Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: LeVar Burton, paramount, Star Trek Picard, star trek: legacy, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: LeVar Burton Could See "Legacy" After "Starfleet Academy"

LeVar Burton (Trivial Pursuit) believes that if Star Trek: Legacy is going to happen, Paramount will focus on it after Starfleet Academy.

If there's anyone with the perspective and intuition of the Braintrust at Paramount, it would be Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton, who reprised his role as Geordi La Forge after a 21-year live-action absence since 2002's Nemesis on Picard. Just as those far and wide from within the Trek community and beyond were patting Picard season three showrunner Terry Matalas on the back on a job well done, he pitched a continuation and teased it in the final scene with Michelle Hurd, Jeri Ryan, and Ed Speleers fly off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-G to new adventures. The concept was supposed to be for Legacy, but Paramount sat on their hands given their uncertain fate and potential merger with Skydance. As months passed by, Paramount's loss became Disney's gain as Matalas was recruited to showrun their WandaVision spinoff in their untitled Vision series with Paul Bettany. While promoting his latest game show, Trivial Pursuit, on The CW, Burton spoke to TV Line about where Paramount's priorities with Star Trek might be.

LeVar Burton on When He Thinks Star Trek Legacy Might Become a Reality

"I think [Patrick] was reflecting, genuinely, the sentiment—then and now, at least for us, the cast—and the audience, two years on, seem to be just as interested in the idea of 'Legacy' as when 'Picard' was just airing," Burton said (via TrekMovie) but admitted, "I'm not close to the brain trust over there, but I see that they are all in on 'Starfleet Academy.' And in this age of cutting back and retrenching in the entertainment space, I imagine they're going to focus on that until they feel like they might be able to focus on something else. And I would think that given the opportunity and the resources, that they would want to do this. It makes so much sense… It makes so much sense."

Paramount+ once had three live-action series, Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds, and two animated series, Lower Decks and (now) Netflix's Prodigy. As the streamer and studio are cutting back, we saw Discovery and Picard ending their respective runs and Lower Decks ending with its fifth and final season on Paramount+. Netflix hasn't announced any plans to renew Prodigy for season three, leaving the animated series, once again, in limbo. Despite Paramount+'s renewal, the streamer opted to cancel the series even as most of the season was already recorded. Dedicated fans drove the campaign for Netflix to pick the series up for season two.

Even as Lower Decks is currently in its final season, hope remains alive that the animated series could find a new home like its Nickelodeon counterpart. This leaves Starfleet Academy as the only new active series in development, as Tawny Newsome's live-action Star Trek with Justin Simien still hasn't gotten the official green light. Strange New Worlds will enter its third season in 2025. For more, you can check out the entire interview. Trivial Pursuit airs on Thursdays on The CW.

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