star trek and racism

How Star Trek Fell Short of Its Ideals About Diversity

The landmark series is lauded for changing what was possible for actors of color—but all too often, they felt like "moveable furniture."

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In May 1965, wearing a light pink Chanel jumpsuit, Nichelle Nichols walked into the Desilu offices and transformed Spock into a Black woman. The character of Uhura—a character Nichols would make world-famous in Star Trek— didn’t exist yet. Series creator Gene Roddenberry had a vague idea for a new character, but because Uhura hadn’t yet been written, Nichols remembered that “they handed me a script and apologized, saying the part I would be playing would be a communications officer.” Director Joseph Sargent said the script pages were “probably close” to what her yet-to-be-created character might be like. But, somewhat hilariously, these pages were early dialogue for Mr. Spock. The idea that Spock was a male character wasn’t made clear at first, so Nichols innocently wondered, “What’s she like?” And at that moment, the souls of Spock and Uhura were joined forever.

In this interesting period of ideation, could Nichols have replaced Leonard Nimoy as a Black female Spock? Probably not. And yet, Nichols said at least one person present asked that somebody “phone the contracts department” to see if Nimoy had put pen to paper. It’s hard to really believe that Roddenberry would have fired Nimoy, but over the years, Nichols, Sargent, Roddenberry, and others have repeated the story of her audition with very little variation, making a solid case that at least one person (probably Sargent) was taken with the idea that Spock as a Black woman might have worked. Like the character of Spock, Uhura typifies the ideals of Star Trek , even when the historical truths of those ideals fall short of how we remember them. And, among Trek icons, Nichols’ journey was unique not just in its symbolism, but because of her frustrations with a role that never truly lived up to its potential.

More than any character in the entire Star Trek pantheon, Uhura is unique because everything was created by the actress, including the character’s name. During her audition, Nichols had a book tucked under her arm: the 1962 novel Uhuru, by Robert Ruark—a fictionalized account of the Mau Mau uprisings against landowners in Kenya during the 1950s. In Swahili, the word “Uhuru”means “freedom.” Once it was settled that Nichols would play the new communications officer, Roddenberry suggested taking the name Sulu away from Mr. Sulu, but Nichols insisted that “Uhuru” be Uhura. Pundits and historians love to talk about how Nichols and William Shatner participated in the first kiss between a Black person and a white person on American network television in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” But as much as this episode is celebrated, you really have to wonder if people have watched it recently. In the story, Kirk and Uhura are forced to kiss by hedonist telekinetic “gods.” Any way you slice it, a Black woman being forced to kiss a white man isn’t exactly progress.

What’s far more progressive and interesting about Uhura is the way she casually introduced the Swahili language into the homes of millions of Americans who’d probably never heard it. In the first episode of Star Trek ever aired—“The Man Trap”— Uhura speaks Swahili, never mind that she’s talking to a shape-shifting alien salt vampire in disguise. Jim Kirk’s backstory had him born in Iowa, but Uhura was from the future-facing United States of Africa. Kirk was a throwback white male hero archetype, while Uhura, like Spock, wasn’t an archetype at all. For American TV, she was something new.

It may not seem like Uhura is an outsider in the context of Star Trek , but her patchwork backstory suggests that Spock and Uhura have more in common than we might assume. In other words, the connection between Spock and Uhura wasn’t just the result of random pages thrown at a young actress. The characters themselves were both iconoclasts and specialists who were excellent at navigating the esoterica of their respective jobs: Spock as the science officer, and Uhura as a language and communications expert. In the first season of Star Trek , it’s clear that Uhura and Spock have a relationship that exists outside of what we see on the screen. As Nichols developed the character with Roddenberry, she decided that “Spock was my mentor,” and that Spock “inspired [Uhura] mentally and professionally.” In the 2022 series Strange New Worlds , Celia Rose Gooding’s newest Uhura has already expanded upon this idea. In the brand new episode, “Children of the Comet,” we see Ethan Peck’s new Spock connect with her as a fellow outsider and encourage her to stay in Starfleet. Also, like in The Original Series , the new show gives us a moment of musical harmony between Uhura and Spock. In the 1966 episode “Charlie X,” Spock plays a Vulcan harp while Uhura sings. In 2022, we see Spock and Uhura sing together to pacify an alien intelligence that communicates through music. These days, with Strange New Worlds , we’re seeing the retroactive beginning of their relationship, which by the time of The Original Series means Uhura is on good enough terms with Spock that she can tease him publicly.

In fact, other than Kirk and Bones, Uhura is the only character in The Original Series who openly fucks with Spock and gets away with it. In “The Man Trap,” she shamelessly flirts with Spock, saying, “Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full.” When Spock says, “Vulcan has no moon,” Uhura quips, “I’m not surprised.” In “Charlie X,” during that jam session, she sings a song implying that Spock is like a hot version of Satan. In both instances, Spock takes it because he clearly thinks she’s great.

The on-screen connections between Uhura and Spock were mirrored in what Nichols believed was the way Spock was coded as the other. Basically, other than an awkward comment from a space-version of Abraham Lincoln (Lee Bergere) in “The Savage Curtain,” Uhura is not the victim of racism on screen. But Spock is. A lot . Nichols felt that most of the Original Series episodes that dealt with racism directly were the stories written for Spock. “ Star Trek explored storylines concerning his mixed heritage,” Nichols recalled. “[Roddenberry] might have made exactly the same points in writing the same stories with Spock being the human child of a Black parent and a white parent living in the sixties.”

As a Black woman in 1965, Nichols had good reason to roll her eyes at the thought of becoming a TV actor. In 1964, blatant racism had prevented her last guest spot on a TV series from ever airing. Sure, she’d been paid, but nobody had seen her. Over a year before her fateful meeting at Desilu, Nichols had been cast in what would become the final episode of the 1963–1964 military drama The Lieutenant , co-starring with Don Marshall, Gary Lockwood, and Dennis Hopper. The story focused on the racial conflicts between Corporal Devlin (Hopper) and Private Cameron (Marshall), with Lockwood’s titular Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice acting as the de-facto moderator. Nichols played Norma, Cameron’s girlfriend, who consoles him about the racism he faces within the Marines. The Lieutenant was created and produced by Roddenberry, and when NBC and the Pentagon opposed airing an episode about racism in the armed forces, he called the NAACP for an assist. NBC pulled the plug, and the Marines said they’d stop cooperating with the production of the show. “My problem was not the Marine Corps; it was NBC, who turned down [the episode] flat,” Roddenberry said. “I went to the NAACP, and they lowered the boom on NBC.” It didn’t really work. The entire series was canceled, and Roddenberry was righteously furious.

“He was certainly trying to get back at them for what they did to him on The Lieutenant ,” Star Trek writer Judy Burns tells me. “But I don’t think he was out to make a giant statement [with Star Trek ] to begin with. I don’t think he thought about changing the planet or changing racial considerations—although I do think he understood it. And that’s one of the reasons he hired George [Takei] and Nichelle. I think he understood the ramifications. But I also think he was just trying to get a show on the air.”

Like Uhura, the character of Mr. Sulu was barely “a sketch” when Roddenberry offered the role to George Takei. By the time his agent encouraged him to audition for Roddenberry, Takei had already enjoyed an extensive career in TV and film. But right at the start, Takei saw what Nichols saw: a loosely sketched character that he could utterly create, and one that also would give him a steady job. For actors of color in the 1960s, roles bigger than guest spots were just not that common. Pervasive racism in casting remains crushingly prevalent in Hollywood today, but there’s no question that it was much worse in 1965. So when Roddenberry told Takei that the part of Sulu wasn’t completely defined, Takei wasn’t offended—he was pumped. “This producer [Roddenberry] was sheepishly apologizing for the best opportunity I had yet come across. . . as sketched already, this character was a breakthrough role for Asian Americans,” he said.

During the filming of “The Naked Time,” Takei pushed back on explicitly depicting Sulu as having exclusively Japanese interests. When the writer of “The Naked Time,” John D. F. Black, initially wrote the script, his idea was that Sulu would lose his mind and run around the ship swinging a Samurai sword. Takei liked the idea, and Sulu famously runs around the Enterprise shirtless, swinging a sword. But in the final episode, it’s not a Samurai sword—it’s a fencing foil, a change we owe to Takei. “Sulu is a twenty-third-century guy. He would see his heritage as much broader and larger than just ethnically confined,” he explained in 2020 in an interview with Wil Wheaton. “I didn’t play Samurai as a kid. I played Robin Hood.” Sulu, as conceived by Takei, was a futuristic swashbuckler, endearing himself to everyone in those famous sword-swinging scenes. Spock, in a rare backhanded joke, refers to Sulu as “D’Artagnan,” adding to the myriad layers of multicultural references. When I asked Takei why Sulu didn’t go shirtless more often in Star Trek , he laughed and said, “I don’t know, but I think we all know people wanted to see more of it.”

Although Roddenberry is lauded for casting Nichols and Takei in the roles of Uhura and Sulu, his first attempt at Star Trek —1964’s rejected pilot episode, “The Cage”— wasn’t populated by any people of color, even as background characters. Infamously, NBC didn’t like that first-draft version of Star Trek , and miraculously, Roddenberry (along with Desilu Studios) was given another chance. And yet, if “The Cage” had been accepted, and that whitebread Star Trek had been picked up for a series run, would Roddenberry have still thought to bring on a more diverse cast? His motivations for pushing for representation seem laudable enough; after all, Roddenberry pushed for diversity on The Lieutenant. But it’s still more than a little odd that the first filmed pilot of Star Trek (“The Cage”) wasn’t remotely progressive in terms of diversity. And even by the second pilot (“Where No Man Has Gone Before”), Uhura’s not there yet, and Sulu is oddly not the guy flying the ship; instead, he’s a physicist and seems more like a consultant for Spock than a starship pilot. In terms of filming order, Uhura doesn’t appear until the third episode of Star Trek produced, “The Corbomite Maneuver,” an episode that nobody thinks of as the real pilot episode to the ‘60s Star Trek , but totally should. If you’re confused, it’s understandable. “The Corbomite Maneuver” aired tenth and is still considered the tenth episode of the classic show.

“The Corbomite Maneuver” is also the first episode with Bones (DeForest Kelley), and the third attempt at codifying the actual cast of the series. Uhura appears for the first time in this episode, wearing yellow instead of the red dress with which we’d come to associate her. We tend to think of Star Trek: The Original Series as repping for diversity right out of the gate, but the truth is, the progressive notion of the Vulcan philosophy “infinite diversity in infinite combinations”seems to be a bit retroactive, and, perhaps borne of necessity. Accurately, Star Trek is often lauded for presenting a multiracial crew working together in a distant future without any signs of racism. And yet, there are no documents in the series bible indicating that the original Star Trek would have a political philosophy of racial and gender diversity.

An early bible for the series describes it as “action-adventure” in which characters visit worlds with a “similar social evolution as our own.” On the business side, the progressive political philosophy was not a stated goal of Star Trek , but it was a result. By 1968, two years after the show was on the air, Roddenberry’s more forward-thinking version of the series had taken shape, at least in the interviews he gave. “Intolerance in the twenty-third century? Improbable!” he said in 1968. “If man survives that long, he will have learned to take delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures... this is part of the optimism we built into Star Trek .” Roddenberry was clearly serious about what he believed, but he wasn’t consistent. In fact, the first Black actor who worked on Star Trek —Lloyd Haynes, who played Lieutenant Alden in the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”—was fired by Roddenberry, who said he was “bored” with the character. Eventually, Roddenberry replaced Alden with Nichols. Some of the Trek faithful have deified Roddenberry as a great progressive ideologue pushing for diversity and representation in Star Trek, and breaking boundaries as a result. They’re not wrong. Roddenberry clearly cared about these things, but it didn’t always come from an ideologically pure place, as Nichols revealed in 1994, when she made it clear that she and Roddenberry had had an affair before she was cast in Star Trek . In both TV Guide and in her memoir, Nichols recalled that “[the] relationship was long over before Star Trek .” But something else Nichols makes clear is that she was in control of Gene Roddenberry, not the other way around.

There are many ways to look at Roddenberry. Was “the Great Bird of the Galaxy” an early social justice crusader who just happened to be a TV producer? Was he a half-assed humanist sci-fi philosopher? Like many pivotal historical figures, Roddenberry can’t be defined by just one trait. His creation of the idealistic United Federation of Planets sometimes feels as important as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As an American, I’m thankful that George Washington existed, but I’m also aware that George Washington wasn’t the greatest person. Roddenberry wasn’t as bad as all that, but you can see where this is going. He was the founding father of the science fiction country of dreams called Star Trek . In creating Star Trek , Roddenberry unwittingly created a new art form, one spanning several types of media that will likely last for at least a hundred years. He was also a deeply flawed and sometimes problematic human being. But when it came to building the humanitarian ethics of Star Trek ’s progressive future, Roddenberry wasn’t the only founding father of Trek . If Roddenberry is the George Washington in the saga of Star Trek ’s early days, then the Alexander Hamilton is another Gene— Gene L. Coon.

“Gene Coon had more to do with the infusion of life into Star Trek than any other single person,” Shatner said in 1991, shortly after Roddenberry’s death. Shatner isn’t alone in his praise for the Other Gene. Influential Star Trek writer and script editor Dorothy Fontana called Coon “half of Star Trek ’s Genes.” Russell Bates, Coon’s protegé and a writer for Star Trek: The Animated Series, said, “Coon was like Nikola Tesla. He wasn’t interested in credit.”

Like Roddenberry, Coon was an ex-cop and an ex-pilot who had turned to TV writing. Both men shared liberal-leaning views and desperately wanted to distance themselves from their racist fathers. When Roddenberry hired Coon as the show’s new story editor, he became the equivalent of what we would today call a showrunner. Coon was a fast writer and rewriter; like the Beatles playing all-night shows in Hamburg, totally high on pills, some of Coon’s speed at the typewriter was the result of taking speed. Ande Richardson, Coon’s secretary, recalled buying “jars of amphetamines” for her boss. According to her, Coon would stay up all night writing, and she would go out all night dancing. Richardson has been called “the real Uhura” insofar as she was a Black woman who worked on Star Trek . Before her gig with Coon, she had worked with both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and said that “working with Gene [Coon] was as normal as working with them.” In 2016, she commented that she put Coon in the same category as Malcolm X and MLK. But not Roddenberry. In 1969, Richardson attended the wedding of Roddenberry and Majel Barrett (“the First Lady of Star Trek ”), but maintained that Coon “was my heart.” Richardson encouraged Coon to attend Black Panther rallies, too, which she and others credit with the development of Star Trek ’s moral and ethical tone. “We would talk about politics. . . and then I would see all of that in Star Trek, ” she said. The so-called noble purpose of Star Trek can be attributed to Roddenberry as the creator, but for most of the people who were there, the execution of that purpose came from Coon.

In the twenty-sixth episode of Star Trek ’s first season, “Errand of Mercy,” Coon created the Klingons and promptly turned the story into an antiwar parable. If you’ve never seen Star Trek before and you’re watching the classic shows in order, getting to “Errand of Mercy” will blow your mind. The war with the Klingons is coming. You can feel that the show is about to change. And then. . . the episode isn’t about turning Star Trek into Star Wars , because “Errand of Mercy” is all about aliens telling us to stop blowing each other up with ray guns—or, in this case, Kirk and Spock’s homemade bombs.

The strength of “Errand of Mercy” and several of Coon’s other episodes is a flourish reminiscent of The Day the Earth Stood Still. You look at the movie poster for The Day the Earth Stood Still , and you think it’s about a flying saucer and an invading robot coming to destroy the world à la War of the Worlds . But the movie is really about an alien demanding that Earth disarm, or else. (Appropriately, the 2022 series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds literally opens with Captain Pike watching The Day the Earth Stood Still , which he calls “a classic.”)

Essentially, the number one rule of Star Trek is that the good guys out there boldly going are not racist colonizers. Starfleet doesn’t displace alien cultures in favor of humanity’s bold expansion. If it’s not appropriate and the time isn’t right, Starfleet avoids first contact with aliens and lets the planet evolve at its own pace. It’s called the Prime Directive, and it was invented by Coon. Basically, Coon invented a rule for the United Federation of Planets that was the opposite of colonial racism. If the Prime Directive existed in real life, would Indigenous peoples globally still have their land? Would the transatlantic slave trade or apartheid have been prevented altogether?

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“What made the show compelling was the metaphors,” Takei told me in 2016. “We dealt with the Civil Rights movement while it was happening in the ’60s. There were some obvious ones. People with faces with black on one side, and white on the other.” Takei refers to the third-season episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” (co-written by Coon under the pen name Lee Cronin), in which the crew meets two aliens from the planet Cheron—Lokai (Lou Antonio) and Bele (Frank Gorshin)—each with faces like the ones Takei describes. Although the crew is baffled at first, Commissioner Bele reveals that he is from the population of Cherons who are “black on the right side,” while Lokai is descended from an “inferior breed” of people who are “white on the right side.” This sounds silly, and it mostly is. But the heart of classic Star Trek is very much in the right place here. Spock, the victim of racism both veiled and obvious, makes the case that it doesn’t matter what colors appear on either side of anyone’s face: “The obvious visual evidence, Commissioner, is that he is of the same breed as yourself.” This isn’t to say that the episode pushes for any “color blindness,” because the Enterprise crew largely sympathizes with Lokai, the renegade from an oppressed racial group. Even in this simplistic allegory, Star Trek points out that there are oppressors and victims.

In “Balance of Terror,” the crew learns that their deadly enemies, the Romulans, look exactly like Vulcans. One crew member, Lieutenant Stiles (Paul Comi), whose ancestors fought in a war against the Romulans a hundred years before, immediately suggests that Spock is a spy for the Romulans because he has pointed ears. Before the racism boils over into paranoia, Kirk grabs Stiles’ chair, spins him around, and shouts, “Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There’s no room for it on the bridge.” In “Space Seed,” Spock notes that “insufficient facts always invite danger.” Time and time again, Star Trek presents an information gap—what we would call fake news—as the source of racism, war, and death. In “Day of the Dove,” Chekov is convinced he suffered a family atrocity that never occurred—the death of a brother that Sulu points out never existed. In Coon’s “Devil in the Dark,” Federation miners are determined to kill a Horta before it kills them, all before Spock learns that the Horta is a mother protecting her unborn baby Hortas. Unlike on our own planet, Spock can “mind-meld” with other people and life forms, which in the case of the mother Horta means that he cries out (“PAIN!”), experiencing her anguish as though it were happening to him.

“There are so many people in pain, in real life. And they are living lives of quiet desperation,” Walter Koenig, who famously played the young Russian navigator Mr. Chekov, tells me over the phone. “So that anger can boil to the top, and they’re looking for avenues to express it. We’re not genetically predetermined to hate, but as a consequence of circumstances, angry people can embrace [the] culture of hate and misinformation, and then you’ve got people breaking windows and storming the Capitol.”

If someone had never seen an episode of Star Trek before, having them watch only “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” or “Day of the Dove” could convince them that this show was just a series of heavy-handed old-timey after-school specials written by white people on drugs. Which, through a certain microscope, is exactly what ’60s Star Trek was. But the power of classic Trek ’s diversity politics can be easily misunderstood if you try to pick out one great episode. For Takei, it’s all about metaphors, but Walter Koenig thinks the representation itself was more impactful than specific plotlines. “I think more than any story that we told, it was more about those seven faces on the bridge,” Koenig tells me. “A Japanese American. An African American. The Russian, there, while the Iron Curtain was in place. Some stories we told were just action stories. Some had something to say about humanity. But the fact that we saw those faces every week—I think that was settled into our consciousness simply by the fact that we saw them.”

But because it was a network television show, Star Trek made a lot of compromises to keep going. If a script was going to be shortened, or a scene cut, the first characters to lose lines or moments were always Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. “We were the moveable furniture,” Koenig said. Nichols recalled that while the studio was giving “lip service” to the idea of racial equality, people of color were still not given equal time on the show. Other Black characters appeared only in a handful of episodes, like a second doctor who works on the Enterprise, Dr. M’Benga, played by Booker Bradshaw in just two episodes: “A Private Little War” and “That Which Survives.” Seemingly, M’Benga is not only as good as Bones but in many ways better. In the 2022 series Strange New Worlds , M’Benga is now played by Babs Olusanmokun as a series regular. But why wasn’t M’Benga in more episodes of The Original Series ? M’Benga isn’t killed off or anything. Booker Bradshaw simply wasn’t featured as much as other actors who weren’t Black.

Contrary to popular myth, racist viewers did not mount a letter-writing campaign to remove Nichols from the show. Instead, the racism came from within—from, as Nichols wrote, “the studio’s front office,” which perceived that white audiences weren’t ready to see more of Uhura. The paper trail, though, reflects the simple fact that viewers liked her more than the studio or the network.

In “The Naked Time,” when Sulu is running around with his shirt off, he grabs Uhura and says, “I’ll protect you, fair maiden!” Without missing a beat, Uhura says, “Sorry, neither!” She’s neither fair nor is she a virginal maiden. It’s a line that you can almost miss the first time you hear it, but it’s suggestive of the larger potential of underused characters on the classic Star Trek , and Uhura in particular. “Sorry, neither” is the real Uhura talking—the unheard Uhura, the Uhura who had better storylines written for her that we never got to see because of pervasive racism and fear. Women are not automatically “fair,” and they’re not automatically good people because of patriarchal standards. It’s one line from an iconic character who pushes back against systematic white supremacy. The word “fair” also reinforces oppressive standards of beauty derived from racist viewpoints. Uhura’s rejection of the label “fair maiden” rejects systematic racism and entrenched sexism, too. By the end of the first season in early 1967, fed up with prewritten scripts, harassment, and open racism, Nichols didn’t just think about quitting Star Trek —she quit outright. Roddenberry begged her not to leave, but she was done. The night after her resignation from Star Trek , Nichols attended “an important NAACP fundraising event.” At one point, she was asked to do a meet-and-greet with someone who was a self-professed Star Trek fan. That fan turned out to be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When King met Nichols, he said that he and his daughters “adored” Uhura and that they watched the show “faithfully.” Nichols then gave him the bad news that she had quit. King told her that she couldn’t and begged her to reconsider. “Remember, you are not important there in spite of your color,” he said. “You are important there because of your color.” A week later, Nichols returned to Star Trek .

Phasers on Stun!: How the Making (and Remaking) of Star Trek Changed the World

Did Martin Luther King Jr. really love Star Trek as much as Nichols, Roddenberry, and the rest of us have been told? When it comes to projecting optimism about the future and anti-racist attitudes, the Trek franchise is a full-time PR machine for itself, which occasionally means the uglier bits of that progress are overlooked.

“Uhura’s role in hindsight reads like tokenism, technically,” writer and scholar Syreeta McFadden tells me. McFadden is a contemporary critic known for her writing on race and pop culture and is perhaps most famous for her essay “Teaching the Camera to See My Skin,” in which she elucidates the racist history of film technology. Specifically, the notion that Kodak and other film companies calibrated their film to favor white skin. Interestingly, Nichols notes that in the early days of Trek conventions, she’d occasionally meet a fan who had only ever seen the show on black-and-white TV, and thus was unaware that she was Black.

“She and the others were set pieces. Sure, it was groundbreaking, but it was kitschy groundbreaking,” McFadden explains. “What matters more is the timing. Coming at the end of the Civil Rights movement in the ’60s, having that visibility was big. I’m not sure MLK believed Star Trek was a great show, but compared to what was out there, it was the only thing on mainstream TV that was friendly to representing different races and gender identities.”

The classic Star Trek will always have a tenuous place in the history of racism and pop culture. On the one hand, it was light years ahead of its time. On the other hand, there are dudes painted half-white, and half-black, and the messaging is ham-fisted and sometimes racist. Star Trek was considered feminist at the time it was made, but the “strong” roles for women that Roddenberry promised are few and far between.

What Star Trek was in the ’60s and what it came to represent aren’t the same. Was it a progressive anti-racist show conceived by a visionary humanist? Or was it a populist action-adventure show that conveniently had a moral and political conscience? As Uhura might say, the answer is clearly: Sorry, neither! When it comes to diversity and representation, the holistic intention of the original Star Trek is hard to pinpoint, partly because we'll always be looking at it from the perspective of improvement. Competing intentions show the history of Trek ’s early representation as filled with contradictions. But then again, Scotty needed contradictory elements to power the Enterprise, too. Without matter and antimatter banging against each other, the Enterprise would never fly.

Adapted from the book PHASERS ON STUN! by Ryan Britt, to be published on 5/31/2022 by Plume, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2022 by Ryan Britt.

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The Best Order To Watch Star Trek: Discovery's Complete Saga

Justin hartley’s tracker season 2 gets an exciting update after its record-breaking debut season, the acolyte episode 7's ending finally shows what would turn jedi into liars.

Though the show has scored rave reviews,  Star Trek: Discovery   has been met with racist backlash over the years and a producer is speaking out against the hate received. Created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, the series initially acts as a prequel to the original  Star Trek  series and centers on Michael Burnham, a rebellious human scientist who was raised by the Vulcan Sarek, making her the adopted sister of Spock.  Star Trek: Discovery  chronicles her journey aboard the titular starship as she accidentally initiates a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire , which she later helps stop, and later travel to the future and must find a way to rebuild the Federation after the cataclysmic event The Burn.

The Walking Dead  alum Sonequa Martin-Green leads the cast of  Star Trek: Discovery  as Burnham alongside Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Jason Isaacs, Wilson Cruz, Anson Mount, David Ajala and Tig Notaro. Initially airing on CBS All Access before its Paramount+ rebranding, the series has received generally positive reviews from critics for its production values and performances from its cast, namely Martin-Green, though its attempts to align with  Star Trek  continuity was met with mixed reviews in its first two seasons. Recent seasons of  Star Trek: Discovery   has scored rave reviews for pushing the show past its continuity issues and to a more heartfelt take on the franchise.

Related:  Burnham's Discovery Season 5 Promise Can Recreate Star Trek's Original Plan

In a recent roundtable hosted by  The Hollywood Reporter , Jenny Lumet addressed  Star Trek: Discovery 's racist backlash received in season 1 of the show. The producer condemned the hate mail sent in to the team directed at stars Yeoh and Martin-Green and pointing out the absurdity of what was being said against them. See what Lumet said below:

"In the premiere of Discovery, we had Michelle Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green on a planet walking around. The hate mail! 'There are no Black people or Asian people in space!' Yeah, I know. It’s tricky. 'There’s the blue guy over there and a tentacle guy over there, but Michelle Yeoh? What the f--k is she doing there?' (laughs)"

Even prior to  Discovery , the  Star Trek  franchise has seen its fair share of racist backlash throughout the years going all the way back to the original series. Creator Gene Roddenberry made a legacy for himself by exploring social issues of '60s America in the original  Star Trek  show, notably racism, with the series memorably including one of the earliest instances of a scripted interracial kiss between characters.  Star Trek: Discovery  itself has taken the franchise in a number of landmark directions with its diverse cast, including Anthony Rapp's character being the first  Star Trek  character to be conceived as gay and having a relationship with Wilson Cruz's Hugh Culber while Blu del Barrio joined season 3 as the first non-binary character in the franchise.

Star Trek: Discovery  isn't the only major sci-fi franchise to receive racist backlash, with the  Star Wars  franchise infamously seeing stars John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Moses Ingram and others being harassed by toxic fans. Those at Lucasfilm have only recently begun speaking out against the racist hate directed towards Tran and Ingram, defending the actress' and condemning the backlash, which has been met with some positive reception for the studio finally stepping up while others feel they took too long to address the matter. With  Star Trek: Discovery  season 5 now filming and the  Star Wars  franchise continuing to grow, one can hope the toxic side of both fanbases become minimal in the near future.

More:  Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Cast & New Character Guide

Source: THR

• Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

Revisiting Star Trek ’s Most Political Episode

In 1995, the Deep Space Nine installment “Past Tense” stood out for its realistic, near-future vision of racism and economic injustice.

“It’s not that they don’t care. It’s that they’ve given up.” This was how Commanding Officer Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, described early 21st-century Americans in an episode from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. When it aired in 1995, “Past Tense” spoke to contemporary concerns about homelessness by telling a story set in 2024—the near future for viewers, but the distant past for characters. In the two-part episode, Sisko and two of his companions from the U.S.S. Defiant find themselves stranded in San Francisco, where they’re reminded that the federal government had once set up a series of so-called “Sanctuary Districts” in a nationwide effort to seal off homeless Americans from the general population. Stuck in 2024, Sisko, who is black—along with his North African crewmate Dr. Julian Bashir and the fair-skinned operations officer Jadzia Dax—must contend with unfamiliar racism, classism, violence, and Americans’ apparent apathy toward human suffering.

The Star Trek franchise has, for 51 years, told plenty of stories about the political and social ills of American society. Deep Space Nine , which ran from 1993 to 1999, was no different. Set on an outpost for the peaceful United Federation of Planets’s defense and exploratory service known as Starfleet, Deep Space Nine tackled subjects such as terrorism, imperialism, and the limits of democracy during crisis. It was also the first Trek series to feature an African American commanding officer—a legacy that has been continued in CBS’s recently debuted reboot Star Trek: Discovery , which stars Sonequa Martin-Green as the show’s first black female lead.

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The kind of storytelling Discovery is hanging its hat on, with flawed characters, multi-episode story-arcs, and a grittier outlook, was pioneered (for Star Trek at least) with Deep Space Nine. With Sisko at the helm, the series also introduced new concerns about race, family (Sisko was a widower and a loving father to his son, Jake), and what it means to be the representative of a far-away government on the (final) frontier. Looking back today, “Past Tense” still stands out for its surprisingly realistic, near-future vision of racism and economic injustice. And unlike the typically optimistic characters that occupy most of Star Trek , in “Past Tense” the people of 2024 are beaten down, exhausted, and weary of their world.

In science fiction, it’s common for the problems of the human condition to be addressed through allegory. Star Trek did this regularly. Throughout the series, aliens would stand in for different elements of an all-too-familiar debate about race, class, or gender. For example, the 1969 Trek episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” tries to make a point about the absurdity of racism—via a ham-fisted story about an alien population that’s divided between individuals whose faces are half-white and half-black, and those who have the color scheme reversed. The allegory was obvious, but it elided the complexity of how racist societies operate.

“Past Tense” aired 26 years later, in the third season of Deep Space Nine . Combining a searing look at homelessness with an indictment of America’s refusal to tackle the crisis head-on, it was arguably the most straightforwardly political story Star Trek ever told. It dispensed with clumsy metaphors to examine public health and mental illness; it also confronted the effects of the country’s waning optimism following Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society,” a series of domestic programs meant to end poverty and inequality in the ’60s. The script was also written and produced only two years after the Los Angeles Riots, which clearly influenced the story. The episode could perhaps have dug even deeper into its critique of bigotry. Still, “Past Tense” was notable for depicting racism not from the perspective of a well-meaning white liberal, as seen in previous iterations of Star Trek , but through the eyes of people of color directly threatened by violence and indifference.

Seeing the main characters thrust from the relative comforts of the 24th century into the despair of the 21st is jarring. Sisko and Bashir end up in a Sanctuary District, lacking the necessary identification cards to keep them from being rounded up by the local authorities. Dax, a member of the alien Trill species who looks like a young white woman, is lucky enough to be found by a wealthy member of the media who gives her new clothes and food, and makes her part of upper-crust San Francisco society. Bashir’s incredulousness at the plight of people in the Sanctuary Districts is meant to reflect the viewer’s outrage. “Why are these people in here? Are they criminals?” he asks Commander Sisko, who replies, “They’re just people without jobs or places to live.” The district’s inhabitants come from a variety of backgrounds, a reminder of how poverty cuts across race, gender, and age. What everyone there has in common—whether they are homeless, law enforcement, or an administrator—is anger at how the U.S. government has left them behind.

Where Bashir condemns American society, Sisko tells the doctor that, as Starfleet officers, they should have a longer view of history. According to Sisko—an expert on the 21st century—the social upheaval in San Francisco’s Sanctuary District plays a major role in triggering an event that will prove transformative for the country. The homelessness crisis leads to what will be known as “the Bell Riots,” named after its primary historical protagonist, Gabriel Bell, an African American man who dies in the clashes and becomes a national hero. The riots and their aftermath spur humans to become the kind of species that will, by 2161, form the enlightened United Federation of Planets.

Bell’s race gives the two-parter an eerie realism. His almost sacrificial death recalls pivotal moments in U.S. history when black Americans died violently and spurred others to ensure the nation lived up to its lofty ideals. The modern Black Lives Matter movement emerged following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin and gained wider prominence after the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. sparked the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. A bombing that killed four little African American girls in Birmingham, Alabama, at the height of the civil rights movement galvanized public opinion against Southern segregation.

In “Past Tense,” things are complicated when Bell dies, ironically, trying to save Sisko and Bashir from a group of muggers within the Sanctuary District. Sisko takes on Bell’s name, knowing that his comrades’ unplanned presence in 2024 San Francisco risks damaging the larger timeline unless they can recreate the events of the riot. Because official records show that Bell died in the chaos, Sisko grimly concludes that he must take on that same task—for the sake of humanity and the Federation.

The episode’s emphasis on history is crucial. In every iteration of Trek, the captain has a special appreciation for the past. Captain James T. Kirk adored Abraham Lincoln. Jean-Luc Picard ( The Next Generation ) spoke fondly of the greatness of both France and his own family. Kathryn Janeway ( Voyager ) would, at times, reflect movingly on the progress women made on Earth. Captain Jonathan Archer’s own father ( Enterprise ) was a critical part of Earth’s early attempts in the 22nd century to advance warp travel. But for Sisko, a native of New Orleans, history spoke with a powerful, notably African American voice. Unlike the uplifting accounts other captains pointed to, Sisko indicated that he remembered humanity’s more vicious moments, too.

Sisko’s recollections of his family often included meditations on discrimination. In Season 7’s “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,” Sisko would refuse to participate in a holographic program set in 1962 Las Vegas due to its fanciful obliviousness of racial issues in that period. (“We cannot ignore the truth about the past,” Sisko insists.) In “Past Tense,” he immediately understands the significance of the Bell Riots, and is even willing to give his life to make sure history continues as it should. Because Sisko takes charge in the crisis, the previously belligerent security guards are willing to let him escape and to tell the world that “Gabriel Bell” died in the uprising. The Federation is saved, and the 21st and 24th centuries are saved. Nonetheless, Sisko, Bashir, and Dax are all profoundly shaken by the world that they’ve lived in for only a few days.

The creators of “Past Tense” confronted the story’s real-world analogues as they filmed it. Ira Steven Behr, one of the episode’s writers, recalled reading a Los Angeles Times report on then-Mayor Richard Riordan’s push to have the city’s homeless moved to enclosed spaces, both for their sake and for the benefit of local businesses. Behr also acknowledged the episode’s implicit racial commentary, noting for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion book that Sisko and Bashir—being people of color—were treated more harshly than Dax. He also recoiled from criticism that the two-parter was too one-sided in its portrayal of a country dealing with homelessness, telling Star Trek Monthly magazine in 1996 that, “People are still even writing that we only presented ‘one side’ in ‘Past Tense’ and that we should have presented ‘both sides’ and not just the ‘liberal’ point of view—and I’m still trying to think what that means.”

Watching from 2017, it would be easy and somewhat trite to say that the Trek writers “predicted” a divided America that seems to have forgotten its history— of slavery , of segregation , and of the hard work done to ease inequality in its many forms. But the final lines of “Past Tense” should serve as both a testament to the power of science fiction, and to how even the usually optimistic Star Trek was unsure of the near future. Bashir asks Sisko, “How could they have let things get so bad?” Sisko responds, “That’s a good question. I wish I had an answer.”

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Published Jun 19, 2023

Star Trek Can Teach You to Be a Better Ally

Here's how.

StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart

A recent open letter written by Miranda D., published by Women at Warp , highlighted the racism that exists inside the Star Trek community. Having been insulted and made to feel unwelcome by those that have determined what a true Star Trek fan is and what they look like, the author writes that the Star Trek community needs to do better in making the spaces available for all Trekkies.

Star Trek 's ethos is in the celebration of the diversity of people and using those differences between them to help build a better tomorrow. As Gene Roddenberry once said, in the future, we will “take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms.” As racism stands in stark contrast to the central tenants of Star Trek 's philosophy, it appears that some have turned away from the lessons it has taught us.

StarTrek.com

Like no other franchise, Star Trek speaks to the optimist within all of us and lets us believe that the future portrayed on-screen is within our reach; yet, that future will be out of reach if we allow racism to remain unchecked.

With that in mind, I have put together a list of things that Star Trek can teach fans, including myself, about being better anti-racist allies.

1. Take on the Struggle as Your Own

There is no middle ground to racism. If we are silent on the matter of the mistreatment of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) fans, then we're contributing to the problem. This is something that Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise -E realized in Star Trek IX: Insurrection when Starfleet worked with the Son'a to forcibly relocate the Ba'ku. Although this problem was never going to impact Picard and the crew, they realized that by staying silent, they were legitimizing the actions of Starfleet, thereby contributing to the problem. By taking the struggle on as their own, they lent their strength, privilege, and experience to a group of people who needed it.

2. Stand Up for Those Being Unfairly Targeted

When white people are witness to racism and discrimination, we often fail to respond, and this lack of response contributes to the normalization of racism in our world. Speaking out against racist and discriminatory behavior is essential as racism has a cost for all of us. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' s “ Far Beyond the Stars ” details what happens when no one is willing to stand up for Benny Russell. In it, we see the marginalization of a Black man, a talented author, who is sidelined and disregarded for no other reason than the color of his skin. Our duty, therefore, is to prevent these acts of marginalization from happening by standing up and speaking out when we see them — even if it makes us feel uncomfortable to do so.

3. Transfer the Benefits of Your Privilege to Those Who Lack It

BIPOC voices have been suppressed and erased from the mainstream cultural narrative due to the deep-rooted racism that stacks the system against them, making it vital for white people to use the benefits reaped from their privilege to support those who don't have the same opportunities. Following Captain Janeway's example in “ Author, Author ,” we can help protect the rights of BIPOC content creators in the community by calling out misuse of their creations and ensuring that, as Janeway did for the Doctor, ownership is kept in the hands of the creator.

4. Decenter Yourself from the Conversation

Talking about racism isn't easy, but living it daily is harder; so leaving our egos at the door when discussing race and our behavior is essential. During the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , Kirk is forced to come to this realization when he discovers that his ill feelings towards the Klingons are not helping to build peace and stability within the Alpha Quadrant. Through a process of self-reflection and experience, Kirk manages to decenter himself from the conversation and help bring about the Khitomer Accords as a consequence.

5. Break Away from the Positive Optics of Allyship

Performing surface-level allyship — such as tweeting #BlackLivesMatter —  does not help dismantle the root cause of racism. If we take lessons from Kolos, Enterprise ’s Klingon legal defense advocate in “ Judgment ,” we see how it is possible to work on reforming racist systems and changing unintentionally racist behavior from the positions that uphold the systems and institutions that discriminate. Although Kolos's actions exacted a heavy personal cost for him, his actions did help to change the conversation and move the Klingon justice system a step closer to reform.

6. Take Responsibility for Your Education

Within the Star Trek universe, we have seen multiple examples of characters educating themselves to better understand the situations that face them. From Sergey and Helena Rozhenko learning Klingon culture and cuisine to help them raise their adopted son Worf, to Commander Sisko learning about Bajoran culture and history to better perform his role as Emissary to the Prophets, one commonality is clear — They took responsibility for their own education. They did not place the burden of education on the shoulders of those being oppressed; instead, Sisko, the Rozhenkos, and countless others in the Star Trek universe sought out their resources and experiences. With the sheer volume of free information available online, educating ourselves is something that can and should be done by all of us.

At its heart, Star Trek champions inclusivity, and all of us can do better to help make our community kinder and more welcoming.

Star Trek Supports Black Lives Matter

This article was originally published on June 25, 2020.

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Amelia Kovac (she/her) is the pseudonym of a teacher, writer, and Trekkie currently based in Spain. Find her on Twitter @KovacAmelia.

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Star Trek and human rights Star Trek and human rights

Sci-fi stories about real-world challenges: war, refugees, and facing the legacy of the past

By Alana Conway and Murray Leeder Published: October 22, 2020

• Civil and political rights

Photo: CBS Television Studios

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Movies and television can be powerful ways to encounter and reflect on human rights issues. Star Trek has offered an intelligent, socially conscious approach to science fiction since it debuted in 1966. The franchise has evolved over the decades, taking on different issues and perspectives as times have changed.

Current Star Trek series feature complex, nuanced perspectives on important human rights matters. Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard both tackle issues such as genocide, refugees and how we can face the troubling aspects of our institutions and history.

The original  Star Trek  television series dealt with many issues of its time, including war, class and racism. Its treatment of human rights issues could be inconsistent – the series was frequently sexist – but its legacy of compassionate storytelling and thoughtful themes have echoed through the subsequent 50 years. Many  Star Trek  series and movies present an optimistic tone. They show a future where humanity has outgrown its warlike ways to take its place in the stars as a beacon of morality.

In this vision of the future, humans are a valued part of the multi‐species United Federation of Planets, and the upstanding institution of Starfleet is responsible for exploration and peacekeeping. More recent series, including  Discovery  (2017‐) and  Picard  (2020‐), also deal with pressing contemporary issues, particularly migrancy and the treatment of refugees. They have a darker tone, however, and take a more complex perspective on the role of institutions such as Starfleet. 

Fans set a Guinness World Record for “largest gathering of people dressed as Star Trek characters” at the 11th Annual Official Star Trek Convention in 2012. The Star Trek series and movies have inspired a famously dedicated fan culture.

Migrancy and refugees

War, famine, and other large‐scale international crises have led to mass migration and caused large numbers of people to become refugees in the past decade. This has made migrancy a highly visible and urgent human rights issue worldwide. Some recent migrant and refugee situations of note include:

• The European migration and refugee crisis starting in 2014.
• Australia’s inhumane offshore detention of asylum seekers .
• The ongoing Rohingya refugee emergency  that became internationally known in 2017.
• The humanitarian crisis at the US‐Mexico border and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol detention facilities in the US .

The effects of international migration are felt globally. In 2019, the number of international migrants worldwide was almost 272 million: about 3.5% of the world’s population. In 2018, the global refugee population alone was nearly 26 million. 1 Reflecting the importance of migration in the world today, a large majority of United Nations member states endorsed two non‐binding global agreements in 2018. One ( The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration ) addresses international migration and the other ( The Global Compact on Refugees ) addresses refugees.

Migration, in some form or another, is a universal human experience. It transcends present‐day cultural and national borders and has shaped the modern world. But migrants and refugees remain vulnerable to human rights violations throughout their journey.

Commander Saru

While Star Trek has occasionally dealt with refugee issues before (notably with the Star Trek: The Next Generation recurring characters Ensign Ro Laren and Guinan, and in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Sanctuary”), it is a prominent theme in the newer series. Discovery includes a refugee character in its regular cast: Commander Saru (Doug Jones). Saru is a Kelpien, a race held in institutional slavery on his home planet by another species, the Ba’ul. “The Brightest Star,” an installment of the short anthology series Short Treks  (2018‐), dramatized his backstory, in which he manages to contact Starfleet and gets a chance to escape, knowing he will likely never return.

Doug Jones and Commander Saru

Doug Jones plays Commander Saru in Star Trek: Discovery.

Commander Saru is a complex character whose back story includes having escaped his home world as a refugee.

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Saru is shown to have adapted admirably to his adopted culture. He has learned 94 Federation languages (despite the existence of a universal translator) and has become a model Starfleet officer. In the episode “The Sound of Thunder,” circumstances compel his return to his home planet. There, he uncovers a conspiracy and helps a revolution that overturns the balance of power. Rather than simply overthrowing the Ba’ul, we are told that a new and more balanced relationship will form between both species. This intriguing process happens offscreen, however, and will hopefully be picked up and explored in more detail in future episodes.

We see an even more thorough exploration of the causes and consequences of migrancy for refugees on  Picard . The series backstory involves a natural disaster that devastated the Romulan Empire. Starfleet’s mishandling of the ensuing refugee crisis led Picard (Patrick Stewart) to retire in disgust. When we meet him at the beginning of the series, Picard employs two Romulan refugees as his personal staff and is haunted by his failures and those of the Federation. The show presents Picard as an embittered veteran who potentially suffers from PTSD and whose past glories seem distant memories diminished by a paranoid and fragmented world.

The world of ‘Next Generation’ doesn’t exist anymore. It’s different. Nothing is really safe. Nothing is really secure. [3]

Patrick Stewart

Picard clearly evokes historical and contemporary refugee crises in its plot and character development. And in the prequel novel The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack, the Federation organization in charge of refugee issues is even named the United Federation of Planets High Commission on Refugees (UFPHCR), an unsubtle reference to the United Nations’ UNHCR (now known as the UN Refugee Agency). This focus on refugee issues reflects Patrick Stewart’s own outspoken stances about Donald Trump and Brexit. 3  He has also supported refugee aid organizations such as the International Rescue Committee. 4  As an executive producer as well as the star of the show, Stewart insisted that Picard update the worldview of The Next Generation to re‐examine the nature of Starfleet and the Federation. This lets Picard reflect current crises of identity, democracy and human rights.

Patrick Stewart, star and executive producer of Picard, wanted the series to reflect the complexity and challenges of 21st‐century human rights struggles.

Romulans and responsibility

These dynamics come to the fore most dramatically in the episode “Absolute Candor.” Picard revisits the planet Vashti, where he helped resettle hundreds of thousands of Romulan refugees. He is dismayed to discover that circumstances there have disintegrated, and laments, “The poverty, the degradation, the ethnic strife.” At the climax of the episode, Picard, a hated figure among the Romulans living there, walks into a bar marked “Romulans Only.” He rips down the sign and enters the bar, where he is confronted by a former Romulan senator named Tenqem Adrev (Evan Parke). Adrev accuses him of having misled and taken advantage of the Romulan people in their time of crisis and attempts to force Picard into a duel. Picard is saved by another Romulan refugee, the young warrior monk Elnor.

The decision to call off the rescue and to abandon those people we had sworn to save was not just dishonourable; it was downright criminal.

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard,  Picard  Episode 1 “Remembrance”

This scene includes several significant references to human rights issues in our world. Adrev mentions being transported to Vashti on a Wallenberg‐class starship named  Nightingale.  The ship’s name references Florence Nightingale, the British nurse who parlayed the fame she achieved during the Crimean War into social reform initiatives. The name “Wallenberg‐class” refers to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish architect who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust and whose fate remains a mystery to this day. Wallenberg was the first person declared an honorary citizen of Canada. He is recognized in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Honorary Canadians exhibit, and his name graces the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montréal.

As commander of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1994, Roméo Dallaire (second from left) witnessed the genocide against the Tutsi.

The scene may have another resonance for Canadians, however. Jean‐Luc Picard here resembles Canadian General (and later Senator) Roméo Dallaire, and the scenes on Vashti recall the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda that Dallaire witnessed as United Nations peacekeeping force commander. Picard is haunted because his forces had to pull out too quickly and because the Federation failed to support the resettlement of Romulan refugees. This had terrible consequences for the inhabitants of Vashti and for the whole Romulan population.

In the 2004 documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire , Dallaire returns to Rwanda ten years after the genocide. He gives a speech to a packed stadium crowd about how the major world powers, via the United Nations, failed to protect Rwandans during the genocide. He feels personally responsible for failing in his peacekeeping mission in Rwanda and apologizes to those present:

Video: Roméo Dallaire speaks in Rwanda, 2004

In “Absolute Candor,” Picard addressed his failures to the Romulan bystanders in similar terms: “The Federation failed you all. I failed you all. I broke faith with you, and the result was terrible. Pain and loss for you all. And I am sorry.”

Picard also involves two other groups whose plight resonates with the experience of those affected by genocide. One is the “Synths,” advanced androids whose very existence is prohibited under Federation law and who are forced to live a secretive, paranoid existence. The other is former Borg, or “xBs,” individuals liberated from their forced recruitment into the dreaded Borg Collective. In the episode “The Impossible Box,” Picard, himself once forcibly converted into a Borg, reconnects with Hugh, a former Borg who had been introduced on The Next Generation . Hugh is leading a program that helps rehabilitate former Borg, and Picard is amazed at his progress. They have this exchange:

Picard: “After all these years, you're showing what the Borg are underneath. They're victims, not monsters.”

Hugh: “Still, we remain the most hated people in the galaxy.”

The plight of the xBs resembles that of child soldiers or other combatants who have put their violent past behind them but are still in need of careful reintegration into society. All three of these groups (Romulan refugees, the Synths and the xBs) are linked through Picard’s personal journey: all are misunderstood, displaced and in need of protection and support to thrive again.

Institutions and ideals

The recent  Star Trek  series have been much less optimistic in tone and content than is traditional for the franchise. This is most obviously the case with  Picard . The United Federation of Planets has always been a reflection on the United Nations (even their logos are very similar). This new pessimism seems to reflect recent failures of international bodies to effectively address global crises. The two global compacts mentioned above offer an important recognition that the world needs to come together to address international migrancy, but there is still a lack of effective action.

Major challenges include fully funding refugee resettlement programs and migration support systems, upholding the human rights of migrants and refugees, and encouraging meaningful international cooperation instead of isolated nationalism.  Picard , in a change from the optimistic future familiar in earlier  Star Trek  series, shows the Federation as little better than many countries today: it has turned its back on a refugee crisis in favour of pursuing its own interests.

I saw hope in the stars. It was stronger than fear. And I went towards it.

Saru,  Short Treks  Episode 3 “The Brightest Star”

For all this pessimism, it is refreshing to see migration and refugee stories figure centrally in popular series. Characters like Saru offer a well‐rounded examination of a refugee character’s life experiences. His story includes but is not limited to having been displaced from his home world. This reflects the reality that people migrate for many reasons, “including poverty, lack of access to healthcare, education, water, food, housing, and the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change, as well as the more ‘traditional’ drivers of forced displacement such as persecution and conflict.” 6 

Having more understanding and empathy for the lived experiences of these alien characters could inspire audiences to be more welcoming, accepting and empathetic towards refugees and migrants here in the real world. The focus on refugee and migrancy issues in these recent series adds an updated, complex and realistic element to Star Trek ’s longstanding commitment to human rights ideals.

Ask yourself:

Why is science fiction an interesting way to get us thinking about real‐world human rights issues? 

What other kinds of pop culture entertainment deal with human rights? What do they have to say?

What can you do to support migrant, refugee and immigrant communities in your area? 

Alana Conway

Alana Conway is a Research Assistant at the Museum.

Murray Leeder

Murray Leeder is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of English, Film, Theatre and Media at the University of Manitoba. He has written numerous books and articles related to film and media.

• 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, International Migration 2019 .
• 2  “ Doug Jones ,”Genevieve, CC BY‐NC‐ND 2.0
• 3  Holloway, Daniel. ‘Star Trek: Picard’: Patrick Stewart on Why He Returned to the Final Frontier ,  Variety , Jan. 28, 2020.
• 4  International Rescue Committee. Patrick Stewart: Millions of refugees need our help .
• 5  “ Patrick Stewart ,” markbach, CC BY‐NC 2.0 , image cropped from original
• 6 United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Migration and Human Rights .

Suggested citation

Suggested citation : Alana Conway and Murray Leeder. “Star Trek and human rights.” Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Published October 22, 2020. https://humanrights.ca/story/star-trek-and-human-rights

A teacher uses Star Trek for difficult conversations on race and gender

Professor of Art History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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James Smalls does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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The television series Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969) debuted one year after my immediate family and I relocated from the Harlem district of New York City to an area of South Central Los Angeles in 1965.

This was also the year in which that latter metropolis erupted into riots that became known collectively as the Watts Rebellion . The television series became a form of escape from the surroundings of a depressing urban reality and envisioning a more tolerant future.

As it turned out, however, TV was not to be the key to that future. Rather, that entrée would be provided by many subsequent years of formal education that would spark in me an intellectual curiosity about the inner workings of the trek of life – engaging the tangibles of this world as well as the intangibles I imagined to exist beyond the stars.

It was through the arts and humanities that I attempted to grapple with the many intersecting questions I had about things that mattered most to me, such as race, gender and sexuality, as well as technology of the past, present and future.

Fast forward half a century – to where I help my students attempt to make sense of exactly those same relevant, complex questions.

Teaching complex, contemporary issues

After earning a doctoral degree in art history and teaching at the university level for 25 of those intervening years, I have observed a contradiction in the majority of students of this Generation Y: they seem connected and yet very distanced from the overwhelming complexities of the world around them.

The point of connection appears strongest in the area of popular culture. The disconnect, ironically, seems vested in a contemporary (sometimes blind) obsession with technology.

As a historian of art and visual culture by training, I wrestled with how popular culture and technology might be combined in a thought-provoking fashion with difficult and uncomfortable social and personal matters. How might these issues be made important to a student’s contemporary situation, to her or his daily experiences and encounters?

I found part of the answer by traveling back to the 1960s, when difficult social change movements around race ( civil rights, black power ), gender (the women’s movement ) and sexuality ( the gay and lesbian movement ) were in full swing and paralleled the national obsession with technology , the space race and indulgence in popular culture as a way to both escape and liberate ourselves.

The result of my time travel was the creation of a new course for the 21st century entitled “Roaming the Star Trek Universe: Race, Gender, and Alien Sexualities.” The course explores the Star Trek universe of science fiction television as one way to probe critical issues of race, gender and alternate forms of sexuality. The response to the course offering was overwhelming.

But why would students be interested, and why teach such a course in today’s complex world?

Why does it matter?

Certainly, this is not the first nor last course to be taught on Star Trek. However, what makes it different, or at least unusual, is its open-ended interest in the intersecting dynamics of race, gender and varying forms of sexuality.

As a persuasive tool in imagining the possibilities of the future, Star Trek has the power and pull to immerse the individual completely through stories and characters that give meaning and purpose to our collective sense of identity and existence.

For instance, in the original series episode, called “Let that be your last battlefield” (1969), the conflict between two bi-colored humanoids named Lokai and Bele leads to questions of racial and political friction, assigning racial designations and bringing out the tensions of identity politics.

As with real life, there are no pat solutions but many consequences.

The science fiction genre, as part of popular culture, provides a seductive means of examining the intersections of the concerns of race, gender and sexuality in exciting and daring new ways such as, for instance, using Klingons as metaphors for Muslims and Vulcans for Jews.

The linking of past, present and future through subjects such as slavery, racism, colonization, feminism, reproductive technologies, homosexuality/homophobia, spirituality and religious fundamentalism, just to name a few, stimulates critical reexamination of today’s very real problems.

One way to do this, for example, is to ask probing questions so to get students thinking about ways in which interspecies conflicts among humans, Vulcans, Romulans, Klingons, Andorians, Betazoids, Cardassians and Bajorans, to name a few, are portrayed and how they mirror or parallel disagreements between today’s nations, races, genders, religions and classes.

The idea of creating futuristic spaces, places and experiences that are modeled on past and contemporary situations poses questions about the possibility of achieving optimistic futures and the inevitability of being left with pessimistic ones.

Science fiction is about everything

Counter to stereotype, science fiction is not only about the future of technology and science, but encompasses what the writer and educator Thomas Lombardo calls “the future of everything” – the future of society, culture, ethics, the environment, the human mind, races, genders, sex and sexuality.

It is in respect to the complex narratives about thoughts on the future of everything from a variety of perspectives that the Star Trek universe presents a challenge and is overwhelming even when restricted to the intersecting matters of race, gender and sexuality.

Of these three concerns, race is perhaps the most difficult to figure out. There is a constant struggle over what race means, and, in most instances, its definition and significance remain unresolved.

There are a host of characters from the Star Trek universe that speak to the logic and illogic of race, signaling the importance and timeliness of racial matters today.

Characters in the television series who are readily identified by the color of their skin include Uhura, Worf, Geordie Laforge, Guinan, Captain Benjamin Sisko and Tuvok. All of them can teach us something about contrived racial (and gender) categories that also go beyond skin color.

However, in order to think more deeply about race, we also have to look at what the series says about the power of whiteness and its tendency to reinforce racial as well as gender stereotypes.

Captain Kirk of the original series, the Prime Directive, and the United Federation of Planets all come to mind here. Characters such as Mr Spock, B’Elanna Torres, Odo and even Commander Data reference the complexity of ethnicity and racial mixtures disguised as hybrid alien species struggling for identity and a sense of belonging in an extended humanoid and technological universe.

Relevance to our lives today

These issues and the struggles they impose are important because they continue to resonate with us today and have direct bearing on the quality of our lives.

The process of teaching and learning about race, gender and sexuality through science fiction stories and technology in television and film can be challenging and even daunting.

But Star Trek may well be one of the more significant ways (even boldly so) through which to not only teach and learn about the past, the present and the future, but to willfully shape the contours of the latter.

This article is part of a series on unique courses. Tomorrow: A view through the brewing class

• Civil rights
• gay and lesbian movement
• Unique Courses
• What do these courses teach us?

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Racist Star Trek Fans Decry  Discovery ‘s Diversity, Revealing They Know Nothing About Star Trek

When original Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Bryan Fuller and executive producer Heather Kadin were developing the series, they were both adamant about making sure that the show stayed true to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision of social progressiveness and inclusion. But for a vocal contingent of racist “fans,” Discovery’s emphasis on diversity is tantamount to “white genocide.”

There’s nothing particularly new about fandoms hating any sort of deviation from classic franchises, which were historically dominated by white, cisgender heterosexual men. Racist fans take it a step further, by claiming any attempt to rectify unequal representation attacks white men like themselves—e.g. the recent Ghostbusters reboot, Star Wars, basically everything.

https://twitter.com/embed/status/865242388914085888

https://twitter.com/embed/status/865539102392766466

Star Trek Discovery: The only white males are a Vulcan a-hole and a wimpy helmsman. This show appears to be fully SJW converged. — LubertDas (@lubertdas) May 18, 2017

What sets this breed of intolerant Trekkies apart from other types of internet loudmouths, though, is how deeply incorrect their understandings of their beloved franchise’s core concepts are. Star Trek is quite literally about an organization of interstellar explorers who could not do what they do, were it not for the fact that their society is based on interplanetary cooperation and acceptance of one another.

From the very beginning, Star Trek has tried to champion onscreen diversity in ways that other shows like it haven’t. The original series that ran from 1966-1969 was noted for its inclusion of a black woman and a Japanese man, both of whom played substantial roles that didn’t play up to racial stereotypes of the time. Later series like The Next Generation and Deep Space 9 carried on in this tradition by featuring black and female ship captains leading ethnically diverse crews. On the whole, Star Trek hasn’t always succeeded as much as it could have, with regards to representation, but over the decades the series has steadily improved.

When Discovery was first announced, Fuller promised the show would feature a diverse crew composed of people with different ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, and genders, all reflective of the myriad cultures that contribute to Starfleet. The show seems to be fulfilling that promise: of the seven main leads, four of them are men and women of color. It’s also great that the show’s first trailer features First Officer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) so prominently.

For many longtime fans of the Star Trek, Burnham and Georgiou’s introduction was the fulfillment of Roddenberry’s promise that the franchise would literally and narratively boldly go where other television shows had never gone before.

But even beyond mere casting, Star Trek was focused on fostering tolerance and understanding. When you look back at original Star Trek episodes about the crew’s encounters with hostile aliens from another planet, the day was almost invariably saved by Kirk and company figuring out how to see things from their enemy’s perspective, and ultimately trying to work with them .instead of against them. Where fists and phasers failed to solve a problem, understanding and diplomacy prevailed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RGxuU2vtBo

Star Trek has always argued that being able to see past one’s differences from another is the single greatest ability that a person—one that could lead to the creation of a truly fantastic society. Star Trek hasn’t always lived up to that message itself (see: preponderance of white guy captains in the franchise’s history), but Discovery is attempting to make sure that it does.

There will always be those people who tell you that they miss the good old days when women, people of color, and queer people simply weren’t a part of scifi fandoms. Those good old days are a myth. We’ve always been here. The only thing that’s changed is that shows like Star Trek: Discovery aren’t trying to ignore that truth anymore.

And those people who hate Discovery for its inclusivity are too small-minded to realize what they hate is what Star Trek stands for. One of the main reasons the franchise has been so beloved and so successful is because it’s ignored these sorts of cries for intolerance all these years.

Michelle Yeoh Race Star Trek star trek discovery

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Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

• Episode aired Jan 10, 1969

The Enterprise encounters two duo-chromatic and mutually belligerent aliens who put the ship in the middle of their old conflict. The Enterprise encounters two duo-chromatic and mutually belligerent aliens who put the ship in the middle of their old conflict. The Enterprise encounters two duo-chromatic and mutually belligerent aliens who put the ship in the middle of their old conflict.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Oliver Crawford
• Gene L. Coon
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 32 User reviews
• 11 Critic reviews

• Captain James T. Kirk

• Mister Spock

• Nurse Chapel
• Lieutenant Hadley
• (uncredited)
• Enterprise Lieutenant
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia The original story concept did not depict the aliens with bi-colored skin. One was a devil with a tail and the other was an angel. Episode director Jud Taylor came up with the idea of bi-colored skin shortly before the episode began filming. His original suggestion was that they be half-black/half-white, one color from the waist up and the other from the waist down, but each wearing reversed color schemes. The central idea stuck but the colors were finally separated along the vertical axis rather than along the horizontal.
• Goofs Chekov reports that Bele's ship is "out there" while at his station at the helm. The camera shot from behind the helm shows Kirk and crew looking at the display screen appears, Hadley rather than Chekov is at the navigation station. When they cut back to a shot from the front angle as before to show the crew's faces, Chekov is back in his seat and Hadley is in Sulu's position at the helm.

[last lines]

Mr. Spock : [On the bridge, after Lokai and Bele have beamed to the surface of Charon] And another life form has appeared on Cheron.

Uhura : That doesn't make any sense.

Mr. Spock : To expect sense from two mentalities of such extreme view points is not logical.

Sulu : Their planet's dead. Does it matter now which one's right?

Mr. Spock : Not to Lokai and Bele. All that matters to them is their hate.

Uhura : Do you suppose that's all they ever had, sir?

Captain James T. Kirk : No, but that's all they have left. Warp factor two, Mr. Sulu. Set course for Starbase 4.

• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
• Connections Featured in William Shatner's Star Trek Memories (1995)
• Soundtracks Theme Music credited to Alexander Courage Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

User reviews 32

• Feb 16, 2022
• January 10, 1969 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Paramount Television
• Norway Corporation
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 51 minutes

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'Star Trek': Legendary Facts About The Iconic Series That Even The Biggest Fans May Not Know

Posted: July 9, 2024 | Last updated: July 9, 2024

Space, the final frontier. For over three decades, Star Trek has captivated audiences with its bold exploration of the unknown.

From the charismatic Captain Kirk, played by William Shatner, to the logical Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, the original series ran from 1966 to 1969, sparking a devoted following of 'Trekkies' who gather at conventions to celebrate their beloved franchise. Continue reading to learn some little-known facts about the beloved franchise.

Star Trek Had A Captain Before Kirk

The original pilot for Star Trek , featuring Captain Christopher Pike, was rejected by NBC.

Leonard Nimoy's portrayal of Spock was the only character retained for the second pilot, which introduced Captain Kirk, with William Shatner as the lead role. Jeffrey Hunter played the role of Pike in the initial pilot but did not continue with the series.

Spock Almost Had Red Skin

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek , envisioned Spock as a Martian with red skin.

However, due to the lack of color TVs at the show's inception and the hassle of applying red makeup to Leonard Nimoy's skin in every episode, this idea was deemed more trouble than it was worth.

Read More: What The Mouse Doesn't Want You To Know: Backstage Secrets About Working At Disney

The Fanbase Didn't Arrive Until After The Show Ended

While Star Trek aired its first episode in 1966, the fanbase and Trekkies people know today didn't really show up until after the series ended in 1969.

In fact, it wasn't until the 1970s and the television reruns of the show that people began to become interested in the adventures of Spock, Captain Kurt, and the rest of the crew on the USS Enterprise .

Martin Luther King Jr. Was A Trekky And Convinced Nichols To Stay

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, rescinded her decision to depart after season one. A persuasive conversation with Martin Luther King Jr., a Trekky himself, swayed her.

King Jr.'s belief in the significance of her character's representation inspired Nichols to continue in the portrayal of her ground-breaking role.

The First Space Shuttle Was Inspired By Star Trek

The first US Space Shuttle Enterprise was named after the fictional starship from Star Trek and its widespread popularity, the USS Enterprise . The show's passionate fan base, which included NASA engineers, inspired the agency to choose the name.

Enterprise symbolized the spirit of exploration and innovation, capturing the imagination of both science fiction enthusiasts and space professionals.

Bones' Line "I'm a doctor, not a..." Was From A 1933 Movie

The line "I'm a doctor, not a..." originates from the 1933 film The Kennel Murder Case . It was later popularized in the Star Trek series and became a recurring catchphrase uttered by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, who would say the line when he was frustrated about being asked to do more than he could.

The line was often completed with different endings, emphasizing the doctor's dedication to his medical profession.

Trekkies Can Get A $500 Scholarship For College

Starfleet, an international fan group, offers a $500 scholarship to Star Trek enthusiasts pursuing higher education.

Their generous initiative supports students in their academic journey while celebrating their passion for the beloved sci-fi franchise. Starfleet's commitment to nurturing the next generation reflects the values of unity and exploration championed in Star Trek .

Teleporting Was Cheaper To Film Than Spaceships Landing

In the original Star Trek series, the ingenious use of teleportation during filming proved to be a cost-effective solution to showcase the futuristic technology of spaceships.

With a limited budget, the production team creatively employed teleportation to depict crew members effortlessly moving between locations, giving the illusion of seamless transportation across the galaxy.

Spock Was Not Originally Star Trek's "Number One"

The producers of Star Trek opted to progress with Spock instead of Number One after the pilot. They admired Spock's distinctive ears and eyebrows, which lent a more devilish appearance to the series.

Although it was not easy, their choice eventually set the stage for Spock's enduring presence and the show's subsequent success.

Wardrobe: Miniskirts And Green Shirts

Originally, NBC had wanted the female cast members of Star Trek to don miniskirts, believing it would enhance the show's appeal.

The network's suggestion was ultimately abandoned. Interestingly, the gold shirts the male characters wore were green, but due to the television's color rendering, they appeared gold to the viewers.

Shatner Became Petty With Nimoy

Off camera, William Shatner reportedly clashed with co-star Leonard Nimoy. Shatner's concern stemmed from not wanting other characters to appear more intelligent than Captain Kirk, leading him to steal Nimoy's lines occasionally.

This alleged rivalry behind the scenes added tension to their on-screen dynamic.

Inside Jokes Were Built Into The Set

Star Trek's original series set harbored delightful inside jokes cherished by the cast. Among them, the tubes on the ship flaunted inscriptions like "GNDN" with random numbers, teasingly translating to "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing."

This witty jest added a touch of amusement to the futuristic surroundings they inhabited and was included in future iterations of the series.

Communicators On Star Trek Influenced The Flip Phone

The iconic communicators featured on Star Trek served as a source of inspiration for the design and technology behind flip cell phones.

The first flip phone, the Motorola StarTAC, was introduced in 1996 by Motorola in the United States. Its sleek, compact form factor and ability to flip open and close echoed the futuristic communication devices seen in the beloved science fiction series.

Nimoy Invented The Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Leonard Nimoy was a method actor before his role as Spock in the TV series. Nimoy is credited with inventing the Vulcan grip. This maneuver, performed by joining the fingers in a specific pattern and applying pressure to the neck, swiftly immobilized opponents.

Affectionately dubbed the "Vulcan nerve pinch," it became a trademark move synonymous with Spock's logical and formidable nature.

Shatner And Nimoy Were Rivals Turned Friends

Actors Shatner and Nimoy, once competitive, formed a unique bond while performing together on screen. They frequently collaborated at Star Trek conventions, delighting fans in character. However, Shatner privately voiced his unease over Spock's popularity overshadowing Kirk.

Despite this, their enduring friendship triumphed, showcasing the depth of their connection beyond on-screen rivalry.

Paramount Tried To Deep-Space Star Trek

After producing the original Star Trek series, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's production company sold it to Paramount. The company then attempted to sell it to Roddenberry, the show's creator, who couldn't afford it, compelling them to retain ownership.

Massive financial losses and a scarcity of syndication-worthy shows prompted their desire to sell the rights.

Kirk Never Asked Scotty To Beam Him Up

The iconic phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" is widely associated with Star Trek , but interestingly, it's never actually spoken in the show. The character referred to as "Scotty" is Montgomery Scott, the skilled chief engineer of the USS Enterprise, played by James Doohan.

The phrase has become a popular cultural reference nonetheless and has been used in subsequent Star Trek films.

Shatner's Superiority Complex Was Built Into The Script

William Shatner's commanding presence on set was accompanied by special considerations that ensured his prominence. With a guaranteed abundance of lines, his dialogue took precedence even when others were cut.

The hierarchy Shatner roamed the set with extended to the credits, granting him a higher placement, which added a palpable tension among the cast.

Nimoy's Dad Offered "Spock Haircuts"

The immense popularity of the show Star Trek transcended the screen, reaching Leonard Nimoy's own father, a barber.

In his bustling barber shop, he delighted customers, often fans of the series, by offering them the opportunity to sport a haircut reminiscent of the iconic Spock. It was a testament to the show's lasting cultural impact.

Nimoy Created The Spock Salute

The origin of Spock's iconic salute can be traced to Leonard Nimoy's creative inspiration. Drawing from his Jewish heritage, Nimoy crafted the distinctive gesture by adapting the hand sign used in a sacred Hebrew blessing.

The open hand, with fingers separated in a "V" shape, became synonymous with Vulcan culture and a beloved symbol for Star Trek fans worldwide.

Shatner Could Not Do The Vulkan Salute

William Shatner, despite his fame as a versatile actor, faced a physical challenge when it came to executing the iconic Spock salute. He couldn't do it.

Stagehands resorted to clever tricks, using fishing lines to carefully tie his fingers apart, ensuring the desired hand gesture. This ingenious solution enabled Shatner to flawlessly showcase the Vulcan salute.

Nimoy Thought He Was Spock

Leonard Nimoy, the brilliant mind behind the creation of Spock, received a modest payment of $2,000 per episode for his iconic portrayal. Despite the show's immense success, he yearned for greater financial recognition.

Dealing with newfound fame was a daunting challenge for the talented actor. Nimoy preferred to stay in character even when not on screen. Shatner accused Nimoy of being Spock more than his natural self.

Spock Was Initially Supposed To Be Female

Initially intended to be female, Spock's character changed significantly before the show's executives decided to make the logical Vulcan a male.

This alteration unknowingly would shape the beloved character we now know and remember fondly, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, who brought intelligence, stoicism, and a unique perspective to the Star Trek universe.

Nimoy And Shatner Suffered Tinnitus From Explosions

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner have battled with persistent Tinnitus, a condition characterized by ringing in the ears, stemming from the explosive effects on set. The duo was standing too close to an explosion one day during filming, which caused their affliction.

Shatner resorted to utilizing a white noise-emitting device as a means to alleviate the issue.

Scotty Was A Soldier Off Set

James Doohan, who portrayed "Scotty" in the Star Trek series, was a former soldier. He served in the Canadian military as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II.

Doohan valiantly fought in several major battles, including the D-Day invasion.

Takei And Shatner Clashed Off Screen

Star Trek co-star George Takei had a widely publicized feud with William Shatner. Takei famously remarked that Shatner exhibited an attitude of superiority, acting as if he was larger than the show itself.

This dynamic created tension between Takei, Shatner, and other cast members during their time in the series. According to Takei, "We all had problems with Bill on the set."

Every Stardate Announced Was Completely Random

The signature Stardate, spoken at the start of each Star Trek episode, held a unique charm. Fans quickly noticed that the numbers had no discernible sequence or pattern.

They soon realized what seemingly were arbitrary figures actually were made up, yet they embraced them as a beloved part of the show's immersive futuristic setting.

DeForest Kelley "Bones" Auditioned For Spock Initially

DeForest Kelley, known for his portrayal of the doctor in Star Trek , initially auditioned for the role of Spock but was rejected. However, he was later cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the ship's compassionate and often grumpy physician.

His memorable performance made him an integral part of the beloved sci-fi series.

Spock Was Supposed To Kiss Uhura, Not Captain Kirk

The kiss between Captain Kirk and Uhura in Star Trek was first intended to be a kiss between Uhura and Spock. As fans probably remember from watching the episode, that kiss did not happen.

William Shatner, who played Kirk, complained until the scene was rewritten for his character.

Star Trek Inspired Over 125 Video Games

The original series of Star Trek has served as the inspiration for over 125 video games since 1971. These games have spanned across various gaming platforms, including Atari, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, and Xbox.

They have allowed fans to immerse themselves in the iconic universe of Star Trek in interactive and exciting ways.

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10 Controversial Star Trek: TOS Episodes That Wouldn't Fly Today

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• Controversial episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, like "Plato's Stepchildren," featured interracial kisses portrayed through forced telepathic powers, which may not resonate positively with modern audiences.
• Episodes like "Turnabout Intruder" and "Mudd's Women" showcased oppressive and casual sexism, highlighting the need for more nuanced storytelling and better representation of women in the series.
• While episodes like "The Omega Glory" and "The Enemy Within" had good intentions in challenging race-based attitudes and exploring character development, they still contained elements that reinforced negative tropes and perpetuated harmful stereotypes.

Star Trek: The Original Series set the bar for every series in the franchise that came after it. Famous for its diversity and willingness to ask hard moral questions, the original Star Trek series pushed the boundaries of what television could do. Even so, it was still a product of its time in many ways.

There are multiple examples of misogyny and racism in controversial Star Trek: The Original Series episodes. There were also some questionable writing decisions, especially in Season 3. Because of this, some storylines didn’t always land or make a lot of sense. While these controversies haven’t prevented people from watching or loving Star Trek , some episodes of the show play differently for audiences watching them today.

Updated January 15, 2024, by Joshua M. Patton : Despite Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's and writers like Gene L. Coon and D.C. Fontana using the show as a vehicle for then-progressive social allegory, they, too, were fallible humans. Whether because of the rigors of television production or cultural blindspots, the below episodes don't fully meet the high standard they set for the series. Some episodes feature regrettable scenes or choices, while others fail on every level. This doesn't take away from the legacy of Star Trek, but rather these episodes stand up as further proof that what they did get right was important and revolutionary.

10 "Plato’s Stepchildren"

"plato's stepchildren" at a glance, why paramount stopped making star trek movies, twice.

Star Trek is the rare universe to coexist successfully on television and in feature films, at least until Paramount stopped making them. Twice.

“Plato’s Stepchildren” was incredibly controversial for featuring an interracial kiss between Captain Kirk and his Communications Officer, Nyota Uhura. In fact, William Shatner saved the moment by deliberately messing up a take the director forced them to try where the kiss didn't happen. The kiss is not romantic in any way; the locals and their telepathic powers force Kirk and Uhura to kiss.

While modern TV shows would certainly feature an interracial kiss, these newer series would place more emphasis consent. There is something incredibly creepy and uncomfortable about two people who have mutual respect for one another being forced to do something so intimate. This was what the episode was going for intentionally, especially since Kirk intentionally kissing Uhura would've been even more controversial. Still, through a modern lens, the moment doesn't feel like a triumph for representation.

9 "Turnabout Intruder"

"turnabout intruder" at a glance.

“Turnabout Intruder” hasn’t aged well in the past few decades. One of Kirk’s ex-girlfriends, Janice Lester, shows up and forcibly switches bodies with him so she can take over the Enterprise.Janice did this because she was prevented from being a Starfleet captain due to her gender. She hopes to achieve her dream by switching bodies with Kirk and is willing to murder him to make sure it stays that way. The Star Trek franchise has gone out of its way to retcon the episode's premise and include women in many high-ranking positions.

Despite Star Trek: The Original Series ' progressive point-of-view for its day, this episode is full of the kind of oppressive and casual sexism that plagued America and Hollywood back in those days. Instead of a story about a "self-hating" woman, Janice Lester appears through a modern lens to be fighting an unfair system. However, watching William Shatner play Kirk-as-Lester is still pretty fun.

8 "Mudd’s Women"

"mudd's women" at a glance.

"Mudd's Women" is a very dark Star Trek installment. In the episode, the Enterprise rescues a man named Mudd who's transporting three women to their future husbands. "Mudd's Women" eventually reveals that Mudd is a con man and that the marriages were prearranged because the women wanted out of a bad situation.

TV shows today might tackle serious subjects like human trafficking, but they would do this with more nuance and care than Star Trek: The Original Series. It becomes clear that Mudd isn't helping the women find a better living situation; instead, he's selling them to turn a profit. Star Trek may have written Mudd to be sexist, but the rest of the Enterprise crew also ogle the women, and their worth is continually determined by their physical attractiveness.

7 "The Omega Glory"

"the omega glory" at a glance, gene roddenberry named george takei's character sulu for an important reason.

Star Trek: The Original Series' characters are legendary, so it's a surprise that Gene Roddenberry struggled to find the right surname for Sulu.

“The Omega Glory” one of the strangest episodes in Star Trek: The Original Series' second season because it's a parallel universe plot squeezed into a space travel opera. The conflict on the new planet is a badly concealed metaphor for the conflict between the USA and Communist governments in Asia at the time of the episode’s airing. The USS Enterprise was always meant to represent "starship Earth," with Captain Kirk often representing the "American" point-of-view, as he does in this episode's allegory.

The episode, from the accents to the scene where the residents bow to Kirk and the crew as gods, hasn't aged well but Roddenberry's intentions were noble. The episode was meant to challenge race-based attitudes and stereotypes. However, this episode shows why it's vital to have representation behind the camera. Instead of challenging the status quo, this episode ends up reinforcing negative tropes.

6 "Elaan Of Troyius"

"elaan of troyius" at a glance.

A reference to the infamous Helen of Troy, “Elaan of Troyius” is not the original series’ finest hour. In this episode, the Enterprise has been commissioned with transporting Princess Elaan to her future husband in the hopes that their marriage with bring peace to two warring planets.

Kirk and all the other characters are condescending toward Elaan. Despite being pelased with the episode, meant to appeal to women, Meredyth wrote Elaan as a collection of stereotypes about women. She even has a temper tantrum where Kirk threatens to "spank" her, slaps her, and then kisses her. This is not how an enlightened Starfleet officer treats a princess on a diplomatic mission. Dorothy Fontana's absence as Script Editor was clearly felt here.

5 "Wolf In The Fold"

"wolf in the fold" at a glance.

“Wolf in the Fold” is Star Trek ’s take on the Jack the Ripper story. While the episode sets up an intriguing narrative, fans have since criticized it for its misogynistic elements.During "Wolf in the Fold," Kirk and Spock are analyzing what kind of creature Jack the Ripper is and what his motives are. They come to the conclusion that it feeds on terror and that it primarily chooses women because women are inherently more fearful than men.

"Wolf in the Fold" introduces a handful of disposable female characters who Star Trek mostly defines by their relationship to other male characters.This stands in contrast to other women characters, like Nichelle Nichols' Uhura, who are shown to be capable and authoritative. This episode shares many similarities with writer Robert Bloch's short story "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper." Beyond the under-developed women characters, the tone and premise don't really fit with Star Trek .

4 "The Enemy Within"

"the enemy within" at a glance.

“The Enemy Within” is one of the best Star Trek: The Original Series episodes. Despite its merits, however, there’s a scene at the end that hurts the episode's legacy. A transporter malfunction creates a "good" and "evil" Kirk. After Kirk’s evil half is set loose, Evil Kirk attacks Yeoman Janice Rand. At the end of the episode, Rand tries to explain her feelings about the captain. Spock makes a horrible comment about the situation and implies that Yeoman enjoyed her assualt.

This is problematic for two reasons. First, there is nothing funny about assault, despite the early Star Trek episodes setting up Rand as a love interest for Kirk. The character was eventually written out because it was decided Kirk having a relationship with a crewmember would be inappropriate. The second reason is more tragic. In actor Grace Lee Whitney's memoir, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy , she reveals she was sexually assaulted by a production executive who is not named. Dismissed from the series shortly after, Whitney struggled with alcoholism and addiction. Thankfully, she got help and returned to the franchise in two small film roles.

3 "The Paradise Syndrome"

"the paradise syndrome" at a glance.

"The Paradise Syndrome" is one of the most romantic and saddest episodes in Star Trek: The Original Series , second only to "The City on the Edge of Forever." Kirk gets amnesia and marries a local woman, but the tribe eventually turn against him. It’s an emotional roller coaster that could've been one of the best episodes in the series. However, "The Paradise Syndrome"’s portrayal of Native Americans hasn’t aged well. It uses problematic stereotypes, the controversial "noble savages" trope, and doesn't feature any Native American actors.

This episode again shows the importance of representation in front of and behind the camera . The only Star Trek to win an Emmy for storytelling came from The Animated Series , in an episode that introduced the first Native American crewmember and was written by Russell Bates, a member of the Kiowa Nation.

2 "The Devil In The Dark"

"the devil in the dark" at a glance, how star trek: prodigy expands gene roddenberry's saga.

The animated series Star Trek: Prodigy is meant to attract a new generation of fans, but the series also greatly expands Gene Roddenberry's universe.

“The Devil In The Dark” is a great episode, but it has one slight oddity that some people aren’t comfortable with: it’s the only episode that has no speaking parts for women. This is strange because "The Devil in the Dark" reveals that the monster is a mother who's guarding her children.

Writer Gene L. Coon did not intentionally exclude women characters, and despite his own failings with writing women characters, Roddenberry wanted women present in Starfleet from the beginning. It’s one glaring issue in an otherwise fantastic episode, and is perhaps an example of how unconscious sexism can manifest even in those trying to avoid it.

1 "Operation: Annihilate!"

"operation: annihilate" at a glance.

“Operation: Annihilate!” is one of the few cases in the franchise where genocide is seemingly the only solution. The monster is a species of single-celled parasites that is responsible for the deaths of several planets. They have absolutely no redeeming qualities, so there is no question that they should be eliminated.

"Operation: Annihilate!" is an outlier, especially where modern Star Trek is concerned. In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, for example, there is a discussion about how creating a system to detect Changelings by targeting their DNA is the first step to genocide. While the parasites are not intelligent, simply destroying a lifeform is not nearly a clever enough solution for Starfleet heroes.

Star Trek: The Original Series is streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Star Trek: The Original Series

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Suggestions

How ‘Star Trek’ Still Tackles Racism Even 50 Years Later

“Risk! Risk is our business,” proclaimed a passionate Captain Kirk in the original “Star Trek” series, which ran from 1966 to 1969. The show was “boldly going where no one had gone before,” even receiving admiration from Martin Luther King Jr . for its progressive messages in a time of sweeping social change and political tension: the United States was locked in a space race with the Soviet Union, the civil rights movement had caught the world’s attention and the Vietnam War continued to escalate among other military conflicts of the decade.

Thinly veiled behind cheesy cardboard set pieces and prosthetic ears, “Star Trek” not only touched on these events but actively made social commentary integral to the identity of the show. Despite the apprehension surrounding topics like the civil rights movement, the Soviet Union or World War II, creator Gene Roddenberry populated the command of the show’s starship, the U.S.S. Enterprise, with a diverse ensemble that included Russian and (ambiguously) Asian navigational officers Chekov and Sulu , respectively, and a Black communications lieutenant named Uhura . “We will find it impossible to fear diversity and to enter the future at the same time,” stated Roddenberry.

The integration of a sci-fi future and social commentary did not stop at the casting, however. Where other sci-fi shows at the time indulged in the novelty of meeting little green men and exploring unusual planets, “Star Trek” took those premises seriously, asking the same questions of a fictional world that many were asking in our own: “How can we all get along?” Many attempts to answer this question within “Star Trek” were done in the context of race.

The iconic Mr. Spock is biracial, struggling with the cultural dissonance of being half-human and half-Vulcan, feeling obligated to choose one identity over the other. The Klingons are met with hostility from our protagonists and their allies in a way that mimics Cold War tensions from the era. Despite being the “Big Bad” for many original “Star Trek” episodes, the problems of generalizing the entire Klingon race as cruel and evil people were also explored in the series.

The expansion of “Star Trek” into sequel series, spinoffs, movies and books only furthered the allegorical scrutiny of racism and racial identity. Shows like “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Voyager” worked beyond simply restating the same themes by addressing familiar moral topics from perspectives that weren’t always permitted during the original run of “Star Trek” in the 1960s. Episodes about sexuality, gender identity and economic disparity also developed as time passed, and the racial themes of “Star Trek” continued to evolve (although not without the occasional step backward ).

More than 50 years have passed since the initial airing of “Star Trek.” With a total of eight shows and over 700 hours of content, covering the entire franchise and its various examinations of racism would require a word count measured in lightyears. Instead, these 3 episodes exemplify narrative perspectives that are used frequently within the franchise to address racism on different levels:

1. “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” (The Original Series, S3E15)

Originally broadcast in 1969, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” lives up to its grim title. To summarize, Captain Kirk and his crew stumble across two aliens named Bele and Lokai: Both are pigmented with one side of the body that is white like snow, the other black like charcoal. At first seemingly identical, the two are pigmented opposite colors on opposite sides, which apparently delineates two different races.

Bele attempts to pursue Lokai around the starship, claiming that he is a fugitive and belongs to an inferior race. Lokai, meanwhile, retorts that he is a freedom fighter, demanding asylum from Bele. The crew itself is largely uninvolved in the warring between Bele and Lokai, as the two have powerful abilities that make intervention impossible. The crew can only watch as the two return to a home decimated by war. Enraged and blaming each other for genocide, the two fight to the death, bringing their species to extinction.

“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” was well-received upon its release, often being ranked in the top 20 “Star Trek” episodes, but has occasionally garnered criticism for its didactic social commentary . Indeed, the allusions to racism are far from subtle. A line of dialogue, “It is obvious to the most simple minded that Lokai is of an inferior breed … I am black on the right side,” highlights the trivial nature of the alien’s bigotry in a moment of unmistakable exposition.

But while the A.V. Club remarked that the “message [of the episode] is so overpowering that it’s hard to remember anything else,” the caricatured nature of the episode’s makeup and dialogue ultimately strengthens the takeaway: racism and prejudice are inherently absurd. What “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” demonstrates is a “third person” perspective in which the crew (and audience) act primarily as an observer.

Because these aliens do not discriminate by the same metrics humans do and the crew has such little context to explain the prejudices of Lokai and Bele, their overacted seething may be just enough, in juxtaposition with the composed crew of the Enterprise, to raise the question of how we as humans would look in that same position. If all our human prejudices met with the confusion of a faraway species, how ridiculous and overacted would we look, too?

2. “The Drumhead” (The Next Generation, S4E21)

“Star Trek” had explored race-driven paranoia before “The Drumhead” — Mr. Spock in the Original Series was once suspected as a spy after it was revealed that his pointed ears are also a trait found in the mysterious Romulans, another common “Star Trek” adversary. What is unique about “The Drumhead” is that the main plot line revolves around this racial paranoia, whereas the Original Series episode arguably featured this bigotry against Spock as a subplot.

In “The Drumhead,” protagonist Captain Picard is tasked with investigating an explosion on his starship alongside an acclaimed admiral. After interviewing several crew members, the admiral discovers that an officer lied about his race in an application to work (he was one-quarter Romulan, descended from the villains, which he tried to cover up). This prompts her, based on his lineage —and despite the lack of evidence — to charge the officer with sabotage. Captain Picard quickly begins to object to the trial and the admiral’s accusations, as the proceedings slowly devolve into a witch hunt. Eventually, Picard finds himself in the courtroom having to defend himself from attacks against his character and intentions.

Picard, who takes a much more active role in this episode than Kirk did in his, becomes the catalyst for what could be referred to as a “second person” perspective: essentially the shift in viewing prejudice from a “third person” to “first-person” point of view. While the audience already sympathizes with the officer for being accused of a crime based on his racial background, as soon as Picard is dragged into court to defend himself, the audience is as well. Captain Picard is not only the person whose point of view guides the narrative, he is also the character audiences have come to understand the most. By shifting the blame to him — the vessel for the audience — viewers can no longer watch the irrationality of prejudice unfold from the sidelines.

Some may recall Martin Niemöller’s “First they came…” upon watching “The Drumhead.” While it could be argued that the racial component of this episode is merely a device used to convey the larger theme of rampant, unfounded persecution, that is exactly the point. The race of the officer was a shallow (but frequently used) excuse to, as Picard articulates in the episode, “[spread] fear in the name of righteousness.” Allusions to McCarthyism have been made when discussing the episode’s core theme of persecution, but examples from the 21st century (for instance, the NYPD Muslim Surveillance Program ) are unfortunately just as relevant.

3. “Far Beyond the Stars” (Deep Space Nine, S6E13)

Something in common between the previous two episodes is the reliance on allegory to convey real-life prejudices. “Far Beyond the Stars” is different, putting the audience in a “first-person” perspective as the protagonist is attacked, mocked and beaten for his race, not as a Romulan or a Klingon, but as an African American.

In the episode, a Captain Sisko (played by Black actor Avery Brooks, who also directed the episode) finds himself in 20th century New York City as Benny Russell, a science fiction writer. Flashing back and forth between his life as Captain Sisko and his life in New York City, Russell becomes determined to publish these “visions” for his employer — the sci-fi magazine titled “Incredible Tales.”

Despite the sudden inspiration, Russell is discouraged from writing about a Black lead character. Not only that, but he is excluded from press photos, questioned by police, mocked for his writing job and is a witness to the death of his young friend, and eventually ends up beaten by police himself. The next day at work, the refusal to publish his story of “Captain Sisko” sends Russell into despair. He passes out, eventually waking up as Sisko once more, but not before hearing the words, “You are the dreamer, and the dream.”

“Far Beyond the Stars” and its real depiction of systemic racism and police brutality hits with a weight that is rare in the usually fantastical universe of “Star Trek.” The series was not founded with the goal of distracting viewers from hurt so much as it was made to bring attention to the very issues that plague the world each day.

The story of Benny Russell acts as a shattering of the fictional veil, bringing a powerful Captain back into the world of a man just trying to survive, and the viewers along with him. The last exclamations from Russell — perhaps epitomizing “Star Trek” — refutes the idea that accepting this reality is the path forward. There is a difference between acknowledgment and acceptance, after all: “You can pulp a story, but you cannot destroy an idea!”

• African American representation in film
• Asian American representation
• fight racism

Mitchell Tanaka, Chapman University

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Mitchell tanaka, chapman university television writing & production bfa.

Mitchell Tanaka is a writer and filmmaker with an interest in history and pop culture. He can usually be found frantically searching for more Post-Its, and believes he is 70% coffee.

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7. lose the fight, win the war.

The second season episode of The Next Generation, Up The Long Ladder , is laden with Irish stereotypes. Though, in this Irish writer's opinion, it is less offensive than simply silly, Colm Meaney was not a fan by any account. As this was early in his Star Trek  career, there was very little could do about it. Having him in the episode could, arguably, offer the audience an example of what an Irishman actually  sounded like.

When Meaney was cast in Deep Space Nine , he was in a far better position to put his foot down. When Ship In A Bottle  aired, the writers on DS9  wanted to do another holodeck episode, though it eventually expanded into an episode about imagination. 'Jake brings a friend home from the holodeck' was the elevator pitch for what became If Wishes Were Horses.

The first draft of the script featured a Leprechaun, which Meaney ardently objected to. He was quoted in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion:

Using caricatures or cliches of any nation is not something Star Trek is or should be into.

The Leprechaun was changed to Rumpelstiltskin after Meaney called Rick Berman and complained:

Every Irish actor I know has worked his entire life to overcome the stereotype of Irish people and leprechauns. It's really racist, and I don't want to do it.

Writer. Reader. Host. I'm Seán, I live in Ireland and I'm the poster child for dangerous obsessions with Star Trek. Check me out on Twitter @seanferrick

Den of Geek

The Star Trek Alien Race That No One Can Ever Redeem

Even in the nostalgia filled new era, no one’s tried to salvage one of the biggest mistakes Star Trek ever made.

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Star Trek has a mixed record when it comes to introducing new alien races. Sure, even non-hardcore Trek fans can list off facts about Vulcans, Klingons, and the Borg , but there are many, many more aliens that fall into obscurity. Mostly because they’re one-off guest aliens used to set up the ethical dilemma of the week. But every so often, the makers o f Star Trek bet BIG when it on a new alien species, confident they’ll become a major recurring element of the Trek franchise. And then they faceplant in spectacular fashion. 

The most well known disaster was the Ferengi, the money-obsessed culture that was introduced as major recurring (and “imposing”) new threat for Star Trek: The Next Generation . But what was supposed to be a critique of capitalism just came off as silly at best and actively offensive at worst. Yet even with that horrid intro, the Ferengi were eventually rehabilitated in Deep Space Nine , which shifted them to intentionally comedic villains. That spinoff was able to take the shattered remains of the Ferengi and flesh out a race that provided not just comedic stories but moments that offered serious critiques of our modern day. No other Trek race has received this level of redemption, though Lower Decks’ delightful obsession with utilizing obscure bits of Trek lore means deep-cut alien races often get a second shot in animation. 

Yet one an alien race that was created at the height of Trek’s cultural relevance in the mid ‘90s has been quietly swept under the rug, even in an era where bringing back characters from critically reviled franchise entries is the hip thing to do. Remember the Kazon?

Introduced in Star Trek: Voyager ’s premiere as the major antagonists for the series, they did little to impress. A fragmented race of warring sects, the biggest accomplishments in their debut were kidnapping Kes, a one year-old space elf girl, and bickering over water. Thrilling. They weren’t helped by their makeup design, which can charitably be described as “generic Star Trek alien with a bad hair day.” More accurately they’re just Dollar Store Klingons.

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The Kazon are the worst Star Trek alien species. they are just beardless Klingons with an assortment of cruciferous vegetables on their heads. who said this looks good? pic.twitter.com/r6jjkUO4aR — Eddie Steak (@EddieSteak) August 13, 2018

Even as Voyager attempted to make the Kazon work, fleshing out their culture in episodes such as “Initiations,” they never came off as anything more than pale imitations of the massively popular Klingons. The best the series managed was a storyline about how young Kazon earned their place in society. Which amounted to just “kill somebody.” So much depth. Yet despite the Kazon’s clear failure, series co-creator Michael Piller, speaking in Captains’ Logs Supplemental: The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , was adamant at the time of Voyager’s second season that they’d become “perhaps one of the top five adversarial alien races in Star Trek ‘s history.”

That season put all its hopes on the Kazon. They prominently featured in Voyager’s first attempt at a serialized story…which was an unmitigated disaster. While Deep Space Nine was blazing a trail for multi-season arcs in the franchise, Voyager haphazardly tossed “arc” moments into episodes with no rhyme or reason. Remember “Threshold,” the episode where Tom Paris turned into a salamander? It has a bewildering scene where a traitorous Voyager crew member informs the Kazon of the salamander-creating technology. The Kazon never followed up, sadly. It’s telling that as time went on, the entire Kazon race was subsumed into the soap opera antics of Cardassian agent Seska and her baby drama with Commander Chakotay . 

Voyager finally abandoned the Kazon as a viable adversary in the season three premiere and never looked back, outside of time travel shenanigans where the Kazon were shorthand for “hey, it’s early Voyager !” The failure of the Kazon, especially as main villains for Voyager ’s attempt at serialization, can easily be seen as a contributing reason why the show avoided serialized stories for most of the rest of its run. The writers looked at how badly the Kazon arc went and decided to throw serialized stories out with the Kazon bathwater.

The reputation of the Kazon hasn’t improved over time. No one’s rushing to flesh out the race, like Discovery attempted to do with the Breen . They haven’t gotten a semi-ironic reappraisal like “Tom Paris as a Salamander.” The best they’ve received are small appearances in Star Trek: Prodigy where their main purpose is to be a signifier to the audience that “this is gonna be a show with a lot of Voyager elements in it.”

It’d be easy to say everyone’s agreed the Kazon were off-brand Klingons and move on, but that observation hides the real core problem behind them. One that goes back to their earliest conception. As revealed in the behind-the-scenes book, A Vision of the Future: Star Trek Voyager , the earliest notes for the Kazon from co-creators Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, and Rick Berman describe them as “gang”-like villains: “They come in and ‘squat’ on a planet. They’re basically bullies. At least two gangs, Crips and Bloods, in competition for influence.” 

Nope. With all respect to the work of Taylor in particular, this is somehow worse than the way she attempted to portray gay discrimination in TNG’s “The Outcast,” which had nonbinary aliens as the villains in what feels like a straw man argument from Fox News. 

Speaking in Captains’ Logs Supplemental, Piller added that the Delta Quadrant itself was supposed to resemble then contemporary East Los Angeles, with the Kazon as LA street gangs. He had hoped to represent that by casting younger actors, between 18 and 25, as a way to demonstrate the Kazon, “never lived to be old enough to have the kind of experience and perspective on the world that, say, the Klingons or Romulans might have.”

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This didn’t end up happening and Piller pointed to it as a reason why the Kazon didn’t ultimately work. Unfortunately, the explanation lacked the self-reflection that a team of producers which featured no one actually familiar with living in East Los Angeles were the wrong ones to create a species that served as a metaphor for that experience. At least Piller admitted that the Kazon “ultimately came out being sort of Klingon-ish.” 

Taylor was more scathing, also speaking in Captains’ Logs Supplemental. “They’re just sort of big, loutish characters that cause our people to overact. They had a cartoon like quality that I think was not our finest hour.”

Let’s just call them what they are: the Kazon were ill-conceived outright racist caricatures of LA gangs. That’s the real reason no one is rushing to redeem the Kazon. You’d have to completely reinvent them to the point it’d be better to just start fresh with an entirely new alien race.

Thus the Kazon are doomed to their fate as the back-up of the back-up alien race that represents Voyager . The Borg will always truly belong to TNG and the Hirogen, arguably Voyager’s biggest original alien race success story, are too fleshed out to just plop them into small cameos. That’s why the Kazon are referenced by Tom Paris in Lower Decks . They needed something instantly recognizable as being part of Voyager f or a quick punchline, nothing more. 

You’ll never see a Ferengi-like redemption for the Kazon because they were beyond one from the moment they were conceived.

Shamus Kelley | @ShamusWrites

For more from Shamus including original TV scripts visit www.ShamusKelley.com. He’s been a TV writer since 2009 when he created and executive produced the 21 JSR…

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• July 9, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Pauses To Reflect In “Imposter Syndrome” [Episode 206]
• July 9, 2024 | First Cadets Cast For ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’
• July 8, 2024 | Paramount Global Officially Agrees To Skydance Merger, With Potential Big Impact On Star Trek’s Future

First Cadets Cast For ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’

| July 9, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 174 comments so far

We are finally learning who will be playing some of the Starfleet Academy cadets for the Starfleet Academy show with the official announcement of three actors today.

Meet the cadets

This morning, Paramount+ officially announced Kerrice Brooks ( My Old Ass ), Bella Shepard ( Wolf Pack ), and George Hawkins ( Tell Me Everything ) have joined the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy . Brooks, Shepard, and Hawkins will play cadets, joining previously announced cast members Holly Hunter as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy and Paul Giamatti as the season’s villain .

Paramount+ didn’t provide any additional details about the three characters, but presumably they will be playing lead characters. Paramount did provide these breakdowns of the actors:

Kerrice Brooks

Brooks, an actress and professional dancer, will make her feature film debut this year in My Old Ass produced by Margot Robbie and directed by Megan Park. She will also star in the 70s coming-of-age comedy, Feeling Randy . Brooks’ credits include The Prom , The Cypher , How We Roll and On My Block . Brooks got her start in the entertainment industry as a professional dancer performing with artists like Billie Eilish, Lil’ Nas, Kelly Rowland and more.

Bella Shepard

Shepard was recently the lead of the Paramount+ series Wolf Pack and is best known for her previous Brat series On the Ropes and A Girl Named Jo , and as the lead in the series Two Sides . Shepard was also seen in The Wilds , Witch Hunt , and the iCARLY reboot . She  had a lead guest role on the final season of Orange Is the New Black  and recurring roles on Life in Pieces and Grace and Frankie .

George Hawkins

Hawkins is best known for playing Dylan in Tell Me Everything . His previous credits include Sean in the BAFTA-nominated film Boiling Point and Adam in the feature film Gassed Up . In 2023, Hawkins graduated from London’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

The new YA-focused  Starfleet Academy  series is set in the 32nd century, as established by the recent seasons of  Star Trek: Discovery . Here again is the official synopsis for the new series.

The upcoming series will follow the adventures of a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy. Produced by CBS Studios, the new series will begin production later this summer. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

The show is expected to start filming at the end of the summer at Pinewood Studios in Toronto where Star Trek: Discovery  was produced. The series will be using several stages, including Pinewood’s “Mega Stage,” the largest in North America, which will be used to create the San Francisco campus of Starfleet Academy.

Pinewood’s Mega Stage will be home to Starfleet Academy

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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OH NO A NOSE RING !!!

Good to have another Brooks in ST.

Those are some big boots to fill.

I suspect the actor will lose the nosering in the actual series.

If they absolutely have to do this series, I hope they take some cues from the Naval Academy scenes in PATRIOT GAMES.

I don’t know, Tawny Newsome left her nose stud in for Mariner’s live action appearance.

I’ve been a fan of trek since it’s beginnings in a first generation Trekkie, I’m strickly a TOS,TNG,DS9,VOYAGER, an the kelvin time line films, I didn’t care much for Discovery after they left the 23 century, apparently chickened out due to official Trek cannon.. won’t be watching this one nope I was disappointed with disco, an this is just going to be nothing more than the same

How can you make that determination based solely off its connection to Discovery? How do you know it will be “more of the same” when there are completely different creatives at the helm of this show. Don’t get wrong, I’m not all that interested in this show- but writing off a show entirely saying you won’t watch it (when we all know you will) is just dumb, to be honest.

A first generation Trekker knows how to spell canon. And we’re sexagenarians now — nobody cares about your dramatic exit. Let the young generation have their chance, man. They’re the folks who will propagate Trek into the 22nd century.

“strickly”

I hope they know how to cry on screen. DSC shows love to have characters cry and since these are younger cadets all the hormones and emotions will cause them to cry even more

An end to the usual ST stocism

There is a dramatic advantage to stoic characters. If you have characters constantly going on about their feelings and hugging, crying, holding hands and having outbursts, it dilutes the impact of any emotional breakthroughs. “Less is more” is a real truism. It’s often fine or even necessary to have a freer character or two to bounce off of, but restraint makes for better drama.

Sounds pretty boring and simplistic. No one would watch that.

And yet every bit of Star Trek until DISCO (season 2, at that) managed to avoid the hugging and crying.

I call that show Star Trek: Discovering Your Feelings for a reason.

That ship caught the weepy virus in a major way and apparently they never found a vaccine for it.

I mean when Zora, the ship’s computer was always getting emotional, you know something was wrong on that ship.

I can’t tell if you are being serious. That’s most characters in 90s Trek. That’s Spock. That’s Sarek.

There is nothing simplistic about not venting your feelings all the time. It’s human. It’s a character having a crush and silently pining until they finally let it all out to their beloved or never at all. It’s someone gritting their teeth to endure hardship and not letting others see their pain or frustration. It’s putting on a brave face to be professional but venting in private.

It doesn’t have to go as far as TNG which veered into being positively stolid. But it needs to feel real and have pathos. A show where every other character seems to have turned into a counselor or a patient and holds hands or stops everything to talk about their problems is not a better way to dramatize the dynamics of people on a starship. It has the virtue of being different, but there’s zero catharsis for me when I watch these people solve their problems and interact with each other. That’s not me having a fetish for repressed people, it’s a dramatic truism that’s been hardworn for decades because it works.

It’s not the 90’s anymore. Go buy a new calendar. 🙄

If it was the 90s more people would probably be watching these shows. Four of five got canceled in 5 seasons or less.

I don’t think SNW will last more than 5 seasons because it probably costs too much.

Four out of five? DSC was cancelled, PRO was cancelled, and LDS was cancelled. PIC was conceived as a three-season deal. Did I totally space out a show?

No Picard wasn’t canceled but it did end. And the fact it wasn’t replaced with something else, Legacy or otherwise tells you the state of Star Trek or Paramount+ isn’t very strong these days. Legacy should’ve been fast tracked if they wanted more Star Trek on the site to replace Picard.

Hopefully that will change with more new shows period once the new management takes over.

If you can’t engage with an opinion someone has put real time and thought into to explain, then don’t bother. You’re just being rude now.

Discovery turned into a season long Lifetime movie. It was embarrassing.

Even the finale episode had them crying and hugging each other like someone died or something. Just bizarre.

Prodigy managed to go 40 episodes staring kid characters and yet came off less emotional than a bunch of so-called mature professionals. I can’t remember any of them crying. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wring but it still proves far less than the melodrama on board Discovery.

I am so so happy Michelle Paradise is not running this show and anotherreasonI support it. She was the worst show runner in Star Trek.

You got no soul Tiger.

Are you lost little puppy?

Hey Tiger, I’m not into that creepy fetish. Keep it to youself.

Don’t make me take away your milk.

No one wants your “milk” Tiger.

You won’t leave me alone so you tell me.

You seem to have a sad life.

I’ve been watching season 5 but didn’t even watch the finale. I’m anticipating too much crying and hugging and “you’ve got this” encouragement like they’re propping up children in need of validation. Sometimes a kick in the pants is a better teacher than undeserved praise.

Let me preference this first by saying overall I enjoyed the finale and I gave it a 7.5/10. It’s the only Discovery finale that got at least a 7 so that’s pretty good lol.

But man there is a scene in it that felt so cringe to me. It’s not going to spoil anything because it’s literally (and I mean LITERALLY) nothing but the characters standing on the bridge giving hugs and crying with each other. It’s obviously there as a ‘goodbye’ to the show and characters but OMG, really?

The two best goodbye scenes in Star Trek for me will always be the final ‘second star to the right’ scene in TUC and the final poker game in AGT. Both of those scenes felt so emotional at the time. When Picard is about to deal and says, “I should’ve done this a long time ago.” And Deanna replies “You were always welcomed.” I remember choking up so much in that moment. It was so understated but beautifully written and fits that show to a T.

Then we get Discovery with the characters hugging and holding each other for several minutes like they just attended a funeral, but there is no context to any of it. You don’t get the sense it has anything to do with the final mission because time felt it has passed. Maybe it was Burnham last time on the ship I have no idea. Maybe I need to watch it again. And I don’t want to take away from the people who liked it. And I know others did.

But to me it summed Discovery in all the worst ways, forced emotions that felt too artificial and fake.

I think Discovery would be a stronger show today if they went the ‘less is more’ approach instead of going full throttle every time with that stuff.

But my opinion only.

Well Tiger if you gave the DSC finale 7.5/10 that will encourage me to watch it… I agree with the two goodbye scenes you mentioned. To me it was the TUC scene over the AGT one but that one was great as well. That’s when writers could write…

Tiger2 You really missed the boat on this issue. The vast amount of emotional scenes in Discovery are earned, and vastly more realistic than how emotions were portrayed in most of the previous generations of Trek. I really strongly recommend you reading war time memoirs of people who served in Naval ships, Bomber crews, or ground combat units during times of war. Because their own stories are vastly more emotional than what Discovery has shown. Be it from them telling about their own emotional releases or referencing the emotional releases of the people they served with. You complain about one scene in the finale, comparing it to a funeral. We don’t know the circumstances of the memory, but it didn’t appear to be one of grief or sadness, but of remembrance and celebration. But have you ever heard or witnessed units coming home from war? Have you witnessed or read stories of people when it was announced that war had ended? Have you been to or heard stories about sailors when a ship is decommissioned? How you ever witnessed or read about units having reunions? Those are all full of tears and hugging. Both from what is lost and from good memories and deep bonds as well. If that scene is even remotely close to something of that nature then crying and hugging isn’t out of place. It’s exceedingly realistic. Trek has done an exceedingly poor job of showing how people behave in and after a crisis (there are a few examples). We often talk about how the shows should have behavior closer to the military. Lets be very frank here, Discovery in most cases (though not all) is far more realistic then most Trek on how people behave in times of great stress and Trauma. Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Masters of the Air all based on real people and real events (mistakes and all) all during pivotal periods of World War II And over half of the episodes have people crying or breaking down (for mostly bad but in some cases good). The memoirs and statements of the people who lived these lives say it barely scratches the surface of their own behavior and the behavior of those they served with. My own experience when I worked with Veterans of Foreign war in the late 80’s and early 90’s (most were Korean and Vietnam, but a couple were still from World War II) and the range of emotions far outpace what we see in Trek. And yes that does include seeing people in command cry. And this is from periods much earlier in US culture when it was frowned upon by the general public for men to express any real emotion in public, outside of jeering for a sports team. It wasn’t common, but it did happen. And this is for times that are 40 to 80 years removed from today, where attitudes are a lot more relaxed. The real issue for Discovery (and others) is execution. Which is an entirely different issue. That really needs some work. Things like arc pacing, story structure were huge weakness in most of the seasons of arc based Trek storytelling (this includes Enterprise and DS9 as well). But those two other shows didn’t exclusively use arc based serial storytelling so the weakness isn’t so glaring. While I agree with you (I am really sure you’ve had this opinion, if not I apologize) that I wish the writers didn’t have each season arc focus on such a massive scale threat. Doing that type of stories means you reasonable should have more emotions shown by the crew. And it does become a bit repetitive. Its like people complaining about Trek films never being about a crew on a first contact mission, versus responding to a direct threat (surprisingly the only time we see this in a film is the very beginning of Star Trek Into Darkness of all films). And in universe, I don’t think any crew has had as much high stakes, high risk, and separation from loved ones, and the loss (or greatly diminished) state of their government and institutions. Thus they rationally should be the crew that does express the most emotion. And since Discovery is never shown to be a ship of the line (versus being a mission specific, in its case fast response), you would expect a structure that is less formal then a ship of the line (or a sub for that matter). But for myself it’s again not the emotions for the series but the execution of both the larger canvas and of course some individual scenes. That were major issues for the show. And that doesn’t even touch on some of the over top aspects of the physical production. Seriously flame throwers on the bridge. …  Read more »

I agree with you Tiger. She was not a great showrunner. I think if Bryan Fuller had stayed we would have gotten a better show going forward.

No, no she wasn’t and I generally liker season 5. But it still had all the ‘are you kidding me’ scenes like all the others. She at least tried to pare a lot of it down but the season as a whole could’ve been told in 6-7 episodes. Per usual, not enough story and way too.much emotional fluff to carry all the bits that lacked plot and substance.

I respectfully disagree with your assessment. For me it has to be Akiva Goldsman. The man just doesn’t have a creative bone in his body. SNW is as beige and vanilla as it comes- there’s nothing really unique or memorable about the show (aside from Pike’s hair) and its best episode relies on guest actors fron Lower Decks. Of course, entirely my opinion.

Fair enough and trust me I’m certainly no Akiva Gildsman fanboy either. He has given us some of the worst Star Trek to date. No matter my feelings over Discovery nothing will ever beat out season 2 of Picard as some of the worst television ever produced.

I certainly like SNW more than you do but I don’t really disagree with you that it feels a little bland and generic at times either. But I think because they got so much slack over Discovery and Picard they are going as safe as possible although they definitely did some left field things like the Lower Decks crossover (still my favorite episode) and the musical (not my favorite episode ;)).

But I’m just being honest, SNW isn’t perfect either but there is nothing overly cringe about it like I felt we got in Picard season 2.

But I’ve always said SNW is basically comfort food for a lot of fans and why it’s so popular. It’s not overly exotic or interesting but you definitely enjoy it after every meal because it’s just what you’re used to eating all your life. Some look at that phrase as negative but I see it as a positive since for me Star Trek as a property is comfort food these days.

Just to be the ultimate contrarian, I loved Season 2 of Picard. It was an absolute mess and made zero sense, but I found it a refreshingly fun ride after the grim dark mess of Season 1!

Hey I’ve never had a huge problem with season 1 or 2 of TNG so we all have our guilty pleasures lol.

It’s called showing emotions and not acting like a TNG cardboard cutout. I lost count on how many TNG episodes ended with TNG characters dealing with psychological damage only to be fine as rain in the next episode.

You ol’ softie.

EXACTLY. I love TNG… It’s my OG show… But Discovery was the first time I felt like Star Trek characters were real people. The “anti-crying” brigade is just the culture of toxic masculinity reacting to its values of the denial of vulnerability and the myth of macho power no longer being seen as supreme. It’s a reaction to the decay and dismantling of the power of male supremacy. And when you’ve spent your life constructing an identity that gives you access to this fading social power structure, you are reactionarily mad and upset that what you’ve spent so much time cultivating to “stay on top” is now seen as absurd and not valued. So, ironically, they get all emotional and attack any display of vulnerability. It’s all painfully obvious if you have an intellect that is capable of seeing these patterns and structures… which they do not. It also doesn’t hurt to have had Discovery headed by a black woman, which brings in some unspoken racism into the critique as well. My take: if you are a Star Trek fan, you should try to evolve yourself beyond the silly cultural constraints of what the characters of the 23rd and 24th centuries would consider “a primitive land paranoid culture” towards the better future that Trek represents. Because, its not technology that makes the United Federation of Planets a near utopia, it’s the people and their values and how they conduct themselves.

Excessive emotional display in a professional military style organisation is not evolution. It is devolution. How many of you would watch a modern military series where soldiers would run around crying?

Starfleet isn’t a military organization. How do you not know this?

Of course it isn’t! Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, Breen, Gorn, … Come on over and take what you want! Us Feds have nothing to defend ourselves with. Our thousands of starships are just to protect against those pesky demon-lichens we’re trying to study.

Thank you. Discovery started as a war with the Klingons for Khaless sake. If Starfleet decided to stop fighting, exactly who would replace them to protect the Federation and from wiping out Earth?

And by the way, why does every angry freak in the galaxy wants to take out Earth so badly in the first place? Because it is seen as the defensive arm of the Federation.

You take that out first the rest of it will probably fall like dimenoes.

Exactly. I honestly don’t understand how people insist on ignoring this fact. Starfleet can be explorers too, but if that’s all they do, why bother with quantum torpedoes and ablative shields?

Because apparently if you simply avoid calling it a military then you can overlook the obvious…even when you have Starfleet officers from Kirk to O’Brien literally calling themselves soldiers. DS9 in fact use that term the most out of all the shows. Not surprising since they fought a multi year war but I digress.

Maybe there is a different meaning to that word somewhere but the only time I heard someone call themselves a soldier is in the military.

The military historically had an important role in exploration. Indeed, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency continues that tradition today in the US.

The idea that “Starfleet isn’t the military” never had much currency, but it clearly sailed by the time of “BOBW” and all of DS9, and frankly it clearly sailed as far back as “Balance of Terror” and “Errand of Mercy.” I suspect this idea was being pushed by people who enjoyed Star Trek but had an axe to grind against the US military in the aftermath of Vietnam.

Even in the 22nd century Starfleet established itself as a military when it got into a war with the Romulans as it’s first major conflict.

Two hundred years after that it’s still getting into wars and conflicts. How is that not a military?

Or a chain of command, uniforms, etc….Starfleet can go in peace but it can also defend itself and its ideals if necessary. After all not everyone they meet will view them as friends/allies so it makes sense to leave all your options open. I am not sure how some might miss this aspect of the franchise. I know not everyone likes their countries military or how it operates but this isn’t something that’s really up for debate…or so I would have thought.

And you would be correct. As much as the Federation is benign and wants peace, that doesn’t mean all the alien civilizations around them think the same way. For some, war is the better way and the Federation needs a military branch to defend itself and protect its citizens.

“As much as the Federation is benign and wants peace, that doesn’t mean all the alien civilizations around them think the same way.”

You don’t even have to get that far.

After game theory was applied to international relations (at least as an academic discipline), it became well-accepted that conflict can arise even when neither party desires it. This is due to factors such as the “security dilemma” (what makes one state more secure makes others less secure), misperception/difficult at reading adversaries, preference falsification, etc.

A good deal of the current debate over Ukraine comes down to the extent to which that theory explains, or does not explain, that conflict.

Four years of the Dominion War says otherwise. Starfleet is like the Coast Guard, part of the military in wartime. But in peacetime, the Coast Guard is still a pretty strict about regulations, fitness, and chain of command. And there certainly isn’t a lot of crying… :-)

When the only people who fight the wars are Starfleet people yeah it’s basically the military.

I don’t care how much Roddenberry and his hippie hippie values tried to say otherwise but he was the guy who decided Starfleet should be the one to answer all the conflicts and patrol Romulan and Klingon neutral zones.

We don’t have NASA patrolling the North Korean DMZ, that’s actually guarded by, wait for it, the military.

Roddenberry served in the military, in the Army Air Corps, what we now know as the Air Force. His bio says that he survived two plane crashes while serving, one as pilot in command. He also flew commercially as a pilot for PanAm, where he survived a third crash in Syria.

He may have had some idealistic beliefs, but the “hippy dippy” values didn’t extend to the military, and his military experience shows in TOS. (Unfortunately, I’d argue that whatever prevailed in the Vietnam era, today, the prime directive and the idea of restraint/non-intervention appear to be championed more by the right than the hippish left.)

I’m obviously talking about his views on the show. And we all know Roddenberry didn’t fully practice his beliefs either. For a guy who hated capitalism in Star Trek to the point he excised money out of it, he exploited it as much as possible for his own gain in the real world.

As far as his military background that is literally what is so odd about Star Trek since so much of the show was based around his experience in War World 2 and what came out if it. And yet he was so against the show being viewed militarily; even to the point he hated TWOK when all Nic Meyer did was say the quiet part out loud apparently and emphasized Starfleet was designed around military culture and protocol.

Roddenberry was a creative guy but inconsistent and weird at times.

I’m sure NASA helps with the spy satellites

They don’t design the weapons that Starfleet apparently does for its ship and personnel and that has killed millions of people in the process.

This is a good analogy, but I would note that the Coast Guard is one of the uniformed services; it is “the military” outside of wartime as well.

The US military also sponsors plenty of basic research, as the Air Force Research Laboratory and sister institutions from other branches will illustrate.

Coast Guard isn’t part of the Department of Defense (Pentagon) though. It was under Department of Transportation until 9/11, after which it was folded into the new Department of Homeland Security. It falls under the DoD (Navy) only during wartime.

Star Trek is not set in our “modern” era. That’s the point. Would a “modern” military series have a ship’s counselor seated next to the captain? No. But that’s where Roddenberry put one. So take your complaints to Roddenberry himself. Also, Starfleet is exploratory… not military. An article about on forgottentrek .com said this “ We live in a society that views compassion as a weakness, particularly feminine compassion. The message that to care is to give up your strength is instilled through media, culture, even in the mechanics of our very language. Allowing yourself to feel the world with one or two degrees less of a protective layer around your heart takes courage, and courage takes power. Like many highly sensitive people, Deanna Troi is regularly underestimated and her importance reduced. Through her patience and understanding, Troi insists that forcing yourself to view the world with empathy makes you a stronger person, not a weaker one.”

Even Roddenberry didn’t have his characters crying every two episodes. How many times did Kirk or Picard cry in all their stories?

Now how many times did Burnham cry? It’s so bad someone made a YT video of all the times she cried on the show and it’s a pretty long video.

Kirk cried… right, Kirok? And over Edith, and Sam, and when split…. Spock cried tears in TMP. Bones cried when Spock died, and Edith. Scotty cried for Peter, and in Generations, and in TNG. Sulu cried in pain. Janice Rand cried. Uhura cried. Chekov screamed… . You should watch all 78 episodes, 22 animateds, and 7 movies again.

OK, another challenge, I love it. Let’s go.

First off David I said two pertinent statements to get my point across:

1. “Even Roddenberry didn’t have his characters crying every two episodes. How many times did Kirk or Picard cry in all their stories?”

2. “Of course it’s a TV show so it’s OK to show [crying] from time to time and some of Treks most emotional moments come from people breaking down. But Discovery turned it into a parody.”

Explain it to me as slowly as possible? How what I said was contradictory to your post in ANY way David?

Yeah characters cried once or twice which I have said is not only fine but great emotional beats when done from, wait for it. TIME TO TIME.

I explicitly stated that, correct? Are those examples you thoroughly laid out proof of what I actually said?

OK lets begin starting with your response to me:

“Kirk cried… right, Kirok? And over Edith, and Sam, and when split…. Spock cried tears in TMP. Bones cried when Spock died, and Edith. Scotty cried for Peter, and in Generations, and in TNG. Sulu cried in pain. Janice Rand cried. Uhura cried. Chekov screamed…”

Soooo out of 8 characters, 78 episodes. 22 animated episodes and 7 movies we have 13 instances of crying? Do I have that number right David? Anyone correct me if I’m missing a shed tear somewhere for a fallen comrade.

Out of 5 seasons and 65 episodes of Discovery, Michael Burnham (and onlyMichael Burnham) managed to cry a total of 53 seperate times in the series.

Let me repeat it again, 53 TIMES OUT OF 65 EPISODES!

How many times do you have cry baby Kirk putting on the water works out of 78 episodes. 22 animated episodes and 7 movies again? Three? I added that correctly right? Wow someone needs to seriously send that guy to a counselor.

Who is the next big weeper on your well detailed list? Bones, a total of two times in 25 years???? Someone give that guy a hug already.

You included 8 characters and 13 instances of them crying over a span of 78 episodes. 22 animated episodes and 7 movies. I got that clear right David?

Burnham alone managed to sob FOUR TIMES MORE IN 65 EPISODES THAN EIGHT TOS CHARACTERS C-O-M-B-I-N-E-D.

You don’t see that as a bit…obsessive?

And yes I have left out the other obvious point, there is an additional seven main characters on that show, many who has cried quite a bit themselves from Tilly to Tyler and Colbert, Staments and Book.

I didn’t include any of those because A. I’ve already made my argument excessively clear now lol and B. There isn’t a compilation video of those weepers like there is on Burnham so it would probably take hours to add up the rest of the baby nursery.

So are we done here? Have I sold my argument to you now? Great, take it easy David.

Maybe it would be better for you to watch all 65 episodes of Discovery again?

(And if anyone wants to look at that Burnham video and to check my work it’s called the Michael Burnham Crying Compilation by Major Grin and it’s 13 minutes long…yeah lol)

It’s really 53? Goodness.

Doctor Who got flak this season because the new Doctor cries in I think 7/8 episodes. I am always impressed by the actors who do this so well, but it feels like a dilution of something special which needs to be saved for really key moments.

And I say this as someone who will cry on the spot for the endings of: The Visitor, The Inner Light, Duet, TWOK, The Offspring, Sleepless in Seattle, City Lights, Babe, Coco, E.T…. I’m not a hard ass.

I really need to watch the new Doctor Who. I hate that’s its on Disney now.

That is annoying. The show’s been on so long the streaming rights in the US are split amongst 4 services.

It’s an interesting and glossy update they’ve done IMO. Not always convinced it works and the Doctor is very different now – not alien at all, just a regular fun dude who feels deeply.

Yep! It’s AT LEAST 53 TIMES!

I tried to be as fair as possible and really only counted scenes where she is physically crying and not just where she was attempting to cry but in reality it’s probably over 60 times if you include any moments she’s about to turn on the water works.

I would’ve just link the video itself (because man it’s a lot lol) but it all goes to purgatory now. But I hope everyone watches it because it REALLY gets the point across how excessive it had become. Again even all the other modern shows don’t remotely get close to how many times crying happens when compared to Discovery. That’s really the only outlier in the entire franchise and why it gets picked on so much.

But this is what we’re talking about. If Burnham just cried 3-5 times a season (and that’s still way more than overwhelming majority of characters on these shows as David elegantly proved ;)) we wouldn’t be talking about this every season as we do.

She cries the most in season 2 which is around 30 times. In one season alone she still cries twice as many times as the entire TOS cast in 25 years lol.

And as said she’s obviously not the only one so it could be a hundred scenes when you add everyone else up….in just 65 episodes of content.

And it’s not a gender issue at all either. Let me follow David’s lead and point out another legacy character whose been around and has had her hardships too and another female lead: Captain Janeway.

To date she’s been in 172 Voyager episodes, 40 animated episodes now thanks to Prodigy and 1 movie. Can anyone take a guess how many times she cried in all that time? Once! It’s the episode Pathfinder where she chokes up for a few seconds when Voyager makes contact with Starfleet for the first time after six seasons being stuck in the Delta Quadrant. And she faced way more hardships than Burnham lol.

And I swear everytime Janeway chokes up in that scene I choke up right along with her because how impactful it feels. This is a side we never seen of her before who is trying her best to keep it together for her crew but you can see the wave of emotions in her face. Just like those few times when Kirk cried. Or Picard Or Sisko. It feels meaningful when it happens BECAUSE its so rare.

And then we have Discovery where it has been turned into a night time soap opera when a character is basically crying in every episode; sometimes several times in an episode. People like me calls it a Lifetime movie because that’s what it exactly feels like (and I don’t even know there is even that much cryingin most of those stories lol). And now that people like David who probably thought he was making a very solid point is now getting the full picture and who I suspect I will never hear from again lol.

And BTW I literally LOL when I saw his response to me. It was very funny because it was obvious he had no clue how often these characters truly sobbed on that show. Citing Uhura cried once in 25 years is hysterical in highsight now.

But it gave me a chance to rant and make clear why people like me was frustrated with this show for 5 seasons now. But same time if you have no issue the lead character cried 50 times and you truly find it endearing and made you love the character more, that’s obviously fine too and more power to you. No one is right or wrong, just expressing our personal opinions on it.

Bro I think you enjoy these response arguments too much! 🤣

Always a fun read though lol. I didn’t know Scotty cried at all. Was one of them an episode where he misplaced his whiskey?

And Cry Baby Burnham cried over 50 times on Discovery?? Seriously?People gave me crap for nicknaming her that but my god is it appropriate learning this lol.

She is truly a hot mess of a character at times. You’re a Starfleet officer and a bleeping Captain, get it together girl!

But I’m going to be honest, I think I also cried 50 times after watching every episode of Discovery, just for a different reason from Burnham’s. 😄😢

Lol I do at times.

I’ve had people accuse me of things I never said or did and those have made me angry but it’s always just been misremembering things or a lack of communication and we eventually move on.

This one was just funny. I was just having a little fun with David because I generally think most people don’t realize how much hugging and crying is done on this show, especially if you don’t watch it regularly enough which I don’t: partly because it’s just too much of it for my taste.

And BTW is a scream REALLY a cry David as you noted for Chekhov? I feel you’re stretching it a bit here. But I’m going to let it go because it’s Wednesday in my part of the world and it would be a shame to split hairs on hump day.

TOS characters wore their hearts on their sleeves more, so that’s partly why I don’t come down as hard on the new shows for being more familiar and loose than the Berman era shows which came out of Roddenberry deciding things needed to be much more buttoned up. Still, it’s not a fair comparison to Discovery which indulges far more than the more isolated examples you are cherry picking above. It’s an exaggeration to say everyone on Disco cried all the time, but SMG was saddled with a ton of it and overall it was so much more than TOS and SNW.

But again, it is still valid to say that less is more when it comes to emotional outbursts. You don’t get the same satisfaction from a conflict or an emotional release if the characters have been amped up to a 9 all season. The most affecting storyline for me in Discovery was Saru and T’Rina. It’s understated, measured, builds believably, and features characters who aren’t blurting out their feelings every 5 minutes. It’s just a better payoff when they express affection for each other.

Similarly, Sarek praising Spock in TVH, Worf telling Alexander he is his father, Picard warming up to Wesley, Odo asking Garak to breakfast, or Seven of Nine gradually acclimating to human life et al are more rewarding and powerful than all the declarations of love and friendship Disco characters are always preaching to each other. Kudos to them for trying something different and speaking to a generation that is less reserved. It’s still does not make for compelling television, and there are a ton of shows on right now that allow for characters to hold things back and still express themselves all the time, not just for cathartic climaxes.

You could argue that Burnham’s crying is due to the fact that she was raised culturally Vulcan and is now overcompensating as she reintegrates into human society.

Problem is, all the normies cry in DISCO, too.

It’s not just the crying, either. In the last two season, it’s been irksome that whenever the ship encounters a serious problem that it needs to science it’s way out of, the bridge rings up our sainted trio of Stamets, Adira, and one of Reno, Tilly, or Culber. They solve the problem without breaking a sweat. (Regrettably, I think this phenomenon is due to the writers refusing to portray trans characters as anything other than a Mary Sue archetype.)

Now, it is true that Trek engineers have always pulled rabbits out of their hat. But when Scotty installed the cloaking device in “The Enterprise Incident” and said, “it’s the biggest gamble I ever took,” or when B’Elanna told an impatient Janeway, “when I say it will take ten minutes, I meant ten minutes,” well, you had a palpable sense of fear — that these characters thought their hat might not produce a rabbit this time. On Disco, the rabbit is (excuse the pun) old hat.

Stamets was an interesting character in season one, when he was a bit of a Elon Musk taskmaster and a misanthrope. He was neutered by season three.

There is a difference between being concerned for people’s mental well-being (having a counsellor as a bridge officer) and having melodramatic cryfests that display an enormous amount of unprofessionalism and immaturity. Half the crying scenes in DIS remind me of when my 33-year-old sister cried for 7 hours when her favourite shoes broke.

 Would a “modern” military series have a ship’s counselor seated next to the captain?

It would if said ship’s counselor could read minds and tell her CO what an adversary was thinking.

Maybe not seated right next to a Captain but they would be onboard the ship. I also think it matters because a mentally fit member of starfleet is important. It’s just another part of the total package. Even current military structures are now starting to get this. Naval ships deploy with counselors, life coaches, etc because they now understand that people need lots of support while away from home. Particularly if you are engaging in combat. While the Enterprise didn’t fight as much as DS9 did they had their share of skirmishes with the Borg and other adversaries. So it makes sense to have someone nearby to give support when and where it’s needed.

I agree with all this, but I was addressing the question of why she was on the bridge.

Exactly. It wasn’t real people, it was melodramatic mush because professional officers don’t cry that much.

Of course it’s a TV show so it’s OK to show it from time to time and some of Treks most emotional moments come from people breaking down. But Discovery turned it into a parody.

SNW has, surprisingly, not have people tearing up every other episode and those characters seem to be well adjusted.

Precisely. DIS lacks professionalism; SNW does to a certain degree, but nowhere near as bad. That is what ultimately irks me about modern Star Trek. There is no respect for professionalism and decorum. Everything is so emotional and personalised. I guess it’s a sign of the narcissistic times we live in.

Someone has made this point in the past but the people making Star Trek today are just very far removed from military and chain of command settings unlike people who made the older shows.

That’s exactly why Fratboy Kirk was made a Captain in JJ verse when the guy haven’t even graduated from the Academy yet or been in space longer than a week. Utterly absurd.

It’s also why every character in NuTrek use slang and talk like they are on social media instead of a professional setting in the biggest scientific, diplomatic and defense force in the Alpha Quadrant.

And I like SNW and LDS a lot personally but everyone sounds too contemporary and casual all the time. But at least it’s 80% less crying like on Discovery. 🙄

Good post, totally agree.

If you guy were in control of Trek, it would have been ran into the ground years ago. Good thing all you guys can do is watch and cry. 🤣

Too late. Michelle Paradise already did it years ago with Discovery. 🙄

That is what ultimately irks me about modern Star Trek. There is no respect for professionalism and decorum

Say that again — what was so appealing about TOS and Berman-era Star Trek was that we saw a functional team of well-trained, smart professionals doing their job well.

This is exactly why I have virtually no interest in DISCO, Kiddie Trek, workplace comedy Trek, Young Adult Trek (TM), and so on.

You’re way too old to make that kind of stupid comment. Weren’t you 16 30 years ago?

To be honest (and getting back to the topic lol) my biggest fear about the Academy show is it won’t feel like West Point in the 32nd century but more like West Beverly High in the 32nd century. And many people seem to share that view.

This is part of the problem of modern Trek across the board, they seem to think the ONLY way to get teenagers or college students to care about their shows if you make it sound as contemporary as possible.

And now they are creating a show aimed directly for them. Hopefully this will be a show showing serious cadets about to embark in the dangerous unknown of the galaxy.

But if it’s anything like we gotten so far with shows like LDS, DIS and SNW (and I too like most of these shows) where all the young officers feel like they been hanging out in a sorority for four years will probably fall flat to a lot of fans out there.

Again it doesn’t have to be a serious drama but it should be a place for serious students at least.

But for the naysayers this is a concern. And ironically another reason why others want the Legacy show over it because season 3 really did feel like TNG again on how it handled how people talked and sounded like the professionals and serious minded officers we all remembered.

It’s not just because people want more Worf, it honestly felt the most adult out of all the shows so far and many fans want that tone again.

Discovery never seemed all that concerned about the chain of command or job descriptions either. I chalk that up to writers that didn’t always care for the underlying structure of starfleet. Or rather they saw how it functions very different than others do.

Discovery is a really bad show that’s why. The fact Burnham is Captain now when she tried to pull a mutiny makes it clear how inept the writing was.

And they also made Tilly an XO lol. Just comically stupid.

And we shouldn’t stop at Discovery. Picard made Seven a Captain as a ‘field promotion’ when she wasn’t even in Starfleet lol. How does that work??

And even in Prodigy they pulled something similar (but not as extreme as the others).

We know most of this is just a means to an end to put the characters in a new place in the story but when it’s constantly done in a casual and hand wavy way, it just takes out all meaning in terms of rank and personal achievement.

And in TNG, Captain Picard put a civilian teenager on the bridge of the Enterprise-D as its *pilot* and then made him an Ensign before he became a cadet. And Starfleet just went along with it.

In Enterprise, T’Pol was first Officer for the first three despite not being a member of Starfleet. She might have had a Vulcan commission, but that was pretty much irrelevant.

The chain of command and proper processes in Star Trek are exceptionally malleable, or completely forgotten about to suit the story or the character.

I will defend T’Pol because she was the only one on the ship who had real diplomatic and space experience with decades of it. She had lived on other worlds and was even an intelligence officer at one time. She was never meant to be on the Enterprise longer than their original mission. But Archer saw how valuable she was since she was the only one that even had first contact experience and knew some of the areas they were going.

It worked because Starfleet was still very young and they were leaning on the Vulcans to guide them. She could’ve just stayed on the ship as a consultant kind of like Neelix became but her experience does make her more valuable as someone part of the missions themselves.

Now I can’t make any excuses for Wesley lol other than to say he was a Prodigy but yeah it’s the flagship, they should have trained officers piloting that ship. Stick him in a science department which is where he truly belonged anyway.

T’Pol was also foisted on Archer by the paternalistic Vulcans as a kind of chaperone. He didn’t want her there in the beginning.

Well, here is the thing. SNW does a lot of what DIS did but gets away with it. There are whole scenes of characters talking about their feelings and their relationships (Chapel for example, who is solely there to be a love interest for Spock) in the middle of the drama and nobody bats an eyelid. Whenever that happened on DIS, the eye rolling and complaints would be deafening.

I have often wondered if this complaint would be as prevalent for DIS- and for the lead character- if Burnham was a white man, so I do subscribe to some of Luke’s original analysis. Not saying it happens here, but I do wonder if misogyny plays a role in the DIS gets from the wider fandom. Seeing how Pike can monologue and get distracted by his feelings throughout Season 1 kind of confirmed that for me.

During peace time probably not since the stress factors would be much lower, But active duty during times of war or similar threat levels. It’s actually kind of common.

Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air all considered at least good to absolutely great in quality have over half of the episodes showing military men crying. All are based on real people, real events (mistakes and all) and real stories told by the people who lived them.

Memoirs of those real life people tell stories that have far larger amounts of emotions being released. In down time, during actual combat, and when on duty. Be it on ship, in air or the ground.

Generally if your breaks didn’t have real impact on your ability to do your job, you usually had no pushback besides humor or teasing.

Every emotional state is heightened. Anger, hatred, love, despair, fear all are increased vastly versus peace time. And it comes out. Can be tears, can be fights, can be harassment of others. But it comes out.

And would I watch those? Absolutely Hell yes. In fact when it comes to the military and war time, I prefer watching material that give us the viewer the more realistic grounded look, versus seeing the military through a simply heroic lens.

And lets be very clear here, Discovery more then any other Trek (Its a mistake in my opinion) has had more high stress, massive scale issues to deal with. Been cut off from friends and family more then any Trek even Voyager, and lived through seeing their government and institutions be mere shadows of their former self.

So yes Discover should be the most emotional to date of any Trek series. Its only logical.

Now I have issues with Discovery. Pacing, and story structure are the two biggest ones. Those are things that for me hurt the series.

I agree 100%.

You can’t take what makes for good drama out of the equation though. Ignore the rhetoric about crying, that’s overblown and yes ‘m sure there’s some prejudices there but that’s just sidelining what I think is the main issue: There is a fine line between characters being more open about feelings and speaking truths… and trodding over what makes for compelling drama. Characters can’t be open books, they can’t speak their minds about everything and have Kumbaya moments and therapy all the time, it makes the show dramatically inert. Hell, the Lower Decks characters have more pathos and reserve than the Discovery crew was allowed to have in its last 3 seasons, and they are literally 2 dimensional.

There are times when exchanges in Discovery felt like:

“Hey. Crazy crisis we’re having, right?” “Yep! Gotta go lock down this power coupling!” “Ok. Wait. WAIT! You look like something is wrong. Is it… feelings ? Do you want to talk about them?” “No no I musn’t.” “It looks like feelings.” “You’re right. It’s feelings.” “I have one word for you: ‘Connection.'” “Omg I feel so seen.” “Hold my hand and tell me everything.” “The warp core is about to explode…” “The warp core doesn’t have a broken heart.” “That’s not true, what about Zora?” “Oh f*ck that’s right! Zora, get in on this therapy sesh, girl!” “So anyways, when I was 7 there was this Naussican…”

Hey waitaminute… you were a writer on Disco right?

OK, this was magnificent. We’ll done sir.. .well done.

Why is the term “Toxic masculinity” even allowed to exist? How can you even write this without losing all pretense of objectivity? How is it toxic to be masculine? How is this not misandry in the same way as disrespecting women is misogyny? Therefore why can you even use that expression and further describe it as “now seen as absurd” and not come off as a bigot?

Luke I have always found your posts very articulate and level-headed, but although I understand where you’re coming from, maybe you’re going a little too far here.

Dude go drink a Bud Light. You’ll feel better.

I don’t drink. Care to comment intelligently on what I said, or is this beyond you?

Whatever. None of this banter matters to me. Don’t get so worked up.

I know. You’re way too cool for anything to bother you. And if it doesn’t matter to you stay out of it. Bigotry matters, and it can come from all sides.

You poor child. I’ll light a candle for you tonight. 🤣

Candle? Instead why don’t you return that hug I gave you a while back? Huh, a bro hug, you know, the toxic masculinity kind…

I’m going to use Crusher’s candle.

You always say that every time you start losing an argument lol.

The fact that you think this an argument tells me all I need to know about you.

Oh hell no.

The fact that you can’t win any arguments should tell you more about yourself bud.

I can’t win an argument when I’m not involved, The argument in your head is your own problem.

Please Proceed.

Lol all you do is argue with people and troll. And every time you lose the argument you play it down like now.

You seem to hate it here but you won’t leave.

All true. Just a waste of space. I suspect because he has no friends

“Toxic masculinity” doesn’t refer to any and all expressions of masculinity. It specifically refers to certain patterns of toxic behavior. It’s not at all saying that just being male / masculine is inherently toxic, any more than speaking of three-wheeled vehicles is saying that all vehicles have three wheels.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_masculinity

That may be, but why single-out men for those patterns of toxic behavior? Why is there no “toxic femininity”? I’ll answer my own question; it’s because that would be offensive and misogynistic. Just call it toxic, no need to add on masculinity.

Quirky thing about language. Words have meanings. “Toxic chemicals” means something different than “chemicals.” No one is saying chemistry is bad. They are saying that some forms of chemistry can be toxic… not all. If you have trouble understanding how language structure works to communicate concepts, I can see why the next level of comprehension of the conveyed meaning might elude you. Do not mistake your lack of understanding of the words I am saying for actually what I am saying. It’s a false attribution error on your part. Maybe just google the definition of “toxic masculinity,” instead of stating that my position is something that it is not? To quote Ambassador Sarek, “It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.”

Regardless of how you want to twist its meaning because you don’t have the grit to face the consequence of your words, the concept is offensive. Being toxic is not inherent to men or women yet thankfully there is no such thing as “toxic femininity” is there? So are we to correct all the wrongs that have been made to women by doing it to men now? Disney is looking for people like you.

Nah, they’re just a bit too melodramatic.

The dreaded ‘re set button’, even worse during ‘Voyager’ “s run

So true. Voyager pissed me off some much that I just stopped watching Trek all together until JJ rebooted it. I still haven’t seen most of the last two seasons of Voyager.

Oh please. Stop trolling.

Welcome to the Star Trek family!

Young minds, fresh ideas, be tolerant….

Well quoted!!! Love it! :)

A reminder many of us could use. Thanks Captain Kirk , Tony!

Really good use of a really good quote! Above all, season 2 of ST: Prodigy has showed me that a show with a fresh, young cast and crew can really deliver some of the best Star Trek the franchise has seen. That being said I worry about this show being too terrestrial. Let us never take the stars out of Star Trek. Space is the final frontier not earth. I’d love to have a character synopsis along with this announcement but it’s an attractive and interesting looking cast so far.

Do we have anything official about Tilly being a regular cast member?

Hopefully no. But I think she’ll show up in an episode or two just to annoy people that don’t like Discovery. Like me. ;P Anyhoo, welcome to the club, cadets!

I would certainly hope so after her character turn toward teaching on Disco! Only thing I see getting in the way is if Mary Wiseman’s schedule is already filled.

Just because she hasn’t been announced yet doesn’t necessarily mean she hasn’t been cast. If the studio wants Wiseman for a regular role chances are they started negotiations long ago and she has known for some time when to keep her schedule clear. After her set up on Discovery it would indeed be a bit strange if she didn’t show up at least in a small role.

Yeah, what you described is what I figured is happening, I was just iterating my hope and casting it to the four winds for good measure haha.

I truly hope, more than any other new legacy character, that Tilly is a regular on this new show.

If they want to hit the target demo and reach a wider audience, t hey should consider moving this series off of Paramount+ or at least consider sharing the premiere window (debut on Paramount+, encores on CBS and Paramount Network). Paramount+ needs Star Trek to keep the lights on but its limiting the potential of the franchise.

Keep your day job.

You need to get a job and stop trolling bro.

I don’t work. There’s always money in the banana stand.

That explains…a lot.

oh, ‘enterprise’ is worth a watch, especially when it gets to season 3, 4

I agree with all of this and I don’t remotely care about this show. No one is going to watch it but old fans if it just stays on Paramount +. They should put it on a site young people actually have as well and something they use often.

I like P+ but it’s actually hurting Star Trek because it doesn’t have the subs or younger people like Netflix does. Prodigy is probably getting much more younger people watching that show over there than P+ did.

Would be a perfect Netflix show. Right in between Bridgerton and Stranger Things . With hints of former hit Elite and some Gossip Girl for good measure. Oh well.

Also agree Denny C. I think we can all agree if we want Star Trek to grow beyond the same people whose been watching it for 30÷ years it simply needs to have more exposure. And the irony is it had a lot of it before it became exclusive to All Acess/Paramount +.

I mean who can argue against this when something like Netflix has 3-4 times the viewers and is in 200 countries. I don’t know how many countries P÷ is in now but if it’s in a third of that that would be shocking.

That said with this new takeover and the promise to beef up P+ somehow may look very different by the time the show premieres. But I think it’s time they start licensing these shows to bigger streamers. There are still tons of potential viewers out there whose never even heard of these shows.

The fact only SNW is the sole holdout tells you it’s not even enough fans on Paramount + to sustain these shows anymore.

“… and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”

Lord Voldemort?

Mr. Stay Puft would be more threatening.

What? Could happen. Paramount owns both franchises.

Terminator? Skydance owns the rights….

Skynet, then. Kind of relevant these days…

I wanna play… The Night King?

I don’t think I’ve seen any of them in anything but the same has been true for a lot of actors on previous Trek shows. If anything, these casting announcements are a positive sign that production is moving along despite the troubles that Paramount is in.

With how much money Paul and Holly cost they have to cut corners somewhere. That doesn’t mean they’re not great but rather that they are likely to be hidden gems! This isn’t the Star Trek show I want to see, as I am way past YA, but I will still watch it like all the rest.

I just hope they find a way to do what Star Trek is the best at…..both internal and external exploration. Most newer shows have given us the internal but the external not as much. I would love to see them build upon alien species in a way Discovery never did.

Never heard of them but exciting news! It sounds like they are getting very close to filming.

They actually hired real actors, building the sets, completed scripts and a starting date.

Take notes for everyone making the next Star Trek movie. 😉

These kids will probably be fleet admirals before we get another movie.

Annnyway, sounds good.

The academy might be derelict as Earth banished Starfleet after the burn.

We actually did see Starfleet headquarters in season 3 of Discovery and surprisingly it looked pretty good.

Glad to see them announcing some of the younger cast from this. Not really familiar with them, but looking forward to seeing them in action.

I still think it’s a massive mistake to put this on over the Legacy show. I don’t remotely buy this show is going to suddenly draw in teenagers just because they have a Cardassian teenager on the show or something.

But I’m going to give it a chance of course. If I can love LDS and Prodigy as much as I do maybe I will love this too.

But seriously make Legacy the next show. You know the thing fans actually want?

If they want to draw a teenage audience, I’m not sure that Paramount+ is the right place. Perhaps the CW network or Netflix would be a better platform to grab that demographic. Teenagers aren’t going to pay for a streaming service if there parents don’t already have it. I love Star Trek Prodigy, and hope that show will continue. Nevertheless, Prodigy was originally meant to be a kids show, hence why they put it on Nickelodeon in the hopes kids would watch out. I personally don’t know of any kids that are big Prodigy fans, outside of the kids of Trekkie parents who may have introduced it to their kids via Paramount+. It was smart to put Prodigy on Nickelodeon, unfortunately it may not have succeeded there as they hoped. At the end of the day, it’s mostly us adults who watch and enjoy Prodigy, which I would argue is perhaps the most loved and preferred series across the fan base for any of the new CBS All Access/Paramount+ Kurtzman-era Star Trek. A lot of people who don’t like Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, or Lower Decks still like Prodigy. So Prodigy is successful IMO, despite being removed from Paramount+. As great as Prodigy is, it still has not yet resonated with children and pre-teen audiences to the extent Paramount and CBS may have wanted. It’s not as mainstream as say SpongeBob Squarepants is or some of the animated Star Wars Clone Wars cartoons. I have a feeling that teenagers will pass on this history and that it will, again, us adults who watch it. And personally, I have no interest in the concept of this show. I don’t really care for the TNG episode “The First Duty” and I like TNG a lot. I predict that Starfleet Academy will be an expensive huge flop that will be cancelled either during or after the first season by the new IP owners at Skydance, who likely will have different plans for Star Trek. If Skydance is smart they should hire Band of Brothers show writer Erik Jendresen to produce his planned Star Trek Romulan Wars trilogy that he pitched before to Paramount just before new management came in and scrapped it. Hopefully the new management will take Star Trek in a better direction, something akin to Star Trek: Enterprise, which is truly the most underrated and arguably one of the absolute best Star Trek series ever made.

My only problem with comparing it to “The First Duty” is that it focused solely on command cadets. This show will need to expand beyond that in order to make it more interesting. I also think it’s too soon to claim it will be cancelled. We just don’t know how well Star Trek fans as a whole will accept it and no matter what they say I still think that’s their true target audience.

Although in principle I agree I don’t think it’s the ideal streaming service for it. If it’s truly meant for a YA audience it probably would be best on the CW. However, with new leadership coming in we could see them sell it to other platforms after the seasons air. Or even just put it for free on YouTube. That would definitely be a better way to attract a younger audience.

I am excited. Of course I want Legacy , and I really hope that is the next show (or project, be it a film or mini-series), but I am excited for Academy . Prodigy has proven that a kids’ oriented series can appeal to adults; there’s no reason a YA-oriented can’t appeal to long-time Trek fans. We shouldn’t just assume it’s going to be a carbon copy of CW shows. I had no interest in Lower Decks or Prodigy , now I enjoy them just as much as the live action series.

I have my doubts. I don’t get why the show is set in the time period of a previous show that got at best a lukewarm reception from the fandom. I don’t get it. I think that they should have pursued the Legacy show. I hope that the Skydance folks see that. Picard Season 3 was fantastic. The first 2 seasons were garbage. Picard Season 3 did something that JJ was not able to do with Star Wars. They tapped into a nostalgic feeling and showed the fandom love. Why would you squander an opporunity like Legacy and give us something we did not ask for? Nobody asked for the Acolyte. Ask the folks at Disney Plus how that is going.

This guy gets it ! 👍

And The Acoylite was so bad I gave up after episode 4.

I gave up after episode 5 lol.

I’m just going to say it, no matter how we feel about modern Trek in general or any specific show I feel a hundred times over it’s in a much better place than Star Wars is these days and I’m even including Picard season 2.

Saved by the Bell in space?

I won’t be watching this. It’ll be on the level of one of the many Disney Star Wars shows that’ll crash and burn in its first season.

I have a sinking feeling you might be right.

I’ll give this my usual ‘watch 3 episodes and decide’ treatment. If it turns out to be Riverdale In Space, I’m out. I felt the same about PRO, and was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully the same will happen here.