2026 is set to be a huge year for Star Trek, even if the franchise is currently playing it down a little too much. With just two canon Star Trek shows coming this year, it might seem like a relatively quiet period for the beloved space opera, especially when compared to the recent past. However, something is bubbling away under the surface that is barely getting the attention it deserves.
Since premiering with The Original Series in 1966, Star Trek has ballooned into one of the biggest sci-fi franchises of all time. Despite having its rough patches, Trekkies around the world — myself included — still engage heavily with the various shows and movies that combine to create an impressively robust timeline. While the fact that Star Trek is still an active property after all this time is cause for celebration, those manning the franchise could be doing more in 2026 to mark a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
Star Trek isn't doing enough to mark the franchise's 60th anniversary
2026 marks 60 years since Star Trek's first ever episode aired. Still being an active franchise after six decades is an incredible achievement, and not something that's easily accomplished. Still, other than a LEGO collaboration and a few other little things, Star Trek seems content with just carrying on with business as usual. There are two main possibilities, with the first being that Star Trek has a bigger surprise in mind and is waiting until the right moment for a big reveal. The other option is that the 60th anniversary celebrations are as underwhelmingly wimpy as they seem at face value.
Even when the anniversary becomes official on September 8, when "The Man Trap" premiered, there's unlikely to be any active Star Trek shows that can acknowledge the occasion. Starfleet Academy's season 1 finale is set to air on March 12, months too soon. While there is an outside chance that Strange New Worlds season 4 might still be airing episodes, past seasons suggest it will also have wrapped up by September.
What's especially frustrating is that Star Trek also missed the chance to celebrate its 50th anniversary in any kind of substantial way. Granted, 2016's Star Trek Beyond was the only project that year, but 50 years is arguably a more satisfying milestone than 60. It's understandable that Star Trek struggled to acknowledge the occasion in 2016 due to the fact that there were no active TV shows at the time, with Discovery not premiering until 2017. What's less easy to understand is that, with the modern era in full swing, the 60th anniversary is apparently being allowed to pass by almost as quietly as the 50th.
Star Trek could be saving its energy for an even bigger milestone
Sure, 60 years of Star Trek is impressive. But do you know what's an even more mind-blowing achievement? Making 1,000 episodes of Star Trek. The franchise hasn't reached that figure yet, but it's tantalizingly close to doing so. Strange New Worlds season 3's finale, which aired in September 2025, was Star Trek's 959th episode. So, in the coming years, it's far from unreasonable to assume that episode 1,000 will be made.
With Strange New Worlds set to contribute another 16 episodes before it ends in 2027, and Starfleet Academy already confirmed for two seasons ahead of its upcoming January premiere, the 1,000 mark is still unreachable by a handful of installments. That said, with the non-canon Star Trek: Scouts also returning in 2026, the franchise probably has enough confirmed episodes to reach the milestone by 2027. That is, if Starfleet Academy season 2 follows in Strange New Worlds' footsteps with a rapid turnaround that's uncharacteristic of TV's current trends.
Of course, if Star Trek's 1,000th episode also just kind of limps by without even a semblance of a parade, the decision to essentially ignore the 60th anniversary will look even more disappointing. At the very least, all we can hope for is that the landmark episode is a masterpiece, even if it never directly acknowledges itself as a pivotal moment in the franchise's rich history. Perhaps the worst-case scenario is that Star Trek: Scouts is accidentally handed the honor, which would be so disappointing that I think I might cry.