A CBS insider leaked to us an announcement about shows in development for 2017 season line up. Due to increased demand for Start Trek to be back on TV after the new JJ Abrams movies, CBS is once again boldly going where no one has gone before. According to our source not one but two Star Trek related shows are in development.
The first of the shows is a Police Procedural based in the Star Trek universe. The working title is Star Fleet Investigative Section, or SFIS, which promises to be a sci-fi version of CSI or NCIS.The plot outline we were given is that the show will follow the exploits of the star ship Edmund Locard. For those not familiar with forensic science Edmund Locard was a French Scientist who is responsible with the development of the first modern Crime Lab. The outline said the USS Locard would likely be a “Defiant class” type smaller starship.
Star Fleet Investigative Section would follow a basic police procedural template. Each episode would have a “crime of the week”. The crew of the USS Locard would then be dispatched to warp in and solve the crime. Utilizing futuristic forensic skills the fearless crew will usually successfully solve the crime and restore order.
The breakdowns of plot lines have episodes taking place on other star ships, space stations, asteroid mines, alien planet and back here on Earth. While many plot lines will involve murders, the crew will also be looking into kidnappings, cargo pirating, sabotages, alien spies, and space age war crimes.
In the second show Star Trek will be taking on a medical/rescue drama theme, with a working title of Star Trek: Pierce. It is unknown based on the outline if the name Pierce is in honor of the Fire Engine Manufacture or the US Navy Corpsman who received the Medal of Honor in WWII.
This second show will follow the crew of the USS Pierce, a heavy rescue star ship. In the outline we got, the USS Pierce is described as being a new breed of starship with a prototype “warp Jump drive”. The warp jump is able to open an artificial wormhole between to wormhole generators. Starfleet vessels in the show have emergency beacons that contain one half of the wormhole generator. The USS Pierce also caries deployable probes that make up the other half of the wormhole generator.
The typical episode plotlines will have some ship, space station or other exotic location befall some disaster or unknown medical outbreak. Our heroes will then be dispatched to this emergency event. Using the warp jump they get to any emergency in minutes. In some shows they will use futuristic versions of the Jaws-of-Life and emergency medical techniques to complete their rescues. In other shows the onboard medical lab might be used to develop a cure for a new illness or virus. Other episodes might call for the crew to race in to save a VIP with an emergency surgery, such as a transplant or an experimental procedure.
CBS seems positive they will be able to air multiple Star Trek shows. They currently air multiple versions of CSI and multiple versions of NCIS. Also given that these shows have different central plots, one police related the other EMS/Rescue related, fans should be happy to have two Trek shows on the air. No word on when production will start, nor was there a mention when in 2014 the pilots will air.