Sad #StarTrek news https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ "Failed to find a significant audience" seems to be the story of the premium streaming era, even when something is quite good.
-
Sad #StarTrek news https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ "Failed to find a significant audience" seems to be the story of the premium streaming era, even when something is quite good. Almost everything is niche now, but also more expensive to make. I'm sure some of this was not wanting to make new investments as Paramount ownership changes but this might be more general business nonsense. It's weird because Trek is arguably their most reliable franchise! At least they can't take our old favorites away.
@ultranurd
> At least they can't take our old favorites awayProdigy isn’t on P+, right?
-
@ultranurd I think that Paramount Plus just doesn’t matter enough as a service to be the home of anything this expensive. The audience doesn’t exist _on that platform_ which is like… 5th? 6th? on the list? The shift needs to be spend budgets that serve today’s audience size, don’t assume big spend leads to big acquisition.
@jsonbecker Yeah I wonder what math and audience analysis goes into *not* having network Trek on CBS. I know I'm in a non-representative community that is talking about it constantly but I keep thinking it should have some broader appeal.
Some of it has to be that sci-fi expectations have been escalated by things like MCU into incredibly expensive looking even as price arguably should have come down for not bleeding edge photorealistic.
-
@ultranurd
> At least they can't take our old favorites awayProdigy isn’t on P+, right?
@gareth True! And off Netflix too. On Blu-ray at least. I was thinking more my '90s era baseline that I have copies of in three ways
-
Sad #StarTrek news https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ "Failed to find a significant audience" seems to be the story of the premium streaming era, even when something is quite good. Almost everything is niche now, but also more expensive to make. I'm sure some of this was not wanting to make new investments as Paramount ownership changes but this might be more general business nonsense. It's weird because Trek is arguably their most reliable franchise! At least they can't take our old favorites away.
@ultranurd
> At least they can't take our old favorites away.They can decide they no longer want to pay royalties/residuals and pull them, like HBO/Discovery did.
-
Sad #StarTrek news https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ "Failed to find a significant audience" seems to be the story of the premium streaming era, even when something is quite good. Almost everything is niche now, but also more expensive to make. I'm sure some of this was not wanting to make new investments as Paramount ownership changes but this might be more general business nonsense. It's weird because Trek is arguably their most reliable franchise! At least they can't take our old favorites away.
@ultranurd SHIT!
-
@jsonbecker Yeah I wonder what math and audience analysis goes into *not* having network Trek on CBS. I know I'm in a non-representative community that is talking about it constantly but I keep thinking it should have some broader appeal.
Some of it has to be that sci-fi expectations have been escalated by things like MCU into incredibly expensive looking even as price arguably should have come down for not bleeding edge photorealistic.
@ultranurd yes the expectation is that Star Trek = huge and movie like. And Paramount keeps thinking Star Trek = new subscribers. But they are too late to that game by a lot and with too little else to back it up. I think a lot of people would love it if it was where they are but won’t go out of their way for it. Just like a lot of movies these days.
-
@ultranurd
> At least they can't take our old favorites away.They can decide they no longer want to pay royalties/residuals and pull them, like HBO/Discovery did.
@RealGene True, but just in case I have TNG on DVD, Blu-ray, and Apple TV
-
I hope, with the announcement coming after filming wrapped, that they are able to tweak it for a proper send-off ending. Discovery S5 ended weird in part because of that surprise.
Seems like Kurtzman era of Trek is likely over as these wrap up into 2027, and whatever they do with the franchise will be something different after a gap.
Today is apparently a good day to relitigate what makes Star Trek good or bad in every online community you're in
-
I hope, with the announcement coming after filming wrapped, that they are able to tweak it for a proper send-off ending. Discovery S5 ended weird in part because of that surprise.
Seems like Kurtzman era of Trek is likely over as these wrap up into 2027, and whatever they do with the franchise will be something different after a gap.
@ultranurd @ultranurd Can't they just donate the IP to Jonathan Frakes or something? I feel like he'd do an OK job with it.
-
@ultranurd @ultranurd Can't they just donate the IP to Jonathan Frakes or something? I feel like he'd do an OK job with it.
@abdalian I think there is an argument that franchises need, even deserve, someone who Gets It like I think Frakes does... but that doesn't count the beans.
-
Sad #StarTrek news https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ "Failed to find a significant audience" seems to be the story of the premium streaming era, even when something is quite good. Almost everything is niche now, but also more expensive to make. I'm sure some of this was not wanting to make new investments as Paramount ownership changes but this might be more general business nonsense. It's weird because Trek is arguably their most reliable franchise! At least they can't take our old favorites away.
Their most reliable franchise in 2026 is far and away Yellowstone, and really anything Taylor Sheridan produces. He’s white Tyler Perry.
-
R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
-
Their most reliable franchise in 2026 is far and away Yellowstone, and really anything Taylor Sheridan produces. He’s white Tyler Perry.
@bflipp Yeah, I guess there's a whole audience that I have very little taste overlap with
-
@bflipp Yeah, I guess there's a whole audience that I have very little taste overlap with
I can't say that I've ever seen a single second of anything Yellowstone either.
But I also can't say that I've enjoyed hardly any Star Trek since Kurtzman took over. David Ellison isn't the guy to hire the right person to take over the franchise but honestly I'll take a lengthy break from new shows/movies over more from Kurtzman's writing rooms.
Hopefully SNW turns things around for the last 15 episodes or whatever they have left.
