Longtime Star Trek actor Robert Picardo, known for his role as the AI hologram The Doctor, has broken his silence on the recent cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Picardo believes the show, which was reportedly well-received critically, fell victim to a broader political climate that is currently adversarial to diversity and inclusion.
"Even though I think the quality of our show was great, we were kind of killed in the cradle, and I believe part of it is the present political moment in our culture that diversity, that all of Star Trek’s core values are now out of fashion temporarily," Picardo stated in an interview with TrekMovie. He further elaborated that as diversity comes under attack, so too does Star Trek, a franchise historically rooted in those very principles. Picardo expressed hope that future Star Trek productions will uphold these values.
Paramount has not provided an official reason for the cancellation of Starfleet Academy. However, the show faced early criticism from right-wing political figures and media outlets prior to its release. Stephen Miller, a former Trump administration official, publicly criticized a trailer featuring a diverse bridge crew and suggested William Shatner should have creative control over the franchise. This backlash occurred amid reports of Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. and significant corporate debt.
Despite the external controversies, Starfleet Academy garnered positive reviews from critics, achieving an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience reception, as measured by platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, presents a more mixed picture, with scores of 52% and 4.6 respectively. It remains unclear whether these lower audience scores reflect genuine viewer sentiment or the impact of coordinated review-bombing campaigns often seen with perceived controversial series.
Picardo concluded his remarks with a sense of optimism characteristic of the Star Trek ethos, suggesting that the franchise has navigated challenging periods before and emerged stronger. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's second and final season is scheduled to premiere early next year.