Jason Isaacs Star Trek: Discovery

Earlier this week, the New York Daily News ran a piece in their Gossip section about Jason Isaacs, who plays Captain Lorca on the upcoming ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ , which… didn’t go over well.  But considering it was the GOSSIP section, that’s maybe not the most reliable source.  Isaacs states that the article wasn’t really accurate and misquoted him.

But fans weren’t the only ones stunned.  William Shatner himself reacted via Twitter, including a brief snippet of the article.

Not shown in the snippet that Shatner posted, Isaacs also said:

“It’s ‘Star Trek,’ but not as we know it.  There are places obviously where they’ve observed canon to do with things like uniforms and badges and stuff, but there are places where the rules of storytelling are reinvented.

“I don’t know how to explain the anarchy and chaos.  One of the things I can do as a storyteller is be part of stories that hold up a vision for the future where we just do better.”

First thing’s first, the second paragraph, “Isaacs, 54, said the new show will throw away the legacy of William Shatner and Patrick Stewart – and expects it to upset die hard Trekkies.”  At no point does Isaacs even mention William Shatner or Patrick Stewart.  He says the “rules of storytelling are reinvented.”  What would the point be of doing a new installment of a decades-long franchise if you’re just going to tell the same old stories the same old way?

Television has come a long way since ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ went off the air 12 years ago.  Think about it.  There’s a reason why it’s called the New Golden Age of Television.  Shows from HBO, Showtime, FX, AMC, Starz as well as Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix have completely reinvented water-cooler TV.  It would be naïve to take a step backward and do things the way they were done over a decade ago.

Isaacs replied to Shatner’s tweet to clarify:

The important part is his last line, that he said “I didn’t care about ATTRACTING the diehard fans.”  It’s possible parts of his statement were omitted or that the question asked was something along the lines of “Are you worried about attracting/offending die-hard fans?”   We can’t be certain, but it’s believable.

Even though ‘Discovery’ will only be available on the pay streaming service CBS All Access, those that sign up and watch that show, most likely will be classic ‘Trek’ fans.  But for such an expensive endeavor the show HAS to attract a wider audience.  The three most recent theatrical movies have helped shake the “dorky” stereotype of ‘Treks’ past.  (Even though, as we know, nerd culture is pretty much synonymous with pop culture these days.)  But with all the sci fi/fantasy shows that have become crossover hits recently, there really hasn’t been a hard sci fi space show among them.  It would be fitting if ‘Discovery’ becomes that show.

Finally, Isaacs had some more choice words for haters:

Do you buy Isaacs’ clarification?  Or do you still feel like he dissed the fan community?

Source: Trek News