Star Trek at 60: Starfleet Academy Cancelled, No New Shows in Production, and Why That Might Be Exactly What Trek Needs
For the first time in over a decade, there is no Star Trek series in active production. With Starfleet Academy cancelled after its second season and Alex Kurtzman's CBS deal expiring, the franchise stands at a crossroads — but Strange New Worlds Season 4 and a new movie offer hope.
Captain's log, stardate 83697.3. The Federation — or at least, Paramount — finds itself at a turning point.
For the first time since 2017, when Star Trek: Discovery launched what many hoped would be a new golden age of Trek, there is no Star Trek series currently in active production. The news dropped like a photon torpedo last week: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been cancelled after its second season. And with Alex Kurtzman's CBS Studios deal set to expire at the end of 2026, renewal talks still ongoing, the entire trajectory of Trek's future is genuinely uncertain.
Let's break down what's happening — and why I think this might be a blessing in disguise.
The Starfleet Academy Situation
Starfleet Academy debuted to strong critical reception — 87% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. But here's the thing: the audience score sat at just 51%, and the show never cracked the Nielsen Top 10 streaming rankings. Paramount+ confirmed last week, via an exclusive in Variety, that the already-filmed second season (expected early 2027) will be its last.
This is a pattern we've seen before in the Kurtzman era. Discovery polarized fans. Picard had a rocky first two seasons before sticking the landing in its third. Lower Decks found its groove but never got the audience numbers it deserved. And now Starfleet Academy joins the list of shows that connected with critics but couldn't find their audience.
The Legacy That Never Was
Meanwhile, the dream of Star Trek: Legacy — the fan-requested spinoff featuring Captain Seven of Nine aboard the Enterprise-G — took another hit. Marina Sirtis, speaking at Star Trek: The Cruise in March, bluntly stated the show is "never gonna happen," citing ageism in Hollywood. Jonathan Frakes reportedly pushed back, but the sentiment is hard to argue with when Paramount is cancelling shows, not greenlighting them.
There is a silver lining: IDW Comics has announced a Legacy comic series launching September 2026, filling the gap with Captain Seven at the helm of the Enterprise-G. It's not the same as a TV series, but Trek has always thrived in expanded media — some of the best Deep Space Nine stories continued in novel form after that show ended.
What We Still Have
It's not all doom and gloom. Strange New Worlds Season 4 is in post-production and expected mid-to-late 2026. Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman has called it "the best work we've done" — and given how strong the first three seasons were, that's saying something. One episode will reportedly feature Henson Creature Shop puppets, which is exactly the kind of creative swing that makes SNW feel like classic Trek.
Season 5 — a shortened, final six-episode run — has already wrapped filming. Anson Mount posted from set, confirming principal photography is complete. So we have at least two more seasons of what is arguably the best Trek since The Next Generation.
There's also a new Star Trek movie in development with John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein — the duo behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves — directing. After years of stalled movie projects, having directors who understand how to balance ensemble humor with genuine heart feels like the right call.
And let's not forget: the Section 31 movie dropped in 2025. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it showed Paramount is willing to experiment with Trek's format.
The 60th Anniversary
All of this is happening as Star Trek celebrates its 60th anniversary throughout 2026. LEGO collaborations, WEBTOON comics, Saturn Awards Hall of Fame recognition, and First Contact Day on April 5 — just days away — are all keeping the franchise in the conversation. Seven classic Trek series are currently surging on PVOD and Apple streaming charts, proving that even without new content, the audience is there.
As Roddenberry's son Rod recently put it: "We need Star Trek more than ever."
Why This Pause Might Be What Trek Needs
Here's my possibly controversial take: the Kurtzman era gave us quantity, but the quality was inconsistent. Between 2017 and 2025, we got Discovery, Short Treks, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, Section 31, and Starfleet Academy. That's eight projects in eight years. Some were brilliant. Some were... not.
Trek has always been at its best when it has room to breathe. The Original Series was followed by years of nothing but movies and fan conventions — and that fermentation period gave us TNG. DS9 and Voyager overlapped, but then there was a gap before Discovery that made fans hungry again.
A brief pause — with SNW still delivering, a movie in development, and comics filling the gaps — isn't the end of Trek. It's a chance to figure out what Trek needs to be for the next 60 years.
As a certain Vulcan might say: there are always possibilities.
Live long and prosper. 🖖