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Can Star Trek survive the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike?

ByLillyan Ratcliffe|
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: (L-R) Jonathan Del Arco, George Takei, John Billingsley, LeVar Burton and Natalia Castellanos join the United We Trek picket line outside Paramount Studios on September 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of America) have both walked out in their first joint strike against the studios since 1960. The strike has shut down a majority of Hollywood productions with writers in the fourth month of their strike against the Hollywood studios. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: (L-R) Jonathan Del Arco, George Takei, John Billingsley, LeVar Burton and Natalia Castellanos join the United We Trek picket line outside Paramount Studios on September 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of America) have both walked out in their first joint strike against the studios since 1960. The strike has shut down a majority of Hollywood productions with writers in the fourth month of their strike against the Hollywood studios. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

The strike continues – can Star Trek survive?

As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, many companies have chosen to change their schedules or even cancel projects.  While some cancelations may be due to not having scripts available, it appears many companies are choosing to take the loss instead of working to end the strike.  These are major companies choosing to curtail production instead of working on an agreement.  Several projects from Disney have been pushed back on the schedule or removed entirely, including Marvel series and movies.

Would Paramount+ follow suit?  After all, Star Trek: Section 31 was already meant to be in production by now and Starfleet Academy has been announced, but no further details have been released.  Even shows like Lower Decks may face delays since the animators may be running out of scripts to animate like an animator for Bob’s Burgers said has already happened to them.  The final season of Discovery has also been delayed to next year and Strange New Worlds season 3 does not have a release date yet.  Without scripts to produce, will Star Trek be in limbo?  Will it become a weird “Whose Line is it Anyway?”  in character production?  Will some roles have to be recast as actors choose to seek work outside of Hollywood?  Will plotlines be abandoned?

Star Trek had some positive outcomes from a previous strike

Some fans might take some comfort in remembering that Star Trek: The Next Generation might have been saved by the 1988 strike.  The struggles between Gene Roddenberry and several writers he brought back from Star Trek: The Original Series in the writer’s room plus the strike forced Paramount to find a way to get scripts from people who were not part of the WGA thus began their acceptance of fan-submitted scripts and spec scripts.  New writers who were not part of the internal arguments could use their own ideas and fan love to help TNG find its footing.  The early seasons of TNG are often considered the show’s “growing seasons” where ideas were introduced or abandoned very quickly.  The reduced number of episodes may even have prevented another episode as infamous as “Code of Honor” from being produced.

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