5 key questions on the new series

[Tai]

1. Who will be "The Powers That Be?" Will it be Orci and Kurtzman? Will it be someone higher up the food chain? Will Bad Robot be involved?

2. How will CBS Television (Or Digital Television) cooperate with Paramount? We know Paramount wants a billion dollar Avengers-like franchise. Paramount wants at least another film out of Chris Pine and Co. Now that there's a new series, how will these two corporate siblings behave when sharing the Star Trek pie?

3. Which era of Star Trek will it be set in? Prime timeline, JJ-Timeline, Next Generation Era? Prequel? Thousands of years later? There's merits and drawbacks to each.

4. Per episode budget? It should have a high budget for effects like Agents of Shield, Daredevil and Supergirl. That puts it in the $3-4 million dollar range. These days a genre series lasts about 18-20 episodes per season. Would Star Trek work better over a long season or as a limited run serial with 12 episodes?

5. How far into multimedia will this series reach? It finally seems like CBS is actually doing something for the 50th Anniversary. A huge marketing campaign for the new show + the new film will put Star Trek back into the pop culture limelight. Will we see the expansive empire that JJ Abrams envisioned, but was disappointed to be denied when he signed on in 2008-- a vast, cohesive multimedia empire to include books, comics, animated series, video games, toys etc?

The answers will determine the fate of Star Trek for, well, the next generation.

 

[AviTrek]

1. Who will be "The Powers That Be?" Will it be Orci and Kurtzman? Will it be someone higher up the food chain? Will Bad Robot be involved?

2. How will CBS Television (Or Digital Television) cooperate with Paramount? We know Paramount wants a billion dollar Avengers-like franchise. Paramount wants at least another film out of Chris Pine and Co. Now that there's a new series, how will these two corporate siblings behave when sharing the Star Trek pie?

3. Which era of Star Trek will it be set in? Prime timeline, JJ-Timeline, Next Generation Era? Prequel? Thousands of years later? There's merits and drawbacks to each.

4. Per episode budget? It should have a high budget for effects like Agents of Shield, Daredevil and Supergirl. That puts it in the $3-4 million dollar range. These days a genre series lasts about 18-20 episodes per season. Would Star Trek work better over a long season or as a limited run serial with 12 episodes?

5. How far into multimedia will this series reach? It finally seems like CBS is actually doing something for the 50th Anniversary. A huge marketing campaign for the new show + the new film will put Star Trek back into the pop culture limelight. Will we see the expansive empire that JJ Abrams envisioned, but was disappointed to be denied when he signed on in 2008-- a vast, cohesive multimedia empire to include books, comics, animated series, video games, toys etc?

The answers will determine the fate of Star Trek for the... next generation.

1) Kurtzman and his own production company. It was reported in all the press releases. There is no connection with Orci or Bad robot.

4) All streaming shows have been more like 10-13 episodes. Walking Dead is 16. Game of Thrones is 10. You can't compare this to a broadcast show. My money is on 10-13 like Daredevil and Man in the High Castle.

5) They said the show is not connected to the new movie. Bad Robot has nothing to do with it. I'm sure CBS will market the show on CBS and use it to drive subscribers. But there won't be some grand cross-promotional deal with Paramount for an un-connected movie.

 

[Tai]

I've been reading some of this, but I haven't seen reports where it says it's not connected to the movie yet.

Not having Orci or Bad Robot involved is JUST FINE with me. It's surprising though how far out of favor Orci has fallen in so little time. He went from helming the new movie and thus ostensibly controlling the franchise to not being involved in either the film or television side.

 

[Campe]

1. Who will be "The Powers That Be?" Will it be Orci and Kurtzman? Will it be someone higher up the food chain? Will Bad Robot be involved?

Kurtzman and someone named Heather Kadin will be serving as the EPs. BR and Orci are not connected at this time.

2. How will CBS Television (Or Digital Television) cooperate with Paramount? We know Paramount wants a billion dollar Avengers-like franchise. Paramount wants at least another film out of Chris Pine and Co. Now that there's a new series, how will these two corporate siblings behave when sharing the Star Trek pie?

Obviously we don't know. But the logical argument is this: The Prime Star Trek films had diminishing returns at the box office. The Abramsverse made a lot of money under Paramount and Bad Robot's control. It would stand to reason that CBS and Paramount would do well to stay in each other's graces. Plus, ya know, CBS really owns all things Star Trek. Paramount just licenses it.

3. Which era of Star Trek will it be set in? Prime timeline, JJ-Timeline, Next Generation Era? Prequel? Thousands of years later? There's merits and drawbacks to each.

Again, we don't know. And again, I would be hard-pressed to believe that it would be back in the Primeverse. I'm guessing it'll be a side story to the Abramsverse. OR something completely new.

4. Per episode budget? It should have a high budget for effects like Agents of Shield, Daredevil and Supergirl. That puts it in the $3-4 million dollar range. These days a genre series lasts about 18-20 episodes per season. Would Star Trek work better over a long season or as a limited run serial with 12 episodes?

I would imagine 10-13 episodes per season. I can't foresee them going a whole 22 on digital only, but I could be wrong. I think $4-5 million is reasonable. They would need other streams of revenue otherwise. But that brings up the question to those who know: Does CBS All Access have commercials? If so, that might change things up on the budget a bit.

5. How far into multimedia will this series reach? It finally seems like CBS is actually doing something for the 50th Anniversary. A huge marketing campaign for the new show + the new film will put Star Trek back into the pop culture limelight. Will we see the expansive empire that JJ Abrams envisioned, but was disappointed to be denied when he signed on in 2008-- a vast, cohesive multimedia empire to include books, comics, animated series, video games, toys etc?

Let's not put all of our eggs in one basket. I'm sure the marketing campaign into the new series will be considerable, across online, CBS and The CW. But, let's see how the first season does and if it gets a second. Then we'll talk big sweeping plans for the future of the series.

 

[AviTrek]

To quote the official press release:

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond, which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-series/

 

[Campe]

To quote the official press release:

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond, which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-series/

"Is not related" could mean a few different things.

• It could mean that it's going back to the Primeverse. Sure. That's a possibility. But, I think it's the least likely scenario.
• It could mean that it will be set in the same universe but not deal with any of the characters or situations involved in the story told in Beyond. Paramount has made a mint with the two Abramsverse movies. Why wouldn't CBS want to capitalize on that?
• It could mean that it is going to be something completely different. They may be bold and really making it a multiverse.

 

[Tarek71]

Yes, not related to Star Trek Beyond could simply mean that it is not connected in terms of plot. Whether it is set in the NuVerse timeline is a different question. As usual it is the 3 choices of 1. Prime, 2. JJverse or 3. New reboot universe.

I have no idea which it is.

 

[Tai]

"Not Related" does leave some room for ambiguity. I'd personally be ok with a spin-off of the JJ-Verse that didn't deal with the Enterprise crew, like a USS Constitution/Exeter etc kind of series.

Ideally though I'd like a story set in the TNG prime-verse. The thing was, Kurtzman had talked about string theory and how eventually the timeline will try to correct itself, and that's what I assumed would happen, that at some point the divergent JJ-verse would merge back into the prime universe. I swear he went in depth in an early interview after Star Trek 2009 premiered.

Still, Star Trek really would benefit from a Marvel Cinematic Universe approach where the TV show and movie were connected and it had a big overarching story.

 

[Count Zero]

To quote the official press release:

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond, which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-series/

"Is not related" could mean a few different things.

• It could mean that it's going back to the Primeverse. Sure. That's a possibility. But, I think it's the least likely scenario.
• It could mean that it will be set in the same universe but not deal with any of the characters or situations involved in the story told in Beyond. Paramount has made a mint with the two Abramsverse movies. Why wouldn't CBS want to capitalize on that?
• It could mean that it is going to be something completely different. They may be bold and really making it a multiverse.

Personally, I think it will be a mix of 2 and 3. I expect it to look like the Abramsverse but not have any direct references to the events in that 'verse so that the show will basically be its own thing but have the option of cameos from the movies. At least in the beginning.

 

[Tomalak]

The TOS films were "not related" to TNG when they were in production concurrently. I imagine it'll be something similar here, with films and TV series kept apart, but mutually supporting and promoting each other where appropriate.

 

[eyeresist]

1. Who will be "The Powers That Be?" Will it be Orci and Kurtzman? Will it be someone higher up the food chain? Will Bad Robot be involved?

I wouldn't rule JJ out as a producer just yet. He has his fingers in a lot of pies, and his contacts and experience would be valuable. No word on Orci yet, but my guess is he might be in the writers' room. If he is constrained by a series format he could do well.

2. How will CBS Television (Or Digital Television) cooperate with Paramount? We know Paramount wants a billion dollar Avengers-like franchise. Paramount wants at least another film out of Chris Pine and Co. Now that there's a new series, how will these two corporate siblings behave when sharing the Star Trek pie?

I don't see any major conflict. There may be some cross-promotional appearances to look forward to.

3. Which era of Star Trek will it be set in? Prime timeline, JJ-Timeline, Next Generation Era? Prequel? Thousands of years later? There's merits and drawbacks to each.

I think it unlikely it'll be set during the Nu movies, as that would potentially create story conflicts (I don't think anyone wants the series to feature a "B" team as in Agents of SHIELD). My guess is it'll be set a few years after the Nu movies. There won't be much prime/nu conflict as the period is not well known, and either way they will be featuring new ships, aliens and characters.

4. Per episode budget? It should have a high budget for effects like Agents of Shield, Daredevil and Supergirl. That puts it in the $3-4 million dollar range. These days a genre series lasts about 18-20 episodes per season. Would Star Trek work better over a long season or as a limited run serial with 12 episodes?

It's a space show, and I think there'll be an expectation that it will at least occasionally show some movie-level spectacle, so it could be relatively expensive. OTOH, cost of SFX has come down. Provided they are clever in how they use their assets, my guess is eps will be slightly above ENT eps - adjusting for inflation, of course. Given the expense, and the online model, don't expect a baggy 24 episode run. It should be a fairly tight story told over a dozen-ep run.

5. How far into multimedia will this series reach? It finally seems like CBS is actually doing something for the 50th Anniversary. A huge marketing campaign for the new show + the new film will put Star Trek back into the pop culture limelight. Will we see the expansive empire that JJ Abrams envisioned, but was disappointed to be denied when he signed on in 2008-- a vast, cohesive multimedia empire to include books, comics, animated series, video games, toys etc?

I sure hope we'll see a SW level of popularity. But Trek is ultimately about rule-followers, organisation men, and that's just not as sexy as rebels and loners. Realistically, I hope we'll get a few breakout characters for kids to dress as on Halloween, but multimedia success will have a ceiling.