Set Phasers to Stun: Star Trek Coming Back to Television in 2017

The world was delivered a bombshell today: Star Trek is officially coming back to television in 2017, developed by CBS, right after the 50 year anniversary of the series!

This is big big news! Star Trek will be getting a new television show, courtesy of CBS. According to the announcement, the show will involve all new characters and an entirely new story. This is great news, whether you are a fan of the television shows, the classic movies, are the J.J. Abrams films. This announcement already has fans debating over the direction of the new show.

There is no doubt that the show will try to follow the formula that made Star Trek: The Next Generation such a popular show. This was my first introduction to the franchise, and from that moment on, I was hooked. There is a little bit of bad news for Trekkies who are not watching streaming television yet. It appears that the show will be available exclusively in the United States, through CBS All Access, the network's streaming service, boldly going where no other CBS series has gone before. This decision is coming in the wake of Netflix successfully releasing their own television series', and Hulu and Amazon Prime doing the same.

According to the news announcement, "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."

I have so many questions now. Will the show bring back past characters from the Star Trek Universe, or will we get any cameos from past characters? According to IO9, the new television series will not be "related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond." IO9 also suggests that although the show will not be related to the films, "that doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't be set in the same alternate universe that J.J. Abrams created."

This is an interesting thought to ponder. With J.J. Abrams essentially rebooting the universe, the television show could go anywhere. It could even look to undo the reboot that caused classic Star Trek fans to despise Abrams. I don't really care where the show takes us, as long as it doesn't end up being as bad as Enterprise was. With Alex Kurtzman serving as executive producer (co-writer and producer on both of the newest Star Trek films), I think that the show is in good hands.