Star Trek’s Best Series in Years Will Soon Stream Free (& You Should Watch It)

The Star Trek franchise is employing one of the oldest, simplest tricks to hook new fans: handing it out for free. Starting on Monday, June 30th, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 will be free to stream on Pluto TV in the U.S. This is one of the most acclaimed new Star Trek series to premiere in years, and Season 3 premieres on July 17th on Paramount+. New or lapsed fans have an easy chance to try out the story for themselves before committing, as Season 1 will stream free until July 31st. The entire series will still be available on Paramount+, with Season 3 airing week-to-week through September 11th.

Strange New Worlds is the perfect series to bridge the generational gaps between Star Trek fans, with plenty of allusions to the classic stories and plenty of gaps to fill in at the same time. The series is an immediate prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, and it follows the crew of the USS Enterprise just before James T. Kirk became captain. It stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, and Rebecca Romijn as Pike’s first officer, Number One.

This wide appeal is an important part of Star Trek‘s strategy these days. The franchise has plenty of clout behind it, and that has translated to some reasonably big hits in the streaming era. However, there are some obvious bottlenecks in the system, as older fans may be reluctant to pick up new streaming subscriptions while younger fans may feel lost in all the old lore and references.

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Strange New Worlds has threaded that needle expertly, and it has recaptured the fun, episodic feel of older shows with “genre-hopping” episodes. The show has an impressive 98% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it must be hitting the mark for Paramount+ in some way since it has already been renewed for Season 4.

Still, an influx of new viewers via Pluto TV wouldn’t hurt the series, and this temporary license is likely strategic. Pluto TV is a subsidiary of Paramount, but it’s free for users since it’s supported by ad breaks. Free ad-supported streaming television services (FAST) have exploded in popularity in recent years, and this is the perfect way for subscription streamers to capitalize on that platform.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 will be available to stream on Pluto TV in the U.S. from June 30th to July 31st. Season 3 kicks off with a two-episode premiere on July 17th on Paramount+.