<P> In January 2016, CBS president Glenn Geller revealed that he and the CBS network were not involved in the production of the series, saying, "It really is for All Access . While the network will be broadcasting the pilot, I actually can't answer any creative questions about it ." The next month, Bryan Fuller, who began his career writing for the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, was announced as the new series' showrunner and co-creator alongside Kurtzman . Nicholas Meyer, writer and director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, also joined the series as a writer and consulting producer . In March, Rod Roddenberry, the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth of Roddenberry Entertainment also joined the series, as executive producers . Fuller said that working with people previously involved with Star Trek was "really about making sure that we maintain authenticity", and said that Meyer--who is widely considered to have made the best Star Trek film in The Wrath of Khan--brings "a clarity and a cleanliness to the storytelling . An ability to ground science - fiction in a relatable way, and also making sure that we're telling character stories ." Fuller had publicly called for Star Trek to return to television for years, particularly because of its impact on minority groups, as he explained, "I couldn't stop thinking about how many black people were inspired by seeing Nichelle Nichols on the bridge of a ship . I couldn't stop thinking about how many Asian people were inspired by seeing George Takei and feeling that gave them hope for their place in the future . I wanted to be part of that representation for a new era ." When Fuller first met with CBS about the series, the company did not have a plan for what the new show would be . He proposed an anthology series with each season being a standalone, serialized show set in a different era, beginning with a prequel to the original series, then stories set during the original series, during Star Trek: The Next Generation, and then "beyond to a time in Trek that's never been seen before". Fuller compared this to what American Horror Story did for horror, and described the proposal as a platform for "a universe of Trek shows". CBS instead suggested a single serialized show to see how that performed first, and he began further developing the concept of a prequel to the original series . </P> <P> Fuller announced in June 2016 that the first season would consist of 13 episodes, though he would prefer to produce 10 episodes a season . A month later, Fuller announced the series' title to be Star Trek: Discovery, and revealed that it would be set in the "Prime Timeline" (which includes the previous Star Trek series, but not the modern reboot films) to keep the concurrent series and films separate, so "we don't have to track anything (happening in the films) and they don't have to track what we're doing". Also in July, CBS Studios International licensed the series to Netflix for release outside the United States and Canada, a "blockbuster" deal that paid for the show's entire budget (around US $6--7 million per episode). During pre-production on the series, Fuller and CBS continued to disagree on the direction of the show, which was starting to overrun its per - episode budget, and was falling behind schedule due to Fuller supervising all aspects of the series as well as another new show, American Gods . This caused frustration among CBS executives who felt Fuller should be focused on having Discovery ready for release by the January 2017 premiere date . By August 2016, Fuller had hired Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, who he had worked with on Pushing Daisies, to serve as co-showrunners with him . A month later, he and Kurtzman asked CBS to delay the series' release so they could meet the high expectations for it, and the studio pushed the series premiere back to May 2017 ." At the end of October, CBS asked Fuller to step down as showrunner, and announced a restructuring of the production: Berg and Harberts were made sole showrunners, working from a broad story arc and overall mythology established by Fuller; Kurtzman and Fuller would continue as executive producers, but with Fuller moving his attention fully to American Gods; and Akiva Goldsman would join the series in a supporting producer role, similar to the role he held on Fringe alongside Kurtzman . CBS reiterated that they were "extremely happy with (Fuller's) creative direction" for the series, though some elements of the series that came directly from Fuller were dropped, including some designs and "more heavily allegorical and complex story" points . Fuller later confirmed that he was no longer involved with the series, but expressed interest in returning for future seasons . </P> <P> With production set to finally begin in January, "a lot of careful deliberation (was) continuing to go into making Discovery special, from the choice of directors, to set design, to the special effects ." Ted Sullivan also joined the series to serve as supervising writing producer . At CBS's 2017 upfront presentation, CBS Interactive president Marc DeBevoise confirmed a "fall" release date for the series, and announced that the episode order for the first season had been expanded to 15 episodes . In June, CBS announced a new premiere date of September 24, 2017, with the season airing through November 2017, and then beginning again in January 2018 . This break gave more time to complete post-production on the second half of the season . Also that month, Kurtzman said that he and Fuller had discussed future seasons before the latter's departure, and promised that "what's there in terms of story and certainly in terms of set - up, character, big ideas, the big movement of the season, that's all stuff that Bryan and I talked about" and would not be altered . Goldsman said in August that the producers wanted "a hybridized (anthology) approach . I don't think we're looking for an endless, continuing nine or 10 year story . We're looking at arcs which will have characters that we know and characters that we don't know ." Kurtzman added that the success of Discovery could lead to other new Star Trek series that could potentially use the anthology format . By the end of August, Berg and Harberts had developed a "road map" for a second season, and "the beginnings of one" for a third . It was also revealed that an average episode of the first season had ultimately cost US $8--8.5 million each, making it one of the most expensive television series ever and exceeding the original Netflix deal, though CBS still considered the series to be paid for already due to the number of new All Access subscribers that the show was expected to draw . After the series' premiere, Kurtzman said that the producers wanted to avoid announcing release dates and having to delay those for any future seasons, due to the external pressure that caused with the first season, but that he hoped a second season would be available in early 2019 . The second season was officially ordered in October 2017, for 13 episodes . </P> <P>--Executive producer Alex Kurtzman on the balance between classic Star Trek and new elements in Discovery </P>

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