Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Does this blend of old and new — at least, new to Star Trek — actually work? At times, almost shockingly well. At others, there are as many growing pains and awkward interactions for Starfleet Academy itself as there are for its students.

​Overall, “Starfleet Academy” is a fun and exciting ride.

Starfleet Academy is off to a strong start with these first two episodes. While the pilot episode falls into a bit of the shock-and-awe trap that modern Star Trek sometimes does, it soon settles into a fun and exciting story that establishes the endearing young cast and direction of the new show.

By embracing the imperfect and trying something new, Starfleet Academy sets itself apart as a compelling spin-off that boldly goes where no Star Trek story has gone before.

It is a nostalgic treat for Trekkies while also being something completely new, and isn’t afraid of a little silliness along the way, while still managing to retain the core ethos of what makes “Trek” tick.

This is a "Star Trek" show where teen shenanigans frequently take center stage, but also one that reminds us that with a little luck, these kids are going to command entire fleets one day. They just need the right education. And when it works, and it generally does, "Starfleet Academy" is a joy.

This show is a significant changeup that initially shares more DNA with CW teen dramas like 90210 than Kirk or Picard’s high-stakes missions. But with time, this bizarre mishmash that no one asked for turns out to be an unexpected opposites-attract situation, a deeply sincere series that successfully combines adolescent awkwardness with plenty of sci-fi circumstances.

To some degree your enjoyment of “Starfleet Academy” may depend on how interested you are in a show about college kids, even one set in the future and, at times, in space. .... I did find the company of the adults more interesting — which, sure, might be my own generational prejudice, but they do get the funnier lines. .... Having seen six of its 10 episodes, I can declare that I like “Starfleet Academy” fine.

While the dialogue is never so dense that I felt completely lost, I found myself checking out every time the characters spent too much time explaining complicated scientific concepts or deep-cut Trek lore. Fortunately, the show has, in its talented young cast, a built-in north star.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is a perfectly entertaining entry in the now-60-year-old Trek franchise, punctuated by fun performances by Hunter and Giamatti. We just worry that the more generic-feeling Academy portion of the series will overwhelm the usually-reliable starship adventures.

Splendidly produced as are most things in the Trek universe, Academy may not jump to the head of its class, but neither is it an epic fail. There are many worse ways to spend one’s recess from reality.

It’s certainly a good-natured show, made so chiefly by Ms. Hunter, who is positively perky and notably lithe. .... “Starfleet Academy” is not a particularly serious story—the conflicts are often manufactured and the emotional payoffs neither well-earned nor quite as perplexing as the fact that Stephen Colbert provides the voice of the “digital dean of students” in this Paramount production. When the show wants to be funny, though, it is.

The student characterizations are overly familiar collegiate archetypes, which makes the professors/administrators the more interesting bunch, including Voyager’s holographic (now grouchier) doctor (Robert Picardo), sarcastic former Discovery engineer Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) and Ake’s No. 1, snarly half-Jem’Hadar, half-Kilingon Lura Throk (scene-stealer Gina Yashere, “Bob (Hearts) Abishola”).

There's a lot of potential here, but given the uneven nature of the franchise under CBS/Paramount producer Alex Kurtzman, I think it's fair for fans to feel wary. If we're lucky, this could be the first modern Star Trek show to meaningfully engage with contemporary issues, but halfway through Season 1, the jury's still out.

Often a great-looking newcomer with an often tedious YA throughline.

“Starfleet Academy” will certainly be an acquired taste, and it’s likely a lot of veteran Trekkies will turn their noses up at it on concept alone. Sometimes, it earns that reputation. .... If creator Giala Violo and showrunner Noga Landau keep sharpening their characters’ immature edges, they might just find exciting new frontiers to explore.

The result is earnest, formulaic and a little cheesy. In other words: classic Trek.

Some episodes feel full of filler and take an age to get to the point (if they ever do). .... By the end of episode 6, things seem to be heating up in a big way. So, here's hoping that the latter half of the season will amp up the action to improve its grade.

"Star Trek" tries to get a fresh start with "Starfleet Academy," but it's dogged by the same pitfalls that have hampered recent "Trek."

Whether this series can live up to that legacy remains an open question, but it’s planting some of the right seeds.

Kurtzman knows that the best Trek is fought amidst the stars, and the series works well when it puts its characters, young and old alike, in situations which test the bounds of their abilities and the limits of their empathy. This is still Trek, but it lacks the political panache of its forebears.

Almost every aspect of the series’ YA side falls flat, from negligible cast chemistry to a lifeless central romance, but what really stings is the show’s disinterest in its young characters’ perspectives.

An utterly indifferent Paramount+ series turns “Trek” into what plays like a CW drama (R.I.P.).