'Star Trek: Discovery' EPs Discuss How the Show Will Sync Up With 'The Original Series'

Star Trek: Discovery could keep going for a while, even with Star Trek: The Original Series looming in its future.

Co-creator/showrunner Alex Kurtzman thinks Star Trek: Discovery could have a run to rival the three seven-season Star Trek series of the 1990s era.

"It can go for a long time," Kurtzman told the official Star Trek website. "Trek…a lot of the series have gone for a long time, and the key is to constantly find a way to reinvent while also always delivering what people expect from the show."

But as a prequel series set a decade before the original Star Trek, every new season brings Discovery closer to its predecessor.

"Well, we are syncing up with canon," Kurtzman said. "So, we know we're 10 years pre-TOS, but there are a lot of big questions like, "How come Spock has never mentioned his house is from Michael Burnham? And this season is all about understanding what that relationship is, and by the end of the season, we will be synced up with canon."

Star Trek: Discovery executive producer Heather Kadin adds, "I feel there's so many lifelong fans that everyone sits around the table and says, 'Oh my God, my dream would be if Harry Mudd were on the show,' for an example. And obviously, that was still TOS. I think those things are always bantered. Everything's always on the table because there are certain characters people love. Mary Wiseman came in and was like, 'So, how can we get Jean-Luc Picard on the bridge with me on Discovery? How can we figure that out?' So, you know, everyone has their fan favorite like that."

Kurtzman adds, "But you have to do it so carefully, and there has to be such a clear story reason to do it, otherwise it can feel gratuitous."

The new season of Star Trek: Discovery takes the biggest step yet towards syncing up with Star Trek: The Original Series canon. The new season's story introduces the USS Enterprise, Capt. Christopher Pike, and Spock to the show. Spock's relationship with his foster sister, Cmdr. Michael Burnham, are at the core of season two's story, which sees Pike take command of Discovery to investigate the mystery of the red signals that showed up throughout the galaxy and that are somehow connected to Spock.

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.