New Star Trek Series in Works? Nope

An article from TrekWeb proposes the possibility of a new Star Trek television series that not only would take place in the original "Prime" universe but take place after Voyager. The story is from David Foster and his 1947 Entertainment. To start, let’s just put this idea to bed. Don't get me wrong, I would love the idea of a new TV series in the Prime Universe but it is not happening, at least right now.

There are several reasons not to believe it. One, the news would not come from someone who has produced nothing mainstream and is most likely telling this story hoping to gain interest in his company. Another is the focus by Paramount and the main players that would decide the franchises future is on the next movie. Their approach to Trek and its possible TV future is going to be tabled until after the sequel if not longer. In short, a TV series is probably five years or more. I am not entirely convinced that the long term plan is to abandon the Prime universe entirely outside of selling streaming video and home video discs. Hopefully I am wrong on that.

IDW November Star Trek Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for November. The month continues to story of the Star Trek 2.0 crew of the Enterprise and concludes the DC crossover where the Original Series crew meets the Legion of Superheroes. If you are interested in the books, just let your local comic book store know. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Transformers, and more click here.

Star Trek #3
Mike Johnson (w) • Stephen Molnar (a) • Tim Bradstreet, Joe Corroney (c)
The adventures of the new Enterprise crew continue in this re-imagining of the classic episode "The Galileo 7"! Mr. Spock finds himself in command of a stranded shuttle crew fighting for survival, in a tale featuring the new cast from the blockbuster STAR TREK film!
• 2 regular covers will be shipped in a 4-to-1 ratio (4 Tim Bradstreet, 1 Joe Corroney) • FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Future Birthplace of Kirk

In Star Trek lore, the legendary Captain James T. Kirk is born in Riverside, Iowa to the parents of George and Winona Kirk. This bit of lore has floated around the Star Trek books for years but was more or less codified thanks to JJ Abrams Star Trek reboot. It seems the city decided to commemorate this "historic" occasion with the pretty plaque to the left. (via Gizmodo)

All Star Trek Shows on Amazon Prime

All the Star Trek television shows are now available on Amazon Prime. This includes Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. This may sound familiar as Netflix has the same deal; the main difference is Netflix will not have DS9 until October. The cost for Amazon Prime is $79 a year which works out to $6.58 a month so cheaper than Netflix $7.99 a month fee and includes cheaper and sometimes free shipping so useful is use Amazon a lot. (via TrekMovie)

SDCC 2011 The Captains Panel

Two weeks ago William Shatner, Avery Brooks (DS9) were on hand to discuss Shatner's documentary "The Captains" at the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 where he interviewed each of the Captains from the various Star Trek series. The panel is interesting if only for the small walk down memory lane of Trek past. If you are interested in more SDCC panels you can find my linkfest of dozens more here.

Star Trek & Lucille Ball

Saturday was the 100th birthday of legendary comedienne and actress Lucille Ball. Unknown to most Trek fans is that she and her studio Desliu Productions was key to Star Trek ever making it to the air. In an article from TrekMovie.com, they get into this secret history thanks to Trek Producer Bob Justman. In short, in 1965 she had the willingness to make the series, putting up around $40,000 per episode ($275,000 today), something that was still rare in the emerging TV studio system that was just starting then. The series went to air 1966 to lackluster ratings. In ’67 Ball sold the studio to Gulf+Western the then parent company of Paramount Pictures which is why we all think of Trek as a Paramount property even though it didn't start that way. The show was cancelled after its third season but as we all know that was really just the beginning of one of the most venerated fiction in history. All in part thanks to Lucille Ball. Happy 100th.

JJ Abrams Back to Work on Star Trek

While promoting the upcoming CBS TV series Person of Interest, show executive producer JJ Abrams discussed the work being done on the sequel to Star Trek reboot that is now likely not going to hit theaters until 2013, four years after the first movie. The delay is mostly due to Abrams and the writers juggling up to four different projects at the same time forcing Star Trek on the backburner. They will say something else but their priorities for the last year tell a different story. Now it seems all parties have (mostly) cleared their plates to focus on rebooted franchise as he tells Collider about the thinking behind the delay.

Question: Are you back focused on Star Trek 2 now?
J.J. ABRAMS: Yeah. There have been a lot of things that we’ve been working on, a lot of important elements that we just know we need to really nail down and solve. Once you say, “We’re ready to go, but we don’t have a finished script yet,” or “I’m directing the thing and here’s the release date, but we don’t have a finished script,” what starts to happen – and I’ve seen this happen with a lot of friends of mine – is that you’re suddenly in production on a movie that they’re thinking, “Oh my god, we weren’t really ready. We thought we’d get it done in time, but we didn’t.” So, while we have a moment to say, “Let’s get the important things figured out,” then all the pre-production stuff will come. But, I just want to make sure that we’re putting the story and the characters, the cast and the crew, and most importantly the audience, first before we start talking about exactly which locations we’re going to be shooting at and what the wardrobe and visual effects budgets are. It just seems important that we get the important stuff right first.

Star Trek 2 Writers Continue to Talk Scripting

Between the San Diego Comic-Con and Cowboys & Aliens, the three writers of Star Trek 2 (or 12) continue to speak with the press about their work on the script for the movie and some of the pressure they feel in living up to fan expectations. Rob Orci and Alex Kurtzman talked about the fan pressure (wanting to live up to expectations) and 3D (not "thinking about 3D at this point).

Their writing partner, Damon Lindelof, spoke with MTV (video below) saying the "key relationships" and villain has been worked out. Lindelof did say no Borg but would not confirm Khan except to say that they did a "pro and Khan" list to help make a decision. They also hope to give the supporting characters a chance to "shine a little brighter".