lower decks season 5 – Trekking with Dennis

End-of-Year Awards 2024

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye, it seems! It feels like just a couple of days ago that I was writing about my favourite entertainment experiences of 2023… and then 2024 just sprinted past. With only a few hours left to go until 2025, it seems like the perfect moment to take stock of what was a fun year, entertainment-wise.

As always, a couple of important caveats. Firstly, I’m just one person, and I don’t have every hour of the day to dedicate to entertainment. There are several big titles from 2024 that seem to have entirely passed me by for one reason or another, even though I may have originally intended to watch or play them! As a result, they can’t be entered into consideration for an award.

19th Century photo showing six men standing and sitting next to several trophies. — Who will win this year’s top awards?

Secondly, all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one individual critic. If I give a made-up award to a title you despise or disregard one of your favourites… that’s okay. There should be enough room for respectful disagreement – and while I’ll try to make the case for why I think a title is worthy of a coveted Trekking with Dennis award, I know not everyone will agree. That’s totally okay, and there’s no need to get upset about pretend trophies and imaginary statuettes!

These awards are divided into categories and sub-categories. Where possible, I’ve selected a runner-up and a winner (second and first place, if you prefer), but for some there’s just a winner and no second place. I’ll try to explain what I liked (or didn’t like) about all of them.

With all of that out of the way, let’s hand out the End-of-Year Awards for 2024!

Best Documentary

🏆Winner🏆
Michael Palin in Nigeria

Promo banner for Michael Palin in Nigeria with artwork/AI of Palin.

I was a huge fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries when he worked for the BBC. Around the World in Eighty Days, Pole to Pole, Sahara, and my top pick – Himalaya – are among my favourite TV programmes… ever. Full-stop. So it’s a little embarrassing to admit that I thought the ex-Monty Python star had hung up his boots years ago. I was wrong, and Palin has continued to produce travelogues for Channel 5, visiting North Korea, Iraq, and in 2024, Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries, and as its influence in Africa and beyond continues to grow, it’s natural to take an interest! I knew very little about Nigeria beyond the basics before Michael Palin took me on a whirlwind tour of the country, and as usual, his documentary was informative, creative, humorous, and exceptionally well-presented. Despite being 81 years old, Palin hasn’t lost a step and remains a wonderful and often funny guide to different parts of the world.

Best Web Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Oceanliner Designs

Promo photo for Oceanliner Designs showing a man in a suit next to a painting of the RMS Titanic.

Oceanliner Designs is a brilliant and informative YouTube series all about ships and shipping. The RMS Titanic often features on the channel, but so do other, lesser-known ships and shipwrecks. As a fan of history, machinery, and ships, Oceanliner Designs is right up my alley! But even if you only have a passing interest in all things nautical, I still think the channel is worth checking out.

Mike, the presenter, has a gentle way of speaking, and scripts his videos incredibly well. Following the narrative of a doomed ship from the moment it left port – or even earlier, sometimes – is riveting and often harrowing stuff, but the tone of the videos keeps things grounded. I’ve learned a lot about ships and shipwrecks thanks to this channel – and I even discovered the wonderful Project 401 interactive Titanic experience via Oceanliner Designs.

🏆Winner🏆
Adventures in Aardia
(Roll for Sandwich)

Title card for the YouTube version of Roll for Sandwich ep. 337.

This is the first time I’ve picked a TikTok series for my Best Web Series award, which I think also reflects the growth of that platform over the past few years… as well as how much more time I’ve been spending with it! Roll for Sandwich is a whimsical yet simple concept: each component of a sandwich is determined by a roll of the dice in a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired way. It’s a really creative idea, and one that’s been so much fun that it’s spawned its own little sub-genre of foodie shows on TikTok: I’ve seen people making their own versions for barbeque food, hot chocolate, and even breakfast cereal.

Across 2024, I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of Roll for Sandwich. The short episodes are a ton of fun, even when the dice lead to some truly unfortunate or unpleasant combinations of ingredients! The addition of cantrips and spells for things like toasting the bread or swapping out an ingredient has been fun, too, and continues the Dungeons and Dragons theme. An all-around brilliant idea – and one that I’m so pleased has taken off!

Funniest Election Result

🏆Winner🏆
Liz Truss loses her seat

Still frame from Sky News showing Liz Truss losing her seat on election night.

Depending on your political persuasion, you might not think it’s been a great year for election results. And I get that – believe me! But one result in particular was thoroughly deserved as well as being incredibly funny and cathartic. Disastrous former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat in Parliament in the early hours of the 5th of July… and it was a truly delicious thing to watch.

Usually I don’t take much delight in the misery of a real human being… but after the damage Truss’ brief premiership inflicted on the UK and our economy, seeing her kicked out by her own party and her own constituents was schadenfreude of the best possible kind. I don’t agree with the talking heads and political journalists who say that this was a “Portillo moment,” either. Michael Portillo lost his seat in 1997 because he was a Conservative; Liz Truss lost her seat because she was Liz Truss. And I am so very glad that I stayed up all night watching the results – it was worth it for this moment alone.

Best Christmas Film

🏆Winner🏆
That Christmas

Still frame from That Christmas showing two characters building an igloo.

It’s been a few years since a brand-new Christmas film won me over – but That Christmas really was fantastic. Writer Richard Curtis weaved together a set of connected stories in a way that reminded me of his earlier film, Love Actually, and there was Christmas magic galore in the small English town of Wellington-on-Sea.

The holidays are coming to an end now, but if you missed That Christmas in 2024, make sure it’s on your watch list for next year! I really don’t think you’ll regret it. Oh, and is that the first time you’ve seen someone mention Christmas 2025?

Best Animated Film

🏆Winner🏆
Spellbound

Still frame from Spellbound showing Princess Ellian.

At the start of 2024, I really thought that Disney’s Wish would swoop in and take this award. And while I didn’t hate or even particularly dislike Wish, I didn’t feel it was anywhere near as good as Spellbound – from Netflix and Skydance Animation. The film was creative, funny, and clever, and had an interesting premise that I’m sure will have kept younger viewers hooked. Add in a couple of solid songs and you’ve got a film that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with Disney.

Rachel Zegler excels in Spellbound’s lead role, and the film is really sweet and touching in places, as well as having a creative main story. Some great animation work brings all of the characters to life, making Spellbound a must-watch for kids and adults alike.

Worst Film

🏆“Winner”🏆
Rebel Moon
(Parts One and Two)

Still frame from Rebel Moon Part One showing a shirtless man riding a large bird.

Zack Snyder, you’ve done it again! For the second time, a film directed by Zack Snyder takes this award. After the boring slog that was his cut of Justice League a few years ago, Snyder’s Rebel Moon takes the “award” for worst film of 2024. Rebel Moon – which was released in two parts and was supposed to be the beginning of a Star Wars-inspired sci-fi universe – was derivative, poorly-written, bland, and ultimately forgettable.

I actually had to go back to Rebel Moon just to remind myself of some of the names of characters and factions – even though I’d only seen it a few months ago. Nothing about Rebel Moon feels memorable, interesting, or worth revisiting, and while I commend Zack Snyder, Netflix, and the other studios and investors that bankrolled the project for stepping out of the shadow of existing sci-fi franchises to try and create something new… this wasn’t the way to do it.

Best Film

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Twisters

Still frame from Twisters showing a character in a car wearing sunglasses.

I wasn’t at all convinced that the 1996 classic disaster film Twister needed a semi-sequel. And to be fair, Twisters is less a sequel and more a cynical attempt to cash in on a familiar name! But you know what? I enjoy a good disaster film, and taken on its own merit, there’s nothing wrong with Twisters at all. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours while I munched on some popcorn – and that’s basically all I needed it to do.

Twisters is never gonna be anyone’s idea of high art, but that’s okay. Sometimes we all need to switch off for a couple of hours and watch some action, some adventure, and some unfolding disasters!

🏆Winner🏆
Civil War

Still frame from Civil War showing abandoned vehicles.

I thought Civil War was a very creative film. Going into it, based on the trailers, I was expecting a deeply political film… but it really wasn’t. Instead, it was more of a thoughtful examination of how people might react under challenging circumstances; a road trip movie with individual characters at its heart. The titular civil war was really the background for this story to play out in front of.

There were some well-composed scenes and sequences, creative use of sound and silence, and some pretty brutal depictions of conflict and death. With the story being told from the perspective of unarmed journalists, there was tension and a sense of danger all the way through – and some of the deaths were truly harrowing to watch. All in all, a very clever and thought-provoking picture that I’m happy to say was my favourite of 2024.

TV Series: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 5

Promo image for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5.

In 2025, I simply must get caught up with Lower Decks. But I couldn’t let the show’s final season pass unnoticed in my year-end awards; it’s been a great run, and I’m sad to see Lower Decks being wound down. The show’s light-heartedness, episodic nature, and fun characters have been fine additions to the Star Trek franchise, and I hope its cancellation won’t be Star Trek’s last adventure in the animated realm.

After I kind of burned out on Star Trek back in 2023, I’m still slowly working my way back. I watched Discovery’s fifth and final season this year, and I’ve been working through the episodes of Strange New Worlds that I missed, too. I’ll get around to Lower Decks sooner or later – but until then, I wanted to acknowledge the show and what it’s done for Star Trek.

Most Disappointing TV Series

🏆“Winner”🏆
Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5

Cropped promo poster for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5.

From one Star Trek project to another… and while I don’t like to pick on the Star Trek franchise too much, I’m afraid I have to say that Discovery’s fifth season was the most disappointing thing I watched in 2024. If you read my review earlier in the year you’ll know why, but the long and short of it is that the season was incredibly repetitive. Its main plot was another re-use of “the whole galaxy is in danger and only Michael Burnham, the Chosen One, can save it!!!” And major side-stories involved Burnham’s rocky relationship with Book, a pair of villains with a connection to a main character, and so on.

After four seasons that had used and re-used those same story outlines, I felt hopeful that Season 5 might try something different. Trailers and marketing material hinted at a kind of adventure quest, which could’ve seen Burnham and the crew setting off on a very different kind of mission. But unfortunately Discovery’s writers and producers lacked the boldness and/or the skill to do something genuinely different with the show and its characters. With that being the case, I stand by what I said in my review: it was the right time for Discovery to end.

Best TV Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Season 2

Still frame from The Rings of Power showing Estrid and Isildur on horseback.

The Rings of Power is – a little too slowly for some folks, perhaps – setting the stage for an engaging fantasy series. I thought that Season 2 was basically more of the same, so fans of Season 1 will have been pleased… but there was perhaps less on offer for people who didn’t feel Season 1 lived up to their expectations. I particularly enjoyed the arcs of Adar and Celebrimbor this time around, but the show’s connected storylines all had fun and interesting moments.

Durin and the dwarves continue to be a ton of fun – though I admit, I missed the bromance between Durin and Elrond this season. It can be hard to properly judge the middle seasons of a fully-serialised TV show; how we feel about what happened this time may ultimately change depending on how storylines and characters land in the future. But for now, suffice to say that The Rings of Power – with its big budget, intertwined storylines, and high fantasy setting – was one of the highlights of the year.

🏆Winner🏆
3 Body Problem
Season 1

Still frame from 3 Body Problem Season 1 showing Ye Wenjie.

Netflix’s adaptation of a Chinese novel series, helmed by David Benioff and DB Weiss, is my pick for the best TV show of the year. 3 Body Problem was fantastic; grown-up science-fiction of the very best kind. There’s so much going on here, with a story about unseen aliens, humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials, a cultish plot to cover it all up, and finally a warlike response from humanity to the threat posed by the San-Ti.

I was on the edge of my seat – not just because of the show itself, but because it seemed for a while as if Netflix wasn’t going to greenlight a continuation. We have belatedly learned that two more seasons are coming – and I genuinely cannot wait! There were moments of mystery, history, action, and adventure – so if you somehow missed 3 Body Problem, go back and check it out. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Video Game: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
EA Sports PGA Tour

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour showing a custom character swinging their club.

PGA Tour wasn’t released this year (it came out in 2023) but it’s my most-played game of the year by quite a long way. I would be remiss to let the year end without acknowledging that, because I’ve really had a lot of relaxing fun playing this unexpectedly enjoyable title. PGA Tour took me back to playing the likes of Actua Golf 2 in the late 1990s, bringing back nostalgic memories while also serving up a detailed and graphically impressive golf experience.

I don’t give a shit about golf in real life – and if you asked me who the current world champion is or even what the difference is between a wood and an iron, I wouldn’t know. There’s a lot of your typical EA monetisation nonsense in PGA Tour – and that’s offputting, especially as I only want to play in single-player mode. But despite all of that, I had a lot of fun on the golf course in 2024.

Worst Visual Downgrade

🏆“Winner”🏆
South Park: Snow Day

The creators of South Park had already perfected the video game formula: The Stick of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole, were fantastic. Those two games genuinely felt like playing through an extended episode of the TV show – and the visual style was just perfect. Both games nailed the look, sound, and feel of South Park.

So why – why?! – was this absolute abomination created? There was a way to make a multiplayer South Park game using the same engine or at least the same visual style as the previous titles, but this boring battle royale/multiplayer game looks at least two generations out of date and just… shit. If The Stick of Truth had never existed, I still don’t think Snow Day would’ve been anyone’s pick for game of the year. But having seen what a proper South Park game could look like… the disappointment was off the charts.

The “Much-Needed Kick Up The Backside” Award

🏆Winner🏆
Palworld

After years of ripping off its players, stagnating, and failing to improve in any meaningful way, the Pokémon series encountered something brand-new in 2024: a genuine, bona-fide competitor. And Palworld has clearly shaken the cowardly executives at Nintendo to their core, as the little bed-wetters have resorted to trying to sue the game and its developer out of existence. That is shameful.

Palworld took the Pokémon formula and, by all accounts, improved on it in many different ways, creating a game that even die-hard Poké-fans admit is just plain fun. After years of having the monster-battling sub-genre to itself, Nintendo has stagnated and now doesn’t know how to respond. Palworld was the kick up the backside that Pokémon needed – and a solid game in its own right.

Most Overpriced Port

🏆“Winner”🏆
Red Dead Redemption
PC Version

Promo screenshot of Red Dead Redemption with added dollar bills.

Rockstar… does your shameless greed know no bounds? A basic port of a fourteen-year-old game with no graphical upgrades or gameplay improvements should not be on sale for £40. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Red Dead Redemption is finally and belatedly available for PC players, and I’d love to give it a try one day. But £40 is way too high a price for a bog-standard port. There are brand-new games on the market for less than that; this version of Red Dead Redemption isn’t worth it.

For a company that started out by making PC games, Rockstar has a weirdly antagonistic relationship with PC gaming nowadays. We already know that Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t going to get a simultaneous PC release – because Rockstar, despite the billions of dollars coming in from Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, has cheaped out on development. Red Dead Redemption II was also late with its PC release. But I really can’t understand this move – pricing Red Dead Redemption at, say, £15-20 would’ve been fair and would’ve generated some positive buzz around the port. Every review I’ve seen of the port has talked about its price in a negative light, and there was just no need for it. It’s greed, plain and simple.

Best Strategy Game

🥈Runner-Up🥈
War Hospital

A big caveat here: War Hospital launched back in January with some noticeable bugs and issues. However, there have been updates since then that have improved the experience, and it’s now in a state where I feel it’s earned its award. War Hospital has a unique premise – running a hospital during the First World War, managing resources, and caring for patients. Think Theme Hospital, but grittier and more depressing!

I felt that War Hospital had a genuinely creative idea at its heart, and that’s what drew me to the title. The gameplay was solid, making good on the original premise. I’d love to see the game expanded upon somehow – or perhaps a sequel created that allows for a bit more freedom, as I found War Hospital to be a little more linear than I’d expected. Regardless, it was an interesting experience – and something a little different in the strategy/tycoon genre.

🏆Winner🏆
Manor Lords

Promo screenshot of Manor Lords showing a village.

Manor Lords reminds me of one of my favourite city-builders: Banished. But the game goes far beyond what Banished had to offer, with more buildings, unit types, professions, and a much more in-depth and complex management system. It’s a game that I want to spend more time with in 2025, as I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface.

Being able to walk around the town I’d built in third-person was really a lot of fun. It added so much to the experience to be able to jump in and roam the streets (alright, mud tracks), meeting the villagers who call the place home. There’s more to come from Manor Lords, as the game is still technically in “early access,” so watch this space. I expect to see improvements and new features in 2025 and beyond.

Best Cozy Game

🏆Winner🏆
Tiny Glade

Screenshot of Tiny Glade showing a house in a forest.

I thought I was mastering Tiny Glade – a cute little “diorama-builder.” But that was before I hopped online and saw the incredible creations that other players have made! They put my poxy little huts and towers to shame! But that’s okay… I had a blast playing Tiny Glade this year and putting my artistic hat on.

Tiny Glade is all about crafting a scene. Using some pretty simple tools, it’s easy to add everything from trees to ponds, but buildings are the real stars of the show. I love the idea of creating a cozy cottage in the middle of a forest – or an intimidating tower overlooking a bridge. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but it’s the kind of gentle fun that doesn’t require a lot of fast button-mashing!

Game of the Year

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Plucky Squire

The Plucky Squire wasn’t on my radar at all in 2024, but it came out of nowhere to genuinely impress me. Developers All Possible Futures crammed so many different and creative gameplay ideas into this one single title that it’s hard to know where to begin! There’s also a cute story at the game’s core, pushing you forward.

The transition from 2D to 3D gameplay works so well in The Plucky Squire, and feels a cut above the way it worked in Super Mario Odyssey. The game is fundamentally a platformer, but it has so much else going on across a relatively short eight- or nine-hour runtime. If you missed The Plucky Squire – as I very nearly did – please give it a look. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

🏆Winner🏆
Little Kitty, Big City

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City showing the feline protagonist on a rooftop.

Little Kitty, Big City is absolutely adorable. An adventure game in which you get to play as a cute black cat feels like something tailor-made for me, and I was really excited to jump in. What I found was nothing short of beautiful – a game with a fantastically old-school art style, but one that genuinely made me feel like I was a cat. The scale of the world, the verticality of some of the buildings, and the jumping and pouncing animations… it was all pitch-perfect.

There are even hats to collect to dress up your adorable kitty cat – and plenty of other animals and critters to meet on your journey back home. This really was an incredibly sweet and cute game, the most enjoyable I’ve played all year. So, little kitty, come and collect your well-deserved award! Or, y’know… push it off the counter onto the floor.

So That’s It For 2024!

Photo from the 2024 Golden Globes showing two award-winners. — We’ve handed out this year’s imaginary statuettes!
*Photo Credit: Getty/BBC News*

Did any of your favourites win a Trekking with Dennis award? Or did I surprise you with my choices this year? In any case, I hope it’s been a bit of fun to stroll through 2024 with me, picking out some of my favourites – and a couple of less-favourite entertainment experiences, too!

There’s more to come in 2025, and the website isn’t going anywhere. In the next few days, I’ll take a look ahead to some of the films, TV shows, and video games that I’m most looking forward to in the new year – and I hope you’ll join me for that. But before that, we’ve got New Year’s Eve to prepare for!

Still frame from 2000 Today showing Millennium Eve in London, Fireworks, and Big Ben. — The fireworks display in London on Millennium Eve.

Whatever your plans are for tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time ringing in the new year. 2025 will be the beginning of the second half of the 2020s, if you can believe that! The halfway point of the decade seems to have come around very quickly – and 2024 also seems to have raced past.

Here’s hoping that 2025 will be a safe, healthy, and enjoyable year for us all! I hope you have fun tonight – and I hope my silly little End-of-Year Awards were interesting and/or entertaining, too.

See you next year!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, broadcaster, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Uh, Guys? Star Trek: Discovery Is Still Canon…

Thu 26.12.24Thu 20.03.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks – including the series finale.

Just a relatively short piece today. First of all, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! Yesterday was the big day, and I had an enjoyable time stuffing my face with a bit too much turkey and Christmas pudding! However you chose to celebrate, I hope you had a fantastic day.

Now, on to the weirdest piece of Star Trek “news” that I’ve seen in a while!

I’m not fully caught up on Star Trek: Lower Decks, but apparently one of that show’s final episodes contained a kind of crossover or “multi-verse” story. As part of that storyline, at least one Klingon character appeared to “transition” from the more familiar Search for Spock/Next Generation style to a style closer to that seen in Discovery’s first season.

Three cropped frames from Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 showing a Klingon appearing to transition from one visual style to another. — The sequence in question.

I’ve touched on this before, but the fairly extensive redesign of the Klingons became a sore spot for some Trekkies – particularly those who were already inclined to dislike Discovery. I don’t feel that, on its own, the Klingon redesign ruined Discovery for anyone, nor turned away potential viewers. But it became one piece of a bigger conversation about how Discovery was playing fast and loose with Star Trek’s internal consistency and “canon.”

A writer for the website Giant Freakin Robot has decreed that “Star Trek just erased an entire series from canon,” citing the aforementioned appearance of a redesigned Klingon as evidence. Let’s clear that up right now: that is not true! Love it or hate it, Discovery remains an official part of Star Trek’s canon – and with a brand-new spin-off series set at Starfleet Academy featuring several Discovery characters being well into production, I don’t see that changing any time soon.

So let’s repeat that, in case anyone missed it: Star Trek: Discovery has not been erased from canon!

Promo photo for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 showing the main cast in costume. — The main cast of *Discovery’*s fifth season.

I’m not Discovery’s biggest fan, to be honest with you. Take a look at my recent review of the show’s fifth season, or my critique of the decision to set the show in the mid-23rd Century when it was first being put together as examples of how critical I can be of the series. But Discovery wasn’t awful across the board; the show got a lot of things right, and even if you don’t enjoy every character or every storyline, there should be at least something for most Trekkies to find interesting or entertaining across the show’s sixty-five episodes.

But even if there isn’t, and even if you hate Discovery and everything it stands for as a series… that doesn’t magically make it “non-canon.” By all means, criticise Discovery. And if you want to go so far as to say it’s not part of your personal head-canon… go for it. Trekkies have been doing that since The Next Generation and even The Animated Series were airing. Heck, there’s still a contingent of fans today who subscribe to the idea of a “Roddenberry canon,” only considering films and seasons that Gene Roddenberry personally worked on to be part of their unofficial head-canon. So you’ll have company if you choose to disregard an entire series!

Still frame from What We Left Behind showing Deep Space Nine in HD. — Some fans may not consider anything after *The Next Generation* to be “canon.”

This argument seems to hinge on a few frames from a single episode – the briefest of clips which showed a Klingon changing from the more familiar visual style that began in The Search for Spock to the newer look from Discovery’s first season. That is simply not “evidence;” certainly not enough to declare than an entire five-season TV show is “non-canon.” It’s wishful thinking at best – and a clickbaity lie at worst.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t cover something like this, but unfortunately the original article has been picked up and cited by numerous other blogs, websites, and social media channels, leading to a kind of snowball effect. People I know who don’t even watch Star Trek have asked me about Discovery’s status, and I’ve seen too many people taking it at face-value and assuming it’s true – even though it clearly isn’t, and simply reading the original article would’ve told them that! I felt a need to push back against this spiralling story and make sure that the truth is out there… even if it’s just on this one tiny corner of the internet.

A cropped article claiming Star Trek: Discovery is non-canon. — A crop of the original clickbait article.

There could be a larger conversation to have here about whether, in time, every Star Trek story should be considered canon. With the franchise closing in on 1,000 episodes and films, Star Trek can feel incredibly dense and convoluted for new fans, and that’s an issue that can arise. Trying to figure out how to get started with a franchise like Star Trek can end up being offputting, so there’s a case to be made for either removing some of the older stuff or just starting with a clean slate.

And that’s exactly what the Kelvin timeline films tried to do, if you think about it. They stripped away much of what had come before with the aim of rebooting Star Trek for a new audience after several years of declining viewership. Your mileage may vary when it comes to enjoying those films… but they brought in a bigger audience than Star Trek had ever seen at the box office and turned a massive profit. So there’s something to be said for a reboot, sometimes! But that’s probably a longer conversation best had on another occasion.

Promo photo for Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 showing L'Rell and T'Kuvma carrying a torch. — Two of *Discovery’*s redesigned Klingons in Season 1.

If you desperately wanted this news to be true and for Discovery to have been cancelled, overwritten, and officially stripped out of the Star Trek franchise… well, sorry to burst your bubble! But there’s a lesson here in fact-checking things we read online, not getting swept up in a snowballing news story, and not trusting a random article written by some guy on the internet! And yes, I’m aware of the irony of me making that kind of statement!

So Discovery remains an official part of canon. As Star Trek continues to grow, some parts of Discovery will simply be rolled into the broader lore of the franchise, while others may simply be left by the wayside. That’s the way it’s always been, quite frankly, and you don’t have to look far to find characters, factions, and entire storylines that were tried in one episode or film and never revisited. If you don’t like some aspect of Discovery, I’d say don’t worry – there’s a reasonably high chance that it will never be so much as mentioned again!

And to the original writer of the clickbait article, as well as to everyone else who jumped on it without bothering to check if it was true: please try to do better. The Star Trek fan community doesn’t need nonsense like this!

The Star Trek franchise – including Lower Decks, Discovery, and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Star Trek at Comic-Con

Tue 30.07.24Tue 30.07.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for upcoming and recent seasons of Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Section 31. Minor spoilers may also be present for other parts of the Star Trek franchise.

The Star Trek franchise recently made a splash at San Diego Comic-Con – one of the biggest such events in the world. With a couple of new trailers and several interesting announcements, I thought it could be a bit of fun to talk about what was discussed and shown off at the event. I’ll try to cover all of the biggest pieces of news as well as share my thoughts on what we learned and saw.

First of all, a couple of caveats. I’ve been feeling unenthusiastic and pretty burned out on Star Trek lately, and I still have some catching-up to do on some of the franchise’s recent outings. That doesn’t mean I’m not still a Trekkie or that I’m not still interested in these latest announcements; far from it. But as Star Trek has added more and more series and films to its lineup, I admit that I’ve struggled to keep up. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, everything we’re going to talk about today is the subjective opinion of one person only! If I’m excited about something that sounds awful to you, or sceptical about something you couldn’t be happier about… that’s okay! There should be enough room in the Star Trek fan community for polite discussion and disagreement.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what’s been going on at Comic-Con!

Alex Kurtzman and writer Noga Landau at the *Starfleet Academy* panel at Comic-Con 2024.

The biggest announcement is one that took me by surprise: a new Star Trek series is in development. Though its announcement was haphazard during one of the panels, it has subsequently been confirmed by Paramount (and franchise head Alex Kurtzman) that it is officially in development. With Tawny Newsome (Beckett Mariner in Lower Decks and one of the writers attached to Starfleet Academy) taking a leading role in its creation, the series has been described as Star Trek’s “first live-action comedy series.”

Paramount later released the show’s one-sentence pitch: “Federation outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant.”

I’ve long argued that Star Trek and comedy go hand-in-hand, with humour having been a big part of the franchise going all the way back to The Original Series. Not everyone was sold on Lower Decks at first, but I think over time the general consensus is that it’s a solid addition to the franchise, and one that didn’t sacrifice its sense of “Star Trek-ness” at the altar of comedy. That was certainly my takeaway from its first couple of seasons.

This announcement was brief and short on detail!

Paramount’s pitch does leave me a little confused, though. Are we going to be getting something like The Truman Show, with hidden holo-cameras on this resort planet? I can see the idea working well as a one-off story; an individual episode in a longer season. But it feels like a premise that might have its limits, especially when the main characters realise that they’re being recorded. Look at the Futurama episode Fry and Leela’s Big Fling as an example, perhaps.

That being said, it’s nice to hear that Paramount hasn’t given up on Star Trek, despite financial issues. The corporation is soon to merge with Skydance, and that could lead to a shake-up in the longer term, including a proposal that would see Paramount+ and fellow streaming service Peacock join forces. It’s good to see that Paramount – at least in its current form – remains committed to making more Star Trek. Would I have rather seen an announcement for Legacy, or another Picard-era series? Well… sure. But that’s no reason to be negative about this comedy series! With it still untitled and clearly very early in its development, I doubt we’ll see it on our screens before 2027.

Co-creators of the new untitled Star Trek series Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome.

There have been a couple of announcements of cast members joining Starfleet Academy over the last few months. The most interesting prior to Comic-Con had been the inclusion of Paul Giamatti, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and multiple Academy Award nominee. Giamatti will play the season’s villain – a concept I’m still not sold on, for reasons I’ve already discussed – but Paramount could hardly have selected a better, more seasoned actor for the part. At Comic-Con we learned that Oded Fehr and Mary Wiseman will join the series, reprising their roles as Admiral Vance and Tilly respectively on a recurring basis. This was something that, at least as of Season 4 of Discovery, made a lot of sense, as both characters were strongly linked to Federation HQ and Starfleet Academy. Tig Notaro will also join the series, reprising her role as Jett Reno from Discovery.

The most surprising announcement for Starfleet Academy, though, has to be Robert Picardo returning to Star Trek as the Doctor! I talked about this years ago, prior to Discovery’s third season, and how the Doctor (or at least a version of him) could still be active in the 32nd Century. It seems that idea was valid after all, and the Doctor will have a role to play in Starfleet Academy. Whether this will be the original version of the character or a future version seen in the Voyager episode Living Witness isn’t clear – I’d guess the former, but modern Star Trek hasn’t been afraid to make deeper cuts to individual episodes, so we’ll have to see! It’s worth noting that the Doctor has recently appeared in Prodigy, so his return in Starfleet Academy doesn’t come entirely out of nowhere.

The Doctor in *Prodigy’*s second season.

So Starfleet Academy really sounds like it’s taking shape, with its main characters having seemingly been cast and its first season’s story written. There are some interesting announcements and ideas in the mix, though I confess I remain unconvinced at the series’ apparent direction of having an overarching villain and a serialised main story. For me, a series like Starfleet Academy felt like it could’ve been perfect for a return to a more episodic format, akin to what Strange New Worlds has been doing, with different planets to visit week-to-week. Still, the inclusion of the Doctor and the return of characters from Discovery is good news in my book!

Starfleet Academy has also seemingly gotten its official logo/typeface, which you can see below.

Though I could be reading too much into this, I feel like the font used is a slightly softer, more child-friendly version of the Original Series film-era typeface that we’d often see on starships. The refit USS Enterprise, the Excelsior, and other ships in those films and through the early part of The Next Generation era used a similar font. This seems to carry the same outline, but in a slightly softer and more rounded form, and with a curve to the text that wouldn’t seem out-of-place on a university/college sweatshirt. First impressions are positive, at any rate!

Just prior to Comic-Con there were comments from Prodigy’s co-creators and some of the voice actors about a potential third season for the show. Since we’re doing Star Trek news I’ll share my thoughts on that, and in a word I’d say a third season of Prodigy feels unlikely. It’s clear that the series didn’t do much for Paramount or Paramount+, hence its cancellation and sale to Netflix and other broadcasters. Re-starting production at this stage would be complicated, with question-marks over the rights to the show and how proceeds would be divided. As nice as it would be to think a third season is possible… my gut feeling is that it won’t happen, despite some enthusiasm for the series since it landed on a more accessible, kid-friendly streaming platform.

*Prodigy’*s second season found a new home on Netflix.

Returning to Comic-Con, we got our first trailer for Section 31. In terms of style, the trailer was undoubtedly the most energetic and modern that the Star Trek franchise has done in a long time; it wouldn’t have felt out-of-place at the cinema in between trailers for big-budget superhero films and summer blockbusters. As a piece of marketing material, I think it was excellent. It had a great soundtrack, clips that looked exciting and entertaining without giving too much away, and it genuinely felt like a project that could open up Star Trek to new fans and especially younger fans. All of that is positive!

However, I do have a couple of notes that are a tad more negative. Firstly, in just the few clips in the Section 31 trailer, I saw several barely-redressed sets from Discovery. I would have hoped that a project like Section 31 would’ve had new sets built, or at least that redresses would have been less obvious. Maybe there are in-universe reasons for that – such as Georgiou and her crew commandeering another Crossfield-class ship, perhaps. But I wasn’t blown away by seeing the same sets and, at one point, the same special effect as I’ve already seen elsewhere in Star Trek.

*Section 31* looks explosive… and maybe a little familiar.

Secondly, although the tone of the trailer was positive and modern, I didn’t get a real sense of “Star Trek” from what we saw. The nature of Section 31 as a black ops division always meant that this story would have more freedom to step away from typical Starfleet officers and missions, and that’s something I’m generally supportive of. And as mentioned, I feel that Section 31 having a more modern identity could entice new viewers to the franchise – something that Star Trek needs if it is to survive.

But there should be a balance between telling this kind of one-off story with Star Trek’s core identity. The Kelvin films went in a more action-heavy direction but still managed to retain at least some of what made Star Trek feel like Star Trek, as have other productions post-2017. I don’t want to pre-judge Section 31 based on a few carefully-edited clips, but if one character hadn’t mentioned Starfleet during the trailer, there really wouldn’t have been much else in there to tie in with the wider franchise.

Michelle Yeoh is reprising her role as Empress Georgiou.

I like the idea of exploring more of Georgiou’s background… up to a point. As I’ve said before, prior to discovering her humanity in Discovery’s third season, Georgiou could feel quite one-dimensional. In the trailer, she seemed at her most interesting, I would argue, in what must be a flashback to her ascent to the Terran throne in the Mirror Universe; present-day Georgiou seemed to be back to her old tricks. This leaves me conflicted. I don’t think Section 31 would benefit from being “Star Trek does Suicide Squad,” where a gang of criminals and murderers without much nuance are the only main characters. That would conflict a little too much with what we know of Section 31 from its earlier appearances.

But at the same time, pushing the boat out and doing new things with Star Trek is a good thing. Reintroducing Georgiou to a more casual audience is also going to be necessary, given that it will have been five years since her last appearance by the time Section 31 lands on our screens next year. Flashing back to her time as Empress could be a great way to set up the character – as well as show how much she’s grown.

Is this the moment Georgiou assumed control of the Terran Empire?

The trailer didn’t tell us much about the plot or who the central villain(s) might be – and again, I think that’s probably a smart move. There was enough action and excitement to tease fans and get us invested without revealing too much or spoiling big story beats ahead of time. I’m sure we’ll get to see more in a second trailer before Section 31 arrives – and that trailer could introduce the main villain or show us a glimpse of what Georgiou and her crew are up against.

I will say that I’m a little disappointed that Ash Tyler, played by Shazad Latif in Discovery’s first two seasons, isn’t going to be part of Section 31. Tyler was an interesting character, and he could have been a moderating influence on Georgiou’s more violent methods. We didn’t get to see much of the new characters, but one is reportedly a chameloid – the shape-shifting species introduced in The Undiscovered Country. That could be a fun inclusion, and actor Sam Richardson is a fine addition to the cast. We’ll also get to know a younger Rachel Garrett – the captain of the Enterprise-C who we met in The Next Generation third season episode Yesterday’s Enterprise. There’s definitely a lot going on in Section 31!

*Section 31* is scheduled to arrive next year.

There were also trailers for the third season of Strange New Worlds and the fifth and final season of Lower Decks. Despite not being fully up to speed on either series yet, I braced myself for spoilers and decided to take a look! Generally, I liked what I saw from the trailers, and while we didn’t get any massive news about either series, it seems like their upcoming seasons are in good hands. As with Discovery, I’m a little concerned that cancellation came too late for Lower Decks’ writers and producers to have written a conclusive ending to the series… but that may be a blessing in disguise if a revival could be on the cards one day! Perhaps that’s clutching at straws… but you never know. These things happen in animation – just ask Futurama!

The Strange New Worlds teaser was really an extended scene from one of the upcoming Season 3 episodes, and it was genuinely hilarious. We talked before about comedy in Star Trek… well, look no further! The crew are turned into Vulcans for reasons unknown, and the entire sequence was just a ton of fun. There were callbacks to events in The Original Series, as well as to Spock’s half-human heritage. Seeing several main characters dressed up as – and acting like – Vulcans was a blast. I hope the rest of the episode can live up to the scene we just got to see!

Captain Pike and his crew are transformed into Vulcans!

The Lower Decks trailer emulated a commercial that I vaguely remember from the ’90s or early 2000s promoting one or other of the Star Trek films. I wish I could remember which one – but clearly the Lower Decks crew are geekier than I am. It was a neat callback, at any rate, and one that definitely plucked a nostalgic note for this old Trekkie!

We got to see a few clips from the upcoming season, including one that seems to feature a crossover with an alternate USS Cerritos from another timeline. That could be fun, and exploring alternate versions of our favourite characters is something that Lower Decks’ comedic style could be perfect for. There were also scenes showing Klingons, an undercover mission, a decontamination chamber, and more. Though I still need to fully catch up with Lower Decks, I liked what I saw and it seems like the show’s final outing will be a blast.

So to recap: we got big news about returning characters in Strange New Worlds, and I’m especially keen to catch up with the Doctor almost a millennium after we last saw him! A new live-action series is in early development, and it has a comedic focus. Section 31 looks like it’s going to take Star Trek in a different direction. And Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks will be returning in style.

All in all, I’d say that Star Trek had a pretty successful outing at Comic-Con this year. There were enough teases and trailers to keep fans engaged, but nothing went overboard. Maybe the untitled series’ announcement was a tad premature, as we really don’t have much to go on, but given the recent cancellations and the confusion over Paramount’s merger, taking the time to confirm that more Star Trek will be produced after Section 31 and Starfleet Academy is a good thing – it’s reassuring to both fans and investors that the brand isn’t going anywhere until at least 2027 or 2028!

Robert Picardo will be returning to live-action Star Trek.

I think my favourite announcement was the return of the Doctor. Ever since Discovery headed into the far future at the end of Season 2 back in 2019 – more than five years ago now – I’ve wondered whether the Doctor could still be around in that time period and if he might make an appearance. Although technobabble magic could have, in theory, brought back any character, as a hologram the Doctor had an easier explanation than most for his survival into the far future. I’ll be interested to see what role he might have in Starfleet Academy… as well as whether he might have some connection to the villain of the season!

So I hope this has been a fun look ahead. Some of the teases and announcements seem all but certain to keep Star Trek in production and on our screens for several years to come, and at a time when Paramount has been struggling and its flagship streaming platform has seemed to be in trouble, that’s good news in my book. Now all I have to do is catch up on the episodes and seasons I’ve missed before all of this new stuff arrives!

The Star Trek franchise – including all films, series, and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. Lower Decks Season 5 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in October 2024, Section 31 and Strange New Worlds Season 3 are scheduled to be broadcast on Paramount+ in 2025, and Starfleet Academy may follow in 2026. The untitled live-action series has no release date on the schedule. All broadcast dates are tentative and subject to change. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

What can we expect from Star Trek Day 2022?

Fri 19.08.22Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Star Trek franchise, including recent seasons of Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds.

The 8th of September is Star Trek Day! On that date in 1966, The Original Series premiered in the United States with the episode The Man Trap, kick-starting a franchise that’s still going strong fifty-six years later. Last year, Paramount organised a major broadcast to mark the occasion, hosted by Wil Wheaton (The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher and host of The Ready Room) and Mica Burton (daughter of Geordi La Forge actor LeVar Burton). It was a fun event – albeit one that probably went on a little too long – that celebrated all things Star Trek. With Star Trek Day coming back this year, I wanted to look ahead to the event and consider what we might see when it arrives in just under three weeks’ time.

My usual caveat for these sort of things applies: I have no “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that anything discussed below will definitely be included in this year’s Star Trek Day broadcast. This is speculation from a fan – and an opportunity to talk Trek – and nothing more! With that out of the way, let’s get started!

George Takei at last year’s Star Trek Day.

First of all, I think it’s worth talking about some of the big announcements we’ve seen over the past few months, because Paramount hasn’t been shy when it comes to making headlines for the Star Trek franchise. We’ve had major announcements about Picard Season 3, including who will be part of – and excluded from – the main cast, we’ve seen trailers, clips, and teasers for Lower Decks, which will be a couple of episodes into its third season by Star Trek day, we’ve had plenty of news about Strange New Worlds Season 2 – including the surprising return of a fan-favourite character… and much more besides. Events like last month’s Comic-Con saw big panels featuring main cast members and major announcements, like the Strange New Worlds crossover with Lower Decks.

In short, I’m not so sure that we should expect a glut of trailers and teaser clips and a plethora of massive announcements! Paramount could’ve saved things like the Picard Season 3 teaser and posters that were shown off at Comic-Con for Star Trek Day, but in a way it makes sense to use an event like that – where all eyes are on the world of entertainment – to make waves and show off Star Trek’s renaissance. Star Trek Day itself, at least based on what we saw last year, is more of a celebration for Trekkies and the Star Trek community.

Star Trek already dropped some big announcements at Comic-Con just last month.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be anything of substance, and the official press release for Star Trek Day promised announcements, reveals, and surprises! With Season 3 being Picard’s last, and principal photography already having been completed, I can’t help but wonder whether we might get an announcement of what could replace it in the lineup. When Picard disappears from the schedule next year, there will be a gap – and as Alex Kurtzman (head honcho of Star Trek for Paramount) has previously told us, there won’t be any new Star Trek until one of the current shows has ended its run. Well, something’s going to have to fill the Picard hole in late 2023 or 2024… so could the announcement of a new project be imminent?

I note that the official press release for Star Trek Day specifically mentioned that Michelle Hurd (Raffi) and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) will be present to talk about Picard. I know I’m not the only one who’s talked up the possibility of a “Seven and Raffi Show” as a spin-off from Picard, so it’s interesting that these two actors will be present together at Star Trek Day. Sure, they could just be there to talk about Picard Season 3… but maybe, just maybe, there’s more to it than that!

Seven of Nine and Raffi in *Picard* Season 2.

There are at least two unannounced Star Trek projects in the works at Paramount, again according to Alex Kurtzman. I don’t think we’d get two massive announcements like that at Star Trek Day, and if I had to put my money anywhere I’d say that a Picard spin-off or at least another show set in that same 25th Century era is the most likely. But you never know! There are rumours of a Khan-focused project and a Starfleet Academy series, the latter of which may (or may not) be a Discovery spin-off set in the 32nd Century with Mary Wiseman reprising her role as Lieutenant Tilly.

Does the untitled Section 31 series still count as having been “announced,” given that there’s been no official news for almost four years at this point? We could finally hear something about that project, too, I suppose. But I’m not holding my breath on that one.

So there are a few different possibilities for a major announcement. A brand-new series would be a heck of a way to celebrate Star Trek Day, especially if the announcement came along with things like concept art or maybe even casting information.

Are we going to get an announcement about… Khaaaaaaaan?!

The other big project that’s currently up in the air is the untitled feature film Star Trek 2023. As we recently discussed, I seriously doubt whether the film will make its intended December 2023 release date given that most of the main Kelvin timeline cast don’t appear to be on board yet, but Star Trek Day could surprise us with some more information about the project.

So those are the potential projects that I think we could hear something about. As I said, my money would be on some kind of 25th Century Picard replacement if you forced me to make a bet… but there are definitely cases to be made to hear something about a Starfleet Academy series or perhaps a some kind of Khan project, too.

This year’s Star Trek Day will be hosted by Tawny Newsome (Ensign Mariner on Lower Decks) and Paul F. Tompkins (Dr Migleemo on Lower Decks) who co-host The Pod Directive, Star Trek’s official podcast. I’m sure they’ll make a great presenting duo – though part of me feels a little sad that Wil Wheaton won’t be on hosting duties. His energy and passion for Star Trek really elevated last year’s event.

I’m curious to see what may be teased about Discovery Season 5. Filming is currently underway in Toronto, and a behind-the-scenes tour hosted by Wilson Cruz (Dr Culber) promises appearances by some of the cast members and a look at new sets. I’m not sure when Discovery’s fifth season will make its debut; it seems right now as if Picard and Strange New Worlds will be ready first, even though Discovery Season 4 wrapped up back in March, so we could see one or both of those arrive before Season 5 is ready. Still, it’ll be neat to catch a glimpse behind the curtain – and maybe there’ll even be a teaser of some kind!

We’re edging closer to the first anniversary of Prodigy’s premiere, and we’ve been promised a second batch of ten episodes to round out that show’s first season before the end of this year. With a Prodigy panel on the agenda for Star Trek Day, I have to assume we’ll get some more details about those episodes – hopefully including a premiere date. If I had to guess, I’d say that the second half of Season 1 could directly follow on from Lower Decks, which could mean a premiere date in late October or early November.

Prodigy has not been particularly well-supported by Paramount, in my view, at least not so far. Splitting up its first batch of episodes into chunks of four and five respectively with a long gap in between is not a great way for a new series to gain traction – especially with its young target audience. There’s also a lack of toys and tie-in products, and while there are plans in place to address that, at time of writing none of those items are available for purchase. Paramount has a lot of work to do to really sell Prodigy – and I really hope they get on with it, because it’s a unique project within the Star Trek franchise and one that could turn a whole generation of kids into Trekkies if handled better.

We’ll hear something about *Prodigy* at Star Trek Day.

Either Lower Decks or Strange New Worlds stars could go into more detail about the upcoming crossover, and although it’s still early days we could get some kind of teaser for Strange New Worlds’ upcoming second season. I don’t expect to see any clips from the crossover at Star Trek Day – that’s just a hunch, of course, but something tells me it’ll be kept under wraps until much closer to the episode’s premiere. But we could learn more about Season 2, including whether any new cast members will be coming on board. There’s at least one and perhaps two spots open if the producers wanted to make additions, although I hope they don’t go overboard and try to cram in too many new characters – especially not characters from The Original Series.

Season 1 managed to strike a good balance between legacy and new characters, and I’d hope that would continue in Season 2. There must be a temptation to add characters like Scotty, for example, in engineering, but I hope that the show’s writers can resist – at least for now. There may be scope to bring in more legacy characters in later seasons, but for now I’d like to spend more time with some of the newbies who we’re just getting to know.

Behind-the-scenes with Captain Pike and the Enterprise bridge crew.

There’s also a decent chance, in my view, that we’ll hear about a Season 3 renewal for Strange New Worlds. Season 2 has already finished its main production phase, and with Discovery Season 5 well underway, it’s definitely time for those conversations to be happening behind-the-scenes. It seems utterly unfathomable to me that there won’t be a third season (and a fourth…) given how well Season 1 was received. Pre-production may be already happening, so it wouldn’t shock me at all to get a formal announcement at Star Trek Day.

In a similar vein there could be announcements for a fifth season of Lower Decks, a third for Prodigy, and perhaps even a sixth for Discovery – though the latter may be premature at this stage. As Discovery has been running since 2017 (and in production since 2016), it’s not an absolute certainty that we’ll get more after Season 5, but at the same time the 32nd Century feels like a really interesting setting to spend more time in, so I’m hopeful that there’ll be more to come from Captain Burnham and the crew.

Captain Burnham in *Discovery* Season 4.

So those are my main thoughts/predictions. I’m also looking forward to some of the other events that will be part of the live broadcast, including a tribute to Nichelle Nichols, as well as a couple of fan-focused events, some music, and even some stand-up comedy. Star Trek Day’s stated runtime is two hours, and that feels about right for something like this. As mentioned, last year’s event may have dragged just a little – at least for me – so it seems as though some lessons may have been learned from that. But as they say, live events have the potential to take unexpected turns, so I won’t be shocked if Star Trek Day ends up running a little over that time limit!

I guess that’s about all there is to say. I’m glad Paramount is doing this, and I’m glad the event will be free to stream on the official Star Trek website instead of being locked behind a Paramount+ paywall. It’s a nice way to celebrate all things Star Trek, and even if there are no massive announcements about brand-new shows or films, I still think it’ll be a fun time. There’ll be glimpses behind-the-scenes, chats with cast members, and hopefully a lot of positivity and excitement about the Star Trek franchise.

I’m looking forward to Star Trek Day, and when the event is over I’ll be sure to share my thoughts on the broadcast, as well as perhaps take a longer look at any major trailers, teasers, or announcements. Stay tuned here on the website in the next few days because I have a list of a few potential upcoming Star Trek projects currently in the works – and who knows, we may hear about some of those at Star Trek Day!

Star Trek Day will be live-streamed on the official Star Trek website and social media channels on the 8th of September 2022 beginning at 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time/8:00pm British Summer Time. The Star Trek franchise – including all shows and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.