The prospect of a new Star Trek series in 2017 under the guidance of Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, American Gods) and Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) is enough to make the thorniest Trekkie perk up with excitement. By the time the series premieres next summer, it will have been 12 years since the last iteration of TV-Trek, Enterprise went off the air in 2005. What is yet to be revealed about this new series is what timeline it will take place in. Will it be a part of the NuTrek created by JJ Abrams in the 2009 reboot? Will it be a continuation of The Next Generation? Or will it be a Nu Next Generation in the current movie timeline?
At this point there are more questions than answers, but one thing is certain … both CBS and Viacom think that Star Trek fans are fucking idiots.
In a recent interview, as reported by TrekCore, CBS Corporation President Les Moonves elaborated on the status of the new series and the current state of affairs between CBS and Viacom. As it stands right now CBS owns the television rights and Viacom has the movie rights (and they have historically not played well together).
Moonves went on to say that “our deal with them [Viacom] is that we had to wait six months after their film is launched so there wouldn’t be a confusion in the marketplace”
Confusion.
In.
The.
Marketplace.
Star Trek fans are many things; but they are not easily confused. It was pretty easy to balance watching Star Trek: First Contact at theaters, TNG on SciFi and Deep Space 9 on UPN at the same time. As a consumer I was able to navigate the different incarnation of my favorite franchise AT THE SAME TIME.
The latest film, Star Trek Beyond is due in theaters later this summer and apparently CBS can’t roll out the new series until after the home release which is oddly frustrating. What’s even more frustrating is how this agreement will affect the future films (the cast does have an option for a fourth film) and the ongoing series. I for one, am confident in my ability to enjoy both iterations of Star Trek without an iota of confusion.