That final frontier is just going to keep getting explored, whether it likes it or not: According to The Hollywood Reporter, there’s a new Star Trek TV series being developed at CBS Television Studios. Writer-Producer Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote the previous two film versions (and also is responsible for writing Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, let us not forget), is shepherding the small-screen adaptation—which, time-wise, nicely aligns with the franchise’s 50th anniversary. (The original series premiered in September 1966.)
The latest iteration has been picked up straight to series at CBS, a rare sign of confidence in the new show, almost as if it had half a century of name recognition and a built-in fan base or something. The debut episode is slated to release in January 2017, with subsequent episodes airing on the network’s digital and VOD platform, CBS All Access. This would mark the first series specifically developed for CBS All Access—a fitting choice, given that waiting until 2017 to create specific online content for your streaming platform seems like a very CBS move.
Rather than porting over already-existing people, the show will feature “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.” (So, lots of episodes focusing on space laser selfie sticks and whether YouTube channels should have more detailed parental warning labels, then?) The streaming service is currently a subscription model, available for $5.99 a month, which also includes being able to stream the channel live—something that is supposed to be free, what with the idea of the public owning the airwaves and such, but whatever. There’s probably an algorithm somewhere addressing the issue of airwaves vis-a-vis bandwidth that ends with “sin(θ) – E + V = THE HELL WITH THE PUBLIC.”
All previous Star Trek series are currently available on CBS All Access. Meanwhile, a search is underway for a head writer for this new show. No word yet on whether J.J. Abrams will film the pilot and basically turn it into an episode of a Star Wars TV series en route to directing a new official Star Wars series, which it will turn out is what he secretly wanted to do all along anyway.