Back in 2019, Gizmodo did a round-up of all the Star Trek shows that were then in various stages of boldly going to CBS All Access. A couple years later, CBS All Access is now Paramount+, but studio’s keen interest in giving viewers as much Trek as possible is still steamrolling ahead. The latest to reportedly enter the mix: a Starfleet Academy-focused series that was teased already but has now taken a firmer shape.
Deadline had the scoop on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, described as “sharing a name with the late 1990s video game, the series is set among the college of cadets mentored for leadership roles in the United Federation of Planets space force.” The trade further goes on to note that sources report “Absentia co-creator Gaia Violo is currently working on a take for the project. With the long-gestating Star Trek spinoff Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh expected to get a pickup soon, Starfleet Academy is believed to be next in the Star Trek development pipeline behind it. It will be pitched to Paramount+ shortly, and the hope is to get it going in the next year.”
If “Star Trek goes to school” sounds familiar, that’s because the idea’s been lurking at least since 2018. Back then, it was slated to be showrun by Marvel’s Runaways’ Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz and, as Gizmodo wrote at the time, “will follow a younger and less-experienced cast of Starfleet heroes than we’ve usually seen leading a Star Trek show, as they go through the trials and tribulations of being young teens, but also like, Stellar Cartography 101.”
With this new update, we obviously now know the name behind the series has changed — but don’t know much more than we did in 2018 about the plot details. Missed today’s earlier update, pulled from the ongoing Television Critics Association press tour, about how five Star Trek shows isn’t enough Star Trek for Paramount+? Gizmodo covered that here; we also recently broke down what we’re calling the streamer’s “All Trek, All the Time” schedule here. As a reminder, Prodigy wraps up its first season tomorrow; the remainder of Discovery’s season four returns February 10; and then Picard’s second season kicks off March 3.