This morning CBS Television Studios announced the production of a new Star Trek series, set to premiere in January 2017.
The new show will make it’s premiere on the CBS Broadcast Network, and from then on will be available exclusively through CBS All Access, the network’s live streaming service, which costs $5.99 a month.
The show will be overseen by Alex Kurtzman (co-writer of Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness), and Heather Kadin, and 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.”
As to whether the new series will take place in the Abrams or Prime timelines, the press release simply says that the new series “is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond”.
More details below. Stay tuned for more updates, and let the speculation commence!
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.
FINALLY!
And they say it’s going to star all of us TrekMovie regulars, too! : )
wow! Not sure about Alex Kurtzman though.
YIPPEE
Kurtzman?
Was just hopping on to post this!
Hooray! This sounds promising.
Not sure how I feel about this. It sounds like their focus is simply on trying to find a good vehicle to drive their subscription service than actually producing a good Star Trek series. I think that is how this began–we want to drive our CBS all access service, how can we do it? I know, do a Star Trek show!
NOT related to the next movie by extension means NOT in the JJ-verse. Anything in the JJ-verse would be “related” to the next movie.
Instead of saying “let the speculation begin”, saying “let the complaining begin” would be more accurate.
TV viewing habits have changed. This could be a smart move to bolster their subscription service. I would prefer a series set in the original universe and not in the new JJ Abrams universe. Then again, it really depends on the quality of the writing.
For this show to succeed, it would need to appeal to most of the core Star Trek fans. The movies can have a broader base since the average movie goer will be willing to give two hours to something new. But Trek fans will need to be courted back to The Franchise for this to work.
#3 Ran
As long as he’s just producing/showrunner – no problem there. He has proven that he’s perfectly capable of doing that. Feature film writing seems to be more of an issue. :-)
Other than that, hooray! About time. I think at the moment the real question is: old or new timeline? With CBS behind it and all the bts stuff we’ve been hearing about the deep divide between Paramount and CBS, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one would return to the Prime timeline.
Best way to end my afternoon. :) Have to fight the tears of joy. ;)
Good Luck to all involved.
I can’t wait to hear the details!
Thanks for the middle finger to all the fans outside the US.
After JJ Abrams broke up the Special Features on the Into Darkness bluray, I feel like Star Trek has been pissing on the fans. Guess this is the thanks we get for supporting them all the years. Think and thin.
Sorry for the negativity but I went from really happy to sad at Warp Speed!
As for the American fans….enjoy! Hope it is good even thou I won’t see it.
YAY!
We have a new flick AND a new series coming!
Star Trek is back, baby!
Also, this new series will almost certainly be set after Nemesis. Why? Before Nemesis would handcuff the writers with canon; they couldn’t do anything that would blatantly contradict established history. However after Nemesis would give them complete freedom to do anything they want with no contradictions.
On a side note, that also means you can go ahead and disregard all your favorite post Nemesis novels and Star Trek Online’s plot.
PJays
you will see it.
“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.”
Alex Kurtzman?
Again that mediocre writer?
Sweet! Let’s hope it doesn’t suck.
Well. Some great news. Been waiting and waiting. Can’t wait to get more info as to what they will do. Will it be a future Enterlrise with a new crew. What time frame will it be set in. So many questions.
Everyone worried about Kurtzman – I was too. Then I read the statement. He’s executive producer, not a writer. And the bit at the end about it “not being related to the upcoming movie” means it could be set in any universe. I don’t mind which universe it’s set in, as long as the writing is strong and we’ve got good characters to work with. I’m very excited.
Total good news bad news. Yay… New series. Boo! On a subscription only service? Sorry. Not paying for it. I guess I will just have to hope it finds it’s way to CBS later or to Netflix.
@ 13. greekchief
My apologies on that. I just reread it again.
Thank you for pointing out my error.I missed that paragraph. Must of been when I scrolled. I will retract that statement if I could. Mistakes happen. Sorry for the rant. Just got fired up when I missed it and seen “specifically for U.S. audiences”.
Back to happy again. What a roller coaster ride in such a short period.
Guess I have been wanting this for way too long!
Fingers crossed!!
Finally! It’s about time… let’s hope they can come up with a concept worthy of that universe / multiverse. There are so many possibilities…
I wonder if this is the Star Trek Uncharted pitch that was given to CBS a few months ago. I liked the sound of it, here’s hoping.
Disappointed CBS is the only major network player not affiliated with HULU or HULU plus
Regardless; This TV show depends on the success of ST:B. If Beyond flops, which it quite possibly can… Then its over.
you know that SKY ONE will buy it!
Great…so we can see the premiere on cable which we pay for monthly, and for the low price of $5.99 per month we can get CBS streaming to be able to continue to watch it. Great plan…8-(
COME on CBS! Why are you so lame. Don’t experiment with Star Trek again (UPN). Don’t try to bolster your dead end subscription service with this. Lame. Way to ruin some exciting news. Maybe the good news is that likely by 2017 their stupid subscription service will already be dead.
Is it too much to hope that they assemble an all-star writing team for this with people like Ron Moore, Manny Coto, and Bryan Fuller?
Please be smart, CBS powers-that-be, and make it so.
THANK YOU, CBS! AND THANK YOU FANS *WORLDWIDE*!
“Make peace, not war … and boldly go!”
Wow. Lots to think about here. K/O breaks up and O, the Trekspert and superfan, who has been consulting on the IDW comic spinoffs, is NOT the one to exec produce this?
That is behind the scenes shenanigans and not really my business at all, but I have a curiosity there.
Also a real thankfulness for more Trek and a hope that it is a solid addition to the canon.
Cautiously optimistic but Kurtzman being producer makes me nervous.
We can assume this takes place in the “Alt Universe” so I guess we might as well just consider it *the* Star Trek universe now.
And lets assume it takes place in the time of Alt Kirk. But with a new ship and cast. That allows them to flesh out the universe and stunt cast when needed.
Kurtzman – Hawaii 5-0? Uh oh. Only pay for streaming – Uh oh. 72 Bucks for one season. Nice job CBS… Not exactly the best starting points, but we´ll see.
You’re going to need guest appearances and for that, it WILL take place in the JJ timeline. There’s no way around it. And, of course, it absoLUTELY will be related to this film in one way or another. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Star Trek Beyond will be enough of a cliffhanger to have ‘some’ questions answered in the pilot episode.
However, this is all IMO.
I surely hope this works out! Definitely great news – it will be very interesting to see updates on this.
Yeah! A new series! And with CBS behind it, they shouldn’t lack money. Now hopefully the producers and writers don’t screw it up and the series will be good.
Now we have to guess at who gonna play the new Captain…prob someone we have never heard of..
Now, finally, a new blog is required. trekseries.com.
Bring onboard Bob Orci :)
Well, good luck to themthem. I’m not about to pay $6 a month just to watch Star Trek. I pay enough for DIRECTV as it is without someone else dipping into my pocket. I’ll wait for word of mouth, then possibly buy it on Blu-ray.
Excited that TREK is returning to TV (where it should be). Not so excited that it’s only going to be available via a paid streaming service (CBS is going to have huge headaches with all the illegal downloads, I assure you), and even less excited that Alex Kurtzman is going to be exec. producing the series.
#35 the last sentence of the article at startrek.com says you are wrong.
OK! I know some fans are a little disturbed that it is being produced by Alex Kurtzman and it probably will be in the alternate universe. Don’t judge it before it has writers. Give it a chance. I know TNG is the gold standard for most of you, mine is DS9, but lets see where it goes. It might surprise you. It won’t be like TNG or DS9, nor will it ever surpass those shows. Clear your mind, wait for the premiere and lets see what they can do and then we will discuss it here.
Hopefully free on CBS Action here in the UK.
At the sight of the headline I was excited. Finally more Trek on TV.
Then I saw Orci wasn’t going to be involved. GREAT! Hope it stays that way.
Then I saw I would have to pay more money outside of my cable subscription. Nope, sorry CBS, you aren’t hooking me on one episode to watch the rest of it online. I’ve been watching Trek for most of what I can remember of my 31 years on this planet, but I am not jumping through hoops just to watch this. Hopefully it finds its way to DVD at some point and maybe I’ll get around to watching it if it gets good reviews.
Hoping at some point with enough popularity they will just move this to being on TV.
Where’s J Michael Strazinsi or Bryan Fuller or even Brian Singer? Or even Ron Moore?!?!?
Well, I will hold out hope it will be good, but I don’t have much of that.
Like JJ Abrams once told fans, at least we have our re-runs!
Let’s not forget that CBS owns the TV rights to Star Trek, while Paramount controls the film side. Perhaps this is why the new series is claimed to not be related to the new movie. CBS has been pimping TOS, et al. for a while online. Should CBS want to produce a show taking place in the movie-universe, then they would need to partner with Paramount. And if this were the case, then wouldn’t Paramount be slapping their name all over this press release in order to gain cross-exposure?
So will the whole series air on CBS before going on their on-demand service, or just the first episode?