Isn’t Paramount+ concerned about Star Trek franchise fatigue
Star Trek is the busiest it ever has been.
Most Trekkies know that Rick Berman wasn’t interested in working on another Star Trek series so soon after Star Trek: Voyager, but Paramount had decided it wanted another series. And it was going forward with or without Berman. He thought it was better to remain aboard for Star Trek: Enterprise to at least attempt to keep things within Gene Roddenberry’s vision than to bow out. Berman thought it was simply too soon for another series, though, a fact his partner Brannon Braga acknowledged in 2014 [via Trekmovie].
"“Star Trek was wearing out its welcome. Rick Berman didn’t want to make a show so soon but Paramount did. I think it was too soon for another show. It was a quality show, but the ratings weren’t really what they should be.”"
Now, seventeen years after Enterprise ended, there is much more Star Trek on television and in various other media that it eclipses what was on the air at the height of Trek popularity. So it’s natural to wonder why Paramount+ isn’t concerned about franchise fatigue.
More Star Trek series are being developed, and the franchise shows no signs of slowing down.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just released, and two additional series, Section 31 and Starfleet Academy, are supposedly around the corner. Alex Kurtzman has already said that Paramount+ is committed to as many shows as makes sense, but what is the cut-off for that amount? How many series make sense?
On a recent Reddit post, fans were saying they feel the franchise has reached the saturation point, especially with the connection to the older series. For future series, fans want new characters and no tie-ins to previous series or characters. They also want the franchise to slow down and give everyone a chance to catch up on the current slate of shows before new ones start airing. Perhaps that would be a good way to go to prevent franchise fatigue.
Right now, Trek is extremely popular, and it’s unimaginable to think it will lose this level of popularity, but with more and more to watch, it is harder for fans to keep up even though Paramount+ is staggering the shows. As one series wraps for the season, another one premieres. And it seems like some fans might be getting fatigued even if Paramount+ isn’t. And that could be a concern for future series.