So, you’re scrolling through Paramount+ or maybe dusting off those chunky silver DVD cases, and you’re wondering exactly how many series of Star Trek Voyager exist. It’s a fair question, especially since the word "series" means different things depending on where you live. If you’re in the UK, a "series" is what Americans call a "season." If you’re talking about the show as a whole, it’s one single show.
Let's cut to the chase. Star Trek: Voyager ran for exactly seven seasons. It didn't get a spin-off like Deep Space Nine did (conceptually) or a prequel like Enterprise. There is just the one primary show, but it’s a massive one. We’re talking 172 episodes total. That is a lot of coffee, black, for Captain Janeway. Honestly, it's impressive the show stayed so consistent given the chaotic 90s television landscape.
The Seven-Year Journey in the Delta Quadrant
When people ask about how many series of Star Trek Voyager were made, they’re usually looking for that magic number seven. This wasn't an accident. Back then, the "Berman Era" of Trek—named after executive producer Rick Berman—had a very specific rhythm. The Next Generation did seven seasons. Deep Space Nine did seven seasons. Voyager followed the pattern perfectly.
It launched in January 1995 on a brand-new network called UPN. It was actually the flagship show for the whole network. Talk about pressure.
The story is pretty straightforward but ambitious. The USS Voyager gets yanked 70,000 light-years away from home into the Delta Quadrant. The crew is a mix of straight-laced Starfleet officers and Maquis rebels. They have to work together or die.
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Season Breakdown and Episode Counts
Each season varies slightly in length, which can be confusing if you're trying to calculate a binge-watch.
- Season 1: This was the "short" one. Only 16 episodes. It felt like they were just finding their feet, dealing with the Kazon and trying to figure out if Neelix’s cooking was actually edible.
- Season 2: 26 episodes. This is where things got a bit weird—looking at you, "Threshold," where Janeway and Paris turn into lizards. We don't talk about that one.
- Season 3: 26 episodes. The show starts getting its edge here.
- Season 4: 26 episodes. This is the big turning point. Jeri Ryan joins the cast as Seven of Nine, and the Borg become a constant, terrifying presence.
- Season 5: 26 episodes.
- Season 6: 26 episodes.
- Season 7: 26 episodes. The final stretch that ends with "Endgame."
If you do the math, that’s 172 episodes. Some sources say 168 or 170. Why the discrepancy? It's basically because of the double-length episodes like the pilot "Caretaker" or the finale. Sometimes they are counted as one long movie; sometimes they are split into two parts for syndication.
Is There a "Series 2" or a Sequel?
Technically, no. There has never been a "Star Trek: Voyager Series 2." However, if you are a fan of the crew, the story didn't actually stop when they hit the Alpha Quadrant in 2001.
If you want more "series-like" content, you have to look at Star Trek: Prodigy. It’s an animated show, but Kate Mulgrew returns as a hologram version of Janeway (and eventually the real Admiral Janeway). It basically acts as a spiritual successor to Voyager. Robert Beltran even pops up as Chakotay.
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Then there's Star Trek: Picard. While it's not a Voyager series, Seven of Nine is a main character. Seeing her evolution from a Borg drone on Voyager to a Commander (and then Captain) on the Enterprise-G is basically the eighth season of character development fans never thought they'd get.
Why Seven Seasons Was the Magic Number
Honestly, seven seasons was the gold standard for 90s sci-fi. It was long enough to hit that "100 episodes" mark needed for syndication—which is where the real money was made—but not so long that the actors' contracts became prohibitively expensive.
Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor (the creators) wanted a show that felt like a marathon. The 70,000 light-year gap was designed to last. If the show had been canceled after four years, the ending would have felt rushed. By reaching seven, the journey felt earned.
The production was a beast. They used the same stages at Paramount that The Next Generation had used. They had to invent new aliens constantly because they were in a part of space where Klingons and Romulans didn't exist. That’s why we got the Vidiian "organ harvesters" and the Species 8472. It kept the "series" feeling fresh even when the "lost in space" trope got a little tired.
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Getting Started With Your Watch
If you’re diving in for the first time, don't get hung up on the "how many series" thing. Just start at the beginning.
- Watch "Caretaker" (Season 1): It sets the whole thing up.
- Push through Season 2: It has some low points, but "Deadlock" is a top-tier Trek episode.
- Wait for Season 4: That’s when the show really hits its stride with the "Year of Hell" two-parter.
Basically, you have 172 hours of television ahead of you. It’s a lot, but for a show about a family lost in the stars, it's worth every minute.
To get the most out of your watch, keep a lookout for the recurring guest stars like Dwight Schultz (Reginald Barclay) who starts showing up more in the later seasons to help the ship get home. You can find all seven seasons streaming on Paramount+ right now, or if you're old school, the DVD box sets are still widely available and actually include some great "making-of" featurettes that explain why certain creative choices were made during the seven-year run.
Check the episode guides if you want to skip the "filler" episodes, but honestly, even the bad episodes of Voyager have a certain 90s charm that’s hard to find in modern, serialized TV.