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Behind the Scenes
Interview 1: Is New (Star) Trek doomed? - Podcast in German Language
Season 1, Ep. 2
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Please note: This interview is conducted in German. Andreas talks with Simon & Sebastian, the hosts of “Trek am Dienstag”.
What happens when a defining piece of your youth keeps returning in a form that feels unfamiliar? For Simon and Sebastian—hosts of the long-running “Trek am Dienstag”—the answer lands somewhere between love, fatigue, and cautious optimism.
In the debut episode of “Behind the Scenes,” host Andreas convenes a frank, funny, and sharp conversation about New Trek versus the Berman-era shows that shaped a generation. The hookline: Is New Trek the downfall of the franchise—or are we just old enough to think “it used to be better”?
This isn’t a hit piece. It’s an honest look at how modern Star Trek chases new audiences—bigger music, faster pacing, constant emotional high tide—while losing the quiet character moments that once made the universe feel like home. Simon charts his arc from early excitement (JJ Abrams’s reset, Discovery’s promise, the return of Picard) to disillusionment (perpetual drama, fanservice without vision). Sebastian underscores a broader point: plenty of fans love Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks; his disconnect is personal, not prescriptive. The pressure they do reject: being told they must both watch and like the new canon because they host a Star Trek podcast.
We dive into:
- The Kelvin Timeline: a smart way to unshackle canon, re-centering U.S. TOS nostalgia—clever industry logic that still disoriented parts of the fandom.
- Discovery, Picard, SNW: where they thrill and where they falter, from relentless sentiment to legacy-character dependency.
They also sketch the shows they wish existed:
- A season that hides its Trek DNA until the finale.
- A “monster-of-the-week” told from the monster’s point of view.
- Stories anchored in non-bridge lives—technicians, journalists, ordinary crew—expanding the world without leaning on Spock yet again.
The episode reframes the Berman era not as flawless, but as “character first” television (Michael Piller) guided by strong vision (Ira Steven Behr) and 26-episode seasons that let relationships breathe. Today’s 8–10 episode arcs push plot at the cost of texture. Add franchise mandates, blockbuster budgets, and production pipelines locked seasons ahead of audience feedback, and the creative dialogue with fans collapses.
In the most revealing aside, Sebastian recalls an old Alex Kurtzman commentary track where the producer sounds embarrassed to be a Trek fan—a tell, he argues, for a modern tone that seems apologetic about its roots while trying to be everything to everyone.
The ending is surprisingly hopeful. Simon will keep giving every new show a fair shake; he just wants vision instead of pandering. Sebastian is serene: either something great lands, or he spends the rest of his life joyfully mining the vast back catalog and unseen secondary materials. Andreas closes on the enduring magic of Trek: stand-alone episodes that still spark wonder on a random lunch break.
This episode is a clear-eyed look at how franchises evolve, why not every evolution is for everyone, and how to keep loving a thing without insisting it never change.
You will learn:
- Why the Kelvin reset was both industrially smart and emotionally destabilizing.
- The tradeoffs of tight 10-episode arcs—momentum versus lost intimacy.
- How Discovery, Picard, and SNW balance (or bungle) fanservice, pacing, and tone.
- The Berman-era principles—Piller’s “character first,” Behr’s vision—that built staying power.
- Fresh Trek concepts that don’t rely on legacy characters.
- A healthier fandom stance: critique without gatekeeping, hope without entitlement.
Photo Credit: Guido Raith
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