I grew up during the peak of Trek ’s popularity, when there were two series and a film franchise running concurrently, a new PC game out every year, books being published for every reading level, and multiple toy lines.
I don’t really have the right to criticize this obvious attempt to “get ‘em while they’re young.” Star Trek got me while I was young, and I’d be a fundamentally different person if it hadn’t. It’s created by Kevin and Dan Hageman, best known for their work on the hit Netflix series Trollhunters, which spawned two spin-offs of its own. The latest spin-off is Star Trek: Prodigy, a computer-animated series aimed at kids, presumably as a way to cultivate a new generation of fans not yet born the last time Star Trek played on free TV. Each new show takes a different approach to the Star Trek universe, catering to a slightly different corner of the fanbase.
Rather than try to mold a single product to satisfy all audiences, producer Alex Kurtzman has taken a prismatic approach to Trek, commissioning five separate series for streaming platform Paramount+. Since the franchise was relaunched on streaming television in 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery, CBSViacom has sought to expand Star Trek into a four-quadrant brand, something it hasn’t been since the mid-1990s, if ever.
