“It’s not like they’re writing the show and then having to come up with, ‘Oh, how to end this?’…This is a 40 episode story. So the ending… is very satisfying because it’s the end of a novel.”
–Statement by actor Ashley Zukerman, who plays Daniel Keene in the Silo television series, regarding the fourth and final season of the series coming out on July 9, 2027. If you missed the series, particularly season three, it is a show you need to watch. We talk about living in lava tubes on the Moon or Mars, but this show is about living in an underground silo for generations here on Earth after some pretty horrible terra-forming above. You can catch it on Apple TV.
This week we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, a simple science fiction story from 1966 that was first broadcast in Canada and barely lasted for three seasons. But from that tepid beginning arose an idea that led to multiple spin-off television series, movies, books, and more.
And it has been a hopeful show that took the dark edge off of science fiction. As creator Gene Roddenberry said back in 1985:
I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We’re still just a child creature, we’re still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We’re growing up, we’re moving into adolescence now. When we grow up – man, we’re going to be something!
Today we still have plenty of people attacking Star Trek for being too liberal or “woke” as they say using the word of the week, but the show was always that way.
Discussing battles with TV executives about women on the USS Enterprise, Mr. Roddenberry noted:
I had insisted on half women on board [the Enterprise]. The network came to me and said, ‘You can’t have half women. Our people say it will make it look like a ship with all sorts of mad sexual things going on — half men and half women.’ So we argued about it like a poker game and they finally said, ‘Okay. We’ll settle for one-third women.’ I figured one-third women could take care of the males anyway.
Star Trek moved forward before the rest of the country, but it saw a future that was slowly realized over time. And even if it seems we are going backwards at times, he understood that as well when he said:
I have nothing but admiration for this silly race of ours. Even with the Hitlers in it and so on. Sometimes it goes into ugliness, but, in all though, it is a beauty. It’s like a rose, which also has thorns. We’re something.
So let’s not get too depressed just because we seem to have a Ferengi in the White House. Think long term like Mr. Roddenberry, and move past the thorns.
If you are not in the mood this weekend to see The Dog Stars, the latest Ridley Scott film, remember we still have another Ridley Scott show coming later this year.
Blade Runner 2099, a new 8-episode series, premieres on Amazon Prime this November 25th. While Mr. Scott was not involved with this production, his view of the future continues to amaze and haunt us.
Set in Los Angeles 50 years after the last film, the new series includes plenty of humans and Replicants, but this time it is the Replicants who are on top. It is quite a twist in the story at a time when AI is everywhere and AI-related unemployment is a continual worry.
This trailer on Youtube shows you what to expect from the newseries.
Unfortunately, Harrison Ford will not be returning for this new series, but it still boasts a good number of well known talent, including Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Hunter Schafer (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Dimitri Abold (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), Matthew Needham (House of the Dragon), Maurizio Lombardi (Ripley), and others.
I want to walk into the future with my eyes wide open, so I am eager to watch the new series.
Update: As far as the role of AI in books, movies and television, I recommend a YouTube video by The Art of Storytelling titled “Sci-Fi Was Right About AI.” It touches on Blade Runner and Dune, as well as Star Trek, Star Wars, The Matrix, and many earlier works as well.
Image (Credit): Image from the TV series Star City. (Apple TV)
It has already been a pretty good year for television shows set in space, with the following series already premiering their first or new season since January:
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, first season, Paramount+, premiered on January 15, 2026
For All Mankind, fifth season, Apple TV, premiered on March 27, 2026
Star City, first season, Apple TV, premiered on May 29, 2026
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, fourth season, Paramount+, premiered on July 23, 2026
The Ark, third season, Syfy, premiered on July 29, 2026
So what else can we expect to see this year? Here is a list of other series that are due for their next season as well as a new series almost ready to go.
Blade Runner 2099, new series, Amazon Prime, premiering November 25, 2026 (see trailer)
3 Body Problem, second season, Netflix, premiering later this year
Dune: Prophecy, second season, HBO Max, premiering later this year
Alien: Earth, second season, FX on Hulu, premiering in 2027
Foundation, fourth season, Apple TV, premiering in 2027
Murderbot, second season, Apple TV, premiering in 2027
Pluribus, second season, Apple TV, premiering in late 2027 or 2028
As shown, we can expect three more sci-fi space series to premiere new seasons this year, with more to follow later. Eight new seasons in 2026 is an impressive number.
If you break down these 12 television series by the parties producing them, you have the following count:
Apple TV – 5 shows
Paramount+ – 2 shows
Amazon Prime – 1 show
FX – 1 show
HBO Max – 1 show
Netflix – 1 show
SyFy – 1 show
Kudos to Apple TV for backing so many of these space series over the years.
And stay tuned for the 2026 release dates for 3 Body Problem and Dune: Prophecy. The dates will be posted here as soon as they are known.
Update: One more show needs to be added to the list – Star Trek: Ahsoka. It is expected to return on January 20, 2027.
“I say that it’s not over, it’s never done, it’s never done. Because I always say the fans are the other half of what we do. So, I there’s a world for Ortegas that still exists, without giving anything away. She’s a character who I think was just a wonder to play. I’m so happy that they created the character in the first place. And as a pilot, as a maverick, as somebody who I have gotten to see has influenced so many younger fans, older fans, I keep saying it’s not over. There’s many places yet for Ortegas, and the world that she lives in to go.”
-Statement by Melissa Navia, who plays Lt. Erica Ortegas on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, during an interview with Trekmovie. Season four of the Paramount+ series premieres on July 23rd. Filming for season five was completed late last year, with this final season of the series expected to be broadcast in 2027.
