Watch guides for every show. https://www.letswatchstartrek.com/

Strange New Worlds has been a hit, and for good reason. I’d say that’s a worthy starting point. Lower Decks is really fun and full of references that might entice you to revisit earlier series (but really shouldn’t hinder your enjoyment.

I tend to think new viewers should just start with whatever’s present, meaning the “new” stuff. Of course there are some older series that are also good starting places (if you are primed for their more episodic nature, something younger viewers may not be familiar with).

Can’t really go wrong if you start TNG at season 3.

TNG is, imo, the gold standard and an excellent starting point if you’re not looking to jump straight into Strange New Worlds. Its episodes are generally pretty self-contained, so you won’t be punished terribly for jumping around if you’re just looking to get a taste, and will still be able to enjoy the great episodes it has to offer, but you will get more context the more episodes you’re willing to watch.

Plenty of folks have compiled lists of which episodes are skippable vs worth watching, and there’s pretty universal agreement on which are iconic must-watch episodes, so there’s nothing wrong with following one of those for a first watch. Here’s an example. I’d recommend using the list at the bottom of that page (or another rated list) as a guide, and experiment a bit to figure out a good baseline for how low of a rating is acceptable and how many episodes you can tolerate in your first watch through.

Note that season 1 is widely regarded as the weakest, where the show is trying to emulate ToS and hasn’t yet come into its own, and you can skip episodes more liberally here, or even come back to it later.

If you’re just getting into Trek, start with TNG season 3. Follow that up either with TNG seasons 1 & 2, or jump into Voyager.

For a darker Trek, watch DS9 - but be aware the first few seasons are very uneven and it gets a LOT better. It’s arguably the best of all the Trek series and well worth the investment to get past the first few seasons.

Enterprise was ok. It’s held up well, except for the theme song which was always trash. Don’t watch the series finale - just, don’t.

For the new series, SNW is the best of the live action bunch. Picard S1 and S2 are steaming piles while S3 was enjoyable and what S1 should have been. I personally enjoyed S1 and S2 of Discovery, while everything past that was truly terrible IMO. Prodigy was really good, if you can get past that it’s geared towards kids (which is obvious from time to time).

You’ve already enjoyed Lower Decks, so 👍

I think most people agree that TNG is either at the top, or close to the top for best series. There’s also a smaller, diehard group that think DS9 is the best trek (myself included).

TNG is more adventurous where the crew is always on the side of morality and reason, and use wits and principles to overcome obstacles. Every episode is an adventure, and each adventure varies greatly from saving a planet from destruction or saving someone from their own mind. DS9 has larger, darker story arcs and more of a “sitcom” feel (in the best way possible) where the focus is more on the characters rather than the adventure. The episodes vary greatly in terms of theme, you could have an episode where you’re laughing every 2 minutes from the sheer silliness, or witness the most psychologically gut-wrenching thing you’ve seen in a long time. You can’t go wrong with either, and both have a bit of a rougher first couple seasons before they hit their stride.

As far as more recent trek, I enjoyed pretty much all of them but I would say strange new worlds is probably the cleanest and best for a new person. Lower decks is absolutely incredible but is more of a love letter to all the previous shows so you won’t get as much out of it as someone who has seen everything.

to be perfectly honest, order doesn’t really matter. There is a small amount of interplay between TNG and DS9 and that’s about it. Watch it in whatever order fancies you, as long as you don’t watch Enterprise first because it’s high level of boredom might turn you off

Trust me when I say that if Trek strikes your fancy, you probably will want to devour the rest

personally I would suggest starting with TNG, that one definitely qualifies as the “most universally loved”. Plus, if you liked Lower Decks, then TNG-era Trek is likely to be your jam anyway

after TNG, watch DS9 and Voyager in whatever order you want. They ran concurrently originally, with DS9 having started a couple years before Voyager. You can watch the TNG movies anytime after finishing TNG bearing in mind that First Contact has minor consequences in DS9 (you will mainly notice a uniform change that coincided with the release of that movie)

watch the TOS movies at some point! they are much easier to get into than TOS proper. Just bear in mind that the even numbered ones are generally better liked than the odd numbered ones.