by Jennifer K. Bauer jkbauer@inland360.com
While NBC last summer cancelled his latest TV series, “Hannibal,” Clarkston native Bryan Fuller has a plate full of new projects that have fans buzzing.
It was announced this week that Fuller will serve as co-creator and showrunner for CBS’s re-imagining of the series “Star Trek.”
A showrunner has overall creative authority and management responsibility for a TV program. Fuller, 46, grew up in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and kicked off his career in Hollywood writing for “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” He’s a long time fan of the series. The reboot will feature new characters and universes, according to media reports. The pilot is scheduled to air in January 2017 on broadcast television. Subsequent episodes will only air on CBS’s digital and Video on Demand platform, CBS All Access.
“Star Trek” will be the first original series developed for the platform, according to reports. The streaming service is available for a monthly fee and is home to thousands of past and present CBS shows, including “Star Trek.” The franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary later this year.
In another blast from the past, Fuller is writing the script for a revival of the 1980s show “Amazing Stories” for NBC, according to Entertainment Weekly. The sci-fi series featuring fantastic and supernatural tales was originally created by Steven Spielberg and ran from 1985-87. Spielberg is not involved in the new production. No word on a release date.
Currently Fuller is serving as showrunner for the upcoming Starz series “American Gods,” a fantasy adapted from the Hugo and Nebula award-winning 2001 novel by Neil Gaiman. In the book, gods and mythological creatures exist because of people’s belief in them. Some god’s powers are waning and new gods are rising as people’s beliefs shift. The show is in the process of casting and is scheduled to air in 2017.
