STAR TREK: PICARD
CBS All Access, 3:00 a.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: CBS tapped the legacy of The Twilight Zone in hopes of enticing viewers to subscribe to its CBS All Access streaming site, and also relied upon another sizable fan base, of the Star Trek canon, to offer a new spinoff series exclusively for All Access. That series, Star Trek: Discovery, has presented a few seasons now, but today it’s joined by a sister series – one that links to the first official Star Trek TV spinoff, 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series, Star Trek: Picard, revisits the hero of that show, Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, in a 10-episode continuing narrative set at the turn of the century – the 25th century. Picard is retired now, and isolated and bitter, but eventually will encounter a mystery, and a mission, that sets him back into outer space, on the bridge of a ship. Stewart’s acting, and our residual affection for the Picard character, keeps this show aloft for its first few episodes. We won’t really know about Star Trek: Picard, though, until the hero, and the show, arrives at its intended destination. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, listen to today’s show on the radio, or visit later at the Fresh Air website.