'Star Trek: Discovery' Boldly Breaks Prime Franchise Directive
As all "Star Trek" fans know, franchise creator Gene Roddenberry had a strict -- if often frustrating -- rule that Starfleet crew members could never be in any significant conflict with each other. The only way around it: To have someone possessed by an alien force or to catch some strain of "space madness."
Now Star Trek: Discovery" will break that long-held rule. In other words: Battle stations! Look for some intriguing new conflicts on the series, which debuts September 24.
"We're trying to do stories that are complicated, with characters with strong points of view and strong passions," co-showrunner Aaron Harbert told EW. "People have to make mistakes — mistakes are still going to be made in the future. We're still going to argue in the future."
"The rules of Starfleet remain the same," says the show's other showrunner, Gretchen J. Berg. "But while we're human or alien in various ways, none of us are perfect."
But they're not completely throwing out Roddenberry's utopian vision of the future. "The thing we're taking from Roddenberry is how we solve those conflicts," Harberts said. "So we do have our characters in conflict, we do have them struggling with each other, but it's about how they find a solution and work through their problems."
Another big change from previous series: It will be "more heavily serialized," meaning less stand-alone, self-contained eps and more big story arcs.
The first episode of "Star Trek: Discovery" will debut Sunday, Sept. 24 on CBS, then will move to the CBS.
The show stars Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca, Captain of the Discovery; Michelle Yeoh as Captain Philippa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou; Sonequa Martin-Greenas her First Officer, Michael Burnham; James Frain as Vulcan Sarek (father to Spock); and Rainn Wilson as charismatic con-man Harry Mudd.