The season 4 finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks marks the end of new Star Trek episodes in 2023 – so now what? There’s no denying Star Trek had an excellent year with tremendous highs. 30 new Star Trek episodes streamed on Paramount+ (pushing the overall series count to over 900 episodes) that featured some of the most innovative and crowd-pleasing moments Trekkers have enjoyed in many years. Yet Star Trek in 2023 was also marred by uncertainty that extends into 2024.
The Writer’s Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought Hollywood TV and movie production to a standstill, and Star Trek was certainly affected. However, even before the writers hit the picket lines in May and the actors joined them in July, Star Trek on Paramount+ changed their expected plans. In March, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 was announced as the final season of the flagship series starring Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham. This was followed by the April announcements of new made-for-streaming movies, starting with Star Trek: Section 31 starring Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh, and a new, YA-targeted series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. In June, however, Paramount+ announced Star Trek: Prodigy was canceled, and the strikes then threw the rest of the year – as well as the plans going into 2024 – into tumult. Looking ahead, there is reason for optimism when Star Trek enters the coming year.
Lower Decks Is The End Of New Star Trek In 2023
3 Star Trek series delivered incredible moments.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4’s finale is the last new Star Trek episode of 2023. Between Lower Decks, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, and Star Trek: Picard season 3, the franchise delivered the strongest and most daring run of episodes since Star Trek‘s 1990s heyday. Picard season 3 honored the past and set up the future as it brought the story of Star Trek: The Next Generation to a rousing and emotional conclusion. Picard season 3’s finale even screened in IMAX theaters. Strange New Worlds took big swings that paid off with landmark episodes like its comedy crossover with Lower Decks and Star Trek‘s first-ever musical. Lower Decks also delved deeper into and solidified its connections with TNG, and Lower Decks season 4’s premiere enjoyed a theatrical release as well.
As great as those 30 episodes of new Star Trek were, however, in terms of quantity, it was a far cry from 2022’s glorious schedule where all 5 Star Trek series on Paramount+ delivered a new episode nearly every Thursday of the calendar year. Before both were canceled by the streamer, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 and Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 were supposed to also premiere on Paramount+ in 2023. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes also curtailed Paramount+’s original plan to stage a series of media events to hype Discovery‘s final season. Overall, multiple factors contributed to fans getting less Star Trek in 2023 than previously intended.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Will Premiere On Netflix In 2023
Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will arrive in 2024.
Star Trek technically isn’t over in 2023 because Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 is slated to premiere on Netflix before the end of the year. Of course, these won’t be new episodes as the first 20 half-hours of Prodigy originally streamed on Paramount+ in 2021 and 2022, but for the huge global Netflix audience, Prodigy will be a new experience. All 20 episodes of Prodigy season 1 are expected to be available on Netflix before Prodigy season 2’s 20 episodes premiere sometime in 2024.
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s devoted fan base saved the beloved all-ages Star Trek series from cancelation, including an online petition and an audacious plan to hire an airplane to fly a #SaveStarTrekProdigy banner over Los Angeles, which included Netflix headquarters. Prodigy‘s executive producers also showed the first 4 minutes of season 2 at the STLV: 57 Year Mission fan convention in Las Vegas, which dropped the shocking reveals of The Doctor (Robert Picardo) from Star Trek: Voyager and the new Lamarr Class USS Voyager-A joining the show. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will be one of the bright lights of Star Trek in 2024, and it may become the biggest series of all if it becomes a global hit on Netflix.
What Does Star Trek Look Like In 2024?
3 Star Trek series are confirmed for 2024.
Mirroring 2023’s output, there are 3 Star Trek series confirmed to release in 2024: Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, and Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. Until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved, Paramount+ seems hesitant to formally announce a release date for Star Trek: Discovery season 5 beyond “early 2024,” as the streamer is likely waiting until it can have the actors on hand to give the final season a full-court promotion. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5’s scripts are written, and the episodes are in production, likely for its usual late summer/early fall release date. When Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will be released on Netflix, and whether all 20 episodes will drop at once or if the season will be broken up, is unknown at this time.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 was supposed to be released sometime in 2024, but until the actors’ strike is settled, season 3 won’t be able to go into production, If Strange New Worlds season 3 begins filming in 2024, the episodes most likely won’t hit Paramount+ until 2025. Similarly, Star Trek: Section 31 was meant to start filming in fall 2023 but can’t commence until the strike is over, and the film will have to scramble to make a potential fall 2024 release date, but that’s not out of the question. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has resumed writing its scripts, but the spinoff won’t film until after the strike is over and also, possibly not until after Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has finished streaming.
As for Star Trek: Legacy, the Star Trek: Picard spinoff series season 3’s finale set up, there are no known plans by Paramount+ to actually make that show in spite of consistent fan demand online. Also looking like a no-go thus far is the Picard movie Patrick Stewart is hoping to make that he wrote about in his autobiography, “Making It So: A Memoir.” Meanwhile, the Star Trek movie franchise is still in drydock, although the end of the writer’s strike reportedly turned the next J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek feature film into a priority for Paramount Pictures. Star Trek has a promising 2024 on the horizon, but as the entertainment business and landscape continue to be in flux, it’s hard to predict if this will stick, much less what Star Trek will look like in 2025.
Every Star Trek TV series and movie is available to stream on Paramount+ except for Star Trek: Prodigy, which will be available on Netflix.
