Star Trek: 10 Things You Never Knew About Enterprise

4. Starfleet Academy Was Never On The Cards

Star Trek Starfleet Academy
CBS Media Ventures

For nearly 40 years, there have been rumours of a Starfleet Academy television series. This goes back to Harve Bennett's time as a producer on the series.

At one point, there was a proposed spin-off while the Original Series films were still in production. Then, a draft of the script of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country featured flashbacks to the Academy, with Bennett confirming preliminary offers had been sent to Ethan Hawke to appear as Kirk and John Cusack to appear as Spock.

This version of the script came to nothing and actually led to Bennett's departure from Paramount. However the idea of a prequel never truly went away. It would be revisited in J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek film, though the similarities between Bennett's version and his own were purely surface level.

Berman and Braga however categorically denied that their prequel would have anything to do with this idea, even though Bennett was still trying to get his story made. In the case of one prequel beating out another, Enterprise got the green light and the Academy series was put on the shelf.

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"