Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Was “Killed In The Cradle” But Season 2 “Looks Spectacular,” Says Robert Picardo

Published Oct 19, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.

Robert Picardo gives an enthusiastic update about Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 and muses about the reasons behind the show's premature cancellation.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will return for its second and final season in March 2027. Starfleet Academy premiered with great fanfare in January 2026, but Paramount+ canceled the series just two months later. However, season 2 was ordered during filming of season 1, and production on what is now the final season wrapped before Paramount+ dropped the axe on the young adult-oriented Star Trek series.

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TrekMovie's Laurie Ulster spoke to Robert Picardo at the New York City premiere of The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World. Picardo was also part of New York Comic Con's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy panel. He beamed that he heard "season 2 was is even better," and that the footage he has seen "looks spectacular." Read Bob's quote below:

Robert Picardo: “I hear season 2 is even better from the producers. I’ve seen quite a bit of it while I’ve been doing ADR on it, and it looks spectacular."

Noting that Star Trek shows historically "often took til season 3 to get on track," Picardo likened Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cancellation to "kind of being killed in the cradle." Bob also delved into how "Star Trek's core values are now out of fashion temporarily" and his hopes that whatever Star Trek that Paramount makes next will "remember what it was that made Star Trek special":

Robert Picardo: "And I’m sorry the show… Every Star Trek show was criticized in its first two or three seasons, and then took often til season 3 to get on track. And 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. We see diversity under attack, and therefore Star Trek is under attack because that’s what Star Trek’s always been about.

So hopefully, whenever they create the next Star Trek movie and Star Trek show, they’ll remember what it was that made Star Trek special, and that present weather conditions in politics will change, and Star Trek once again will emerge with all of its values intact. That’s what I believe and I hope for. But right now, you know, the feeling has been a little grim recently.”

Intended to run at least four seasons, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was canceled for several reasons. Chiefly, Starfleet Academy did not garner big streaming numbers. However, Starfleet Academy was also targeted by an online hate campaign accusing the series of being "woke" and attacking the actors on social media.

Picardo and numerous Star Trek veterans argue that Star Trek has always been "woke," and Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future is built upon the progressive values of diversity, inclusion, and working together for the common good by using science to solve complex problems.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was the last of executive producer Alex Kurtzman's Star Trek series canceled by Paramount+ when Skydance purchased the company. Skydance plans to relaunch Star Trek with new movies and TV series that will not reference Star Trek's 60 years of legacy canon in favor of a new direction to find a wider audience.

Meanwhile, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's second and final season will give the cadets more outer space missions, make them question their career and life choices, and will feature special guest stars Bill Nighy and Rosemarie DeWitt. Hopefully, it will be as "spectacular" as Robert Picardo says.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 is streaming on Paramount+

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