After years of speculation, the sixth Star Trek TV series has finally been announced: Star Trek: Discovery! The new series features a starship with the same name (NCC-1031) which looks like a cross between a TOS-era Federation starship (round saucer) and a Klingon K't'inga battle cruiser (triangular body). While we don't know much more than that, we can infer that the U.S.S. Discovery will not feature the crew of the rebooted U.S.S. Enterprise as previously speculated; instead, it may feature multiple crews. Plus, each episode of the series may contribute to a season-long story arc rather than having isolated plotlines as the five other TV series do.
The show is set to air in January 2017, but there's a problem: While the pilot episode will be on CBS, the rest of the episodes will be on CBS' online subscription streaming service, All Access, as well as Netflix. Star Trek has an incredibly large and loyal fanbase, so why is CBS putting a paywall between devoted fans who don't want to subscribe to a streaming service and the first new Star Trek TV series since 2005? Does it want to alienate existing fans and turn off potential new ones who just need an introduction to the Star Trek universe to become interested? Or is it just interested in using the name of Star Trek to bolster its own All Access?
Despite all that, Star Trek: Discovery is an exciting new development in the world of Star Trek. Paywall or no, the series will bring new life and interesting new characters and locations to the Star Trek universe. So make sure to look out for the pilot episode in January 2017 on CBS, and stay tuned right here as I post about the first new Star Trek series since The E Club's creation!
Update, August 11: It was just announced that the series will take place 10 years before the 5-year mission of TOS, will feature a female lead (who is not the captain), will delve into a significant event in the TOS era, and will feature aliens, robots, and a regular gay character. For more details, check out the StarTrek.com report.
Check out the official trailer below: