It looks like Star Trek: Picard is done for good now, with the final episode ending this week. The next Trek show doesn’t start until June 15, which means that as always I will be canceling the service until that time. That’s practically the only content I watch on the service, as I’m not a fan of the Yellowstone Extended Universe. And that’s one of Paramount’s two big problems.
Problem #1: Mo’ Trek, Mo’ Money
Paramount+ has always known that there are a lot of people like me who only subscribe for one reason. Even in the beginning, when they were known as CBS All Access, they saw massive drops in subscribers when they weren’t airing new Star Trek content.
The goal, I think, was to create a calendar where there wasn’t ever more than one month between Star Trek shows. They’ve done a very good job of that, especially with five shows in production at any given time. However, it’s not 2017 anymore. When Star Trek: Discovery aired its first episodes, no one much cared how much it cost. The special effects were cinema-worthy and the production value overall was excellent. That has continued through all the live-action Trek series. (Animation is just naturally cheaper.)
Today, though, streamers are under a lot more pressure to keep costs down. So Paramount has two choices, and neither of them are good. Option one is to produce fewer episodes. Picard is ending and Discovery will end after its next season. This means less content out there, but it’s also going to mean less revenue since folks like me will just turn off the app more often.
Option two is to produce cheaper content. The next show, Starfleet Academy, seems perfect for streaming in the 2020s. A show that’s essentially based in a school should need less by way of special effects. Fewer starships, that sort of thing. But will it be any good? If it’s really just a teen drama with 24th-century uniforms, will viewers stay to watch? That’s a pretty big gamble.
Problem #2: Getting rootbound by canon
Let’s, for a moment, jump over to the Star Wars side of the geekiverse. After a run of very poorly received Star Wars films, Disney decided to move the entire franchise to streaming. The content that has really done well for them has been stuff with practically no ties to any other Star Wars show. The Mandalorian‘s first season had barely any connection to any other show. Slowly, that show became bound by gratuitous cameos and introductions to obscure characters. Its third season is easily its worst, because of all the fan service.
How does this apply to Star Trek? Trek has its fan-service shows: Strange New Worlds and Picard. It has Lower Decks, which has managed to do a great job of layering on a bit of fan service while keeping the writing really original. But, I fear that there isn’t enough focus on original characters and original settings. It’s a giant galaxy, and we haven’t seen a lot of it. There have to be some really interesting stories to tell that are totally free from crossover characters.
My least favorite Trek show, Voyager, did a good job of intentionally keeping the fan service at bay. My second least favorite, Prodigy, has done a fair job of it as well. But just because I think the two worst shows are the ones with the fewest canon connections doesn’t mean that all canon-ignoring shows are bad.
I’d like to see shows that take a rather obscure concept in Trek and flesh it out totally free of other canon constraints. A Fenris ranger show could work, as could a 32nd century courier show. I’ve always been oddly interested in the “Planet of Galactic Peace” from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It’s an interesting idea in an otherwise awful movie. Heck, let’s give the Kelvans a show, I bet they have a lot of stories to tell.
I’m not the expert, or am I?
In most cases, I’m happy to say that there are smarter people than I who run things, and I defer to them. But, I’ve been watching Trek pretty much my whole life, and that life has gone on over half a century. Maybe I actually would have some decent input for the folks at Paramount. Not that I expect that they read this blog, but stranger things have happened. Hey, Terry Matalas, click that “contact the editor” button below. I’m here for ya.
