I first got into trek with the 09 movie. It was a lot better than I expected and a good friend of mine is huge into Trek.
I decided to give the tv series a try. After being a little unsure what to watch I started with ENT. I figured it’s my first time watching trek and it’s their first time exploring and I liked that parallel. I’ve recently rewatched this series and liked it a whole lot more. This series is much better after having seen at least TNG, DS9 or VOY.
My watch order, not including new Trek was,
ENT > TNG > VOY > DS9 > TOS > TAS > PRO > TOS movies.
I watched all the other new trek stuff as it came out and watched the TNG movies a few months back.
By far, the TOS movies were the hardest to enjoy. The 2, 3, and 4 movies were decent, but 5 was really bad.
TOS series was also a little hard to get through. I could only watch a few episodes at a time. Unlike PRO which I watched in a day.
It’s hard to pick a beat or favorite series, but if you were going to watch one I think I’d easily recommend TNG. It’s such a great show and has such a great cast.
I’m loving all the new trek stuff as well. I’m really surprised at how good PRO was. And SNW has been a masterpiece.
I’m rewatching DS9 now and I’m at the start of season 3. Wow, this show has so many good episodes just one after another.
I generally find watching in release order tends to work better than chronological order at least the first time thru. The episodes are written assuming you aware of future events depicted in previous shows, if you aren't they tend to lose a lot of their impact.
Congrats for getting thru TAS, I have tried and I just can't.
While I agree about starting with TNG, I'd honestly love to rewatch most TOS episodes. Every trek has had at least one main character I just could not bring myself to like, except for TOS. The show is completely different, but the character interaction is amazing. Worth noting, I also love all the TOS movies, while the first and last TNG movies I just didn't care for.
Maybe I just need a break from TOS. I wish we got more Sulu and Uhura. They are hardly part of the show. I think Bones was difficult to watch in the movies.