Paramount Plus has greenlit a new show for their ongoing Star Trek blocking of programming.
The series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, was created and developed Noga Landeau, creator and executive producer of the CW’s Nancy Drew. She will also serve as showrunner and be joined by Paramount Plus’s Star Trek overseer Alex Kurtzman as executive producers.
In a joint statement, Landeau and Kurtzman described the show –
Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!
No official word yet as to when the series will debut on the streamer, but it could most likely not be until late next year.
Exploring the world of Starfleet Academy has been a possible project that Paramount had developed before. Back in the 1980s, the studio was looking at setting a feature film there, showing audiences younger versions of the original Star Trek crew of James Kirk, Spock, etc. Reportedly a comedy, the film never made it past the script stage of development.
Starfleet Academy will be filling a large hole that has appeared in Paramount Plus’s Star Trek programming. It was recently announced that Star Trek: Discovery, which was the first Trek series launched on the streamer and which helped to revitalize the franchise on the television side, will finish its voyage after its fifth season airs next year. Also, the critically acclaimed third, and final, season of Picard will be wrapping up in just a few weeks. That leaves just Strange New Worlds as an ongoing concern on the live action side of things. That show’s sophomore season is expected later this year and the streamer has already ordered a third season.
But it remains to be seen if Paramount Plus will order a second new live action series to completely cover the two departing shows. Currently, streamers in generally have been reassessing the amount of money that they have been pouring into new programming and the Star Trek shows are some of the more expensive ones to produce.
The streamer does have at least one other show reportedly in development. That series would be centered on the shadowy Starfleet black ops division known as Section 31 and could possibly star Michelle Yeoh, spinning off her Star Trek: Discovery character. Of course, Yeoh’s recent Academy Award win may impact her willingness to sign on for the commitment a television series would require.
