Star Trek has had an extraordinary run. The franchise turns 60 in 2026, and it still has new episodes arriving, with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy having debuted earlier this year and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds currently airing Season 4. There are also 13 theatrical movies, multiple animated series, and decades of novels, games, comics, and other expanded material behind it. That kind of longevity makes Star Trek difficult to compete with, and I understand why people consider it the gold standard.

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