NBC Expresses Interest in Trek V

Star Trek V is generating considerable interest among the major American networks. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the NBC network is expressing interest in hosting the fifth Star Trek series, a spokeswoman saying on Wednesday that the network has told Paramount that "if a 'Star Trek' series becomes available, NBC would definitely be interested in it." Part of what makes this news so interesting is that NBC, as many will remember, was the first home of Star Trek, broadcasting the Original Series from 1966.

NBC is also not the only major network expressing interest - Fox inquired about the availability of the new 'Star Trek' series several months ago, not to mention Trek's current home, UPN, being understandably interested, especially with flag-ship show 'Star Trek: Voyager' ending this season. Also potentially in the running to host the show is fellow Viacom network, CBS, though there is no real word of this yet.

Since Paramount is in fact a Viacom company, the outcome that seems most logical would be for Trek V to end up on UPN or CBS. However Paramount Studios have, in past, always had a reasonable degree of flexibility and freedom from the parent network, making it quite possible that the studio is in fact shopping the project around for a more suitable host than UPN, a network which has struggled since the outset. The continued interest of other major players in the tightly wrapped new series can be taken as an indicator of this, though again there is no confirmation and, to this date, no talks have taken place.

Another hosting possibility for the new Trek incarnation is syndication, a system that saw great success for the proceeding series (TOS, TNG and DS9) and even the actual birth of the franchise. However, the dwindling market makes this increasingly unlikely, leaving us again holding a handful of possibilities for the future of Trek, but no concrete knowledge.

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