‘Star Trek’ 2017 CBS TV series: Everything we know so far

The first episode of Star Trek premiered 50 years ago, and the beloved sci-fi series is now scheduled to return to television in 2017 with a new show on Netflix and CBS — or more specifically, on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live-streaming service.

The network revealed the first teaser for the series in early 2016 along with previews of several other new, upcoming programs, and the brief peek at Star Trek has generated quite a bit of speculation. With a new movie (Star Trek Beyond) hitting theaters in July 2016, many fans are wondering exactly how the upcoming series will fit into the framework of the Star Trek universe as it exists now.

Here’s everything we know about the Star Trek series so far.

Set phasers to ‘binge’

According to series showrunner and co-creator Bryan Fuller (via Collider), the first season of the new Star Trek series will unfold over 13 episodes, telling one complete story over the course of the season instead of a new, self-contained story each episode. The structure lends itself to the increasingly popular binge-watching habits of the modern television audience, which makes sense given that the series will air on Netflix and the network’s own streaming, on-demand video service.

One of the only elements confirmed at this point is the show’s ties to Netflix and the CBS All Access streaming service.

In mid-July 2016, it was announced that the series will premiere on the standard CBS television network in January 2017, but subsequent episodes will be available exclusively on CBS All Access (which requires a monthly subscription) for audiences in Canada and the U.S. In addition, the series will be available on Netflix for international audiences in 188 other countries. Netflix will reportedly get each episode within 24 hours of its premiere on CBS All Access.

Fortunately, fans don’t have to wait until January for more Star Trek, as Star Trek Beyond hits theaters July 22, 2016.

Boldly going … where, exactly?

At this point, CBS is keeping story details about the new series under wraps, and there’s precious little that’s certain about the franchise’s return to the small screen. However, the teaser does promise “new crews,” “new villains,” “new heroes,” and “new worlds” — suggesting that we’ll see something that unfolds within the canon of the established Star Trek universe, but not directly tied to the events in the movies.

Nothing has been confirmed at this point about the chronological setting for the series, but rumors have suggested that the series will be an anthology project of some sort, akin to American Horror Story or Fargo, with each season set in a different point in the Star Trek timeline and featuring different characters and cast members. One particular, unofficial report indicates that the first season of the series will be set in the time between 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — the last film to feature the full cast of the original series — and the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

One thing CBS has made clear, however, is that the series won’t be a spinoff of Star Trek Beyond and the rebooted franchise, so anyone expecting it to connect with the movies in the way that Marvel Studios’ television series tie into Marvel’s cinematic universe will likely be disappointed.

All hands on deck

While we don’t have any information yet about the actors who will appear in the series, there’s quite a bit of Star Trek history behind the cameras.

Series showrunner Bryan Fuller, who created the popular Hannibal series, got his start on television writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. He’s joined by Nicholas Meyer, the writer and director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, who will serve as a writer and consulting producer on the new show.

Along with Fuller and Meyer in both producer and creative roles on the series, Alex Kurtzman (the co-writer of the 2009 Star Trek movie that rebooted the franchise) and Eugene Roddenberry (the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) will serve as executive producers on the show.

Source: digitaltrends.com