Ep 11: The Future of Star Trek

Adjust your scanners, power up the warp drives, and point your lenses straight toward the horizon! 🚀🛰️ With the clock ticking and the entire science fiction community rapidly gearing up for the massive 60th Anniversary milestone, the Elite Force Podcast is asking the single most critical question facing the fandom today: What is the future of Star Trek?

Before we map out the horizon, we honestly face the reality of the current landscape. The modern era of streaming television Trek—from the dividing lines of Star Trek: Discovery to the nostalgic swings of Star Trek: Picard—has left a hyper-polarized debate in its wake. We break down our honest scorecard of the Alex Kurtzman era (praising the highs of Discovery Seasons 3-5, Picard Season 3, and the wonderful Lower Decks, while calling out the total failures of Section 31 and Starfleet Academy). We look past the toxic social media gatekeepers on Facebook and X to focus strictly on macroeconomics—analyzing why the upcoming, multi-billion-dollar Paramount/Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger is 100% going to happen, and what Kurtzman's expired contract means for the brand.

Finally, we pull out the calculator to expose the spreadsheet straightjacket tightening around the final frontier. We break down the terrifying, unprecedented television drought locking into place next year—marking the first time since 1963 that BOTH Star Trek and Doctor Who will simultaneously have zero new episodes airing on television. Then, we look to the silver screen to analyze the chaotic development hell of the canceled Kelvin Timeline Star Trek 4, and look forward to the unhedged, standalone reset button being written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (describing their vision as a gritty, far-future 'Training Day' or 'Crimson Tide' in space).

Plus, stick around right after the final segment for a massive, surprise studio hotline transmission! Former co-host Mindwipe patches in straight from the field to drop his raw, unfiltered reactions to our recent hard-hitting Grand Theft Auto VI critique, backing up the math on hard drive hostaged files and the "Code in a Box" retail con.

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  ❤️ This episode, and the new era of the Elite Force Podcast, is lovingly dedicated to our late co-host and brother, Charlie, and our late dad. The force has officially returned.