Space, in the “Star Trek” universe, may be an alluring and infinite frontier, but time is a much rarer and more vexing commodity.
On this planet, swaths of time pass between installments of the “Star Trek” film franchise, and 12 years have elapsed since the last “Star Trek” television series ended.
These projects have covered vast stretches of continuity — whole centuries of future history and countless days in characters’ lives — while their one- and two-hour time limits imposed tight storytelling constraints.These are among the challenges that will be taken on by a new series, “Star Trek: Discovery,” whose first episode will be shown Sunday, Sept. 24, on CBS. Further episodes will be released on the network’s streaming service, CBS All Access.
Set a decade before the adventures of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew of the original “Star Trek,” the new series embraces the narrative traditions of the serialized TV age. Its central story line plays out over a 15-episode season, and its characters can be morally ambiguous and untrustworthy to viewers as well as to one another.
“Discovery” is also a series that has weathered several challenging years of development and production, multiple delays and the sudden departure of its co-creator Bryan Fuller. All the while, it has striven to stay relevant and true to the guiding philosophy of “Star Trek” at a volatile moment.
“The world got pretty horrible in the last couple of years,” Alex Kurtzman, the other co-creator, said. “More than ever, as the world as gotten darker, people need ‘Star Trek.
’”As he and his colleagues have worked on “Discovery,” Mr. Kurtzman said they have asked themselves: “How do you honor the optimism and hope of ‘Star Trek,’ while also reflecting a brutal time? That is a reason to make a television show.”
Mr. Kurtzman, a writer and producer of the 2009 “Star Trek” film reboot and its 2013 sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness,” was first approached by CBS a few years ago about creating a new “Star Trek” TV series.
Mr. Kurtzman, whose other TV credits include “Fringe,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Hawaii Five-0,” was initially hesitant. To him and to millions of fans, “Star Trek” is a sacred institution, whose patient storytelling and progressive outlook have endured for more than 50 years while spawning numerous imitators.
“The only reason to do a new ‘Trek’ television show is if you have something really new to say,” Mr. Kurtzman said.
But Mr. Kurtzman became more intrigued by the idea of a series that could say and do more than even the big-budget movies — that could, as he put it, “live in the nuance and moral quandary that you don’t have time for in the films.”
About two and a half years ago, he began to work out the premise of a new show with Mr. Fuller, who developed TV’s “Hannibal” and is a showrunner of “American Gods,” and who previously wrote for the “Star Trek” series “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager.”
Mr. Kurtzman and Mr. Fuller set their story in an era when the United Federation of Planets has achieved a seeming utopia but remains fearful of the mysterious and belligerent Klingon race. The creators made their protagonist a Starfleet first officer — a more vulnerable, less certain character — rather than a captain, as past “Trek” versions have done.
This character is highly regarded on her starship and throughout the Federation, but, in the earliest episodes of “Discovery,” she makes some fateful choices that fundamentally change how she is perceived, and that land her on a new vessel, surrounded by unfamiliar crewmates on an enigmatic mission. (To say much more would violate the prime directive of serial TV: no spoilers.)
As Mr. Kurtzman explained, “I tend to gravitate towards stories that surprise me, that set you up in a comfort zone and then pull the rug out, and now you’ve got a season’s worth of television to rectify that.”
CBS announced “Star Trek: Discovery” in November 2015, with Mr. Kurtzman as its executive producer. Mr. Fuller was named its showrunner in February 2016, and the debut of the series was planned for January 2017.
A larger producing team was assembled, including trusted franchise participants like Eugene (Rod)…
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