Where things stand with Khan Noonien Singh series

Where do things stand with a Khan Noonien Singh series?

Back in 2018, Variety.com reported on Alex Kurtzman’s deal with CBS along with a potential new limited series about Khan Noonien Singh. This was followed-up by Nicholas Meyer who confirmed in a conversation with Midnight Edge that he had already written a three-episode limited series entitled “Ceti Alpha V.” The series was slated to take place between Star Trek: The Original Series’ “Space Seed” and Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. At the time, though, that created a bit of an issues as the television series was owned by CBS and the movie was made by Paramount, so both studios would need to give permission for the series to be created. But CBS has now merged with ViacomCBS.

The Vulcan Reporter confirmed last year that the series had been revived, but there was no indication that Nicholas Meyer was still involved as Meyer had been contacted for comment prior to the revival news, and he indicated the series was not coming back. So his lack of knowledge about Ceti Alpha V seemed to confirm that Meyer was not longer involved. However, that changed in an interview Meyer had with TrekMovie earlier this year.

Nicholas Meyer thinks the Khan Noonien Singh series is a terrific project

Meyer said he still considered the series a terrific project, but he thought the business model for streaming was changing everything. After he completed writing the three-night series, the studio decided it wanted something longer than that.

"And what was originally commissioned as a three-hour or three-night event, by the time I finished writing it, three hours was not enough. They wanted longer stuff. And somewhere between those two imperatives, the thing sort of fell between two stools. And I still don’t know why they’re not doing it, even if it’s to say, ‘give us ten episodes instead of three or whatever.’ I don’t know why."

Another potential problem could be Paramount’s focus on ongoing series. Meyer didn’t think it would be a good idea to try to turn Ceti Alpha V into a longer series.

"“I think if it went on and on and on about Khan and Ceti Alpha V  it risks becoming a kind of Gilligan’s Island. Which I think is a wrong idea… It was commissioned as a three-hour thing and there were certain parameters that were put down, to which I adhered. And they’re all fungible.”"

So it seems like Meyer is still involved, even if the series is in a holding pattern. One positive note about the potential series is that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is introducing a character with the last name of Noonien Singh. This could indicate that Paramount is interested in bringing the Khan series to light, even if it is only a three-hour event or three-night series. I think it’s safe to assume the series isn’t dead. We, like Nicholas Meyer, are in a holding pattern.