I had hoped today's Star Trekking post would be of a more celebratory nature as I posted about this remarkable era of peak Star Trek creativity.
But I am writing this post under a shadow, a shadow of doubt, of uncertainty and regret.
Last week, Paramount announced that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy would NOT be renewed after it's 2nd season. A 2nd season that has been shot and according to scuttlebutt from series insiders ends on a cliffhanger.
While we face the prospect of life in Star Trek's 32nd century may end unresolved, there is the matter of life in Star Trek's 23rd century with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds coming to end after it's 4th and 5th seasons, seasons that have been shot and completed.
For the first time 2017, there is no Star Trek project happening right now.
2017 was when Alex Kurtzman and his production company Secret Hideout took the reins of the Star Trek franchise and gave us a lot of new Treks to go on.
2017–2024 Star Trek: Discovery
This show did not get off to a good start. What we got was another goddam prequel nobody wanted, redesigned Klingons that nobody liked and a dark grim tone that antiethical to what Star Trek was all about.
The show improved a bit with Anson Mount's charming Capt.Christoper Pike taking command in season 2 but it was the jump to the 32nd century in season 3 where Discovery really began to shine and it became to my way of thinking the epitome of what Star Trek is all about: knowledge over power, wisdom over force, compassion over hate.
Unfortunately, the damage done by the 1st season lingered.
And sadly trolls were out in force for a show that put the focus on a capable black woman, especially when she made it to the captain's chair.
Purveyors of hate will be a constant scourge throughout this era of Star Trek.
2018–2020 Star Trek: Short Treks
This project of short stories really opened up the world of Star Trek to new possibilities.
And haters are gonna hate. "The Trouble with Edward" where tribbles overwhelm a starship is too silly and doesn't belong in Star Trek. Well, screw you! I thought it was a lot of fun and it's my 2nd favorite short trek.
My favorite is "Q&A" which is just Spock (Ethan Peck) and Lt. Una/Number One (Rebecca Romijn) getting stuck in a turbolift and have to talk to each other.
2020–2023 Star Trek: Picard
OK, this is more like it with a return to "present" of the Star Trek universe and following up on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Patrick Stewart agreed to return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard on the understanding this would not just be some kind of nostalgic Next Gen reboot. And I get where he was coming from. But fans wanted some hooks into our Next Gen history.
Season 1 gave us fans some Next Gen era love with the return of Wil Riker, Deanna Troi and from Star Trek: Voyager, the return of Seven of Nine as a space pirate.
Season 2 was a travesty. 'Nuff said.
Season 3 went full in on nostalgia including a return of the freaking Enterprise 1701-D. The finale of season 3 was a genuine thrill ride and set the stage for continuing adventures.
That we may not get. Despite fan demand for a Star Trek: Legacy series, nothing has come of it. (And may not will but that's for the end of the post.)
2020–2024 Star Trek: Lower Decks
Yeah, this was kind of a tough sell with a hyperkinetic animated comedy which kind of grated on my nerves but as the seasons progressed, I came to appreciate how much this show was a heartfelt love letter to the fans.
And it helped that the hyperactive nature of season 1 did settle down a bit to provide for nuanced character driven stories.
2021–2024 Star Trek: Prodigy
As a production done to present Star Trek to the Nickelodeon audience, this show was definitely not made with me in mind. But over time the annoying kid characters became less annoying and the connections to larger Star Trek lore made this a fundamentally significant show.
A sign of Paramount's lack of respect for the franchise, they cancelled Prodigy after one season with NO plans to release the 2nd completed season. Netflix picked up the show and released the 2nd season.
This may be a harbinger for the future but again, that's for the end of the post.
2022–2027 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
After Anson Mount's very charming turn as Capt. Christopher Pike in season 2 of Discovery with brief but enticing appearances of Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Spock, we HAD to have more.
OK, haters, we DARE you to hate on this one, original recipe Enterprise adventures exploring...well, you know, it's right there in the title.
Hey, trolls! It's a WHITE MAN in the captain's chair. Are you happy now?
Even though the show is designed to appeal to classic Trek tropes, SNW has pushed some boundaries:
Spock has a girlfriend and it's Nurse Christine Chapel?
Not all challenges to the Star Trek: The Original Series status quo have worked. Yeah, I'm talking about the Gorn.
2025 Star Trek: Section 31
The premise of the project: we have Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh under contract to do a Star Trek thing? So let's do a Star Trek thing.
Of all the projects made in the Secret Hideout era, this movie is the only one I would write off as a complete misfire.
2026–2027 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
We're jumping back to the 32nd century with perhaps Secret Hideout's most daring Star Trek concept about young people in space school. Can we do any episode around a prank war run amuck? Yes, we can!
Boy were the trolls out in force for this one with some much for offended white boys to rail against.
Another damn Trek show with a woman in charge?
And a gay Klingon?
And a big bad in Nus Braka who was clearly a repudiation of Donald Trump?
Paramount/Skydance owner David Ellison saw his best bro was being made fun of and naturally Starffleet Academy had to die.
As I wrote last week, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was not created with me in mind (but I enjoyed it anyway) but with an eye on the next generation of Star Trek fans.
By the way, Dropping Names with Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner is my current favorite podcast.
With Alex Kurtman's contract with Paramount to produce Star Trek ending this year. the franchise stands at a crucial crossroads.
With a Trump supporting executive in charge of the studio, a progressive thing like Star Trek may not be a priority.
And to the trolls and haters, Star Trek has ALWAYS been progressive. No less than Gene Roddenberry envisioned a future that repudiates hate and ignorance and supported those three words you hate so much, diversity, equity and inclusion.
She may have been just answering the damn phone in a mini-skirt but Roddenbery put a black woman on the bridge when the network didn't want her there.
As much as you may want to remember Capt.Kirk as some kind of kick ass man of action, time and time again Kirk turned to curiosity and compassion as guiding principles.
If you want a show that promotes "might makes right", watch Pete Hegseth's press conferences. That attitude was never what Star Trek was about in the 1960's and it's sure as hell not what it's about now.
Another factor working against Star Trek is Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Why hassle with Star Trek when you're taking over a studio that has access to Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and DC Comics?
Whatever the future may bring, I will assess IMHO that Alex Kurtxman's Secret Hideout era has been a success with me. Not all projects have landed as well as I would've hoped but I appreciate they were there to actually try and keep Star Trek fresh and relevant.
It was an era that built up on the foundations of the past while expanding the mythos outward and forward. There were steps that were stumbles but mostly those were surpassed by confident strides to something new and interesting.
The odds seem against it at the moment, I must confess, but I do hope Star Trek has a strong future and I would not object if Kurtzman and company continue to guide it.
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