EXCLUSIVE – Trek Central has discovered a new, unannounced Star Trek series is in development. The series, titled “Star Trek: Starfleet Scouts,” appears to be a family-friendly project. You may be thinking of the Paramount+ Star Trek: Prodigy series, which was a franchise first for targeting a younger audience. However, this new Star Trek series seems to be children’s animated, digital shorts that will air on YouTube for kids.
Trekkies have been anxiously waiting for news on what is next in the Star Trek Universe. While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy keep the live-action side of things running, animated Trek has recently faltered. Star Trek: Prodigy was cancelled after just two seasons, and Star Trek: Lower Decks concluded with its fifth season. It felt like the animated Star Trek Universe had come to a dead end for the foreseeable future. Now, this new reveal looks to have changed things.
So, what do we know about this new Star Trek: Starfleet Scouts series?
Scouting for New Life
As this is an unannounced Star Trek series, not many details are currently known. Our first indication of this new series comes from the USPTO – United States Patent and Trademark Office. The filing details clearly list “a multimedia series featuring animation distributed via various platforms”. Additionally, another source is a casting website. This site is specifically requesting young actors and actresses for a YouTube Short Series. So it’s possible this could air on the Nick Jr. YouTube channel.
It seems Star Trek: Starfleet Scouts will be something like Disney+ and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. This Star Wars series originally started as six shorts on YouTube before it gained a full season order. It has been an excellent success for Disney+, with two full 20+ episode seasons released and a third in production.
Based on casting information, the new animated series will focus on three 8-9-year-old friends as they go to school on an earth-like planet. The series will follow their adventures as they train to become future Starfleet explorers. This information seems like a step before Starfleet Academy. The characters of Starfleet Scouts are described as “Cool, funny, heroic, and authentic”.
Can it revive a ‘dying’ franchise?
Could this new Star Trek series solve the franchise’s current problem: new fans? It is no secret that the majority of Trek’s core viewership is aging, and it is struggling to gain new, younger fans. Recent interviews for Star Trek: Section 31 revealed that Star Trek‘s executives & producers are concerned about the decline in audience and the possibility of attracting the next generation of fans. To them, Star Trek is dying. However, when Paramount+ cancels projects like Star Trek: Prodigy, you have to wonder how they plan to solve the problem.
With that said, Star Trek: Starfleet Scouts could be the next attempt at tackling this significant franchise issue. While the target audience is pre-schoolers or a family-friendly environment, positioning it on YouTube is a fantastic opportunity. More and more people watch YouTube every day as their primary entertainment source, especially younger people. A dedicated short series could appeal to a new, untapped audience, in hopes of reinvigorating the fanbase.
It will remain to be seen whether this next attempt will expand the final frontiers, offering something meaningful to the next generation. Star Trek: Prodigy was one attempt that Paramount+ saw as too expensive or with insufficient viewers to warrant keeping it running. They did, however, swing between treating it as a ‘for kids’ series, by placing it on Nickelodeon. And as a more general audience fare on Paramount+, with much higher expectations to meet. Meaning the beautifully crafted series seems to have fallen into the crack between, with the odds unjustly set against it in the ruthless world of streaming.
Recently, it was reported that Netflix has passed on a third season of Star Trek’s first young-person dedicated show. And as its licensing period is also expiring, it is likely it will also leave the platform starting with Season 1 in June.
Hope for the future?
While I’m not the target audience for this new Star Trek series, it sounds interesting. If it is akin to Disney+’s Young Jedi Adventures, I can see it going down well with young audiences. It would naturally bridge series together, helping connect young audiences to the more teen-centric Starfleet Academy series, and then that audiences to the more mature, main Star Trek series.
Ultimately, this is what Star Trek needs. A series to bring young viewers into the fandom and introduce them to the lore and ethos of the Star Trek Universe. However, many of you might point out that Paramount+ has already tried this with Star Trek: Prodigy. So, could this idea work? Can Star Trek appeal to younger audiences? And more importantly, will Paramount recognise its prior mistakes and give it the support needed? Ultimately, we will have to hope for the best and wait to see how things play out.
Star Trek: Starfleet Scouts is currently casting its voice actors and is set to begin recording imminently, according to casting information. Its existence has not, however, been officially revealed yet. San Diego Comic Con is just around the corner, however! The huge pop-culture event usually sees Paramount+ beam down with Star Trek panels, for news, trailers, and more. So we’re excited for any upcoming reveals! Perhaps we’ll see an official announcement in July? Either way, follow Trek Central for the latest from the Star Trek Universe.
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