 20 | 89% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Babylon 5 | 86 | 21 | 80% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Silicon Valley (TV series) | 52 | 1 | 98% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Andor | 52 | 5 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Star Trek: The Original SeriesThis page | 18 | 3 | 86% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
24 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This represents what I liked about the TOS-ENT era of Trek”
“the TOS has its fair share of cringeworthy moments for modern audiences”
“they absolutely felt like an earlier generation”
“It's nice to watch something that highlights the best of humanity in a future setting.”
“An annoying facet of ST episodes is the morality lessons they push”
“TOS was blessed with some really good writers, and was very lucky with the actors.”
“Writers trying to one up each other with univers-shattering dangers gets old pretty quick.”
“made Classic and TNG feel a bit superficial and low stakes a lot of the time”
“Some episodes were better (and aged better) than others.”
“The last Star Trek worth watching was TOS.”
“fell in love watching TOS re-runs after school”
“the old star treks which were the only ones worth watching in the first place”
“they'd replaced all the special effects and shots of the Enterprise with CGI”
“But, I watch it for the science fiction.”
“Season 3 was widely panned.”
“the older trek as aged just as well as DS9 if not even better”
“focuses on doing one mostly self contained short story per episode even better than TNG”
“TOS and TNG are very good at creating positive feelings about science and technological progress”
“Ironically the most scientifically grounded series is TOS”
“TOS and TNG explain the Federation utopian universe”
“the series' popularity embedded them in the global cultural consciousness”
“Loss, fear, and failure are central to the show.”
“had to be carrier by great actors and writing, which it absolutely was. It's still my favourite Star Trek to this day.”
“They are collections of self-contained short stories rather than an endless series of cliff hangers”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.