![]() There are no Star Trekfilms being made at the moment, but the most recent three took place in an entirely different universe all together if anyone does make any more, they might not be quite that disconnected, but they seem unlikely to be required viewing for any of the shows. This means that viewers who do not want to watch a child-friendly animated show made for Nickelodeon ( Prodigy) do not have to viewers who do not like Discovery do not need to watch it to enjoy its spinoff Strange New Worlds (the pilot does a great job of explaining the timey-wimey Captain Pike conundrum on its own!), and viewers who just want new stories and crews do not have to watch Picard. It’s fair to say that many of the jokes in Lower Decks especially will be completely lost on anyone who has not seen those series.īut at the same time, none of the five modern Star Trek series – Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds – require anyone to have watched any of the other current shows in order to follow their storylines. Yes, Picardand Lower Decksare targeting a particularly nostalgic group of fans, specifically of the shows that aired during the 1990s ( The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager). Star Trek has an edge here, because none of the currently streaming television series assume knowledge of any of the other current series. Streaming viewers who are enjoying The Mandalorian but do not want to watch The Book of Boba Fett may stop watching all together when they realize major story developments from the first show took place in the middle of the second, and they missed them. Casual viewers wanting a night out at the cinema might feel cheated when they learn they need to have first watched WandaVision to follow a storyline in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Viewers who dislike space opera might want to skip Guardians of the Galaxy, those who dislike sitcoms might not want to watch WandaVision or She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, or those who are not big fans of animation might skip all of the animated series in any franchise.īut this becomes a problem when the writers and producers assume everyone is watching everything. But there are many fans who prefer to just watch the specific shows and/or films that interest them the most. There will be some fans who watch everything connected to a particular franchise no matter what (and if you are reading a website called Den of Geek, there is a high likelihood that’s you!). The whole point of giving people options regarding what to watch and in what order is that not everything needs to appeal equally to everyone. Star Wars has slightly less variety in tone but, like both the MCU and Star Trek, offers a combination of live action and animated shows, and like Star Trek, it has stories spread across different points on its timeline, some following legacy characters, others following new ones.īut offering up a variety of shows loses its biggest advantage if viewers have to watch every show in order to keep up. The MCU, for example, has built itself on offering a wide variety of genres, tones, and stories (from spy films to space opera to sitcoms). ![]() The need for variety in such a big franchise is well known and recognized. But far more important than the schedule, though, is the fact that you do not have to watch every single Star Trekshow in order to enjoy any of them. With no movies either on the big screen or in special presentation format, and no other significant bits and pieces of Trekoutside of non-canon games and novels since the cancellation of Short Treks in 2020, this should be a manageable amount of viewing for most fans. With the exception of 2022, in which all five current Star Trek series released episodes and it was barely off our screens, Star Trekhas traditionally staggered the release of new material since the franchise returned to television with Discovery in 2017.įour shows have or will release new episodes in 2023, most of them 10-episode seasons (with the exception of Prodigy, whose second season will likely run into winter 2024). One reason for Star Trek‘s recent success is simply that the schedule and release of new shows has been carefully planned and spread out so as to not overwhelm viewers. What Star Trek Gets Right That Other Shared Universes Don’t
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