I case you've been living under a rock this morning the big news news in geekdom is the official announcement of a brand new Star Trek series premiering in January 2017.
On the surface I can certainly understand why folks are all aflutter. But what do we know about it at this time? Not a whole lot.
It's being produced by Alex Kurtzmann who co-wrote the J.J. Abrams' reboot films. Unlike many people I rather liked Abrams' take on the Federation. Yes it has issues but then so does the old Roddenberry / Paramount continuity. The only thing press release tells about the series itself is:
The brand-new Star Trek will introduce 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 in 1966.
That's not a lot to go on.
Many people are working under the assumption that since Kurtzmann is the show runner it's going to be in the Abrams-verse. But that's making a big leap on not a lot of information. In fact because it is going to be a CBS series it more strongly points to being tied in to the old continuity since CBS owns those rights but not the new one's.
There has been some serious talk in the past year (including from Michael Dorn himself) of a Captain Worf series. I could certainly see that happening as it will allow for the introduction of a ship full of new characters led by an old and beloved one from two previous series. If they go back to the classic TOS and Next Gen formula of a starship crew exploring the universe without any of the other hooks from the other series it could be a very good idea.
But now I am also speculating without data. Or Data, for that matter.
The thing I find most disturbing about the whole project is the thing the press release discusses the most, namely that after the premier episode the program is going to be on CBS's pay streaming site. Aside from the fact that I didn't know that CBS had a site I'm not sure how good of a strategy this is for them. I can see their logic, create a new show with a built in fan-base, but it on-line and count the money as it rolls in. That's good for them in theory but until I know and see more, I am going to be very leery about paying six dollars a month just to watch a new Trek series.
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