Andy Weir takes some phaser shots at modern Star Trek: "Those shows are shit"

To be fair, the Martian author—who was actually staking out the more moderate position from host Will Jordan, who, at the risk of being reductive, is the kind of guy who goes on Piers Morgan Uncensored to make broad complaints about “identity politics”—made it clear that he didn’t hate all of the Paramount+ Trek shows, giving the nod to Strange New Worlds, and acknowledging that Star Trek: Lower Decks was “entertaining and fun.” But when it came to Discovery, Picard, and the recently ended Starfleet Academy, Weir was far blunter, laying out the “shit” opinion, and making the claim that all modern science fiction is influenced by the Gene Roddenberry Star Trek except modern Trek.

Admittedly, it’s possible Weir just knows there isn’t a bridge here left for him to burn by making public statements like this (for all that it might give the PR team attached to his current film project a headache): He notes in the interview that he actually pitched the current crop of Star Trek showrunners on a show of his own, only to have the pitch be shot down. (“So, y’know, fuck ’em,” he adds as a joke.) The best Weir will grant is that recent Trek architect Alex Kurtzman is “a really nice guy” on a personal level—which didn’t stop him from cheerfully celebrating the recently announced ending of Starfleet Academy with Jordan just the same.