Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Isn’t A TOS Throwback - It’s The New TNG

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds might resemble The Original Series on the outside, but it's Star Trek: The Next Generation under the hood. Though Star Trek: Discovery began as a prequel to Gene Roddenberry's 1960s TV series, Michael Burnham has since found her niche in the far future, leaving a 23rd century gap that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds happily fills. Set aboard the USS Enterprise while Christopher Pike is captain, Spock, Uhura and Nurse Chapel have all joined the fun already, while a brand new James T. Kirk stands by for season 2.

Due to the era, the Enterprise, and the roster of classic characters, comparisons between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series were inevitable — and not entirely unwarranted. After the serialized format of Star Trek: Picard, Pike's adventures return to episodic storytelling, copying how Kirk's Enterprise encountered a different calamity every week. And whereas modern Star Trek has turned sharply into darker territory (F-bombs! Whatever next?!) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds enjoys a buccaneering levity reminiscent of The Original Series. Strange New Worlds and TOS obviously share traits in common, but Pike's Star Trek spinoff is actually much closer to The Next Generation in its tone, direction and themes.

Related: Strange New Worlds Already Fixed Star Trek's Biggest Pike Problem

For starters, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is very much an ensemble TV show. The central triangle of Kirk, Spock and McCoy aside, Star Trek: The Original Series notoriously underused its supporting cast. The likes of Sulu, Uhura and Scotty held specific roles and rarely strayed beyond those narrative boundaries. When Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired, main crew