‘Star Trek’ Through The Ages: The Condensing Of Serialized Storytelling

There’s no doubt that storytelling for television has shifted through the ages as the format evolved. The kinds of stories that were told during its early days are very different from what is being told today in the era of streaming. Different formats require different styles, and so it helps to analyze shows being released today as opposed to decades ago. It’s doubly helpful when looking at changes within the same franchise. And there are few franchises that have such a long-lasting record of this change than Star Trek.

The 1960s original series (now known as TOS within the Trek community) starring William Shatner had a very particular episodic format. Each was more or less standalone; a brand-new adventure for the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. This led viewers to watch episodes out of order and at their leisure since television watching was still a realtively new phenomenon. So there were practically no continuing storylines.

As television evolved through the decades, the distribution model more or less remained the same, but the storytelling grew more sophisticated as audiences became accustomed to tune in every week and follow the journey of these characters in a plot that has as many ups and downs as a roller coaster. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, starring Avery Brooks, is a great example of this as the show had long running story threads throughout its tenure.

Star Trek changed rapidly in the era of streaming with the Sonequa Martin-Green-led Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (with Anson Mount as Enterprise captain Christopher Pike). Rather than air seasons that were twenty-plus episodes long, the episode counts were shortened drastically. Also, without the need for television breaks, each installment more jam-packed and had longer run times. These seasons are much more intense experiences, lacking a lot of the filler that existed in past Trek shows.

Looking at these trends, it’s clear to see that the sophistication and intensity of the storytelling evolved over time. There were no long-running arcs in the beginning, and their introduction happened slowly and over time. Then, with the advent of more powerful special effects and streaming, these arcs condensed into shorter seasons and swifter pacing. From an academic standpoint, writers can analyze Star Trek as an example of just how stories adapt to the evolution of the medium containing them.

Star Trek is now streaming on Paramount+.