He's retiring then?
this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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I’m not. I’d like to see someone new running Star Trek, but I don’t have much hope they’d be any better considering current Paramount management.
Given the complete failure to produce and release anything for Star Trek in more than a decade on the cinematic side, I can’t think any reasonable senior executive would think now is the time to let Kurtzman go. All the more, the historic chaos in relaunching the television franchise in the early seasons of both TNG and Discovery have demonstrated that it’s just not possible to launch a new overall franchise runner without running major risks.
Kurtzman’s got a reputation as being good to work with from both the studio/streamer and creative side. They don’t have any evidence to show he won’t adjust to new strategic direction.
The question more will be how far will Kurtzman himself be willing to compromise if the Ellisons give high level direction that would take the franchise in a very different direction for television.
What I do see is that some of the perceived failures will definitely lead to restricted opportunities for some of the EPs that have worked for Kurtzman. For example, Osunsami may not be given run of a project again after the S31 movie. Michelle Paradise won’t likely be asked to run another show in the franchise.
He's not my favourite writer by any means, but I'm in almost total agreement with his overall approach to handling the property.
He wants each series to be unique, hires the showrunners, and seems to let them do their own thing. I think it's a good approach, even though a couple of the projects fell short of their potential (y'know, in my opinion).
And he seems to work well with the suits, which is probably a good thing overall?
Yeah I'd rather have each show be its own thing and crossover (where appropriate). There needs to be some oversight of showrunners, but only to prevent egregious things (look at The Witcher show runners clearly wanting to do their own thing and butchering the IP in the process without any apparent oversight).
Not everything will be perfect, and to be honest many of the vocal Star Trek fan thoughts when shows are being released are often terrible takes. A decent number of people vocally hated DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, when they first started airing, some even calling for them to be immediately cancelled, smothered in the crib basically.
Fan reactions online to new shows need to be taken with an entire salt lick, Star Trek doesn't have a good track record with the vocal fans being an accurate consensus, and the breadth of modern social media just makes it easier for them to vocalize their opinion in multiple places and make their reactions seem larger and more indicative than they are.
A decent number of people vocally hated DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, when they first started airing
It me
(well okay, I never hated DS9, and my dislike for Voyager grew over time, but it basically me)
@ValueSubtracted DS9 was my favorite until Picard and Discovery.
I was appalled by Voyager and Enterprise, and while the former never really improved, the latter got better just before they cancelled it—I faintly recall that they brought in a different producer.
Well, I should add that I've mellowed on both series over time - I think Voyager is fine once you accept it for what it is, rather than for what it's not, and Enterprise...well, there's some good stuff in there, but it will never be near the top of my rewatch list.
Let’s see how “let them do their own thing” worked out:
- Picard — ok s1, abhorrent s2, had to be rebooted in s3
- Lower Decks — found its niche audience
- Discovery — squandered a great cast on absolutely horrible writing
- Prodigy — found its niche but got canceled anyway
- SNW — mixed bag, lots of good episodes, but then singing, dancing, muppets, fake Kirk, killed off a great character (Hemmer)
- Sec 31 — aborted right out of the gate, couldn’t even wring a series out of the material
- Academy — just looks like more Discovery
To me it seems like he’s just squandering Trek’s good name with his rudderless guidance. 3.5 decent series out of 7 isn’t that great of a batting average.
killed off a great character (Hemmer)
This was unforgivable.
You didn't like the single musical episode... Yet felt the need to use it as a singled out example of issues with an entire series.
That alone renders your entire comment moot to be honest. It shows you aren't actually judging things on any sort of standard, just your personal feelings. Which is fine for you, but not at all useful to anyone else.
It also shows you don't remember half of the older series you seem to be comparing them to, since easily half of TOS, TNG, VOY, and DS9 were filler episodes, with little value beyond just being Star Trek content, and maybe giving some character development if you were lucky.
A couple of filler episodes in a 26 episode season are one thing. Two fillers in an ten episode season is one fifth of the shows.
Also I counted SNW in the 3.5 good shows. 🤷♂️
I'm hoping Academy will be better than I expect, but I don't disagree with this analysis (stipulating that I've yet to watch any of Prodigy). I think most of the high regard for SNW is a result of how dismal DIS and PIC were. I enjoy it, but it's pretty shallow in comparison with any of the older series. Style over substance, as a rule.
So, putting aside your statements of quality (some of which I agree with and some of which do not, but it's all subjective so whatever), I personally wouldn't hold "audience size" or whether a series was cancelled against him, unless you think the shows weren't any good. Seems like IDIC to me.