Star Trek: Final Frontier - the animated web series that could have been

Near-final 'hammerhead' design for the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Final Frontier

Star Trek: The Animated Series was Trek's first and (thus far) only foray into non-live-action TV. Produced several years after the cancellation of The Original Series, the show was the network's way of returning Kirk and the Enterprise to the silverscreen after seeing the huge success of TOS in syndication. Now jump forward to 2006. In the wake of Star Trek: Enterprise, CBS has garnered interest in a new web series concept, one that would take the franchise in a new, darker direction.

Star Trek: Final Frontier was originally set in the TOS era, but after that was nixed by CBS, the setting was moved to the far-flung future of the 26th century. One hundred fifty years after Star Trek: Nemesis, the Federation has become an isolationist government in the wake of a devastating war with the Romulans. Large areas of space are no longer traversable at warp speeds, leading to many words being cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Most disturbing of all, Starfleet's mandate of scientific exploration and diplomacy has become one of defense. In this future, Captain Alexander Chase takes command of a little-known border patrol cruiser, the USS Enterprise, and makes the decision to put Starfleet back on the right track again.

Final uniform design, reflecting the more militaristic nature of Starfleet in Final Frontier.

With Star Trek dying out on TV, Final Frontier was created to provide original web content to CBS at relatively low risk. Much like TAS, the animated format would have allowed stories to be told that would have been impossible in live action. The 26th century setting had the benefit of being far enough in the future that the producers could tell original stories with relatively few ties to the canon universe, allowing the show to appeal to a wider audience.

In 2007, a series of major reorganizations and layoffs at CBS led to the series being put on indefinite hiatus, something the project would never recover from. With CBS taking the Star Trek franchise in a new direction with JJ Abrams' Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, the project is no longer being pursued. Even so, information, storyboards, sketches and other pieces of production art are currently available on the Final Frontier website, giving us a glimpse of the animated series that could have been.