New ‘Star Trek’ series recruits Bryan Fuller as co-creator and showrunner

Back in November of 2015, CBS announced plans to launch a “totally new” “Star Trek” series set to premiere in January 2017. Today the new series has boldly announced the recruiting of a new co-creator: Bryan Fuller.

CBS announced (via news release) that Fuller has been drafted to the new “Star Trek” deck as co-creator and showrunner. He’ll be working alongside executive producer Alex Kurtzman (who was a producer and writer for the newly rebooted “Star Trek” movies).

This is all rather quite perfect because Fuller, of “Hannibal,” “Dead Like Me,” “Pushing Daisies” fame, got his start by sending spec scripts to “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” After he was snatched up by “Deep Space Nine,” Fuller ventured on to “Star Trek: Voyager.” Truly the Trekker cred runs deep with Fuller. As you can see from his enthusiastic tweets about his new role as captain of the new “Trek” series.

“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’s said in the release. “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.”

The wholly new series will premiere on CBS and then move to CBS’ digital subscription service (CBS All Access). The series has already promised to introduce new characters, plots and worlds but makes it relatively clear that it’s not tied in any way to the newly rebooted “Star Trek” films. Rather, this is a continuation of Gene Roddenberry’s world.