'Star Trek' Is Coming Back to TV

Trekkies rejoice! Star Trek is coming back to the tube in 2017, and just in time for its 50th anniversary, which the franchise will celebreate in 2016.

With the success of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, it was only a matter of time before fans would get a new TV show. CBS announced this morning that a new Star Trek series is coming January, which will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network and be made available exclusively on CBS All Access.

Like series past, the new Star Trek will take a new crew into deep space where they will encounter new civilizations with storylines paralleling contemporary issues (like any good work of science fiction). Abrams isn’t involved, but his screenwriting pal Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Fringe) and Heather Kadin (Scorpion, Limitless) will executive produce.

“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” says David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

While it’s great to see Star Trek come back in this golden age of television (Voyager was most underrated), it’s pretty clear from the press release that CBS sees the series as a means of shoehorning people into its CBS All Access streaming service. Trekkies may be willing to take the bait out of fan loyalty, but it’s uncertain whether the rest of the U.S. will tune in for the network’s many police procedurals.

So, unless you have cable or don’t mind forking over another subscription fee ($5.99 monthly), you won’t be seeing this on any other streaming services.

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