Star Trek — The Complete Franchise Timeline

Star Trek — The Complete Franchise 49

1964 The Cage — unaired pilot Gene Roddenberry's original pilot for Star Trek, starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, is filmed and submitted to NBC. The network rejects it as "too cerebral" but unusually commissions a second pilot — the only time in NBC history this has happened. The footage is later incorporated into the two-part episode "The Menagerie" (1966).
1966 Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 1 Kirk, Spock and McCoy aboard the USS Enterprise begin their five-year mission. NBC premieres the show on 8 September 1966. The first season's 29 episodes establish the franchise's foundational themes: humanity's potential, tolerance, and the exploration of ideas through science fiction allegory. Stars William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.
1967 Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 2 The second season of 26 episodes introduces Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) and includes some of the franchise's most beloved episodes — "The Trouble with Tribbles," "Amok Time" and "Mirror, Mirror." NBC moves the show to a Friday night death slot, cutting its audience.
1968 Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 3 The third and final season of 24 episodes suffers from reduced budget and network interference. Despite containing classics like "The Enterprise Incident" and "All Our Yesterdays," the show is cancelled in June 1969. Fan letter campaigns are credited with extending the run by one season. The series ends, but its cultural legacy is just beginning.
1973 Star Trek: The Animated Series Following the live-action series' cancellation, an animated continuation runs for two seasons (1973-74) on NBC Saturday mornings, with most of the original cast returning to voice their characters. It is later declared canon by some fan communities and ignored by others. Wins a Daytime Emmy — the first Star Trek production to win an Emmy.
1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Ten years after cancellation, the success of Star Wars prompts Paramount to revive Star Trek as a theatrical film. Directed by Robert Wise, the film reunites the original cast in a slow, visually stunning but narratively underwhelming story about a vast alien entity heading toward Earth. Budget: $46 million. Gross: $139 million. Despite mixed reviews, its commercial success secures the franchise's future.
1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Widely considered the finest Star Trek film. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, it pits Kirk against his old nemesis Khan Noonien Singh and culminates in Spock's death to save the Enterprise. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Revitalises the franchise after the cold reception to the first film. Budget: $12 million. Gross: $97 million.
1984 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Kirk and crew steal the Enterprise to recover Spock's body from the Genesis Planet, where his mind — transferred to Dr. McCoy — can be reunited with a regenerated body. Christopher Lloyd plays Klingon commander Kruge. The Enterprise is destroyed — a landmark moment for the franchise. Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Budget: $16 million. Gross: $87 million.
1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home The most accessible and commercially successful of the original-cast films. Kirk and crew travel back to 1986 San Francisco to retrieve humpback whales and save the future Earth. Fish-out-of-water comedy combined with environmental message. Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Budget: $21 million. Gross: $133 million.
1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 1 Set 78 years after the original series, TNG premieres in first-run syndication with Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The first season is uneven but the ensemble — including Brent Spiner as Data, Jonathan Frakes as Riker and LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge — quickly establishes itself as one of television's finest casts. 26 episodes.
1988 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 2 The second season introduces Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and the recurring Borg threat. Diana Muldaur replaces Gates McFadden as the ship's doctor due to a behind-the-scenes dispute. The season ends strongly with the first appearance of the Borg Queen.
1988 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Directed by William Shatner, the film follows a renegade Vulcan who hijacks the Enterprise in search of God at the centre of the galaxy. Generally considered the weakest of the original cast films. Plagued by budget problems and a writers' strike. Budget: $30 million. Gross: $63 million.
1989 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 3 Widely regarded as TNG's first great season. Gates McFadden returns. The season ends with "The Best of Both Worlds" — Picard assimilated by the Borg — the most celebrated cliffhanger in the franchise's history and arguably in all of American television drama.
1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 4 Resolves the Borg cliffhanger (Picard rescued) and delivers consistently excellent television including "Family," "Brothers" and "The Drumhead." The show is now the most-watched drama in American syndication.
1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country The final film for most of the original cast. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, it uses the fall of the Klingon Empire as an allegory for the end of the Cold War. Kirk and McCoy are framed for the assassination of the Klingon chancellor. A fitting farewell for the original crew. Budget: $27 million. Gross: $97 million.
1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 5 Continues TNG's peak run. Includes "Darmok" (widely cited as one of the finest episodes in franchise history), "I, Borg" and the two-part "Unification," which sees the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock and serves as a tribute to the recently deceased Gene Roddenberry.
1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 6 Introduces the Cardassians and contains "Chain of Command," in which Picard is tortured — "There are FOUR lights!" — and the romantic breakthrough episode "Lessons." One of TNG's strongest seasons.
1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 1 The first Star Trek series not set primarily aboard a starship. DS9 is set on a space station near a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, commanded by Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Darker, more serialised and politically complex than its predecessors. Co-created by Michael Piller and Rick Berman, DS9 runs for 7 seasons until 1999.
1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 7 TNG's final season. Includes "All Good Things...," the series finale, widely considered one of the finest TV series finales ever made, which returns the show to its roots in a Q-mediated challenge to Picard. The series ends as the finest television franchise of its era. 176 episodes total across 7 seasons.
1994 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 2 DS9 deepens its mythology, introducing the Maquis and developing the Bajoran-Cardassian political storyline. The show begins moving away from the episodic format toward the serialised storytelling that will define its later, finest seasons.
1994 Star Trek Generations The first TNG film, which serves as a baton-pass from Kirk to Picard. Kirk dies falling from a bridge on Veridian III — widely considered one of the most anticlimactic deaths in franchise history. Malcolm McDowell plays the villain Soran. Budget: $35 million. Gross: $120 million.
1995 Star Trek: Voyager — Season 1 The third live-action Trek series, following the crew of the USS Voyager stranded 70,000 light years from home in the Delta Quadrant. Kate Mulgrew plays Captain Kathryn Janeway — the first female captain to lead a Star Trek series. Runs for 7 seasons until 2001. Created as the flagship series for the new UPN network.
1996 Star Trek: First Contact The finest TNG film and arguably the best Star Trek film of the 1990s. Picard and crew travel back to 2063 to prevent the Borg from assimilating Earth before first contact with the Vulcans. Directed by Jonathan Frakes. Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. Tense, emotional and spectacularly realised. Budget: $45 million. Gross: $150 million.
1998 Star Trek: Insurrection Picard defies Starfleet orders to protect a small peaceful civilisation. A lighter, morally earnest entry in the series that feels closer to a TV episode than a theatrical film. Directed by Jonathan Frakes. Budget: $58 million. Gross: $117 million.
2001 Star Trek: Enterprise — Season 1 A prequel series set a century before the original series, following Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) aboard the first Warp 5 starship. Created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, it launches on UPN and struggles in its early seasons with low ratings despite genuine ambitions.
2002 Star Trek: Nemesis The final TNG theatrical film and the nadir of the Next Generation era. Picard faces a clone of himself (Tom Hardy) who leads the Romulan Empire. Director Stuart Baird reportedly had no familiarity with Star Trek. Poor reviews and a catastrophic box office performance ($67 million against a $60 million budget) ends the TNG film series. The franchise enters a five-year dormancy.
2009 Star Trek (2009) — J.J. Abrams reboot J.J. Abrams relaunches the franchise with an alternate "Kelvin Timeline" created by time travel, allowing a new cast to play the original characters — Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldaña as Uhura. Spectacular action, controversial among purists for its departure from Roddenberry's ethos, enormously commercially successful. Budget: $150 million. Gross: $386 million.
2009 Star Trek: The Next Generation remastered in HD CBS releases TNG remastered in high definition, with original film elements digitally restored and CGI space effects recreated. The project takes six years and is one of the most extensive television restoration projects in history.
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness The second Kelvin Timeline film controversially reworks "The Wrath of Khan," with Benedict Cumberbatch playing a whitewashed Khan. Divisive among fans and critics; commercially successful but marks the beginning of the Kelvin Timeline's creative difficulties. Budget: $190 million. Gross: $467 million.
2016 Star Trek Beyond The third Kelvin Timeline film, directed by Justin Lin, returns to the franchise's exploratory roots. Released in the franchise's 50th anniversary year. Idris Elba plays the villain Krall. Well received by critics but underperforms commercially. Budget: $185 million. Gross: $343 million. The Kelvin Timeline films stall after this entry.
2017 Star Trek: Discovery — Season 1 The franchise returns to TV after a 12-year absence, now on the streaming service CBS All Access (later Paramount+). Set a decade before the original series, Discovery follows Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). The show's dark tone, heavily serialised format and retconning of established canon prove deeply divisive — and deeply popular.
2019 Star Trek: Discovery — Season 2 Discovery's second season introduces Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike and Ethan Peck as Spock — a casting so successful it leads directly to the creation of Strange New Worlds. The season resolves the "Red Angel" mystery with a time-jump to the 32nd century, fundamentally changing the show's setting.
2020 Star Trek: Picard — Season 1 Patrick Stewart returns as Jean-Luc Picard, now retired and haunted by the Federation's abandonment of the Romulan evacuation. The most sophisticated Star Trek since DS9's peak years. Introduces new characters and deepens the mythology of the TNG era. Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh) reprise their roles.
2020 Star Trek: Discovery — Season 3 Discovery arrives in the 32nd century, 930 years after its own time, to find the Federation in ruins after a catastrophic event called "The Burn." The show reinvents itself — the best season to date — exploring a Federation without power and without certainty.
2020 Star Trek: Lower Decks — Season 1 The franchise's first animated adult comedy series, created by Mike McMahan (formerly of Rick and Morty). Set aboard the USS Cerritos, one of Starfleet's least important ships. Irreverent, fan-service-rich and surprisingly emotionally sophisticated. A genuine creative departure for the franchise.
2021 Star Trek: Picard — Season 2 Picard and Q return for a time-travel season set largely in 2024 Los Angeles. The season is troubled in production and uneven in execution — Q's farewell is deeply moving; much of the rest is not. Annie Wersching plays the Borg Queen.
2021 Star Trek: Discovery — Season 4 The fourth season of Discovery faces a galaxy-threatening anomaly and continues to refine the show's 32nd-century identity. Critical reception is mixed but the show commands a devoted audience.
2021 Star Trek: Prodigy — Season 1 An animated series aimed at younger audiences, following a group of alien kids who find an abandoned Starfleet vessel and discover the Federation. Kate Mulgrew reprises her voice role as Janeway. Created by Dan and Kevin Hageman, it is the most accessible entry point for new audiences the franchise has ever produced.
2022 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 1 Spun off from the overwhelmingly positive reception to the Anson Mount / Ethan Peck / Rebecca Romijn appearances in Discovery Season 2, Strange New Worlds is a deliberate return to episodic storytelling. Each episode is self-contained. Critics and fans respond with near-unanimous enthusiasm — the best-received Star Trek premiere in decades.
2023 Star Trek: Picard — Season 3 The TNG cast reunites for a final season — Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner all return together for the first time in over 20 years. Showrunner Terry Matalas delivers a love letter to TNG that becomes one of the most celebrated seasons in franchise history.
2023 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 2 The second season continues the anthology approach while deepening character arcs. Includes a full musical episode ("Subspace Rhapsody") and a crossover with Lower Decks. Even more critically acclaimed than the first season.
2023 Star Trek: Lower Decks — Season 4 Lower Decks continues its run as one of the most affectionately regarded shows in the franchise, balancing comedy and genuine emotional weight with increasing sophistication.
2024 Star Trek: Prodigy — Season 2 After being cancelled by Paramount+ and rescued by Netflix, Prodigy's second season — 20 episodes — completes the first arc and delivers an emotionally satisfying conclusion to the young crew's journey. The season finale connects to other areas of the franchise with notable cameos.
2024 Star Trek: Lower Decks — Season 5 (final season) Lower Decks concludes after five seasons. The series finale brings the USS Cerritos crew to a satisfying close, with callbacks to TNG and numerous fan-pleasing moments. One of the franchise's most unexpected creative successes comes to an end.
2025 Star Trek: Section 31 The franchise's first original TV movie, premiering on Paramount+. Michelle Yeoh reprises her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, now working for Section 31 — Starfleet's black-ops intelligence division — in the 24th century. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. Omari Hardwick and Robert Picardo co-star. The film explores the moral ambiguities of a Starfleet organisation that operates without ethical constraints.
2025 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 3 The third season continues to receive outstanding reviews, resolving the Gorn cliffhanger from Season 2 and including a Jonathan Frakes-directed Hollywood noir episode praised as among the finest in franchise history. Renewed for a fourth and fifth season.
2026 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 4 The fourth season of Strange New Worlds is in production as of mid-2026, with a late 2026 premiere expected on Paramount+. The show has been renewed for a fifth and final season, guaranteeing the most celebrated Trek series of the modern era a proper conclusion.
2026 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy — Season 1 Set in the 32nd century, following the first new class of Starfleet cadets in centuries. Stars Holly Hunter as Academy Chancellor and features an entirely new young cast. Built on the largest TV set ever constructed. Created by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. The first Star Trek series aimed primarily at a young adult audience, premiered January 16, 2026 on Paramount+.
2027 Untitled new Star Trek film — in development A new Star Trek theatrical film is in development at Paramount, though no director, cast or release date has been confirmed as of June 2026. The Kelvin Timeline films (Pine, Quinto, Saldaña) have stalled; whether the new film continues that timeline or launches a new one is undecided. Several projects have been developed and abandoned since Star Trek Beyond (2016).