We’re still weeks away from the premiere of Star Trek: Picard. And yet, according to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS All Access has already renewed the unaired series for its second season. There are already speculations about plans to film second and third seasons back to back to lower the production costs, but the network hasn’t confirmed this yet.
Additionally, Terry Matalas (TV series 12 Monkeys) just joined the show’s production team as an executive producer and a possible replacement for its current showrunner Michael Chabon. Chabon has negotiated a friendly agreement with CBS to leave Picard after its first season to start working on a limited series based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Both of these shows will share producers Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman.
Renewing shows before they even aired is becoming a bit of a trend, with the latest examples being Netflix’s The Witcher and Apple’s For All Mankind. It’s not a bad way to simultaneously drum up the interest while promising the audience they won’t be investing their time into a TV series that will be canceled after a single season. Picard will feature familiar Star Trek faces: not only Patrick Stewart in the titular role but also Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. The cast also includes Santiago Cabrera (Heroes), Harry Treadaway (Mr. Mercedes), Michelle Hurd (Daredevil) and Alison Pill (The Newsroom).
Star Trek: Picard premieres on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020.
