Bestelling writer Andy Weird isn't a fan of modern Star Trek. Appearing on the Critical Drinker podcast last week, the author of Project Hail Mary, the book responsible for the latest sci-fi blockbuster film, weighed in on the current state of the long-running franchise.
“Yeah, I saw a … I forgot who it was — I wish I could remember who it was who said it, some analyst — he said something like: ‘All modern science fiction TV shows and movies have been heavily influenced by the original Star Trek — except for the current batch of Star Trek shows,'” Weir said.
“I’m Gen X, so my sci-fi was like original series Star Trek reruns and Lost in Space reruns," the author continued. "And there wasn’t really much in the way of [new] sci-fi that was airing — where people are off in space doing cool things — until we got to [Star Trek: The Next Generation].”
A little later in the interview, the subject of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was brought up, with both Weir and podcast host Matthew Marsden celebrating the show's recent cancellation.
“I think we can probably safely never talk about it again,” Marsden joked.
“It’s gone baby!” Weir chimed in. “It’s all gone.”
While Weir clearly isn't a fan of modern Star Trek, he did acknowledge that there are some newer series he's a fan of, such as Strange New Worlds.
"Okay, you’re a little more severe than I am,” Weir said after Marsden proposed to de-canonize everything Star Trek from Enterprise onward. “I’ll give you my opinion and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks I thought was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go."
Weir isn’t alone among longtime Trek fans who’ve grown disillusioned with the newer shows. Under Alex Kurtzman, the franchise shifted sharply toward darker tones, heavy action, and big spectacle, largely at the expense of the thoughtful philosophy and sense of exploration that defined the older series.
Some of his frustration may also stem from the fact that he pitched his own Star Trek show to Paramount, which was rejected.
"And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman]," Weir revealed. "I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are sh*t. He is a nice guy. But they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, f**k ’em.”
With Starfleet Academy set to conclude after Season 2 and the franchise’s future uncertain following the final seasons of Strange New Worlds, it’s hard not to wonder what a series from one of sci-fi’s greatest writers might bring to a universe that could use a creative jolt.