It's Been A Long Road...

[Sonic Glitch]

But our time is finally here, "Star Trek" returns January 2017!

Relevant article

CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new Star Trek television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

The next chapter of the Star Trek franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television station live for $5.99 per month. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous Star Trek television series.

The brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new Star Trek TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.

The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series Scorpion and Limitless, along with Kadin and Orci, and for Hawaii Five-0 with Orci.

Star Trek, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, is one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. The original Star Trek spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series. Almost half a century later, the Star Trek television series are licensed on a variety of different platforms in more than 190 countries, and the franchise still generates more than a billion social media impressions every month.

Born from the mind of Gene Roddenberry, the original Star Trek series debuted on Sept. 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons – a short run that belied the influence it would have for generations. The series also broke new ground in storytelling and cultural mores, providing a progressive look at topics including race relations, global politics and the environment.

“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run Star Trek series has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager – CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic Star Trek, and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

“Every day, an episode of the Star Trek franchise is seen in almost every country in the world,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group. “We can’t wait to introduce Star Trek's next voyage on television to its vast global fan base.”

CBS All Access offers its customers more than 7,500 episodes from the current television season, previous seasons and classic shows on demand nationwide, as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live in more than 110 markets. Subscribers can use the service online and across devices via CBS.com, the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 10, as well as on connected devices such as Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku players and Roku TV, with more connected devices to come.

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.

[Graham Kennedy]

Always said this would come

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Welcome back to series, Star Trek. We missed you.

[sunnyside]

To be honest I wasn't optimistic about a new series in the new future. This is wonderful news. I keep hoping some new series or setting will scratch the same itch as Trek, but it just hasn't happened.

[Tinadrin Chelnor]

Awesome, something to look forward to

[Mikey]

Hasn't the Star Trek franchise proven itself enough by now that a new series would be able to come out on the broadcast network, rather than some as-yet-to-be-launched pay-for-play service?

[Graham Kennedy]

Perhaps the thinking is the other way around, i.e. it's such a well proven show that they hope it will be a big boost for their new service.

It wouldn't be the first time a company wanted to use Trek to launch a whole new service.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Perhaps the thinking is the other way around, i.e. it's such a well proven show that they hope it will be a big boost for their new service.

It wouldn't be the first time a company wanted to use Trek to launch a whole new service.

UPN, right?

[Graham Kennedy]

Star Trek Phase II would have aired as the flagship of a new Paramount Network - a conept that later became UPN, yes.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Star Trek Phase II would have aired as the flagship of a new Paramount Network - a conept that later became UPN, yes.

Ah, so I was about 80% right. good times for me.

[Mikey]

IDK, there's a hell of a lot more track record behind 'Trek now than there was behind it before TMP/Phase II planning.

[McAvoy]

So they got 14 months. I am hoping they got more than just having a date for the premiere.

[sunnyside]

Perhaps the thinking is the other way around, i.e. it's such a well proven show that they hope it will be a big boost for their new service.

It wouldn't be the first time a company wanted to use Trek to launch a whole new service.

That was my feeling. If CBS wants to thrive the old model of shooting shows out for free over the airwaves isn't going to do it. They might try to exist within cable or netfliks, but if they can make their own thing work that would be huge for them, and I think about the only practical way to launch such a thing is to have a hit that draws people in there exclusively. They could pull the third season of some hit series in, but that would create a bunch of backlash in social media.

A new run on a franchise with a pre-existing fanbase is probably the smartest move, and what would be better than Trek for that?

[Mikey]

I tend to think of 'Trek-dom as a dedicated and loving, but ultimately self-contained and self-limiting, fanbase. Using 'Trek to launch such a service may guarantee a modicum of middle-of-the-road success, but does nothing to attract the broadest possible initial audience and little to grow the brand.

[sunnyside]

I tend to think of 'Trek-dom as a dedicated and loving, but ultimately self-contained and self-limiting, fanbase. Using 'Trek to launch such a service may guarantee a modicum of middle-of-the-road success, but does nothing to attract the broadest possible initial audience and little to grow the brand.

Well, I wonder if the model they're trying changes what success means, and the sort of show they can produce. Normally they need to try and cast a wide net to draw in the many millions necessary to maintain a prime time slot. And when and if they go global they're again just making money based relative to what else might be aired.

However with their new model, and presuming fans sign up just for Trek, then a global viewership of a million should be a hit and able to sustain million dollar episodes indefinitely.

Anyway what I'm saying is that they might be able to make a Trek that's really for Trekkies, and it might have a much better chance of lasting longer than Enterprise.