Star Trek at 60: An Essay on the Final Frontier

The essay explores why Star Trek continues to thrive 60 years later, arguing that its hopeful vision of the final frontier, devoted fanbase, creators, actors and enduring characters are what keep the franchise alive across generations.

Everyone seems to be asking the question, “Why is Star Trek still here after 60 years?” There are numerous answers, but the real reason showed up in my video feed on YouTube. There, just a few clicks from one another, were two features on the anniversary from national media outlets—one from CBS Saturday Morning and the other from right‑leaning news channel Newsmax. Both video packages were done well and didn’t show any political biases one way or the other. And that is why Star Trek endures. Its fanbase rivals that of any other franchise, and fans cross the spectrum much like the characters in the series and its successors. Set in the 23rd century and beyond, Star Trek gives us a vision of the future where none of the petty conflicts of today matter—because we get past them, unite, and set out to make our mark on the stars.

Even today’s modernized Star Trek series have that glimmer of hope at their core. While some of the writing may not level up to the classic or ’90s‑era shows, series like Picard, Prodigy and Lower Decks captured the spirit dead‑on. It’s also worth noting that despite all of the criticisms of current Star Trek, most fans don’t have an outlet to share how much we like the shows. And those who churn out videos and other negative content are doing it to fill their coffers. If you hate something so badly, would you really go back to it week after week?

It’s easy to watch Star Trek today. We’ve covered the special showings from MeTV and Pluto TV, both of which show Trek regularly. Most of the time, you can find every incarnation on Paramount Plus for a fee. But even with the availability as it stands, there’s something missing that fans experienced in the ’90s: appointment viewing. Looking forward to the 7 p.m. new episode of Voyager or the 10:35 p.m. airing of Deep Space Nine. And that, in part, makes watching the shows less front‑of‑mind. People take the approach that “it will always be there, so I’ll watch it later.” And then later never really comes, and people just move on.

During Picard’s third season, I was up at 1 or 2 in the morning eagerly anticipating that drop on Paramount Plus, just as I had been decades earlier trying to catch a Saturday‑morning satellite feed of Deep Space Nine. Why? Because I love these characters, their adventures, and their futuristic technology. There’s no profanity, they’re professionals working toward a common goal, and yes, the canon is important, too. To understand—really understand—Star Trek, you have to be a fan. Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, or ’90s Trek head Rick Berman may not be sci‑fi or Trek fans in the same way most are, but they are fans in that they get what makes Star Trek Star Trek: the people.

Whether it was the work of Gene Roddenberry or Shatner or Rick Berman or Patrick Stewart or Terry Farrell or Kate Mulgrew or Armin Shimerman or Jeri Ryan, it was ultimately you and me. From Bjo Trimble and those who launched the famous letter‑writing campaigns to keep Trek going in the ’60s, to those of us who still watch the shows and buy the books, comics, and other merch today, Star Trek only exists in 2026—60 years after its first episode glowed on the vacuum tubes of the day—because we want it to. And as far as continuing the trek for the next 60 years, from the strangest new world to the blackest reaches of the final frontier, that may be the boldest mission of them all.