Back in late October, the highly-anticipated CBS All Access seriesStar Trek: Discoverysuffered quite a blow, with showrunnerBryan Fullerleaving the project, just beforeprincipal photographywas set to begin on the series. The network immediately promoted executive producersGretchen BergandAaron Harbertsto serve as the new showrunners, working from the first two scripts for the series thatBryan Fullerwrote.Bryan Fullerrecently opened up about why he backed away from the show.
The initial report aboutBryan Fullerleaving the show revealed that the producer’s schedule was just too full, as he was still working on the upcoming Starz seriesAmerican Gods, based onNeil Gaiman’s beloved comic book and NBC’s upcoming showAmazing Stories. During an interview withNewsweek,Bryan Fullerconfirms that he wanted to focus his energy onAmerican Gods, and he couldn’t pull off what CBS needed forStar Trek: Discoveryin that time frame. Here’s what he had to say below.
“Ultimately, with my responsibilities [elsewhere], I could not do what CBS needed to have done in the time they needed it done forStar Trek. It felt like it was best for me to focus on landing the plane with American Gods and making sure that was delivered in as elegant and sophisticated a fashion as I could possibly do. It is bittersweet. But it was just a situation that couldn’t be resolved otherwise… so I had to step away.”
WhenStar Trek: Discoverywas first announced, CBS was planning to debut a sneak preview of the show on the CBS network, before theStar Trek TV seriesmoved to its regular home on the streaming service CBS All Access. The premiere date was pushed to May 2017 back in September, with the network revealing the shift was done so the producers can, “achieve a vision we can all be proud of,” especially when it came to the show’s special effects. Along with writing the first two episodes,Bryan Fullermapped out an arc for the first 13-episode season, which CBS has stated it will follow. Even though he will retain an executive producer credit,Bryan Fullerrevealed he will have no involvement in the show’s production.
“I’m not involved in production, or postproduction, so I can only give them the material I’ve given them and hope that it is helpful for them. I’m curious to see what they do with it.”
When asked if he may possibly return for the show’s second season, if one is ordered, the writer-producer stated that he will “absolutely be there for them” if needed. This news comes just days after the firstcast memberswere announced, withMichelle Yeohplaying Captain Georgiou, the Starfleet Captain aboard the Starship Shenzhou,Doug Jonesplaying Lt. Saru, a Starfleet Science Officer and a new alien species to the Star Trek universe andAnthony Rappplaying Lt. Stamets, an astromycologist, fungus expert, and Starfleet Science Officer aboard the Starship Discovery. It remains to be seen when the next wave of cast members forStar Trek Discoverywill be announced.
