Bummer: STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Delayed Until Summer 2017
We probably should have seen this coming.
Deadline reports that CBS has officially delayed the premiere of Bryan Fuller's Star Trek: Discovery from January of 2017 all the way until May, meaning that we'll now have to wait five more months to see the new show. Fuller has been teasing small plot details here and there, including that this will be the first Trek show that doesn't center on a captain, but we've yet to hear about any actors who have actually been cast in the show. Considering that they were supposed to premiere in four months and there's been essentially no real promotion beyond the Comic-Con teaser, that seemed suspicious and, well, it wasn't a great sign.
Apparently Fuller and executive producer Alex Kurtzman are behind the delay because they requested more time from the network. They put out a joint statement:
“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.”
“The series template and episodic scripts that Alex and Bryan have delivered are incredibly vivid and compelling,” said CBS TV Studios president David Stapf. “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.”
Currently, they have three scripts written and the entire first season planned out. The premiere of the show's 13-episode first season will make its debut on CBS before moving to CBS All Access, the channel's new streaming service.
Look, it sucks that fans will have to wait even longer to see Trek return to TV, but as we've seen so often in the world of film, being locked in to a release date before the realities of production set in and refusing to allow more time for a better product often results in disaster. I'm glad they're taking the time they need to get it right, because this new show matters a whole lot to a whole lot of people.