Risa

I think if you liked The Martian then there's a good chance you may like Star Trek - it's filled with a similar spirit of optimism and science and progress.

My suggestion would be to start with Star Trek: The Next Generation (by far the most mainstream successful Star Trek show) and pick a few episodes to test it out. Don't watch in chronological order to begin with, as to be honest the first season (and to some extent the second) is very hit-and-miss.

Perhaps try these episodes first, and if you like it then you can go back to the beginning and watch a few more (or otherwise just carry on into season 4 and circle back to the earlier episodes later):

• s1 ep25 'The Neutral Zone' - note this is not a top-tier episode but it involves some 20th century characters being introduced to the 24th century so might do some helpful introduction to the universe.

• s2 ep9 'The Measure of a Man'

• s2 ep16 'Q Who'

• s3 ep4 'Who Watches the Watchers'

• s3 ep15 'Yesterday's Enterprise'

• s3 ep26 + s4 ep1 'The Best of Both Worlds (part 1 and 2)'

I think generally TNG peaks around season 4-6 so this would give you some highlights from the earlier seasons to test whether you like it, and then a run of stronger seasons to carry straight on to if you do want to keep going.

Another option could be to try Strange New Worlds (the newest show) which I suspect ought to appeal fairly well to new fans but is unfortunately only available on the Paramount+ streaming service.