Ever since J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek in 2009, Trekkies the world over have hoped this meant we would also soon get a new TV show set in the world of Starfleet and the Federation. It seemed a natural fit, with Abrams already so deeply involved in the TV realm with projects like Fringe and Lost. But it never happened, and doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon.

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And now we might have a clue as to why. According to TheWrap , Abrams and his production company Bad Robot originally had much bigger "multi-platform" plans for Star Trek when they took over the film franchise -- plans that would've included television, digital entertainment and comic books.Obviously, there have been some attempts made in this regard, particularly surrounding the new film Star Trek Into Darkness , including a game, Hasbro toys and comics. But according to TheWrap's sources, Bad Robot and Abrams became frustrated by the complicated rights facing the bigger Star Trek universe. In 2006, CBS split from its corporate parent Viacom, retaining the TV rights to Star Trek. But Paramount obviously held onto the movie rights. "J.J. just threw up his hands," TheWrap's source says. "The message was, 'Why set up all this when we'll just be competing against ourselves?' The studio wanted to please Bad Robot, but it was allowing CBS to say yay or nay when it came to what was happening with the Star Trek products."Matters were further complicated as CBS merchandising continued to churn out products based on the original William Shatner version of Trek, which Bad Robot believed was confusing to consumers. When CBS refused to stop, Bad Robot "scaled back its ambitions to have Star Trek's storylines play out with television shows, spin-off films and online components, something Abrams had been eager to accomplish."And now, as we all know, Abrams has moved on to Star Wars and Disney, where "television shows, spin-off films and online components" come naturally.Indeed, when I recently spoke to Star Trek Into Darkness co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (who also co-created Fringe with Abrams), I asked them about the potential of a Trek TV show happening. They vagued it out."We’re not aware of a game plan, but we are aware that it’s in the ether and it’s whispered about in hallways, which is where the rights holders and talent mingle," Orci said. "There have been no official discussions. Basically, until this next movie comes out and that settles a little bit, I think that’s when you’ll see the chatter become more real. It’s certainly in the ether, but we’re not aware of a specific plan."That's a shame, because Star Trek's rightful place is in episodic storytelling. Hopefully that will happen again.

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