Star Trek Head Explains Plans for Expanding Universe

There has never been more Star Trek television than there is right now. Since CBS All Access began revitalizing the TV franchise with Alex Kurtzman's guidance, the franchise's presence has grown to include Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks, with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Prodigy on the way. That's more Star Trek in the works at the same time now than at any time in its more than 50-year history. There's also Star Trek: Short Treks, the now Emmy-nominated series of shorts spotlighting characters and themes from across the Star Trek spectrum, which are watchable for free for a limited time. While speaking to Deadline about Short Trek's Emmy nod, Kurtzman also discussed his goals and plans for continuing to expand the Star Trek Universe with new shows.

"There are quite a few, and I think the idea for us is that it isn't just about expansion for the sake of expansion," Kurtzman says. "It's actually about exploring different corners of the universe, in the same way that the Short Treks explore different corners of the world of Star Trek, the idea being that each show should have its own unique identity, and you should not be thinking that you can get from one show, what you can get in another.

"Everything has to feel different, unique, special and specific, and yet you want it all to be of a piece, and tie into the larger Trek universe," he continues. "So, it's been a very coordinated effort, on a lot of people's parts, to make sure that the shows feel different, and are about different things, and are saying different things, and feel different, and look different, and sound different. So, that's been really fun and really rewarding."

In a previous interview about Short Treks' Emmy nomination, Kurtzman discussed how Star Trek is continuing to operate during the pandemic, hinting at future seasons of Discovery and more. "We've been running all of our writers' rooms on Zoom, and the silver lining is that we've been actually been able to get quite ahead on the scripts for upcoming seasons of Discovery, and Picard, and Strange New Worlds, which is going to be shooting next year, and Section 31."

Star Trek: Lower Decks is currently airing its first season with new episodes streaming Thursdays on CBS All Access. Star Trek: Discovery will begin its third season on CBS All Access on October 15th.