New Star Trek Series Gives Fans What They’ve Wanted For Decades

Before I can dish on my hopes for Starfleet Academy, it’s important to review some Star Trek history (just pretend you’re cramming for the entrance exam).

The Original Series was successful due largely to its relationships, including the contentious interactions between the logical alien Spock and the very human Dr. McCoy. The sheer popularity of Spock, meanwhile, meant that most future Trek spinoffs would have a similar character—an alien outsider who helps audiences learn more about our own humanity.

Some of these spinoffs would continue the tradition of bouncing this alien outsider off someone else. For example, in Deep Space Nine, the shapeshifting Odo was our outsider, and he frequently clashed with Quark (fitting enough, as that show transformed the Ferengi into funhouse reflections of 20th-century humanity).

However, Voyager cast Robert Picardo as a holographic doctor who wanted to become more human, and while he was arguably the soul of the entire series, he never had any characters to truly bounce off of, much less characters who could keep up with his wicked wit. 

Now, we don’t yet know much about the exact plot of Starfleet Academy, but considering that it’s set in the 32nd century, it’s a sure bet that Picardo will again be playing the holographic Doctor rather than, say, the very human Lewis Zimmerman.

As Prodigy fans know, Picardo’s character is just as acerbic as ever before and often steamrolls over others in conversations. In this new show, however, there is a good chance he will frequently clash with Tig Notaro, and this is the kind of verbal sparring fans have waited literally decades to see.

Star Trek: Discovery fully utilized Tig Notaro’s background in standup comedy, transforming her engineer Jett Reno into a sarcastic character with a hilariously dry wit.

While she is mostly used to deliver some deadpan punchlines in later seasons, she also has a fiery side, like when she and Stamets kept arguing about the utility and reliability of the spore drive. It may sound weird, but I’m hoping to see more of that funny, combative energy when she interacts with the holographic Doctor in Starfleet Academy.

While other Trek series like DS9 tried to emulate the Spock/McCoy dynamic, we never did get any other franchise pairings whose clashes produced the same sparks. Now, this new show can almost exactly replicate that dynamic: after all, Picardo’s character frequently did McCoy-esque lines like “I’m a doctor, not a battery,” and Notaro’s character once pointed out she was logical and pragmatic (very Spock-like) and ironically married someone very emotional.

Now, Starfleet Academy can fully replicate the classic “logic vs. emotion” clash while finally giving the holographic Doctor someone who can keep up with all his sarcasm and shade.

Now, I’m still not completely sold on Starfleet Academy—teenybopper Trek remains the last thing this franchise needs. But the final seasons of both Discovery and Picard were great, and every bit of casting news about this upcoming show makes it sound that much more exciting.

Teen Trek may sound like the Kobayashi Maru to many fans, but the potential chemistry between Robert Picardo and Tig Notaro is one way Paramount can finally beat this no-win scenario.