CBS has announced that Star Trek: Discovery will now premiere in May 2017 instead of January 2017. The pres release reads, "The highly anticipated STAR TREK: DISCOVERY will now launch in May 2017. The new premiere date is driven by the belief of the creative team that this gives the show the appropriate time for delivery of the highest quality, premium edition of the first new “Star Trek” TV series in over a decade."
Executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller further explained, "Bringing ‘Star Trek’ back to television carries a responsibility and mission: to connect fans and newcomers alike to the series that has fed our imaginations since childhood. We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don’t result in compromised quality. Before heading into production, we evaluated these realities with our partners at CBS and they agreed: ‘Star Trek’ deserves the very best, and these extra few months will help us achieve a vision we can all be proud of."
Following its premiere on CBS, subsequent episodes will only be available on the CBS All Access streaming platform. Will there be enough Star Trek fans willing to pay the All Access subscription fee for additional seasons? Or will Star Trek: Discovery become widely pirated?
ABOUT STAR TREK
Star Trek premiered in 1966 as an original science-fiction televsion program from created by Gene Roddenberry for NBC. It went on to air for three seasons. The Original Series followed the adventures of James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise as they explored the galaxy in the 23rd Century. To date, there have been 6 different televsion programs chronicling the exploits of several different starship crews, as well as 13 live-action films. In 2009, director J.J. Abrams rebooted the film franchise and established the alternate, Kelvin Timeline.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY DEVELOPMENT: Star Trek: Discovery was first announced in November 2015, with Bryan Fuller joining as executive producer in February 2016. The series will be set 10 years before the events of the first Star Trek television series and will follow an all new starship crew. The first season will consist of 13 episodes, with its premiere airing on CBS and all subsequent episodes airing on the CBS All Access streaming platform. The series will reportedly follow a female lieutenant commander who serves aboard the starship Discovery. The first season will have a season-long storyline that recounts a major event in Star Trek lore that’s been heavily discussed over the years but never told on TV or film.