Exclusive: Jonathan Frakes Confident Star Trek Will “Resurface,” Decries ‘Starfleet Academy’ “Trolls”

Star Trek is in a time of transition following Paramount’s decision not to renew Starfleet Academy for a third season and then beginning the process of selling off assets from the Toronto productions. Jonathan Frakes has been around Star Trek for decades and has seen various ups and downs of the franchise as both an actor and a director; TrekMovie spoke to Frakes for this week’s All Access Star Trek podcast (arriving on Friday) and he had some thoughts when it came to the current state of Trek — and that Academy decision.

Frakes weighs in on the state of Star Trek in 2026

Jonathan Frakes (along with Armin Shimerman and Kitty Swink) joined All Access to promote the PanCAN Purple Stride walk coming up on April 25th and his efforts for the Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer team. Eventually the subject turned to Star Trek and how things have changed in 2026, when Frakes lamented:

“I think, sadly, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our incredible franchise, it seemed very unfortunate that they’ve chosen this moment to not have any new Trek in production. It seems like a very unfortunate irony. I’m sure that Trek will resurface, it always has, and it always will. And the power that Roddenberry invested in it seems to have made it through six decades.”

Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Patrick Stewart as Picard, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi and Michael Dorn as Worf in “The Last Generation” Episode 310, Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Trae Patton/Paramount+. ©2021 Viacom, International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Jonathan Frakes has been active as a director (and actor) in the streaming era of Star Trek. He offered his assessment on recent decisions about the TV franchise:

“So some people who either didn’t like or didn’t approve or didn’t support the latest endeavors, for whatever reason.  Perhaps it’s the changing of the guard at Paramount+ and CBS [Studios]. Perhaps it’s indecision. Perhaps it’s the amount of money it costs to make how beautiful the show is; the level of the production has become this sort of “shoot to thrill” cinematic phenomenon that when we did the show back in the ’80s, we counted on storytelling and acting and the occasional camera move [laughs]. It’s a different beast now, and that beast is very expensive, and as we know, it’s called show business.”

Jonathan Frakes directed episode 9 of Starfleet Academy. When an All Access co-host brought up the cancellation of the series and how some of the most strident critics didn’t even seem to have seen the show, he agreed that was an issue:

“Yeah, isn’t that unfortunate? And that’s how [Alex] Kurtzman felt. I got a call from Alex and Noga [Landau], who was his co-showrunner on Starfleet Academy. They were calling people to let them know that the show was kind of ‘on ice,’ I think was the phrase they used. And it was what you just said [critiques coming from people who hadn’t watched the show], they couldn’t not mention as a factor, the trolls.”

Jonathan Frakes and Holly Hunter on the set of season 1, episode 9, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+

But the veteran Trek actor and director expressed his optimism for the future of the franchise:

“I’m very optimistic about the future. I just wish that something was percolating now. I know that there’s talk of another movie. I don’t think it’s going to be one of the J.J. movies. It seems it’s going to be a brand-new [idea]. I know that there’s also a percolating idea about the Paul Wesley [Star Trek: Year One], which would be the origin of Kirk, but that’s all I’ve got. All I’ve got is rumor and innuendo, and none of it is encouraging… But in truth, there will be a Star Trek on the air through 2027. That gives us a lot of time to get something else in the oven, if you will.”

More coming tomorrow from Frakes about Trek and PanCan

Check out the All Access Star Trek podcast tomorrow for much more from Jonathan along with Armin and Kitty. And if you want to learn more about PanCAN and Purple Stride walks being held in 50 cities around the country, check out pancan.org.

While you’re here, check out this new video from PanCAN highlighting Team Trek, featuring Jonathan Frakes along with Armin Shimerman, Kitty Swink, John Billingsley, and Juan Carlos Coto. 

Keep up with everything to do with the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.