CBS

Yesterday saw CBS’s Star Trek: Discovery suffer the notable blow of losing showrunner Bryan Fuller at the helm, though with production set to begin next month, cast announcements should nonetheless arrive soon. New reports confirm that the cast will feature a Klingon captain, along with an openly gay actor, new admirals and more.

There’s no one measure of Majel Barrett’s contribution to Star Trek, whether Nurse Chapel, Lwaxana Troi or the omnipresence of computer voices in later seasons, but Star Trek: Discovery may pay more tribute to Barrett than its “Number One” lead. According to reports, Barrett’s digitized voice may also feature into the new series as well.

We still don’t have the clearest picture of what CBS’ Star Trek: Discovery will look like (at least we can watch it without ads!), but it seems we’ll have a whole lot more than the series itself to enjoy, come January. New announcements reveal Discovery will launch tie-in comics and novels, maintaining strict continuity with the series itself.

Long before Bryan Fuller was officially announced to lead a new CBS Star Trek series, the franchise alum spoke openly of his interest in a more diverse Trek, even naming Angela Bassett as an ideal actor for Captain. Fuller’s vision is now one-step closer, as Star Trek: Discovery will indeed have a female lead, operating in a pre-Kirk setting, among other new details.

Even as precious few details of Bryan Fuller’s CBS Star Trek: Discovery have been made clear, it stands to reason that Fuller has in mind a different take on the Trek universe than the five series that wore it out in the first place. Next Generation star Brent Spiner now confirms as much, calling Fuller’s take “a completely different point of view,” as well answering if we can expect a Data cameo of some kind.

It’s been some time since William Shatner took part in any Star Trek revival, and with the movie franchise folding in on its own mythology, it might make sense of CBS’ Star Trek: Discovery to return the most famous Enterprise captain. Shatner is open to an appearance on the new series, but only “If I were useful.”

At long last, Comic-Con 2016 brought word that Bryan Fuller’s CBS All-Access Star Trek series would bear the title Discovery, named for the ship we glimpsed in the brief promo, though reactions to the design proved somewhat mixed. Many noted similarity to Ralph McQuarrie designs for the Enterprise, but according to executive producers, the U.S.S. Discovery may yet change its final look.

CBS moving Supergirl to The CW creates some interesting logistical questions for the series, now included in The CW’s upcoming Netflix deal, but it seems the DC drama will at least make itself at home on the new network before Season 2. The CW has officially scheduled its own abbreviated Supergirl run, leading straight into the October premiere.

CBS’ proposed young MacGyver reboot has ben raising eyebrows for a few months now, ordered to series despite a near-total discard of the original pilot, but at least some good news is in order. Not only is Furious 7 and The Conjuring director James Wan back in to helm the pilot, but so too have new details of the revamped story arrived.

CBS’ Supergirl made clear from the start that it intended to tell Kara’s story - not her Super-cousin’s - though that didn’t stop the DC drama from awkwardly fumbling around his offscreen presence. Now, in addition to the big CW move, Supergirl will finally introduce a flesh-and-blood (or rather steel) Superman, casting for the iconic role now underway.

Bryan Fuller’s upcoming CBS All-Access Star Trek series has kept coy on tangible details like setting or cast, but quietly staffed its writers with some serious heavy-hitters. Following a fan-favorite Voyager novel alum, franchise vet Joe Menosky and Heroes writer Aron Coleite will next boldly go to the new series.

It wasn’t seen as likely that Supergirl could make the transition from its prestigious CBS home to the more youth-skewing CW, but now we’ve officially taken the plunge, it remains to be seen what changes lie in store. As far as CBS was concerned, the move is “win-win,” but what took so long to hammer out a deal?