Star Trek Will Return to TV in 2017

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The Starship Enterprise is taking flight once more.

This morning, CBS announced that producer Alex Kurtzman—who helped reboot the Star Trek film series with 2009's Star Trek and 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness—will reimagine the classic sci-fi TV show as a brand-new series for CBS All Access, the television network's digital subscription VOD and streaming channel.

The original Star Trek debuted on September 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons. Its popularity later inspired an animated series, a slew of feature films, and several TV spin-offs. According to a CBS press release, the reboot "will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966."

The new Star Trek is slated to premiere on CBS in January 2017, "then boldly go where no first-run Star Trek series has gone before—directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access," said CBS Digital Media executive vice president Marc DeBevoise.

The announcement is particularly timely, as the original series readies to celebrate a milestone next year. "There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” noted David Stapf, president of CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

Talk about a franchise that knows how to “live long and prosper.” 

[h/t The Hollywood Reporter]