Star Trek’s New Release Is As Bad As The Star Wars Holiday Special, Says Polling
The Star Wars Holiday Special has been the standard for bad franchise mistakes since the 80s, but now Star Trek may have topped it.
Star Trek’s animated venture, Very Short Treks, has tied with the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in a recent fan poll, labeling them the worst franchise offshoots ever. That’s right; the once venerable Star Trek has managed to boldly go where only Star Wars has gone before: the realm of absolute fan disappointment.
Star Trek’s Very Short Treks was supposed to be a quirky yet ambitious side project. Intending to bring in new viewers while giving the die-hards some extra lore, it uses the animation style of Star Trek: The Animated Series to create comedic bits around three minutes long each.
So far, Very Short Treks has only released three shorts, and yet, those are so bad fans are already ready to write it off as one of the worst things of all time. Very Short Treks tied with the Star Wars Holiday Special when fans were asked on X to vote for which was worse.
What was meant to be a fun gateway for new fans has become a black hole of hate. Complaints about Very Short Treks have ranged from pre-school level humor to jarring and disgusting visuals that seem incongruent with the storied history of the Star Trek universe.
“It feels like something, made by people who hate Star Trek, to make fun of Star Trek on Saturday Night Live’s TV Funhouse,” summed up one fan.
If you haven’t seen Very Short Treks yet, and want to, Very Short Treks can be watched here.
Now, let’s juxtapose this with the Star Wars Holiday Special, the legendary TV spectacle that became a low point in the epic saga. Aired in 1978, this special was panned for its bizarre sequences and jarring musical numbers. It’s a narrative mess that feels like someone put a Wookiee, a variety show, and a dash of acid into a blender.
George Lucas himself famously despised the project, wishing he could “track down every copy and smash it.” But let’s not forget, despite its flaws, the special also gave us the first appearance of Boba Fett, proving that sometimes, even the worst mistakes can give birth to something iconic.
At some point, let’s hope someone involved with Star Trek steps up and does their own George Lucas mea culpa to admit this whole thing was a big, big mistake.
The fact that Very Short Treks is now tied with this Star Wars debacle in the annals of fan-inflicted shame is telling. It highlights a significant issue in the franchise universe: the constant tug-of-war between people who actually care about Trek and people who are just out to make a buck.
Very Short Treks is so bad it’s hard to imagine what Paramount was thinking. Humor is subjective, but there’s nothing subjective about how bad Very Short Treks is.
