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Star Trek TV series 2017 release date: Bryan Fuller name co-creator and showrunner

He wrote episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager

Christopher Hooton
Wednesday 10 February 2016 09:19 GMT
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Bryan Fuller will be steering the rudder of Star Trek’s new TV series, the man behind Pushing Daisies and Hannibal.

He will serve as co-creator and showrunner, according to Variety, and executive producer alongside the recent Star Trek films’ Alex Kurtzman.

Fuller is a long-time fan of the franchise, and began his career writing for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

This, coupled with the critical acclaim for Pushing Daisies and Hannibal (despite their early cancellation), is pretty good news for Trekkies. It could certainly have been a lot worse.

“My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls,” Fuller commented.

“Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire. It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

Can Fuller recapture the glory of the Picard years?

What’s worrying however is the show’s distribution method.

The new series will open on CBS in January 2017, before moving to the network’s All Access online streaming service, which is struggling to find people willing to stump up the monthly fee.

Star Trek fans will be hoping for something a little more cerebral with the new series, after the franchise became more action/CGI-orientated with JJ Abrams’ movies.

“For the past 50 years, Star Trek has been a groundbreaking franchise that not only changed the landscape of television, but made a significant impact on pop culture,” commented David Stapf, president of CBS Television Studios.

“When we began discussions about the series returning to television, we immediately knew that Bryan Fuller would be the ideal person to work alongside Alex Kurtzman to create a fresh and authentic take on this classic and timeless series. Bryan is not only an extremely gifted writer, but a genuine fan of Star Trek. “Having someone at the helm with his gravitas who also understands and appreciates the significance of the franchise and the worldwide fan base was essential to us.”

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