History DarkerAndEdgier / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': The TV show is darker than the books, at least the first season compared to the first novel. We see the trolloc attack on the village of Emond's Field, with people being killed onscreen, carried away or dying from wounds in the aftermath; the death of the ferryman at Taren River; the burning of an Aes Sedai at the stake and the Whitecloak torturer at work; trolloc cannibalism; gory deaths during Logain's escape attempt and Aiel War flashbacks.

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': The TV show is darker than the books, at least for the first two episodes where we see in full action the attack on the village of Emond's field, the death of the ferryman at Taren River and burning of Aes Sedai at the stake.

* The ''Creator/DCUniverse'''s 'Series/Titans2018'' and ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'' is darker than the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'', and it takes full advantage of streaming rather than being on network TV, and is compared to the Creator/{{Netflix}} MCU series.

* ''Series/SwampThing2019'' has a horror vibe compared to even the ''Series/{{Titansverse}}''. While the other DC Universe shows are hardly bloodless, this one provides increasingly gruesome and creative BodyHorror with practically every new episode.

* The ''Creator/DCUniverse'''s ''Series/{{Titansverse}}'' is darker than the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'', and it takes full advantage of streaming rather than being on network TV, and is compared to the Creator/{{Netflix}} MCU series. This is represented by the first two series ''Series/Titans2018'' and ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'', which have a history of being rather mature.

* ''{{Series/Gotham}}'': For the [[{{Franchise/Batman}} Batman mythos]] as a whole, this show is, compared to others, one of its darkest adaptations. Even in-universe to a slight extent, while the show was never lighthearted at all, as the series progressed it became even darker and more violent. Many characters were made into psychopaths and shown as corrupt. In most Batman shows/movies/ comics Jim Gordon is shown as a purely morally flawless character, in Gotham Jim Gordon has been forced to break the law on multiple occasions to get anything done, because of his fighting a losing war against an absolutely rotten system and the darkness of human nature, and has killed criminals when he realised that they deserved it and that there was no other way to deal with them and gradually became more of an antihero. The show has a bleak depressing tone where even main characters can die and no one is a pure hero. It eventually got to the point where before the third season was over, a since-{{Jossed}} theory stated that the series was set in an alternate universe where [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne becomes the supervillain Owlman]]. That theory alone, even if it was {{Jossed}}, should tell someone not familiar with the series how dark things can get.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Episode 11, "The Stand" (the first episode after the show's four-month hiatus), starts the second half of Season 1 in this direction, with enough graphic war violence that NBC slapped the episode with a [[ContentWarnings Viewer Discretion Advised warning]].

* Creator/KenBurns's ''War Trilogy'' gets progressively darker with each installment. ''The Civil War'', while pretty violent at times, was still light enough to be rated TV-PG. Not so much with ''The War'', a chronicle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII which includes, among other things, graphic battlefield scenes and the horrors of the concentration camps. Even with all that, ''The Vietnam War'' looks to be the edgiest yet, with ''every last episode'' being rated TV-MA for violence and most installments also set to include an unprecedented amount of foul language for a PBS program. As brutal as World War II was, Vietnam was a lot deadlier, not to mention BloodierAndGorier, and this documentary miniseries proves it; one promo shown with general programming in the months leading up to it even explicitly mentions LudicrousGibs as one soldier, a certain Roger Harris, recalls "putting pieces of 'special' people in bags".

*** When the TV series was rescued from cancellation, there was a sharp turn away from light comedy. The reasons for this are twofold: Buffy was figuratively ''and'' literally killed at the end of Season 5, then resurrected when the series was bought by UPN. Secondly, the series was now under Marti Noxon's purview, as series creator Joss Whedon did not return as showrunner (though he remained a producer). Every character underwent a {{deconstruction}} of their earlier, comedic roles: Buffy, having been yanked back from a blissful afterlife, became a borderline-suicidal, hedonistic loose cannon. Willow the witch began dabbling in black magic, with animal sacrifices and the like. The slacker student, Xander, did not miraculously become Cary Grant once he reached adulthood; rather, he ended up dirt-poor like the rest of his family, and he still had very little understanding of how to attract women. Giles, the fuddy-duddy who spends every evening curled up with a book, similarly had no romantic prospects; his duties as Watcher were sapping the life from him. And so on, and so forth. There were attempts to emulate Whedon's off-the-cuff meta humor, but this was an entirely different show. ''Buffy'' no longer embraced and poked fun at tropes.

* ''Series/{{Chespirito}}'': Most of Chespirito’s first episodes were family friendly slapstick comedy and light-hearted jokes with his classic characters like Chavo, Chapulin Colorado, Dr. Chapatin, etc. Later seasons of Chespirito changed the tone and focus only in former thieves Chompiras and Botija with much more adult-oriented plots, sexual innuendos, social issues and adult humor i.e. Darker and Edgier. Cast member Maria Antonieta de las Nieves even said that Chespirito’s motivation for the change in tone was because of this trope.

* With its ''much'' smaller quantities of humor and less likeable Protagonists, ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' is quite a bit darker than Whedon's other work.

* Briefly happened with ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' in season, specifically in the episode "You can't tell a crook by his lover". Roz gets scammed by a group of hardened criminals who are poolers. Daphne, Niles, and Frasier decide to replay them to get their money back, but when it goes wrong, it looks as though they're about to get killed or hurt. Daphne's command to "run for it" saves them as they manage to outwit the crooks and run off.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' spent some time being notably darker than its already dark source material, ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Whereas the show likes to focus on the violence and sex (and rape), and famously declaring "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.", the books remain idealistic, with several of the shows more cynical characters still attempting to be heroes. This was then reversed as soon as the series [[OvertookTheManga Overtook the Novels]], with the sixth season showing good guys actually achieving concrete things, and some of the novel series' more notorious {{Karma Houdini}}s and {{Invincible Villain}}s actually getting defeated.

** A school shooting occurs at Max's school, with the episode focusing on the effect it had on the students.
** Carmen's boyfriend Jason has Roid Rage, shatters a lamp and almost attacks Carmen and George.

* ''Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'' went in this direction with their ''{{Creator/SNICK}}'' block in 1992, which consisted of shows that were considerably darker and more teen-focused than the otherwise perfectly kid-friendly programming of their main television block. In particular, ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' and ''Series/{{Roundhouse}}'' were among the darkest and edgiest programs Nick had ever put out at that point. The former was a horror-themed series with some genuinely scary/creepy moments (which were [[{{Narm}} sometimes undercut by the show's low budget]]), while the latter was a single-stage sketch show with ''numerous'' GettingCrapPastTheRadar jokes and scenes. Unfortunately, while [=AYAOTD=] proved to be quite popular and lasted several seasons before cancellation, Roundhouse turned out to be a little ''too'' edgy for Nickelodeon's target audience and was replaced after two years with the LighterAndSofter ''Series/AllThat''.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' is a very odd example since dark humour is always its main characteristic and each season's different elements can be darker or more lighthearted depending on the direction. Thanks to a more cinematic appeal, the first season has a grittier, more gothic atmosphere with emphasis on the dung part of the Dung Ages and the squalor that people are forced to live in. Because of its budget and a more visual approach, it has the most brutal onscreen scenes of violence and often blurs the line between black comedy and historical dramedy with [[spoiler: a very morose and sad ending]]. Even its soundtrack is complemented by grim and ominous church organ music. ''Blackadder II'' was much lighter (though not without its dark moments) because of the changes in all the aforementioned areas. ''Blackadder the Third'', while still following the second series' direction, is edgier due to the absence of the slapstick of the first season and picturesque quality of the second season. In particular, Blackadder is shown to intentionally kill a larger number of people, with a higher proportion of them being undeserving than the previous ones, though the series is the only one of the four which doesn't feature an ending where everyone dies. ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' is the darkest and the most tragic series, with the main characters living permanently under the shadow of death, and a classic DownerEnding.

* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' has had various installments like this.
** First, there was ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'' (1967). Unlike its family-friendly predecessor ''{{Series/Ultraman}}'' (1966), the usual threats to Earth this time was not rampaging {{kaiju}}, but intelligent, cunning aliens. In addition, {{The Hero}} Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven frequently faced moral dilemmas. {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} was a theme that frequently popped up throughout the show.
** Then there was ''Series/UltramanLeo'' in 1974, which dealt with slavery and had a KillEmAll style ending before Tomino even had his own series. People get dismembered on screen, burned to death, crowds are crushed or drowned, and there is infighting among the Ultras.
** ''{{Series/Ultraman Gaia}}'' (1998) was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''{{Series/Ultraman Dyna}}'' (1997). Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale.
** ''Series/UltramanNexus'' (2004), was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
** ''Series/UltraQDarkFantasy'' (2004) is a more-horrifying remake of [[Series/UltraQ the 1966 original]], being more horror-focused in tone and even ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
** ''Series/UltrasevenX'' (2007) takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
** ''Series/UltramanGeed'' (2017) takes ''Leo'''s DownerBeginning UpToEleven with the ''entire Universe'' being destroyed, only being restored by the efforts of Ultraman King, and the titular Ultraman is the son of [[SatanicArchetype Ultraman Belial]], having to face an uphill battle with only the help of a seriously wounded Franchise/UltramanZero. If it isn't enough and if director Koichi Sakamoto's words to be believed, there's an implication that Geed's Earth is the same as Ultra Brothers, and the whole society in its current state are no longer believes in Ultraman and other past attack teams, thanks to the aforementioned DownerBeginning.

** ''DarkerAndEdgier/UltraSeries''

* ''Series/FateTheWinxSaga'' is the darkest portrayal of the ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' universe to date. People get slashed and sometimes EatenAlive by the Burned Ones and Bloom inadvertently using her fire magic to burn down her home in California. The show also features a TV-MA rating and the first word uttered in the series is a f-bomb.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' has had several rather dark entries; among them are ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'', ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'', ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskman'', ''Series/ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'', ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'', ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger'', ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGoGoV'', ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'', ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'', ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'', ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'', ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'', ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVSKeisatsuSentaiPatranger'', and ''Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger''.
** Much like with the below mentioned ''Ohranger'', ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'' started out darker in comparison to ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'', but due to how much of an impact this had on ratings, it was retooled into something more lighthearted.
** ''Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger'' was intended to be a DarkerAndEdgier ''Super Sentai'', about an invasion and robot terrorism, however it went to LighterAndSofter after several real life incidents happened that may or may not have been giving the show a bad rep.
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' is ''far'' darker than the previous series, ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'' [[spoiler: with shots of the previous Shinkenger team being killed and mauled, ''very'' brutal sword duels between Takeru and [[PsychoForHire Juzo]], a BigBad who personally killed Takeru's father, {{Deconstruction}} of fealty and loyalty tropes, even class distinctions (SixthRanger Genta is initially looked down upon by Takeru and Kaoru's JerkAss attendant Tanba always insults him for being a 'mere Sushi Seller' and not a true Samurai), and a Dragon ''trying to open the [[HellGate gates of Hell]] themselves to cause a literal HellOnEarth'' for shits and giggles!]] Due to all of this, as well as balancing out with very good humor, likable characters, and extremely good action ''Shinkenger'' is considered one of the best ''Super Sentai'' ever created.
** ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGoBusters'' went the same way as ''Ohranger'', as it too dealt with robot terrorism and the Busters themselves can be weakened to the point where a city could be destroyed and the Enetron could be stolen - and also went LighterAndSofter midway through, shifting towards being more comedy-oriented specifically involving the [[RobotBuddy BuddyRoids]]. In fact, it shifted up and down the scale a ''few'' times, so that you have Go-onger scale wackiness at some points and things that would ''never'' happen in any of the above series in others. The end in particular cements the inability to ScrewDestiny in two cases ([[spoiler: You figured no matter how many times we heard it couldn't be done, they'd find a way to save their parents and the other researchers, who were digitized within the DiscOneFinalBoss. Also, a Ranger LivingOnBorrowedTime will usually be saved. When the final curtain closes, it's official: They really ''did'' have to kill their parents with Messiah, ''and'' saving Jin isn't possible.]]) Yes, we ''are'' still talking about the same series whose wacky robots made it seem the SpiritualSuccessor to Go-Onger.
** ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'' may have a cast that's a lot quirkier than other entries, but it has easily the biggest DownerBeginning in all of Sentai - '''the entire universe''' was conquered by Jark Matter, with civilians shown being killed in the opening[[note]]for comparison's sake, the closet Sentai had come before was near the end of the aforementioned ''Ohranger'', where the villains had conquered the entire earth[[/note]], with only the below-mentioned ''Ultraman Geed'' topping it. Additionally, it features one of the earliest deaths of a Sentai ranger ([[spoiler:Champ]]) in the entire franchise [[spoiler: (Although he got better at the end, ''16 episodes in'', with only [[Series/ChoudenshiBioman Mika]] dying earlier.]]
** ''Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger'' is a downplayed example. Despite Kleon and Wiserue's silly antics, the series itself as a whole is quite dark when compared to the previous three Dino Sentai entries: The DownerBeginning is rather ''brutal'' (even by Sentai standards), the villains are SeriousBusiness and have [[NoNonsenseNemesis almost zero comedic traits whatsoever]] the moment they're introduced, and the Minosaurs are born from using humans as LivingBatteries, which means [[TimedMission the Ryusoulgers must kill the Minosaurs as quick as possible before they could kill their human hosts]]. This is also the first Sentai, from all 40+ Sentai series, where [[spoiler:the Red actually '''died''' before the final roll call, and did not get revived until the final boss truly died.]]
** ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' is darker than most other ''Super Sentai'' series despite being an AffectionateParody (albeit aimed at adults in OtakuOClock). The show has many contents and acts that are not suitable for children, but this trope really kicks in in Episodes 10 and 11 when [[spoiler:Delu-Knight shows up as a really menacing and competent MonsterOfTheWeek with no silly gimmicks]]. Also, [[spoiler:Z-Cune Aoi got done with in BloodierAndGorier Episode 4 of Season 2]].

* ''Series/FateTheWinxClub'' is the darkest portrayal of the ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' universe to date. People get slashed and sometimes EatenAlive by the Burned Ones and Bloom inadvertently using her fire magic to burn down her home in California. The show also features a TV-MA rating and the first word uttered in the series is a f-bomb.

* The 2007 [[ContinuityReboot revival]] of ''Series/TheBionicWoman''. Did we mention that it was produced by David Eick, the co-Exec Producer of the Edgier & Darker ''Battlestar Galactica''? Oh, yeah... in the show's short lifetime, BSG stars Katee Sackhoff and Aaron Douglas came in to help add that extra touch of dark.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' got this way by the third season. There were several more multi-episode arcs than in the first two. At the beginning, Rito shows up and almost effortlessly destroys the Thunderzords with the help of an ambush from 4 resurrected monsters, requiring a journey to regain their powers. Not too long after, Rita turns a new transfer student, Katherine, evil, and has her befriend the Rangers in human form to gain their trust, and steal one of their power coins. When this succeeds, Rita and Zedd were able to steal the Falconzord and kidnap Ninjor to power their own zords they acquired. Tommy must end up fighting Zedd one on one for the first time ever to rescue Kimberly and gain control of the Zords, but even then, the villains still have Kimberly's Power Coin, Ninjor, and the Falconzord. It takes several more episodes before Kimberly's power coin is recovered along with Ninjor and the Falconzord, coinciding with Katherine turning good and taking Kimberly's place as the Pink Ranger. Shortly after all of this, Master Vile, who recently showed up, uses the Orb of Doom to turn back time and make the Rangers powerless kids, but unlike when Zedd did it previously, Vile made sure the Orb's power couldn't be so easily reversed. It would then take another ten episodes for the Rangers to acquire the Zeo Crystal to bring time back to normal, during which Rita and Zedd stole and destroyed all of the power coins. Shortly after, the season ends on a somber note with Rito and Goldar stealing the Zeo Crystal and successfully setting off an implosion device to destroy the Command Center. Dark, indeed...
** ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' seemed to have a more mature theme compared to the previous seasons at the time. It was the first season to carry the LukeIAmYourFather trope. It was also the first season where the bad guys actually used their forces to take over all of Earth, not just aim for a single city. It was also a tragic farewell to a mentor who started it all, Zordon, who commits a HeroicSacrifice, the first death of a good guy in the series.
** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' is much, much, much darker than either the whole ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' franchise or its source material ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'', going so far as to kill off a large percentage of humanity in the nuclear bombardment of a RobotWar, and deal with serious psychological repercussions of traumatic events and childhoods at times. It wasn't all doom and gloom, but even its sense of humor was sharper, relying less on random silliness and more on taking the silliness inherited from the franchise and mocking it. ''Power Rangers'' in general, by contrast, is generally the poster child for NeverSayDie, and ''Go-Onger'' was very much a silly LighterAndSofter ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series, complete with monster song-and-dance numbers.
** Other Darker Power Rangers shows include ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' and ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce''. ''Lost Galaxy'' features the first death of a core Ranger and the main villain ordering attacks by ''suicide bombers'' later in the season, along with the origin of the [[SixthRanger Magna Defender's]] and the ''ON-SCREEN'' death of his child. ''Time Force'' had frequent death and a complete [[DefiedTrope defiance]] of NeverSayDie, and a legion of mutants on the receiving end of FantasticRacism and the whole concept of Predestination vs. Free Will, which was a fairly dark theme throughout the series. Ironically ''Time Force'' was adapted from a sentai series that was ''MUCH DARKER''.
** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' is largely a ShotForShotRemake of the darker ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger,'' which is on Sentai's D&E list for a ''reason.'' Also, while it loses some of the darkness (the occasional VictimOfTheWeek has his sad backstory toned down, Deker is ''so'' not Juzo) it ''adds some more of its own'' when diverging from the source material. We have villains who are made stronger by human sadness, so the enemy plans are most often "make a whole lot of people suffer" rather than your basic "try to blow up the Rangers to TakeOverTheWorld" stuff, and their abilities can be prime NightmareFuel. Serrator's LongGame manipulations make him a KnightOfCerebus extraordinaire by even this series' standards. Deker is so not Juzo… [[spoiler: and has to die anyway. His last words are "Finally… I'm free."]] Dayu is brought to [[spoiler: such despair by his loss that she is able to revive Xandred with her sadness alone, and is willing to because by now she just doesn't care what happens to the world, ''or'' herself, as she doesn't resist when he absorbs her to become part human and gain immunity to the sealing symbol.]] Speaking of Xandred, in sentai, he basically sat around getting drunk and yelling at people. Here, FrothyMugsOfWater is in place, but how is it done? The previous generation's attempt to seal him leaves him in CONSTANT AGONY, leading to his bad temper and need to constantly drink a "medicine" that clearly doesn't help a great deal. Dayu's music is all that can (somewhat and temporarily) soothe him, which again goes back to the fact that misery is the best medicine for a Nighlok and Dayu's is of prime quality for just how tragic of a character she is. As for the Rangers themselves, the team's a tradition handed down since the Samurai days, but in execution it's less "every Ranger's from a BadassFamily, how cool" and more "everyone in this season can identify with Dr. K from RPM to some degree," as the burden thrust upon them from childhood on has left them pretty much all needing some serious therapy. Oh, did we mention the previous Samurai team - all family members of the current one, including the current Red's father who passed on his TransformationTrinket while dying - got killed in the battle to seal Xandred and we got to see it onscreen? What's funny is, the head writer of this series said it was going to be more humorous to be LighterAndSofter than the last couple of seasons and created something arguably ''darker,'' as even RPM had more humor than Samurai (whose sequences of ThoseTwoGuys were totally divorced from the main plot of the episodes, so it was "hellish misery being used as a weapon to destroy the world as grown up ChildSoldiers fight... oh, hey, remember how much you liked Bulk and Skull back in the day? ...now back to hellish misery!")
** Season VI is of particular note because it downplayed the comedy elements in favor of sci-fi horror. Despite this, many fans like it.
** Season VIII combined very dark storylines with forced comedy.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' as a franchise see-saws between light and dark.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. In the first season and a few lingering bits of it in the second season, Picard is antisocial and short-tempered, Q is significantly more malevolent, the sets are dimly-lit, a major character is violently killed off, and the topic of sex feels forced into many episodes. We encounter aliens with drug problems, cannibalistic Ferengi, phaser beams that ''set people on fire'', and one infamous episode in which a character has his head shot off and then his stomach explode outwards with alien parasites. The show got more critical notice right about the same time these bits went away, focusing a bit more on highbrow concepts and moral dilemmas. ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is considered by many to be the 'dark' entry in the franchise, but it has nothing on TNG Season One.
** [=DS9=] claims credit for it, but it was really "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds}} The Best of Both Worlds]]", which featured the infamous battle at Wolf 359--referred to in some circles as "The 9/11 of Star Trek"--and what followed it. After this point, stories started focusing more on the imperfections of the Federation, which had until that point been portrayed as a Utopia, and introduced some grey into their allies and their enemies. This is especially relevant to the plots of ''Deep Space Nine'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.
** However, while ''Deep Space Nine'' didn't start the trend, the series earns its reputation for being DarkerAndEdgier through the Dominion arc, a sustained arc of darkness that was far beyond what any other series had done. It's especially noticeable in the final two seasons, where this conflict forms the basis of the majority of episodes, but the threat of the Dominion and related threads (like the Klingon-Cardassian conflict, which turns out to have been orchestrated by the Dominion) became a recurring theme as early as Season 3. [[note]]For reference, for all they were a major villain, the Borg appeared in only 6 episodes across the entirety of TNG -- the Dominion appeared in that many episodes in [=DS9=] Season 3 alone.[[/note]]
** The actual 9/11 had a profound effect on ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. Picture it as George W. Bush's America in Space, right down to the "enhanced interrogation" and terrorism allegories which don't do much in the way of making anyone think too hard about it all. Although it's true that the show didn't really have a direction beforehand, and considering the [=S3=] Xindi arc was the best the show ever did, it's fair to argue the show was ''improved'' by September 11th in some ways.
** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' is the first Star Trek show to receive a TV-MA rating. The fact that the show is airing on a streaming platform (Creator/CBSAllAccess) is a major departure from every other Star Trek show. The trailers show a darker, more violent Star Trek show. The creators of the show have said on multiple occasions that the show will deal with more mature themes.
** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' beats out ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' as the '''darkest''' portrayal of the Star Trek universe to date. As of 2399, TheFederation has become more insular and cynical following an attack on Mars fourteen years prior, a botched evacuation of the Romulan homeworlds have turned the former Romulan Neutral Zone into a {{Balkanize|Me}}d WretchedHive overrun with pirates and warlords, and former-Borg are being hunted down and vivisected so their implants can be sold on the black market. It's still CrapsackOnlyByComparison -- from what we see, the Federation itself still appears to be a great place to live -- but the show ''really'' demonstrates how much the Star Trek universe relies on the Federation to keep it clean.