Star Trek: Year One Looks Like It's Slipping Away, and I'm Ready for Trek to Try Something Beyond Kirk

Star Trek: Year One looks like it's slipping away. I'm not sure, but the latest update points that way, and while I understand the disappointment, my opinion has changed: I'm ready for Trek to give another part of the universe a chance.

The biggest question is whether Paramount missed an opportunity or not. I think the bigger question is whether another Kirk series was the opportunity we needed. I love Kirk. I love the Enterprise. I love Trek. But a franchise about exploring the unknown has to stop treating the same stretch of history like it's the only place worth going. There are so many other ideas sitting right in front of us, and I'll get to the ones I'd most like to see further down.

Akiva Goldsman says he doesn't see Star Trek: Year One happening

We've talked about Year One countless times, so this isn't me pretending. The important update is Akiva Goldsman's September interview with Radio Times. He said, "Nobody's called. The sets are gone. People are taking other jobs." His exact assessment was, "I don't see it happening."

The project never received an official yes or no. We all just kind of assumed it was coming. Look at Strange New Worlds. Look at what they're setting up with Kirk and the original crew. This is the next thing. But then again, Picard season 3 set up the same thing for the next generation of the Enterprise, and that didn't happen.

So is this a proposed series apparently losing its chance, or an ordered show getting pulled from production? Either way, that outlook is pretty rough.

Year One was a convenient production opportunity, but that isn't the same as the best creative direction

I understand why this disappoints people. I do. Year One would have continued into Kirk's early command of the Enterprise. For fans invested in those versions of the characters, that sounds like a natural next step. You've spent time building this world and getting people comfortable with the cast. There is an emotional argument for continuing.

Goldsman also pointed out that the easiest production opportunity is gone. It passed. You had all those existing assets, and then they went away. That's a missed opportunity in one sense. But a convenient production opportunity and the best creative direction aren't the same thing.

If Year One had a fantastic story to tell, I want to hear it. I'm a fan of the franchise, so I'm going to digest anything they put in front of me, even Starfleet Academy. I'm going to watch it and then make my determination. I just don't think "and then Kirk takes over" is enough by itself anymore. We already know where that road goes. You would have to give me a real big reason to take it again and be bought in.

Star Trek keeps circling Kirk the way Star Wars circles the Skywalkers

This is where Star Wars comparisons need to come in. I'm just as passionate about Star Wars as I am about Trek, and they run parallel with each other. How often have we said that galaxy needs room to breathe outside the Skywalker family? We're struggling with the same thing over there as we are over here. And no, I don't buy the idea that you can't be both a Trek and a Star Wars fan. That's absolutely stupid. Personally, I think most Star Wars fans are Trek fans, and most Trek fans are Star Wars fans.

You can love Luke and Vader while wanting a story that doesn't eventually circle back to Luke and Vader. Trek has its own version of that. It's Kirk. Kirk, Spock, the familiar Enterprise. Different actors, different years, but we keep parking in the same neighborhood.

I'm not claiming everybody is tired of it. I don't speak for everybody. I speak for myself, and then I see what my community is saying. Some people, myself included, would watch another decade of that crew, because if I don't have a choice, I'd rather watch it than not watch Trek. But there's room to ask whether familiarity has become the default pitch here. And it has. Star Trek has an enormous history, different civilizations, an entire galaxy, generations of characters. Surely the next great idea doesn't always need Kirk's name attached before somebody feels comfortable greenlighting it. The Next Generation took that chance. Deep Space Nine took an even stranger chance: put the story on the station, make the relationships complicated, let consequences stick around.

Star Trek: United would explore the Federation's formative years with Archer as president

Losing Year One actually shoves me right back toward United. Michael Sussman has publicly discussed this pitch, with Scott Bakula returning as Archer, centered on the Federation's formative years and Archer as president. We've talked about it multiple times, and every time we do, it pops off. It's been described as a political thriller and family drama.

To be clear, I haven't found an official announcement establishing it as an ordered series. Trust me, I would know. But I'm going to keep pitching it as long as Michael is still pitching it and passionate about it, because I truly believe it would be a really good project.

Yes, United goes backward in the timeline too, and I've said plenty of times that I don't want to go backwards all the time. I don't. But the attraction for me here is the story territory. How do you hold that alliance together? How do civilizations with different priorities turn a shared ideal into something that actually works? That sounds like Trek. Give Archer a situation where being right isn't enough to get everybody on board, then give us people who support the Federation but disagree about what it should do. Tension, political drama, the Andor vibe.

Limited series about Data and Worf could give Trek stories with a definitive ending

United isn't the only direction worth discussing. We've pitched limited series before, because I think Trek could benefit from stories with a clear purpose and a definitive ending. You don't have to build every idea around a seven season commitment. Tell me what the character is facing, why those events matter, and give the story enough room to land.

We talked about Data's early years. My pitch focused on his first experiences serving alongside people who don't know what to make of him, before he ever got to the Enterprise. There are so many things you could do there. Show his first meaningful friendship, his first difficult command decision, a moment where following an instruction conflicted with his early programming.

Then there's Worf and his three years at Starfleet Academy. Treat those three years as the span of a limited series. You don't have to claim his entire academy record. The pitch is watching him learn what kind of officer he's going to become before he's a junior officer on the bridge of the Enterprise. You've got a Klingon raised by humans trying to live up to the idea of honor while entering an institution that requires restraint and cooperation. That's a coming of age story I would watch in a heartbeat.

Reopening Deep Space Nine or following Seven's Enterprise G in a Legacy series

Or just reopen Deep Space Nine, by which I mean reopen it as a setting. Return to the station 20 or 30 years later, whatever. New generation, new central story. I don't care. Who lives there? Who's changed? What did all those decisions do, and how did they affect people? Give me a good story.

And then there's Legacy, which may be the one most in front of our faces. Picard's ending gave us Seven commanding the Enterprise G. We've got Raffi. We've got Jack. We've got Q. That's a starting point, and it's familiar, but it's new. I'm a little frustrated here, because Seven as captain offers plenty to work with, and I have never seen one person say Seven shouldn't get a captain role in a series when we talk about it. How's she going to lead? How does she handle people who question her judgment? Those are things we could find out.

We keep pushing, without turning it into harassment or pretending fan enthusiasm signs production contracts, because it doesn't.

With no known road map after Strange New Worlds, I'm ready for another part of the universe

As for Paramount, I don't know. I know the whole Skydance thing is happening now, but something has to happen. I've had people comment that Paramount may actually be done with Trek TV. We know the darker new Trek movie is coming, and I'll keep updating on it, but people are genuinely worried because there's no road map after Strange New Worlds. There are six episodes left to tie a bow on that, then Starfleet Academy season 2, and then it's done.

There's nothing else that we know of in the pipeline. That doesn't mean there's not, but I don't have my hands on anything I could share. I have no idea. So yes, it's scary, because you really need Trek on the big screen and you need Trek on TV.

If Year One somehow comes back with a strong pitch, I'd listen. But I'm also ready for Trek to give another part of the universe a chance. United, Data, Worf, Deep Space Nine, Legacy, whatever. We can be disappointed about a door closing and still keep asking for the next one to open. I'll never give up.

What limited series pitches would you like to see?