A Star Trek Veteran Knows Exactly What The Franchise Needs To Succeed

Since "Star Trek's" return to the small screen in 2017 with the debut of "Star Trek: Discovery," the franchise has expanded with throngs of content. But this new wave of shows hasn't been the overwhelming success that Paramount anticipated, with "Discovery" and "Star Trek: Picard" being divisive among fans, while "Star Trek: Prodigy" and "Strange New Worlds" were shuffled off before their time. If you ask '90s "Star Trek" veteran Brannon Braga, the answer to "Trek's" woes is simple: Longer seasons.

"A lot of shows now are Tinder relationships, eight episodes every two years," Braga said at an appearance at 2025's STLV: Trek to Vegas Convention (via TrekMovie). It's safe to say Braga knows a thing or two about this franchise, acting as a producer, writer, and co-creator on shows such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Voyager" (where he wanted to kill off a major character in the finale), and "Star Trek: Enterprise." He likened the fandom's investment in "Voyager" to a long-term relationship, which is difficult to develop with shorter seasons. 

"That's not going to be something you necessarily pass on to your kids. And I think that's a loss." Braga admits, however, that shorter seasons are the new norm, especially on premium streamers. But anything can happen, especially with Skydance's recent acquisition of Paramount. So who knows, maybe Braga will return and Trekkies will get 26 episodes a year once more.

While Braga may be on to something, there's an argument to be made that it's harder to sustain quality over longer seasons. To that end, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" boasts the best first season in franchise history, and one can easily attribute that consistency to its brevity. With just 10 episodes, each episode could be crafted with care, allowing the creative team to take swings and do things better than other series.

"Strange New Worlds" producer Alex Kurtzman thinks that's the right call. "I think what's lovely about that is — It's funny, you can talk to old writers of old 'Trek' series, and they're like, 'Man, there's a bunch of filler episodes in there. We are just trying to get to 22 a season,'" Kurtzman remarked in an interview with CinemaBlend. "And so I think what ten episodes a season forces you to do is really make sure that every story counts as much as it possibly can. And I like that... I like what that affords us now."

At its peak, '90s "Trek" — with two shows on the air — produced some 40 episodes per year. That isn't far from what fans get in the modern era. In 2022, there were 45 episodes between "Picard," "Prodigy," "Strange New Worlds," and "Star Trek: Lower Decks." So rather than fixating on a specific number, the focus should be on delivering quality ... and variety.