The next Star Trek show is Starfleet Academy, and I’ve had a bad feeling about it for many reasons, including the fact that it was designed with younger fans in mind. I’d rather put a phaser in my mouth than see Paramount try its hand at Zoomer humor.
After watching some old Academy-centric episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, though, I came to a surprising conclusion. A Starfleet Academy show is the right idea, but it’s doomed to failure because it’s set in the wrong era.
Holly Hunter in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy is a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery, a show that catapulted from the 23rd century to the 32nd century at the end of its second season. This introduced us to a Starfleet that is a shell of its former self, thanks to a number of factors ranging from the Burn (a galactic event that made warp travel nearly impossible) and conflict with the Orions and the Breen. Therefore, the Starfleet Academy show is as much about rebuilding this venerable galactic institution as it is about training the next generation of the Federation’s outer space explorers.
Star Trek’s Past Attempts To Make Starfleet Academy
On paper, a Starfleet Academy show is a great idea, which is why Paramount has been exploring this concept for decades. Back in the early ‘90s, for example, the studio spent a year or so working on Star Trek: The First Adventure, which would have been a prequel that showed how a recast Kirk and Spock met at Starfleet Academy. This movie never made it into production, though the basic idea of new actors portraying Kirk and Spock meeting at the Academy was explored in Star Trek (2009).
As recently as 2004, Star Trek producer Harve Bennett claimed that Paramount was considering his Starfleet Academy movie, but the idea finally died because the powers that be didn’t want to release a prequel movie while a prequel TV series (Enterprise) was still on the air. However, that movie would have had something the upcoming Starfleet Academy show doesn’t: some of the most recognizable characters in the franchise. And that brings us to the upcoming TV show’s biggest problem.
Returning Characters Aren’t A Draw For Star Trek’s New Show
The current Starfleet Academy show is bringing back a couple of familiar characters, including Jet Reno (played by Tig Notaro) and the Doctor (played by Robert Picardo). They are both great choices: the sardonic Notaro stole her every scene in Discovery, and Picardo stole practically every episode of Voyager. Plus, while she was never confirmed to be part of the new show, it’s a safe bet that Mary Wiseman will be bringing Tilly to Starfleet Academy.
The blunt truth is that none of these characters, by themselves, are reasons for longtime Star Trek fans to watch a new series; fans may have tuned in to see Jean-Luc Picard come back, but these characters returning to Starfleet Academy don’t have the combined wattage to power a new show. That means the show will largely succeed or fail based on how much fans like the new cadets, but Paramount missed out on a chance to rig the game in their favor. Instead of making the show a spinoff of Discovery (which was a very divisive series), the network should have set the new show in the more familiar time period of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
Starfleet Academy Is A Show Out Of Time
That’s because the Starfleet Academy of this time period is like a familiar character unto itself. We already know about some of the students’ culture, including the recklessness of Nova Squadron and the dangerous zeal of Red Squadron. We know about the groundskeeper (Boothby) who had the trust of future captains Picard and Janeway. We even know how would-be cadets of this era must pass a psychological test brutally recreating their worst fears before they can be accepted into the academy.
If the Starfleet Academy show was set firmly in the 24th century, it could incorporate these familiar elements from TNG and DS9 while still introducing a new crop of characters that could appeal to younger viewers. This would be the best approach to appeal to fans, new and old, while launching a brand new series. Unfortunately, Paramount is gambling the fate of the new show on nothing more than the audience’s love of Discovery and nostalgia for Voyager, neither of which may bring in the huge viewer numbers the network is counting on.
As someone who liked most of Discovery and loves Star Trek as a whole, I sincerely hope Paramount’s gamble pays off. Right now, though, Starfleet Academy looks like the right show, but set in the wrong era. If Trek’s next show crashes and burns, it could take the world’s greatest science fiction franchise ever created along with it.
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