# Starfleet Academy

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Starfleet Academy and 16 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised for competent characters, resolved plotlines and an identity of its own, though critics call it not real Star Trek with weak writing and plot holes.

## Why people recommend it

- Competent officers and solid characters (2 comments): "Academy nailed it . The characters, the conclusion, the resolution to different subplot threads, all extremely solid." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47395406)) "I am not positive I can think of a spot where the officers in the show were anything but incredibly competent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47395564))

## What people warn about

- Not feeling like real Star Trek (4 comments): "Starfleet Academy seemed to be heading away from the original focus on science fiction ideas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48367336)) "What "Star Trek Academy" that Paramount just put out did to the Star Trek franchise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46664532)) "We tried to watch Starfleet Academy but... why are they even calling it Star Trek." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47022529))
- Poor writing and plot holes (3 comments): "Yeah it was flawed and had a lot of lazy tropes. But it had an identity to it and some substance to it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50298283)) "The rest of Academy is one incomprehensible plot hole after another" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47395491)) "The show sucks, its set design and writing are trash" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47395370))
- Harshly called terrible or slop (4 comments): "both Discovery and Academy were horrendous and I regret the time spent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297479)) "literally everything about that god awful academy one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49656866)) "Starfleet Academy was almost unspeakably terrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49705012))
- Woke or ideological tone (2 comments): "Starfleet Academy is some woke fever dream that never should have been funded" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47731740)) "Starfleet Academy is some woke fever dream" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47732113))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Halt and Catch Fire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/halt-and-catch-fire.md): 166 recommend
- [Babylon 5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/babylon-5.md): 86 recommend
- [Silicon Valley (TV series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silicon-valley.md): 52 recommend
- [Andor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/andor.md): 52 recommend
- [The Wire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wire.md): 39 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Starfleet Academy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-starfleet-academy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).