Technically, yes, but not like this. In the TOS episode, “The Conscience of the King,” the classic theme music can be faintly heard in the background in a lounge. This version of the theme is barely recognizable, as it’s a jazzy remix of the original theme. In what was only the third episode of Lower Decks, “Temporal Edict,” Boimler (Jack Quaid) hums Jerry Goldsmith’s Motion Picture main theme, which was later (and more famously) reused in The Next Generation.
But those opening notes of The Original Series theme? Do people in Starfleet actually view this as their own personal anthem? Well…
… not too long ago, in the Strange New Worlds episode “Spock Amok,” a very brief version of this main theme was included as a series of beeps when Una (Rebecca Romijn) and La’an (Christina Chong) were playing a round of “Enterprise Bingo.” This fact combined with Giamatti’s character whistling the main theme all but confirms that the anthem of Starfleet is almost certainly some version of the 1964 original and first theme song to the entire franchise.
According to Paramount’s press release, Giamatti’s Nus Braka is part Tellarite and part Klingon. This means that the one character who is whistling the main Trek theme is also connected directly to two of the most classic TOS alien species. On top of that, Holly Hunter’s new character, Nahla Ake, the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, is a Lanthanite. This is the same species of very long-lived humanoids of which Carol Kane’s Strange New Worlds character, Pelia, is also a member.
If both Nahla Ake and Nus Braka have ties to the deep past of Star Trek, either through the music they listen to or not, it seems clear that Starfleet Academy might be looking backward into the franchise’s rich history, just as much as it appears to be leaping forward.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy hits Paramount+ sometime in early 2026.
