We all know the famous saying from the classic Star Trek series: “Where no man has gone before.” Well, you can’t go anywhere if you can’t get the darn ship out of Spacedock. The newest entry in the beloved sci-fi franchise is Star Trek Discovery, and it was set to “boldly go” this month. And then it was May. And now, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, it will be delayed even further.
“Production on Star Trek: Discovery begins next week,” CBS said in a statement. “We love the cast, the scripts and are excited about the world the producers have created. This is an ambitious project; we will be flexible on a launch date if it’s best for the show. We’ve said from the beginning it’s more important to do this right than to do it fast. There is also added flexibility presenting on CBS All Access, which isn’t beholden to seasonal premieres or launch windows.”
The show’s title comes from the fact that this new ship isn’t a version of the Enterprise we all know and love, but a totally new vessel called the U.S.S. Discovery. New show, new ship, same mission statement: exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations.
When new shows are pushed back, and then pushed back again, it can usually be traced back to problems with the script. If you have no story, you have no show. So there has to be some concern at network level (and Trekkie level) regarding these delays, whether they are script related or not. The press release is exactly what one would expect to hear, and there’s a lot riding on this new effort as well. Besides being the latest entry in a true pop culture phenomenon, it’s also going to get extra scrutiny since it’s launching on the CBS All Access platform.
In announcing the show’s latest delay, the network also revealed that actor James Frain will play the part of Sarek, Spock’s father.
