A release schedule of the 2022 Paramount series for Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Schedule image courtesy of Treksphere.com

There has never been a more abundant year for Star Trek fans than this one. Here is a list of everything going on for the coming year’s releases.

Star Trek: Discovery renewed for Season 5

Captain Burnham and the crew of Discovery, catapulted into the far future will be back, not only with three new episodes of extra-galactic exploration, they will continue their first contact with the powerful and enigmatic aliens species dubbed the 10-C. Discovery will also be returning for Season Five!

Discovery stars: Sonequa Martin -Greene as Discovery’s commanding officer, Captain Burnham, Doug Jones as the executive officer, Captain Saru, Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Stamets, Emily Coutts as Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer, Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Commander Joanne Owosekun, and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber.

Star Trek: Picard Roars Back for Season 2

Former Admiral, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) returns to the final frontier with a disconcerting visit from an old frenemy: Q. Played by fan favorite John de Lancie, Q returns to lay upon Picard an obligation to look to the past, in order to save the future.

Someone has meddled with time and trapped Picard and his crew in the 21st century in order to disrupt the future of the Federation. Picard is forced to turn to the only person who can recognize what has changed and help him restore history to its rightful flow, the ever-mysterious Guinan, played by Whoopie Goldberg.

The trailer shows us the usual suspects and a couple of unexpected guests: Brent Spiner (appearing as Soong, maybe the Soong, maybe not, Jeri Ryan as former Borg Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker and Santiago Cabrera as Cristóbal Rios. Is that the Borg Queen I see in this trailer? What could she have to do with this, I wonder? The Emmy-award winning series Star Trek: Picard opens Season 2 on March 3, 2022. If you haven’t seen the trailer, here’s a taste of what’s in store:

Seeking out ‘Strange New Worlds’

Debuting this May 5th, we will have the return of Captain Christopher Pike (played once again by Anson Mount) as he takes the helm of an old favorite, the USS Enterprise, years before she becomes the starship of the legendary crew in Star Trek: The Original Series.

We saw Captain Pike during the second season of Discovery as the temporary captain of the experimental vessel. A compelling leader, he would go on to save the Federation and the crew of Discovery before returning to his beloved Enterprise. While we may be returning to a time period before the Original Series, the writers are going to be working hard to expand the Federation in ways we weren’t privy to in the previous format.

Yes, we all know Pike is doomed. Even he knows it, but until the day when he makes the fateful choice, Pike and his crew will have their share of adventures across the Alpha Quadrant, exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations and hopefully going where no ship has gone before. Star Trek is returning to the Federation during a time of conflict, wonder and exploration. Captain Pike, Number One and Mr. Spock are just the crew we want to do that with.

Ethan Peck will be revising his role as Spock from his time during Discovery as well. Rebecca Romjin will return to her role as Una Chin-Riley, the hard-charging (but great singing) executive officer called Number One. There will also be many familiar names connected to beautiful new faces including, Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’benga, Jess Bush as Nurse Chapel, and Celia Rose Gooding as Lt. Nyota Uhura. There will also be new crewmembers, Melissa Navia as Helm Officer, Erica Ortegas, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh (oh my) and Bruce Horak as what appears to be a newly redesigned Andorian.

A taste of what Strange New Worlds has to offer can be found in the Star Trek short film called Q&A where Mr. Spock and Una Chin-Riley find themselves stuck together in a turbolift and come to learn a bit about each other during this encounter:

Star Trek’s Animated Series: Lower Decks and Prodigy

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t plug my two favorite animated versions of this renewed franchise, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy.

Lower Decks is a comedy series which focuses on the lower officers of a ship of the line, the Cerritos as they make their way across the galaxy in support of the major starships of the Federation. These young officers get their training on the Cerritos in the hopes of one day moving to more famous ships and more dangerous missions.

As we have learned from the earlier episodes, you should be careful what you wish for. The Cerritos finds itself in more perilous and comical situations as Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Ensign Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) fumble their way from adventure to adventure.

The ship and its crew are the funniest and most heartfelt episodes of Star Trek around. It’s comedy, it irreverent, and yet, the cast is enthusiastically engaged, the script is sharp and the characters engaging in a way I did not expect. If you haven’t had a taste of Lower Decks, you are missing out.

Prodigy is a different kind of Star Trek. It is meant for the viewer who is not familiar with the franchise, a gateway introduction to the ideals and challenges of being Star Fleet cadets. In this series, a group of young miners are trapped on a world mining exotic minerals as their enslaver seeks a presumed lost vehicle called the Protostar.

With the help of a Medusan, members of the mining group find the Protostar and escape with the Federation technology. The onboard AI mistakes them for cadets and begins training them on how to use the ship and its capacities. Unfortunately for them, the Protostar is what their captor has been looking for. A fun romp as the young crew learn about themselves, the Federation and unravels the mysteries of the Protostar.

I enjoy this series because of its simplicity. No need for inside jokes, no history to remember, it’s just pure adventure. Adventure is hard work as these young cadets will discover. Prodigy is good clean fun, just like mom used to make.

The crew includes: Brett Gray as Dal, Angus Imrie as Zero, Ella Purnell as Gywn, Jason Manzoukas as Jankom Pog, Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, Dee Bradley Baker as Murf, and Bonnie Gordon as the voice of Prodigy’s computer. Kate Mulgrew reprises her role as Hologram Janeway. Batting for Team Evil, we have Jimmi Simpson as the menacing Drednok and chillingly terrifying vocal talents of John Noble as the enigmatic Diviner.

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