Sci Fi TV Flashback: Star Trek Voyager (1995)

Sci Fi TV Flashback: Looking back at notable sci fi and fantasy television entries from years past.

What Is It? The USS Voyager heads to a section of the galaxy referred to as the “Badlands” in search of members of the rebel group known as the Maquis.  Together, the starfleet officers and the Maquis are hurled across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant (70,000 light years from Earth), and they must learn to work side-by-side if they have any hope of ever returning home.

Aired: UPN, 1995-2001, 7 Seasons Totaling 172 Episodes

Starring: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Lien, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan

Created By: Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor

Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi? It is worth watching some of the better episodes, but diminishing returns set in quickly from there.

The Skinny: Starting in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation had revived the Trek franchise and charted a bold new path for sci fi television away from the broadcast networks (more on that at this link). It was followed by the successful spin-off Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and in the mid-90s Paramount wanted to launch a new broadcast network and decided that another Trek spin-off should be one of its flagship shows. Star Trek: Voyager was designed as a return to the spirit of the original series, with the characters far off in the galaxy exploring new worlds. It also added the twist that the rebellious Maquis would be part of this crew and that the ship would be lost in deep space with no ability to contact the Federation. Early on, this seemed like a great new direction for a Trek show, but unfortunately it never fully explored its original premise.

The show offered a decent spin on the Trek theme and the opportunity for some good dramatic conflict, but it avoided that more often than not and ended up quickly settling into a planet-of-the-week formula (Hollywood Reporter has an interesting look at how the show derailed at this link).  Most episodes were a derivation and/or combination of the following: aliens come aboard the Voyager and something goes wrong, someone gets in a shuttle and something goes wrong, someone goes into the holodeck and something goes wrong, the Voyager is shown at the beginning of the episode nearly destroyed but by the end of the hour is good as new again.  Those first three plots were pretty well mined by the show’s predecessors, and Voyager episodes often felt like retreads of what had come before.

Still, the show did deliver its share of stand-out episodes as well as some iconic Trek characters. Kate Mulgrew was the first female captain to lead a series in the franchise and she proved up to the task by delivering a strong performance that helped carry the show through its seven seasons. Other important characters introduced in the show included Seven of Nine (Jerry Ryan), the Doctor (Robert Picardo), Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Neelix (Ethan Phillips), and more. Even though they weren’t always given the best material to work with, the actors helped carry the show and made a lasting impression on the franchise. Diehard fans will consider the show a classic, but it is often over-shadowed by the original series and other entries in the franchise. However, across its seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager did accomplish enough to establish itself as an important Trek entry.

Cancelled Too Soon? No. This was the third of three spin-offs to run seven seasons and wrap up its storylines in its final year after producing a notable 172 episodes, counting it in the Top 20 longest-running sci fi/fantasy shows of all time.

Should It Be Rebooted? There have been talks of exploring both TNG and DS9 in the Kelvin timeline, and if that happened then Voyager might be part of the conversation as well. Seven of Nine has been a regular on the Star Trek: Picard series and Kate Mulgrew has reprised a holographic version of Janeway on Star Trek: Prodigy. And perhaps at some point, Paramount+ will put together a movie or mini-series bringing the crew of the Voyager back together.

Interesting Fact: This was the second Star Trek series in which Michelle Forbes turned down the chance to continue in the role of Ensign Ro who first appeared on TNG. She was asked to join the cast of DS9 but said no because she wanted to pursue a career in film. The producers then created the character Major Kira Nerys (played memorably by Nana Visitor) as the lead Bajoran officer aboard the station. The Ro character then departed from TNG in Season 7 when she found her loyalties divided and ultimately decided to join up with the dissident Maquis who were fighting against the Bajoran’s sworn enemies the Cardassians. Star Trek: Voyager would have picked up where TNG left off with Ro, and she would have been part of the Maquis group that eventually joined up with the crew of the Voyager after getting flung to the far side of the galaxy. But when Forbes again turned down the offer to reprise the role of Ro, the producers created the half-Klingon character named B’Elanna Torres (played by Roxann Dawson).

Where Can You Watch It?: The entire series has been released on DVD, though it has not received the Blu-ray treatment yet. As far as streaming, this one is exclusive to Paramount+ like the other Trek shows. It does show up in syndication on some channels, but otherwise you will have to pony up the subscription fee to Paramount’s streaming service to watch it on demand.

Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com.

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