Star Trek legend calls his Strange New Worlds season 3 murder-mystery “the best episode of television I’ve ever done"

Star Trek actor and director Jonathan Frakes has some high praise for Strange New Worlds season 3.

"[It's] the best episode of television I’ve ever done," Frakes told Variety, referring to a Hollywood murder-mystery episode he directed. The actor-director starred as Captain William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation and began directing episodes during the show's third season. He went on to helm Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and episodes of almost every subsequent live-action Star Trek TV show including Voyager, Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds.

Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise as they embark on intergalactic adventures that take place in the 23rd century. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and Ugly Betty writer Henry Alonso Myers serve as showrunners. The cast includes Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, and Rebecca Romijn.

The series premiered in on Paramount Plus, the home for all things Star Trek, in 2022 and became the most-watched original Star Trek series on the network. Season 2 was greenlit in January 2022 and aired in June 2023. Season 3 was announced in March of last year, but production was delayed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 does not yet have a release date, but is expected to hit Paramount Plus sometime in 2025. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond.

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