The new Star Trek series

It's been a while since we saw Star Trek on TV. With the success of the new Star Trek films, CBS don't have much appetite for creating a new series, but will fortunes turn the tide in 2016?

With the 50th Anniversary of the Star Trek franchise in 2016, and the 3rd 'Star Trek' film being released (in theory) the same year it would make sense to use the milestone opportunity to launch a 'new frontier' on TV.

TV audiences haven't disappeared for Star Trek, but there is a saturation point and with the big blockbuster releases coming out every few years, it doesn't make sense to overload the Trek universe. However, it might be time to put the breaks on the movies, and go back to the TV roots after the 3rd film, which is where the franchise was born.

The last Star Trek TV series finished in 2005, 4 years before the new 'Star Trek' came out, directed by J.J Abrams and starring Chris Pine. It wasn't the most successful series of the Star Trek history, but it certainly gained prestige, winning 4 Primetime Emmys.

After the cult success in the 90s of 'Star Trek : The Next Generation' and 'Star Trek : Voyager', it was always going to be a challenge to create a new storyline. The prequel series, which launched in 2001 was set 100 years prior to the first Star Trek episodes with William Shatner, but was so far out of sync, that it didn't resonate with the fans as much as the others.

Previous Star Trek movies have been based on TV episodes, but could we see a role reversal where the characters from the new movies get put into a series? Wouldn't that be interesting?