Star Trek is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. But rather than celebrating the rich progressive history of the long-running franchise, we've been marred in uncertainy regarding its future.
It's been a rough couple of weeks for Star Trek. Paramount canceled Starfleet Academy which will end after its already filmed second season. Strange New Worlds is also set to wrap up after its fifth season. We're still awaiting Season 4 to premiere, presumably this summer, but knowing there are only two more seasons left, one of which will be truncated, has left a bit of a somber note. And with that, no new Star Trek shows are in production or greenlit for the first time in over a decade.
While the near-term may be grim for Star Trek, longtime veteran actor and director Jonathan Frakes is optimistic about the franchise's future.
“I think, sadly, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our incredible franchise, it seemed very unfortunate that they’ve chosen this moment to not have any new Trek in production," Frakes said during an appearance on TrekMovie's All Access podcast. "It seems like a very unfortunate irony. I’m sure that Trek will resurface, it always has, and it always will. And the power that Roddenberry invested in it seems to have made it through six decades.”
Frakes, who is best known for his portrayal of William Riker in The Next Generation, has also spent his fair share of time behind the camera as director during the modern streaming era of Star Trek. With years of experience, Frakes offered his own assessment on the current state of Star Trek television.
“So some people who either didn’t like or didn’t approve or didn’t support the latest endeavors, for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s the changing of the guard at Paramount+ and CBS [Studios]. Perhaps it’s indecision. Perhaps it’s the amount of money it costs to make how beautiful the show is; the level of the production has become this sort of “shoot to thrill” cinematic phenomenon that when we did the show back in the ’80s, we counted on storytelling and acting and the occasional camera move [laughs]. It’s a different beast now, and that beast is very expensive, and as we know, it’s called show business.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Star Trek, Frakes remains optimistic about the future of the franchise. He mentioned tak of another movie, along with the possibility of Star Trek: Year One, a potential spin-off of Strange New Worlds that would follow Paul Wesley's James T. Kirk during his first year as captain of the Enterprise.
“I’m very optimistic about the future. I just wish that something was percolating now. I know that there’s talk of another movie. I don’t think it’s going to be one of the J.J. movies. It seems it’s going to be a brand-new [idea]. I know that there’s also a percolating idea about the Paul Wesley [Star Trek: Year One], which would be the origin of Kirk, but that’s all I’ve got. All I’ve got is rumor and innuendo, and none of it is encouraging… But in truth, there will be a Star Trek on the air through 2027. That gives us a lot of time to get something else in the oven, if you will.”
Of course, we've since learned that CBS and Paramount have torn down the sets of Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds, raising doubts about the likelihood of the spin-off series and the future of Alex Kurtzman at the helm.