Posted in: TV | Tagged: alex kurtzman, paramount, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Starfleet Academy, Tawny Newsome

Starfleet Academy: Alex Kurtzman Shares New "Star Trek" Series Details

Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman breaks down and previews the concepts of behind the upcoming Paramount+ series Starfleet Academy.

Alex Kurtzman has a lot on his plate as the major gatekeeper to Star Trek, juggling multiple live-action and animated series, which initially was all to be handled at Paramount+ until Prodigy got sold to Netflix. With Picard ending in 2023 and fans clamoring for a follow-up sequel that may never come, which includes showrunner Terry Matalas' conceptualized Legacy and Discovery on its final season, the franchise is set to move onto its next phase continuing with Strange New Worlds, the animated Lower Decks, a new writer for the Kelvin Universe Star Trek 4, and offering first looks at the upcoming Discovery spinoff film Section 31 and first details of Star Trek's first young adult series Starfleet Academy.

The first major detail is that it will be the second series that is set in the 32nd century, following up the foundation set by the Discovery season two finale as the U.S.S. Discovery ventured into the distant future to prevent the galaxy's imminent destruction from a sentient A.I. Upon the initial designs, "For me, this design is almost too Klingon," Kurtzman told Variety as part of their comprehensive look in the current state of Star Trek. "I want to see the outline and instinctively, in a blink, recognize it as a Federation ship."

The concept of introducing a standalone Starfleet Academy is not new because priorities shifted around The Original Series films and the future of the franchise following the failure of The Final Frontier (1989), as the idea of a Kirk-Spock prequel concept was going to be set during their academy days before it was decided 1991's The Undiscovered Country would be the sixth and final film and proper sendoff for the TOS crew. When J.J. Abrams revisited the idea of young Kirk and Spock in 2009's Star Trek, it was decided to be more to streamline their academy days into their first adventure in the alternate Kelvin Universe timeline that wouldn't be constricted by the Prime universe continuity except for Leonard Nimoy's TOS Spock that would see him meet with Zachary Quinto's Kelvin Spock.

The third introductory series to Star Trek would take the form of Nickelodeon's Prodigy, which featured an all-alien non-Starfleet crew piloting the experimental U.S.S. Protostar. The only human character featured was Kathryn Janeway with Voyager star Kate Mulgrew reprising the role and voicing her holographic version and vice-admiral versions. Starfleet Academy will be the first proper Starfleet-centric introductory series of the Paramount+ era. "These are kids who've never had a red alert before," Noga Landau, executive producer and co-showrunner, says. "They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight."

Kurtzman assures Starfleet Academy writers' room will comprise die-hard Star Trek fans, part-time fans, and newbies. Among them is Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome. "I think we need to ground in science more throughout the show," he said, a giant framed photograph of Spock ears just over his shoulder. "The kids need to use science more to solve problems." Immediately, one of the writers brightens. "Are you saying we can amp up the techno-babble?" she says. "I'm just excited I get to use my computer science degree." The fact the series is set in the 32nd century means plenty of opportunities for potential cameos from the obvious Discovery to holographic characters across previous shows. For more, you can check out the comprehensive feature here.

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