Good News / Bad News for the Future of Modern Star Trek

It’s a good news / bad news situation for the future of Star Trek on Paramount+. The streamer has renewed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for a fourth season … but Lower Decks is reaching the end of the road.

Set on Christopher Pike’s Enterprise in the years before the original Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds has been a breakout hit for the veteran franchise in its return to the formula of more lighthearted and episodic adventures. Anson Mount stars as Captain Pike, along with Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia and Babs Olusanmokun.

Season 3 of the show is now in production and will appear on the streaming service in 2025.

Star Trek: Lower Decks, on the other hand, has been cancelled ahead of the debut of its fifth (and now final) season. Created by Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty), Star Trek’s first animated comedy follows the adventures of a group of junior officers on board the U.S.S. Cerritos — one of Starfleet’s least important ships.

The show stars Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero. Newsome and Quaid made a very notable appearance on Strange New Worlds last season, guest starring in the outstanding crossover episode “Those Old Scientists.”

Season 5 of Lower Decks streams this fall.

Also in the works for the Star Trek franchise: The Michelle Yeoh-fronted Section 31 is now filming and will stream on Paramount+ as a movie event. Also in production is Discovery spin-off Starfleet Academy, set in the 32nd century as Starfleet continues to rebuild following the quadrant-altering event known as the Burn. The new show is filming on what has been called the largest standing set ever constructed for a Star Trek show.

Star Trek: Discovery‘s fifth and final season is now streaming new episodes weekly.

For more check out SciFi Stream’s Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks episode guides, and stick with the site for more Star Trek news.