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To Boldly Go Where All Shows Have Gone Before: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Was Supposed To Be An Anthology Series

Whatever version of Star Trek Discovery new showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg deliver, it could've all been completely different.

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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'Star Trek: Discovery' [Credit: CBS]

The world of Star Trek is getting some new life later this year, and CBS is boldly taking us where no series has gone before (apart from Enterprise) to chart the earlier days of Starfleet in Star Trek: Discovery. An all-star cast of Michelle Yeoh, Jason Isaacs, and Sonequa Martin-Green will take to the bridge alongside some slick visuals and a faithful homage to Gene Roddenberry's '60s masterpiece.

We are certainly ushering in a new era of the franchise, but going back to the start (again), can the showrunners reinvent a series that is already over 50 years old, or will Discovery get beamed up after just one season? Whatever version of #StarTrekDiscovery new showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg deliver, it could've all been completely different.

Discovering New Life

Stardate 2016, and a time before Harberts and Berg were at the helm of Discovery, #BryanFuller was originally attached as the series showrunner. Now, speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his departure, the acclaimed visionary spoke about his original plans for the show, which sound ambitious to say the least:

"The original pitch was to do for science-fiction what American Horror Story had done for horror. It would platform a universe of Star Trek shows.”

The upside of having an anthology series is that if you hit a bump in the road with a particular season, it really is as simple as hitting the reset button and starting again next year. Also, Fuller is already known for his Fullerverse of shows, but a Star Trek Fullerverse? Take my money right now!

Sadly, the showrunner famously parted ways with the show, and took almost all of his vision with him. Bearing in mind that Fuller's other works include the likes of American Gods and Hannibal, God only knows what artistic flair he would've brought to the outer space adventure.

Apart from his previous endeavors on both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, what made Fuller so qualified for the job was his understanding of Stark Trek as an entity. Roddenberry's universe is much more than just some guns-blazing space opera, and it certainly seems that Fuller understood exactly what Stark Trek meant for popular culture beyond your classic Trekkies:

“I couldn’t stop thinking about how many black people were inspired by seeing Nichelle Nichols on the bridge of a ship [as Lt. Uhura in The Original Series]. I couldn’t stop thinking about how many Asian people were inspired by seeing George Takei [as Sulu] and feeling that gave them hope for their place in the future. I wanted to be part of that representation for a new era.”

Keep on Trekking.

Although Fuller was sent packing over budget concerns and a slipping premiere date, at least his legacy lives on through the vision of having a woman of color lead the show. Speaking of Martin-Green's lead, Fuller promises that even if he is gone, we can expect great things from Michael Burnham:

"Her audition was fantastic. I found her incredibly insightful as an actor and delightful as a human being."

As for Discovery no longer being an anthology show, is CBS missing a trick here?We are certainly in the era of the anthology, while shows like the aforementioned American Horror Story, Fargo, and Black Mirror consistently top the ratings. Sure, we may have already visited the adventures of James Tiberius Kirk on numerous occasions, but just imagine James McAvoy playing a young Jean-Luc Picard and then pick your jaw up off the floor.

If Fuller had been able to realize his dream, the Discovery anthology version could've been something that appealed to Stark Trek fans from every iteration of the show, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be. While we can still enjoy the new version of Discovery, it is a tragic state of affairs that Fuller's dream has perished just like those doomed Redshirts.

(Source: Entertainment Weekly)

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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