Brannon Braga is unquestionably one of Star Trek’s most prolific and well-respected writers, despite the controversial part he played inexplicably killing off Captain James T. Kirk over 30 years ago in Star Trek Generations (1994). Braga’s impressive credits extend to a number of Star Trek television series, including The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise.
However, as someone who scripted hundreds of episodes over his tenure, Braga is worried about the short length of the franchise’s TV/streaming shows being produced today. Braga addressed the issue while appearing at Creation Entertainment’s STLV: Trek to Vegas 2025 Convention at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas last August by saying (per TrekMovie.com):
“I look at this [STLV] audience, and I think you’re here because you had a long-term relationship with Voyager. Voyager was 26 episodes a year. Some of you probably keep it on because it’s cozy and that’s the kind of relationship you had. A lot of shows now are Tinder relationships — eight episodes every two years, I don’t think so.”
Braga is alluding to the fact that recent Star Trek projects like the streaming series Strange New Worlds offer Trekkies far less content than the TV shows he worked on back in the day. For example, season 3 of SNW consisted of only 10 episodes, while TNG (1987-1994) boasted nearly 200 episodes over its seven-year run for a jaw-dropping average of 25 shows per season. Braga continued by saying:
“That’s not going to be something you necessarily pass on to your kids. And I think that’s a loss… It’s a new paradigm. And some shows are still doing it… NCIS does like 22. But I really don’t know what’s in store for the future of Star Trek, the TV franchise anyway, but I hope, I hope that eventually they get back to a longer, more sustained season […] It’s hard to make big TV shows. It’s complicated. Then again, how did we do 26 episodes [a year]? It’s like a miracle.”
Braga brings up an interesting point about the state of TV and streaming today versus yesteryears. Will the truncated, modern-day Star Trek television projects like Picard, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds leave their respective indelible marks on Trekkies like The Original Series and The Next Generation have? It can certainly be argued that quality over quantity is the name of the game now in the modern era. What do you think? Be sure to sound off on Redshirts Always Die’s social media channels, Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, with your opinions on Braga’s appraisal.