Season 1 will have 10 episodes, may not premiere until 2026
Attending SXSW for the Star Trek: Discovery sneak preview on Monday in Austin, TX, Alex Kurtzman talked to Collider about the next Star Trek show in the pipeline: Starfleet Academy. Kurtzman confirmed the first season will have 10 episodes, as is customary for Paramount+ Trek series. The double strikes of 2023 paused work for the series. The writers started up again last fall but now shooting is expected in late summer. Kurtzman explained how the first season of a new show often takes the longest to produce, as everything is being built for the first time, which could mean the show is still well over a year away from arriving:
“It could end up not airing until 2026. We don’t know. But by starting [shooting in late summer], just building the sets alone is a massive endeavor, then six months of shooting, then six to eight months of post. If you recall, there was all this noise around season 1 and season 2 of Discovery because the streaming service, they were like, ‘Oh, it’s like a turnaround on a cop show.’ I’m like, ‘No, you don’t understand. It’s eight months of visual effects turnaround, and we’re not gonna rush that.’ So, it’ll come out, but it’ll come out when it’s done.”
When asked how the academic calendar could affect the plot, and if new students would arrive each season or if the series would follow one class throughout their careers, Kurtzman said the format of the show would “allow for both of those things to happen.” A series based on the adventures of a young academy crew has been a popular concept since the 1980s and was almost the basis for Star Trek VI. Aspects of the idea were incorporated into the 2009 movie, but the concept will get its full exploration for the first time in Starfleet Academy.
Tawny Newsome bringing the spirit of Lower Decks into Academy
Kurtzman’s description of the tone of Starfleet Academy made it clear the show is about education vs. the confident, experienced Starfleet crews in previous Star Trek shows:
“There’s a lot of different kids from a lot of different places. Some of them want to be there, some of them don’t want to be there. It’s gonna be a fundamental reinforcement of all the things we love about Starfleet, in general.” Kurtzman explained. The writing team includes Tawny Newsome, who stars in Lower Decks, and Kurtzman said “it feels like the spirit of that show has somehow also migrated into Starfleet in some ways.”
Starfleet Academy won’t alienate die-hard fans
Throughout the interview, Kurtzman was notably silent on details pertaining to the plot of the show. He didn’t describe any characters or even confirm what time period the show will be set, although TrekMovie’s recent interview with Doug Jones matches fan speculation that it will be set in Discovery‘s 32nd century.
Without getting into specifics, Kurtzman said that creating a new Star Trek series brings with it the unique challenge of satisfying core fans while offering something compelling to new audiences:
“You have to make sure that you are also pleasing people who have been around and are die-hard TOS fans, die-hard Next Gen fans, whatever iteration of Trek is yours. You cannot alienate those people. You actually also have to invite them to the tent. So the challenge is how do you do that while also bringing Trek to a new generation of fans that have no experience with those shows, has never watched those shows?”
On a more philosophical note, Kurtzman talked about wanting to answer fundamental questions about the Star Trek universe and how it came to be, indicating that Starfleet Academy will continue Star Trek’s tradition of optimism and hope for the future:
“How did we get here? How has this generation inherited the mistakes from previous generations? And what are we gonna do to fix it, to build that optimistic future that is Roddenberry’s essential vision?’ That is very much going to be at the heart of Starfleet Academy.”
Although fan speculation about Tilly being involved in Starfleet Academy is strong, nothing has been confirmed.
