Comments
It’s no secret that Star Trek is one of the most popular shows of all time. Which, for the sci-fi genre, is no small feat, considering how niche it can be. Since the first episode aired in 1966, it’s had a passionate fanbase built right in. And with each new series based on the original IP, the show has only gained popularity—and sometimes even notoriety (yes, we’re talking about Deep Space Nine). But there’s one series that seems to have gotten hit much harder than any of the others that have come before it, and now a star of that series is speaking out about a potential reason why.
Since the airing of its first episode, it’s been thought that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been at the center of a targeted hate campaign from viewers who didn’t appreciate the show’s more diverse approach, which tanked its ratings from the very first episode (the series has an 85% critics rating, but a dismal 52% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes). But it seems like the series may have been set up to fail even before it hit the air, at least according to Robert Picardo, who plays the Doctor on Starfleet Academy. Speaking at SpaceCon, the actor said, per Popverse, “We didn’t get any ads. You couldn’t even find us.”
Was Starfleet Academy Set Up to Fail?
According to Paramount, it was canceled because it didn’t draw enough viewership. But Picardo has a different opinion. “Our show was conceived under the prior ownership regime at CBS Paramount, and once the new owners took over, we had no support with the release of the show,” he said. While there were some valid issues that fans had, such as the fact that it was geared toward a younger audience, likely with hopes that it would inspire a new generation of Star Trek fans, the hate Starfleet Academy received seemed wildly overblown from the very beginning. And at the core of its cancellation is something even bleaker—with Strange New Worlds ending and Legacy remaining a myth, there’s currently no new Star Trek content on the horizon, a fact that Paramount doesn’t seem concerned with.
Going on to elaborate, Picardo added, “I had friends who said, ‘Where is Starfleet Academy?’ I said, ‘It’s on Paramount+.’ And they said, ‘I have Paramount+, I can’t find it.’ And I thought, well, that’s weird. After the premiere episode, it kind of dropped off the menu. Usually, if people have a history on Paramount+ of watching Star Trek, you would pitch them the new Star Trek show, but that didn’t happen on mine. I wish we had gotten more support.” And it seems that the lack of support ultimately did the series in, both from the studio that created it and from viewers who couldn’t get on board with the series moving in a more inclusive direction in its casting and storylines.
Overall, it would appear that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy never stood a chance. And while all media is and should be open to critique, the overblown hate and lack of support that this series landed with feels like a genuine tragedy, especially in the face of so many TV shows and movies all blurring into one homogeneous thing in hopes of gaining and maintaining ratings.
What are your thoughts on what Robert Picardo says about the lack of support from the studio? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the forum to see what other Star Trek fans are saying.
Every Star Trek TV Show, Ranked From Worst to Best
