Star Trek returns to Top 10 charts on Friday the 13th (& Paul Giamatti seems to be why)

United States and Nielsen no-show

L-R: Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag, George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe, Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir, Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal and Kerrice Brooks as Sam in art for season 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Miller Mobley/Paramount+

Starfleet Academy rose all the way up to No. 6 on the Paramount+ TOP 10 in the United States and even laid claim to the No. 1 slot on the TOP 10 Overall (from Amazon Channels), which is the only ranking the Star Trek show has been able to perform well on consistently.

However, a bit of bad luck did befall Starfleet Academy this Friday the 13th. The Nielsen ratings are out, and they reveal that the controversial Star Trek show did NOT manage to crack their Streaming TV Top 10 when it premiered during the week of Jan. 12 through Jan. 18.

Bottom line: Starfleet Academy's streaming numbers flounder when Paul Giamatti doesn't appear in the episodes.

Personally, I enjoy watching Starfleet Academy, and episode 6 was undoubtedly one of the best installments of season 1. However, a Nielsen no-show does not bode well for a third season.

The young-adult focused Star Trek show is close to wrapping up filming on season 2, but if these numbers don’t improve, it’s likely that this iteration of the beloved franchise won’t be boldly going much further, with or without Giamatti.

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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!