Scott Bakula And ‘Enterprise’ Producer Mike Sussman Developing CBS Procedural, Door Still Open For ‘Star Trek: United’ [Exclusive] – USFTB

Star Trek: Enterprise star Scott Bakula may be headed back to TV with a new series, teaming up with Enterprise writer/producer Mike Sussman. The pair are developing a new detective drama for CBS, but Sussman tells TrekMovie he hasn’t sealed the hatch on Star Trek: United, his pitch to bring Jonathan Archer back as Federation president in a new spinoff series.

Bakula ready to leap into Hollywood cop show

At the end of the week, Deadline first reported the news that CBS was in early development for an untitled “high-concept detective procedural” starring Bakula. The new series was created by Mike Sussman, a producer and writer on Enterprise, whose credits also include Star Trek: Voyager, The Last Ship, 12 Monkeys, and co-creating the TNT crime drama Perception. In a playful nod to his iconic role as Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap, Bakula’s new character is described as “quite a leap” from Special Agent Dwayne Pride, the character he played for seven seasons on CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans, which wrapped up in 2020.

TrekMovie has confirmed that the new project is currently at the script development stage. If CBS likes what it its sees, the network would order the production of a pilot, and if the pilot works, the show could be picked up for a first season. The series, which is set in Los Angeles, would presumably be filmed there as well, an easier proposition if Congress passes the bipartisan federal production tax credit introduced last month. That would put Bakula back on familiar ground; he spent four seasons on the Paramount lot shooting Star Trek: Enterprise two decades ago. Scott would also be an executive producer alongside Sussman and Dean Devlin, whose Electric Entertainment is behind shows like The Librarians and Leverage.

Still hoping for the return of Jonathan Archer in United

Bakula and Sussman have been working together on this new detective procedural project for over two years; in fact, their work on this project is what also spawned their other pitch, Star Trek: United. TrekMovie first broke the news on that pitch to bring Bakula back as President Jonathan Archer, overseeing the birth of the United Federation of Planets. Sussman pitched the idea for a political thriller set in the Star Trek universe — likened to shows like The West Wing and Andor — apparently sparking some interest at Secret Hideout and Paramount+, but in the end there just wasn’t enough room in the budget for another Trek series beyond Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy (which was in development at the time).

TrekMovie has confirmed that nothing has changed with the status of the project, but things have changed quite a bit at Paramount since that pitch, including the Skydance takeover and recent merger with WBD. Paramount executives are already talking about the “next iteration” of Star Trek TV, but there have been no formal discussions about United since that pitch a couple of years ago.

Mike Sussman gave a comment to TrekMovie about the latest news and what it might mean for United:

“I’d love to make United someday, and with the recent change of command over there [Paramount+/Skydance], who knows? Right now, all my time and energy are going into this script for CBS, and there’s nobody I’d rather be working with than Scott. If United comes together too, that’s a high-class problem I wouldn’t mind having.”

As for Bakula himself, he has spoken about United on a few occasions, noting in July the the show isn’t on his radar, but he would still like to return to the role of Jonathan Archer. And at a Star Trek: Enterprise 25th anniversary reunion panel at the Star Trek Las Vegas 2026 convention in August, when a member of the audience said fans were hoping for Star Trek: United, Bakula replied, “Hope away!… I’m on hope.”

Bring back Trip?

As the controversial death of Connor Trinneer’s character Trip Tucker in the Enterprise series finale had sparked a lively discussion earlier in the STLV 2026 panel, Bakula also added this:

“If we do Star Trek: United, I think we have to find a way to bring Trip back.”

This suggestion brought a huge cheer from the audience. Perennial guest star Jeffrey Combs suggested he could help out with “reanimation,” nodding to his appearance in the Re-Animator series of horror movies. Bakula then joked that if they do bring Trip back they will “have to kill somebody else,” suggesting fans could vote for “who takes Trip’s place in the coffin.” Through various interviews with TrekMovie and others, Sussman has suggested that Jeffrey Combs would return in United as Shran, as would other members of the Enterprise cast in potential guest roles, so maybe he will find a way for Trip to live.

So who knows? With Bakula working for CBS again, he and Sussman have a foot in the door of the Skydance/Paramount media empire. The United pitch actually calls for Scott to play Archer 30 years in the future after Enterprise, which wrapped up two decades ago. So there is still plenty of time, as Scott (who turned 72 yesterday) is still about a decade younger than Sir Patrick Stewart was when he stepped back into the franchise for Star Trek: Picard.