My Summer Lair Chapter #347: Would You Join Starfleet Academy?
This Tuvix unique My Summer Lair episode will be a different type of…Enterprise.
I recorded it live at the TIFF Lightbox in downtown Toronto for the Paramount+ premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Before heading into Cinema 1 for the screening and cast Q&A, I beamed down to the “blue carpet” (instead of a red carpet) to meet the newest class of Starfleet recruits and one legendary franchise veteran.
As the 12th series in the Star Trek universe—arriving during Star Trek’s 60th anniversary in 2026—Starfleet Academy follows a new generation of cadets. The TV Guide description: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself. (The Federation is always in peril.)
A Starfleet Academy pitch has been floating around for years and years….a notable highlight of this incarnation is the class is a ship. The USS Athena, an Academy-class vessel so that’s a positive twist. The kids aren’t locked in on a Federation campus in San Francisco.
On the blue carpet, I challenged the eager cadets—Karim Diané, George Hawkins, Zoë Steiner, and Dale Whibley—are your new characters a rule follower or rule breaker?
A breakdown of their fresh characters:
Karim Diané – Cadet Jay-Den Kraag
George Hawkins – Cadet Darem Reymi
Zoë Steiner – Cadet Tarima Sadal
Dale Whibley – Cadet Kyle Djokovic
And you know…Robert Picardo – The Doctor from the most excellent Star Trek: Voyager.
Robert Picardo, returns as The Doctor similar to Worf, as a classic bridge character in Deep Space Nine. Now nearly 900 years old, The Doctor carries a fascinating burden of longevity. I asked Robert about that emotional strain—a dark weight we often see in Doctor Who with Matt Smith and David Tennant—and how it feels for a hologram to carry nine centuries of memory.
Finally, I circle back to discuss the Starfleet Academy’s core values: Duty, Honor, and Service.
In this My Summer Lair episode the cast and I get into:
- The Next Generation: George plays a new species and while Karim plays a classic species: a Klingon. That’s classic Trek…a brand new species and an old fashioned species.
- 900 Years of Medicine: And of course before he was The Doctor, Robert Picardo molded young minds as Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years. In Starfleet Academy…are we getting any space-age Coach Cutlip energy with these cadets?
- The Core Values: How do Duty, Honor, and Service differ from other fictional TV schools like say…Degrassi. Hah.
Personally? I wouldn’t join the Starfleet Academy. The Borg are out there, and that’s a firm “hell no” from me. I’ll stay safely behind the mic.
A hearty Starfleet Medal of Commendation goes to to John Leschinski (Video) and Stephanie Cole (Film Editor) for making sure I don’t look like a lowly Ensign.
Starfleet Academy @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 6:00 pm (EST) at The TIFF Lightbox
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