ON TV
THE FUTURE OF
STAR TREK
By Lee Parham
As the Star Trek universe expands yet again with the release of Star Trek: Prodigy, we examine what strange new missions and galaxies the franchise will explore in the near future.
After the controversial cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005, the franchise took a long hiatus from producing any new content made for television.
But in the meantime, Star Trek found new life on film in 2009 with the rebooted timeline created by J.J. Abrams and written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
While some classic Trek fans weren't pleased with the sleeker, more stylish approach that the 2009 reboot brought, the franchise formed a new set of Trekkies for the first time in many years.
Star Trek Beyond premiered in 2016, becoming the last of the new Star Trek movies to hit theaters. The franchise then reverted back to TV, and Star Trek: Discovery was born.
Star Trek: Discovery
The writer of the reboot films, Alex Kurtzman, stepped in as the creator of the new show. Discovery has gone on to last three seasons, with a fourth on the way.
Discovery was one of the first big titles to headline CBS All Access, now known as Paramount+, which Kurtzman decided to use as a home base to develop a plethora of new Trek shows.
Other new live-action titles included Short Treks, a series of short stories in the Star Trek world, and Picard, featuring the return of the iconic Next Generation captain played by Patrick Stewart.
Picard
Short Treks lasted two seasons, with no announcement of a third yet, but Picard became a massive success, with a second season coming in early 2022 and renewal already in place for a third.
Short Treks
Star Trek has also expanded into the realm of animation with Lower Decks, currently in the midst of its second season with a third coming, and Prodigy, which just began but has already been renewed.
Next year the Star Trek TV universe will get even bigger with the release of Strange New Worlds; a spinoff of Discovery, and a direct prequel to The Original Series.
Star Trek: Discovery
Strange New Worlds will follow the crew of the USS Enterprise in the pre-Captain Kirk days, and focus on the character of Christopher Pike, who featured prominently in Star Trek 2009 and Discovery.
Other Star Trek shows remain in development with no official announcements, including Section 31, another Discovery spinoff honing in on the character of Commander Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh.
Star Trek: Discovery
Finally, a series about Starfleet Academy has been whispered about for over three years, but little is known about the project's future at this time.
Star Trek has found a new life and a new fandom on Paramount+, with an impressive array of current content, renewed seasons, future shows, and potential storylines happening soon.
Lower Decks