'Strange New Worlds' Trailer Is Totally Your Parents' Star Trek, And That's Okay

Contemporary Star Trek is very good. If you’ve slept on Discovery or Picard on Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) you’ve missed some quality TV that combines great sci-fi with serious adult drama. That said, if you’re only a very casual Star Trek person, the tone of the newer shows may not remind you of the happy-go-lucky vibe of The Original Series or The Next Generation.

But not anymore. In the new trailer for the upcoming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the concept of childlike wonder and adventure is, once again, the central driving force of the final frontier. In fact, the trailer even makes a point at reminding all of us that the voyages of the Starship Enterprise are, very often, something that fires the imaginations of little kids. After we see a bearded Captain Pike (Anson Mount) literally get back on the horse to start boldly going again, a voiceover narration points out that notions of space travel are often the grist for “children’s stories.”

In this way, the vibe of Strange New Worlds feels like the kind of Star Trek many of us grew up with. The new series is set in a time just before the classic 1960s show and will feature the classic USS Enterprise, boldly going where no one has gone before. As the trailer proves, it’s an intentionally retro series. And, just in case you weren’t sure how retro this is going to be, consider this: Strange New Worlds — very much unlike most big TV these days – will be primarily episodic. Yep. That means you’ll have standalone episodes of space adventure, every week, just like when you were a kid.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hits Paramount+ on May 5, 2022. Star Trek: Picard Season 2 and Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 are both currently airing on Paramont+.