One producer on Star Trek: Discovery, discusses why the series has been delayed from its original premiere date. There hasn’t been a Star Trek live-action television series since Enterprise went off the air from UPN in 2005. About 10 years later, in November 2015, the show now known as Star Trek: Discovery was announced as the latest series in the long-running saga, doubling as the signature offering on the new CBS: All Access streaming service.
It’s now the middle of 2017, and Star Trek: Discovery still hasn’t arrived. It was originally scheduled to debut this past January, but various factors have delayed it, from a near-constant shuffling of writers and showrunners - including the arrival and departure of respected TV producer Bryan Fuller - to an announcement by CBS in January that it was “flexible” about the release date. Now, there’s more explanation for what, exactly, has taken so long with the latest Star Trek project.
In an interview with Collider, co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman - also director of this week’s The Mummy - shared details about Star Trek: Discovery, its status, and what caused the long delay:
“We postponed our schedule because the truth is we did not want to put out something that was subpar, and as the vision expanded we started feeling like we weren’t gonna be able to deliver the scope and the scale that was on the page. And CBS was extremely supportive in saying, 'Okay you know what, this is streaming, it’s not like we have to beat out right away, let’s do the best version of this, Trek is too important for all of us.'”
Should we be excited about Star Trek: Discovery? There’s much reason to be, including a strong cast that’s led by Sonequa Martin-Green, Michelle Yeoh, Rainn Wilson and Jason Isaacs. There’s a huge amount of creative firepower behind the series, including Fuller, Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, The Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer and even Rod Roddenberry, the son of original Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. It explores an intriguing, unexplored period in the “Prime” Trek timeline, about 10 years before the original series’ timeline.
Reasons for skepticism? Behind-the-scenes turmoil, creative changes and delays aren’t always a bad sign, but they’re not always a good one, either. Putting the show on the CBS streaming service is a huge risk, both for the show and the service. But even so, it just feels right for another new Trek series to be on the air.
Next: Expect Plenty of Celebrity Cameos on Star Trek: Discovery
Star Trek: Discovery debuts in the fall of 2017 on CBS: All Access.
Source: Collider