Since 2017, the streaming service Paramount+ (originally called CBS All Access) has debuted the following Star Trek shows, all under the watchful eye of executive producer Alex Kurtzman: Star Trek: Discovery, Short Treks, Star Trek ". : Picard", "Star Trek: The Lower Decks," Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. There was even a brief period when all of those shows were in production at the same time. As of this writing, A TV movie called "Section 31" is due in the early months of 2025, and Starfleet Academy is in production. That's more trekking than we had in the 1990s.

Of course, the franchise has declined in recent years. All of the above series, except for Strange New Worlds, have come to an end, and the franchise seems to be aiming to be much more modest going forward.

As a sole survivor, Strange New Worlds is one of the better choices to carry the torch for the property. Unlike most other recent Star Trek series, "Brave New Worlds" boasts an episodic structure, wrapping up its dramas at the end of each hour. The episodic, non-serialized narrative revealed that Star Trek has always thrived better in miniature. "Brave New Worlds" also connects to the original "Star Trek" in a myriad of tangible ways; not only is it set on the original USS Enterprise, but it also boasts younger versions of several familiar characters, including Spock (Ethan Peck), Chapel Nurse (Jess Bush), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). ), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and several others.

Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, loves Brave New Worlds. Specifically, he enjoys its lighter, almost comedic tone, as well as how much it has managed to forge its own identity despite being based on heritage and nostalgia. In a 2022 ScreenRant interviewRod said his father would have been proud of the show.

Deep Trekkies know that Gene Roddenberry, back when he was working on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late 1980s, was notoriously strict. There was a long series of rules that writers had to follow, often to the bewilderment of the writers. infamous, Roddenberry banned stories about interpersonal conflict between Starfleet officers. He liked the idea that everyone would naturally work well together in the future. However, writers knew that interpersonal conflict was one of the easiest ways to produce drama and story. Roddenberry died in 1991, and his strict mandates passed into the hands of executive producer Rick Berman, who also ensured that the franchise's many writers had limitations.

The point is: Roddenberry held Star Trek to a pretty high standard.

These days, Rod Roddenberry serves as a producer on the new Star Trek shows and gets an exclusive first look at all the new series. However, no one seems on hand to maintain Roddenberry's rigor, something I'm sure the writers appreciate. With that exclusive access, Rod had the following to say about his father's potential take on Strange New Worlds:

"I think he would be very proud of that." I think one thing that surprised me a little bit was the uniqueness of each episode of "Brave New Worlds." I'm impressed that they do it at first it kind of shocked me, because we have some comedic episodes (...) or at least, of course, some comedic moments Scripts that I don't know how this is going to play out, I don't know how the audience is going to receive this.

Rod added that he was proud of the creators and that he was delighted that the show was a success. Star Trek debuted nearly 60 years ago and is still going strong. And it's nice to have Roddenberry around to give a thumbs up.