Entertainment
Starfleet Academy Is Destroying One Of Star Trek's Most Beloved, Classic Characters
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When casting for Starfleet Academy was first announced, fans were shocked and delighted by the return of Robert Picardo. His holographic Doctor was a fan-favorite character on Star Trek: Voyager, and his presence on the new show has been mostly awesome. However, the writers surprisingly tweaked this comedic character by making him a tragic figure who is occasionally overcome by grief at the thought of the friends and even family he has lost over the years.
The episode “Life of the Stars” healed that pain in the most unexpected way: holographic cadet SAM starts glitching out because she has no memories to help process trauma, so the Doctor volunteers to raise her for the equivalent of 17 years. If Starfleet Academy gets its intended four seasons, it could be very rewarding to see the Doctor transformed into a father figure working alongside the child he raised. But given the persistent rumors that the show will be canceled after Season 2, I can’t help but think Star Trek ruined the Doctor by changing his personality and then giving him an arc that may never actually play out.
Star Trek’s Funniest Character Gets Serious
Just to be clear, I’m not opposed to the idea of changing up the Doctor’s character. Over eight centuries later, it would actually be a little strange if he were exactly like he was back on Star Trek: Voyager. Plus, Robert Picardo is an amazing actor, and he’s just as good at drama as he ever was at comedy. But as with so many things in Starfleet Academy, the writers have struggled to find the right balance with this character.
For example, the Doctor is still called upon for laughs, only he is expected to be part of this show’s broader comedy efforts. That’s why any given episode will have him mugging for the camera while singing for the opera or cracking snarky jokes about cadets’ bowel movements. In a particularly low moment, he played the insanely annoying host of a dinner party, which came to a premature end thanks to a farting fish (no, really).
But he is also meant to be a haunted, tragic figure whose dialogue hints at past trauma that he is still processing. Heck, he opens up “Life of the Stars” with a noir-flavored monologue about how many dawns he has seen and how time is a “beast” that bites everyone differently. It’s a cool way to start an episode, but it forces me to ask, once more, whether the writers of Starfleet Academy expect him to be the comedy relief or to be an edgy, brooding legacy character.
Big Changes For Your Favorite Character
“Life of the Stars” ended with a major change for the Doctor: he decides to help fix a glitching SAM by raising her for the equivalent of 17 years. This is meant to give her the emotional resilience she will need to handle various situations as an adult while helping the Doctor move on from the trauma of losing a holographic daughter over 800 years ago. Should Starfleet Academy get four full seasons, it could be very rewarding to see how Robert Picardo handles this latest permutation of his character.
Unfortunately, Starfleet Academy is going to almost certainly end after Season 2. When that happens, one thing will be very clear in retrospect: they really squandered the Doctor, one of the most beloved characters in Star Trek history.
It’s obviously rewarding to watch characters grow and evolve over time. We got to see it happen in previous shows with young Star Trek characters like Wesley Crusher and Nog, and that’s presumably the idea with Starfleet Academy: to watch our youthful characters grow and mature into proper Starfleet officers. However, such character plotting only really works if the writers have enough runway for this dynamic storytelling to take off.
Star Trek’s Future Looks Bleak
While nothing has been officially announced, the future for Starfleet Academy looks bleak: the show consistently fails to make the Top 10 for Nielsen streaming or even Paramount+’s own Top 10. It’s also frighteningly expensive to produce (like, at least $8 million per episode), making its future doubly uncertain in the wake of Paramount’s merger with Skydance and possible acquisition of Warner Bros. Given these factors, many fans are worried the new show won’t get confirmed for Season 3 (it was long ago renewed for Season 2), and even members of the cast treated shooting the Season 2 finale like a bittersweet farewell.
There would be many repercussions of a sudden cancellation, but I can’t stop thinking about what this news would mean for Robert Picardo’s Doctor. Originally, his return was one of the reasons I was most excited about Starfleet Academy; like many, I loved his acid sarcasm and cynical sense of humor on Voyager. I was alarmed early on that this new spinoff treated him as the worst-written comedy relief of all time, but there were still enough glimmers of the old character to keep me tuning in.
Now, near the very end of Season 1, Starfleet Academy has changed the Doctor by making him a father to SAM, but we’ll barely get to see that relationship play out if the show gets canceled after Season 2. That means that the new Star Trek show brought the Doctor back only to neuter his comedy while saddling him with an unexpectedly traumatic background story. All of this was presumably in service of his arc with SAM, one that the writers will barely get a chance to explore if the show doesn’t get a third season.
It’s Dead, Jim
Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but I can’t help but think that this has been a supreme waste of both the Doctor and Robert Picardo. Star Trek brought back its funniest character and made him spend half of Season 1 taking part in poop and fart jokes, and the other half brooding about something that happened 800 years ago that he never cared about before. All of this to pave the way for a “Doctor Daddy” storyline that will go nowhere after Starfleet Academy gets quietly canceled, a la Prodigy.
Ah, well: maybe the failure of Starfleet Academy will convince Alex Kurtzman (or whoever, God willing, replaces him) to finally give us a Star Trek Legacy show featuring characters like the Doctor. Such a series might actually respect both Robert Picardo while finally giving the fans what they want. Until Star Trek can start appealing to the fandom rather than soulless executives, though, this franchise will receive the diagnosis made famous by its original Doctor: “It’s dead, Jim!”
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will be a little easier if you love baseball.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: AL East Teams
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Green: First Words of Football Positions
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Blue: Premier League Managers
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Purple: Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #573 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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AL East Teams — BLUE JAYS, ORIOLES, RAYS, YANKEES
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First Words of Football Positions — DEFENSIVE, RUNNING, TIGHT, WIDE
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Premier League Managers — EMERY, GUARDIOLA, MOYES, SLOT
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Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time — BRIDEGROOMS, DODGERS, ROBINS, SUPERBAS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
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Modify
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Alter
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Improve
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Tweak
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Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
Blazers face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs to open playoffs
