CBS All Access have just announced a slight delay in the release of the sixth live action Star Trek TV Series.
The USS Discovery won’t launch in January of 2017 as originally promoted, and will instead warp across our screens in May of that year.
The decision was made to slow down production on the new series at the request of the production team, headed by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman.
In a release from the studio, Bryan and Alex shared the following:
“Bringing Star Trek back to television carries a responsibility and mission: to connect fans and newcomers alike to the series that has fed our imaginations since childhood.
“We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don’t result in compromised quality.
Before heading into production, we evaluated these realities with our partners at CBS and they agreed: Star Trek deserves the very best, and these extra few months will help us achieve a vision we can all be proud of.”
Also chiming in on the delay, CBS Television Studios president David Stapf, added extra information that should excite most fans:
“The series template and episodic scripts that Alex and Bryan have delivered are incredibly vivid and compelling,” David said. “They are building a new, very ambitious Star Trek world for television, and everyone involved supports their vision for the best timing to bring to life what we all love on the page.”
So… why the delay?
As everyone involved in the production is saying, it’s to make sure this new ‘build’ of the universe is done right and done well.
Let’s face it, there is no more complicated series on television other than maybe Doctor Who. 50 years of history means that no matter where in the timeframe a new series is set, there’s 50 years of tradition, story-telling, characters, events and technology to keep track of. It’s a huge task and you can understand why they would want to take some time to make sure everything is perfect.
The other possibility is that they are at the casting point, and perhaps one or more of the actors they want are unavailable until later in the year.
We could speculate more, but it’s doubtful we’ll hear anything concrete until closer to the release of the first episode.
It’s a little frustrating that we have to wait a few more months, but I’d rather them get it right than produce something they’re not happy with – because chances are, considering the calibre of the creative staff, if they’re not happy with it we won’t be either.
Hopefully, to keep us all completely engaged and enthusiastic, Bryan and Alex will release more news over the intervening months than they might have originally been planning to.
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