From Star Trek: Discovery to Star Trek: Prodigy, every fan needs to get caught up on the now-finished wave of Star Trek series on Paramount+. Every episode of each series is available to stream on Paramount+ except for Star Trek: Prodigy, which has a complicated streaming history.
Star Trek already had five TV series that encompassed hundreds of episodes from 1966 to 2005 before Star Trek: Discovery brought the franchise Gene Roddenberry created to the streaming era on Paramount+. Five more TV series followed thanks to Star Trek: Discovery’s success, as well as the made-for-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31.
Currently, Paramount+ only has two Star Trek series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which premieres in early 2026. Strange New Worlds has seasons 4 and 5, consisting of 16 episodes, still to come, while Starfleet Academy has two, 10-episode seasons assured on Paramount+.
With Paramount under new ownership by Skydance Media, Star Trek will become a greater priority at the studio, with the potential for new Star Trek movies and more Star Trek streaming series on Paramount+. With Star Trek on the cusp of change in the coming years, it’s best not to sleep on the finished Star Trek series that built a new golden age on streaming.
Star Trek: Discovery
5 Seasons From 2017-2024
Star Trek: Discovery ran for five seasons as the flagship series of Star Trek on Paramount+. Discovery was a series of firsts: it was the first Star Trek series in 12 years, the first to star an African-American female lead who was not a Captain (at first), and it was the first fully serialized Star Trek series.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pioneered Star Trek TV serialization in the 1990s.
Star Trek: Discovery was controversial from the moment it aired its two-episode premiere in September 2021. A bold visual and stylistic reinvention of Star Trek, Discovery rankled longtime fans looking for the traditional Star Trek they loved. Yet Discovery endured, despite creative changes behind the scenes in its first two seasons.
While some fans have come to feel Star Trek: Discovery was at its best in its 23rd century setting, the series lived up to its title when it jumped 930 years into the future. In the 32nd century, the USS Discovery took on a different meaning, becoming the symbol of Starfleet’s classic values that helped repair the shattered United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek: Discovery was led by Sonequa Martin-Green, who never failed to deliver remarkable and emotionally resonant performances as Captain Michael Burnham. Other standouts in the cast are Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, and David Ajala in a series that pushed Star Trek‘s diversity and inclusivity forward.
Star Trek: Discovery is the reason why Star Trek experienced a renaissance, and it bore the brunt of fan ire and controversies to give the franchise a new beginning. Star Trek: Discovery‘s five seasons can be uneven, but it can’t be faulted for its vaulting ambition, and the show will likely gain greater appreciation as time marches on.
Star Trek: Picard
3 Seasons From 2020-2023
Star Trek fans erupted in celebration when Patrick Stewart announced his return as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. When Star Trek: Picard premiered in 2020, howevr, fans who hoped to rekindle the glory of Star Trek: The Next Generation instead found a more contemplative and uncertain series, with new faces surrounding Jean-Luc.
Under showrunner Michael Chabon, Star Trek: Picard season 1 told a tale of Romulans, the Borg, and the fears of A.I. that amounted to little thanks to a hollow ending. Star Trek: Picard season 2, under showrunner Akiva Goldsman, was a TNG greatest hits parade about time travel, the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching), and Q (John de Lancie).
Star Trek: Picard season 3, however, got it right at last. Showrunner Terry Matalas masterminded the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reunion fans wanted all along, and told a rousing and fulfilling story about one last hurrah for TNG opening the door for the next generation and a new Starship Enterprise.
With three different creative visions, Star Trek: Picard is the most scattered of Star Trek on Paramount+’s series, but it also introduced numerous endearing new characters and evolved Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) into a Captain capable of leading her own Star Trek series.
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Picard season 3 is a must-see, especially for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it can claim the crown as the live-action apex of Star Trek on Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard season 3 also set up the future fans truly want, and perhaps Paramount Skydance may finally deliver on the endless hopes for Star Trek: Legacy.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
5 Seasons From 2020-2024
Star Trek: The Animated Series in the 1970s was once disavowed by Gene Roddenberry, but Star Trek: Lower Decks’ executive producer and creator Mike McMahan not only ushered in a new era of animated Trek, but he dared to make the first Star Trek half-hour animated comedy. And it worked like gangbusters.
Focusing on the lowest rung of ensigns on an unremarkable starship, Star Trek: Lower Decks made endearing fun of the sometimes dreary, sometimes thrilling day-to-day life of 24th century Starfleet. Lower Decks restored the beloved iconography of Star Trek: The Next Generation with a relentlessly funny, go-for-broke attitude.
Yet Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ characters were rich and complex, led by the self-destructive Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and the confidence-challenged Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid). By the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ five seasons, the lower deckers graduated to become bridge crew and future Starfleet legends.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is endlessly inventive, unceasingly funny, but also has depth, heart, and dares to challenge the unknown. Star Trek: Lower Decks is essential Star Trek, celebrating everything weird and wonderful about the final frontier.
Star Trek: Prodigy
2 Seasons From 2021-2024
Star Trek: Prodigy was the answer to the dilemma of Star Trek‘s aging franchise. Executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman created Star Trek: Prodigy to teach a brand-new generation about the values of Star Trek while delivering a lusciously animated epic about growing up and believing in the best of Starfleet that’s fit for all ages.
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s two seasons, consisting of 40 episodes, turned a ragtag group of alien teens into shining examples of what Starfleet Officers can be. In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, the young crew of the USS Protostar were saving the multiverse and becoming legends themselves.
For longtime fans, Star Trek: Prodigy is also an unofficial sequel to Star Trek: Voyager, with Kate Mulgrew returning as different versions of Admiral Kathryn Janeway to bolster the animated series with her gravitas and prestige. Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, and Robert Beltran from Voyager were equaled by Star Trek: Prodigy‘s young voice cast led by Brett Gray and Ella Purnell.
Tragically and unfairly, Star Trek: Prodigy is the most mistreated Star Trek series. Paramount+ canceled and purged its episodes before a passionate fan campaign led to Netflix licensing Star Trek: Prodigy seasons 1 and 2. Unfortunately, with Netflix’s license soon to expire, Star Trek: Prodigy will soon have no streaming home and no new episodes.
Star Trek: Prodigy seasons 1 and 2 can be purchased on Blu-ray and on Prime Video.
It will soon become much harder to stream Star Trek: Prodigy, but the CGI animated series is a must-see. Star Trek: Prodigy embodies everything wonderful and inspirational about Star Trek, and is worth seeking out and owning.
