With “Star Trek (2009)” and the upcoming release of the heavily hyped “Star Trek Into Darkness” on May 17, director J.J. Abrams is making a serious effort to bring the classic series back into the mainstream.

But the deep lore and expansive universe of “Star Trek” can seem intimidating to many would-be Trekkies.

While it’s true “Trek” is complicated (there are more than 700 episodes in all of the TV series combined) that shouldn’t stop anyone from getting into the awesome and entertaining universe of “Star Trek.”

Because the Abrams “Trek” movies are the earliest (excluding “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” which, through the magic of time travel, takes place in the 1980s) on the timeline of the Star Trek universe, they are an excellent place to jump into “Trek.”

After them, “Star Trek: The Original Series” is the next step.

Chronicling the continued adventures of James T. Kirk and his crew, the original series is a classic and an absolute prerequisite for anyone who calls himself  or herself a Trekkie.

All of the “Star Trek” TV series are worth watching (maybe with the exception of “The Animated Series”), but after “The Original Series” the next one to watch is “The Next Generation.”

The Starship Enterprise-D (Enterprises A-C having exploded, fallen into wormholes or been sucked into temporal rifts) continues its adventures with a different crew roughly 80 years after “The Original Series.”

“The Next Generation” has new characters (Riker), new enemies (The Borg) and much less cheesy effects than “The Original Series” has.

The crew, commanded by Jean-Luc Picard, travels to the edges of the universe and back in search of new life forms to document and study.

“The Next Generation” is a really entertaining TV program, and has always been my favorite “Star Trek” series.

As far as movies go, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is probably the best movie involving the cast of the original series.

Kirk’s longtime enemy, Khan, returns and the  Enterprise and her crew have to travel across the galaxy to prevent him from activating the Genesis Device, a terraforming tool that, as it turns out, also makes a great doomsday device.

“The Wrath of Khan” provides action and drama, as well as one of the saddest scenes in any “Star Trek movie,” and is truly an excellent film.

If “The Next Generation” is more your thing, then “Star Trek: First Contact” will be right up your alley.

In “Star Trek: First Contact,” the crew of the Enterprise-D travels back in time to combat The Borg and ensure that Earth has interstellar contact for the first time, hence the name “First Contact.”

This movie in particular shows how awesome Picard really is, featuring a scene where the enraged captain sprays down a few Borg drones with a Tommy gun.

One of the few time travel movies which doesn’t produce any universe-collapsing paradoxes, “First Contact,” is a great action flick that features the already well developed characters from “The Next Generation.”

All in all, “Star Trek” is an incredible universe and, thanks to the release of the Abrams’ movies, isn’t just for nerds anymore.