Things had been going so well for the Star Trek: Discovery in the Interesting New Developments department that I'd somehow forgotten that bad news could also occur. Alas, it has finally happened, though with a big silver lining. Star Trek: Discovery will no longer be coming to CBS All Access in the early days of 2017 as was originally planned, and its highly anticipated premiere will now come some months later, with The Good Wife's spinoff taking its place. But there's a good reason.
Executive producers Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman apparently approached CBS execs last week to request more time to put the show together, and so it was agreed upon that Star Trek: Discovery would be better suited for a debut in May 2017, rather than the planned bow in January. Thankfully, there aren't any problems tied to the request, and it's simply a matter of the creative team wanting to make sure everything - especially the special effects inherent to such a high-profile science fiction project - is as good as it can possibly be. That's something I think fans should be able to applaud them for, even if Klingon expletives are involved.
Star Trek: Discovery is a project that CBS All Access is using to put itself on the streaming platform map, so a lot of care and attention is being given to it, and it's extremely important to get everything right from the ground up. And this show isn't even going into actual production until November, so everyone involved would be constantly hitting crunch time in order to make the weekly airings from January on. This is a major plus for the sci-fi drama blasting off on a streaming site as opposed to a standard network, so seasonal schedules can't cause obstacles.
Considering how visionary a TV creator Bryan Fuller is and how memorable the aesthetic on each of his shows has been, his projects should always get as much breathing room as necessary. Double that when we're talking about one of the two biggest sci-fi franchises of all time. He's doing some great things with the plotline (which will follow female lead Number One on a journey prior to Kirk and Spock's adventures) and all of his inspirations sound right on the mark. If more time means more spectacle, so be it.
According to Variety, The Good Wife spinoff (which still doesn't have a title) will take the Star Trek slot and will put its first episode out to audiences in February 2017. The series will center on Christine Baranski's Diane Lockhart and Cush Jumbo's Lucca Quinn, though the details haven't been all that plentiful. Creators Robert and Michelle King will be the showrunners, with the future of summer series BrainDead up in the air at CBS.
Star Trek: Discovery will now hit CBS All Access in May 2017, which gives people more time to decide if they want to shell out more money for a commercial-free streaming experience. Find out everything you'll definitely be able to watch later this year by checking out our fall TV schedule.
