THE FANDOM ZONE 032: "Haunted" is Up!

"I’m not a bad guy.  A little hardscrabble, sure, but...uh...I’m on the side of the angels, mate.  At least when they're not busy trying to screw me over."
-- John Constantine, Arrow: "Haunted"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of Dangerous Habits: The Constantine Podcast The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x04 -- "Here's Not Here"
Gotham 2x07 -- "Mommy's Little Monster"
Supergirl 1x02: "Stronger Together"
The Flash 2x05: "The Darkness and the Light"
iZombie 2x05: "Love & Basketball"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x06 -- "Among Us Hide..."
Arrow 4x05: "Haunted"

We talk about things like how we really missed our Dangerous Habits theme music, Karen & I throwing down in the Barrage in the Garage, Karen's love of Walking Dead character studies, my disappointment at dragging out the resolution of the Glenn cliffhanger, animals not faring well on The Walking Dead, saying goodbye to Penguin's mom, Silver St. Cloud's total 180, the Riddler's personality merge, Supergirl's oil tanker fail, Maxwell Lord, the Hellgrammite, Earth-2 Villain of the Week, Barry & Patty's blind date, the introduction of Hawkgirl, wondering how Jesse Quick is Earth-2 Wells' daughter, Major finally cleaning up his act, Coulson's favorite burger place, the Lash revelation, wondering if John Constantine will return once again, the Orb of Horus, why The CW should dump Supernatural for Constantine Season 2, another weekly review from Justina, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review all-new episodes of The Walking Dead, The Flash, Supergirl, iZombie, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE WALKING DEAD Casts Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan

The Governor?  Pfffft, please.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that the AMC series The Walking Dead has cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the role of the villainous Negan.  According to the article, Negan will arrive in the Season 6 finale, directed by Greg Nicotero.

Morgan, 49, is best known to comics fans as The Comedian in Watchmen.  He's also had numerous television appearances, including Supernatural (as Papa Winchester), The Good Wife, Extant, Magic City, Grey's Anatomy, Tru Calling, Star Trek: Enterprise, Angel, and Sliders.  He'll be playing Thomas Wayne in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and appeared in the comic book films The Losers (as Clay) and Jonah Hex (as Jeb Turnbull).

Created in 2012 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, Negan first appeared in The Walking Dead #100 as the leader of a group of over fifty survivors in Washington, DC called the Saviors, who subjugate other communities in the area for resources in return for their protection against the undead.  Brutal, foul-mouthed and possessed of a twisted sense of humor, Negan carries a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire he named Lucille.

Negan, along with fifty other Saviors, snuck up on Rick Grimes' group and subdued Rick by surprise.  They lined up all of the survivors from the van (Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Michonne, and Heath), telling them that he wanted revenge for the Saviors that were killed. Without an agreement from Rick, Negan made a deal that everything belonging to the Alexandria Safe-Zone now belonged to the Saviors.  After a long talk about the new world order and whom he should beat to death using Lucille, he finally chose his victim at random -- Glenn.  

Maggie panicked, as Glenn attempted talking Negan out of it.  Negan ignored him and smashed Glenn's skull in by slamming Lucille down hard on Glenn's head.  Negan laughed and when Glenn attempted to get to his feet, the former remarked that "he's taking it like a champ" before swinging Lucille at Glenn, dislocating his jaw and beating Glenn to death. Negan told the mourning and crying group that the Saviors would be back in one week to collect half of everything that the Alexandria Safe-Zone owned, or there would be more killings.  Rick vowed that he would avenge Glenn and kill Negan.  Negan laughed at this, beat Rick with his bare hands and turned around, leaving the survivors with Glenn's corpse.

The Walking Dead airs on AMC Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST.

DAMN Good Movies -- SPECTRE

This may be the end of an era.

Yes, time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on Spectre, the latest in the James Bond film series.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...Time to report for duty...

Three years after the very successful fiftieth anniversary outing Skyfall, we finally see the return of MI6 agent OO7, once again under the direction of Sam Mendes.  The infamous 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack revealed several memos claiming that the film was over budget, later reported to be somewhere between $245 to $300 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made.  Early drafts of the script written by (also returning) John Logan were leaked as well, along with memos of Sony's frustration with the project. Eon Productions later issued a statement confirming the leak of what they called "an early version of the screenplay."

Once again, Mendes wants to depict Bond as a character drama rather than a thriller or action movie, only this time to much less effect.  We have another two and a half-hour running time that feels so painfully slllooooooooow at times, as we see characters standing around in lengthy thoughtful moments, or walking (and walking, and walking) in between fleeting sequences of action.  The film could've easily lost a good twenty minutes in the editing room and would've been much better off for it.

Returning composer Thomas Newman doesn't help either, churning out another unremarkable score that feels nothing like Bond and more like you're listening to a period drama.  The only hints of Bond's traditional theme come at very beginning during the updated gunbarrel opening, and at the very end during the closing credits as people start dashing out of the theater to beat parking lot traffic.

We start off with a superb extended tracking shot in Mexico during the Day of the Dead festival, following Bond as he leaves the costumed crowd below with a female companion, goes up to her hotel room, removes his skeletal mask and costume, climbs out of the window with a sniper rifle, and walks along various rooftops until he arrives to take out a man named Marco Sciarra, who is plotting with some other men to blow up a stadium.  This leads to an exciting brawl in a mid-air helicopter swirling dangerously over the huge crowd of festival goers below, and results in Bond obtaining Sciarra's all-too-familiar octopus ring that plays an important part throughout the story.

So far, so good, right?  This takes us to the opening credits, with Sam Smith's mopey and disappointing "The Writing's on the Wall" making a lot of us really miss Adele.  The visuals, meanwhile, are a retrospective of Daniel Craig's era as James Bond -- Vesper Lynd, Le Chiffre, Judi Dench as M, Mr. White, and so on -- hinting at a connection since Craig debuted in 2006's Casino Royale.  And perhaps...an ending?

Returning to London, Bond is removed from field duty indefinitely by the current M, who finds himself up against Max Denbigh, a loathsome member of the British government seizing power after a merger of MI5 and MI6, referred to as "C."  C, it turns out, is pushing his "Nine Eyes" intelligence cooperation agreement between nine countries, closes down the "OO" section, and prepares to move everything to his glossy new Centre for National Security building.

From there, we follow Bond as he travels to Rome, against M's direct order to remain in England, which leads him to a shadowy meeting of a shadowy organization behind everything led by a shadowy figure.  Anyone who paid attention to the film's title and watched a Bond movie from the Sean Connery era or On Her Majesty's Secret Service knows exactly what's coming, even with the pathetic attempt as misdirection by naming "Franz Oberhauser" as Christoph Waltz's character.  I gather the Bond producers learned absolutely nothing from the Benedict Cumberbatch reveal in Star Trek Into Darkness.

After a nifty little car chase with Mr. Hinx through the streets of Rome that ends with Bond pointlessly dunking his multimillion-pound car in a river, we travel to Austria, where Bond picks up Dr. Madeleine Swann, the daughter of now-dying Mr. White.  Bond has his second run-in with Mr. Hinx before meeting up with Q, who finally tells us what's with with that damn octopus ring.  Swann provides the necessary exposition about SPECTRE, which presumably still stands for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.

The trail leads to Morroco, where Bond and Swann check out Mr. White's secret room of old VHS tapes, maps and coordinates that point them to a facility in the desert.  They travel by train, which gives us Bond's third and final run-in with Jaws-wannabe Mr. Hinx.  After being met by "Oberhauser" with the prerequisite Bond villain monologuing, Bond is a given a revelation straight out of Austin Powers in Goldmember (I'm not kidding), subjected to a rather squeamish bit of torture, and quickly allowed to escape and destroy yet another supervillain facility in a remote location.

Everything shifts back to London in the final act, of course, as Bond, Swann and Bond's supporting cast team up to stop C, and a showdown with "Oberhauser" that ends smack in the middle of Westminster Bridge.  With everything neatly tied up after four films, Daniel Craig's James Bond gets the girl once again and drives off in the classic silver Aston Martin for what actually feels -- given Craig's recent public disparaging of Bond films -- for the last time.

So what about the performances from the cast and the characters they portrayed? Well, as you might expect, I have a few thoughts...

JAMES BOND -- In his fourth and possibly final outing as Bond, Daniel Craig once again gives us the secret agent driven by demons, but this time lacks any sense of actual charm. Everyone is a tool for Bond to use to achieve his personal agenda, damn any consequences, making him come off as more antihero than superhero at times.  At the end, he's left a good enough place for Craig to say farewell to the role, so we'll see if he does.

ERNST STAVRO BLOFELD/FRANZ OBERHAUSER -- Christoph Waltz pretty much reprises his character of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds here, which makes sense considering who's he's ultimately revealed to be playing.  As mentioned above, Blofeld is given a familial connection to Bond, which feels terribly forced and convenient in an attempt to make things personal between the two.  We get an explanation for Blofeld's traditional facial scar, which was nice, although the final confrontation between Blofeld and Bond feels a bit empty and hollow.

DR. MADELEINE SWANN -- Léa Seydoux is an interesting Bond Girl, at least when the script allows her to be.  Filled with daddy issues, Swann is present for all the major moments following her introduction, helping out here and there, only to keep fading back into the background.  Things do feel a bit creepy between her and Bond, however, with Daniel Craig looking more 57 years old than 47 against Seydoux's very youthful 30.

Q -- After making little more than glorified cameos in Skyfall, Ben Whishaw gets quite a bit more to do this time, as Q provides cover for Bond's unsanctioned personal crusade and after dodging bad guys in Austria, later meets up with Bond and Swann to explain the connection with Sciarra's ring and the previous three Daniel Craig movies.  He's also there as part of Bond's running crew to take down C and stop the launch of Nine Eyes.

M / GARETH MALLORY -- Now formally established as the new M, Ralph Fiennes shows us the political and bureaucratic machinations in play as a result of SPECTRE's global conspiracy.  M is under huge pressure this time, and given his own rival in C that ends in a physical struggle between the two within the CNS building.

EVE MONEYPENNY -- Naomie Harris get the short end of the script this time, relegated to visiting Bond's apartment to bring him the few surviving items from the fire at Bond's family home Skyfall, providing information that leads him to Mr. White, and being part of the aforementioned running crew.  It was very disappointing to see Moneypenny so underwritten after such a strong introduction in Skyfall.

MR. HINX -- Fresh from his fun and lively role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, Dave Bautista fills the mandatory henchman role here.  Saying absolutely nothing until his final disappearance, Hinx feels like the illegitimate offspring of Oddjob and Jaws, frustratingly silent and seemingly unkillable.  If Hinx somehow returns for the next Bond film, I definitely won't be surprised.

C / MAX DENBIGH -- Andrew Scott, as anyone who watched him as Jim Moriarty on Sherlock knows, is terrific at being someone you absolutely love to hate.  As M's rival, C is the typical "new blood" bureaucrat who steps in to force out the old gang for no good reason, smugly pointing out how outdated they are and begging someone -- anyone -- to punch him in the throat.

MR. WHITE -- Jesper Christensen returns for his final outing as Mr. White, last seen in 2008's Quantum of Solace.  White brings the Daniel Craig era full circle, connecting everything back to Casino Royale.  His final scene with Bond is gripping drama, appropriately set with the two facing off across a chessboard before White ultimately ends himself.

DEAD M CAMEO -- A very welcome surprise was a cameo from Dame Judi Dench as a recorded video message, left for Bond in the event of M's death.  The image of Dead M is shown during the showdown at the ruined MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross, taunting Bond with everything bad that happened during the Daniel Craig era was all Blofeld's doing. Yeah, that's plausible.

All in all, Spectre feels like the final chapter for Daniel Craig as James Bond...or, at least, like it should be.  It's not as satisifying as I'd hoped, especially following Skyfall and finally getting the return of Blofeld and SPECTRE, but thankfully, it's better than most critics seem to think (No surprise there).  It's a perfectly decent outing, and certainly would be a much better sendoff for Craig than Die Another Day was for Pierce Brosnan.  Most important of all though, James Bond will return...

And for those who may be wondering, here's my ranking of the twenty-four official James Bond Films:

1. Goldfinger (1964)

2. Casino Royale (2006)

3. Skyfall (2012)

4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

5. You Only Live Twice (1967)

6. GoldenEye (1995)

7. Live and Let Die (1973)

8. From Russia with Love (1963)

9. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

10. The Living Daylights (1987)

11. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

12. Spectre (2015)

13. Doctor No (1962)

14. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

15. Quantum of Solace (2008)

16. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

17. Moonraker (1979)

18. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

19. The World is Not Enough (1999)

20. Thunderball (1966)

21. Octopussy (1983)

22. Licence to Kill (1989)

23. Die Another Day (2002)

24. A View to a Kill (1985)

Your friendly neighborhood movie reviewer,

Charles

SUPERGIRL Casts Emma Caulfield as Cameron Chase

You just knew if the D.E.O. was in play, so was Chase.

The Mary Sue reports that the hit CBS series Supergirl has cast Emma Caulfield as DC Comics character Cameron Chase.  

According to the article, Chase is described as "After her father’s violent murder, Cameron Chase decided to dedicate her life to law enforcement.  Now a stern, no holds barred FBI agent, Chase’s weapons of choice are manipulation and manpower.  With little sympathy, and plenty of suspicions, she pursues her targets with ruthless determination."

Caulfield, 42, is best known as Anya Jenkins on the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and has appeared on a number of television series, including Once Upon a Time, Leverage, Prime Suspect, Robot Chicken, Monk, Nash Bridges, General Hospital, Beverly Hills 90210, Silk Stalkings, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

 

Created in 1998 by Dan Curtis Johnson and J.H. Williams III, Cameron Chase first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #550 as an agent of the Department of Extranormal Operations tasked with monitoring and neutralizing metahuman threats to national security.  A New York City resident and former private detective, Cameron was actively recruited by Director Bones, head of the DEO's Northeastern division.

Cameron was the eldest daughter of Walter Chase, a little known hero known as the Acro-Bat.  While Walter's family believed he was teaching night school, he was in reality roaming the rooftops of New York as the leader of a team called the Justice Experience.  When Cameron was about seven years of age, a scientist named Larry Trapp lost his girlfriend Caroline Anders, who was caught in a public battle between the Justice Experience and their archenemies, the House of Pain.

Trapp blamed her death on both the heroes and the villains, and decided to take his revenge on them.  His first target was the Acro-Bat.  Doctor Trap, as he was named, discovered the real name and address of the Acro-Bat, and ambushed Walter as the hero returned from patrol.  He used a pair of steel jaws he made to rip out Walter's throat, and left the body on the kitchen floor, where it was found by Cameron.  Her father's murder deeply scarred Cameron, and left her with a deep hatred of superbeings.

Over the years, she developed an affinity toward computers, learning all the tricks to cracking into systems.  Cameron attended Berkeley University in California, and she kept her college Internet account active after graduation.  She stayed in California, becoming a private detective.  Her experiences as a PI introduced her to Knob, a homeless man interested in the occult and supernatural.  On their first case together, they assisted Klarion the Witch Boy in finding his body, held by the Cult of the Broken Circle.  Klarion could have killed the two, but decided to let them continue living in case he ever needed them in the future.  Chase and Knob would encounter the cult numerous times after that, including a case involving the disappearance of Air Wave, the cousin of Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

Cameron's experiences with various superbeings brought her to the attention of the D.E.O., the government agency that oversees metahumans. Chase was assigned to the office in New York City, and had to move out of California to NY.  While driving to the city, she was sidetracked by the DEO to handle a case in Gotham involving the Claything. While there, she met the Batman, and the two quickly disliked each other.

In the current New 52 continuity, Director Bones sent Chase to Gotham City in order to capture Batwoman, who was being investigated by the D.E.O. for possible connections to a terrorist cell.  Chase attempted to arrest Batwoman during a confrontation at the Gotham waterfront, but Batwoman escaped after breaking's one of Cameron's arms.

Supergirl airs Monday nights on CBS at 8 p.m. EST.

THE FANDOM ZONE 031: "Supergirl" is Up!

"Well, you try saving a plane for the first time, see if you don't make a mess."
-- Kara Danvers, Supergirl: "Pilot"

Back on track and reasonably healthy, Karen Lindsay and I are back with a HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x03 -- "Thank You"
Gotham 2x06 -- "By Fire"
Supergirl 1x01: "Pilot"
The Flash 2x04: "The Fury of Firestorm"
iZombie 2x04: "Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x05 -- "4,722 Hours"
Arrow 4x04: "Beyond Redemption"

We talk about things like the Walking Dead gang hitting the pet shop to complain about their dead parrot, the useless Alexandrians, that BIG cliffhanger involving Glenn, why RVs are a bad idea in the Zombie Apocalypse, Alfred still hitting kids, Butch's mind control, Mayor Cobblepot, the Riddler's confession fail, introducing superpowers to Gotham, wondering what's up with Calista Flockhart's lips, The Devil Wears Prada and the Saturday Night Live sketch "Black Widow: Age of Me," Hank Henshaw the Cyborg Superman, wondering how you draw blood at super-speed, Wally West as Iris' brother and not her nephew, the greatness of King Shark, Ravi's long-overdue smackdown of Major, Simmons on the planet of blue filter, sciencing the shit out of things like The Martian, Ego the Living Planet, Arrowcave 3.0, Rutina Wesley as Lady Cop, Oliver's long-overdue smackdown of Captain Lance, another weekly review from Justina, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review all-new episodes of The Walking Dead, The Flash, Supergirl, iZombie, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

DOCTOR STRANGE Casts Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West

Variety has word that Michael Stuhlbarg is in talks for the film role of Nicodemus West in the upcoming film Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.  

West is described in the article as "a rival scientist of Strange."  Production on the film is scheduled to begin this December in London.

Stuhlbarg, 47, is best known as crime boss Arnold Rothstein on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.  His film roles include Steve Jobs, Lincoln, Men in Black 3, Hugo, and A Serious Man, while he also appeared on episodes of the TV series Ugly Betty, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Created in 2006 by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin, Nicodemus West first appeared in Doctor Strange: The Oath #1 as a doctor who operated on Doctor Strange's hands after his car accident.  While West was able to save Strange's hands, he was unable to repair the nerve damage, making it impossible for Strange to ever be a surgeon again.  West was wracked with guilt because he felt that his own incompetence as a doctor had not only destroyed Strange's hands, but that he was also indirectly guilty for the deaths of all those who Strange couldn't save.  To make amends, he desperately wanted to repair the severed nerves in Strange's hands, and therefore pursued Strange across the globe, all the way to Tibet and the Sanctorum of The Ancient One.

Sensing that West was lost in life, the Ancient One decided to teach him about the mystic arts in an effort to guide him as he had for Strange.  West was too anxious, however, to cure the ails of the world with his new-found abilities, and so he abandoned his studies too early. His first attempt to heal with magic proved successful, but his inexperience soon backfired, causing him to accidentally kill a man while trying to heal him.

When Strange's trusted assistant Wong became afflicted with an inoperable brain tumor, Doctor Strange sought out a mystical means of curing it.  In the process, Strange acquired an elixir that could potentially cure every known disease.  Timely Pharmaceuticals' Board of Directors saw this as a dire threat to their business and ordered West to find a way to take the elixir from Strange.  West hired the professional thief, Brigand, to steal it. Brigand was successful, but nearly killed Strange in the process, and also murdered a doctor that Strange had sent a sample of the elixir to for testing.

West died falling off a building during a physical duel with Strange, and when he hit the ground, the elixir washed down a drain, save for one drop.  Before his death, West managed to cast an astral form of himself and he taunted Strange with the choice he would have to make of using the drop to save Wong, or find a way to replicate it and potentially save the world.  He then briefly mused on what fate awaited himself in death, at which point West's astral form faded.  Strange wound up using the elixir to save Wong, while Night Nurse managed to find enough evidence in West's office to incriminate just about all the higher-ups of Timely Pharmaceuticals.

Doctor Strange is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 4, 2016.

CBS Announces New STAR TREK TV Series for CBS All Access

At long last, Star Trek is returning to television, but it seems there's a catch...

CBS Television Studios officially confirmed there will be a new Star Trek television series debuting on the digital subscription service CBS All Access in January 2017.  The new series will not be connected to the upcoming film Star Trek Beyond, and Alex Kurtzman, co-write of the films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness will serve as executive producer.

And here's the official press release...

CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

The next chapter of the “Star Trek” franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television station live for $5.99 per month. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous “Star Trek” television series.

The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new “Star Trek” TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films “Star Trek” (2009) with Roberto Orci, and “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.

The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series SCORPION and LIMITLESS, along with Kadin and Orci, and for HAWAII FIVE-0 with Orci.

“Star Trek,” which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, is one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. The original “Star Trek” spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series. Almost half a century later, the “Star Trek” television series are licensed on a variety of different platforms in more than 190 countries, and the franchise still generates more than a billion social media impressions every month.

Born from the mind of Gene Roddenberry, the original “Star Trek” series debuted on Sept. 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons – a short run that belied the influence it would have for generations. The series also broke new ground in storytelling and cultural mores, providing a progressive look at topics including race relations, global politics and the environment.

“There is no better time to give ‘Star Trek’ fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager – CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic ‘Star Trek,’ and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

“Every day, an episode of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise is seen in almost every country in the world,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group. “We can’t wait to introduce ‘Star Trek’s’ next voyage on television to its vast global fan base.”

CBS All Access offers its customers more than 7,500 episodes from the current television season, previous seasons and classic shows on demand nationwide, as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live in more than 110 markets. Subscribers can use the service online and across devices via CBS.com, the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 10, as well as on connected devices such as Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku players and Roku TV, with more connected devices to come.

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film “Star Trek Beyond,” which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.