TAGGED AS: CBS All Access, Star Trek, Trailer
Updated with Star Trek Day panel video links and Star Trek: Discovery season 3 trailer.
The Star Trek universe announced big plans for Star Trek Day. In other major developments, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Stephen King’s The Stand release first-look trailers and announce premiere dates, a Spider-Verse series is reportedly in the works, Netflix scored a deal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, while the Game of Thrones creators have paired with The Terror: Infamy’s showrunner to adapt sci-fi novel series The Three-Body Problem, Will Smith and his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air castmates are set to reunite, and much more. Read on for the biggest stories in TV and streaming from the past week.
(Photo by Michael Gibson/CBS)
Trekkies, unite! CBS is planning some major activities for a gigantic virtual Star Trek Day celebration on Tuesday, September 8 that includes free virtual panels with casts and crew from nine different Star Trek series — including the newest addition to the Universe, Discovery spinoff Strange New Worlds. The new series stars Anson Mount as U.S.S Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number 1, and Ethan Peck as a young Spock, roles the trio debuted in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 and revisited for Star Trek: Short Treks episode “Q&A” (pictured above).
Throughout the day, which will be hosted by Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton, CBS All Access will make major Star Trek announcements and debut new footage.
The panels, which will run from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET/noon to 3:30 p.m. PT, include:
Keeping in line with creator Gene Roddenberry’s mission of inclusion, CBS All Access is donating $1 to social justice charities for every person who tweets the hashtag #StarTrekUnitedGives. Recipients include the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).
For fans based in the U.S., midnight PT will mark the beginning of a marathon of episodes from eight different Star Trek series — it’ll pause during the panels, then resume after — on both CBS All Access and for free online at StarTrek.com/Day.
Other highlights include a flash sale for merch, Star Trek-themed emojis, a Geeks Who Drink Star Trek pub quiz on Twitch at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, and a social campaign encouraging fans to post stories about what Star Trek means to them (which will then be featured on official Star Trek platforms).
(Photo by Jake Akita/Phil Sharp/courtesy CBS All Access)
Additionally, CBS All Access revealed this week that season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery will introduce the franchise’s first non-binary and transgender characters.
From the official release: “Adira, played by Blu del Barrio (pictured above right), is highly intelligent with a confidence and self-assurance well beyond their years. They will find a new home on the U.S.S. Discovery and form an unexpected bond with Lt. Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz). The first transgender character is Gray, played by Ian Alexander (pictured above left). Gray is empathetic, warm and eager to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a Trill host, but he will have to adapt when his life takes an unexpected turn.”
Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise noted that she and the writers have been working with both actors and GLAAD to make sure the characters are fully, compassionately, and responsibly portrayed. The 13-episode season 3 premieres Thursday, October 15 on CBS All Access.
(Photo by Marvel)
Korean-American Marvel character Cindy Moon (aka Silk) may be next to get a live-action series, Variety reported this week. The title is reportedly being developed by Sony Pictures Television and Phil Lord and Chris Miller — the duo produced 2018 Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — with Lauren Moon (Atypical) in talks to write. Peter Parker’s classmate, Cindy also develops superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
(Photo by Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection)
(Photo by Dennis Leupold)
Mariah Carey is already planning for Christmas — the Queen of the Christmas song is getting her own holiday special on Apple TV+. Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special will hit the streaming service in time for the holiday season, and will feature the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer and a “star-studded lineup of surprise guest appearances in a magical holiday journey to enliven the Christmas spirit around the world. The innovative special will combine music, dancing and animation driven by a universally heartwarming story that brings the world together.”
(Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Forget The Crown, now Netflix has the real deal: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have signed a multi-year production deal that will see the royals produce films (scripted and documentary features) and series (scripted, docuseries, and children’s programming) for the streaming service.
“Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are pleased to work with Ted [Sarandos] and the team at Netflix whose unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.”
Said Netflix CEO Sarandos, “We’re incredibly proud they have chosen Netflix as their creative home — and are excited about telling stories with them that can help build resilience and increase understanding for audiences everywhere.”
The Duke and Duchess follow in the footsteps of Barack and Michelle Obama, who inked a deal with Netflix in 2018. The royal news was first reported by the New York Times.
Netflix’s highly anticipated followup to The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, got its first trailer this week. The series, which isn’t a second season but rather an entirely new show, features much of the same cast and is loosely based on Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw. The series launches on Friday, October 9.
More trailers and teasers released this week:
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(Photo by Netflix)
The cast of ABC’s pandemic edition of Dancing With the Stars reads like a Mad Libs of TV personalities: Anne Heche, Disney’s Skai Jackson, Tiger King‘s Carole Baskin, Cheer‘s Monica Adama, The Bachelorette’s Kaitlyn Bristowe, Catfish‘s Nev Schulman, The Real‘s Jeannie Mai, Desperate Housewives’ Jesse Metcalfe, One Day at a Time’s Justina Machado, Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause, Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean, figure skater Johnny Weir, rapper Nelly, football player Vernon Davis, and basketball player Charles Oakley will all compete for the mirrorball trophy.
Gina Torres has joined the cast of Fox’s 911: Lone Star, playing paramedic captain Tommy Vega, who had retired from the job to raise her twin daughters until COVID-19 destroyed her husband’s restaurant and pushed her back into the workforce.
Ciera Payton will play Wendy Williams in Lifetime’s biopic about the talk show host, produced by Williams herself and debuting in 2021.
(Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Netflix is betting on Chinese author Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels as a new, expansive sci-fi hit: The streaming service announced that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with The Terror: Infamy’s Alexander Woo, will write and executive produce an English-language series that adapts all three books of the Hugo Award-winning series. Other EPs include Rian Johnson and producing partner Ram Bergman, and author Cixin is on board as a consulting producer, as is Ken Liu, who wrote the English translation for The Three-Body Problem and Death’s End. Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Rosamund Pike’s Primitive Streak are also involved.
In other development news, Starz has greenlit a third Power spinoff, this time focusing on Joseph Sikora’s Tommy Egan as he leaves New York.
Although it’s only been three years since Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars ended, Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is developing a new take on the series with a new story and new characters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there’s no network home yet but the project is targeted for HBO Max.
And Fox is developing an animated comedy spinoff of The X-Files. According to TVLine, The X-Files: Albuquerque will not revolve around Scully and Mulder, but rather “an office full of misfit agents who investigate X-Files cases too wacky, ridiculous or downright dopey for Mulder and Scully to bother with. They’re essentially the X-Files’ B-team.”
