This week marked the long-awaited premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy the first new Trek series since Strange New Worlds debuted in 2022. This new series with a diverse cast of young newcomers playing cadets, balanced with Star Trek and award-winning veteran actors playing the faculty and adults, has been the hottest topic for fans for the last month, sparking the usual debates and discussions. The new series is also a hot topic with the wider entertainment community, and has even ventured into the political sphere, all the way to the corridors of the White House.
Certified Fresh
The new series got positive reviews here at TrekMovie, both in our early review as well as for both the series premiere and second episode, and on the All Access Star Trek podcast as well. Other Star Trek sites and podcasts have also welcomed the series as something new, but still respecting what has come before.
When zooming out to the wider world, the series has also received generally positive reviews. It is currently “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 87%. This places the series as the second highest ranked debut season for (live action) Star Trek in the streaming era, behind Strange New Worlds, but ahead of Picard and Discovery. Looking just at “top critics” tracked, the major outlets are even more unified, most are positive, with one negative review (IndieWire’s Ben Travers), which takes aim at the series attempt to appeal to a younger audience, saying “Almost every aspect of the series’ YA side falls flat.”
Holly Hunter as Nahla in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, episode 1, season 1, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
The positive reviews from the mainstream press range from the Wall Street Journal to the Los Angeles Times to Canada’s Globe and Mail, and beyond. While generally supportive of the show, some pull back from being glowing, such as NPR’s Eric Deggans: “A promising collection of characters and storylines just setting the table for future achievement, not quite ready to prove its value beyond the legends of Kirk and Spock.” The cast generally gets high praise, especially Holly Hunter, such as the UK Guardian’s Graeme Virtue: “It is great fun, not least because Hunter’s free-spirited Ake is unlike any other Trek captain.”
Many reviews also reflected how the show has a different approach, in attempts to appeal to a younger audience and modern issues. TV Guide’s Gavia Baker-Whitelaw opined: “If we’re lucky, this could be the first modern Star Trek show to meaningfully engage with contemporary issues, but halfway through Season 1, the jury’s still out.” Variety’s Aramie Tinubu was ready to make the call, declaring the series as a “joyous entry” into the world of Star Trek, summing up with “It’s likely somewhat different from what long-time Trekkies are accustomed to, but perhaps that is the point. To ensure the franchise lasts at least another 60 years, it must reflect our actual world.”
Waiting on the numbers
It’s still too early to tell how well the show is performing for Paramount+. According to tracking site FlixPatrol, the series debuted at #3 for the streaming service in the USA, reaching the top 10 in several other countries, even hitting the top spot, in Italy of all places.
The free version of the pilot episode available on YouTube (in the USA) has close to 140,000 views in the first three days since the debut. Numbers for free streaming on Pluto TV are not available. A big test will be to see if the series can crack the Nielsen Top 10 for streaming TV, and more importantly, if can it endure. The most recent season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered strong, but then saw a quick drop-off (unlike season 2 which was able to hold its audience all the way through). Nielsen data will be available in four weeks.
Karim Diané as Jay-Den in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, episode 1, season 1, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Academy has triggered some
The debut of the new series also became a bit of a political football this week. Much of the commentary from one side of the political spectrum has decried the show as “woke” or complaining about the “DEI” cast. These attacks on the show began well before it debuted, and often turned particularly dark, with many targeting people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ actors and/or characters.
There has also been an ugly element of body shaming for anyone who comes up short of so-called traditional ideals. This really kicked off when the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, used his Twitter/X platform to share a video of Holly Hunter’s Captain Ake wearing glasses standing next to Tricia Black’s Lt. Rork and Gina Yashere’s Lura Thok, adding a nasty comment about their appearance.
Things got even worse when White House aide to the president Stephen Miller jumped in, sharing the same clip (this time from an accounted titled “End Wokeness”) calling it “Tragic” and suggesting the only way to “save the franchise” would be to give William Shatner “total creative control.”
Starfleet Academy was also featured on a segment of Fox News’s evening show Gutfeld! with the host declaring the series “woke trash,” and specifically targeting lesbian actress Tig Notaro (Jett Reno). According to Fox, “the fans hate it because it is overstuffed with diversity, obesity, and as you can tell, just a lot of ugly people.” He said the show was a “war on hot people,” comparing it to Star Trek: The Original Series, reminiscing how the series from the 1960s “had all those blonde ladies running around.” The discussion actually got worse, but you get the point.
Not surprisingly, with the show becoming the latest outrage for those who follow the likes of Musk, Miller, and Fox News, it has been “review bombed” with the Rotten Tomatoes user “popcorn meter” at 43%, which is actually up from the initial rating in the 30s as the show debuted.
Clearly there is a contingent that struggles to embrace Star Trek’s continuing embrace of the core philosophy of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations). Sadly, many who consider themselves Star Trek fans, also fall into this group decrying modern Trek. And of course, this kind of thing has been seen with other franchises, from the MCU to Star Wars, and beyond.
There has been a backlash to the backlash. Gina Yashere, no wilting flower, responded to Elon Musk on her Instagram, giving as good as she got, including noting “All this money & influence [Elon Musk] & this is what he chooses to do with it. Pathetic.” The actress and comedian also appeared on CNN, talking about Star Trek’s rich history of diversity and noting “Star Trek has been woke from day one, and woke is a good word.”
Star Trek: Voyager vet Roberto Picardo has returned to the franchise as The Doctor for Starfleet Academy. The actor often engages with fans on his social media, including critics and even the trolls. This week the actor also weighed in on the “woke” argument against the new series, echoing Yashere’s comments on CNN, noting how the term “woke” has been “hijacked,” to be used to “justify prejudice and racism.” And just yesterday, the actor pointed to a newspaper review of Star Trek: Voyager from the 1990s, decrying the show as “politically correct” (the “woke” of that era).
To be sure, there is plenty to debate with the new series. It’s far from perfect, as noted in our reviews and by others in fandom and in the mainstream. There are legitimate critiques that hopefully the show addresses as it progresses through the first and into the second season, which will be wrapping production in just a few weeks. But the new series has much to praise, with a strong cast, well-developed characters all adding up to great potential. And it just might be the right Star Trek for today. Certainly, the shortage of hot blonde women and other such concerns are not in the spirit of the franchise, and should be ignored… as nonsense.
Bella Shepard as Genesis in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, episode 1, season 1, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.
Watch Starfleet Academy now (free)
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy arrived on Paramount+ on Thursday, January 15, 2026 with a two-episode premiere. Its first season will run for ten episodes.
For a limited time in January (in the USA), you can watch the series premiere for free on YouTube and on Pluto TV.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.