About your point about exploring space: The Orville by Seth McFarlane is a very good example of that in a space show like Star Trek. That’s literally their whole mission for the show, and it provides some interesting stories. Like one where they make first contact with a planet similar to ours, but steeped in religious superstition. Or one where they make accidental contact with a planet that only appears in our universe for like 24 hours once every few months, where in its home universe time progresses at an exponential rate, so you see a microcosm of the impact someone could have on an entire civilization.

Also I just genuinely think it’s a good show.