On Screen: “Starfleet Academy”
Starfleet Academy
As an ardent “Star Trek” fan, I was disappointed by “Starfleet Academy,” the newest addition to the franchise that premiered in January — so I’m not surprised that it’s been canceled after just two seasons. Obviously, it was not destined to Live Long and Prosper.
This spinoff is set in the 32nd century — after the Burn, a galaxy-wide catastrophe in which ‘dilithium’ became inert, causing the destruction of starship warp cores which decimated the United Federation of Planets, leaving the Klingon Empire without a home world.
San Francisco-based Starfleet Academy is now run by Chancellor Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), who quit the force 15 years ago after working on a criminal case that separated a frantic mother (Tatiana Masley) from her young son. To atone, Nahla puts angry, now-grown Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) into the class of 3196.
His colleagues include empathetic Betazoid Tarima (Zoe Steiner); overachieving Genesis (Bella Shepard); Sam (Kerrice Brooks), a holograph joyously discovering the organic world; bullying Darem (George Hawkins); and shy Jay-Den (Karim Diane), a peace-seeking Klingon.
Controversy about the introduction of the first gay Klingon character evokes memories of the uproar over the interracial kiss between Capt. Kirk (Williams Shatner) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Back in 1968, many southern stations pulled that episode and condemned the show.
On the plus side, the second “Starfleet Academy” installment recalls the humpback whales from “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” in a cameo saluting that movie’s 40th anniversary.
So what went wrong?
Created by Gaia Violo and Alex Kurtzman for a teen-YA audience, “Starfleet Academy” is on the wrong streaming channel. The success of Paramount+ stems from Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone,” “Landman,” and “The Madison,” which skew older. YAs watch Netflix, Prime, and Disney+.
Gloating pirate villain Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti) amplifies the melodrama, plus the sci-fi jargon-filled dialogue is shallow, superficial and often mumbled, although cranky ‘Doctor’ Robert Picardo gets some clever quips.
As 422-year-old, half-Lanthanite Nahla, sloppy, unkempt Holly Hunter flops in the captain’s chair like a barefoot hippie in a dorm room. In contrast, Cadet Master Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) is far more commanding.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Starfleet Academy” is a faltering, forgettable 5 — with two seasons streaming on Paramount+.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.