Just when it seemed that Star Trek has more than enough shows in development, one more has been added to the bunch. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will follow Captain Pike, Spock, Number One, and the pre-Kirk Enterprise in some new adventures that will show some flashes of the original Star Trek.
Star Trek TV producer Alex Kurtzman revealed the ties to the original series at Deadline's Contenders Television panel. He explained the in-development series will try and emulate Star Trek in one key way:
I think Strange New Worlds, under the guidance of Henry Myers and Akiva Goldsman, it’s going to be a return in a way to [The Original Series]. We are going to do stand-alone episodes. There will be emotional serialization. There will be two-parters. There will be larger plot arcs. But it really is back to the model of alien-of-the-week, planet-of-the-week, challenge-on-the-ship-of-the-week. With these characters pre-Kirk’s Enterprise. I think what people responded so much to in all three characters is this kind of relentless optimism that they have. And that they are at the young phase of their careers.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will supposedly push optimism, which is somewhat impressive given the circumstances of the characters heading in. Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery showed Captain Pike learning of his future gruesome fate when he took possession of a Klingon Time Crystal. Anson Mount's Pike will have to reckon with that in some way, even if he was able to push it down when helping Michael Burnham and the crew.
It is interesting to see that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wants to revisit the tried and true method of classic Star Trek story arc formats. I'm sure there will be all sorts of opinions from the fandom regarding that decision, and some may think Strange New Worlds is the franchise backpedaling away from the serialized storylines. I'm not sure it's backpedaling considering both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard are still around and will likely still explore serialized stories.
Alex Kurtzman knows what the real strategy is, though I personally believe making Star Trek: Strange New Worlds more in line with the format of classic Star Trek is a good call. Star Trek: Discovery's main controversy was how far it leaned away from the classic series, despite being set within the era. If audiences are interested in a classic Star Trek show, it only makes sense to give it to them.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently in development over at CBS All Access. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happenings in the Star Trek franchise, and for more news in television and movies. Be sure to check out our fall TV premiere schedule for what's on the way to the small screen.
