Perhaps the most important lesson Star Trek has shared with fans came from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In that landmark film that forever changed the course of the franchise, Mr. Spock and Kirk discuss a utilitarian maxim both early in the story and again as Spock is dying; “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”

As Star Trek enters its sixth decade of existence, the franchise faces a crisis unlike any other. This threat is deadlier than the Borg, angrier than the Klingons, and greedier than the Ferengi. It is the older fanbase, a group that is unwilling to let go of the past and let the future play out. Which is, ironically, the opposite of what Trek asks of us.

To Survive, Star Trek Must Be Allowed To Grow

Despite what some fans think, Star Trek has constantly changed to fit the times. The Original Series was sold as “Wagon Train in space,” but by the time they made Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the creators tried to combine elements of the show with massive sci-fi hits like Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

What they created was something that kind of felt like the classic TV series, but not quite. With the addition of new characters and a James Kirk who was angrier than usual and a Spock who was even more distant than usual, fans were happy to see their heroes return, but felt that the movie itself was missing what made Star Trek work in the first place.

The studio agreed, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan better connected to The Original Series. Not only was the villain taken from the episode “Space Seed,” but the submarine feel of the action was lifted from the iconic episode “Balance of Terror.” Fans were delighted. More than that, director Nicholas Meyer created a truly iconic film, giving Star Trek the prominence it deserved.

Star Trek III tried to replicate those results by destroying the Enterprise and killing Kirk’s son, but didn’t hit the same high notes. With Star Trek IV, the decision was made to lighten things up after the rather grim third film. The Voyage Home ended up being a critical and box office smash. The less said about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the better.

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Relax, Starfleet Academy Is Still Star Trek

Star Trek fans worried about the direction of Starfleet Academy don’t have to worry. Paramount+’s new show is still very much Star Trek.

By the time Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country came out, Star Trek: The Next Generation was already deep into its fifth season. And, when TNG began, fans of classic Trek fans were upset with it, complaining that the show was missing the action that ToS was famous for. Heck, Captain Picard rarely left the Enterprise and almost never punched people like Kirk did.

But Next Generation was exactly what Star Trek needed in order to continue. Gene Roddenberry didn’t want to just redo the original series, he wanted to evolve the universe he created so that, like ToS in the 1960s, the new show would reflect the reality of the 1990s. A Star Trek focused on solving more problems without violence was exactly what the younger audience wanted.

Growth came again with Deep Space Nine, which did away with the “Wagon Train in space” idea and instead became something more like HBO’s Deadwood, which itself wouldn’t premiere for another decade. The decision to set the series on an outpost and focus on a single larger issue instead of weekly problems that could be solved in one or two episodes was revolutionary for the franchise.

Voyager took things in the opposite direction, setting the story on a ship, but having the crew be so far from home that they were essentially a lone vessel trying to survive. And Enterprise went back to show how the Federation came to be. Each show added a new piece to Trek while doing things a little differently.

And that is, essentially, what the new Star Trek shows are trying to do as well. These series are growing to fit the modern landscape, looking to keep the universe alive by reaching out younger generations. And while their success rate can be argued, the call for things to go back to the way it was can only lead to one thing: the end of Trek itself.

Star Trek Belongs To The Next Generation Now, And That’s A Good Thing

For me, Star Trek will never be better than Deep Space Nine. For many other older fans, the best Trek is The Original Series, Next Generation or Voyager. Surely there’s some people out there who love Enterprise most of all, but they seem to stay quiet. But for those of us who aged up with the shows of the 1990s, our time has passed.

With the passage of time, we forget the arguments about Next Generation and Picard not being as action-focused as the Original Series. The “parking lot in space” jokes about DS9 get dusty. The very foolish complaints about a woman captain on Voyager are rightfully derided now. Now we look back and only remember what we love about these shows.

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Some Star Trek shows end too soon, but there are several consisting of hundreds of hours of watching our Starfleet heroes in the final frontier.

To continue to live, stories must move and change and grow so that the next generation sees themselves in the characters and adventures. And, as we get older, we need to find stories that fit who we have become, not demand that new stories in the universe become encased in amber, never changing from what we love about them.

If we truly love Star Trek. If we want the stories of these characters and this universe to continue well after we have left this mortal coil, we need to let it go. We need to let the next generation of fans find it and shape it. Our parents and grandparents grew up with Kirk. We grew up with Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. Now our children and grandchildren will have to find their captain.

Of course, this isn’t just a Star Trek problem. The same thing is happening with many of the classic franchises. Star Wars fans can’t stop fighting over what era is the best, and the arguments over Superman will never cease. But all the fighting and demanding that things go back to what they were like when you were young hastens the death of the very thing you are fighting to save.

And there is one long-running franchise that proves this. With 12 movies and two TV shows, there are little if any arguments about Planet of the Apes. Since the first film came out in 1968, the Apes franchise has consistently reinvented itself to stay relevant to the times, though with mixed results. Neither show is particularly good, and the Tim Burton film is not an easy watch.

But the franchise itself has found a way to evolve and fit into the modern landscape better than any other old franchise. And it did it by not being overly precious about what came before. Perhaps if Star Trek had done the same with the 2009 film instead of trying to please both old and new fans by rebooting but connecting things to the past, Trek would be in a better place today.

And, to steal from another beloved sci-fi franchise that has had its own arguments between new and old fans, repeat to yourself “It’s just a show, I should really just relax.”

Created by

Gene Roddenberry

First Film

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

First TV Show

Star Trek: The Original Series

First Episode Air Date

September 8, 1966

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek is one of pop culture’s biggest multimedia franchises, spanning multiple movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and various other media. The franchise was created by Gene Roddenberry and started with the 1960s TV series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Over the decades, several equally popular series have come out since as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Discovery.