CBS All Access President Sets High Expectations For Star Trek: Discovery

When Star Trek: Discovery debuts this September, it will take the popular science-fiction franchise – as well as CBS All Access, the streaming platform it will be airing on – in a whole new direction.

And according to CBS Interactive president Marc DeBevoise, fans can expect Discovery to break through the often-crowded television landscape, and hopefully help CBS All Access get to 4 million subscribers by 2020.

“We’re at peak TV with 400 or 500 shows a year, so getting through with anything is hard.” DeBevoise explained to Decider. “We’re constantly looking for what will resonate with consumers. Sometimes that an existing property, and sometimes that’s something new. Shows that come with a history are still new. If you’ve seen the trailer for Star Trek: Discovery, you can see that Soniqua Martin-Green is a unique star and you see a show that’s going to look different and feel different than anything that came before.”

This sentiment has been echoed by much of Discovery‘s creative team, with executive producer Alex Kurtzman hinting that the series – and particularly its protagonist – will resonate with fans in a new way.

Star Trek: Discovery was created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Fuller was originally intended to be Discovery’s showrunner but was forced step down due to commitments to Starz’ adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts have taken over as showrunners.

Star Trek: Discovery takes place roughly a decade prior to the five-year mission of Star Trek: The Original Series. In breaking with franchise tradition, the show’s main protagonist will not be a captain. Instead, it will be First Officer Michael Burnham, played by The Walking Dead alum Sonequa Martin-Green.

Star Trek: Discovery follows the adventures of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters, and new missions while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

Star Trek: Discovery‘s cast also includes Jason Isaacs as the starship Discovery’s Captain Lorca, Rainn Wilson as Star Trek: The Original Series character Harry Mudd, James Frain as Sarek, Spock’s father, and Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georgiou, the captain of another Starfleet ship, the Shenzhou, which will be important to the plot of Star Trek: Discovery. Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp both play science officers. Mary Wiseman will play a final year Starfleet Academy cadet.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres Sept. 24, 2017.

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