As of this writing, “Star Trek: Picard” has been gone for a year and “Star Trek: Discovery” has only just come to an end. The spy series “Section 31” has been shortened into a single movie event (due out later in 2024), while the final season of “Star Trek: Prodigy” will air on Netflix beginning in July. It was also announced that “Star Trek: Lower Decks” will also be ending after its next season, and it’s looking like everyone forgot about “Star Trek: Short Treks.” The only new “Star Trek” shows currently on the table are “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and the still-being-developed “Starfleet Academy.” There was a time when six “Star Trek” shows were running simultaneously. The future will see only two … assuming they both survive.
Despite the shrunken state of “Star Trek,” Jonathan Frakes is still hopeful about “Legacy.” Frakes played William Riker on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and reprised his role for “Lower Decks” and “Picard.” He’s also become a prolific TV director, having worked on every “Star Trek” show since the 1990s. He knows the way the franchise operates and has survived throughout its evolution. When asked about “Legacy,” Frakes replied:
“I certainly have hopes and thoughts. Updates? I don’t have, but I do know that the franchise is in great shape. I do know that this ‘Starfleet Academy’ series is going to be an entirely different animal, and I think that the success of what I’m imagining, the success of ‘Section 31,’ Michelle Yeoh’s movie, is only going to catapult us further into the future, and my hope, obviously is that we’ll find a place then to continue the ‘Legacy’ story.”
Time will tell.