Star Trek: Academy was right to add Tig Notaro as a full-time name

Star Trek: Discovery did very little right when it launched in 2017. Mistake after mistake occurred, that pulled the franchise further and further away from what fans wanted from the first Star Trek series in 12 years. It made characters unlikable, created stories that were far from what was expected, and changed so much lore that few fans could take the series seriously.

Yet, they didn't do everything wrong. One of the best casting decisions in Star Trek was bringing in Tig Notaro as a recurring character for the franchise. Playing Jett Reno, the Discovery's engineer, Notaro brought some snark and humor to a series that was desperate for it. The show was bogged down by bad writing, a staple of the first few Nu Trek shows, but despite that, Notaro stood out, arguably among the rest of the cast.

She became a fan favorite, despite her sparse episode count. Appearing in just 18 episodes, Notaro would go on to capture the hearts and minds of many Trek fans, so much so that the new series will in fact bring her in full-time.

It was announced during San Diego Comic-Con that Notaro would in fact reprise her role as Jett Reno for the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series. She'll join Robert Picardo, returning as The Doctor from his time on Star Trek's Voyager and Prodigy, as series regulars for the show.

Notaro and Picardo now join Holly Hunter, Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané, Zoë Steiner, Paul Giamatti, and Gina Yashere as already-announced members of the cast. They won't be the only new names, or returning names that is, for the show. Oded Fehr and Mary Wiseman will reprise their roles as Admiral Vance and Sylvia Tilly respectively in guest-starring roles.

Starfleet Academy has put together an interesting cast that should help pull in the general audience. Only time will tell, however, if this series is more in the vein of Prodigy and Strange New Worlds, or if it tries to be more like Discovery than it should aim to be.