The New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series Lines Up Its First Director
2016 is a good year forStar Trekfans, with a new movie in theaters right now and a gigantic art show tribute at Comic-Con anda new documentary about Leonard Nimoyarriving in just a few months. This whole 50th anniversary thing is pretty cool. However, the most intriguing newTrekdevelopment is the most mysterious and it won’t arrive until 2017. I am, of course, taking aboutBryan Fuller’s newStar Trektelevision series, which presumably has a title and a premise, even if we don’t know anything about them yet. What we do know is the first director attached to series, as CBS has hiredDavid Semelto helm the first episode of the show.
We already knew thatVincenzo Natali, the director ofCubeandSplicewho previously collaborated with Fuller on six episodes of NBC’s late and greatHannibal,was attached to the newStar Trekseries as a producing director. But we also knew he wouldn’t be directing the debut episode, which is where Semel enters the picture.
Deadlinereported Semel’s hiring and it makes sense: he has a deal with CBS and what certainly looks like a strong relationship, having helmed the pilot episodes forMadam Secretary,Code Black,Pure Genius,Person of Interest, andIntelligence. Outside of CBS, he has helmed the pilot episodes ofHeroes,The Man in the High Castle,No Ordinary Family,American Dreams,Legends, and the upcoming seriesGoliath. His other credits includeBuffy the Vampire Slayer,Angel,Roswell,Boston Public,House, andHannibal(giving him that Bryan Fuller connection).
In other words, Semel may not be the headline-friendly, flashy choice that you often see working on many modern television shows but he is the kind of experienced television veteran who helps shows find their footing in their early days.Star Trekhas made a habit of consistently employing talented journeyman over the decades and Semel sounds like a safe and level-headed addition to that legacy.
We can expect to learn a lot more about the newStar Trekseries at tomorrow’s big Comic-Con panel, which will unite actors and creatives from across the franchise’s 50-year history. At the very least, we can probably look forward to a title reveal and a little information about whatever starship crew will be at the center of the action and what period on theTrektimeline they occupy.
The new series will debut on CBS inJanuary 2017before becoming aCBS All Accessexclusive, which is the kind of dirty trick that will get me to try out CBS All Access.
