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Starfleet Academy - It's Happening

I vaguely thought of sending you a link to Zoë Steiner's Instagram to get you to watch...

Mentalist said:
The Betazed diplomacy storyline worked reasonably well for me. I was a bit confused by the sign language at first, but I honestly just rolled with it. I found myself quite happy just watching a straightforward Federation political problem play out. The Federation being desperate to rebuild trust, the uncertainty around whether Betazed would rejoin, that all felt very Trek. Why this is happening at the Academy is a stretch, but whatever. I also appreciated the restraint of not having some assassin plot or other MAJOR event sabotage it.
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It always bothered me a bit that Federation HQ, Starfleet Academy and the Federation HQ are all on Earth, so actually moving one to a different planet was exciting!
 
Watched the first episode. Didn't hate it, but the cringe factor was moderate.

These days, you can tell quickly if a new Trek show was created by people who understand Treklore, or by kids who are basically playing with Trek dolls and making up their own story. This show is somewhere in between. I agree with Menty and others that some of these characters would never have made it past the first interview in older Trek Academy standards.

Maybe the writers are pushing forward the idea that since The Burn, this is no longer your Geek Uncle's Trek.

To this I say, then call the show something else, and don't try to attach it to the Trek franchise. You can only stray so far from the core ideals and still call it Trek.

I'm reminded of Children of Time, where the survivors of the crash live on for generations, to the point where their ideas of who their ancestors were diluted, or repurposed, or just plain Tiny-Tooned since the old conflicts and politics no longer held any meaning. I'm kind of getting that vibe here, but in a more chaotic way. They are letting "kids" into the Academy (speaking of mental age more than physical), and even the more jaded cadets seem to be prone to cartoon attitudes and behavior for laughs. I hope this becomes a meatier Trek show and less a roleplay game...

On the plus side, I'm liking Holly Hunter's choices so far. I'm okay with the way this new 32nd century captain sits in her chair like she's a 1960s teen gabbing on the phone, lol. And she's looking pretty good for 120 years old...
 
I watched the first episode.

I won't be watching the second episode.

Or any other episode.

To quote e e cummings "there is some shit I will not eat."
 
Eggs Mayonnaise said:
Watched the first episode. Didn't hate it, but the cringe factor was moderate.

These days, you can tell quickly if a new Trek show was created by people who understand Treklore, or by kids who are basically playing with Trek dolls and making up their own story. This show is somewhere in between. I agree with Menty and others that some of these characters would never have made it past the first interview in older Trek Academy standards.

Maybe the writers are pushing forward the idea that since The Burn, this is no longer your Geek Uncle's Trek.

To this I say, then call the show something else, and don't try to attach it to the Trek franchise. You can only stray so far from the core ideals and still call it Trek.

I'm reminded of Children of Time, where the survivors of the crash live on for generations, to the point where their ideas of who their ancestors were diluted, or repurposed, or just plain Tiny-Tooned since the old conflicts and politics no longer held any meaning. I'm kind of getting that vibe here, but in a more chaotic way. They are letting "kids" into the Academy (speaking of mental age more than physical), and even the more jaded cadets seem to be prone to cartoon attitudes and behavior for laughs. I hope this becomes a meatier Trek show and less a roleplay game...

On the plus side, I'm liking Holly Hunter's choices so far. I'm okay with the way this new 32nd century captain sits in her chair like she's a 1960s teen gabbing on the phone, lol. And she's looking pretty good for 120 years old...
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There was a lot of cringe moments in that first episode. For me the whole thing is up in the air. It depends where they lean. If they actually develop a compelling mystery, focus on the rebuilding of the Federation in this new era and all the politics and intrigue that could possibly be mined from that then I'll shrug at some of the cringe inducing moments and teeny drama and keep watching. If they fumble the ball on the fundamentals and the stuff I thought they did a decent job of in episode 2 then I'll tap out sooner rather than later like I did with Disco.

For now, Ep2 has earned enough good grace for me to keep watching.
 
I nearly fell off my chair when they showed live action Roctof, or someone who looked and dressed exactly like her, and an exocomp, it's like they are making up for the lack of the Soritos and Protostar in the 60th logo.
 
Kyehlar said:
Dear Goddess I've gone native....

Here's what they're saying so far on Ex Isle. Christoper is being his usual sanctimonious self...

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I dunno. He made a good point about cultural shift, and he made a funny at the end... which I didn't think he was capable of. 3/5
 
Kyehlar said:
Dear Goddess I've gone native....

Here's what they're saying so far on Ex Isle. Christoper is being his usual sanctimonious self...

Click to expand...
It did start going through my head that Genesis was named after the Genesis Device and her parents were from a planet created by it, or something (that's probably not a thing.)

Surprised Christopher didn't get a pervy comment in about the young actress, like he usually does on TrekBBS (it's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT when I do it!)
 
Screenshot from 2026-01-19 16-50-56.webp

That's not being ratioed... that's a prison movie shower rape scene.

Three on one.

Ironic, since a big portion of the cast look like they run a lesbian bookstore in Seattle or maybe Portland.
 
I gave it a go a few days back. Managed to get up to the Bajor pre-school scene.

Didn't grab me, obviously.

Saw this and lol'ed. What's with the sitting and feet?

 
Attempt #2. Well, technically, two separate attempts in one day. I have made it to the 45-minute mark.

I haven't even got to origami chicken yet.

Give me strength.

The discourse around this show is a fucking dumpster fire.

My take: There’s likely no fresh audience to attract. Young people prefer their own interests and have little desire to be stuck with their father’s - or worse, their grandfather’s - old toys.
 
The top 10 streaming shows on Paramount+. Note that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is nowhere to be found. Note that in the top 5, first is South Park, which you can believe, and the next four are all Taylor Sheridan creations. Also note that this list is dominated by Sabrina and King of Queens... two shows that have been out of production for years. That's what viewers think of ST:SFA.Screenshot from 2026-01-21 13-24-42.webp
 
The story for US-only isn't much different. The only place Starfleet Academy is charting is on the Amazon Channels list (people who sub to the other streamers thru Amazon Prime) -- the show is #3 this week on that chart.

TOP-10-on-Streaming-in-the-US-Jan-21-2026.jpg
 
StarMan™ said:
My take: There’s likely no fresh audience to attract. Young people prefer their own interests and have little desire to be stuck with their father’s - or worse, their grandfather’s - old toys.
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I think the same. I really don't mind the motive in trying to rope in a new generation of younger fans, but it seems like a long shot. People can argue about the quality of Trek on offer at the moment, and that is relevant but I feel on a deeper level there is no zeitgeist amongst younger people that is somehow secretly untapped for Star Trek in the modern day.
 
The Beer Hall Pooch said:
The top 10 streaming shows on Paramount+. Note that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is nowhere to be found. Note that in the top 5, first is South Park, which you can believe, and the next four are all Taylor Sheridan creations. Also note that this list is dominated by Sabrina and King of Queens... two shows that have been out of production for years. That's what viewers think of ST:SFA.View attachment 2365
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<double take>

Wait, the PARAMOUNT+ Top 10? (???!!!!)

Mentalist said:
I think the same. I really don't mind the motive in trying to rope in a new generation of younger fans, but it seems like a long shot. People can argue about the quality of Trek on offer at the moment, and that is relevant but I feel on a deeper level there is no zeitgeist amongst younger people that is somehow secretly untapped for Star Trek in the modern day.
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It does seem this modern targeted demographic strategy pushes away many longtime fans while lacking the elements needed to draw in new ones. The irony is, there are heaps of fans out there (myself included) that discovered Trek at the very age they're so desperate to attract now. Originally, I started watching reruns of TOS in the early hours. Then, started renting VHS tapes of TNG; next thing I'm darting around the city scouring all the Blockbusters for every copy of TNG, DS9 and VOY. By the time I'd caught up (VOY S3 / DS9 S5), I was buying new episodes on VHS monthly. I was 18-ish.
 
Eggs Mayonnaise said:
The story for US-only isn't much different. The only place Starfleet Academy is charting is on the Amazon Channels list (people who sub to the other streamers thru Amazon Prime) -- the show is #3 this week on that chart.

TOP-10-on-Streaming-in-the-US-Jan-21-2026.jpg
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It would be interesting to see if it does something like it did on Paramount. It debuted at #3. In 24 hours it dropped to #6 and stayed there for some time before going to #10 and then off the list.
 
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