With no new Star Trek series currently streaming, fans are left waiting for other upcoming Trek shows down the road. It goes without saying that Starfleet Academy is one of the most hotly anticipated, and all-star castings like Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter have only made the wait more unbearable. Now, I'm even more excited for its premiere after hearing an editor for the show speak about how its dialogue compares to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Jon Dudkowski, who has worked in the editing room on both aforementioned shows, recently spoke to Bleeding Cool about his work on Starfleet Academy and how it compares to Buffy in one specific way. It sounds like the young cast will sound a lot like the "Scooby Gang" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on his comments:
The new series I'm working on 'Starfleet Academy,' it has some great comedic moments. The young cadets and their energy. It's got a little bit of that 'Buffy' banter and fun where every week something insane is happening, and they're looking at each other and going, 'Is this happening?! Did you see what just happened down the hallway?! Oh, my God!' It's funny, and I enjoy that.
As someone deeply entrenched within the Star Trek fandom, I can already hear the grumblings of some that the show might be playing fast and loose with the more traditional dialogue found throughout the series.
Let's remember, though, that Starfleet has a cast of young actors who will be playing cadets working to get into Starfleet. As such, they will be wide-eyed and essentially experiencing the wonders of the greater universe for the first time, so I can imagine their reactions and conversations won't be quite as polished as the seasoned Starfleet members.
I would also point out that Star Trek: Lower Decks featured a ton of dialogue that was more casual and less in line with traditional Trek, so switching things up isn't without precedent. We've reported on internal belief at Paramount that Trek needs to pull in younger fans, so freshening up the scripts with more comedy and witty banter could be a big way of doing that.
Let's also remember that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was praised for its dialogue in its time, so this is a massive compliment from Jon Dudkowski. If Starfleet Academy has a legacy half as iconic as the vampire series, I think it'll be safe to say it was a huge success.
Starfleet Academy looks primed to try and serve both a new and veteran audience, propping up its new cast with legacy actors from previous shows. The series will also be set during the 32nd century, which was only briefly touched on by the recently concluded series, Star Trek: Discovery. It creates a setting that puts both sets of fans on as equal ground as possible, which I think will make the series more enjoyable all around.
We're still waiting on a trailer and an official release date for Starfleet Academy, but we do know that production on Season 1 recently wrapped. The post-production process on Star Trek shows can be lengthy, but I would imagine we should have an update on when it will premiere by the end of this year.
Until Starfleet Academy arrives, we'll also be waiting for updates on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, which should premiere sometime this year. In the meantime, you can stream various Trek shows with a Paramount+ subscription, and you can be ready to make the Buffy comparisons yourself by streaming the show with a Hulu subscription as we learn more about Starfleet's release.
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