As you have seen in the past few days, there are those of us who are and aren’t excited regarding the news about a return of Star Trek to TV.

The series which celebrates its 50^th anniversary next year, has been off of the air so long, that many changes have taken over in how we consume TV.

In that time we have seen the rise of Netflix and Hulu which, both at one time or another have allowed us to watch Star Trek in its various forms but there is going to be a catch for longtime, hardcore fans of the series.

Here is a quote from CNN Money: “This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before — directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” Marc DeBevoise, executive vice president of CBS Digital Media said in a statement. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access… We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic ‘Star Trek,’ and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

So, on the surface, it sounds similar to what Netflix has been doing with Marvel franchises and streaming them directly from the app after the initial broadcast. This would be a great way for fans to be able to get Star Trek anywhere there is a wifi service…but there is a catch.   CBS All Access is $6 a month.

CBS is asking fans to hop on  and pay to watch Star Trek with a lot of unknowns. As of right now, there are no details about the plot or time period of this new Trek. It’s not related to the movie, nor does anyone outside of CBS know if any of the classic ships or characters will be involved.  Furthermore it’s not known if the new series will be presented all at once or if  CBS will stream it weekly.  So, in essence, beyond what is unknown, the price, which is known, may hamper CBS’ efforts to get fans aboard.

What was interesting and saddening is a tweet from Ben Fritz who spoke about having to subscribe to yet another streaming service just to watch while right underneath is a response from a fan who states that they will ‘have to pirate it’ because they won’t be able to get it legally.

Star Trek is a sci fi cultural icon that has been around for 50 years.  It’s not a show that can be relegated to a region or a niche audience.  My parents grew up on it as did I.  There is a new generation coming behind us that love it as well.   Almost anywhere in the world you go, any fan worth their salt knows what Star Trek is. So, is CBS dooming the new Star Trek before it gets out of the gate?   Is CBS asking too much from fans to pony up 6 dollars for Star Trek especially if there is nothing else on CBS that they watch?  NBC, Fox and ABC, not only have their own apps, but also work in conjunction with Hulu which is already a paid service. Not to mention, many of their popular shows are on demand as well.  Star Trek fans can watch the entire run of older episodes through the aforementioned service. Fans of streaming services are already paying enough as it is to get content so rather than take a risk and broadcast on regular TV, how can CBS justify streaming this behind a paywall and say that they are accelerating Star Trek’s growth?

Many fans including myself are trying to wrap their heads around taking one of the most popular sci-fi series that has been off the air for 10 years and stick it behind a paywall.  If Enterprise was any indication, CBS had better have a good show under its belt to ask people to pay to watch because a lot of fans are still smarting off of that.  Many will not fall for the shiny new show and refuse to pay for it on name alone.  The very idea of  asking people to pay for one more service to watch one show is insulting enough.   I think regardless off what it is, there are a few fans who are bold and adventurous enough to take the plunge to see what it’s about.   Even a few more may tell us that it’s great and worth paying for another streaming service just to see some new Star Trek.

Personally, I won’t be one of those fans.