David Bianculli

The faculty members allow for some familiar faces from previous Star Trek series, including Tig Notaro from Discovery and Robert Picardo from Voyager.

But the focus is just as much on the students, which allows relative unknowns like Sandro Rasta and Bella Shepard to not only reach for the stars, but try to become them.

Another young standout is Karis Brooks, who plays Sam.

She's a sentient hologram, the first of her kind.

She finds a particular delight when describing herself to Robert Picardo's The Doctor, a holographic physician who, like Captain Nala, has been around for centuries.

Paramount Plus has made six of the first season's eight episodes available to critics, and they're a strong addition to the canon.

Creator Gaia Violo and showrunner Noga Landau have worked with their staff of writers, directors, and production designers to give Starfleet Academy a modern, youthful sheen.

The sets are brighter.

The dialogue is sharper, with more expletives than expected from the elders as well as the kids.

And the character development is strong across the board.

Paul Giamatti has a standout recurring role as Bracca, an evil mercenary.

And when he and Holly Hunter share the screen, it's as much fun as any Star Trek in the series.

In the premiere episode, Bracca appears on the bridge of the USS Athena after attacking the ship, and he and the captain go at it immediately.

Passion for the original Star Trek series was kept alive by reruns as it reached new, younger viewers.

With access via streaming, especially on Paramount+, the same is true today of all the sequels.

And now, 60 years on, Star Trek Starfleet Academy has the chance to build an audience of its own.

In our fractured TV universe, the odds may be slightly against that.

But remember, the original Star Trek series never finished in the top 50.

Of everything I saw on TV in 2025, the one show I thought was the very best and has haunted me ever since was the four-part Netflix drama Adolescence.

It's the story of a young teen accused of murdering a classmate, and it's told in such a way, emotionally and technically, that I can't and won't forget it.