Strange New Worlds (by Renewing It for Two Seasons)

A little more than a month before the debut of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the Paramount+ series experienced a classic “good news/bad news” situation. Already filming its fourth season, Paramount announced The Original Series prequel show’s fifth and final season. Also, there will only be six episodes instead of the usual ten. Why would Paramount cancel Strange New Worlds by giving the show two more seasons when its third hasn’t yet debuted? Like everything with Star Trek, it’s complicated. Fans of the universe Gene Roddenberry created in 1966 noted a Writers Guild announcement indicating Strange New Worlds’ renewal for Season 5. What began as an exciting update quickly turned bittersweet when the studio announced the shortened episode count and the series’ end.

Of all the shows in the third wave of this universe, which began with 2017’s Discovery on then-CBS All Access, Strange New Worlds is the most well-received by the larger fanbase. Ever since TOS fans picketed NBC for more Star Trek and then again demanding the network cancel The Animated Series it greenlit, new series have struggled for acceptance. The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise all had their critics, yet all these shows experienced a renaissance on streaming in the 2010s. This inspired Paramount to launch their own streaming service with a new suite of Star Trek shows, which — of course — some vocal fans rejected. Strange New Worlds arrived as a breath of hopeful, fresh air by delivering a familiar premise, familiar characters and the most famous ship: the original USS Enterprise. But all Starfleet missions end.

The Biggest Culprit for Strange New Worlds’ Cancelation is the Paramount Merger Delay

SkyDance Media Was Meant to Close the Deal Months Ago, and Delays Cost Money

Chief stockholder in the studio, Shari Redstone, faced financial troubles after the studio lost billions in streaming investments and a string of box-office flops. David Ellison’s SkyDance Media entered a merger with Paramount Studios. A frequent production partner with the studio, including on the last two Star Trek films, SkyDance wanted Paramount’s studio space, prestige name and catalog of films, series and intellectual property. Redstone just wanted out. As talks began and Paramount entertained other offers, production on Star Trek continued in earnest even though the studio’s investment in developing the property lessened.

In the second wave of Star Trek television production, executive producer Rick Berman enjoyed an unprecedented 18-year run with four shows lasting seven seasons. In 2017, the third wave began with Discovery, followed by active development on more Star Trek series at one time than ever before. After the studios forced both the writers’ and actors’ unions to strike in 2023 (with streaming as a central financial issue), Paramount faced dire financial straits, and the SkyDance merger met trouble, too. Some Paramount executives remained committed to Star Trek, even as merger talks began.

A new series, Starfleet Academy, went into production, the streaming film Section 31 debuted and an untitled animated shorts series for YouTube is reportedly in the works. Looking a similar mergers in the past, Paramount SkyDance (or whatever the name will be) should have opened for business in the first half of 2025. As of June 2025, whether the merger will even finalize is an open question. The legal challenges and other delays aren’t just preventing the studio from doing “new business.” With more than $15 billion in debt, Paramount falls even deeper into financial trouble the longer the delays carry on.

Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman’s Exclusive Deal With Paramount Is Set to Expire

The Reasons This Deal May End Goes Beyond the SkyDance Merger Delays

In 2014, Alex Kurtzman launched his solo production company, Secret Hideout. Along with working on The Mummy and Universal’s proposed “Dark Universe,” CBS Studios brought them into relaunch Star Trek. After the first season of Discovery, Kurtzman stepped in as showrunner and signed an exclusive deal with CBS to develop Star Trek and other series. In 2021, CBS Studios extended Kurtzman’s deal for five more years, meaning it expires in 2026. As the company overseeing Strange New Worlds, there’s “a clock” to finish the show.

Since the terms of the deal aren’t public, it’s unclear what exactly would happen if the deal expired while Secret Hideout shows are in production. With the merger in limbo, even a short-term extension from CBS Studios could be difficult to accomplish or afford. With the second season of Starfleet Academy set to film, Secret Hideout doesn’t have enough time to finish ten episodes of Strange New Worlds Season 5. Paramount’s money troubles also could be the reason for the final season’s new episode count. Both companies want Strange New Worlds to end with at least as many seasons as Discovery and Lower Decks. The producers of the show also surely want to give their versions of these characters and their fans proper narrative closure.

What’s also unknown is whether Kurtzman wants to continue leading Star Trek. Fans blame him for the series they don’t like. The studio allegedly blames him for the fanbase not growing (despite keeping all the new shows behind the Paramount+ paywall). Given the state of affairs at Paramount, Kurtzman may want to move to a different studio, such as Universal or Fox, whom he worked with in the past.

It’s equally possible that SkyDance wants to let the deal expire, so if they take control of the studio, they can produce Star Trek themselves. After all, SkyDance is first and foremost a production company like Secret Hideout. They produce shows like Reacher for Prime Video and Foundation for AppleTV+. Anything is possible, from a clean break to a new (read: non-exclusive) deal, or a straight-up extension should financial fortunes change in the next year.

Recent Star Trek Series Cancelations Reflect a Larger Trend in Streaming Originals

Studios Are Shifting Focus Back to Feature Films After the Strikes and a Strategy Change

Recent rumors suggest SkyDance wants to shelve Star Trek on television for a significant amount of time. While Kurtzman’s critics suggest this reflects dissatisfaction with the quality and substance of Secret Hideout’s series, it could be something more straightforward. Since the 2023 strikes crafted better rates for writers and actors on streaming, studios have obviously reduced their investments into original shows and films for these platforms.

In fairness, streamers like Disney+ and Paramount+ only recently operated a profit. Executives (especially those in positions not considered “creative”) are historically reactionary. Yet there may be a waiting game underway to see if they stay profitable without significant investment in new, original “content.” Even if some subscribers jump ship, the streamer may still turn a profit if that loss is less than what they’d spend to make new shows.

Even with a shorter fifth season, Strange New Worlds is easily considered a successful show, as are Lower Decks and Discovery. Sure, five seasons are fewer than the seven most of the second-wave series earned. But it’s one more than Enterprise ever got (even if it deserved it). The most successful streaming original on Disney+ is, arguably, The Mandalorian which only earned three seasons with fewer total episodes than any Star Trek series, save for Short Treks. Many streaming series can barely get a second season, so five is an absolute triumph, especially at Paramount+.

Even if SkyDance plans to sideline Secret Hideout or new series the “Kurtzman era” is a significant chapter of Star Trek history. It’s also even money that, just like the ”Berman era” of this universe, these new shows will enjoy significant reevaluation, especially if they end up on Netflix, Prime Video or some place new fans can discover them.

Studios’ new austere streaming approach may be to punish actors and writers for striking or less vindictive greed, but things are in flux. At the time of this writing, Andor is the most-streamed series across both “original” and “acquired” titles, according to Nielsen. However, sometimes a long-canceled series like Lost or Suits dominates the charts. Films that flop in theaters become streaming hits, while even movies with bad reputations like Section 31 can rank in the Nielsen Top Ten streaming ratings.

Despite the massive amounts of in-house data they possess, these studios may have no idea what does or does not make for a streaming “hit.” They may also want to reduce commitment to streaming-first shows and films, with a vain hope theatrical grosses and linear television ratings rebound. Given all the struggles Paramount and SkyDance will face if the merger goes through, pulling back on Star Trek shows may have nothing to do with Kurtzman or the universe.

Star Trek Fans Should Get Four More Seasons of TV, Unless They ‘Batgirl’ the Shows

Would Paramount and SkyDance Risk the Bad Press for a Write Off? Maybe

When Warner Bros. and Discovery completed their merger, embattled CEO David Zaslav made some desperate moves to manage the company’s debt. One thing the studio did was permanently shelve completed films and series for a unique post-merger write-off opportunity. This earned them a slew of bad press, especially over Batgirl which reignited when The Flash flopped. While Zaslav made his bones in reality television, David Ellison of SkyDance is a true “creative executive,” which implies a respect for films and series as more than mere “content.” So, even when the Secret Hideout deal expires, there should be two complete seasons of both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy set to debut.

Given the reaction to WB Discovery’s use of this merger write-off maneuver, if SkyDance can complete their deal the new studio wouldn’t want that kind of heat. Star Trek isn’t as big or popular as Star Wars, but its fandom is passionate and can make noise when needed. Even with the Kurtzman era critics, killing the final two seasons of Strange New Worlds to make a (tiny) dent in their balance sheet would cause a ruckus. Even if they were desperate, Star Trek historically continues to earn money for the studio well after the series are canceled.

In fact, The Original Series wasn’t a hit until it was in syndication, and TNG didn’t turn a profit until a given season’s first re-run, according to The Fifty-Year Mission books by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman and various Star Trek documentaries. There, of course, remains a chance the unreleased seasons of these Star Trek shows are hidden away for a cheap write-off post-merger. Barring that, Star Trek fans can look forward to four new seasons of television through 2027.

Looking at how drastically the industry’s priorities shifted from 2023 to 2025? Streaming may be back in a big way by then. That Star Trek still exists at all arguably defies all conventional wisdom in Hollywood. Yet even if this second resurgence ends, there is now a clearly established pattern. Star Trek goes away from TV, comes back as feature films, and then comes back to TV. Paramount canceled Strange New Worlds, but by ensuring it finished its run strong shows the studio expects to be four times lucky.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 debuts with two episodes on July 17, 2025, on Paramount+ to be followed by two more seasons of this series and new show Starfleet Academy.