Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner honors Star Trek history

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds received a Hollywood Critics Association Award.

Last weekend, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was given the Hollywood Critics Association Legacy Award which singled out the series for being a “respectful tribute to the past while modernizing it in a fun and meaningful way, delighting original fans and a newer generation of devotees.”

Strange New Worlds’ showrunner Henry Alonso Myers was on hand to accept the award on behalf of the entire team [via Trekmovie], and he honored the history of Star Trek.

"This award belongs to all of them, but it also belongs to Gene Roddenberry because it’s his legacy that this award is really all about, as well as the legacy of the many talented people who worked with him, like Nichelle Nichols, who we lost just a couple of weeks ago. In the first pitch document that we sent to the network… we opened with a question asking, “What if we just did Star Trek?” And they said, “Okay.” Every day in the writers’ room, we try to imagine how would Gene Roddenberry and his team make The Original Series if they were doing it today? They would use state-of-the-art visual effects. They would ask questions that deal with the politics of today. They would approach character thoughtfully like we expect from the best dramas. But most importantly, they would tell stories about the future that give us hope that there will be a future like this to look forward to.”"

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has brought back the feel of Star Trek: The Original Series.

When the creative team pitched the question “what if we just did Star Trek” to Paramount+, it took Star Trek: The Original Series’ way of storytelling and added another layer. TOS launched the franchise by telling stories each week, stories that meant something and taught something along the way, but there wasn’t much character growth. Star Trek: The Next Generation told episodic storylines, but, again, we didn’t see much character growth.

The team behind Strange New Worlds has picked up the mantle, though, and, in its first season, created episodes that introduced viewers to the characters and packed emotional punches, whether that was sorrow, humor or fear. It’s actually giving fans an opportunity to grow along with these characters. So while honoring Star Trek’s history, Strange New Worlds is also creating stories for the future.

Myers’ aknowledgement to Star Trek’s history was important to all of us because to ignore Gene Roddenberry and his contribution to the franchise would be untenable. Along with Roddenberry, the first Star Trek cast and crew set the standard for what would be a future in sci-fi and what would become the standard in the industry.