Star Wars Saved Star Trek Thanks To Canceled Series
Normally, there isn’t much love lost between Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans, and the same goes for the creative forces behind these franchises. After all, they are rivals for mainstream sci-fi popularity, and the last thing we would ever expect is for one of these franchises to save the other. However, Star Wars might have accidentally saved Star Trek by Disney canceling the Donald Glover Lando series, allowing showrunner Justin Simien to create a live-action Trek show that might just pull Paramount out of its slow death spiral.
Lando The Series
Obviously, the claim that Star Wars managed to save Star Trek (albeit by accident) is going to require a bit of context. While Solo: A Star Wars Story fizzled rather than sizzled, one of that film’s highlights was Donald Glover playing Lando Calrissian, Han’s rival-turned-friend and possibly the coolest cat in a galaxy far, far away.
We were originally going to be getting a Disney+ show bringing Glover back to the franchise, but Disney canceled those plans, a cancellation that showrunner Justin Simien had to read about in trade publications rather than hear about from his employers.
Teaming Up With Tawny
This left Simien understandably distraught, and in a recent interview, he described how badly Disney’s coldhearted decision affected him. “You pour so much of your heart and soul into something, but ultimately, you don’t have control over whether it lives or dies, and it is a true grieving process.”
But when one force field closes, another opens: now that his Star Wars series has been unceremoniously killed, Simien was free to begin working on an as-yet-untitled Star Trek comedy series with Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome.
Star Trek’s Answer To The Office?
The new series was announced at San Diego Comic-Con, and we don’t yet know much about it other than it will be an action comedy centered around outsiders from the Federation who are working on a resort planet. For some reason, their daily antics are going to be broadcast to everyone in the quadrant.
This has caused some fans to compare the series to The Office, a show whose premise involved us watching the workplace shenanigans of Dunder Mifflin employees who are being filmed over a period of many years for a documentary.
Paramount’s Troubles
Now, with all that being said, why am I making the bold claim that Star Wars has effectively saved Star Trek? As you may know, Paramount has been bleeding money, with its streaming service Paramount+ losing more than $3 billion dollars in the last two years.
Paramount actually backed out of a merger with Skydance at the last possible minute and the new trio serving as the company’s CEO has implemented an austerity program in the hopes of luring in a partner company or an ambitious investor, without which we could very well see Star Trek sold to the highest bidder.
Paramount’s Throwing Everything At The Wall
Reading between the lines, it’s clear that Paramount+ needs to create the kind of buzzworthy content that can lure in partners and/or investors with very deep pockets. The new Star Trek series may do just that: after all, it utilizes Paramount’s most famous IP while bringing in one of its funniest actors (we love you, Tawny!), and the whole thing sounds modeled after one of the most famous sitcoms in TV history.
Done right, this new show could appeal to diehard fans who hated darker shows like Discovery as well as general audiences who just want a clever new workplace comedy to vibe out to.
Disney Might Have Saved Paramount
There are a lot of “ifs” going on here, but if this gamble works out, the Star Wars powers that be might have saved Star Trek and Paramount itself.
By canceling their own buzzworthy Lando series in favor of controversial fare like The Acolyte, the House of Mouse freed the talented Justin Simien up to work for the competition.
And while he may be grieving his lost show now, there’s a chance his former employers will be grieving over far more when all is said and done.
