Paramount’s 8-Part Sci-Fi Series Can Only Get Better

While Paramount’s biggest recent sci-fi show had a rocky start, the latest incarnation of an iconic franchise can only get better in its second outing. 2026 is a huge year for sci-fi TV, with hotly anticipated shows like Prime Video’s Blade Runner: 2099 and Apple TV’s William Gibson adaptation Neuromancer on the way in the coming months. However, one of the genre’s biggest franchises has quietly faded from relevance at a time when the genre as a whole is seemingly thriving.

As Netflix’s Stranger Things franchise shifts genre, going from a live-action teen drama to a light-hearted, family-friendly animated spinoff series, one of sci-fi’s oldest and most influential TV franchises seemingly doesn’t know where to go. For the first time since 2017, there are currently no new Star Trek shows in production or development since the March 2026 cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. A teen drama set in the world of the iconic series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was a radical change for the franchise.

Unfortunately, despite spending decades in development, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was not an unambiguous hit with fans upon its arrival. Set in the 32nd century, the show followed a class of Starfleet Academy cadets as they navigate their coming of age aboard Captain Nahla Ake’s starship USS Athena. With a superb cast that included Paul Giamatti, Tig Notaro, and Zoe Steiner, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has a lot of potential, but its arrival split the fan base thanks to its major moves away from the Star Trek franchise’s usual formula.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Can Skip The Awkward Intros In Season 2

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Almost like a CW show set within the world of the Federation, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy focused on the romantic tribulations and in-fighting between its teen characters as much as their missions. This was a promising concept and, ideally, the show could have felt like Netflix’s Cobra Kai in space. However, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 was mostly devoted to the main characters becoming a unit, which limited the show’s opportunities when it came to more immersive, dramatic storytelling.

Classic outings from earlier in the franchise, like Star Trek: The Next Generation’s iconic “Peak Performance,” took the crew’s efficiency and professionalism as a given. It was satisfying to see these characters challenged despite their impressive acumen, and the fact that the team was largely great at their jobs (Wesley Crusher aside) only made the threats that they faced feel more formidable since even these seasoned pros struggled to overcome them. In contrast, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s focus on comparatively immature protagonists made its stakes feel painfully low and inconsequential.

Starfleet Academy Still Hasn’t Explored Some Of Its Best Characters

Bella Sherpard in Star Trek Starfleet Academy

Although the shockingly swift cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy means that the series can’t explore its world in too much depth, season 2 of the spinoff was already filmed before this surprising announcement. Thus, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 still has a chance to explore underrated season 1 characters like Bella Shepard’s Genesis Lythe and Tawny Newcomer’s new take on the Dax symbiont. Admittedly, it is not ideal that the show’s second season was filmed before the release of season 1.

After all, this means that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s sophomore outing won’t be able to adjust its storytelling based on feedback from critics and fans. That said, this doesn’t mean that the spinoff can’t improve with season 2. On the contrary, the very fact that the crew of the USS Athena can now work together without descending into teenage bickering means that they are ready to take on more substantial antagonists in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, meaning this spinoff might finally feel less like a CW series and more like a Star Trek show in its final outing.