Star Trek [TV, 2017]

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/film wrote:New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series in the Works at CBS All Access [UPDATED]

The Star Trek franchise is heading back to the small screen. A new TV series is in development from Alex Kurtzman, who wrote 2009’s Star Trek and its 2013 follow-up Star Trek Into Darkness. The project will aim to land in early 2017. More details on the new Star Trek TV series after the jump.

CBS announced the new Star Trek TV series this morning. The show will premiere in January 2017 on CBS. Subsequent episodes of the series will be available in the U.S. exclusively on the CBS All Access digital subscription streaming service. The Star Trek TV series will be the first original series developed specifically for CBS All Access.

CBS Television Studios is producing with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Heather Kadin (Limitless, Sleepy Hollow) will serve as executive producer alongside Kurtzman. Roberto Orci, Kurtzman’s longtime partner, is not involved.

Rumors of a new Star Trek TV series have been swirling for years, but this announcement finally makes it official. Plot details have not been given. According to THR, “The 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.” So it’s a Star Trek show, in other words.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, which premiered on September 8, 1966. The show only ran for three seasons, but launched a sprawling franchise that has so far yielded an animated series, four more live-action series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise), and twelve feature films.

The thirteenth Star Trek movie, the Justin Lin-directed Star Trek Beyond, is slated to hit theaters July 22, 2016. And Paramount is already making plans for a fourteenth Star Trek movie, with actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto confirmed to star. The new Star Trek TV series will not be related to Star Trek Beyond.
i guess they finally felt the pressure put on by things like "Star Trek Continues". i bet this really pisses them off too, as they've spent a ton of their own money absolutely killing that series. if these show runners have any integrity, they will offer at least some of those guys parts.

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I doubt Paramount really cares about Star Trek Continues, or if many of the execs even know about it. And if they do I'm sure they've dismissed it as fan stuff not to be bothered with. No the real reason we're getting this is because CBS All Access needs a property that's popular with the kind of people who are tech savvy enough to be into streaming and they figure Star Trek is the best bet. The only reason we have Voyager is for the same reasons when UPN was launching.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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Alexhead wrote:Bryan Fuller named showrunner. That's very good news in my book.
Meh, he's more miss than hit. Most of his Trek episodes aren't that great. I give him props for creating one of my favorite shows, Dead Like Me, but it didn't get really good until after he left.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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Suddenly this sounds like it might actually be good.
Star Trek wrote:Nicholas Meyer Joins New Star Trek Series

It’s official. Bryan Fuller, who will co-create, produce and serve as showrunner of the upcoming Star Trek series, has just announced the news that Nicholas Meyer has joined the show's writing staff and will be a consulting producer.
"Nicholas Meyer chased Kirk and Khan 'round the Mutara Nebula and 'round Genesis' flames, he saved the whales with the Enterprise and its crew, and waged war and peace between Klingons and the Federation. We are thrilled to announce that one of Star Trek's greatest storytellers will be boldly returning as Nicholas Meyer beams aboard the new Trek writing staff," said Executive Producer, Bryan Fuller.
Meyer, of course, is beloved by Star Trek fans worldwide for directing (and co-writing, uncredited) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, co-writing Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and co-writing and directing Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The new Star Trek series, produced by CBS Television Studios, will launch in early 2017. In the U.S., a special premiere episode will air on the CBS Television Network and all subsequent first-run episodes will be available exclusively on CBS All Access. The series will also be available on television stations and platforms in other countries around the world.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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TC wrote:wait... it's not actually going to air on TV?
Not in this country, aside from the first episode. It's a streaming series. This whole streaming thing is getting out of hand, if I may make a side rant. Every channel is trying to start their own steaming service now, to the point that we're going to end up with 30 different services hardware has to support. Everyone wants their own slice of the pie now that Netflix has proven how successful it can be.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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TC wrote:that is an incredibly stupid decision. if you want to play in that space, dick around with some lesser property, not a mega-property that's 5 decades strong. fucking dolts.
I think that's kind of the idea. They want a big name title to help push people to their new service.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: Star Trek [TV, 2017]

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Collider wrote:
Exclusive: New ‘Star Trek’ Showrunner Bryan Fuller on Progressiveness, Number of Episodes, Filming Details, and Much More
BY MATT GOLDBERG

Steve spoke with Fuller on the red carpet at the Saturn Awards yesterday, and they spoke a ton about Trek. They led off talking about what it’s like to get control of a Trek TV show, how many episodes they have planned, and how the new structure means they’re going to be telling the story differently than we’ve seen before.

What was it like being in the room and finding out you’re going to get the keys to the Lamborghini?

BRYAN FULLER: It’s interesting you say “Lamborghini” because we’re looking at a lot of race cars as inspiration for our starships. It’s wonderful. It’s surreal. I didn’t want to be a writer. I wanted to be a Star Trek writer, so to be able to craft a new iteration of the show with new characters and a whole new adventure and whole new way of telling stories that you haven’t been able to tell on Star Trek is honorable and it’s a dream come true. It’s hard to articulate that.

Where are you in the writing process of the show?

FULLER: We’ve got the arc of the first season entirely written, or arced out, and we’ve got the first six episodes entirely broken.

Is it going to be 13 or 22 episodes?

FULLER: Thirteen.

I’m assuming this is going to be one story over thirteen episodes.

FULLER: Yes.

That’s a thing that excites me so much.

FULLER: Oh, good! Me too.

Because I’m imagining even CBS is saying “We need something that can stream 13 episodes”.

FULLER: And there are 762 episodes of Star Trek television, so over six episodes we have to tell stories differently than they’ve been told for fifty years.

Fuller then went into when they’re going to start revealing new info about the show, along with directors they’re going to bring in, stages they’re setting up, and casting.

When are you going to start revealing the specifics of when the timeline is and that kind of stuff?

FULLER: I imagine around Comic-Con. It’s interesting because normally I love talking about everything, and I’m sort of relieved I’ve been muzzled by CBS on it because I do less interviews, so I can spend more time writing, but I love talking about Star Trek and I love being involved in it, so I’ll be very excited to share when the muzzle comes off of me.

Do you know the directors you’re going to bring in?

FULLER: We haven’t booked directors yet. We booked Vincenzo Natali, who will be our producing director, but he’s not directing the first episode.

I’m assuming you’ve picked out stages?

FULLER: Yes, we’ve got stages and we’re very far along. We’re going to be putting sets up in a couple of weeks.

So you’ve basically been meeting with people for casting.

FULLER: I’ve met with a few actors, and it’s an interesting process. There’s a few people that we like and we want to carry on what Star Trek does best, which is being progressive. So it’s fascinating to look at all of these roles through a colorblind prism and a gender-blind prism, so that’s exciting.

That’s what’s really exciting about this new show, and while Fuller didn’t come right out and say that the new Star Trek will have an LGBTQ character, he strongly implied it:

Star Trek has never filmed certain subject material because it was filmed at a time when showing a gay character or showing certain kinds of characters was frowned on. What I’m so looking forward to is to see you guys be so progressive and all-inclusive. Are you looking at it that way?

FULLER: Absolutely. I think the progressive audience that loves Star Trek will be happy that we’re continuing that tradition.
Fuller also explained how the show would be different because it’s on streaming, and how he developed the show with the network.

One of the things I love about TV is you can really go hardcore sci-fi because you’re not trying to hit four quadrants.

FULLER: Right, right. And because we’re CBS All Access, we’re not subject to network broadcast standards and practices. It will likely affect us more in terms of what we can do graphically, but Star Trek’s not necessarily a universe where I want to hear a lot of profanity, either.

What are they thinking about the show at the network?

FULLER: When I first sat down with them, it was “Do you have a plan of what you want to do?” And they said, “No,” and I said, “I have a plan,” and we started talking. And it was wonderful to be working with Alex Kurtzman, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and who’s such an elegant storyteller and crafting a story with him that ties in so many elements of Star Trek that I think people will be really excited about because you can look at the original series and pick out episodes we’re using the DNA of and using the spirit of what Star Trek offers, both in terms of high-concept science fiction storytelling and really wonderful metaphors for the human condition.
bryan-fuller-hannibal
Image via NBC
Fuller also touched on the specifics of the shooting schedule and episode runtime:

When is the shooting schedule?

FULLER: We start in September.

And you go until?

FULLER: Probably March.

So you’re going 60-minute runtimes, right?

FULLER: I think our runtime is flexible because it’s streaming.

That’s sort of what I was wondering because you don’t have to hit the 44-minute mark.

FULLER: I think it’s anywhere from—they gave us parameters, and I can’t remember exactly where it was. It was sort of, “No more than this, no less than that.”

star-trek-next-generation-measure-of-a-manHave you hired VFX companies?

FULLER: We have hired VFX producers, and they’re working with the companies and culling the team together because we need to do a lot of things in-house because if we start paying FX houses per shot for something for the things we want to do like digital augmentation on certain alien species, how we’re going to see the transporter beams, we’re trying to cultivate distinct looks for all of those things that are unique to our version of Star Trek and carry through the themes we love seeing in fifty years of Star Trek, but doing a slightly different approach.
Finally, Fuller touched on how he’s balancing both Star Trek and American Gods:

How are you managing Trek and American Gods?

FULLER: Well, I’m working with wonderful teams on both shows. Michael Green is my partner on American Gods, and we are getting close to being halfway through shooting our first season, and most of our scripts are done, so that’s an advantage as we’re starting Star Trek up and gives me an opportunity to focus on Star Trek.

Fuller is saying all the right things. While I’m not opposed to Star Trek movies, Star Trek feels like it was meant to live on television. What’s exciting about what Fuller is proposing isn’t just a rehash of old Trek, but instead crafting it for modern television and modern audiences. I wish we could warp to 2017 right now.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: Star Trek [TV, 2017]

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And we have a title...

[youtube][/youtube]

Set in the original Trek universe around the time of the original series. One season long story, not episodic. And supposedly more exploring the themes and philosophy of traditional Trek.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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They should have a lot of fun rocking the original costumes, and it kind of evens things up on the cheap CG effects too.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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this can't bode well...
SciFiNow wrote:Star Trek Discovery loses Bryan Fuller as showrunner
Bryan Fuller is taking a backseat on the new Star Trek series

Well, here’s some pretty crappy news to bring to you this morning: Bryan Fuller has officially stepped down as showrunner on Star Trek: Discovery.

According to the report on Variety, Fuller’s fingerprints on the show won’t be completely abandoned, as it will still follow his ideas for the series. Moreover, he will continue to be involved in some capacity as executive producer, with Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts stepping up to joint-showrunner duties, and Akiva Goldsman expected to join in an unspecified creative role.

As to why this change has come about, by the sounds of things it has been a long time coming. Reportedly, CBS weren’t happy with Fuller dividing his time between this and Starz’ American Gods series (not to mention the Amazing Stories reboot he is currently working on for NBC), with the recent revelation that Discovery would be delayed by four months from its original release date of January 2017 to May 2017.

Also, there’s the revelation that the lead character – confirmed to be a female lieutenant – is yet to be cast. While the rest of the ensemble have reportedly been brought on board, the main role is proving to be elusive. Ultimately, this and a number of other reasons have meant that Fuller is having to take a back seat.

Obviously, from our perspective it’s a crying shame. Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me and Hannibal are all wonderfully inventive roles, and we were looking forward to seeing what he did with Discovery. Still, at least we have his take on American Gods to look forward to, and the new Trek series will still retain plenty of his input. In the meantime, Fuller seems confident enough with who he’s handing over the reins to:
@BryanFuller wrote:Riker spent 7 years of TNG unready for Captaincy, @GretchenJBerg @AaronHarberts are ready. Thrilled to see them in command of the Bridge.

— October 27, 2016

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I don't know, Dead Like Me didn't get really good until Fuller left. But Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harbert are more known for comedies and soaps, so I'm not sure if this bodes well. They were producers on Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls, but that's not really a plus to me.
Just cut them up like regular chickens