star trek discovery

From what we’ve seen and been told by the creative team so far, it appears that ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ will be working hard to attempt to differentiate itself from its predecessors in Trek TV history.  We recently learned that ‘Discovery’ will be essentially ignoring the “Roddenberry Rule” that forbid showing major in-fighting between members of Starfleet crews; now comes word that the powers-that-be behind the show are not shying away from killing off major characters – in fact, they may even be planning on it.

In a recent interview, showrunners Gretch J. Berg and Aaron Harberts minced no words about how no characters on the show will be considered “safe” in the regard that they may be killed off.  As Berg said:

“’Game of Thrones’ changed television.  They almost made it difficult to fall in love with people because you didn’t know if they were going to be taken away from you. That show’s had an influence on all TV dramas that have come after it.”

Harberts chimed in with his thoughts as well:

“Death isn’t treated gratuitously on this show. It’s not for shock value. But when it happens we want to make sure that people really feel it.”

In a previous interview, Harberts also clarified the creative team’s feelings on the “Roddenberry Rule” and how they believe that removing that rule will also help keep the story-telling fresh and unexpected:

“We’re trying to do stories that are complicated, with characters with strong points of view and strong passions.  People have to make mistakes — mistakes are still going to be made in the future. We’re still going to argue in the future. The thing we’re taking from Roddenberry is how we solve those conflicts.  So we do have our characters in conflict, we do have them struggling with each other, but it’s about how they find a solution and work through their problems.”

What do you think, readers?  Do these bits of information make you more interested in checking out the show this Fall, or are you concerned about how this show is unfolding?  Sound off in the comments below!

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ will premiere on CBS on September 24, 2017, before moving to streaming service CBS All Access for the remainder of its 15-episode run.