Alex Kurtzman on How the Star Trek Universe is Set to Thrive

MAY 13, 2019 - After over a decade without Star Trek on television, the franchise’s newest addition, Star Trek: Discovery, thundered into our lives in the autumn of 2017. A timid introduction it was not: with a bold, TV-MA rating, streaming-only access, and progressive, serialized storytelling, Discovery was the show on which fans and producers alike pinned their hopes for the future of the franchise.

Now it appears that Star Trek is running full steam ahead, with the creation, last week, of a Star Trek Global Franchise Group at CBS, along with several other shows either ordered or in production. The LA Times this week bring us an interview with franchise head Alex Kurtzman, to discuss the exciting new future of Star Trek.

Kurtzman gives some of the credit for his positive outlook to advents in streaming technology, saying, “The fact that the streaming world has eliminated the lines between movies and television allows for big universes like ‘Star Trek’ to thrive in a way they really couldn’t have before.”

The piece points out that in addition to Star Trek: Discovery, the two new animated series in the works, the Picard show, and the forthcoming Section 31 show, Kurtzman says that there are still other projects that haven’t even been announced yet. The LA Times says, “For a franchise that never had more than two series on the air at the same time before, that’s a trip through the wormhole.”