Star Trek Paramount Plus Originals Rankings

7. Section 31

The only Star Trek movie released straight to Paramount Plus, Section 31 had so much potential and squandered it in epic fashion. Starring Michelle Yeoh, this is meant to be focused on the covert defensive ops unit of the United Federation of Planets. Section 31 was one of the best parts of both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise. Instead, this film wastes the talent of an Oscar winner who was meant to bring gravitas to the story.

While there’s plenty of debate about how much the Paramount Plus originals don’t capture the spirit of Star Trek, this is the only original I believe misses the mark completely. At its best, this feels more like Starship Troopers than Star Trek. At its worst, it feels like a generic SyFy channel film.

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

6. Short Treks

Short Treks is a companion piece to Star Trek: Discovery that released 10 episodes over two seasons from 2018 to 2020. Short Treks episodes range from 10 to 15 minutes and feature characters and settings from across the Star Trek universe, although many of them focused on the crew of Discovery.

The shorts were a nice complementary piece but didn’t really do much else. They were enjoyable, for the most part, and featured excellent music from Michael Giacchino. COVID-19 pandemic restrictions led to producers shutting down the series and shifting their focus to the series they already had going.

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

5. Discovery

The very first series launched on Paramount Plus, Discovery has its strengths and its weaknesses. Running for five seasons between 2017 and 2024, the first season had the common struggles of a new show in a long-running franchise trying to properly honor its predecessors while forging its own path. It found its own when reaching the Mirror Universe.

The second season brought in Spock and Pike and served as a backstory for another Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds. At the end of season two, the crew jumped ahead in time which allowed it to remove itself from the constraints of the already established timeline among Star Trek fans. Unfortunately, most of the remaining three seasons felt very uneven as many episodes just didn’t pack the necessary punch like previous, and some, future Star Trek series.

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

4. Prodigy

The second of two animated Star Trek series to premiere on Paramount Plus, Prodigy was aimed at a younger demographic. After two months on the streaming service, Paramount decided to air the first season on Nickelodeon to grow its audience. The series followed a group of kids who escape a prison colony by accidentally launching a starship into space. They are guided by a hologram of Admiral Janeway.

The series featured numerous cameos and guest appearances, primarily from the stars of Voyager. While a perfectly fine show for children, Prodigy failed to appeal to a wider audience. Paramount canceled the series after one season despite having already started work on the second season. Paramount shopped the second season around and it would air on Netflix.

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

3. Lower Decks

FROM ONE ANIMATED STAR TREK SERIES TO THE OTHER, LOWER DECKS was pitched as Rick and Morty in space. And while it definitely falls in that same vein at times, it blossomed into one of the best shows on the streaming service. The series follows a group of ensigns who work on the lower decks of the Federation ship, Cerritos.

Over time, the four ensigns grow and learn and become valuable members of the crew while also developing more as characters outside their roles on the ship. This seemed like the least likely series to capture the heart of Star Trek, yet IT somehow managed to do it. It even found a way for two of its characters to crossover into live action.

Credit: Paramount+

2. Picard

This series serves as a shining example of what can happen if you let talented people do what they do best and get out of their way. The first season of Picard was disappointing, at best. It had its moments, and looked like a masterpiece compared to the first season of Discovery which preceded it, but it was still not very strong. The second season built on the story and made some improvements, but it was still a bit lacking.

However, the third season delivered in ways that didn’t seem possible midway through season one. Many members of The Next Generation crew gathered together and they added new, important characters while building upon Picard’s previously established relationship with Seven of Nine and Raffi in the first two seasons of the show. If the first two seasons were as strong as season three, PICARD would be the clear winner, but the weaker early season dropped it to number two.

Joe Pugliese/Paramount+

1. Strange New Worlds

The series that serves as a prequel of sorts to The Original Series has delivered the most consistent Star Trek content through two seasons. The series follows the crew of the Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike and First Officer Spock. Both were introduced in season two of Discovery which served as more than a backdoor pilot for Strange New Worlds; it essentially served as a backdoor first season.

Strange New Worlds helps fill in the gap between Enterprise and The Original Series and helps viewers understand more about what made Pike tick. Given he was the main character of an unaired pilot in the 1960s and appeared in one episode of The Original Series, it makes sense to show what he was like in action. Plus, Strange New Worlds managed to crossover with Lower Decks when it introduced live action versions of Ensigns Boimler and Mariner. Strange New Worlds is some of the best Star Trek we’ve gotten in the 21st century.

Credit: Paramount+