I love Star Trek. I've loved it ever since I was a small child and happened to come across a showing of Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home while channel surfing. I think we have Trek to thank for the entire "geek culture" we're enjoying today. There would be no San Diego Comic Con without Star Trek making that sort of gathering a thing.
We're about to have the third, and final, season of Star Trek: Picard, and while I've liked it far less than I'd hoped, I am still thrilled about what we've so far of this coming season. Since it will be a real bookend of the Next Generation series, I thought it would be good to touch on the entire franchise and what it's meant to me.
Star Trek as a franchise really jolted my love of writing to life. A lot of writers start out writing fan fiction, even if it's just their own private thing. Kind of like how every band does covers. For me, I spent many a night scribbling down wild tales of crossovers and adventures I never thought we'd see on screen. The sandbox for Trek allowed for just about anything to happen, which really drew me in. Like Gene Roddenberry said once, when asked about running out of story ideas: "My God, our premise is the universe! How can you ever run out of stories?"
We're in the midst of a Star Trek renaissance, started (with a few hiccups) by the J.J. Abrams films, and continuing now as the flagship franchise for Paramount's streaming service. When I grew up, the most concurrent series you ever got was two. Now there's five, all covering different time periods and focal points of that universe, with more on the way. It's hard to wrap your head around, especially if you were a fan in 2005 when Star Trek: Nemesis bombed at the box office and Star Trek: Enterprise was unceremoniously cancelled. It looked like the franchise was well and truly dead. So, while I'm not in love with every choice they've made for each of these series, I am still thrilled to have them and to see them thriving.
Once Picard airs, I'll be reviewing the new episodes each week, so for those of you who've found me, stay tuned. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!