Star Trek: Discovery ending with season 5 is a surprise move that will have a ripple effect on the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+. On March 2, 2023, the announcement came that Discovery's upcoming fifth season will be its last, with heartfelt statements made by executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise, series lead and producer Sonequa Martin-Green, who portrays Captain Michael Burnham, Paramount chief programming officer Tanya Giles, and David Stapf of CBS Studios all praising the success of Discovery.
Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman are credited with creating Star Trek: Discovery, which has undergone behind-the-scenes changes and creative revamps since it launched on the CBS All-Access streaming service in 2017. Originally a prequel series set before Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery jumped 930 years into the future of Star Trek's canonical timeline at the end of season 2. Discovery was not met with overwhelming love from hardcore Star Trek fandom since its inception, but it endured and found its creative footing. Discovery's success became the cornerstone of Star Trek's expansion into an entire universe of new series streaming on Paramount+, which includes Star Trek: Picard, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, and its direct spinoff, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
