CBS To Air New ‘Star Trek’ Series On All Access Digital Platform


Trekkies celebrate – Star Trek is coming back in a brand new series to air on CBS’ digital platform All Access, slated for January 2017.

The Inquisitr recently reported that the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner, had dropped hints of a return of the popular sci-fi series just as the U.S.S. Enterprise began undergoing a facelift. He even hinted he would be happy to return and reprise his role as Captain Kirk, despite the fact his character was killed off in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations.

It seems the rumors are true, and Bryan Fuller of Hannibal fame will be returning to the well-loved franchise. Fuller started his career working on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, and so he is no stranger to the storyline and history of the show.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fuller will be working alongside Alex Kurtzman as the co-creator and showrunner of the Star Trek reboot on CBS’ digital platform.

Reportedly, the new series is a new take on the sci-fi classic series, and the premiere is set to air on the network in January 2017. After this, subsequent episodes are to air on the digital and VOD platform. This marks the first original series to be developed specifically for the CBS All Access platform. According to My News LA, the new Star Trek series will also be distributed for multiple platforms and television worldwide by CBS Studios International.

Fuller himself is undeniably thrilled. After writing 22 episodes in the Star Trek franchise, Fuller went on to work on Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies, but he has always been a confirmed Star Trek fan himself.

He told the Hollywood Reporter his first experience of the epic sci-fi series was his older brother turning off all the lights in the house before flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through their darkened home.

“Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire.

“It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

Kurtzman said that bringing the epic sci-fi show back to television means returning it to its roots and that for years those roots had flourished under Fuller’s care.

“His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.”

According to David Stapf, the president of CBS Television Studios, they knew Bryan Fuller would be the ideal man for the job, working alongside Alex Kurtzman to “create a fresh and authentic take on this classic and timeless series.”

Stapf said that Star Trek had been a “groundbreaking franchise for the past 50 years that not only changed the landscape of television, but made a significant impact on pop culture.”

He continued that the show had also obviously had a huge impact of Fuller himself, who he says is not only an extremely gifted writer, but he’s also a genuine fan of the franchise.

“Having someone at the helm with his gravitas who also understands and appreciates the significance of the franchise and the worldwide fan base was essential to us.”

In an interview with Comic Book Resources back in 2006, Fuller had shown just how much he longed to be involved in the iconic sci-fi show, saying he never wanted to be a television writer but wanted rather to be a Star Trek writer. According to Fuller, he preferred the original series first and foremost when ranking his favorites in the franchise, followed by Deep Space Nine, Next Generation, and Voyager.

For now, impatient Trekkies will have to wait until January next year to experience their favorite fix, and who knows? Maybe Captain Kirk will travel through a time warp to star in the new Star Trek series, a little like how Leonard Nimoy’s Spock made a return via a temporal wormhole into the past.

[Image via Flickr by Adam Tollinger/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

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