When The Hollywood Reporter posted news on Monday morning of a new Star Trek series in development, it was difficult not to be skeptical. Bryan Fuller tried to launch an all-new Star Trek show a few years ago, before producing Hannibal, but Paramount didn’t want a TV series on at the same time it was trying to reboot the film franchise.
THR‘s initial report said Alex Kurtzman was developing this new attempt at a show, and given his involvement with the two J.J. Abrams Trek films, that seemed encouraging. But there was no writer attached to the project, nor was the show linked with a network. So it kind of seemed like wishful thinking, though the report said more details were coming. Sure enough, we now know more about this new Trek project.
According to THR, Kurtzman is indeed developing the show with CBS Television with a target debut of 2017, which follows the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek‘s debut in September 1966. But the series won’t exactly be on the main network.
The pilot episode will premiere on CBS, but after that, new episodes will stream on digital and on-demand platforms through CBS All Access. This is the first series developed solely for the online channel. (Cue your jokes about boldly going where no man has gone before.) For those who don’t do streaming TV, the series will be distributed for syndication and broadcast in foreign markets.
CBS All Access is available for $5.99 per month and can be viewed online, as well as through apps for iOS, Android and Windows. Additionally, the channel can stream through devices such as Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku. CBS is apparently banking on hardcore Trekkers to shell out for this brand-new content. All previous Star Trek series are also available on the service.
