Via Variety, CBS and Paramount+ have announced Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will end with its second season. The show’s cancellation was reportedly a result of its low ratings, with the first season (which premiered in January, and concluded in March) failing to reach the Nielsen Top 10 streaming viewership charts. Starfleet Academy garnered mostly positive reviews, but also received a vocal backlash online from individuals who opposed its diverse and inclusive cast, which may or may not have affected its ratings.
The companies state, “We’re incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity that went into bringing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to life. The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the Star Trek universe in exciting new ways. We’re grateful to [co-showrunner] Alex Kurtzman, [co-showrunner] Noga Landau, [series creator] Gaia Violo, and the entire cast and crew who pushed storytelling boundaries in the spirit of [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry’s vision. We look forward to sharing the upcoming second and final season with everyone, and continuing to celebrate the cast, crew, and all that was accomplished with this series.”
Kurtzman and Landau wrote an open letter for the trade paper, stating they were proud of the show, and that it had been a “joy and privilege to help carry Gene Roddenberry’s extraordinary vision forward with Starfleet Academy, thanks to the hundreds of hardworking humans who pour every ounce of their talents into the work daily with imagination and reverence. We are in post-production now on what will be the second and final season. We’re so proud of what we’ve accomplished together on this show, and the world will get to see the work of these extraordinary artists when season two airs. We will finish strong.”
The letter also implies an acknowledgment of the show’s opponents. They write:
Whether you’re working on Star Trek or part of the marvel that is Star Trek fandom — its very heart, soul, and conscience —the joy comes from adventuring across boundaries of time, space, and the humanly possible in service to Roddenberry’s transformative vision of the future. That incomparable vision was fueled by an inexhaustible optimism. Star Trek places its bet on the best in human nature. It dares to imagine a society of “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” free of war, hate, poverty, disease, and repression, and dedicated to the spirit of scientific inquiry and respect for all life, whether carbon or silicon-based, green-skinned or blue.
But make no mistake: Gene Roddenberry wasn’t some starry-eyed dreamer. He was a decorated Army bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. He had seen first-hand the grim consequences of the worst of human nature. And his vision of the future wasn’t just a promise of hope. It was also a warning. In a fraught, frightening time of intolerance and violence, Star Trek said: Look! We made it! But just barely. First, we had to put all those ancient scourges behind us. It said that what makes us glorious as a species, and gives us hope for the future and the galaxy is inextricably linked to what makes us dangerous to each other, to this one world we presently inhabit, and to ourselves. That dual message — of hope and of warning — isn’t just a pretty dream but a call to action, to think about who we are in a different way.
Starfleet Academy follows several young recruits as the Federation continues to rebuild after the events of Star Trek: Discovery (in the 32nd century, centuries after most series). Its cast includes newcomers Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, and Zoë Steiner, as well as Holly Hunter, Gina Yashere, Robert Picardo, Tig Notaro, and Oded Fehr (some of whom appeared on previous Trek shows). Tatiana Maslany has a recurring role, while Paul Giamatti co-starred as the first season’s main villain.
At the time of writing, the only other Star Trek shows in the works are original series prequel Strange New Worlds, which will conclude with a truncated fifth season next year, and the YouTube preschool show Scouts. The news will likely continue to raise anxiety about Paramount Skydance’s friendliness with the Trump administration, and to what extent projects will only be greenlit if they’re perceived as being right-wing. However Kurtzman, who has overseen every Trek series since it returned to TV with Discovery in 2017, and co-wrote the 2009 and 2013 films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, is purportedly expected to renew his contract with CBS later this year.
In the meantime, the first Starfleet Academy comic, Lost Contact, will begin on April 15. A new Star Trek movie, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night), is also in development.
