Star Trek Producer On Why The New Series Will Get Fans Excited

♦While Star Wars fans may have received the perfect gift from Disney and J.J. Abrams in the shape of The Force Awakens, Star Trek fans haven’t been as lucky so far. The long-running, beloved geek franchise has a long, checkered history, which ranges from good to bad. Thanks to our friends over at Newsarama, there is some positive news about the new Star Trek series, which is helmed by our friend Bryan Fuller…

While the similarly-handled Star Trek films of J.J. Abrams have always been entertaining, they’ve felt a little bit like Star Wars films with Star Trek characters, but have been able to introduce a new generation to the world of Starfleet, Klingons and the USS Enterprise.  The biggest issue is that while Star Trek films have been entertaining and fun, the franchise has always thrived on the smaller screen, where stories could span multi-episode arcs or be neatly wrapped up in 42-plus minutes. While fans in the 80’s and 90’s were treated to The Next Generation, the fantastic Deep Space 9 and later Voyager, the 00’s featured the awful Enterprise, leading to the franchise disappearing from the small screen altogether. Now, after over ten years of not having a Star Trek series running, CBS have decided to bring a new series into the world, existing in the same continuity as The Original Series.

Of course, this new series is set to be digital-only, trying to lure fans into their CBS All Access service, which has raised some eyebrows. Newsrama spoke with Executive Producer for the new Star Trek series, Trevor Roth, and he seems to understand that Star Trek is incredibly important to its fans and what the franchise has always been about; the characters and their journeys.

But I think at the end of the day there are certain tenets of Star Trek that make it what it is. I think that continuing of those tenants and create a cast that are truly relatable to people, regardless of their species and alien makeup. For those character to go through journeys that are relevant to people, for us to create a show that is a smart show and something we can be proud of, yet still entertain people.

Because, yes, Star Trek has always featured cool technology, crazy aliens and tense situations, but what really made every iteration of Star Trek truly shine were the characters. So hopefully the new version will remain true to this core.