Set phasers to stunned! ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ showrunners Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts exit the show, and executive producer Alex Kurtzman will take over as sole showrunner for the next installment of the series.
CBS TV Studios released a statement about the change, saying:
“We’ve made some producer changes at ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’ The series continues under the creative vision and leadership of executive producer and co-creator Alex Kurtzman. ‘Discovery’ remains on course for season two in 2019 with new and continuing stories that build on its successful premiere season.”
The second season of ‘Discovery’ is currently in production, with the 5th episode in the works now. Filming will continue after a brief timeout, presumably to get everyone up to speed with the changes.
According to THR, Berg and Harberts were let go as a result of “leadership and operational issues.” Apparently, the budget for the Season Two premiere episode swelled and the overages were set to come out of the budget for following episodes. It is also rumored that Berg and Harberts were cruel toward the writing staff of ‘Discovery,’ with Harberts said to have “leaned across the writers room table while shouting an expletive at a member of the show’s staff.”
It has been reported that multiple writers came forward and mentioned being uncomfortable working with the showrunners and threatened to file a complaint with human resources or quit the series. After hearing rumors of these claims, Harberts is said to have threatened the staff to keep concerns to themselves.
Whatever the case behind the change, it is nothing new to the ‘Discovery’ crew, as showrunner Bryan Fuller made his exit in 2016 during pre-production. Fuller was asked to step down as showrunner when CBS became annoyed that he was splitting time between ‘Discovery’ and the Starz series ‘American Gods.’
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series features a new ship and new characters, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment. The second season is set to debut on the CBS All Access app sometime next year.
