We seem to be getting a lot of Star Trek theses days on television even if the movie world has been let without a proper answer (as to will we see another Trek movie any time soon). Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be a fresh addition to the franchise. CBS All Access has announced a fifth new series called Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which will star Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The trio originally appeared in said roles on Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be set aboard the famed USS Enterprise a decade before Captain Kirk’s time — a similar starting point as Star Trek: Discovery — and follow the aforementioned three in Spock, Pike, and Number One as “they explore new worlds around the galaxy.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds co-creator and executive producer Akiva Goldsman is also the writer on the first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, off a story by Jenny Lumet, Kurtzman, and himself. Lumet, Heather Kadin, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth also serve as executive producers on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in addition to Goldsman, Kurtzman, and Alonso Myers. Aaron Baiers, Akela Cooper, and Davy Perez will serve as co-executive producers. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a production of CBS Television Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds joins an ever-growing list of Trek series on CBS All Access, alongside the aforementioned Star Trek: Discovery, which kicked things off in September 2017, followed by Star Trek: Picard in January 2020. Beyond that, we’ve the animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, from Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty), and the Michelle Yeoh-led spin-off series from Star Trek: Discovery writing duo Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt. And if we’re counting Trek for kids, there’s an animated series in the works at Nickelodeon as well.
There’s no word on a filming start date, let alone a release date, on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There’s also no word on the international platforms for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. (CBS All Access is only available in the US, Australia, and Canada). Previous Trek shows are split between Netflix (Discovery) and Amazon Prime Video (Picard) in India.
Both Discovery and Picard share a highly serialized format, however, the new series set on Captain Pike’s U.S.S. Enterprise promises a return to classic Trek storytelling. In the announcement video from yesterday, Strange New Worlds star Anson Mount (Captain Pike) described the new series as a “classic Star Trek show that deals with optimism and the future.”
Here is what I want – more episodic and more optimism, Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians, Tellerites & Orions, no changing of cannon, stop messing with the Klingons, introduce new interesting alien races and perhaps bring them as recurring characters, cut out lens flares and finally and more importantly, bring back the excitement & fun elements.