Paramount+’s First Star Trek Show That Kicked Off A New Era Always Had The Wrong Title

Star Trek: Discovery kicked off a new era of the final frontier, but Paramount+’s inaugural Star Trek series was always hampered by a title that was, essentially, a misnomer. Premiering in 2017, Star Trek: Discovery was created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, although Fuller left over creative differences, and Discovery changed significantly from his original concept.

Ending in 2024, Star Trek: Discovery ran for five seasons and ushered in a renaissance of eclectic Star Trek shows executive produced by Alex Kurtzman. During its run, Discovery was the acknowledged flagship of Star Trek on Paramount+. Disco spawned two direct spinoffs: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Discovery was also the first Star Trek series that was set in the brand-new 32nd century era — after Disco also did the unprecedented and left its original 23rd century setting to blaze Star Trek‘s farthest point in the future. Yet, Star Trek: Discovery also had missteps that alienated fans from the get-go, including its still-controversial redesign of the Klingons.

However, part of the underlying issue with Star Trek: Discovery since its inception lies in the show’s title.

Star Trek: Discovery Always Had The Wrong Title

Star Trek: Discovery was named for its eponymous starship, the USS Discovery. Yet the title “Star Trek: Discovery” promised something the series rarely delivered. In short, the USS Discovery didn’t discover much. From its introduction, the USS Discovery, built as a science vessel, was repurposed by Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Issacs) to fight in the Klingon War of 2256-2257.

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Star Trek: Discovery‘s title implies ‘seeking out new life and new civilizations,’ but that’s not what Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) starship did. From season 1 onward, the USS Discovery was a crisis response ship. Burnham and Discovery were called upon to defeat every dire threat facing the United Federation of Planets, which only became more pronounced in later seasons.

While the crew of the USS Discovery was a murderer’s row of geniuses, brilliant scientists, and ingenious engineers, most fans agree that Star Trek: Discovery‘s characters were largely underdeveloped. Rather, every emergency was filtered and seen through the eyes of Michael Burnham, its series lead. Burnham’s continual self-discovery became what Star Trek: Discovery‘s title referred to.

Before his exit, Bryan Fuller conceived Star Trek: Discovery as an anthology, with a new ship, crew, and era in every season. In that lens, the title “Star Trek: Discovery” makes more sense. While Star Trek: Discovery had many detractors, and some grievances were indeed legitimate constructive criticism, even to the fans who loved and appreciated the show, the title always held an unfulfilled promise.

Star Trek: Discovery Will Be Better Appreciated In Time

Star Trek: Discovery‘s impact and importance to Star Trek is undeniable. Contrary to its haters and attempts at revisionist history, Star Trek: Discovery was a success; if it weren’t, no other Star Trek series would have followed. Discovery‘s legions of supporters are, unfortunately, often drowned out by louder detractors. Yet Star Trek: Discovery launched the CBS All-Access streaming service, and was an anchor of Paramount+ after its rebranding.

History has proven that nearly every new Star Trek series, starting with (it’s hard to believe today) Star Trek: The Next Generation, is met with hatred by a segment of fandom for somehow not reflecting their idea of what Star Trek is ‘supposed to be.’ It took a few years for TNG to be seen as legitimate, and then great. Today, it’s inconceivable not to regard TNG as one of the greatest sci-fi series ever.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager followed a trajectory of not being fully appreciated during their original runs. DS9 and Voyager have been reassessed thanks to fans being able to binge them on streaming, and now they are widely beloved. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this 180 is the prequel, Star Trek: Enterprise, which is now regarded as sacrosanct Star Trek.

Time is bound to be as kind to Star Trek: Discovery. The series’ bold and progressive vision of an inclusive future with representation for people of color and the LGBTQ+ community may be at odds with our current, regressive culture, but that will change. Just as Discovery’s Star Trek predecessors were seen in a new light, Disco will shine brighter as a symbol of the hopeful future it espouses.

Maybe, in that shiny future where Star Trek: Discovery takes its place in the pantheon of near-universally beloved Star Trek, its title will even make sense.