From the Federation News Network, for immediate release:
If you subscribed to CBS All Access before, you may have discovered that your subscription has been given a facelift and converted to Paramount + as of March 4, 2021. It’s nice to see the network moving back to its Paramount roots; some of you might remember that Star Trek: Voyager was the flagship offering when the now-defunct UPN launched back in 1995. CBS is taking a page from that book and using Paramount + as the primary platform for all of its Star Trek offerings, including Star Trek: Prodigy. Paramount + stems directly from the 2019 re-merger of CBS and Viacom, meaning that content previously specific to Nickelodeon will be available on the streaming service. Star Trek: Prodigy will now debut on Paramount + later this year, and once its ten episode run has concluded, will air on Nickelodeon. Kate Mulgrew is still set to reprise her role as Admiral Janeway, and I am absolutely here for that.
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 and Star Trek: Lower Decks season two will also be coming to Paramount + in 2021 as well. Discovery began filming its new season back in November, and if all goes according to plan, production should conclude in late summer or early fall of 2021. The series should air sometime in very late 2021. We know significantly less about Lower Decks season 2. Mike McMahan has promised not only that the series will return in 2021 but that we will be seeing more of Brad Boimler’s adventures on the U.S.S. Titan, which is fantastic news because it guarantees us more of Jonathan Frakes and hopefully Marina Sirtis. I hope that we hear an announcement about the new security chief who will take over on the U.S.S. Cerritos after Shax’s noble death in the not-too-distant future.
Star Trek: Picard has also begun production on season 2. While the COVID pandemic delayed production, it looks like the series returned to shooting in mid-to-late February. There’s no real timeline as far as a release date for the series, but Picard will air on Paramount +. Captain Pike has also returned to the center seat. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds began principal photography in March. While not much more has been released about the show’s shooting schedule, next Monday is April 5th, which you’ll no doubt recognize as First Contact Day. Paramount + is offering a wide range of content for fans, including panels featuring the forces behind the shows we love so much, actors, and hosts Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton. In case you weren’t a fan of Critical Role, Mica Burton is LeVar Burton’s daughter and an accomplished cosplayer in her own right. The centerpiece panels begin at 12:00 pm PST/3:00 pm EST and will last nearly three full hours. Before that, however, fans will have the option to stream a marathon of Trek’s Best First Contact episodes, beginning at 9:00 am PST/12:00PM EST. That marathon will pick back up after the panel discussions conclude. While nothing in that schedule explicitly refers to Strange New Worlds, The Powers That Be would be remiss to allow such a fantastic opportunity pass by them.
2021 is a good year to be a Trek fan.