Television series

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Name: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 2022
Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Christina Chong, Melissa Navia

A crew of already-beloved side characters gets the ensemble adventure they deserve, a decade before Kirk takes the chair. Bright, funny, occasionally devastating, it's the most classically 'Star Trek' Trek in years — a new planet and a new moral puzzle most weeks, told with real visual swagger and a cast having a blast. Perfect for anyone who wants exploration without homework.

TVMaze rating

7.8

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The show Strange New Worlds is quietly rebuilding brick by brick — same optimism, same problem-of-the-week structure, same idea that curiosity is a virtue worth defending.

But Early seasons are rough, cheap-looking, and slower than modern TV; it takes real patience to reach the good stuff.

The Orville2017

Seth MacFarlane's love letter to old Trek plays it disarmingly straight — earnest crew drama and big ideas hiding under a jokey premise.

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For when you want the same universe but with consequences that stick — serialized politics, war, and faith instead of a clean reset each week.

But Slow-burn structure and a static space station setting demand more commitment than episodic adventuring.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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This is the direct ancestor of Strange New Worlds' entire format — an anthology crew moving from place to place, solving human problems dressed as adventure.

The actual show Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek as — 'Wagon Train to the stars' — a wandering ensemble facing a new moral dilemma at every stop on the trail.

But It's a black-and-white 1950s Western with the pacing and production values of its era; no aliens, no ships, just horses and hard choices.

Firefly2002

A scrappier, more lived-in found-family crew bouncing between worlds, with the same warmth and banter but grubbier ships and higher stakes.

But It was cancelled after one season, so you get a great ride with no proper ending.

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J.J. Abrams' reboot gives you the young Kirk-era crew with blockbuster polish and real affection for the source material.

But Lens flares and franchise-reset mechanics can feel more like a theme park ride than proper Trek.

Stargate SG·11997

Another team, another new world every week, another moral snarl to untangle — comfort-food sci-fi with a genuinely huge, satisfying mythology underneath.

But Ten seasons is a lot, the effects date badly early on, and the tone is broader and cheesier.

The Expanse2015

If you want the wonder of space travel with the safety rails off — grounded physics, brutal politics, and consequences that actually land.

But Dense, slow-building, and far less hopeful; this is Trek's cynical cousin, not its sibling.

Doctor Who2005

Different show, same appetite — a hero who solves problems with curiosity rather than force, and a new time and place every episode.

But Wildly inconsistent in tone and quality across eras, and the fandom baggage can be intimidating.

Farscape1999

Weirder, stranger, and far less polished — a lost astronaut thrown among genuinely alien allies, with puppetry instead of prosthetics.

But Low budget, dated effects, and a sillier tone than Strange New Worlds ever risks.

Cowboy Bebop1998

Same bones — episodic missions, found-family banter, a ship as home — but bent into noir and tragedy instead of hope, proving the format can carry real grief.

A ragtag crew drifting between star systems, cracking jokes one episode and breaking your heart the next, scored by some of the best jazz ever put to animation.

But It's anime, subtitled or dubbed, and the melancholy undertow runs much deeper and sadder than anything in Strange New Worlds.

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Both ask what happens when humans meet the truly alien — one answers with curiosity and camaraderie, the other with isolation and unbearable strangeness.

Tarkovsky's glacial, hypnotic film about a space station encountering something it cannot understand — pure philosophical dread where Strange New Worlds gives you wonder.

But Nearly three hours long, almost no action, and deliberately, punishingly slow; this is the opposite of comfort viewing.