Star Trek Day: Alex Kurtzman Teases Starfleet Academy Show

By Jamie Lovett

During his opening remarks for Wednesday's Star Trek Day live-streaming event, Star Trek head Alex Kurtzman hinted that he does indeed have plans for Starfleet Academy. However, he stopped short of confirming its development. "I know there's been a lot of conversation about Starfleet Academy, which we are very excited about," he said while speaking with Star Trek Day co-host Wil Wheaton. He continued to discuss how Starfleet Academy would fit into the current Star Trek programming landscape, saying that he and his team aren't rushing to flood the market with more Star Trek beyond the five shows already in development.

There have been rumors about a Starfleet Academy show since early on in Alex Kurtzman's tenure running the Star Trek franchise. The rumor was that Runaways creators Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz were developing the project, though such rumors were never confirmed. Not much else came from the rumors until Starfleet Academy got mentioned in a recent New York Times profile on Kurtzman. The piece did not quote Kurtzman on Starfleet Academy, making his Star Trek Day comments the first time he's publicly suggested such a project could be in the works.

Starfleet Academy is a largely unexplored setting for Star Trek television, outside of a few episodes of past series. It has been explored in other media, including Starfleet Academy novels, comics, and video games.

If it is in development, Starfleet Academy is one of at least two shows in the on-deck position for the Star Trek franchise. Section 31, the Star Trek: Discovery spinoff focusing on former Terran Emperor Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), would have produced its pilot episode immediately after Star Trek: Discovery Season Three wrapped if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, plans changed with the production difficulties of the pandemic and the demand for the Captain Pike-focused Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, the show's producers remain optimistic that Section 31 will eventually stream on Paramount+ once one of the current series concludes its run.

All of the Star Trek Day celebration panels are available to live-stream for free at StarTrek.com/Day and on Paramount+ and Paramount+'s Twitch page in the U.S. The Star Trek Day panel schedule can is available at StarTrek.com/Day. After their initial airing, the panels will be available on-demand on Paramount+'s YouTube Channel and Paramount+.

Would you like to see a Starfleet Academy series? Let us know in the comments.

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