News of Universe comes on the heels of SCI FI’s announcement that the current Stargate Atlantis will not receive a sixth-season order, the trade paper reported. Atlantis will live on in a two-hour telefilm to air on SCI FI in 2009.

Universe will premiere as a two-hour movie early next year and will assume a regular hourly slot in the summer. Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, co-creators of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, will serve as executive producers and writers on the new series.

The new show will involve more space-based action than either of the predecessor series, the trade paper reported.

Universe introduces a new team of explorers who find an ancient unmanned ship called the Destiny. Unable to return to Earth, the crew must fend for themselves aboard the ship, which has a pre-programmed mission taking them to the far reaches of the universe.

Appearances by former cast members from SG-1 and Atlantis are very possible.

"I mean, he’s a major presence, I think, in any scene he’s in. He’s terrific," Abrams said in a group interview in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 14, part of the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour. (Abrams was promoting his upcoming Fox SF series Fringe.)

Abrams has been tight-lipped about the storyline of Star Trek, except to acknowledge that it deals with the original series characters of Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. Nimoy and Heroes star Zachary Quinto both play Spock, presumably at different ages.

As for Nimoy, Abrams said: "It was really just a dream experience working with him. … He’s everything you’d want him to be. He’s funny, and he’s incredibly thoughtful and was surprisingly open to and receptive to direction."

Abrams praised Nimoy’s family and added: "The other day, we were doing some ADR, [additional dialogue] recording. He was there, and … because we weren’t shooting anymore, … I was standing there, and I just, like, started. I just like looked at him as he was doing his thing. I was like, I wanted to burn it on my hand, because it was so great to get to work with that guy. He’s just an amazing man and terrific in the movie." Star Trek is in post-production, with an eye to a May 8, 2009, release.

In addition to the new series Star Wars: Clone Wars, the network will also feature a new animated incarnation of Batman in the fall.

"Clone Wars will anchor an evening programming block that will also include Batman: The Brave and the Bold from Warner Brothers, as well as the returning series Ben 10," Sorcher said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., last week. "It will be a good night for sci-fi programs."

Ben 10 is about a 10-year-old who finds the Omnitrix, a high-tech gadget that looks like a watch and changes him into 10 aliens with different abilities.

The new Saturday night programming is not yet scheduled, but Sorcher said it will debut sometime after the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie hits theaters on Aug. 15.