'Star Trek: Discovery' Renewed for Season 2 on CBS All Access

Star Trek: Discovery is going to live long and prosper on CBS All Access.

The network's subscription video-on-demand platform has renewed Star Trek: Discovery for a second season.

"In just six episodes, Star Trek: Discovery has driven subscriber growth, critical acclaim and huge global fan interest for the first premium version of this great franchise,” said Marc DeBevoise, president and CEO at CBS Interactive. "This series has a remarkable creative team and cast who have demonstrated their ability to carry on the Star Trek legacy. We are extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished and are thrilled to be bringing fans a second season of this tremendous series."

The Star Trek: Discovery premiere set a new record for subscriber sign-ups in a single day, week and month for CBS All Access.

The new incarnation of the storied franchise had a challenging two-year road to the screen. Originally slated to premiere in January 2017, the drama starring The Walking Dead grad Sonequa Martin-Green was delayed to May. And then showrunner Bryan Fuller — who grew up as a Trekkie — exited the series to focus on his Starz show American Gods, with longtime collaborators Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts taking over after the Hannibal creator broke the season-one outline. Recognizing the scope of the show, Kurtzman went to CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves with a big ask: to delay the massive undertaking a second time. The drama wound up launching Sept. 24, with its premiere on CBS before moving to CBS All Access in week two.

The SVOD service, perhaps in response to Discovery's delays, split the 15-episode season-one order in half. The first half concludes Nov. 12, with the remaining six episodes returning weekly starting in January.

While CBS All Access has yet to determine a return date (or episode count) for season two, executive producer Alex Kurtzman — in a nod to the show's challenging path to the screen — told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of its premiere that a sophomore run would "ideally" return "on the early side of 2019." Kurtzman noted that every episode takes three to four months, including production and VFX. (Production on the season-one finale was underway when the show premiered, for example.)

That CBS All Access has declined to provide a time frame for season two comes as little surprise as Kurtzman, looking back on the show's rocky road to launch, confessed that he would have preferred that CBS All Access not announce one to begin with. Meanwhile, the exec producer on the Star Trek feature films and his writing staff already have an idea for season two. "We have a…big idea that emerged mid- to late-season one for something we want to do for season two. That's now become the spine of what we want to do for season two," Kurtzman told THR about plotting for another season.

Discovery, co-starring Doug Jones, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Rapp, Michelle Yeoh, is produced by CBS Television Studios, Kurtzman's studio-based Secret Hideout, Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment. Exec producers include Kurtzman, Fuller, Heather Kadin, Berg, Harberts, Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth.

Discovery joins a roster of originals at CBS All Access that includes The Good Fight (a spinoff of The Good Wife) and the upcoming dramas Strange Angel, $1 and comedy No Activity.