I almost can’t believe that ten years ago I wrote a rather personal blog post about how the beloved TV series Star Trek changed my life. You can read it HERE. I’m not going to rehash that post, but rather say a few things about “new” Trek.

Since that 50th anniversary, we’ve seen several new Star Trek series: Discovery, the animated Prodigy, the animated Lower Decks, a prequel to the original series titled Strange New Worlds, and Starfleet Academy. We even had a spoof that turned out to be as “Trek” as Star Trek, The Orville. (If you haven’t watched The Orville, do so. Yes, it’s a spoof and a funny one, but like Trek, it took on social issues masterfully. There are also some great cameos. It’s available on Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV, via subscriptions or pay per episode.)

“New” Trek has been made controversial by fans who obviously didn’t grasp the intent of Star Trek: The Original Series. It was a vehicle for Gene Roddenberry to present issues of social justice to his audience while fooling studio executives with the sci-fi genre. In other words, Star Trek has always been woke. Don’t debate me on this. I watched the original series from its inception and can testify that it was.

Much of the criticism of “new” Trek is that it’s too woke. Even from the standpoint of me as a child of the 60s and 70s, “new” Trek is Trek. It still takes on social and political issues, but in these times of shattered bipartisanship, some people have chosen to decry what are truly great additions to the Trek canon.

Now, did I feel about these new iterations the same as I felt about the original series? Not right away. It took me a couple of seasons to appreciate Discovery, but Strange New Worlds had me at Season 1, Episode 1 because it was recognizably “old” Trek. Prodigy, I did enjoy, though it was too Nickelodeon for me, probably because I’m ancient. I thought Lower Decks was hilarious but absolutely Trek. Starfleet Academy, again, was too 90210-ish for me, but I watched every episode because Trek. I’m looking forward to the second season, which unfortunately will be its last. Some things shouldn’t be about ratings and likes and follows.

What does this have to do with writing?

Star Trek has always showcased excellent writing, from the original series through The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. Even the writing in J.J. Abrams’ reboot series of movies was intriguing. Of course, there were episodes that were crap, but that’s true of any TV series.

When watching the original series and seeing the writing credits, I deepened my desire to be a writer, not a screenwriter, though I’ve tried it, but simply a writer of good stories. Star Trek helped to teach me writing, and “new” Trek has added to that.

I probably shouldn’t use the term “new” Trek because I believe any Trek is Trek. So, think of it simply as a modifier.

We have one more season of Starfleet Academy and after this year’s fourth season of Strange New Worlds, it’s fifth season will be its last. After that, no Trek is being developed. And that’s sad for me. Again, because I’m ancient, I don’t want to think I’ll never see a “new” Trek again.

So, please read my 50th anniversary homage (link in the first paragraph) to a truly great and historical franchise, and, of course, Live Long and Prosper.