‘Star Trek: Short Treks’ To Premiere On CBS All Access In October – Watch The Teaser

First announced at San Diego Comic-Con, today CBS has released details on their new Star Trek: Short Treks series of mini-episodes which kick off in October. Availability of Short Treks outside of the USA has not been announced.

Star Trek: Short Treks mini-episodes tie into Star Trek: Discovery

The first of four standalone short stories will begin rolling out on Thursday, Oct. 4, in anticipation of the early 2019 return of Star Trek: Discovery. According to CBS, each short will run approximately 10-15 minutes and “will be an opportunity for fans to dive deeper into key themes and characters that fit into Star Trek: Discovery and the expanding “Star Trek” universe.”

Each of the four Short Treks will center on a key character, including familiar faces from Discovery: Mary Wiseman (Tilly), Doug Jones (Saru), and Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd) in a short he will also direct, as well as Craft, a new character unfamiliar to fans played by Aldis Hodge.

Short Treks start October 4

The four installments of Star Trek: Short Treks will roll out as follows:

Runaway” – Thursday, Oct. 4

On board the U.S.S. Discovery, Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) encounters an unexpected visitor in need of help. However, this unlikely pair may have more in common than meets the eye.

Written by Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman. Directed by Maja Vrvilo.

Calypso” – Thursday, Nov. 8

After waking up in an unfamiliar sickbay, Craft (Aldis Hodge) finds himself on board a deserted ship, and his only companion and hope for survival is an A.I. computer interface.

Teleplay by Michael Chabon, story by Sean Cochran and Michael Chabon. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.

The Brightest Star” – Thursday, Dec. 6

Before he was the first Kelpien to join Starfleet, Saru (Doug Jones) lived a simple life on his home planet of Kaminar with his father and sister. Young Saru, full of ingenuity and a level of curiosity uncommon among his people, yearns to find out what lies beyond his village, leading him on an unexpected path.

Written by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt. Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski.

The Escape Artist” – Thursday, Jan. 3

Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson), back to his old tricks of stealing and double-dealing, finds himself in a precarious position aboard a hostile ship – just in time to try out his latest con.

Written by Michael McMahan. Directed by Rainn Wilson.

Watch the Teaser

 


Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusively in the USA on CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 13th.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news here at TrekMovie.

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These copyright blocks are very annoying . . .

Here’s an unofficial copy that’s not locked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzUwn5h-IHQ

Thank you.

thank you

what about outside US? Still Space in Canada an Netflix everywhere else?

In theory they will come to Space and Netflix, but there’s no more information provided.

Love the sound of those synopses!

Very nice. Something else to look at in 2019 when I get my two months of CBSAA.

I must say “Calypso” looks rather interesting. I’ll binge these at some point in 2019.

It actually kinda sounds like the low-budget sci-fi flick, “The Infinity Chamber”.

So soon! The 4th is right around the corner. I’m in the mood for some appetizers. I really excited to learn more about Suru’s back story.

Do they really think that a lot of people that cancelled their AA after DIS ended will come back and pay $7-$10/month for 15 minutes of new Trek? I’ll just wait until DIS comes back and ‘binge’ this ~hour.

They are just starting to hype the new season. I bet they don’t really expect to get more subscribers from this. (I also bet that a vast number of those who subscribed for Discovery didn’t unsubscribe after season one ended. But streaming services measure success by how much people use the service, not just by how many pay for it.)

“I also bet that a vast number of those who subscribed for Discovery didn’t unsubscribe after season one ended. ”

I’d take that bet.

Maybe TrekMovie could run a poll?

Quit whining. It’s getting boring to hear the silly “I can’t afford it” comments again and again by some people. If you think it’s too much, don’t subscribe. Easy.

Sorry you’re bored but who’s whining?

I’m also bored with you continually blowing smoke up the backsides of the show runners to the extent that you’ll literally accept a turd on a plate of they presented it to you.

When someone has literally zero critical objectivity there’s something wrong. But than you determine how good Trek is based on whether or not the men in it are “hot”, so what do I know?

It doesn’t look like poster Dan was complaining that he “couldn’t afford it”. He was commenting that he felt those who canceled their subscriptions after the finale likely will not pay a month of fees just for the 4 Short Trek episodes. He further cemented that concept by saying he’ll see them when he re-ups for season two. Hence, it very much looks like he CAN afford it. Therefore, your rant is amazingly misplaced.

I think they know majority of people will not renew just for a 10-15 minute story considering how much whining there was paying for it even when you got four full episodes a month. But this will probably attract some and it will get people talking about the upcoming season a little more.

But yes I’m guessing majority of people who already cancelled will just either wait for them all to air and watch them in one sitting or just wait until DIS starts again.

But it does prove CBS knows where it’s bread and butter is coming from in terms of AA and my guess is wants the Picard show up running sooner than later to keep people renewing.

It might entice some people back, but it’s also giving some added value to those who didn’t cancel their subscription and are either monthly or annual subscribers to keep them on.

This is no different than what Netflix and other streaming content providers do by releasing new content as often as possible. Netflix similarly started out slow with original content before becoming the behemoth it is now. CBS is slowly increasing that pipeline, but obviously they are still in the earlier stages. I used to cancel and re-subscribe to Netflix all the time, but haven’t done that recently since more and more original content I was interested in was being released.

@Dan — I can’t wait to renew my subscription, this time through Amazon where the quality is allegedly better, and I can jsut do it with one click through my Amazon account. If there’s nothing compelling to watch next year after Season 2 ends, I’ll just cancel it with one click as well. Loving it!

I think it’s more about keeping the buzz going – just as a general marketing strategy, so to speak. The impact this might have on subscription numbers will probably be negligible.

The Discovery can do no wrong crowd will – but yes, this is clearly an obvious attempt to keep the cash rolling in during the off season.

I want access to new Trek shows and I’m willing to invest my $9.99 a month to contribute to the anticipation, creation, and production of premium Star Trek material. When CBS sees people taking Star Trek seriously by paying it forward, so to speak they will have no issue sinking the big bucks into the franchise. This ‘Cancel my subscription on the off-season’ practice is foolish and the opposite of what ‘real’ Trek fans should be doing.
That monthly $9.99 is my Star Trek insurance and I’d rather be covered than not. This is assuming you can afford the ten bucks a month. But there’s a cheaper $5.99 option if you don’t mind commercials.

It’s funny even though I don’t love neither AA or Discovery all that much, I still kept my subscription to the service because it was my way of showing support that end of the day I want AA to be successful enough that we do get more Star Trek in the future.

Of course it’s silly lol. My tiny $6 a month isn’t doing anything but that’s how strongly I want this to work because I’m a fan and I want both the show and the site to improve. Obviously many think the opposite has a better effect and that is if you just watch the show and cancel straight away that tells CBS they need more content and specifically more Star Trek. My guess is that works even better and probably why we have the Picard show coming. Both are valid arguments.

BUT I will say I can’t really blame people for cancelling either. AA just doesn’t have much on it once you get past your favorite stuff and in most of our cases it’s Star Trek. Not everyone is enamored with CBS shows or wants to watch old reruns of them.

Look at Disney, they just announced two Marvel shows with Loki and Scarlett Witch coming to their site along with everything else, including two Star War shows, one live action and another cartoon. THAT’S how you build interest and a consumer base. AA is just waaaay behind the curve compared to the others.

Disney definitely has more easily exploitable sources of content: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, etc. In addition to what you mentioned, they’re doing live action versions of their animated films (Sword in the Stone and Lady and the Tramp), a Monsters Inc-based animated series I believe, and some stuff from Disney Channel (a new High School Musical).

However, while they’ve announced all those they haven’t said how series will be released (weekly or all at once). They also will most likely stagger the releases to a certain extent. Those Marvel mini-series are going to be six episodes each. So in the end, it’s still going to have people who are solely a SW or a Marvel fan having similar issues with original content that people who are solely Star Trek fans are having with CAA.

Yeah I hear you but I think the difference is a lot of people actually consider themselves Disney fans in general (and I include myself in that) and I mean generally love their content. CBS is a different animal, I’m sure plenty of people love what’s on that network considering it is actually the number one TV network but I don’t exactly see a loyalty to that network the way people are loyal to the Disney brand.

Sure they have more popular sub brands like Star Trek but as it clearly shows that’s JUST not enough to entice people unless you have more of it and even then we really don’t know how many that will bring. I’m more than positive the Picard show will easily bring more interest than DIS did but I’m not convinced it’s going to add that many more people unless the site overall just have more content on it. But it will keep the people who do have it on much longer which is probably the bigger issue. But AA just needs more content period and better content. If Discovery wasn’t on there I wouldn’t even give AA a second thought because I’m not a big CBS watcher in general.

But the Disney site, the movies alone will get me to sign up. But with all the new content they have coming I see myself signed up to that all year easily, especially when I know a Marvel movie will show up every few months.

Conversely I watch quite a few CBS shows and have no qualms subscribing year round while the Disney app is highly unlikely to get me subbed at all.

Cool!

Disney is a brand and while there will be plenty of SW and Marvel content to keep fans of both happy and for many there will be plenty of other familiar content that will be just as appealing. Right now on CAA, if you’re a Star Trek fan it’s very likely there is nothing else that appeals to you on All Access and much of what is available on AA can be found on other services.

@More Troubles — I disagree. My subscription is my vote. When CBS offers something worthy of paying them $9.99/month for the rest of the year, I’ll maintain my subscription. Until then, I’m not paying for something I’m not using. This has nothing to do with supporting Star Trek. Whether you pay it or not, if CBS does or doesn’t deliver quality programming, and CBSAA fails or not, there’s no guarantee that Star Trek will continue either way despite your perceived support vis-a-vis this subscription.

Exactly, Cadet. Spot on.

CBS would be thrilled if Star Trek fans subscribed for the full 12 months but their bigger concern will always be the overall performance of the show. If the number of subscribers increases over the next 12 months from the current 2.5 million but the total number of viewers for Discovery is stagnant or drops, CBS will be far less concerned about people dropping their subscriptions when the season ends and far more concerned with Discovery losing viewers from the previous season.

They’re looking for an increase in dedicated viewers, not real Star Trek fans who will subscribe for the full 12 months.

” and the opposite of what ‘real’ Trek fans should be doing.”

Sorry that most folks don’t comply with what you think “real” fans should be doing.

Personally, if someone wants to keep AA going year round, good for them. They think it’s worth it or are just to lazy/rich to cancel. But they have their reasons and to them they are legit. Who am I to say their reasons are wrong? For many, however, we don’t want to pay for something we don’t use. It really is as simple as that.

Whatever my reservations about DSC’s first year, I find myself really looking forward to these, and not just because Michael Chabon is involved (though that would be reason enough). The truth is that Trek has just about always been at its best and most memorable when it goes off-format (“The City on the Edge of Forever,” “The Inner Light”), and these shorts are the very definition of doing just that. Does this mean they’ll necessarily be any good? No, of course not, but after experiencing the sausage factory the Trek franchise became in its latter years on television, what a relief that CBS is willing to take some risks with this property.

You really nailed it with the “off format” examples you gave. I was showing my favorite episodes to my gf once and showed her those two episodes and was like wow, now that I think about it, some of Trek’s best episodes are like where they really mix it up and/or aren’t even in space

Thanks! There are definitely counter-examples, of course, traditional shows like “Balance of Terror” or “The Doomsday Machine” that were just so well-executed that they remain fan favorites to this day. But Harlan Ellison had to grudgingly admit that even the aired version of “City” was so beloved because it dared to be about something more than space battles or aliens: the human heart in conflict with itself. Trek could use some more of that.

So true! Some of my favorite episodes are the ‘off format’ ones like you mentioned, City on the Edge of Forever and Inner Light, but also Far Beyond the Stars, The Visitor, Carbon Creek, Timeless, Tapestry, Twilight, etc. Those quirkier, out of place and ‘what if’ episodes that Trek does so beautifully.

I do hope Discovery tries to go in this direction in future seasons. But these types of stories are harder to do when everything is serialized and you only have 13-15 episodes a season. I’m very interested to see how the Short Treks will work though. They could be a yearly thing if people really respond to them.

That’s actually a great point about serialization that I hadn’t considered, thanks. I guess the answer is to be so daring and adult and creative, a la BREAKING BAD or BETTER CALL SAUL, that the whole series feels off-format. I caught some flahes of that in DSC’s first year, before they lost the plot and then utterly wimped-out with that awful finale. I sure hope for better next year.

Off-format ultimately means stand-alone for Discovery. These shorts are the only opportunity to offer stand-alone Star Trek stories that aren’t tied into the serialized story presented each season. You can’t just watch a random Discovery episode since you’ll have no idea what the hell is going on if you haven’t watched the entire season but you can just watch a random short.

I wonder whether “Calypso” could have a tie in to the Picard series given the writer and that there’s nothing in the synopsis tying it to the Discovery era.

I doubt it. Even if it’s not directly Discovery related with a new character it probably will be set in the same period and have Discovery canon references.

the “unknown starship” will probably look like the inside of either Discovery or Shenzhou because they aren’t building a new interior for a 15 minute show

Wasn’t the captains yacht of the Enterprise D called the Calypso?

Calypso sounds like 2001 a space odyssey.

All I can say is the font looks better in the silver Short Treks text than as the official Star Trek trademark. I really don’t like the font Discovery uses, and that has to be the most nitpicky complaint there is, but like I dunno to me it looks like they took the TOS font and made it worse for no reason other than to come up with their own look. Looks like a low-budget spoof to me. Anyway the trailer befits the title: that was the shortest teaser I’ve ever seen.

There are even shorter teasers out there (10 seconds and less) but considering it’s for 4 different short films it is very short. Then again, it doesn’t contain much more than the titles and release dates.

Maybe they should try writing better episodes…then they won’t need 10 minute scenes to try to flesh out the weak characters.