‘Starfleet Academy’ Means ‘Star Trek’ Now Has More Modern Canon TV Shows Than Classic Ones

Starfleet Academy‘s 2026 debut is a big part of Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary celebrations, and although the new show is already a cool way to mark the occasion, the Paramount+ project is also a huge deal for the modern era in particular. Not only is it the second Discovery spinoff after Strange New Worlds, but Starfleet Academy also pushes the franchise forward in an exciting way. However, Star Trek‘s golden age has just lost the battle to the modern era, and another loss could occur in the years to come.

Star Trek‘s modern era began with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. Before the show debuted, Enterprise‘s 2005 finale was the franchise’s most recent outing as far as its TV shows went. While there were four Star Trek movies made during this fallow period, the space opera has always been known as a small-screen saga. Besides, three of those movies were JJ Abrams’ Kelvin Timeline trilogy, so they weren’t quite so relevant to the canon on the whole. Therefore, Discovery is the true starting point of Star Trek‘s current era, but it’s taken until 2026 for the modern age to surpass the run that began in 1966 with The Original Series and ended with Enterprise.

‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Means the Franchise Now Has More Canon Modern-Era Shows Than Classic Ones

Star Trek‘s classic era consisted of ten movies and six TV shows, if 2002’s Nemesis is included. While 2025’s Star Trek: Section 31 is the only feature-length effort offered up by the modern era, Starfleet Academy gives the current age of the space opera a grand total of seven canonical TV shows. This is one more than the classic era had. There have actually been nine Star Trek shows released since 2017, including Discovery, but Scouts and Very Short Treks are not part of the main continuity.

The newer Star Trek shows have been far more of a mix of live-action and animation, whereas only The Animated Series broke the formula among the franchise’s older projects. Conversely, the modern era has been far more diverse in the tones of its various shows. While Star Trek has recaptured the spirit of the golden age with Strange New Worlds, the grittier approach of shows like Discovery and Picard showcases the many hats the franchise is now capable of wearing. Perhaps the biggest standout in this respect is Lower Decks, with the animated comedy constantly making meta Star Trek references that left the fourth wall holding on for dear life.

‘Star Trek’s Modern Era Could Eventually Beat Another Classic-Era Record

Paramount Television

Despite Star Trek‘s golden era “only” spawning six canonical TV shows compared to the modern age’s tally of seven, older projects like The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager all combine to form an impressive body of work that’s 725 episodes long. By comparison, even after Starfleet Academy airs its Season 1 finale in March 2026, Star Trek‘s seven canon shows from the modern era will only have produced 335 episodes. Taking into account other confirmed episodes such as Strange New Worlds Season 4 (10), Season 5, (6), and Starfleet Academy Season 2 (10), the figure increases to 261.

What makes this so impressive is that, although the modern era only has one more show, it’s edging closer to the halfway point of the classic era’s episode total, which took almost 40 years to reach. By comparison, Star Trek has only been back in active production for less than a decade. Although the franchise’s release slate is far more sparse in the years to come compared to recent times, it’s not unreasonable to assume that more modern shows will be greenlit and add to the modern era’s tally. That said, perhaps Star Trek is gearing up for another break, and a third distinct era will begin years down the line.

Is ‘Star Trek’s Modern Era Better Than Its Golden Age?

Paramount+

Star Trek has always had its critics, so those who remember the classic era as a perfect run of shows that everybody loved are reminiscing with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Voyager, in particular, performed inconsistently with fans and critics alike, but it has since become one of Star Trek‘s most beloved shows. However, in general, the older projects are held up as the gold standard of what Star Trek should be. Even Enterprise, which was lambasted by countless Trekkies at the time and swiftly ordered to bring the show to a close with Season 4, is now painted with the same brush as more universally-renowned classic Star Trek shows, like The Next Generation.

Discovery had an uphill battle to fight when it brought Star Trek back in 2017. Enterprise‘s lukewarm reception proved that the franchise needed an overhaul, and an overhaul it received. Still, there were droves of Trekkies who yearned for the classic-era formula to make a comeback. It sort of has in other projects, but not in the same way as it was once executed. Times change. Star Trek‘s willingness to experiment with new formats has allowed it to grow beyond how it’s traditionally known, find new fans, and excite huge portions of the original viewership.

Therefore, it’s tough to say whether Star Trek is objectively better now than it once was. It’s an even more difficult conclusion to arrive at when it’s considered that the newer shows largely draw upon and expand the lore that was established decades earlier. If Discovery had been the first Star Trek show ever made, it probably wouldn’t have done as well as it did. Thankfully, the reputation it inherited helped it gain a foothold. The same could easily be said of every Star Trek show that has followed, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t all been enjoyable.