In the latest episode of “For All Mankind,” avid TV watcher and “The Bob Newhart Show” enthusiast Danielle Poole sends a video message to her son, who is about to have a baby. She mentions how excited she is to share her fandom with the baby: “I’m gonna make sure my grandbaby is a full-blown Trekkie. That’s right, we’re gonna watch all the series, all three of them.”
Of course, there’s a little problem: that doesn’t match the number of “Star Trek” shows by 2003. In our reality, there were already five shows by then: “Star Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.” So, at least two of those don’t exist in the world of “For All Mankind.” Except, the show’s changes to the “Star Trek” franchise go even deeper thanks to creator and executive producer Ronald D. Moore.
In the “For All Mankind” universe, the success of the space program means a much bigger interest in science fiction (as evidenced by the awards success of “Close Encounters”). That also extended to the first “Star Trek” show and its sequel.
You see, in an interview with Inverse, Moore said that in the show’s timeline, “Paramount does make the Phase II show in the mid-’70s. And then they transitioned into ‘Wrath of Khan’ and not ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture,’ because of the […] critically acclaimed run of Phase II, it’s a year later that ‘The Wrath of Khan’ comes out.”
If you’re worried about changes to the hugely popular movie, don’t worry. As Moore noted, it is still the same movie: “I love ‘The Wrath of Khan’ and I couldn’t bear to change that. So it’s the same thing.”