Alex Kurtzman Reconfirms Two New Star Trek Series Are In Development

Saturday’s Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con had some big reveals for three (out of five) of the current Star Trek series. While the event mostly focused on those three shows, the man in charge of the Star Trek Universe for Paramount+ dropped some hints about what’s next for the television franchise.

Expect two more shows, possibly with female leads

The Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was comprised of three sub-panels for Picard, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds, with executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Rod Roddenberry remaining for each. During the show-specific discussions, Kurtzman mentioned other things in development a couple of different times, although each time it came in response during fan Q&A and questions about more representation in Star Trek.

A deaf fan (through an interpreter) mentioned how inspiring it was to have Bruce Horak (Hemmer) represent the blind community on Strange New Worlds, proposing Kurtzman do “the next thing” and bring in a cast member who is deaf. Kurtzman responded:

It’s a terrific idea and it’s definitely something that we’ll take into the next [pauses for dramatic effect] two Star Trek shows that we are currently developing.

The next hint about what might be coming came in response to another fan who mentioned how impressed she was with the “robust female characters in the last several shows,” and asked if there could be a spin-off with a female captain, possibly lead by Jeri Ryan or Gates McFadden. Kurtzman responded:

First of all, I’d say anything’s possible. And I’ll say–without revealing too much–you can certainly expect to see more Star Trek shows with female leads.

And for the record, McFadden’s response was “Sweet. I do know how to drive a ship, remember that,” before pivoting to talk about Picard season 3.

Rod Roddenberry and Alex Kurtzman at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 (Photo: TrekMovie)

What could they be… and when?

The last new Star Trek series to be announced by CBS Studios and Paramount+ was Strange New Worlds in the spring of 2020, but even before that, they had already announced development on a Discovery spinoff starring Michelle Yeoh focusing on Section 31. Since then, there has also been confirmation that a Starfleet Academy show is in the works. As for more spin-offs with female leads, Jeri Ryan has made it clear she would welcome the chance for a Picard spin-off featuring Seven and Raffi. And more recently Star Trek: Voyager‘s (and Prodigy’s) Kate Mulgrew has been dropping some hints about a return to live action.

Earlier this year executives from Paramount+ were suggesting the next show to get an official series order would be that long-gestating Yeoh/Section 31 project. An announcement was supposed to come this year, and with Picard wrapping up next year, Paramount would have to give a series order on on one of the projects in development fairly soon to keep up the current amount of new original Trek content (especially live-action content) into 2024 and beyond.

Is Georgiou next?

How much Trek does Paramount+ want?

Maintaining the current level of Star Trek content with five series delivering a total of around 50 episodes a year may not be a given. Wall Street pressure is forcing a reevaluation on some of the big spending seen in recent years as the major studios fought to establish a presence with their own streaming services. Paramount has already acknowledged some shift in strategy, changing their earlier promise of a new movie every week on Paramount+, to one every other week.

Kurtzman appears to be optimistic, telling TrekMovie in May: “I think Paramount+ is committed to having as many shows as make sense. I don’t think they put a number to it… They’ve just said, ‘Let’s do great shows.’ So as many as we can give them that they’re excited about, I think that’s what we’ll get away with.”

And based on his new comments at Comic-Con, it sounds like Kurtzman is still moving forward with creating more Star Trek content for Paramount+.

More to come from SDCC 2022

There is still more to come with our Comic-Con coverage, including more details from Saturday’s Star Trek Universe panel. So stay tuned to TrekMovie.com for more news from San Diego, and check out the rest of our San Diego Comic-Con 2022 coverage.

You should also keep track of @TrekMovie on Twitter for ongoing updates, panel highlights, and more from San Diego Comic-Con.


Keep up with all the Star Trek news out of San Diego Comic-Con here at TrekMovie.

131 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

PICARD S3 would be a good jumping off point for a series set in that era, which would open up a world of cameos/regular cast options. It would be a shame to lose touch with that period after finally getting it back.

Terry Matalas made that point in an interview a few weeks ago they have over 30 legacy characters/actors they can use in this period and be crazy not to use them in future shows. I’m guessing many would be happy to come back and many fans want them back. It’s the entire reason Picard as a show exist now. So yeah I think it would be crazy not to follow up with another live action show in this period.

And they know that, hence why Picard has turned into TNG season 8 and you have people like Mulgrew hinting they will probably be back as Janeway in live action form. I think they are setting up for the future in a big big way.

I know I sound like a cracked record, but I’m gonna keep saying this every time the topic of legacy characters comes up; I still desire another appearance from Professor Moriarty (it does the character a disservice that he was never presented as a “Khan-level” threat as anyone with even only a cursory knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon knows he easily has the potential to be), and also a follow-up on what happened to Amanda Rogers, especially given the whole Q civil war thing & the fact that it seems like the original Q are finally starting to die from old age.

re: “. It’s the entire reason Picard as a show exist now.” THAT is the ONE condition Patrick Stewart agreed to return.. as long as it WASN’T “TNG SEASON 8!” Sure, plans & stories evolve (the initial pitch to Stewart that made him change his mind from a firm NO wasn’t even used in the actual show) So yes, the show evolved somewhat, but it didn’t exist BECAUSE of that; it existed IN SPITE of that one demand from Stewart AND the producers. Good thing they came up with a storyline that brought everyone back and appeased the TNG fans for what they WANT to see beyond nostalgia. Just keeping the actual historical facts straight.

Patrick Stewart said from the beginning he wanted other TNG characters to be on the show, he simply didn’t want it to be a TNG reunion where everyone is on the Enterprise together. That’s what he was saying. He wanted Picard to be in a different place in his life, but if they could find stories where other TNG characters can fit in with that story organically, that was fine, which they obviously did in both seasons.

And he also stated the show would be open to ALL legacy characters since he didn’t look at the show as a sequel TNG, but the TNG era as a whole, hence why Seven of Nine became part of the show.

So noting I said was wrong. The only real difference now is it HAS turned into a reunion show in season 3. ;)

Absolutely. It took us two decades getting it back and I don’t want this era to vanish again into oblivion. There is so much potential for legacy characters but especially for adventure and story-telling: the return of the Iconians, a potential return of the Parasites from Conspiracy, more on the T’Kon or the Preservers, the aftermath of the Borg and Dominion Wars, exploring the Alliance with the Klingons (AFS Khitomer!), the true reasons for the Romulan supernova (it may be what S3 of PIC is all about)…

They should do a Picard spin off and put it head to head with SNW just to make it abundantly clear how lousy it is watching adults play holodecks in flying hotels with unlimited energy yet last seconds in combat whenever they aren’t preaching to aliens how great they are.
That would be a big win for promoting challenges, problem solving, accepting and working with the limitations of technology, acceptance of real diversity, etc.
Also functional engineering classes, you show crew falling down the unnecessary stairs in front of a big door yelling at each other during combat trying to communicate vs Pike just spinning in his chair to talk to everyone while each inch of space is filled with useful information.

Yes! The TOS/SNW bridge is SO well designed. I visited the TOS set re-creation at Ticonderoga a few years ago, and it’s just so well done. Everything is close at hand, so Kirk can leap forward to press buttons on the helm or navigation stations if necessary, yet there’s enough space that no one gets in anyone else’s way. They did a great job the very first time around.

Actually I’m considering going to Ticonderoga to see the TOS sets too! :)

Now that we can really travel again I been thinking about doing it this year or next. I’m just waiting for them to complete the TNG/Enterprise D sets first so I can see them both. That was suppose to open Spring of this year but it sounds like it’s been delayed. But it will all probably open by this year at least and will try and go once it’s officially announced.

I’ve heard it said a number of designers have spoken of the the efficient design of the TOS bridge. And to think a lot of it was to make shooting it easier!

This sounds great to me but it’s weird it’s considered ‘news’ since they have said this multiple times now for years. Back in 2020 Kurtzman confirmed 3 shows were in development and confirmed Section 31 as one of them. We of course now know SNW was the other one. And the last time this was brought up last year they said it was Section 31 (yet again lol) and the Starfleet Academy show, which sounds like that was the other show they were talking about back in 2020.

I’m not trying to be dense here, but I am a little confused. Isn’t Section 31 and the Academy show suppose to be a given? Or is he suggesting there are two other shows BESIDES those that are being developed? Because none of this is news if it’s the former. The news would actually be they been green lighted since we been talking about both of them for years now. Maybe they are still not sure they want to go with those shows yet because why not just say those are coming next by this point?

Michelle Yeoh has had a major career resurgence in motion pictures the last two years, so that’s probably why we’re not going to see a section 31 series anytime soon. I think that’s the only reason we’re not getting that series And why it has been indefinitely shelved

Yeah maybe but I think they also saw the writing on the wall and fans just weren’t very responsive to it like SNW. It was always funny every time you clicked on a thread or article about the two shows. With SNW, it was always hyper enthusiasm wanting the show. Then you click on something about S31 and it was the complete opposite lol.

And then I think people really have a lot of problems with a character like MU Georgiou leading a Star Trek show. People have called the character Space Hitler and Adolf in multiple boards including here of course. Everyone seems to like Yeoh as an actress but Georgiou has been very very mixed and it’s hard to convince some a character like that should even BE on a Star Trek show, much less the lead in one.

For me, I been open about it, but it’s far far from my first pick as well.

Now a show still may happen but it’s very telling he’s not naming any of them that’s been in development so long, we now have a new U.S. President since they were originally announced.

I do wonder is the Academy show a given or are they still on the fence about that one too?

If they were going to do a Section 31 show then maybe it’s time to move away from Georgiou and instead use characters like Bashir and Garak. It would also be keeping it within the post-Picard era.

I would really love to see a deep space nine derived series. They talked about new shows with more female leads and I have no issue with Kira being a lead, And of course I would love to see Bashir and Garak.

That’s the thing, I think if it was the Section 31 presented how it was in DS9 and even Enterprise, more people would be behind it. I don’t think it’s Georgiou alone that’s the problem, people really didn’t like how it was presented in Discovery. I include myself in that.

And then of course there are people who just hate the entire idea of what Section 31 is. So you can imagine how many of those hated the idea of a full on show. And then Discovery and Georgiou in season 2 probably didn’t quash those issues and probably made them worse. But everyone was convinced a Pike show would work! So Discovery did something right that season. ;)

So I don’t think it’s any one factor. But the issues over this show has been clear from day one. As I said the show still might happen. I was only confused why he didn’t just say Section 31 was in development since they been saying it for 3 years now lol. To be this far along but not just name the show probably does mean it’s either on the back burner again or maybe cancelled. And I don’t think many will lose sleep over it if is.

That sounds boring

Honestly, I’d really rather the show just abandon the concept of Section 31 and just make the show about Federation Intelligence. Like the Federation equivalent of the CIA or MI-6. There could still be some “off the books” type of operations…

Well I just disagree with that “they’ve come to their senses that the fans don’t really want this show” narrative of yours that you always bring up on this. I think if Michelle Yeoh had been available we be getting season one of Section 31 this year if not earlier. But that’s the fun of these discussions — you and I are both just presenting conjecture on this, although I do think Kurtzman previously said her availability was an issue.

But I do think that they’re not going to wait around forever for her, so maybe the series never gets made because the timing didn’t work out and they went onto other new series starts… which of course means you and I will never know who was right on the reason it never got made…lol

Agree to disagree then.

Again I am not saying fan pressure alone is what is keeping the show from being developed. Yes I think it’s partly Michelle Yeoh’s schedule too. But Paramount has a game plan and if they really really wanted this show to happen they would make it happen. Either give her more money or replace her with someone else. I think it’s somewhere in the middle, they found better ideas that fans can gravitate to and since Yeoh is busy not really that bothered by it. But we know if a studio REALLY wants to make it, they will make it. Not wait 3-5 years for an actors schedule to clear when they are trying to build a brand on a new streaming service.

I see where what you are saying could be a contributing factor. However, I also think that the Section 31 Series they had in mind would be star vehicle for Yeoh, so I don’t think they would go forward with it with another actress if she’s not available.

But yeah, I agree that multiple factors are likely in play, but I think her availability is the chief one.

Which still goes to my point that the character herself is pretty divisive in the fanbase and probably another reason why there is a pause. If this is a star vehicle for a character a lot of the fans frankly loathed, I don’t think it’s a stretch to put it on the back burner when you can bring in bigger fan favorites like Pike or Seven for example. I look at this board and look how divided it is. Any thread that discusses Georgiou or Section 31 ends up the same way every time. And as Kurtzman himself made clear they read these boards and others. And frankly 3 years on the character still seems pretty divided. But this is just my opinion obviously.

Section 31 is the one thing I cannot forgive Deep Space Nine for foisting on Star Trek. It needs to go away, just like how the Mirror Universe should have always been a one-episode thing back in the TOS days.

Could you imagine if they announced the next series was about the Roman planet or the Nazi planet? Or they finally gave Tarantino what he wanted and made one about the Roaring 20s planet? I thoroughly enjoyed TOS as a kid but some ideas are best left in the 60s.

I definitely understand. I’ve always loved the idea of Section 31 but I know their presence is still very divisive in the fanbase for very valid reasons. And I think even when they developed S31 at the time, they probably never thought the idea would go beyond the few episodes in DS9 (and they did basically ‘kill’ off the organization in their last appearance on the show). But 20+ years later, they are still showing up lol.

And I’m so so so happy Tarantino never got anywhere near Star Trek after hearing his ideas on it.

I am with you. DS9 did some really fantastic things. But creating Section 31 and continued returning to the MU were not among them. I’m actually more annoyed with the MU. It was a fun one off. And perhaps each cast should get their one shot at it. But DS9 went there WAY too many times.

Wow, the self-satisfied disinformation based on whatever ridiculous thing comes to your head from you and your pals is just bottomless. Did you internet this Michelle Yeoh garbage? Do any of you actually know anything before endlessly posting on this site?

Michelle Yeoh hasn’t stopped working in films and mini-series of qualities and import for 40 years – and some of them have only been of qualities due to her presence.

How is it that this site has attracted such a league of toxic do-nothing, know-nothing hangers-on?

I doubt that either Section 31 or Academy are given. In case of Section 31 I hope it will never happen, at least not with Emperor Georgiou as the lead character. It was a bad idea to recruit her in the first place just as it was with Khan in the KT. Section 31 and former dictators is the worst trope in recent Trek.

Academy is something I want to see but it should be 25th Century-based, not Tilly-led in the 32nd century. I’d based it around 24th centiry series offsprings like Miral Paris, Yoshi O’Brien, Kestra Riker-Troi, Naomi Wildman etc…

Your post is my entire point lol. I think the character is more divisive than they thought when they announced it and after 3 seasons of Discovery I don’t think it’s any less divisive today.

I’m still open to the show but it’s not on the top of my list either. Same for an Academy show but I would probably prefer that idea. I would like it set in the 32nd century but I would be fine if it was in the 23rd or 24th century too.

A Tilly led show would be painful for me

I still can’t quite put my finger on why Tilly irritates me so much (season 1 Jurati and season 4 Adira also). I like a lot of neurotic female characters who are fast-talking and awkward, from Ally McBeal to Leslie Knope to many of the women in Mythic Quest. It might be that they just feel too forced because the shows were so serious and no one else was really allowed to be funny or awkward. I know with Adira I’m annoyed because she’s somehow less confident now than when she started, and has turned into Tilly 2.0.

You probably don’t like women.

Hilarious.

I think an Academy show would be best suited to be in the Picard era. And weirdly, part of me is thinking Secret Hideout may have a better shot at that. It feels like it’s a lot more up their alley then the more traditional Sci-Fi or Trek like stuff.

Clearly there’s been difficulty finding a satisfactory through line for Section 31. Yes, there are mitigating circumstances like Yeoh’s schedule, the saturation of Trek shows, and COVID, but multiple writers have been recruited over the years to develop it and Yeoh has signed onto multiple films and TV series in the meantime. If there was a premise everyone loved, they could have locked her into a start date and had something waiting in the wings to replace Picard.

I really think the only thing that keeps S31 afloat is how much the producers and audiences like Michelle Yeoh, and then her own residual affection for the filming experience. Mirror Georgiou as a character is so divisive and her redemption arc was hastily cobbled together, fandom is probably not clamoring for this without a killer premise and supporting cast. And if Yeoh gets an Oscar nod this year I would be very surprised if she is ever available to do Star Trek on TV again.

Agreed! And I don’t get this weird argument Yeoh is apparently too busy to do a TV show even though she keeps signing up to do other TV shows lol. She has filmed not one but TWO other shows in the last year alone on top of making movies. But for some reason they still can’t work out a way to do a show she signed on to three years ago. It’s just ridiculous spin.

And the producers who created the show and was going to run it left Star Trek for Netflix over a year ago now.

Patrick Stewart isn’t hurting for work either but once they decided to make Picard, it was fast tracked like no one’s business. When they announced Section 31 there was no other shows around outside of Picard but they probably never found the right angle to do it. And because fans weren’t exactly crying for it like they were SNW that show just took precedent over S31. So Yeoh just left to do other things. Again, I don’t buy the idea it’s her schedule alone because it didn’t stop her from being on Discovery for 3 seasons straight and season 2 and 3 she was in most of the episodes until she departed.

It doesn’t mean anything, really, to say a show is “in development”. I just think a Section 31 series seems like a really dull idea, and would only appeal to hard-core fans. Most people have never heard of Section 31 anyway. SNW is popular because it’s a good show, but also because “the voyages of the starship Enterprise” credo resonates in the popular culture to the point that even people who don’t watch any Trek know that phrase.

I have a feeling that a Section 31 show may actually appeal more to non-fans/casual fans than to hard-core Trek fans. You could sell a Section 31 show to a general audience billing it as a spy action adventure (that happens to take place in space). You could really use Michelle Yeoh as the selling point without the audience worrying about the backstory of her character.
With hard-core fans, it seems that many cannot get over the character’s origin as Terran Emperor. Also, I may be wrong but it seems to me that many hard-core fans aren’t happy in general with how Section 31 has been portrayed in the new shows.
So there seems to be a lot of baggage with hard-core fans when it comes to this show, whereas you could basically start with a clean slate with a general audience.

I think Section 31 would be much more appealing to a general audience than hardcore fans – I don’t even think the character’s backstory or Section 31 doing all the shady stuff would matter that much either. To hardcore fans, Section 31 and Georgiou shouldn’t exist in a utopian universe. But general audiences seem to like the bad guys, there’s a rising appeal of films/series that focus on villains – the Suicide Squad, Joker, The Boys, Disney villain reboot origin stories (which, in Maleficent’s case, I did read some criticisms of not being portrayed as the villain she was in the original animated film), Hannibal, etc…
To be honest, I really do think that what a general audience enjoys and what hardcore fans like about Trek are very, very different.

Agreed. Hardcore fans know that Section 31 are literally villains, and presenting them as ‘good guy spies’ is normalizing a very dark and dystopian view of the franchise and human nature, especially when the series lead character is essentially a (barely) redeemed fascist ex-dictator, no matter who they’re played by.

I wouldn’t mind a series focused on Starfleet Intelligence telling stories about its spy war with Section 31, preventing S31 from infiltrating legitimate espionage organizations, heading off its efforts to ‘help’ the federation in ways that would undermine Federation diplomacy or start wars with its neighbors… but don’t go into a Trek series expecting me to root for the guys whose costume design was literally modeled on nazis to convey how evil they are. Some villains shouldn’t get redemption arcs. Some sins are unforgivable.

Agreed. A Starfleet Intelligence series would be fine, and could be a great show, but what Bad Robot and then later Secret Hideout Trek seems to ignore (or avoid) is that Section 31 is a completely detestable organization and supposed to be entirely unknown.

In the small doses we get from them in DS9, it’s great – you see a seedy underbelly to some of the Utopia the Federation is built on. They’re doing it for the “greater good” (or so they think) but how they’re doing it is evil. What they’re doing they do from the shadows.

They don’t have people show up on a ship in specialized uniforms and they don’t have no-so-secret bases in London or easily accessible within our solar system.

A Section 31 show as we’ve seen them use that organization the last decade would be like remaking Alias or La Femme Nikita and making those evil secret organizations the “good guys”. They aren’t and they shouldn’t be turned into one.

I don’t know, I think if you are going to play up the evil person from a backwards universe angle you need to bring newbies up to speed on something hard core fans already know. I thing your point would be better taken if the MU wasn’t a part of the story at all.

I don’t know if the Mirror Universe would be a (big) part of the story. I guess it depends how closely they would want to link the show to its origins on Discovery. They could just use Georgiou’s MU origin as a small background element to give her character an “edge”. Or they could really lean into it and dive into her redemption arc that we only saw little of on Discovery.

Don’t underestimate parent company interference. With all the turnover in the past 12 months, the model that led to the new ST Universe has changed. What Role does Trek play going forward? I’m not sure it’s the same as it was. They have stuff beyond Trek to drive the streaming service. I wonder if the series they put forward are going to change because of a new braintrust at the top? It’ll be interesting. As for SNW, that was the most obvious, and least risky step to take… that was true then, and would be true today if it hadn’t been greenlit yet.

Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, the two supposed designated showrunners for Section 31 since January 2019, are now working as writers and “co-executive producers” on the Netflix show “Sweet Tooth”.

What a relief…

Probably means what you think, but bear in mind many writers and producers work on multiple projects at once.

They can do both shows. No relief for you!

I’d be all for a Seven captained series. Sign me up!

Crusher though as a captain of a starship, and leading a Star Trek series? Wow, the fan who asked that question must be smoking some great weed down there at comicon…lol

I would have been all for a Rios led show on his little private ship wandering around. He was probably the best character on Picard.

I am hoping though, one of them is a 25th century show and episodic the way SNW is. I think it’s been made clear serialized TV is not in these guys wheelhouse and a big reason for SNW success is telling weekly adventures again. I have a feeling though they are talking about a Picard spin off show, maybe starring Seven of Nine. Now that they have turned her into a Starfleet officer and will probably be a captain of a ship in season 3 more then likely it’s setting her up for bigger plans or why such a major change for a character in the final season of a show? And those chances are bigger since Kurtzman indicated the new shows will be women lead. To me a Seven spin off show is about as a no-brainer as a Pike or Picard show, so hope it happens.

Now it doesn’t have to be Seven (but I hope she is involved whatever it is), it could be a brand new character as a lead, I just don’t think it will be. It will probably be a TNG or VOY character leading the show like Prodigy and Picard is now. I just REALLY want another 25th century show and can push the franchise forward again.

I’d also like to see a sort of a hybrid approach on one of the series like DS nine had with some story arcs in the seasons but also with some standalone eps.

Fully agreed. One of the two shows should be a 25th century PIC follow-up. First I was hoping for a Rios Stargazer series, now it might be Seven, but whatever it is, it should be that setting.

BTW: If they decide to call it Star Trek Seven, it retroactively explains why they didn’t call GEN Star Trek VII back in the day :-)

Yeah I think we all wanted a Rios show lol. I even kept saying when people were predicting Rios would stay in the past like NO WAY, they gave the guy his own starship and made him a captain. Why would they keep him in the past for some girl he met for 3 and a half days when he can have his own ship taming the final frontier for 5 seasons???? Well, I had to eat my words.

So now Seven is our new hope. Hopefully season 3 doesn’t have her staying in the Mirror Universe or something equally stupid.

What I’m afraid of with a Section 31 series, is that, given their unethical way of working, as seen on DS9, would create yet another dark version of Star Trek, which wasn’t taken in gratitude by the fans, myself included. Gene’s optimistic view must be maintained, especialially now after virus- and poetin-threats (I don’t write his name with a capital, he doesn’t deserve it).

Winnie, Belgium

I loved reading Gates McFadden’s response when a reporter asked Alex Kurtzman if we’re possibly going to see Beverly Crusher in one of these Star Trek shows with female leads in them – “I do know how to drive a ship, remember that”. That’s classic 😄. I hope we do see Beverly again somewhere in one of these 25th century shows. Maybe they could do a show that focuses on what Beverly was doing right before Picard? That would be interesting, I think🤔.

I just want to see more of Dr.Crusher and Gates still looks so beautiful ❤️. I love the two-tone color of her hair right now too. She just looks absolutely wonderful. So I’d watch a show about Beverly Crusher and the same goes for Seven of Nine, if one of the shows involves her in it.

I’m not really interested in a Section 31 show. Not unless they could find a way to bring back Sloan and have him play mind games against Georgiou. And, yes, I know William Sadler is 72 years old but there’s ways to de-age actors now, thanks to certain advancements in special effects technology. But other than Sloan returning, a Section 31 show just doesn’t get me excited.

Now I’m not gonna say that I won’t completely watch it because it’s Star Trek and I am a Trekkie and whatever show comes on screen is considered canon so I need to keep up with the ever expanding canon. But I wouldn’t be excited about Section 31 like I am about SNW and Prodigy. I feel about Section 31 the way I feel about the long gestating Alpha Ceti V Khan project and that is that they just don’t get me excited.

Live long and prosper, Trekmovie 🖖

I’m convinced if we do get another 25th century show a few of the TNG actors will either be part of it or have them recurring in it like Crusher as an example. Unless they kill them off next season I highly doubt we won’t be seeing them again. I think the only reason why we didn’t see them more in Picard at the beginning because Stewart didn’t want a TNG reunion, which was fine at the time. But now that’s done away with since they are all back minus Data.

I have the same feelings about a Section 31 show. If they make it, I will definitely watch it, but it’s not my first pick either. Or my second. But as I told you in another thread, I think the Section 31 show is basically in the same position as the next Kelvin movie. People keep saying it’s happening but no one is bending over backwards to make it happen either. That’s probably for a reason and know neither are properties fans are waiting with baited breaths to make happen. With the Kelvin movies, it’s probably more a budget issue but same result.

I have a sneaking suspicion going on, Tiger2, about Brent Spiner. I’m beginning to seriously contemplate that Brent Spiner might be playing the villain this year on Picard. I really think he’s playing Lore. All the posters released of Picard season 3 are of the heroes, right?

But there isn’t one for Brent Spine. So if he was playing Data or B-4, then why is his picture not there? Now bear with me because I know you probably don’t know too much about the MCU but I need to use something that happened in the MCU in order to make the point that I am making. When they were filming WandaVision, the director had said that he just had an incredible day of shooting because he just got to work with an actor whom he’s never worked with before. Then it was revealed that it was just Paul Bettany playing two Visions at once.

So it was all misdirection and the point I’m trying to make is what if Terry Matalas has done the same thing with his Tweets about the villain of Picard season 3.? What if it really is just Brent Spiner playing Lore? We all know that Lore was “supposedly” destroyed but nobody saw his body. Maddox took it when he left the Daystrom Institute.

Perhaps Lore downloaded his program into something, like Data did with B-4? Then Lore could be hiding out somewhere until he reads all about the planet with synthetic lifeforms on it and A.I. Soong and then he heads there to get himself a new body. Once inside his new body, he would then become a human/cybernetic hybrid like Picard did. And then he could come after Jean-Luc Picard and his crew.

Perhaps because he wants his brother’s body back? Maybe that’s that “heist feeling” that Alex Kurtzman was talking about? Maybe they have to find Data in order to stop Lore? It’s just very, very strange that it’s nearly 5 months until Picard season 3 premieres and we still don’t know who the villain is or who Brent Spiner is playing.

Well, food for thought anyways, right?

Live long and prosper, Tiger2 🖖

No I actually agree with you, Spiner could in fact be playing Lore. When they said he was playing a new old character, that sounds to me someone we seen before obviously (or yes it could be another Soong…sigh). There is probably a reason he wasn’t shown and that could be it. Now they did also say the villain would be a woman but it doesn’t mean it has to only be ONE villain obviously. Lore could be helping her or maybe she reactivated him on to help her. So I think it’s at least a viable idea for now.

And I know exactly what you’re talking about with that quote from WandaVision (which I watched and mostly loved). It was Paul Bettany and I remember when he said it was quoted everywhere lol. I don’t think he realized at the time people would take it so seriously. Or maybe he did and just wanted to troll the fanbase. It was a good troll though. ;)

I absolutely love your idea, Tiger2. This mysterious woman could’ve found Lore somewhere and reactivated him and he could be stoking her dislike of the Federation into fires of hatred aimed at the Federation. That’s a great 👍 idea and it might be true. There is a reason why they haven’t unveiled what Brent Spiner looks like or who he’s playing and, like I said before, it’s probably because he would be instantly recognizable as Lore.

See we’re on the same page, you and I. Awesome 🙂! Also, about the MCU, I didn’t know if you watched it or not. That’s cool!

I liked WandaVision too. And it was a good troll because I thought Magneto, Sir Ian McKellen, was going to show up in it and I wound up getting all excited so, I’m not gonna lie, Paul Bettany got me 😄. But I have a different feeling this time. I really do think Lore’s coming. I always hoped for him to show back up again after I heard that Data was going to show up in the first season of Picard.

When we didn’t see Lore, I said to myself “Well, they’ve gotta address what happened to him sometime before the show ends”. We’ll see 🤞. They’ll probably unveil Brent Spiner’s character on Star Trek Day and the woman villain that we’re getting too. Man, Star Trek’s birthday 🎂🎉 can’t get here soon enough 🙂?

Or maybe 🤔 we’ll get an unveiling at Star Trek:Las Vegas?

Live long and prosper Tiger2 🖖

Yeah I think Lore would work! I remember people suggesting he would be in season one because of the Synth story line but I felt it would be too much with everything that was going on. And they can even make it a redemption arc and have the character turn good in the end but let’s see if he’s in it first lol.

But please be ANYONE other than another Soong. I guess the one he played in first season would be fine and I thought he would be the same Soong in season 2 but obviously not.

I just had a great idea, Tiger2. We’re getting more than one villain this season on Picard, right? So how about this then, what if we’re gonna see the return of the Crystalline Entity? Huh 🙂?

Yes, they did show the Entity blow up on TNG but maybe that wasn’t the only one? And perhaps Lore knows that and he’s trying to find another Crystalline Entity for this woman so they can unleash it against the Federation? Maybe that Crystalline Entity that blew up on TNG was, like, a baby and maybe it’s mother comes looking for him/her and Lore tells him/her what happened to him/her child? Or maybe that Entity on TNG was a male and it’s mate comes looking for him?

What do you think, Tiger2? You think it’s possible that we might see the Crystalline Entity again? I think that would be pretty cool, especially since the Enterprise had such a tough time with the other one when it appeared. Also, a reason for why it might’ve taken the Crystalline Entity so long to come back could be because maybe they exist outside of linear time?

That would also make it difficult to track them when they show back up? Let me know what you think, Tiger2 🙂?

Live long and prosper Tiger2 🖖

Yes I always wanted more about the Crystalline Entity. They built it up for several episodes and then of course they destroyed it without really going deeper into it. So I would love to see another one and yeah it’s possible. I don’t know how possible but I also remember thinking we probably wouldn’t see the Borg in season 1 and save that for later and I was definitely proven wrong.

But if Spiner is coming back as Lore then I can see the Crystalline Entity as part of the story line for sure.

You just got me super fanboy excited, Tiger2! Now I can’t wait to find out more about Picard season 3 🙂🤞!

Live long and prosper, Tiger2 🖖

I wouldn’t be surprised. Data’s evil twin was one of the dumbest things Trek ever did. It makes sense that Secret Hideout would latch onto it.

One thing I wouldn’t count on is a premise which needs a lot of de-aging applied to actors. It’s still very pricey, Picard was pretty so-so when they did it and even ILM struggles to get out of the uncanny valley at times.

Yeah, I understand it can be expensive, Ian. I remember reading that, in order to de-age Brent Spiner in season 1 of Picard so that he looked like he did back in 2002, it was costing them $10 million a shot. So I definitely know it’s pricey. I was just saying that to try to generate some interest for a possible Section 31 show because I have none at all.

I will tell you real quickly though that ILM spends a lot because they make complete CGI versions of actors who’ve passed away, such as Carrie Fisher in Rogue One and Peter Cushing in Rogue One, on top of all the fantastic visual effects that are already in Star Wars. Doing stuff like that is not cheap by no means. I seriously doubt we’ll ever see something like that in Star Trek because,in Paramount’s eyes, it would just be cheaper and more feasible to do a recast.

Live long and prosper, Ian 🖖

I would rather have one great Trek series than a dozen mediocre shows, it’s about quality and not quantity.

Kurtzman is no Kevin Feige but he is who we have now. I miss Berman but I try to remain positive despite my feelings on Kurtzman.

I still enjoy Marvel films but the urgency is not there and I did not rush for Thor. I just want good Trek.

I know it’s different times regarding quantity but I am happy for more Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks, but I could care less about DSC.

I don’t know but people have been souring on Kevin Feige lately. Not as much as Kurtzman or Kathleen Kennedy but there are finally cracks in the armor since phase 4 hasn’t been a huge hit. But since he just announced 37 Marvel projects for the next 3 years and more Avengers movies with it, I guess all is forgiven. ;)

As for Kurtzman, I do like him but yes I miss Berman too at times. But for me shows like SNW and LDS feel like Berman shows and probably why I like them so much. OK, Lower Decks is a Berman show without the jokes and gross out humor. ;)

I don’t miss Berman at all. He was merely OK, but he didn’t want to take any chances at all. Also, he was the one who fired Ron Jones because he refused to compose the “conic wallpaper” scores that Berman insisted on. Frakes mentioned the had some pretty cool shots planned for First Contact, but Berman made him change them to make them more conventional. Apparently, Berman felt that ST, being science fiction, needed to be “flattened out” to make it more accessible. Or something.

Having said that, I do give him credit for keeping TNG on track during its tumultuous early years. That was quite a feat.

I see what you are saying about the MCU. I never rushed out to see all of those movies when they came out but after Endgame I feel like the MCU has pretty much fizzled out. I’m really not all that interested. I don’t care about their D+ shows and am not heading to the theaters to see their flicks any longer. I’m just burned out on the MCU. Even towards the end I was feeling their movies were super formulaic. And Endgame just felt like a true ending anyway.

I will say that Feige and Filoni have been far better for their franchises than Kurtzman has for his. Not everything they have done have been winners but they have had some good stuff out there. Kurtzman doesn’t even have that. I really think it is beyond time that Kurtzman goes. Trek needs a new GM. I honestly believe at this point that should Secret Hideout actually produced a decent Trek show it will be in spite of him. Not because of him.

My feeling is that there is a lot of scenario analysis going on at Paramount right now.

TV SHOWS
Kurtzman has been saying for years that there would be a Star Fleet Academy show and a Section 31 show. SFA would draw youth and 20-35. S31 would draw 35+ and Trek fans. Most critical however, is drawing subscriber ROI and volume. Both would likely do… middling levels. And I think that is one reason why you have not seen either shows green lit.

Another reason, might well be that they have not nailed down the formula for either show yet.

But at this very moment, I think one reason we have not gotten those shows is PIC S3.

I really think that once they signed the TNG cast for PIC S3, people began thinking, “If S3 is really, really good, we could create a TNG spin-off show. S31 goes away. A new TNG spin off will excite the older fans, grow the P+ subscriber volume and subscriber revenues to a far greater degree than S31 ever could. And we could have Seven / Jeri Ryan lead that spin-off. And it would be the back door to quickly get Kate Mulgrew in live action again.”

So I really think the TV shows are going to be a TNG spin-off with Seven as lead, and SF Academy with Tilly as lead.

FILM
There is a reason that Trek films keep getting talked about but never move forward. Costs vs ROI vs impact to P+ subs vs demographic draw. There is not a formula or script that has come forward that would positively deliver what is needed on 3 or more of those variables.

Sir Patrick Stewart said this weekend (while seated next to Kurtzman) that he could be interested in a final TNG film. Kurtzman said to the audience, “Look, if you guys love it…”

A TNG film would be cool, and it would put the Kelvin Film on the shelf because they would need to film it ASAP due to Sir Patrick’s age. But a TNG film would not deliver on 3 or more of those business drivers above. Neither will a Kelvin film. People have long said that Trek is content that is best on TV… and I am starting to finally think that is true. There is a reason you have space shoot-em-ups like Star Wars and GoTG and Avengers in theaters, while you have more thoughtful sci-fi like The Expanse on TV. TV gives you time and bandwidth to explore and contemplate deeper themes and arcs.

The only way they put Trek back in a movie theater AND find success is:
-if there is a gimmick (the Quentin idea did not get traction)… NOPE

-if they do a bigger spectacle (the JJ efforts to turn Trek into Star Wars have not moved the needle the way they wanted, and SNW is showing them that thoughtful Trek is what many fans want more of)… NOPE

-OR if they go really creative and do something really unique with the goodwill that has been created with SNW, Lower Decks, and Prodigy. If Kurtzman put the SNW-PROD-LD writers in a room to break the story for a film that could draw key Demos, get the subscribers, hit a $500Million ROI Baseline, and cost $100M-120Million to make… they could achieve something. I really think that this SNW – Lower Decks cross over is testing the waters for an idea they have for film. If those episodes get huge fan love, any new Trek Film is going to come out of that level of creativity.

SFA would draw youth and 20-35. S31 would draw 35+ and Trek fans

This is amateurish market segmenting without an iota of evidence behind it. Shockingly, Star Trek managed to reach its 35th anniversary by creating a single quality, compelling show, and without this cafeteria style pastiche approach of pitching a pastiche of different shows to different age groups.

Even more shockingly, shows like SEX EDUCATION (which took place in a school) did the same thing.

I suppose Starfleet Academy could be the next Hogwarts, but that assumes that Kurtzman is JK Rowling. Snort.

Yes, of course there is no “evidence” behind this, because that information is proprietary and has not been shared, so one can only go upon conjecture. However, whether Tarnwood’s specific market segmentation is 100% accurate or not, he’s onto something. Paramount+ is a business, Star Trek is their main tentpole franchise, and they will leverage it to reach the broadest set of consumers possible that will subscribe to their platform on a consistent basis with as little churn (subscribe for a month, cancel, subscribe for another month, cancel) as possible.

Yes, the original series captivated a broad audience, and we wouldn’t be talking DIS, PIC, SNW, LWD and PRO without TOS. However, at the time TOS was on NBC, Nielsen didn’t have demographic breakouts of viewers–ratings were simply based on total household viewership. It wasn’t until a year or two after TOS was canceled that detailed ratings by demo were provided, and TOS proved to be #1 in the prized Male 18-49 demo. It was said that had NBC known this during the show’s run, it never would have been canceled.

Decades later, with comprehensive data tracking on digital platforms, target demographics rule everything, so the Paramount+ team is poring over this data and finding other age/gender brackets that they can target based upon how all five series have done so far. Since Prodigy has done so well, it’s no surprise that they would want to reach a slightly older demo (young adults) with a property that could appeal to them, as well as build on the goodwill of legacy programming based on the enthusiastic reaction to PIC S3, so Tarnwood is on target with those observations.

I might also add that Star Trek, like all network shows of that era, was meant to (try to) bring in a large audience of casual viewers. With some few exceptions, the episodes were pretty accessible to non-SF viewers. I watched Mudd’s Women the other day, and that could have, with a modest bit of rewriting, been an episode of Gunsmoke.

“There is a reason you have space shoot-em-ups like Star Wars and GoTG and Avengers in theaters, while you have more thoughtful sci-fi like The Expanse on TV.”

Nope. Interstellar, Arrival, Passengers, Annihilation, Dune, The Martian… all of them in theaters… :-)

True. I accept that one.

I DO NOT share your faith/assessment of the talent of the writers and producers of Star Trek. SNW has demonstrated, painfully, the writers room is just a series of blenders in which they toss old Star Trek scripts, the Aliens script, and various other science fiction classics to see what comes out – and then they produce and record it – poorly…

All of this is at ComicCoin is just more of the same… So disappointing, so sad…

: /

One of the reasons some critics like SNW is because they’re repackaging old ST tropes in shiny new boxes.

I don’t share the faith in the talent of the Secret Hideout writers or producers either. I don’t know what else their resumes contain, but their work on Star Trek has been mediocre at best, downright awful at worst. They’ve made some 100 episodes across all their shows and there have been perhaps two, maybe three that have stood out. I’m sorry that’s just not a good ratio. Even TNG had a better record than that over their first 4 seasons.

This has been said over and over but it bears repeating again… While the quality issues would have still remained a great deal of grief would have been removed had they just said all this new Trek would be a big reboot.

Have Trelane punch Picard in nose.

I’d be up for a Section 31 show. I really liked “Space Hitler’s” redemption arc and wish we could have gotten more of it. Michelle Yeoh’s availability is going to be the sticking point. Although she has said in interviews that she feels an attachment to the character and that she has unfinished business with the role so hopefully something will work out.

I’m not really excited about a Starfleet Academy show but I’m not the target audience for that show either. I’d probably watch as long as it’s in the 32nd Century just because that time period desperately needs to be fleshed out more in canon. If it’s in the TNG era or before count me out. Let’s move forward and paint on a fresh canvas. That is my only gripe about SNW is that it feels like they have to contort themselves around established canon rather than doing something really compelling.

Georgiou’s redemption arc was good as an endgame, but I know so many of us couldnt see how they’d get there after so much time in seasons 3 and 4 that were wasted on her just being a snarky bully towards everyone but Michael. Then suddenly she saw the error of her ways and cried and hugged people. They didn’t do the necessary work for the character up to that point and man did it piss me off.

Agreed!
I’d definitely be up for a Section 31 show and I’m not really into the idea of a Starfleet Academy show either – although I am probably part of the target audience for that show (I’m assuming college kids would be part of that target audience), but it just doesn’t sound very compelling.

Section 31: Dark Mirror, Seven & Raffi: Private Investigators, Professor Tilly & Her Silly Cadets… the only problem is all these shows sound so good, how to decide which ones to rock with? Dr. Crusher, Medicine Woman is probably a long shot.

I really like the titles you came up with, it really gives all of these shows their own distinctive tones!

I really, really hope we do get that Section 31 show. I actually really liked Georgiou (she’s actually one of my favorite characters on Discovery, along with Pike and Lorca), I think it would be really interesting to see where she ends up and how she fits into the Federation.

Please, no Section 31 show. The Terran Emperor character is irredeemable, with all the blood on her hands, and regardless of Michelle Yeoh’s talents, I couldn’t stand watching the Discovery crew accepting or even tolerating her. Star Trek shouldn’t be promoting the Stockholm syndrome.
And also the depiction of Section 31 itself on Discovery was so bad. Previously at least they were shown as operating independently and in secret, with Starfleet personel being surprised and shocked when hearing about them. On Discovery they had their own fleet and officially reported to Starfleet, making Starfleet (and humanity) look bad.
I like when sci-fi is edgy by creating justified conflict and difficult ethical situations that need to be handled by the characters, but I don’t like blurring the ethical lines for the sake of action and “fun” (yum yum).

The way I was reading the section 31 show was that the producers wanted to basically make a Trek Mission İmpossible show. I think this premise is not a bad idea and can be done without the full time involvement of Michelle Yeoh. They can get her as a recurring character but they can also get other characters like David Cronenbergs from Discovery or god forbid create new ones. As a 25th century show I was thinking of something like Star Trek Medical Corps, this can get Gates McFadden and the legacy actors involved and can be a bit of a different concept. In fact there was a short lived series based on a similar premise called “Mercy Point” about doctors in space and I think Trek could do a variation on it. I can imagine Robert Picardo being involved in this too.

For me, a 25th century show with a new crew and some cameo appearances every now and then from well known Trek stars would be wonderful, as well as a show set in the 22nd century, just after Enterprise, about the building of the Federation and the Romulan War in a West Wing kind of style.

I actually like the idea of a Post NX-01 show. But certainly not in a West Wing style. They would need to keep the interior politics of the UFP out of is as much as humanly possible.

“The Adventures of Captain Proton” please!

Done exactly as a 1940s movie serial — a dozen B/W segments running 15-20 minutes each, with low-tech sets and effects and a cliffhanger at the end of each installment. And Robert Duncan McNeill would have to shave his current beard! Plus, it would give “The Delta Flyers” a dozen extra podcast episodes when Robbie and Garrett get through with “Voyager”!

I’d go with a late 50s style serial as (another) prequel to TOS with designs like Forbidden Planet which clearly influenced TOS and especially the Cage. ;-)
And as a lover of 70s style Sci Fi I would love to see Star Trek Phase II.

Expanding the IP so that different facets of the Star Trek universe can get their own spinoff is a great idea on paper, but at the end of the day, they all seem to drift back towards starship-set space action (Picard definitely, and even S31 in Disco got their own command ship, and Starfleet Academy could easily avoid this by having them sim a bunch on the holodeck, but it’s doubtful they’ll be able to keep them away from fate of the galaxy-level stuff before long). And they are also weighed down by having Star Trek COLON preceding their title, not because Star Trek is bad, but it’s going to be tough to expand the IP if general audiences will see that and think “Oh, just another Star Trek.”

I say be bold and do a show set in the post-atomic horror. The 100 meets Jericho meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road but, like, kid Zefram Cochrane or kid Lily is a character.

Jericho… too bad the show was cancelled…

I don’t know if the suits really know what will sell or if they’re just risk adverse enough to not want to try but know pew-pew explosions / end-of-the-literal-universe stories will sell.

I remember multiple people making jokes around the time Picard was first announced that it should just be a small-scale show about Picard milling around his vineyard and solving some kind of smaller-scale mystery in retirement.

What we got was incredibly depressing. Way more depressing than the “All Good Things…”

I know it’s not how streaming works these days but why not do one good Star Trek show with a broad enough audience appeal and enough episodes per season to actually build out your universe. And then see if there’s even enough interest to spinn off a second one from the first.

Dilluting the IP with that many shows just takes away from how special a new new episode can be. They’re not interconnected, so you can watch just one of the shows (which I do with SNW) but in the long term that destrys the brand as people are no longer Star Trek Fans but Discovery, S31, SNW, etc. Fans.

I really liked the Mandalorian for example but with 10.000 new Star Wars Projects coming out now, I have completely lost intrest in continuing to watch that show. Same with the Marvel Projects. It’s just not a sustainable Businessmodel. An you’d think am man that has run as many fanchises in the ground as Kurzman would have learned that along the way …

Because that’s not how streaming works these days. You answered your own question.

Good news

A spin-off featuring Seven would be great! But kick Raffi to the curb. She is one of the worst characters I’ve seen in a Trek series. A Section 31 show better be on level with SNW.

The more female leads the better.

Why don’t they just try to make one good show at a time.

Why won’t he let go of this section 31 show? Really no one wants it. Watching a cast of people run around over acting in black leather is not on anyone’s wishlist. Section 31 was designed as a foil, not a focus.

It bothers the heck out of me that of all the wonderful characters, aliens, ideas and settings DS9 created, Section 31 and its depressing contribution to the idea of a utopian Federation society is what Enterprise, J.J. Abrams and Kurtzman Trek took and ran with.

Ugh. Can we just do better with the ones we have?

That would be great too. Shift resources over and give us 20 episodes per season of LDS and SNW.

Streaming viewership habits don’t support this model. And I think the hit/miss ratio is substantially worse the more episodes you make.

The hit/miss ratio is exactly the same no matter how many episodes there are in a season.

I don’t know if the hit/miss ratio would be better or worse. More episodes won’t necessarily mean diminishing returns in terms of quality. ML31 is probably right, the hit/miss ratio is exactly the same no matter how many episodes there are in a season.

When I was much younger I’d watch a lot of British imports where their series/seasons would run 6 episodes. It’s a lot “worse” when you have 1 bad (virtually unwatchable) episode in a 6 episode-run than if there were 3 equivalently bad episodes in an 18 episode run.

Strange New World being episodic instead of serialized works in it’s favor for a larger number of episodes, as many serialized shows can barely support 6 episodes, and would certainly fall apart if given 12 or 18 or 20.

In the previous decade a lot of cable shows would split their 18/20 episode seasons into two blocks and space the blocks out about 5-6 months apart from one another (airing over early summer and early winter) or (late summer and early spring).

Exactly. But I think the problem is built in and comes from the top. At this point I honestly think the best option is to just tear it down and start anew.

I just wanted to say thank you, Trek Movie, for all the coverage of the announcements at Comic Con. You guys have been doing a wonderful job.

I want a S31 show ever since they were introduced in DS9 and having them in Discovery S2 made that want even stronger especially if they still get Michelle Yeoh back for it.

Personally i want another Trek show set in the 32nd century as there is so much that can be done maybe a show with a crew on a journey to outside the milkway thanks to the Discovery crew being able to get through the galactic barrier without the aid of an alien force like previously seen.

Maybe this new crew could met up with the 10-C and learn more about them.

There is so much potentially for more Trek shows and i do hope they follow Discovery/Picard’s example and do more serialized storylines. Yes episodic story telling is great to but i really enjoy these serialized storylines that Discovery and Picard give us.

I’m waiting for the internet trolls to start screaming about how Trek is now *suddenly* woke.
Cue the eyeroll emojis.

I hope one show is about the dark universe. Enterprise wanted to do an entire season but only got an episode, or maybe it was 2, my memory of that show isn’t the best as it’s the only one I don’t re-watch. DS9 had some great episodes. And Discovery had a few good ones too. But imagine a show based on what happened after ‘evil spock’ went back, the Terran empire fell, and what the aftermath was.

You know I just realised that Raffi and the new Seven would fit really well in a show about Section 31. Maybe if they can’t get Yeoh to front it because of her other commitments they could have one of those characters? Raffi or Seven or both get recruited and have to go undercover to take out some bad guys?

They’re both morally grey and damaged enough to fit into that world.

How about a Gary Seven spinoff?

I like that idea. Just not one produced by Secret Hideout.

Not surprising there are other shows gestating. Picard is going to end. So there is at least one slot available if they are sticking with 4 shows a year. But there is one comment that he made mentioned in the article that had me somewhat perplexed….

They’ve just said, ‘Let’s do great shows.’

If that has been the edict then why is he still running the entire franchise? If my work was that poor I would have been fired long ago.

Because the edict was not “Let’s do great shows according to ML31.”

True but the edict was to do great shows. At best people seem to like a couple of them but how many of them are deemed “great” by large swaths of people? Therefore, using the metric stated, he failed and the franchise needs to be put in better hands.

The metric is “great shows according to CBS executives.” And that translates as “shows that accomplish subscribers’ goals.” From the fact they keep going, we can infer executives are happy. Deal with it.

BTW, this is true since forever. TOS was cancelled not because it was not deemed great by many; instead, it was cancelled because executives wanted more from it than they were getting.

Two series in the works being Starfleet Academy and Section 31?

Those are the only ones that have been publicly mentioned as being in development.

I’m excited for new Trek series. I like all of the various ideas bandied about (even the Captain Crusher idea so long as it would be a short series of maybe 5-6 episodes) as well as the two already announced. However, to add to those, I definitely would like an animated Captain Sulu series starring George Takei, a Lost Era series, a miniseries about the Enterprise XCV-330, a spin-off or sequel of DS9, and a series set in the mid-late 25th century or in the 26th century. I would also love to see Lower Decks via the Conspiracy Guy confirm that Captain Kirk is indeed still alive and have William Shatner voice him in a few episodes first via log recordings and then in person . Some other things I would like is some more details about the Travellers as an organization now that it has been revealed they were behind Gary Seven, the whole connection between the the Eugenics Wars and the Eugenics War/Second American Civil War/World War 3, and the Romulan War.

Man these are all amazing ideas and I would definitely watch them all! But that’s what is so fun about Star Trek right now, no premise or time period is off limits anymore so the sky is indeed the limits!!

Lt. Commander La Forge, was the first blind character!

Trek needs a live action comedy.

Would love to see a young Picard Stargazer show with the new monster maroons from SNW.

I want Laris & Picard to be married and have a baby!

And Section 31 ROCKS!!!

look i just want to see quark and wesley crusher team up commanding a Klingon warbird that quark bought with profits from the bar doing retirement pirate stuff across the galaxy. add in the doctor program from voyager and nurse chapel and we got a win ! please and thank you..make it so

Based on news/information dropped at SDCC and Terry Matalas’ Twitter account … my guess is that S3 of PIC will serve as the jumping off point for the next live action Trek. He seems pretty eager to continue playing in the early 25th century sandbox.

Regarding S31, perhaps the idea will wind up in forever-development hell. Perhaps not … perhaps it just needs to be reworked. It would be pretty dumb if the Guardian of Forever sent Mirror Georgiou back to the original DSC/SNW time period. What if dropped her off in the early 25th century? A reworked version of the series wouldn’t necessarily have to focus on Yeoh all the time – that’s why ensembles exist. With the right casting, a reworked plot, and a couple of legacy characters they could continue on with MU Georgiou’s “redemption arc.” Also, no one has ever said a S31 series would have to be an on-going multi-season show. I realize most shows are planned out like that, but what if S31 was just a mini-series with five or six episodes, then it’s done?

Another option could be the Worf series Michael Dorn has been clamoring for. It would open the door for the rest of the TNG cast to make periodic appearances, as well as options for the DS9 and VOY casts. Whatever it turns out to be I’m betting Kurtzman is going to let Matalas take the lead.