Every Star Trek Episode Is Now Streaming For Free, No Subscription Needed
Star Trek fans rejoice. There is now a chance to catch nearly everything the franchise has ever offered totally free of charge on streaming
This article is more than 2 years old
The makeover is complete. Paramount+, which had been known as CBS All Access, officially launched yesterday and as a welcome, thank you, and please-stick-around, Viacom/CBS’s new Paramount+ is offering a 1-month free trial on everything their streaming channel has to offer. This comes as exciting news for Trekkies as Paramount+ is the streaming home of everything Star Trek.
For one month (between now and March 31), Paramount+ will offer its streaming service sans a monthly fee. This means that each and every Star Trek series past and present will be at your fingertips, ready to binge. Paramount+ has made available the most recent series’ Discovery, Picard, Short Treks, and Lower Decks as well as their catalog series that include The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. Not only that, but Paramount+ will also be offering the upcoming series Strange New Worlds and Prodigy.
This last-mentioned series, Prodigy, is an animated Star Trek adventure that was put together by the Hageman Brothers (Dan and Kevin) for Nickelodeon. It was set to premiere there until last week’s announcement that the new series will first be seen on Paramount+. Then the Nickelodeon channel will get it before Prodigy airs its second season on Paramount+. Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek overseer and Executive Producer, said this in his press release via TrekNews:
“We’re so excited to partner with Dan and Kevin Hageman and the team at Nickelodeon for Star Trek: Prodigy as we bring Trek to a new generation of younger fans with an animated series as rich in character and scope as our live-action shows. I’m thrilled audiences of all ages now have instant access to the full Trek library, classic and new original series, on our new home at Paramount+.”
Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for Paramount+, added:
“The upcoming addition of Star Trek Prodigy to Paramount+ means subscribers now have a Trek series for every member of the family – including kids. We are excited to bring this next chapter to a new generation of Trek fans alongside the creative masterminds behind Secret Hideout and Nickelodeon, as well as the talented Kevin and Dan Hageman.”
Not only are Kurtzman and McNamara trying to introduce and market Star Trek to a younger generation, but Prodigy will also see (actually, hear) the return of Kate Mulgrew to the Star Trek family as she lends her voice to the series. Mulgrew played Captain Kathryn Janeway on Voyager for seven seasons, ending her run in 2001, though she was also briefly seen in the 2002 feature Nemesis. The series will follow a group of teenagers as they use an abandoned starship in search of adventure.
CBS All Access was Star Trek’s official home when it launched in 2014. In 2017, Discovery debuted on the streaming service, and then in 2020, Picard was beamed aboard. Now, Star Trek calls Paramount+ home. The streaming service doesn’t only house TV series past and present, but it also has some of the Star Trek feature films. We say “some” because not all films in the Star Trek catalog can be seen. Per contracts, on other platforms, there is limited availability on some titles.
But upon its launch, Paramount+ is able to offer the following titles to Trekkies: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Building Star Trek, which is a 2016 documentary. Rest assured, as soon as contracts on Star Trek movies on the other platforms run out, they will immediately move over to Paramount+.
Paramount+ is just the latest in a stream (pun intended) of TV services that are looking at the competition for your wallet. While they may not be late to the party seeing that CBS All Access had been around for over six years, they are still facing stiff competition. Viacom/CBS is attempting to pull out all the stops by including thousands of hours of content from their cable brands MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and VH1. They are also promising customers new original series as well as a movie library that will offer a vast expansion from what CBS All Access had to offer by pulling from Paramount and MGM’s vaults. While they won’t be following HBO Max’s lead by releasing their feature films the same day in movie theaters and platforms, they will bring their feature films to Paramount+ as early as one month after their release to theaters.
The new service will cost customers $5.99 a month for content with commercials and $9.99 a month if you don’t wish to see any advertisements. For now, though, and the next month, fans can catch up on everything Star Trek, courtesy of Paramount+, and nothing will come out of your pocket.
