Star Trek has now been whittled down to three shows on Paramount+.
Though there is another series, Starfleet Academy, that will likely start production after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are over, and a Section 31 movie in the hopper, at present, we currently have three series on Paramount+. And one of those, Star Trek: Discovery, will end after its fifth season airs. That will leave Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks as the only properties currently in active production. Could that be a good thing?
A writer for Bell of Lost Souls has reminded us that during the golden age of Star Trek, there were never more than two shows airing at the same time. And those series all had longer seasons that gave us the opportunity to really invest in the characters, to have more first contacts, and better arcs.
Would Star Trek be better with fewer shows on streaming channels?
With Paramount+ cancelling both Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard having already come to an end, we now find ourselves back in familiar territory, although, Prodigy is currently being shopped around for another home.
Strange New Worlds’ executive producer has already said he wants longer seasons, and Prodigy delivered that in its first two seasons, creating twenty episodes instead of ten. That made fans a lot happier as there have been many complaints about the short seasons.
As much as we love the variation of Star Trek series, providing something for everyone, Paramount could still do that with better spacing, much like how Deep Space Nine debuted toward the end of The Next Generation and Voyager premiered halfway through Deep Space Nine’s run. The series weren’t in competition with one another, and yes, times were different then being there was a lot less to watch on television. But that actually makes a case for less shows and more episodes.
With so many series available to viewers today, it makes sense to have fans get excited and follow one or two Star Trek series at a time rather than trying to keep up with five or more. Of course, opinions will vary, but, to me, this sounds reasonable.