Bryan Fuller Named Showrunner of New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series
Space: the final frontier…or, at least, the latest for Bryan Fuller. Fresh off of the (devastating) cancelation of “Hannibal” at NBC and in conjunction with another gig as showrunner of “American Gods” for Starz, the veteran TV scribe has now been named the showrunner for CBS‘s upcoming “Star Trek” TV series.
Fuller announced the news with the below tweet:
“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. Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire,” Fuller said in a statement. “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.”
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Fuller previously wrote for “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager,” making the deal a return to his earliest television roots. Set to debut in 2017, the new series will air a preview on CBS in January before streaming exclusively via the network’s on-demand platform, CBS All Access. Alex Kurtzman, who wrote and produced the “Star Trek” film reboots, is set to serve as an executive producer on the new series.
“Bringing ‘Star Trek’ back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan’s devoted care,” Kurtzman said in a statement. “His encyclopedic knowledge of ‘Trek’ canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.”
“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,” David Stapf, President of CBS Television Studios added. “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.”
Fuller’s deal is not expected to affect his duties or the rollout of Starz’s “American Gods,” which is also expected in 2017.
