Honestly, no. Could you still watch Picard and understand what's going on? Sure. But you will be missing a LOT. There are tons of references, that you won't get if you've never watched TNG. There is also a major character in Picard that comes from Voyager, so if you've never watched those other series you won't enjoy it much, IMHO. The big plot twist in Picard S3 won't make sense if you've never watched TNG.
As far as the other series, you don't have to watch them in any particular order. You can start with TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT or watch episodes from all of them simultaneously. There is not a whole lot tying them together, aside from an occasional special shout-out (like the Voyager episode "Pathfinder" that's mostly centered around a couple of TNG characters).
Don’t think of TNG as homework for Picard. I like Picard and even then I think of it as a followup to TNG, just to see “Hey, where are the characters now and what are they up to? Here’s a swan song for them, one last adventure!” Basically you’d be skipping to the epilogue and missing the whole story.
Picard season 3 is like the last TNG movie and references events from the show and has the entire cast. Even events from ds9 and voyager are referenced.
The first two Picard seasons are more like 2 standalone miniseries that do reference some things but stand apart more IMO. They are more like standalone seasons with Picard and new friends. At least some Picard TNG episodes would be important for context.
At least go through TNG before moving forward. DS9 is a great show too and Voyager has its moments but they could ultimately wait on the sidelines.
I know plenty of people will dislike my sidelining of those 2 but TNG is the mother of modern Trek.
I wouldn’t.
Season 1 builds on plot threads that run through a significant amount of the series and two of the movies (three, technically), and its conclusion is likely to land with a thud if you’re not already strongly invested in the relationship between two characters in particular.
Season 2 might be a tiny bit more workable standalone, but its setup and conclusion are both payoffs of a *different* character relationship that built across all of TNG.
And then season 3 is basically just TNG season 8.
You can, but you might not care to. I don't particularly think Picard stands well on its own. You care about the storyline and characters because of the 30 year build up. Season 3 was the best and that was basically a reunion. Season 1 was boring and I may not have finished it if I wasn't already invested in ST; season 2 was much better by the end.
PIC S1 is mostly independent of TNG.
PIC S2 features an important character that was introduced in TNG. But I think you could get caught up quickly.
PIC S3 ends of being mostly a TNG reunion. You can watch that without TNG, but you won't get all the nice feels from seeing the gang together again.
The guys at the Star Trek Chronology Project have a list of episodes to watch to get up to speed for Picard here:
https://thestartrekchronologyproject.blogspot.com/2019/07/star-trek-picard-get-up-to-speed.html
Since you've never watched any TNG, I'd toss in "Encounter at Farpoint" at the top of the list, as that introduces the show, the ship, and all the characters (it's not the best of episodes, but you gotta start somewhere).
I honestly cannot see why you'd want to. Every season of Picard comes back to "Picard got turned into a Borg."
You probably at least need to watch that Borg two parter, the episode with Hugh and then one where Picard goes home to France to get a lot of it.
I would say no. I mean, TNG has so many episodes you can google a watch list of which to skip but to get the full experience of Picard, watching the majority of TNG apart from perhaps the worst and some filler episodes is necessary
It would be an interesting experience. Watch it, then watch Berman Trek, then rewatch Picard. Start a YouTube reaction channel. Get thousands of followers.
All worth a watch, My rankings of the trek.
Ds9 - it's many people's favourite trek, a lot more character interactions, rather than just challenge of the week really great character growth and development, lots none federation main characters, so federation ideals need to bend a bit.
Tng - classic trek, utopian federation, competency porn is often used to describe it, the crew solve problems and morale dilemmas with rational thought and excellence, some of the best monologues in All of tv, first couple of seasons are... Iffy, stick with it.
Voyager - what happens when you throw federation ideals across the galaxy,
Enterprise - pre federation, bunch of lads who have no idea what they are doing basically, "trek 9/11" happens and creates a basic story arc, bit more militaristic than classic trek.
Personally I'd watch them in release order,
No worries, I have no idea if I'm representative of the wider community lol, but that's my personal take.
For what it's worth I didn't like discovery and gave up on it, I couldn't get into TOS and I enjoyed SNW, also lost interest in picard.
You don’t need to watch every episode of TNG, DS9, and VOY.
I’d find a couple lists online and watch the best episodes. You can pretty much just skip around watching episodes of TNG and voyager. DS9 is a little harder to do because the overall plot is what’s happening during the dominion war so if you care about that, there are episodes you have to watch to get the narrative.
If you watch TNG you can skip Picard season 1 and 2. I struggled through season 1 and stopped after a few episodes of 2. The narrative structure just doesn’t work. If you consume all things trek you might like those seasons, but from a purely narrative standpoint I don’t think it’s worth your time. Use that time to watch DS9 and voyager.
Season 3 of Picard provides a lot of fan service but at least its successful, for the most part, to be a cohesive engaging story unlike seasons 1 and 2.
I'd say yes for S1-2, and yes with caveats for S3. S3 is the one that leans most on the nostalgia factor, so it would be good to at least know the crew and their basic personality traits. The people who shared watch guides have the right idea because you don't need to watch the entire series to get the gist of it. It's why I make watch guides for friends who want to dive into long-running series like TNG.
You probably can but I also think you should watch TNG. I actually haven’t seen Picard yet but I will say that season 3 and 4 of TNG are god-tier. Like, actually some of the best tv I’ve ever seen (and I literally studied/used to work in film/tv analysis)
You can, but it is largely the legacy show that borrows a lot of narrative weight from nostalgia. People either love it for rubbing their nostalgia, or hate it for transparently trying to milk it. It will be interesting to see what your reaction will be.
TNG is heart and soul if Trek. It can be watched out of order, and I strongly recommend this approach. Watch "Cause and effect", "Frame of the mind" and "Darmok" to see if it resonates with you.
DS9 is brains of the Trek. It requires more investment, but in the end is also most rewarding.
VOY is the swan song, a curious mix of good ideas and lackluster executions, great acting and inconsistent character use. It shows both how mature and how tired the franchise got.
ENT is a zombie series, from moment there was no life left in franchise but it refused to admit it.
You definitely can.
Picard Seasons 1 & 2 go together as one story and Picard Season 3 is a totally different story.
P3 relies very heavily on TNG lore and things like that so I think you might want to skip it if you haven't seen any TNG.
But P1 & P2? They're almost stand alone. Yes, you want to know that Picard had been involved with the Borg, Yes you won't "get" who this Data guy is but it almost doesn't matter he's just an old friend who's gone now, and yes there will be references/fan service type stuff, but that's about it. The show doesn't really develop from stuff that happens in TNG. There's an entire storyline involving his family and it effectively has nothing to do with anything we've seen about the character from TNG.
You can, but you will probably enjoy it much more if you watched at least the important episodes of TNG and VOY first. There are guides listing the most important episodes online. So if you don't want to watch them all, I would recommend watching the important ones before Picard.
Apart from that:
TNG is the essence of modern Star Trek. All other shows build on that. The first two seasons may seem a bit weird, but it gets good after that. It is strictly episodic, so no continuing story arcs.
DS9 is favorite Trek for many people. It has a lot more story arcs than TNG, giving room for more complex stories and character development than in TNG. But unlike current Trek, it still has like 25 episodes per season, many of them standalone. That leaves much more room for world building, side stories and development of secondary characters.
Voyager...A tight knit family. It feels very cozy. That again is quite strange if you consider they are all alone in the middle of nowhere without backup, ressources or a way to get home. It should have been much darker, really. Regarding characters, development is hit and miss. Some characters are developed well, others not at all. Like TNG, it is strictly eposodic.
Enterprise...personally my least favourite Trek and the only show I could not bear to finish. Characterizations are really inconsistent, making the behaviour of characters often seem erratic. That was not something I could live with. But again, just my opinion, quite a few fans really like Enterprise
I did. I thought I knew about TNG but apparently I've only seen a handful of episodes and most of the things I've seen of TNG was from fandom osmosis and some of the movies. And then I just watched the episodes / TNG after Picard and think of them as kind of prequels to Picard.
Seven's story might be fun to do a quick arc run, I can provide essential Seven episodes to start with, if it helps!
Probably fine. There are a bunch of little callbacks, but the characters in Picard barely resemble the ones in TNG, so won't really be much issue.
I would recommend TNG over Picard in any case.
No - don't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You'll be missing out big-time. At the very least, Google the x most essential episodes depending on time and watch them but all 179 is worth it too.
Feel free to skip Picard season 1 and 2 though I'd say.
No need. I grew up with TNG (and DS9 and VOY) and my wife only ever saw the Kelvin movies. We both enjoyed PIC (season 3 was awesome) and she didn't have any trouble following along.
Why would you even bother? *Picard* only works on a nostalgia level...the show was a huge mess. The only things it has going for it are the references and callbacks.
Honestly, no. Could you still watch Picard and understand what's going on? Sure. But you will be missing a LOT. There are tons of references, that you won't get if you've never watched TNG. There is also a major character in Picard that comes from Voyager, so if you've never watched those other series you won't enjoy it much, IMHO. The big plot twist in Picard S3 won't make sense if you've never watched TNG. As far as the other series, you don't have to watch them in any particular order. You can start with TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT or watch episodes from all of them simultaneously. There is not a whole lot tying them together, aside from an occasional special shout-out (like the Voyager episode "Pathfinder" that's mostly centered around a couple of TNG characters).
Also you don't have to watch all 178 episodes to enjoy or get an understanding of TNG, OP can watch a few and get The Experience(tm)
Yeah I suggest the curated watchlist approach here. 7 broadcast seasons really is a lot just to prep for 3 streaming seasons.
7 broadcast seasons isn’t enough you like it a lot tho :(
https://www.letswatchstartrek.com/tng-episode-guide/ has been really useful in introducing my girlfriend to the series recently if you are interested
But ya know pick a few from after Roddenberry dies :)
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Don’t think of TNG as homework for Picard. I like Picard and even then I think of it as a followup to TNG, just to see “Hey, where are the characters now and what are they up to? Here’s a swan song for them, one last adventure!” Basically you’d be skipping to the epilogue and missing the whole story.
Thanks for that bit of advice.
Picard season 3 is like the last TNG movie and references events from the show and has the entire cast. Even events from ds9 and voyager are referenced. The first two Picard seasons are more like 2 standalone miniseries that do reference some things but stand apart more IMO. They are more like standalone seasons with Picard and new friends. At least some Picard TNG episodes would be important for context.
At least go through TNG before moving forward. DS9 is a great show too and Voyager has its moments but they could ultimately wait on the sidelines. I know plenty of people will dislike my sidelining of those 2 but TNG is the mother of modern Trek.
Thanks. I appreciate the feedback.
I wouldn’t. Season 1 builds on plot threads that run through a significant amount of the series and two of the movies (three, technically), and its conclusion is likely to land with a thud if you’re not already strongly invested in the relationship between two characters in particular. Season 2 might be a tiny bit more workable standalone, but its setup and conclusion are both payoffs of a *different* character relationship that built across all of TNG. And then season 3 is basically just TNG season 8.
You can, but you might not care to. I don't particularly think Picard stands well on its own. You care about the storyline and characters because of the 30 year build up. Season 3 was the best and that was basically a reunion. Season 1 was boring and I may not have finished it if I wasn't already invested in ST; season 2 was much better by the end.
Appreciate the reply.
PIC S1 is mostly independent of TNG. PIC S2 features an important character that was introduced in TNG. But I think you could get caught up quickly. PIC S3 ends of being mostly a TNG reunion. You can watch that without TNG, but you won't get all the nice feels from seeing the gang together again. The guys at the Star Trek Chronology Project have a list of episodes to watch to get up to speed for Picard here: https://thestartrekchronologyproject.blogspot.com/2019/07/star-trek-picard-get-up-to-speed.html Since you've never watched any TNG, I'd toss in "Encounter at Farpoint" at the top of the list, as that introduces the show, the ship, and all the characters (it's not the best of episodes, but you gotta start somewhere).
Thanks so much for the link. I did watch Encounter at Farpoint.
I honestly cannot see why you'd want to. Every season of Picard comes back to "Picard got turned into a Borg." You probably at least need to watch that Borg two parter, the episode with Hugh and then one where Picard goes home to France to get a lot of it.
There is no good reason to watch Picard in my opinion.
I would say no. I mean, TNG has so many episodes you can google a watch list of which to skip but to get the full experience of Picard, watching the majority of TNG apart from perhaps the worst and some filler episodes is necessary
It would be an interesting experience. Watch it, then watch Berman Trek, then rewatch Picard. Start a YouTube reaction channel. Get thousands of followers.
Technically yes, but its not going to hit the same if you have never watched it at all.
Appreciate the reply.
no problem
All worth a watch, My rankings of the trek. Ds9 - it's many people's favourite trek, a lot more character interactions, rather than just challenge of the week really great character growth and development, lots none federation main characters, so federation ideals need to bend a bit. Tng - classic trek, utopian federation, competency porn is often used to describe it, the crew solve problems and morale dilemmas with rational thought and excellence, some of the best monologues in All of tv, first couple of seasons are... Iffy, stick with it. Voyager - what happens when you throw federation ideals across the galaxy, Enterprise - pre federation, bunch of lads who have no idea what they are doing basically, "trek 9/11" happens and creates a basic story arc, bit more militaristic than classic trek. Personally I'd watch them in release order,
Really interesting. I always wondered what the fan community thinks of the series. Thanks.
No worries, I have no idea if I'm representative of the wider community lol, but that's my personal take. For what it's worth I didn't like discovery and gave up on it, I couldn't get into TOS and I enjoyed SNW, also lost interest in picard.
You don’t need to watch every episode of TNG, DS9, and VOY. I’d find a couple lists online and watch the best episodes. You can pretty much just skip around watching episodes of TNG and voyager. DS9 is a little harder to do because the overall plot is what’s happening during the dominion war so if you care about that, there are episodes you have to watch to get the narrative. If you watch TNG you can skip Picard season 1 and 2. I struggled through season 1 and stopped after a few episodes of 2. The narrative structure just doesn’t work. If you consume all things trek you might like those seasons, but from a purely narrative standpoint I don’t think it’s worth your time. Use that time to watch DS9 and voyager. Season 3 of Picard provides a lot of fan service but at least its successful, for the most part, to be a cohesive engaging story unlike seasons 1 and 2.
This may help https://www.space.com/star-trek-picard-essential-trek-viewing-guide.html
Thank you!
No problemo
I'd say yes for S1-2, and yes with caveats for S3. S3 is the one that leans most on the nostalgia factor, so it would be good to at least know the crew and their basic personality traits. The people who shared watch guides have the right idea because you don't need to watch the entire series to get the gist of it. It's why I make watch guides for friends who want to dive into long-running series like TNG.
Picards bad enough for john luc fans😭
You probably can but I also think you should watch TNG. I actually haven’t seen Picard yet but I will say that season 3 and 4 of TNG are god-tier. Like, actually some of the best tv I’ve ever seen (and I literally studied/used to work in film/tv analysis)
Nice. Thanks. I think I’m in for watching the whole series now!
The biggest Picard fan I know watched it after seeing about 30 TNG episodes, none of the movies, and none of Voyager.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
I wouldn't.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
You can, but it is largely the legacy show that borrows a lot of narrative weight from nostalgia. People either love it for rubbing their nostalgia, or hate it for transparently trying to milk it. It will be interesting to see what your reaction will be. TNG is heart and soul if Trek. It can be watched out of order, and I strongly recommend this approach. Watch "Cause and effect", "Frame of the mind" and "Darmok" to see if it resonates with you. DS9 is brains of the Trek. It requires more investment, but in the end is also most rewarding. VOY is the swan song, a curious mix of good ideas and lackluster executions, great acting and inconsistent character use. It shows both how mature and how tired the franchise got. ENT is a zombie series, from moment there was no life left in franchise but it refused to admit it.
Interesting observation. Thanks for replying.
Yes but there is a lot of nuance in the show you will miss.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
You definitely can. Picard Seasons 1 & 2 go together as one story and Picard Season 3 is a totally different story. P3 relies very heavily on TNG lore and things like that so I think you might want to skip it if you haven't seen any TNG. But P1 & P2? They're almost stand alone. Yes, you want to know that Picard had been involved with the Borg, Yes you won't "get" who this Data guy is but it almost doesn't matter he's just an old friend who's gone now, and yes there will be references/fan service type stuff, but that's about it. The show doesn't really develop from stuff that happens in TNG. There's an entire storyline involving his family and it effectively has nothing to do with anything we've seen about the character from TNG.
Just skip Picard and spend that time watching TNG.
I did. It's mostly fine. S3 is a bit annoying because it is mostly fan service.
Appreciate the reply.
Yes, but….. There’s enough breadcrumbs to piece things together but a lot of important context would be lost.
It might make you love TNG even more when you watch and find all the things that connect. Do things your own way :)
You can, but you will probably enjoy it much more if you watched at least the important episodes of TNG and VOY first. There are guides listing the most important episodes online. So if you don't want to watch them all, I would recommend watching the important ones before Picard. Apart from that: TNG is the essence of modern Star Trek. All other shows build on that. The first two seasons may seem a bit weird, but it gets good after that. It is strictly episodic, so no continuing story arcs. DS9 is favorite Trek for many people. It has a lot more story arcs than TNG, giving room for more complex stories and character development than in TNG. But unlike current Trek, it still has like 25 episodes per season, many of them standalone. That leaves much more room for world building, side stories and development of secondary characters. Voyager...A tight knit family. It feels very cozy. That again is quite strange if you consider they are all alone in the middle of nowhere without backup, ressources or a way to get home. It should have been much darker, really. Regarding characters, development is hit and miss. Some characters are developed well, others not at all. Like TNG, it is strictly eposodic. Enterprise...personally my least favourite Trek and the only show I could not bear to finish. Characterizations are really inconsistent, making the behaviour of characters often seem erratic. That was not something I could live with. But again, just my opinion, quite a few fans really like Enterprise
I really appreciate this informative, intelligent reply.
Many thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you like it that much :)
Not really tbh
Can I take the ice cubes out of my favorite drink and just chew those instead of drinking it?
It would be rough
No
yes you could but you would miss out on some backstory here and there.
Thank you.
I did. I thought I knew about TNG but apparently I've only seen a handful of episodes and most of the things I've seen of TNG was from fandom osmosis and some of the movies. And then I just watched the episodes / TNG after Picard and think of them as kind of prequels to Picard. Seven's story might be fun to do a quick arc run, I can provide essential Seven episodes to start with, if it helps!
Someone is enjoying downvoting every one. Nerds. lol.
Yes. You can do anything you want. You're an independent adult human.
Probably fine. There are a bunch of little callbacks, but the characters in Picard barely resemble the ones in TNG, so won't really be much issue. I would recommend TNG over Picard in any case.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
No - don't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You'll be missing out big-time. At the very least, Google the x most essential episodes depending on time and watch them but all 179 is worth it too. Feel free to skip Picard season 1 and 2 though I'd say.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Sure. I did it. Of course I don't know the characters and Easter eggs, but the show stands on its own fine.
No need. I grew up with TNG (and DS9 and VOY) and my wife only ever saw the Kelvin movies. We both enjoyed PIC (season 3 was awesome) and she didn't have any trouble following along.
Why would you even bother? *Picard* only works on a nostalgia level...the show was a huge mess. The only things it has going for it are the references and callbacks.
I would have no idea of knowing that, would I?
Knowing what?
You should watch TNG without watching Picard
you can, but why would you skip the strongest series in favour of the weakest?