Why Star Trek: Discovery's Delay Was A Good Thing

09/09/2017 10:53 pm EDT

One of the producers of Star Trek: Discovery is urging fans to look on the bright side of the series' production delays.

The new Star Trek series was first announced in November of 2015 and was originally slated to debut in January 2017, just after the 50th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series. However, the series was pushed back into May and then delayed again and is now set to debut sometime in the fall.

Fans have been waiting for more than a decade for Star Trek to return to television, so each delay was painful, leading some to even worry about the shape of the show's production, but producer Alex Kurtzman says that the delays were really all for the best.

"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," Kurtzman explains to Collider. "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.'"

That support from CBS is evident in that the network expanded the first season of Star Trek: Discovery from 13 episodes to 15 episodes. It also makes sense that CBS would want to get this series right since the viability of the CBS All Access streaming service is riding on it. Better the series be late and great than rushed out and received poorly.

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's cast also includes Jason Isaacs as 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.

More Star Trek News: Star Trek: Discovery Producers Assures Series Is Written By Variety Of Hardcore Fans / Expect Some "Big" Cameos In Star Trek: Discovery / Andrew Lincoln Would Like To Appear On Star Trek: Discovery / Star Trek Star George Takei Announces New Graphic Novel

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