Captain Georgiou and Michael Burnham will soon take on the Klingon Empire, in one form or another, in the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery. The show’s co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman recently confirmed what’s proven to be some Trek fans’ worst nightmare: Discovery is going to look a lot like the three most recent Trek reboot films. But just because some fans have their doubts about the upcoming show doesn’t mean a classic Star Trek captain himself is sympathetic to their plight.
“The line between film and television is utterly blurred,” Kurtzman told Collider. “Not just at a storytelling level, but visually now. What we’re doing on Star Trek right now, that’s not that different from what we’re doing in the movies. I think that’s what people expect when they pay for Netflix, or for HBO, or whatever they’re going to pay for. That actually makes, as a storyteller, it makes it, in the many ways, you’re not limited by oh, we could never really do that on television scope wise because now, take a look at Game of Thrones. That’s a movie.”
The confirmation from Kurtzman that Discovery will fall in line with the growing trend of prestige TV — shows such as Game of Thrones, Westworld, The Crown, Master of None, The Handmaid’s Tale, American Gods, Mr. Robot, and even Stranger Things that treat television series more like extended, intensive movies rather than television — isn’t, honestly, too much of a surprise. Discovery will be streaming through CBS’s own subscription service, CBS All Access, when it premieres this Fall. But it’s the comparison to “the movies,” meaning the Trek reboots, that has the potential to get old school Trek fans worked up.
Fans have already taken to the internet to relay their concerns about the upcoming Trek show, which is meant to take place 10 years before the events of the original Star Trek series that were, incidentally, rebooted by J.J. Abrams’s Trek. The discourse has gotten so bad online that the original Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, commented on a parody thread on Reddit’s r/StarTrek, “It’s disgusting how the new Trek doesn’t respect its history,” to weigh in.
“I just love how frazzled some of you get about canon,” Shatner said. “It’s a show and they are doing a prequel to something that was made 50 years ago. Star Trek was always more about the stories and messaging than the look. If they screw that up; roast em alive and kick em in the you know what! If they don’t; then enjoy it. Kirk out!”
Clearly, Captain Kirk isn’t too sympathetic to the plights of so many Trek fans. So, even if Discovery does include an overwhelming number of lens flares, maybe give it a shot anyway in honor of the good Captain.
Star Trek: Discovery premieres sometime this Fall.
