The quality jump after “Star Trek: Scouts” is dramatic. While low on our list, “Star Trek: Very Short Treks” is still very worth the watch. These animated shorts are all pretty weird, but in a good way, drawing heavily on the sort of whimsically absurd cartoon style Gen-X kids will recall from Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s. Created in celebration of “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” each “Very Short Trek” presents a wild ride of a comedic animated short in the same animation style as “TAS.” 

Several different Starfleet ships make an appearance, which means we get lots of cameos from favorite “Trek” series. “Skin a Cat” and “Holiday Party,” for example, take place aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701. “Worst Contact” involves two crew members from the Enterprise-D crew, and both “Walk, Don’t Run” and “Holograms All the Way Down” involve characters from multiple series.

The main reason the series ranks so low on this list is that there just isn’t very much of it — although there’s no reason to think Paramount won’t eventually cough up another round of them if we all come together and grovel hard enough. It’s a lot of fun to see newer Trek series translated into the retro cartoon style, and that alone would make it worth the watch even if some of the episodes weren’t so side-splittingly hilarious.

“Star Trek: Lower Decks” is the “Star Trek” series that almost entirely exists for fans to nerd out over “Star Trek.” That’s not to say it’s all empty calories, though. The premise — ditching the command-centric storytelling in favor of following the U.S.S. Cerritos’ “lower deckers” — makes for some pretty compelling Trek, and its central characters were born to be fan favorites. However, while a casual fan might appreciate the comedy writing and the irreverent inverted look at Starfleet’s typically rigid command structure, this series is positively loaded with easter eggs, inside jokes, and some of the best running gags in “Star Trek” (we’re looking at you, Great Koala), and that may be a little less accessible. 

Fans of the vibrant, almost psychedelic animation style of “Rick and Morty” will appreciate the almost rhyming visual language of “Lower Decks,” which shares the same showrunner, Mike McMahan. 

“I really wanted the backgrounds, the ship design, and all of the stuff behind the characters to be an elevated version of what you might see in a prime-time animated comedy,” McMahan told TrekCore in a 2020 interview.

It should probably come as no surprise that the O.G. of Trek animation ranks so high on this list. Whether “Star Trek: The Animated Series” should be lumped in with canon is a source of constant debate among the Trek fandom, but these days the concept of canon is beginning to feel less relevant in a science fiction universe with so many alternate timelines and parallel worlds.

The series, which effectively functions as an unofficial continuation of “Star Trek: The Original Series,” began airing in 1974 with most of the “TOS” bridge crew including Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Sulu (George Takei), Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett), and Scotty (James Doohan). The only notable missing character was Chekov (Walter Koenig), who was disappointed to learn he didn’t make the cast for budgetary reasons but still managed to participate by penning the episode “The Infinite Vulcan.” 

No longer forced to scramble for practical effects budget money, “TAS” liberated its writers to engage in some truly imaginative sci-fi that could have never been pulled off in live action. The series even won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1975 for Outstanding Entertainment – Children’s Series.

“Star Trek: The Animated Series” wouldn’t be the last animated Trek show to score an Emmy. That honor would also go to “Star Trek: Prodigy,” which racked up two Emmys including a special jury prize for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Background Design at the fourth Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards in 2026. “Prodigy” follows a young crew taking over prototype Starfleet ship the U.S.S. Protostar, as they escape from a Delta quadrant prison colony, telling a complete story from beginning to end. 

The series, animated in a stunning, cinematic 3D CGI animation style, is targeted toward a younger tween audience, but don’t let that keep you from watching. Brought to life by an outstanding cast that includes “Fallout” star Ella Purnell and sci-fi legends John Noble and Jimmi Simpson as its two main villains — not to mention Janeway herself, Kate Mulgrew — “Prodigy” includes some of the most complex, imaginative, introspective, and emotional storytelling in the “Trek” canon. It’s outstanding “Star Trek,” compelling drama, and some of the most gorgeous animation you’ll see.