Controversial 'Star Trek’ spinoff axed after ratings suffer amid ‘woke’ fan backlash

"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy," the latest installment in the legacy franchise, has been canceled. While a second season has already finished filming, CBS Studios and Paramount+ confirmed it will be the show's last.

The decision followed a one-season debut that drew criticism from some viewers online over what they described as a "woke" creative direction.

A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that while the studio was pleased with the show’s creative performances, it was "not a secret" that the series failed to chart on Nielsen’s weekly top 10 streaming lists. 

In a joint statement, first reported by Variety, CBS Studios and Paramount+ said they were "incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity" of the series, which they said "pushed storytelling boundaries."

"The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the ‘Star Trek’ universe in exciting new ways," they said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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The series’ first episode was initially made available for free on YouTube, where it was met with significant backlash in the comments section. Some viewers accused the episode of being unfaithful to the franchise and mocked the series’ famous motto, joking, "To boldly go where no one wanted," in the comments under the clip.

Early on, cast member Gina Yashere and others leaned into the show’s "woke" label, arguing the franchise has always been portrayed that way. In the series, Yashere’s character is in a same-sex relationship.

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Longtime "Star Trek" actor Robert Picardo echoed that sentiment, writing on Instagram that the franchise’s "heart was ‘woke’" long before the term existed.

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The initial episodes received strong reviews from critics but significantly lower scores from audiences. At one point, the show's Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score hit a low of 35%, and the series currently holds a 4.4 out of 10 on IMDb, with the majority of ratings being one-star reviews.

William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original television series, commented on the cancellation in a post on X, referencing his famous interracial kiss on the show in the 1960s: "During the first airing of my Star Trek series where a kiss was objectionable; many southern stations pulled the episode & condemned the show."

"Using today’s vernacular it would absolutely be called ‘woke DEI crap’ because it went against ‘norms’ of society for its time. Not a lot seems to have changed."

Executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau said the second season is in post-production and that they plan to "finish strong."