Fans got quite the treat when Star Trek: Picard debuted on CBS All Access toward the end of January. It had been 18 years since Trekkies had last seen Jean-Luc Picard on screen (in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis) and way longer since Picard and his portrayer, Patrick Stewart, had been on television on a weekly basis. We now had one of our long wished-for dreams come true, which was to finally be able to catch up with one of the greatest captains we'd ever seen in the Star Trek franchise. Now that the first season of his new adventure is over, though, audiences are already wondering just how many seasons of Picard we could get.
Star Trek fans are pretty used to our shows lasting for a good long while. With the exception of The Original Series (which was cut down in its prime after three seasons) and Enterprise (which only made it through four seasons), the three other classic shows in the franchise each lasted for seven seasons. While the possibility is there for Picard to have a really long run, what are the actual chances that we could see the series run as long as some of its predecessors?
Star Trek: Picard executive producer, writer and director Akiva Goldsman spoke to Collider recently, and revealed both their potential plans for the future and one thing that the longevity of the show relies on:
I mean, I think we have discussed it as both a 3 season show, a 5 season show, a “let’s just keep going forever” show… But we certainly… Star Trek: Picard in my view will go as long as Patrick Stewart wants to do it… As I’m sure you know, he was not interested in coming back. And we did a lot of… really good collaborative story breaking and talking and you know and I think he’s particularly delighted in a good way about having come back. And we will rely on that good will until he feels he’s done.
Oooh. While three seasons seem like it might be a bit short to fully satisfy fans' desire for as much Jean-Luc Picard / Patrick Stewart as possible, at least it's good to hear that Akiva Goldsman and everyone else behind the show are willing to be as flexible as possible with the run of Star Trek: Picard. Of course, there is one big factor at play when it comes to having more than just two seasons of Picard, and that (no shocker here) is the man who brings the character to life.
As Goldsman noted, Patrick Stewart wasn't really sold on the idea of starring in a new show about one of his best known characters at first. While Stewart has now said that he's been "thrilled to continue" Picard's journey, he did have some very specific requirements set before stepping back into the part. Aside from not wanting to wear that classic Starfleet uniform again, Stewart also needed to make sure that this new series would be able to reflect the new world we live in (in some way) so that it wouldn't tread the same ground as The Next Generation or any of the movies he made as the character.
Luckily for us, Patrick Stewart got his wish, and Star Trek: Picard was born. Now all we have to do is wait and see how many seasons the legend is willing to do, because it sounds like Akiva Goldsman and others behind the series are set to keep going as long as Stewart does.
The complete first season of Star Trek: Picard is streaming on CBS All Access, and Season 2 will be along at some point in the, hopefully, not to distant future. For more on what to watch until then, check out our 2020 Netflix guide and see what joys summer TV will bring in a few weeks!
