I love this! Now you need to do an analysis like this one on Star Trek and the Bechdel-Wallace test!

TOS is already a rough rewatch with some of its acting and portrayals of the future. I can't imagine how tough it would be to rewatch it through that lens. Haha!

I realize you’re not trying to predict quality, just personal enjoyability, but I do wonder how it relates to quality.

I don't mean for this to measure quality. To each their own, as they say. After all, it is just entertainment and I'm free to watch anything else or skip this or that episode. This is all just a fun observation for me, much like a discussion on the finer points of warp theory or Federation economics.

Still, I'm glad it's something that clicked for you too. I figured there would be a number of people whose appreciation of Trek relates to this "test".

No arguments for or against these yet? I'll nudge this part of the conversation by pointing out that TOS -- THE original Star Trek show -- seems to have a high percentage of episodes which would "fail" this silly "test".

Definitely and many that fail. I wonder if it works as a measure based on percentage of the show as a whole. Then again, it really doesn't matter at all; I only noticed that I get annoyed with certain shows which overuse a single savior for the show's overall story.

Here's an addendum with a few great episode examples which might pass my "test".

• TOS: "Amok Time", (arguably) "The Galileo Seven"
• TNG: "Brothers", "Lower Decks", "The Measure of a Man"
• DS9: "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Improbable Cause"+"The Die Is Cast", "The Magnificent Ferengi"

Other shows also have great episodes that pass, but I want to stop here for my examples so as to avoid showing my hand (too much) and stating which show(s) I think fail.

I don't think you need to watch Discovery to enjoy Strange New Worlds. There might be a few things established in the lore/backstory from Discovery, but any "confusion" from those references will quickly dissipate. SNW makes it easy to see it as a distinct show in a new/expanded telling of a known crew/time.

I will add that there will be stylistic choices in the production that will take a little getting used to, but remember that just about every Star Trek show has done this. Enjoy the story!

Hahaha

I was wondering (and hoping) someone would post some meme like that in reply.