CBS Wants Star Trek TV Shows Airing All Year Long

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CBS hopes to have different Star Trek shows airing on CBS All Access all year long. CBS took a huge risk with Star Trek: Discovery as it was supposed to be the first series produced and developed for the company's new subscription streaming service. But due to several setbacks, including the exit of show's co-creator Bryan Fuller on October 2016, The Good Wife offshoot, The Good Fight, took over its spot being the first scripted project for the video-on-demand (VOD) platform. For a time, many were worried about Discovery, especially given that it's All Access' crowning jewel. Fortunately, it received generally positive reviews from both critics and fans, calling it a solid addition to the beloved franchise after just one season.

With Discovery taking off, it only makes sense that CBS is looking to capitalize on the show's popularity with possible spinoffs for every character introduced in the Sonequa Martin-Green-led project. While that may sound a bit too much, it fits well with the company's hopes of having a different Star Trek TV show airing on All Access for the whole year.

In an interview with Deadline, CBS TV Studios president David Stapf revealed his plans with regard to expanding the Star Trek lore via new shows on CBS All Access.

My goal is that there should be a Star Trek something on all the time on All Access. We know it draws an audience, and Discovery has done quite well.

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CBS streaming service president and COO Marc DeBevoise backed Stapf comment saying that they'd "love to have a second one." The plan is nothing new considering the slew of interconnected franchises on various media formats. But Star Trek fans can be assured that CBS is by no means doing this for the sake of having their own cinematic universe. Stapf pointed out that they plan to learn how to better execute their plans because they "want to do it right."

So far, Stapf and his team are doing a good job handling the Star Trek franchise especially when one considers fans' generally positive reception to news about Sir Patrick Stewart returning to reprise his role as the iconic Jean-Luc Picard. It had been quite a while since rumors of Stewart return to the sci-fi franchise started swirling around. But instead of coming back to join Discovery as most theorized, fans will reunite with Picard via a brand new TV show exclusive to CBS All Access as part of producer Alex Kurtzman's deal to expand the franchise.