{"id":303270,"date":"2025-11-24T06:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/303270\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T06:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:55:09","slug":"jonathan-frakes-promise-about-star-treks-next-show-is-good-news-to-old-school-trek-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/303270\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Frakes’ Promise About Star Trek’s Next Show Is Good News To Old School Trek Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Excitement all round for Trekkies as it\u2019s less than 2 months until Star Trek: Starfleet Academy<\/a> premieres with a two-episode debut on January 15, 2026. There\u2019s been all sorts flying round in the ether about just what kind of show this latest edition to the Trek Universe will be.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Trek legend Jonathan Frakes<\/a> may have just given longtime fans exactly the kind of update they\u2019ve been hoping for. In conversation with TrekMovie.com<\/a> on the All Access Star Trek podcast<\/a>, the Next Generation icon opened up about his work on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy\u2014and his comments about its tone, cast, and storytelling are certainly raising expectations for what promises to be an ambitious new era for Starfleet:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo its credit, Academy has lots of levity. First of all, Paul Giamatti is the villain. And I met him while he was there, and I am a massive fan of his\u2014I think most actors are, and most people are. And I said, \u2018How\u2019s it been?\u2019 He said, \u2018I have been having such a good time.\u2019 And then he leans in and says, \u2018Maybe too good a time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Starfleet Academy Brings Back a Classic Trek Ingredient<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Giamatti in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Photo Credit: Miller Mobley\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

Frakes, who directed the penultimate episode of the show\u2019s upcoming first season, revealed to TrekMovie.com that Starfleet Academy may have a youthful cast and fresh setting, but it isn\u2019t abandoning the humor that makes classic Trek shows so enduring. Although Giamatti\u2019s villain<\/a> doesn\u2019t appear in the episode Frakes directed, he reportedly saw enough of Giamatti\u2019s performance to know that viewers are in for something special.<\/p>\n

While Strange New Worlds<\/a>, especially in its third and most recent series, has thrived on switching things up and experimenting with multiple genres and has erred (perhaps too far) into comedy on occasions, Frakes revealed on the podcast that Academy will have a more consistent tone while still containing plenty of funny moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI search out the levity in any script, especially in the Treks\u2026 because there\u2019s so much\u2026 And [on Academy] it\u2019s there,\u201d Frakes explained to TrekMovie.com \u201cAnd it helps the rhythm of the cutting and the storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s perhaps unsurprising that comedy will still be a big feature of the series, with a writer\u2019s room that includes comedic talent such as Lower Decks<\/a> star and comedian Tawny Newsome. With a cast full of returning Trek comic relief favorites such as Tig Notaro reprising her role as Jett Reno from Star Trek: Discovery<\/a> (now a member of the faculty at the Academy), Stephen Colbert (The Late Show) as the voice of the \u201cDigital Dean of Students\u201d and Robert Picardo (adding his trademark humour returning as the EMH Doctor from Voyager<\/a>), the series appears to be aiming for something fun, character-centric, and accessible \u2014 without losing the emotional stakes or sci-fi depth that fans expect.<\/p>\n

For longtime fans who have been missing the more consistent blend of drama, charm, and character-driven humour that defined shows like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, Frakes\u2019 comments bode well.<\/p>\n

Why Old-School Fans Should Be Encouraged<\/p>\n

\"\"Holly Hunter on Star Fleet Academy<\/p>\n

Frakes has been part of Trek, on-screen and behind the camera, for more than 35 years, so it\u2019s safe to say he knows what he\u2019s talking about, and after such glowing reports, fans will be looking forward to a promising new series that hopefully won\u2019t lose sight of the tone that has anchored Trek for decades.<\/p>\n

Frakes also singled out Oscar winner Holly Hunter\u2014who plays Captain Nahla Ake, the new 422-year-old, half-Lanthonite chancellor of Starfleet Academy\u2014as a standout presence on set. Describing her as \u201cwell-prepared, instinctive, smart, clever,\u201d Frakes praised her command of the role with the kind of enthusiasm that should grab the attention of even the most sceptical of fans.<\/p>\n

For years, certain corners of the fandom have argued that modern Trek series have occasionally drifted too far into darker, heavier storytelling or too far towards the comedic side. While Star Trek <\/a>has always explored serious themes and given us plenty of laughs, it\u2019s that unique balance of earnestness, warmth, wit, and morality that has helped the franchise endure.<\/p>\n

Frakes\u2019 comments suggest that Starfleet Academy has nailed that balance. Most encouraging of all is that this isn\u2019t just lip service. When Frakes, of all people, says the tone feels right, old-school fans have every reason to trust him. And if he\u2019s right, this series might just deliver the nuanced tone fans have been asking for.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Leave a comment below and\u00a0join the conversation now in the\u00a0ComicBook Forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy lands in 2026 exclusively on Paramount+ with season 2 already underway in Toronto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Excitement all round for Trekkies as it\u2019s less than 2 months until Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,136110,11433,114113,21246,114114,348],"class_list":["post-303270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-jonathan-frakes","tag-regular-news","tag-star-trek-generic","tag-star-trek-starfleet-academy","tag-star-trek-the-next-generation","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}