Variety broke the news Monday that, with Season One just ended and Season Two fully shot but yet to be scheduled, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been cancelled by Paramount+.
The news came as a shock to many, including original Star Trek skipper William Shatner, who turned 95 Monday. He tweeted his disappointment, lamenting that the new spinoff will no longer tackle, in his words, “the fantasy of human beings, the perfection of human beings, the exploration that human beings have made since the dawn of time and the continuing exploration — physically mentally and morally.”
Reasons given for the cancellation are the usual low ratings and high production costs. Still, odd that the enormous investment — as much as a million US per episode — will go for naught no matter how many people stream Season Two (which may not launch until the start of 2027).
The cancellation is a blow to hundreds of actors, set designers, costumers, camera operators and grips and other crew members in the Toronto production community. That is where an enormous, two story Starfleet Academy set was constructed over several stages at Pinewood Studios at the city’s waterfront. A few years earlier, Star Trek : Discovery was also moored in Toronto.
Among those Canadian actors is Raoul Bhaneja who plays Chancellor Kelrec, head of the Star Fleet’s War College. Interviewed for brioux.tv: the podcast in early February while finishing up production in Toronto on Season Two, Bhaneja said he was having a blast acting opposite Oscar winner Holly Hunter as Captain Nahla Ake; Oded Fehr as Admiral Charles Vance; Robert Picardo as a holographis doctor; Emmy-winner Paul Giamatti as part-Klingon baddie Nus Braka and promising young Canadian Sandro Rosta as rebellious human orphan Caleb Mir, among others in the cast.
Bhaneja, who has worked hard promoting the series, took to X to voice his disappointment at news of the early cancellation.
advertisement
“It is hard not to feel a little sour today. We had such a great time working together,” he said an a walk-and-talk video. “We worked so hard to bring you this universe and a very special universe it is.”
With reviews in the 86-87 per cent “fresh” range, critics (including this one) seemed to like the series more than many audience viewers (a 43 per cent score), especially among ardent fans of the earlier Star Trek incarnations.
With Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS and Paramount+, in the middle of a $100 billion plus hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Starfleet Academy was smack dab in the accounting department crosshairs.
Keep in mind that two critics who voiced negative opinions about the 32nd century series were Elon Musk and Stephen Miller. Both whined about the multi-species, “woke” nature of the series, which was set on an intergalactic, Ivy League campus. At a time when aliens, illegal or otherwise, are being rounded up and deported, this Star Trek spinoff celebrates diversity.
Did politics therefore play a hand in the demise of this Academy? You don’t need to be a Vulcan to propose this theory. This record-breaking media merger faces intense regulatory scrutiny. Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison, whose father Larry is a big Republican donor, has perhaps taken a “shields up” approach to boldly going ahead with what will likely be an asteroid-laden approval stage.
As for Bhaneja, at least he has two other TV gigs to fall back on: Season Three of the Nova Scotia-based blue collar comedy The Trades, which just began streaming on Crave; plus his guest role on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, which just aired on Citytv. There’s also the possibility of fans clamouring for another season. Hey — it happened with the original Star Trek.
