CBS Announces New ‘Star Trek’ Series Featuring Enterprise’s Original Crew
The next Star Trek TV series will explore familiar territory: The U.S.S. Enterprise.
CBS All Access announced today that their growing lineup of Star Trek series will soon add another spinoff: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which, according to the press release, “will feature fan favorites from season two of Star Trek: Discovery, Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock, and Number One in the decade before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.” The series premiere is written by Akiva Goldsman, with a story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. There’s a certain irony in calling a prequel about characters we have already met on a ship we already know Strange New Worlds, but let’s allow it.
CBS All Access does have other unrelated originals, but it’s increasingly becoming the home of all things Trek. The streaming service launched with Star Trek: Discovery, a prequel to the original Star Trek. Then they added Star Trek: Picard, starring Patrick Stewart as his beloved character from Star Trek: The Next Generation. And they’re also working on an animated comedy show called Star Trek: Lower Decks that’s expected to premiere later in 2020.
The Enterprise crew seen in Discovery were inspired by the characters featured in the original Star Trek pilot, which starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, Majel Barrett as Number One, and Leonard Nimoy as Spock. The original pilot was not accepted, and so the show was retooled for a second pilot, which is where William Shatner’s Captain Kirk and most of the rest of the familiar Enterprise team first appeared. Much of the footage from that original pilot, “The Cage,” was later incorporated into the Season One episode “The Menagerie.” Pike’s Enterprise crew have also appeared in various comics and novels, but this will be their first ongoing series all their own. May they live long and etc. etc. etc.
Gallery — Shocking TV Twists Fans Actually Predicted: