Tag Archives: Star Trek

Nov 7 2026

Remembering Sir Patrick Stewart 1940-2026

Make it so” Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Worlds of Star Trek and Marvel are still numb and devastated by the news that Star Trek and Marvel Legend Sir Patrick Stewart passed away last week at the age of 86 following a brief battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy body dementia. The tragic announcement of his death on October 28, 2026 was a double gut punch for Star Trek fans and in many ways even more devastating news following the death of Walter Koenig a couple of days earlier. Despite the tragic loss, Stewart lived a full life and left behind a glorious acting legacy that was highlighted by his iconic performances as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and Star Trek: Picard, and as Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X in the X-Men films.

Early Life & Career

Born in Mirfield, United Kingdom, Stewart developed a passion for acting when he was a child and studied drama. He soon participated in local theater and continued to develop his acting skills while working as a journalist. Eventually, he chose to devote his career on acting and made his debut onstage at the Theatre Royal, Bristol in a production of Cyrano de Bergerac. He then became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and honed his acting skills in several minor television roles and stage productions. Stewart preferred classical theater, even though he began to gain the attention of Hollywood thanks to his strong baritone voice and stage presence. Probably his best known work in the 1970s was his role as Sejanus in the BBC TV drama I, Claudius in 1976. He won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for his work in Antony and Cleopatra in 1979.

Stewart entered the realm of live-action genre with his small but impressive role in Excalibur (1981) and especially as Gurney Halleck in Dune (1984). One of the few highlights in that film was his character’s unexpected reunion with Paul Atreides in the battlefields of Arrakis. The moment when the two men hugged each other in the chaotic battlefield was quite heartfelt and emotional as it genuinely conveyed the deep friendship they shared. Stewart also appeared in the sci-fi/horror film Lifeforce.

The Next Generation Begins

When Star Trek: The Next Generation went into pre-production in 1986, there was an exhaustive search to find the right actor to play the Enterprise’s captain. During this period, executive producer Robert Justman saw Stewart giving a lecture about Shakespeare in UCLA and knew instantly that he would be perfect to play Jean-Luc Picard, though he was considered for the role of Data.

Stewart’s casting as Picard was not an easy road, as Star Trek creator and showrunner of TNG Gene Roddenberry did not favor Stewart. Roddenberry felt that Stewart, as a bald, middle-aged Shakespearean actor, did not fit the role of a virile starship captain and preferred Patrick Bauchau and Stephen Macht instead. It should be noted that other prominent actors like Yaphet Kotto and Edward James Olmos were considered. Thankfully, Justman persevered and finally convinced Roddenberry and other TNG executives that Stewart was the best actor for the role due to his auditions.

The rest as they say is history. When Star Trek: The Next Generation made its debut in syndicated television in the fall of 1987, many were skeptical that a Star Trek series without the original cast would work. Unfortunately, due to the tepid first season, those doubts were justified, but one thing that stood out in the early TNG episodes was Stewart’s performance. His Picard had a commanding presence with a confident and eloquent manner that quickly established that Captain Picard was a natural leader in a way that stood apart from Captain Kirk.

After a couple of seasons, TNG found its stride and gained acclaim by fans and critics as it ushered in the Star Trek Renaissance in the 1990s. Over time, thanks to Stewart and others, TNG became well regarded in many instances lauded as the best Star Trek TV series. Being that Picard and the other characters were quite different from the original Star Trek characters, the world and scope of Star Trek was able to grow into a rich and diverse universe with new characters that fans eventually embraced. During his tenure on TNG Stewart turned in some brilliant performances, notably in “The Measure of a Man”, “Family”, “Tapestry”, “Chain of Command”, “Darmok” “All Good Things…”, and “The Inner Light”. He also directed several episodes of the TV series.

picard takes charge

When the series ended after seven seasons, Stewart and the other TNG cast made their transition to films in 1994 with Star Trek Generations, which gave us the unforgettable moment with Captain Picard met the other legendary Star Trek Legend, Captain Kirk. The natural chemistry the two actors shared with each other was the best part of the flawed film and was delight for fans of the two series to watch. The TNG films ranged in quality but one constant about them was Stewart’s performances. Arguably his best TNG film performance was in Star Trek: First Contact where he emulated Captain Ahab (a role he later played in a television production of Moby Dick) in his obsessive drive to defeat the Borg.

When the TNG film series ended in 2002 with Star Trek: Nemesis, Stewart took a break from Star Trek and excelled in other roles such as Charles Xavier in the X-Men film franchise, although he reprised his role in the video game Star Trek: Legacy and lent his voice to the Star Trek: The Experience theme park attraction Klingon Encounter. However, he returned to the role that made him famous in Star Trek: Picard for three seasons from 2020 to 2023. The TV show had a mixed reception, but its third and final season was well beloved as it finally reunited the core TNG cast, as well as featuring other great Trek characters and plot lines. Given that he is no longer with us, it is quite fortunate that we were able to get a reunion of the TNG characters for one last trimuphant hurrah.

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Oct 30 2026

Two Star Trek Legends Lost: Walter Koenig & Patrick Stewart

“What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived.” Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek Generations

It has been a truly devastating week for Star Trek fans witht the sad news that Star Trek legends, Patrick Stewart and Walter Koenig passed away.

The Star Trek world and fans were shocked by the news on October 27, 2026 that Koenig died at the age of 90 on October 25 because he was one of the last remaining OG Star Trek actors, which just leaves William Shatner and George Takei as still being with us. But everyone was emotionally shattered with yesterday’s announcement from Stewart’s family that he passed away on October 28, 2026 after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy body dementia.

Both men contributed heavily to Star Trek and the sci-fi genre thanks to their iconic performances. In Stat Trek, Koenig portrayed the young Starfleet ensign Pavel Chekov who was the Enterprise’s navigator, and quickly gained a fan following with his Beatles wig (in an attempt by the show’s producer to lure in young viewers to the show). Meanwhile, Stewart elevated the world of Star Trek with his majestic performance as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which redefined what Star Trek was capable of.

One thing to keep inn mind is that although both actors were very influential on the Star Trek franchise, they made significant contributions to other popular sci-fi properties, as well. Koenig’s best known non-Trek role was as the authoritative psi-cop, Alfred Bester, in Babylon 5. As most Marvel Comics fans know, Stewart appeared as Charles Xavier/Professor X in the X-Men films, with him reprising the role for the final time in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

The two Star Trek actors deserve the accolades they received as their work each distinctly left an impact with popular culture. There will be a post following this one that more closely examines Stewart and his impressive body of work. For now, let’s look at Walter Koenig and his work.

Walter Koenig came to the attention of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry when he guest starred in Roddenberry’s previous show before Star Trek, The Lieutenant. He joined Star Trek in its second season as the eager Russian Ensign Chekov which demonstrated how Earth’s cultures and nations became unified in the future. Being that Roddenberry wanted a young actor, he was partly chosen because of his resemblance to then-popular pop star Davy Jones of the Monkees. Right at the start, Chekov stood out from the many nameless extras who adorned the Enterprise bridge thanks to his thick Russian accent and comical banter with the crew, often attributing every Earth cultural development to Russia. Chekov became a fan favorite and a prominent member of the cast as he formed an easy comradery with his crewmate Lt. Sulu (played by Takei) and often joined Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock in their adventures.

After Star Trek ended, Koenig wrote several scripts for several TV shows, including Star Trek: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, The Powers of Matthew Star, and more. Oddly enough, even though he wrote an episode for the Star Trek animated TV show, his character did not appear in it due to budgetary reasons. He also penned a few novels including Chekov’s Enterprise, a behind-the-scenes look at his time filming Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Naturally, Koenig returned to the role of Chekov for the first few Star Trek films, which reunited the cast of the original TV show. By this time, his character was a commander and his most prominent role as Chekov was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, though his comical appearance in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was also outstanding. His last film appearance as Pavel Chekov was in Star Trek Generations which introduced the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation to the big screens. Koenig also appeared as Chekov in several Star Trek video games and Star Trek fan-made productions, with his best appearance being in Star Trek: The New Voyages episode “To Serve All My Days” and Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. He last made an appearance as a Chekov in the third season of Star Trek: Picard. This time as United Federation of Planets President Anton Chekov, the son of Pavel Chekov. Even though it was a brief voiceover work (warning people not to approach the Earth as it was under a Borg invasion), Koenig was able to stand out and delight fans.

Koenig appeared in several genre-related TV shows and films. He guest starred in the Canadian sci-fi series The Starlost, The Questor Tapes, and Babylon 5. He also had a main role in the sci-fi films Moontrap and Diminuendo; his last film appearance was in the 2024 film Raging Midlife.

Walter Koenig’s most prominent non-Star Trek role was as Alfred Bester because it was completely different than the amiable Chekov. Bester was a coldly villainous telepathic Earth agent who ruthlessly pursued other telepaths and often clashed with the main characters.

Even though Koenig was typecast due to his Trek role, he was able to stay engaged in Hollywood and turned to writing, directing and teaching throughout his life. He was also actively engaged with Star Trek fans and made numerous appearances at conventions and other venues, and he also engaged in humanitarian work in Burma. He died of natural causes in his home.

With Koenig and Stewart passing away, we are reminded of how legendary figures are only here for a finite amount of time and should be treasured. Even though we are saddened by their deaths, we should celebrate their lives and contributions to modern culture and the live-action sci-fi drama. Koenig and Stewart left their mark and their work will always continue to delight and inspire many fans long after they are gone. It is a legacy to be proud of as the two men take their place among the stars, which feel a little dimmer today without them being here with us.

José Soto

Sep 27 2026

Too Much Kirk & Gimmicks Marred The Fourth Season Of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds started off strong when it began streaming years ago and had a competent second season that continued with its episodic nature that reminded many Trek fans of the old days of Star Trek shows that didn’t bother with complicated season-long storylines. However, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds began to falter in its third season with lackluster episodes and it was hoped that with its just-concluded fourth season that the show would course correct itself. Unfortunately that was not to be. The fourth season is a lot better than the third one, but two glaring issues have marred the season for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds–an overreliance on gimmick stories and too many appearances by James T. Kirk.

This is regrettable because the fourth season has many merits such as the acting, the production values (Star Trek has never looked better on the TV screens), and some episodes were true standouts. In fact, its premiere episode “Valles Marineris” was not only the best episode of the season but one of the best Star Trek episodes ever with a time travel yarn that reveals how pivotal the Enterprise and its crew were to our history. So imagine how disappointing it is to then be inundated with a bunch of gimmick episodes like the one where the Enterprise crew, except Spock, are turned into puppets (“Level-Five Transporter Incident”) or the crew end up in a reality that resembles a soap opera (“Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass”). Even the better received episodes can be seen as gimmick episodes. For example, “Valles Marineris” is seen as a knock-off of Jurassic Park, while “Orders of Magnitude” was a thinly veiled remake of Crimson Tide. But those are just surface-level similarities. Also keep in mind that the series will end with a short fifth season of just six episodes. It just makes one wonder why are the producers and scriptwriters wasting time with these gimmick episodes?

Defenders of these gimmick episodes will point out that Star Trek has done such episodes before, even in the original series (TOS) had them like “A Piece of the Action” or “Patterns of Force”, but the difference is that TOS and other older Star Trek TV shows had longer episode runs in their seasons, and their gimmick episodes were spread out and didn’t overtake the regular, more serious episodes. Nowadays, Star Trek TV shows only have about ten-episode runs per season. That is not a lot of episodes and given the precious few episodes and long waits between seasons, the producers should only allow one to two gimmick or comedic episodes per season. In the fourth season, instead of exploring new planets or meeting new alien races, the Enterprise crew were turned into puppets or ran around intoxicated in a pleasure planet (“Human Best Friend”) which ended being a pedestrian attempt at comedy, or acted out fantasy roles without even bothering to scientifically explain the presence of magic (“Once La’An A Time”). What made these gimmicks so frustrating was that there were attempts to tell compelling character studies. For instance, the puppet episode supposedly explains why Spock became more logical by the time TOS came along, while the soap opera episode revealed that Captain Pike is undergoing severe grief and has to confront it. The problem is that these interesting sub plots are shoehorned into the main story and were not fully developed.

Speaking of Captain Pike, the premise of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was to showcase his time as the captain of the Enterprise, as well as the crew during that time period. At the end of the first season James T. Kirk was introduced in the episode “A Quality of Mercy” in an alternate reality and played by Paul Wesley, and he has appeared in subsequent seasons, but by the fourth season, he has supplanted Pike as the main character. Strange New Worlds is supposed to focus on Pike and his crew as an ensemble piece like most Star Trek shows, but it seems like in every other episode of the fourth season, some reason is concocted to have Kirk on the Enterprise. Sometimes the appearances were organic other times they did not make sense. For instance, in one episode Kirk goes to the ship to get a medical exam. Really? His own ship doesn’t have medical facilities? Or in one episode, he just happens to be on the same pleasure planet that the Enterprise crew visit. That’s too convenient. All in all, Kirk appeared in five episodes this season, which is half of the season. That is way too many episodes to devote to him and what is worst is that those appearances were not necessary. Take “Orders of Magnitude” a rogue Starfleet admiral commandeers the Enterprise and assigned Kirk to be the first officer who is forced to confront the admiral when the superior officer orders the crew to decimate a planet’s population. Why did this have to be Kirk? Pike could have easily filled in this role and could have fed into a narrative that he was becoming disillusioned with his career or the incident could have been why he was promoted later on.

What makes the many appearances of James Kirk so problematic has to do with the casting of Wesley. Sadly, he is not William Shatner. True, trying to fill in the shoes of the original actor to play the iconic Kirk is very difficult, but Shatner’s Kirk had a sense of bravado and charm that is not evident with Wesley’s version of Kirk. Sure, at this point in time, Wesley’s Kirk has not grown into the role yet and there have been instances where he showed hints of becoming Shatner’s Kirk, but he just lacks the sense of authority and charisma that the original Kirk had. On the other hand, Wesley’s portrayal of Kirk is more faithful and authentic than Chris Pine’s in the rebooted Star Trek films; at least he does not come off as a spoiled frat boy which is how Pine’s Kirk seems. Still, he appeared too many times and took away any desire to see more of him in the failed series proposal of Star Trek: Year One. Perhaps it is for the best. Given the way continuity has been shredded with the recent Star Treks, one can only imagine how a series set around the time of TOS would be received. The best we will get were the glimpses of Kirk’s command in the season finale “Tomorrow’s Enterprise”, an episode that could have been a great time travel episode but was undone by poor writing. At least in this instance Kirk’s appearance makes sense and Wesley’s performance is not why the episode failed.

The core issue with the fourth season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is not just the abundance of gimmick episodes and James T. Kirk. It is with the scripts. The overreliance on gimmick scripts is a symptom of lackluster writing. It seems as if the writers grew bored with the basic premise of Star Trek and decided to write in so-called tributes to other genres. This is unforgiveable given that the show is coming to a conclusion and tepid efforts were made to wrap up character arcs, and the fact there are precious few episodes left. One should be hopeful that in the fifth and final season the writers would step up and give us some truly memorable Trek episodes and go out on a high. But that is doubtful.

Sep 7 2026

Star Trek Turns 60

“Damn it Jim, what the hell is the matter with you? Other people have birthdays, why are we treating yours like a funeral?”

-Dr. McCoy, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

This week marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most renowned and beloved sci-fi franchises, Star Trek, which aired its first episode “The Man Trap” 60 years ago on September 8, 1966. That is quite an accomplishment and it’s wonderful that 60 years later the TV show is still relevant and launched a universe that was so rich and full of imagination which spawned more TV shows, films, books and other medium. Also, let’s not forget the endless merchandise that helped fans relive their favorite moments from the TV shows and films which are still sought out and created.

These are the Voyages…

original Star Trek cast

For anyone who has been in cryosleep for the past 30 years, Star Trek, chronicled the adventures of space-faring explorers onboard the starship Enterprise led by Captain James T. Kirk (portrayed with a roguish relish by William Shatner) and his command crew which included the half-alien First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who was coldly logical and the ship’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the emotional opposite of Spock. Each week the Enterprise crew explored Earth-like planets and encountered human-like aliens (give thanks to the show’s budget and available effects technology in the 1960s) and dealt with the pitfalls of their explorations. Given its now-quaint production values and presentation, Star Trek may come off as dated to modern audiences, but the essence of the scripts with their timely messages still resonate with us.

Throughout the decades, long after the original TV show was canceled, Star Trek grew as a franchise through syndicated reruns, merchandise, fan conventions, and later reunion films and finally TV spinoffs that focused on new crews in different time periods in the future. These shows, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and StarTrek: Enterprise, eventually became as beloved, if not more than, the original Star Trek as they introduced rich characters and stories that captivated fans over and over again.

Trepidations

While this is an occasion to celebrate, especially for fans of the TV series and its numerous spinoffs, there is a general feeling of trepidation with Star Trek and its future. Why is that? Well, it is because of the dismal reception to the most recent Star Trek TV shows and the lack of clear plans for the future aside from yet another film in development. This seems odd given that in the past nine years we have gotten numerous TV shows but for the most part they failed to capture fandom’s imaginations or received the reverance the older TV shows had. Meanwhile on the film front, the last Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond, was released ten years ago and was a box office disappointment, and led to an unintentional film hiatus. There have been endless pitches from writers and directors, even acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino proposed his own Star Trek film. But unfortunately none of the proposed films made it out of development hell as the franchise shifted its focus on TV productions.

There are many reasons why the modern Trek did not resonate with fans who themselves have splintered into various camps that automatically condemned anything new as “woke” or were convinced that modern Trek was too preachy thanks to scripts that failed to capture the magic of the older series. To be fair, a lot of the criticisms were valid but there were genuinely great Star Trek moments in the modern era, the best being the third season of Star Trek: Picard, followed by Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Lower Decks and on occasion Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

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Apr 3 2026

Star Trek Twilight

As the Star Trek franchise approaches its 60th anniversary in just a few months, and one takes a look at what is going on with it, it is clear that Star Trek is at one of its lowest points, it’s in a twilight phase, which we last saw in 2005.

Filming concluded for the two current Star Trek shows, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW) and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and as of now there are no Star Trek TV shows in production or active development. Supposedly, the franchise’s owner, Paramount Skydance, is reassessing the property and might shift focus to new Star Trek films, and though a reboot was announced a few months ago, we haven’t heard any news. Thus, the latest film project will probably be shelved and the reason for this pessimism is because Star Trek films have not been able to be greenlit since the last decade.

Star Trek has had its ups and downs throughout its existence, and there have been definite dark periods, such as during most of the 1970s when the original TV show was cancelled in 1969 and what kept the franchise relevant in the following decade were an animated TV show and a dedicated fan base that refused to let Star Trek slip into oblivion.

The film era jumpstarted the franchise in 1979 and reunited the original cast of the original Star Trek and delighted fans as many of the films are still considered to be among the best Trek offerings. However, during the peak of Star Trek’s renewed popularity, a new TV show was created that featured an all-new cast of characters. There was a mix of optimism and dread when Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) debuted because it did not feature the original cast and many of the early episodes were quite dull and/or bad. But TNG found its footing and heralded the greatest period for Star Trek in the 1990s. Two additional TV shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) and Star Trek: Voyager, were launched and are beloved to this day with many fans arguing that DS9 was the best Star Trek TV show ever. Also during this decade the TNG cast graduated into their own film series.

Unfortunately, the well began to run dry in the 2000s as those shows ended and the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise showed a decline in quality and interest began to die off. After Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled in 2005 and the last TNG film, Star Trek: Nemesis, flopped at the box office, the TV franchise went into a dormant period that lasted a decade. Paramount veered back into the films with a reboot that recast the original characters in 2009. This reboot was at first very successful, but it had its detractors who pointed out how dumbed down the new films were because they focused more on action than story. By the time, the third and final reboot film, Star Trek Beyond, premiered the film series came to an abrupt halt as the film failed at the box office.

Amid mergers and other business dealings, Star Trek was ignored at least as a TV series until 2016. During this time period, fandom produced unofficial short films about Star Trek. Unlike in the past, many of these shorts were very well made and even featured the actors from the TV shows with many shorts that served as sequels to past episodes and one of these unofficial series, Star Trek Continues, actually concluded the original five-year mission of the original Star Trek and led into the original film era. It was a golden age for Trek fandom as the fans took the show for themselves and did what the corporate owners were unwilling to do. The best known of these and arguably the most professional-looking short film was Prelude to Axanar, which was told in the format of a documentary feature in the Star Trek universe that chronicled a war with the Klingon Empire. As the short film achieved acclaim, plans were set into motion to create a feature-length amateur film, Axanar, which would have been about this war. Then Paramount got involved.

Of course, good things like this couldn’t last and naturally the corporate owners feared they were being upstaged by fans and even more importantly did not like the fact that the people behind Axanar were actually trying to make a profit from their endeavor. Enter the studio lawyers. On November 2015, the makers of Axanar and many other amateur Trek film makers were slapped with cease-and-desist demands from Paramount’s lawyers, which marred the celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. Not even the announcement of a new TV show could erase the ill will Paramount created with their lawsuits. Paramount’s position was that they did not want anyone else trying to profit from their franchise or taking attention away from their upcoming TV show. Eventually the film studios and the amateur filmmakers settled and the result was quite severe for fans. They were given very strict guidelines that made it impossible to produce quality films. For example, they could not hire actors who appeared in official Trek TV shows or films, the films’ lengths were limited to about 15 minutes and not be longer than two parts, the word Star Trek could not appear on the film titles and the filmmakers had to use official merchandise and could not profit in any manner from their efforts.

After a good amount of fandom were slighted, Star Trek: Discovery premiered on the streaming app CBS All Access (later renamed Paramount +), and it sharply divided fans. Sure, the production design was gorgeous and rivaled anything seen on film, but the stories and characters were lacking. But more importantly, Star Trek: Discovery did not feel like Star Trek with its cynical characters, the non-stop swearing and focus on dark storylines. Still, it was successful enough to encourage the creation of more Star Trek TV shows, which led to a new age for the TV shows. The quality of the subsequent TV shows varied from great to meh with some series like Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and SNW having both great and mediocre episodes. Eventually, the TV shows came to an end with the last ones being SNW and Starfleet Academy, which have both being cancelled, and nothing certain to follow up.

There are talks about a proposed Star Trek: Year One, which would be about the adventures of a young James T. Kirk during the early days of the Enterprise’s five-year mission, but most fans have their hearts set on a potential show called Star Trek: Legacy. This would be a sequel to Star Trek: Picard, which was very well received in its final season thanks to showrunner Terry Matalas, who understood what made Star Trek work. But for whatever reason, Paramount refuses to consider this even though the reception from fans to Star Trek: Year One has been very lukewarm. The fans have been very vocal that they do not want another series focused on the early days of Starfleet and Captain Kirk, or a series set in the unpopular distant future of Starfleet Academy and Discovery. Instead they want a series set immediately after the TNG/DS9/Voyager era.

Many fans point the blame for the franchise’s current twilight to showrunner Alex Kurtzman. He helped shaped Star Trek: Discovery and is the current executive in charge of Star Trek TV shows. Many of them feel that he does not understand what made Star Trek so beloved in the first place and want a new showrunner for the franchise.

That could come very soon since Kurtzman’s contract will expire in August 2026 and there are rumors that his contract may not be renewed. There are many reasons why Paramount Skydance would not want to renew the contract and it is not necessarily because Kurtzman made Star Trek “woke”. Right-wing critics of current Trek should note that the franchise has usually been progressive ever since the original show. Star Trek famously featured an integrated multiracial crew with people of color in command positions, it’s just that this is the kind of thing that is taken for granted today, but back in the 1960s this was revolutionary. No, the reason for not renewing Kurtzman’s contract and moving away from future TV shows could be blamed on the cost. The current TV shows have topnotch special effects which means they are expensive to produce. The cost would be justified if the ratings for the shows were high, but they are not, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy did not do well ratings well and it was too expensive to continue making it. Perhaps the film studio believes that another mastermind could come in and bring fresh ideas and more importantly be more economical. So who could they hire? Here are some possibilities:


Terry Matalas:The showrunner of the third and best season of Star Trek: Picard is a fan of the franchise and knows how to create great stories and characters. He’s had experience executive producing other sci-fi shows like 12 Monkeys and is currently producing VisionQuest. So depending on how VisionQuest is received (and gets renewed), he may be too busy to tackle Star Trek: Legacy or any other Trek show, but he still must be strongly considered.


Manny Coto: Another executive producer who nearly pulled off a miracle and produced the best season of Star Trek: Enterprise. Sadly the show was cancelled just as Coto helped breath new life into it and he had interesting ideas for future seasons. It’s been a long time since he was involved with Star Trek but his efforts with Star Trek: Enterprise earns him a shot a bringing in a bold new approach to the franchise that respects its core essence.


Jonathan Frakes: The former TNG actor has had a prolific career as a director and executive producer. He directed many acclaimed Trek shows during the 90s and current era and certainly has a handle on crafting compelling stories and characters. His deep Trek background and behind-the-scenes experience should make Frakes a strong contender to take over the Star Trek franchise.


Ronald D. Moore: The legendary showrunner of the popular Battlestar Galactica reboot and the current series, For All Mankind and Outlander, got his start with the TNG era of Star Trek. As executive producer for TNG, Moore wrote some of that show’s best episodes which were grounded yet adhered to Trek’s unique nature. Moore is a fan favorite and his taking over of the franchise would bring back many who have given up on it.

Seth MacFarlane: The prolific writer, producer and actor for all intents and purposes created his own version of Star Trek with The Orville. This show is clearly patterned after Star Trek, but it does not just ape the show but demonstrated that a modern Star Trek show could successfully tell stories that evoke the best aspects of the older Star Trek shows with modern production values and solid scripts and characters.


Mike McMahan: He had great success with the animated Trek comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks, a show which wound up being a love letter to all things Trek. The only drawback is that his show was comedic and the studio heads may hesitate to promote someone with this background to more serious TV shows.


Mike Sussman: This former writer from Star Trek: Enterprise helped conceive a new political Trek drama starring Scott Bakula that would serve as a sequel to Star Trek: Enterprise and focus on its lead character’s time serving as president of the United Federation of Planets. If the show is successful, it could help move Star Trek away from its current concept of starship crews exploring space.

While Star Trek seems to be in its twilight, fans should not despair. The franchise has reached the end of a period and will have to undergo a process of rest to create demand. This period should be used to reflect on how to reinvent the franchise with bold new approaches, stories and characters that will bring back the fans. Fans should keep in mind that Star Trek has had its dormant periods but always bounced back reinvigorated. It’s just a matter of knowing when this will happen. Fingers crossed that we won’t have to wait too long.

José Soto