Aliens on Star Trek could be getting rid of their Starfleet or Klingon uniforms and boldly going nude on the new show, Discovery. And everybody might swear a lot, too.
Science fiction has a reputation for pushing us forward, being that it’s not tethered to the restrictions of the reality, society, and politics as we understand them today. As far back as the original 1966 series, Star Trek has been trying to get away with near-nudity with the help of costume designer William Ware Theiss. On the original show, he often designed skimpy costumes(for men and women) to be just within the bounds of broadcast acceptability.
But this kind of thing isn’t always broadcast and FCC-friendly, but Star Trek: Discovery will be airing on CBS’s digital platform, CBS All Access, rather than its broadcast network, and that might set it free to do a lot of things we wouldn’t normally see on television.
In a recent interview with Recode, CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone mentioned that the showrunners of Star Trek: Discovery were encountering things that could do and directions they could take the show without having to work within the narrow parameters of the FCC rules.
When questioned on whether that meant naked aliens and humans, Lanzone answered, “Theoretically.”
The same could be true of swearing, or, in Lanzone’s words, “Whatever future swearing, 300 years in the future, would be.”
Don’t expect Star Trek: Discovery to take an HBO-style turn, but it wouldnt be surprising to see the Star Trek universe headed in some different and unprecedented directions because it’s not just nudity and swearing that are on the table. Freedom from FCC restrictions could mean that the subject matter that Star Trek: Discovery tackles could be broader, too.
And if that’s the case, Star Trek: Discovery could be pushing the final frontier in brand new directions.
