"Star Trek" is set to boldly go where no "Star Trek" TV series has gone before -- online streaming!



The franchise is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016, and the timing appears to be right for another small screen debut. CBS Television Studios just announced the launch of a new "Star Trek" series in January 2017. The new show will start with a special preview broadcast on CBS. But here's the New School twist: The premiere episode and all following first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the U.S. on CBS All Access, the network's digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service. This is the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access.



The show's executive producer is Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote and produced the "Star Trek" movie with Roberto Orci, and "Star Trek Into Darkness" with Orci and Damon Lindelof.



This new series will follow closely behind the next movie, "Star Trek Beyond," which opens next summer, but CBS took pains to point out that the new series is not related to the movie. There's no official title for the new TV show yet, but it will follow the original Gene Roddenberry series, an animated series, "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," "Voyager," and "Enterprise."



Are you excited to see how this turns out, or irritated that you'll have to watch it on CBS All Access?



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