Star Trek: The Original Series didn’t not get to complete its opening narration’s now-legendary promise of a “five-year mission,” having been canceled just three seasons into its original network run on NBC, from 1966 to 1969. But the showrunners of the current Paramount+ prequel series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, were determined to make good on that promise.
During a Zoom interview to discuss SNW’s upcoming third season, executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers told Gold Derby that Paramount+ initially wanted to conclude the series at the end of its forthcoming fourth season, currently in production. But the producers gently reminded the streamer of the implicit obligation to longstanding fans of the franchise, which resulted in a more symmetrical mission for the Enterprise and its crew, several of whom go on to serve on the original series under Captain James T. Kirk.
“Obviously, Henry and I would make the show until we were old — -er — but Paramount+ said, ‘OK, we think we're done after four seasons,’” said Goldsman. “And we were like, ‘Yeah, but we made this promise to the fans about how we would get everybody to TOS, so they saw what happened to all these characters.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did. We were part of that promise, too.’”
The streamer swiftly adopted an obliging posture, Goldsman reported. “They said, 'What do you need to get us there?' And we said, ‘It'll take about six episodes to get us right up to where we need to get.’ And they were like, ‘OK. Go do it.’”
The showrunners were thrilled to be able to completely thread the needle between SNW and TOS while also fulfilling that 60-year-old promise of a five-year mission. And Goldman made another promise he plans to deliver on.
“I'll remind you that TOS doesn't begin with Kirk's first mission, but we do end with Kirk's first mission,” he offered portentously, indicating that show will explicitly depict the passing of the baton Enterprise helm from Chris Pike (Anson Mount) to Jim Kirk (played by Paul Wesley on SNW and, of course, William Shatner in TOS).
Goldsman broadly suggests — or maybe even hints — that there may be more stories to tell in the transitioning period between Enterprise crews, and indeed there remains the possibility of further depicting Kirk’s early command period, even telling tales set in between the 79 established missions of TOS, weaving in nuances from what we now know about Spock, Uhura, Scotty, and other legacy characters featured on SNW.
"It would be remiss of me not to say that we do in fact have a bunch of sets and a bunch of actors, all of whom and all of which could combine very nicely to continue on,” said Goldsman. “But I leave that to the powers that be.”
Meanwhile, the big-picture future of the iconic TV and film franchise that veritably defined science fiction storytelling in popular culture is looking a bit unclear: although Paramount+ does have Star Trek: Starfleet Academy in the wings, expected to premiere sometime within the year. But the streamer recently brought Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks to somewhat premature, if not unceremonious, conclusions.
Goldsman insisted he doesn’t have any inside information on exactly where the franchise might be headed next. “Honestly, I don't know. The future of Star Trek is above my pay grade. The future of this show is we're ending after our Season 5.”
