Star Trek: Strange New Worlds delivered a surprise soap opera-style episode, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass," which aired on Paramount+ and paid homage to Days of Our Lives, even featuring soap veteran Deidre Hall as a guest star. Cast members Christina Chong and Ethan Peck discussed the episode's unusual production at Tampa Bay Comic Con, highlighting the creative risk of blending science fiction with daytime drama conventions and demonstrating the franchise's willingness to experiment with genre and format.

In the episode, the entity Trelane, played by Rhys Darby, traps the crew in a simulated soap opera to force emotional breakthroughs, complete with theatrical acting, soft lighting and a twist involving Spock's half-brother Sybok (also played by Peck). Chong described the challenge of performing deliberately melodramatic, "bad" acting while keeping it convincing, while Peck detailed the unconventional multi-camera setup, using a specialist soap opera director of photography and up to six cameras per take. With two episodes remaining before the season finale "Tomorrow's Enterprise" airs on 24 September, the show will conclude its fourth season before moving into a shortened fifth and final season next year.