Star Trek Day 2023 Festivities Include Bringing 'Strange New Worlds' To CBS

Maybe Paramount should've paid their writers and actors so they could throw a more involved party

September 8 is coming around again, which means another year celebrating the anniversary of the premiere of the original Star Trek series that birthed the franchise in 1966. For the fourth such formal celebration, landing on a Friday things are going to be a little different. Unlike STLV57, this is a studio-backed event, so there's no "don't mention projects" loophole. It would be an instance of working for the studios that the writers of the Writers Guild of America and actors in SAG-AFTRA are striking against. So with all scabbing avoidance in mind, here's what's going down on Star Trek Day 2023.

There still is a special program, but it's all pre-recorded and hosted by Jerry O'Connell, the voice of Jack Ransom on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Saluting the franchise, it includes, looks back at memorable moments over the past 57 years, including 50 years of Star Trek animation, a tribute to Star Trek Discovery as it heads toward its final season, and an exclusive sneak-peek clip from the upcoming fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and plenty more instances of defining the show's legacy. It will be available on the franchise's website's page for the occasion, Paramount+, the streamer's Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as the franchise's YouTube channel and both of its Facebook pages, the general and its Paramount+-tied one. It will stream on the Star Trek, More Star Trek, Paramount+ Picks, and Pluto TV Sci-Fi Pluto TV channels, and Mixable, and even air on select local CBS affiliates, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Fave TV and Smithsonian.com.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will make its linear debut with its first two episodes, "Strange New Worlds" and "Children of the Comet", airing back-to-back on CBS that night. This is the second announcement of the first two episodes of a Paramount+ original getting a special airing on the network in three days, as on Tuesday, it was announced the revival of Frasier would get the same treatment on Tuesday, October 17, five days after it premieres. The third Paramount+ original on CBS’s fall schedule still hasn’t been announced but these special airings have. Guess Strange New Worlds will not be that drama.

Originally premiering on its Paramount+ home last May, the first episode saw one of Captain Christopher Pike’s officers go missing on a secret Starfleet mission, bringing him, played by Anson Mount, out of self-imposed exile. He must figure out a way to rescue his officer, while struggling with what to do with the destiny he’s been given. “Children of the Comet” sees the U.S.S. Enterprise discover while on a survey mission that a comet is going to strike a populated planet. In trying to put the comet on a new path, they find that, somehow an ancient alien relic buried on the icy surface of the comet is stopping them. While the away team works on unlocking the relic’s secrets, Pike and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) deal with a group of zealots who want to stop what they believe is the U.S.S. Enterprise's interference.

At 7 PM local time will be Star Trek: The Animated Celebration, described as an evening of cartoon comedy, including four specially selected episodes of Lower Decks, which will have just premiered its fourth season the day before. Fans will be able to see it, or at least one of the two episodes that kick it off, on the big screen in theaters across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, specifically in Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Calgary, Vancouver, and London. It will have sneak peeks, surprises, free concessions, giveaways and more. Registration began at noon Eastern on Thursday.

In addition, the day will feature a special sale where the code STARTREKDAY will get buyers 25% off sitewide at Shop.StarTrek.com, which includes curated Star Trek Day and Star Trek: The Animated Series collections.

The list of events and associated imagery conspicuously omit the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, canceled in June and removed from Paramount+ soon after, despite there being an animation celebration. Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 movie has seemingly usurped Prodigy's spot in marketing even though Prodigy will always exist as shown with its recent physical media releases. What exactly did Paramount do in taking the impairment charge?

Anyway, enjoy Star Trek Day, it will feel weird anyway. And support the unions, they're fighting so that what happened to Prodigy doesn't happen anymore, amongst a bunch of much stronger issues. Maybe there will be announcements.

Source: Star Trek