Netflix Reveals Most Popular Episodes, Shatner Trolls, Alexa Sings And More #StarTrekDay Fun

Though it is not landing with the weight that it did for the 50th last year, today’s 51st anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek is creating plenty of buzz.  Star Trek Day is a day to celebrate — both on the Internet and in our hearts.  We have gathered some of the more interesting and fun bits of Star Trek Day celebrations from Netflix Trek data, Shatner showing Star Wars fans who is boss, Amazon Alexa teaching Klingon, the Discovery cast answering Trek trivia, and more. Make sure you scroll to the bottom for a great new fan-made supercut celebrating the 51st.

Netflix drops a bomb – or more accurately an Omega particle

Internet juggernaut Netflix’s secret weapon isn’t its original content or its massive subscriber base, it’s viewer behavior. They know everything everyone has ever watched, including how people watch the entire library of Star Trek TV episodes. Understandably, they hold this kind of incomparable competitive advantage as close as the Tal Shiar does its secrets — but not today. Netflix spilled the beans on which Star Trek episodes are the most popular.

From their press release, which boasts more eyeroll-inducing Star Trek cliches than you could swing an Ahn-woon at, Netflix reveals:

  • First episodes of a series will usually be the most watched.
  • Episodes that introduce iconic races or characters tend to be re-visited most.
  • The most popular themes are time travel, alien abductions and crossover episodes.
  • TNG and TOS have bigger audiences, but VOY and DS9 have more loyal repeat customers.
  • A nice “call to action” at the end to remind everyone that on Sept. 25, Netflix will exclusively(!) premiere Discovery in 188 countries.

So omitting the first two episodes from any show, they determined the following most popular episodes that get rewatched, where “rewatch” means a member returns to watch at least 6 minutes of an episode they had previously completed.

So, basically, suck it, Edith Keeler and Cyrano Jones! (Image: Netflix)

That would be Voyager with six episodes and TNG with four — the other three series are shut out colder than an Andorian Christmas. Note that EIGHT of the ten episodes feature the Borg — so the danger that the Borg will appear in Discovery for no logical reason have probably just gone up by 79% percent.

Shatner throws some punches at a galaxy far, far away

Like many, William Shatner has taken to Twitter to show some love for Star Trek, with this simple, tasteful anniversary message.

But, Bill wasn’t done. Having apparently not heard the advice to not pick fights with people who are bigger than him, Shatner then posted the same “Happy Anniversary!” message on the Star Wars subreddit. And he still wasn’t done. After the Guinness Book posted a link about how Star Trek was the most successful TV franchise, Shatner reposted the link to @starwars.

And to top it if, he took a gratuitous shot at the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Well done sir. You are, and always shall be, our captain.

Alexa sings Trek and teaches Klingon

Amazon decided to have some fun on Star Trek Day with their Alexa home assistant giving fans a special Star Trek wake-up song. TrekMovie’s Christine Rideout (aka Starfleetmom) made a fun recording of her Amazon Echo singing the Star Trek theme and teaching some Klingon.

Very nice of Amazon to show such Star Trek love — the franchise deserves it: after a tiny cameo in Star Trek Beyond, founder Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world. Does he owe it to Star Trek? Very probably.

Discovery cast (try to) answer Trek trivia

The cast of the latest Star Trek series showed their love for Star Trek with a couple of videos, first one with them wishing everyone had a great Star Trek Day.

And then things got serious as the cast took on some Star Trek Day trivia, with some mixed results.


Hard to say who won that trivia, but probably not James Frain — Klingville? Seriously? And there was some impressive Trek awareness by Mary Wise and Anthony Rapp.

The world celebrates Star Trek Day

#StarTrekDay was a trending hashtag on Twitter today with many fans celebrating their love for the franchise which took them to strange new worlds. We have gathered some tweets from a few prominent people and institutions showing their love.

The ultimate Star Trek supercut

Danish Star Trek fan Johan Albrechtsen of Moovy.dk sent in a link to his brand new supercut tribute to Star Trek, made to celebrate the 51st anniversary. This great new video spans the entire franchise on film and TV, including Star Trek: Discovery.

How do you celebrate Star Trek Day?

What were your favorite moments from Star Trek Day? Are you celebrating with a cellular peptide cake? Does it have mint frosting? Let us know in the comment section below, or tweet us @TrekMovie.

 

 

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Wow, look at that list. The internet likes Borg episodes. That scares me. ;-)

I spent the day wearing a Discovery Command badge and TNG com badge at work. :)

….Some website I fell into today listed Star Trek’s most popular series regulars and they listed Captain Picard as “Star Trek’s” all time most popular regular…

I think Spock or Kirk should have gotten that honor, but Picard is not a bad pick either….

LOL that Netflix list is funny. A week ago I was arguing with a bunch of old TOS fanboys who kept telling me no one cares about TNG or the later shows anymore. Its all about TOS they said. And yet, look at that, not only do people rewatch TNG, Voyager actually gets most rewatches. At least in the top 10. Thats insane.

And yes, a lot of Borg lol. People love the borg, not shocking!But I just love the fact that people love ALL of Star Trek. Its nice to hear that people rewatch DS9 and even Voyager. DS9 for obvious reasons (because its AMAZING) but I’m not shocked Voyager gets rewatched over again either. OK i’m a bit shocked it gets THIS rewatched lol but the later seasons are good and yes lots and lots of Borg stories. I personally thought Endgame sucked though so its shocking it gets watched so much.

And I noticed there is no talk of Enterprise at all sadly, which, once again, make me question doing another prequel. Its clear most of the audience are really into post TNG because there is simply more of it (a lot more) but Discovery looks very promising on its own at least.

My thoughts exactly

When people look at Enterprise’s success (or lack thereof) they often point to the fact that it was a prequel. That overlooks the the run-of-the-mill stories, the bland directing and cinematography. The series weakest point was not that it was a prequel; it’s weakest point was the incredibly boring cast of characters.

I don’t disagree with you all that much (although I grew to really love the show now), I ‘m just saying end of the day most Trek fans are probably way more invested in a post TNG era because there are probably more people overall that watches those shows. For the record the article made the point TOS gets bigger audiences than Voyager and DS9 but my guess is combined more people watch all those other shows meaning they would probably get more interest in a sequel show than a prequel one.

But yes I don’t think Enterprise failed because its a prequel. But I’m also saying it didn’t really help it much for being one either. I think TPTB think people care about the TOS than they think we do. The KT films a great example. The first two did OK, but not great given their budgets and the last one simply failed. Again, I’m not saying its because not enough people care about TOS, many do, but I honestly think the results would’ve been the same if they made any time period or with different crew if they threw in big enough stars, big budget, hot director and made it look more like Star Wars. Marketing wise its easier to market characters people already know but the Trek name alone is going to get the hardcore to turn out, just as I imagine it will for Discovery no matter when it was placed. Its keeping them thats the issue.

But I’m not putting down the show because its a prequel. I’m way past that now. I’m truly excited for the show but I still can’t help it was a mistake to do it given the complaints I keep seeing about it. Hopefully it will win those people over.

Ugh, sorry for all the errors. This is what happens when you type in the morning.

That and franchise fatigue.

That certainly was a component of it’s failure at the time. But if it had been a good show, franchise fatigue or not, it would have much better rewatch value. I’ll revisit the show from time to time, but I don’t think I’ve watched a single full episode of ENT in the past year, while I’ve probably seen dozens of various other Trek episodes multiple times in the same span.

I think I even watched “Threshold” twice, and that’s easily one of the worst Trek episodes of all time.

Why are people you disagree with always derogatively called fanboys? Weird.

Of course anyone saying no one cares about TNG would be wrong. But anyone pushing a narrative of TNG vs TOS has some issues. Lol.

Most of us are fans of Star Trek in its entirety

Because I’m LITERALLY talking about TOS fanboys lol. You’re right most people DO like Star Trek in its entirety. I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about the guys who worship TOS and think everything else after that is beneath them….and yet watched it all anyway. I will never understand these nuts. And whats more insulting is when they tried to suggest ALL the other shows has basically died off and its only TOS that people still remembers and cares about….sure if you are 60 I guess. THIS list proves the point ALL of Star Trek is pretty relevant for either most fans or younger fans. Most people I know has never seen TOS, because it looks too old and campy to them. Its not an insult, it is old and comes off campy now. Most shows from that era.

I have NO issues if someone just says they prefer one Trek over another. Thats fine and completely understandable. Its when these people, who are waaaaaay out of touch, seem to suggest the only Trek that is relevant today is the one they all grew up with. And if you are on TM, I can see why, this place clearly slants much older. But if they are on actual sites with a plethora of fans of all ages, TOS is certainly relevant, but not the top of the list for sure. Again, this list proves it. They should get a clue, there is a reason why there are still novels, comic books, online games of basically every show because there are still many fans who are invested in TNG, in DS9, in Voyager, etc.

I love TOS, I grew up with it like many did. It was the only Trek I knew until TNG showed up years later, but I don’t get this weird worship over one TV show. I wasn’t born when it was on but its all I knew for a lot of my childhood. But Trek is beyond that now. Its been beyond that for a long time. There is enough Trek to please everyone today. Don’t belittle the franchise by suggesting only one aspect of it matters when millions of people out there like me care about it as a whole and want to see it grow and prosper, and not just trot out the same nostalgia for people who can’t let go of their VHS cassettes.

Nonsense.

Thats what I tell TOS fanboys. ;)

They (the DSC cast) really seem to be enjoying themselves. Hope we do, too. Happy 51st.

Great video – sent a shiver up my spine – shared it to remind all of the greatness that is STAR TREK. On it’s 51st birthday it has certainly lived long and prospered.

STAR TREK has been and always will be our friend. Although some have polarizing opinions and nitpick continuously as a way of life it would seem, I have always looked past the negativity. I am so happy I have been able to travel along with Genes Roddenberry’s creation since the 60s, on all series and all movies and loved them all for what they are.

As in life, all good things change and so now in 2017 we go back again to the final frontier. I am so looking forward to explore the next chapter into the undiscovered country with Star Trek Discovery. Roll on September 24 and make it so!

I love that video too. I love when fans makes them. It just makes you realize how great Star Trek is and how much we have of it today. I think its all great, yes, including the KT films. What makes Trek great for me is that we get different versions of it. TOS isn’t like TNG that isn’t like DS9 that isn’t like Enterprise and so forth, but they have their positives and negatives. I think the 30th anniversary was the best time to be a Trek fan but 20 years later, its still going. Maybe not as strongly as before (and we don’t know if we will see more KT films) but Discovery may be the shot in the arm Trek needs like TNG did 30 years ago.

I’m just SO happy we are getting a show again!!!!!

Thank you SO much for the kind words, you guys! :-D I’m Johan, the guy who edited the video. I’ve actually been feeling like putting it together for about a year, ever since Paramount released an official “supercut” for the 50th Anniversary that only included footage from about 5-6 of the films and NONE of the shows. I certainly hope that Discovery turns out to be worthy of being associated with the name Star Trek!

It’s an excellent cut, Johan. Hats off to you for this assimilation, from the earliest days to the latest. Hard to believe you crammed in so much stuff in less than 5 minutes! Will be rewatching this one. Thanks for sharing.

Johan, you made an AMAZING video. So amazing, I shared it on Reddit in the Star Trek section there as well. I love how you balanced so much of all the shows and films. Everyone gets their little moment to shine. Kirk and Picard, rightfully so, gets a lot of the air time but I love that you included quotes from all the captains, even squeezed in Captain Lorca lol. A love and appreciation of all Trek. This is what makes me excited to be a fan. And yes, sadly that laughable Paramount ‘tribute’ trailer last year kind of proves the people that runs it are sometime clueless. That would explain Beyond’s marketing as well.

But as you, I want to love Discovery. I’m going to give it a wide berth. We need Star Trek in a weekly format again. It looks like we are getting that, but with a cinematic scope. I think while it will have its detractors, its going to remind us why we fell in love with Star Trek in the first place. And if not, we still have 700 hours of Trek to remind us anyway. ;)

Thanks again, John and Tiger2! :-D And thank you so much, Tiger2, for also sharing it on Reddit!

It definitely was a difficult balancing act – recognizing everything that the franchise has given us so far. And my only regret is that I wasn’t able to cram in more from DS9, which is my favorite. But it was definitely the most difficult show to take clips from “out of context” – possibly because it’s the most cohesive of all the shows. I feel bad Weyoun and Garak aren’t in there! But hey… perhaps a new DS9 supercut for next year, when that show turns 25 :-D

I do think the hate for Discovery is somewhat overboard. There was the exact same outcry before the release of TNG back in the 80’s. And DS9 was incredibly dark at times as well – but in a way I thought that made it live even more up to Gene’s original vision: it’s about upholding our utopian ideals and values under the greatest of pressures. I think Discovery will have similar themes. I’m actually just kind of bummed out that it will be a serialized show :-D I know it’s totally old-school (especially post 2000), but there’s something amazing about episodic sci-fi where you can do a thriller one week, a romcom the week after that, then do Robin Hood and an episode like The Inner Light… that stuff just couldn’t have been told in a serialized show. It would’ve been too great a leap from the central story. Regardless – I’m looking forward to finally watching Discovery in a couple of weeks! :-)

I remember my feelings in 1986 when a new Star Trek series was being announced: Star Trek:The Next Generation. Jeezis, what a stupid name! And an android who wants to be human! Sneer.

Reminds me to wait and see. By 1989 I was over the moon about TNG. I love DS9 and really enjoyed Enterprise [surprise], and like the JJ movies too [love the cast, especially; RIP Anton Yelchin].

I guess I’ll have to give “Voyager” another try. Any recommendations on which season I should start with? I got burned out on technobabble and gave up in season 3.

“Beyond” had marketing? /s

Johan, your video gave me the feels. Definitely stoked my Trekkie pride!

Glad to hear it, UAB! :-D

Johan, a fantastic video. And thanks for including reboot [JJ] Trek, I love that crew.

You’re welcome, Marja! :-) Thank YOU for the nice words! I’m a big fan of J.J.’s first Trek as well as Beyond – definitely didn’t care much for Into Averageness, but I feel those two movies captured the spirit of Trek. The positivism and spirit of adventure, even though a lot of trekkies disagree!

See CBS? People like Voyager. And the hugely successful crowdfunding for the Deep Space Nine documentary shows there’s love for that series too. Please remaster these shows in HD!

Hear hear!

“See CBS? People like Voyager. And the hugely successful crowdfunding for the Deep Space Nine documentary shows there’s love for that series too. Please remaster these shows in HD!”

I can’t watch “The Animated Series”; the animation is too lame. I’d like CBS to redo them with state-of-the-art animation or CGI, while retaining the original audio tracks. I hear that some of the episodes were actually good.

I don’t think it’s even possible considering they were recorded digitally and not on film?

The live action part of DS9 and VOY was fully shot on film, just like TNG. The visual effects transitioned from mostly model-based in the beginning to mostly CGI in later seasons. Even ENT was shot on film in the beginning. I think they switched to digital cameras for the 4th season.

The Netflix statistics are for people who stream their Star Trek. Those of us who own DVD’s or Blu-rays aren’t counted, and the people who love Star Trek the most probably have it on disc. Because on disc, no one can take your Star Trek away from you. :-)

I only have TNG on disc and been watching it for over 30 years. But I watch Star Trek weekly mostly on Netflix and Amazon these days when I don’t catch an odd episode of Voyager, TOS or TNG on BBC. I rarely go a week without watching something from one of the shows or a film. And lets be honest, most people under a certain age stream these days. i agree though that is the great thing about owning a disc, once you have it, its yours.

@Tiger2, When and where did you see any Star Trek on the BBC? I thought they hadn’t shown it since the end of Voyager in around 2001?

Might be referring to BBC America, which shows Trek regularly

Yes BBC America. Star Trek is shown nightly but its only TNG, TOS and Voyager. They even have all day marathons of each show.

I’ve got plenty of Trek on DVD and Bluray, but I never use them anymore. Its so much more convenient to just watch on Netflix.

Agreed — I own pretty much everything except Voyager, but Netflix is a lot easier to start watching.

A lot of those episodes are ones I regularly stream on Netflix, but now that I have CBSAA, I’m trying to stick to that to sort of boost the service. The one thing I actually really appreciate about the CBSAA library of trek is that it uses the old graphics in TOS. The remastered effects look so jarring to me that it takes me out of the episode. I much prefer the original effects and I can’t get that on Netflix.

Wow, that supercut is AMAZING! God I love Star Trek! Loved Discovery is now part of the family!

It really is a fantastic vid!

Thank you very much, both of you! :-D kind regards -Johan, the editor

I am sitting in the hospital with my wife for Star Trek day. We just had our 1st daughter Emony. No not on Trek day sadly. Our son is two and named Arik and my wife and I love the Trek!!! If the names of our kids weren’t a dead giveaway lol.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I remember around 2003 as a kid wearing a replica TNG uniform to school, and the teacher called me a ‘Warp Drive Weirdo’ in front of the whole class.

Looking back, I’m not too worried about it; he died of Cancer a year after, and I’m still here…

I’m a tad bit disturbed Voyager gets the most replays. TNG and DS9 are far more deserving. Having said that, I’m glad people still enjoy Star Trek, whatever their preferred series.

It is very weird lol. But I think because they did so many of the Borg episodes that people are drawn to (and Endgame, the Borg had a big role in that as well). Its one of those big disconnect with fans and the general population. All I hear on websites are how ‘everyone’ is sick of the Borg. How Voyager watered them down and so on. Well obviously for the general public, they feel the opposite way and why there was so much Borg in the first place.

But yes, I really wish they gave us a top 20 list or a top 50 list to get a much broader view of it. Its shocking only two of the shows are viewed that much. I’m not remotely surprised TOS is shut out being so much older (and looks it) but I would think DS9 would get in one episode at least, certainly over Voyager. But DS9 never had the Borg. ;)

Well, to be fair, the Borg were technically featured in DS9’s Emissary. ;)

The Borg is a great point with these episodes listed, they do seem to have a major draw to them. And rightly so, they are a fantastic villain. Even when watered down on Voyager lol. I think a lot of us die hard Trekkies forget that Star Trek isn’t *just* for us – normies like the shows too. And why wouldn’t they? After all, mediocre Star Trek is still better than most TV anyway. Especially when it features the Borg!

Lol UAB I feel like mediocre trek is among the worst television ever produced. Well not the worst, but it just feels like textbook bad tv. That being said I somehow think I like TOS the best, followed by enterprise’s latter seasons. So maybe I just have terrible taste.

LOL! Eh, that all just goes back to one of the original points I made in these comments. I’m just glad people enjoy Star Trek, whatever variety of it they do.

I know, Tiger. I loved all of DS9 and burned out on Voyager in Season 3. Ticking-clock episodes and technobabble out the wazoo. And I really wanted to like Voyager, with a woman in the center seat.

I’m not a Voyager fan, but that list reads almost like a “Best of” list and the few episodes I’ve sought out on Netflix to watch. I wonder if that’s the reason for the lack of TOS and reduced amount of TNG. Are there people seeking out specific episodes of the “less popular” Treks while maybe watching through the others? It’d be interesting to see those analytics to get a better, overall perspective.

Shame we can’t see a Top 50 of that Netflix list. That’s where the first episodes from each series begin to appear I’d imagine.

Agreed. It’d be a far more telling story, I think!

This is a fantastic realization, Karl! That’s actually *exactly* what I do. I’m always watching through TNG and DS9, but since I don’t particularly like Voyager all that much, I’ll take a break from my usual series watch-throughs and pluck out specific episodes I do enjoy. It’s nice to have something different, every now and then. To be honest, I really only watched Voyager in its original broadcast run, and never watched reruns. So until it hit Netflix, it and Enterprise were the only Treks I hadn’t seen seventy-billion times. Guess that’s my other reason for plucking out the occasional Voyager episode: It’s almost like watching a new episode, because it’s been a real long time since I’ve seen it!

Exactly what i do too. I only really watched Enterprise too when it hit Netflix here, as I was too busy doing the stuff guys in their mid-20s do: socialising, eating, drinking, being rejected by girls etc, when it was in its first run and Netflix offered an easy way to get back into it. (3rd and 4th season easily a huge improvement on first two). Now at the grand old age of 40 I can dip in and out whenever I want, as long as the kids allow something other then Ladybug & Catboy on the TV!

Yup, life got in the way of Enterprise after the first season for me too. (That’s how you *know* I’m busy as can possibly be and at my limit – when I have no time for Star Trek!) I caught up on Netflix years later. I remember tuning in to see the series finale live on UPN after missing seasons 2-4… That had me thinking I didn’t miss much. But I found the same as you once I started it up on Netflix, the 3rd and 4th seasons are pretty good!

Same as you Karl to Go. I stopped watching it after 1st season. I caught episodes here and there in the other seasons but never watched it regularly after the first one. It wasn’t until STID came out I decided to watch it. In fact, CBS.com had all the Star Trek episodes for free. I didn’t have any streaming sites at the time, I just went and watched it there. You had to watch commercials but free Star Trek was worth it. ;)

And yes, I really loved it by the end of its fourth season and I still watch reruns of it every week today. I really grew to like it and I HATE prequels.

I honored Star Trek day by acknowledging Caprain James T. Kirk, AKA:William Shatner, the best Captain of them all! And the remaining living cast from the original STAR TREK! And remembering those who have since passed on from all shows, in particular Mr. Spock AKA: Leonard Nimoy……🙏🙏🙏🙏…..🖖

Voyager’s inclusion on that list only proves the power of childhood nostalgia amongst Millenials, who tech savvyness I would imagine means Netflix’s demographics are heavily slanted towards. That and the perceived cool factor and high level of awareness that the Borg have with the general public. It certainly wouldn’t be the quality of Voyager as a show.

The audience could be masochists, I guess. :D

VOY is on a par with quality to TNG and DS9. In terms of prosuction value, generally.

@DataMat, If cardboard cut out characters and pointless meaning free endings are your thing then sure, I guess it’s up there with the best of them.

VOY was definitely inferior to TNG and DS9. But that’s just my opinion.

Much as I’m tired of the Borg, I do find myself smiling whenever I see “resistance is futile” in the general lexicon :^D

Well, it was *close* to Star Trek Day, but yesterday (Sunday) I attended the 35th Anniversary screening of The Wrath of Khan at a theater just north of Philadelphia. The theater was about half-full, mixed age groups. A Great new 15-20 minute interview with William Shatner prior to the showing. The crowd really got into the film (even some audible weeping during key moments), and applauded when the credits rolled. So, 35 years later, I see it at the movies again. Had a fantastic time. Well worth $10.

That sounds great man. If a showing was a little closer to me, I would’ve considered watching it in the theater. In fact TWOK is one of the first films I remember as a kid watching.

As far as the Shatner interview, did he say anything new we haven’t heard before or is it the same variety he’s stated about the film before, including his recent comments on TM?

Honestly, Tiger, he did. The interviewer, who was just so damn impressed to be sitting with Shatner, let him go on and tell a couple of stories. A couple of very funny ones, and some nice words about Ricardo Montalban. Maybe you can YouTube it? I considered videoing it on the sly, but didn’t want to be ‘that guy.’ I had positioned myself in the 2nd row, center, to immerse myself in it.

“That would be Voyager with six episodes and TNG with four — the other three series are shut out colder than an Andorian Christmas. Note that EIGHT of the ten episodes feature the Borg — so the danger that the Borg will appear in Discovery for no logical reason have probably just gone up by 79% percent.”

This paragraph is made of win, from start to finish. :-)

Also, as one of those loyal repeat-customers for Voyager, it warms my heart to see the recognition. And Scorpion 1&2 and The Gift doesn’t surprise me; I’d think even those that loathe Voyager can enjoy that trilogy.

To be fair, I still watch TOS and TNG almost as frequently- I just watch them on Blu-ray instead of Netflix! :-)

I would love to see the Borg on Discovery but it will destroy canon lol. But hey, they got away with it on Enterprise and that was one of their best episodes.

Even though I think the KT films are dead, I been saying for awhile they need to bring the Borg back for that crew. It being in an alternate universe all bets are now off. And I would love to see Kirk face the Borg. “Resistance is not futile on my ship mister!”

Does anyone else think that Star Trek day should be January 17th? You know, 17/01 for those who put the day first when writing the date?

Well, we could always have two Star Trek days :-)

But we already do: First Contact day, April 5th and the premiere date.