This September 8th marked 55 years since Star Trek first graced our screens, and though that’s now almost a couple of months behind us, the anniversary celebrations are still ongoing. In the near future, a brand-new Trek docuseries will be launching on the History Channel which promises to take an in-depth look back at the sci-fi phenomenon’s half a century of history.
The 10-part series is titled The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek and kicks off on the network on November 5 and will be hosted by Dr. Beverly Crusher herself, Gates McFadden. While we wait for The Next Generation star to actually reprise her role in Picard, at least McFadden is returning to the Trek fold with this documentary. The first four episodes will air on the History Channel with the final six being exclusively available on the History Vault, the channel’s accompanying subscription service.
Here’s how the official description for The Center Seat teases what viewers can expect:
“In the Fall of 1964, the pilot for what would become Star Trek was commissioned. From the start, The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek unveils lesser-known stories about the franchise from the importance of addressing timely topics, the creation of the character Spock, the unrelenting fans that kept the show on air and the reruns that gave it new life. These behind-the-scenes stories among thousands of hours of show footage will be coupled with interviews from the cast, crew and experts who worked on set.”
Something that will please Trek fans is that the docuseries is not just set to cover all usual topics but will also discuss underrated elements of the saga, too, like The Animated Series and even Star Trek: Phase II, Gene Roddenberry’s legendary aborted follow-up to The Original Series. As the synopsis says, it’ll feature interviews and contributions from a range of Trek legends, including — but not limited to — TOS stars Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig, TNG‘s Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, and Denise Crosby, Voyager‘s Kate Mulgrew and Robert Picardo and The Wrath of Khan‘s Kirstie Alley.
Don’t miss The Center Seat when it premieres next Friday, November 5 on the History Channel at 10 PM ET/PT. A couple of weeks later, Paramount Plus continues its original Star Trek programming with the fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery, which starts streaming on November 18.