“[T]here’s a bunch of new things now in the works” for Star Trek

The Star Trek franchise is in an era of boom and bust. There are more Star Trek shows on the air  (or streaming on Paramount+, to be exact) than ever before, with series like Strange New Worlds, Discovery and Picard all finding their fans. But on the other hand, none of them are penetrating as deep into the general pop culture sphere as say, The Next Generation did back in the day, and several seem in danger of cancellation. Discovery is ending next year, Lower Decks sounds like it has one more season in it at most, Prodigy was cancelled, and there’s been no news about a follow-up to Picard.

But still, do you see just how many Star Trek shows there are nowadays? And there are more in development, including a series set at Starfleet Academy. Paramount+ may have cancelled Prodigy but it was picked up by Netflix. Uncertainties or no, if you’re a Trekkie, you’re eating well these days.

Speaking at New York Comic Con last month, that was more or less the message that Star Trek over-boss Alex Kurtzman had for fans, according to TrekMovie. “I have to say, our friends at Paramount+ have been unbelievable, truly unbelievable,” Kurtzman said. “They have supported all of these shows in the most extraordinary ways. I will tease that I did meet with everybody at the top this week. And there’s a bunch of new things now in the works, which is really, really exciting. So there’s no shortage of support from Paramount Plus for the Star Trek universe.”

All the Star Trek shows produced in the last seven years

As I mentioned, there are already a lot of Star Trek shows either on the air or recently wrapped up, so the prospect of “a bunch of new things now in the weeks” is as unsetting as it is exciting. Things are getting crowded on the final frontier. Just look at how many Star Trek shows have been produced since 2017:

• Star Trek: Discovery: 2017-now
• Star Trek: Picard: 2020-2023
• Star Trek: Lower Deck: 2020-now
• Star Trek: Prodigy: 2021-now
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: 2022-now

And we’re not counting the Short Treks short films on that list. Then there are a few shows in development, including the Starfleet Academy show — which Kurtzman promises will be “really fun” and “funny” — as well as a movie about the intelligence agency Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh. There could even be another Star Trek movie in the works starring Chris Pine and company, although that one has languished in development hell for a while. I’ll believe it when I see it.

In short, the Star Trek franchise is in as robust health as it has been at any point in its history. To infinity and beyond…or whatever the going phrase is round these parts.

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