Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Struggles to Make an Impact

In a surprising turn, the premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has not made waves despite being a part of such a beloved franchise. Released for free on YouTube, the show attracted only 176,000 views over five days, including a long weekend. That’s… well, not great.

For context, a recent critique of Starfleet Academy from Critical Drinker racked up 850,000 views within just 20 hours. The disparity is stark.

Looking at the reaction on YouTube, the like-to-dislike ratio is concerning. There are about 7,000 likes against 22,000 dislikes. That’s quite a gap.

As I watched the show, I found myself pondering things like, “Is there really no Ozempic in the 32nd century?” and, “Why does the bridge resemble a gentlemen’s club?” At one point, I even hoped that Paul Giamatti would swoop in and save the day from this bizarre interpretation.

Seeing Holly Hunter’s captain character curled up in the captain’s chair with a book was an odd sight, almost comical.

With a crew that seemed rather unprofessional and immature, I couldn’t help but think—even the Borg might pass on assimilating them. Honestly, they’d be like adding more chaos to an already messy situation.

Perhaps this whole project is a kind of retirement gift from Paramount to Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, as a “hey, not all is lost with the fanbase.” But let’s take another look at the numbers

176,000 views in five days translates to roughly $2.5 million in potential ticket sales. However, since the viewers got to watch it for free, that figure feels a bit skewed. If nothing else, it’s worth noting that less than half of the audience who watched this new Star Trek show falls short of the viewership CNN receives.

Back in the day, when the original Star Trek series was canceled due to low ratings, it had between six and seven million viewers. That’s about 40 times more than what Starfleet Academy delivered. Now it’s available to watch on demand, and still… it’s just not resonating.

In a way, it seems like Paramount has pushed fans to a place that feels risky—apathy. We’re not upset; we’re not angry. We just don’t seem to care anymore.

On a side note, John Nolte’s debut novel, Borrowed Time, is getting rave reviews. You can check it out for yourself, and maybe find a little escape from all this.