10 Moments That Almost Killed Star Trek

It seems the writers of Discovery set themselves up for a hard job right from the start. With a franchise of such breadth and complexity and fans so forensic in their attention to detail, it was always going to be impossible to protect and respect continuity in the time period Discovery is set. Retcons galore. Controversy ensued.

The first season was beleaguered by problems from the start. There were constant production delays caused by problems with casting and re-writes. Then the co-creator and showrunner, Bryan Fuller, a man of fine Star Trek pedigree, having worked on Deep Space 9 and Voyager, was mysteriously fired before filming was completed. The next hurdle came after it was released; the fans hated it. True to form, they were extremely vocal about their distaste; this time on the internet rather than via letter. Their grievances were numerous but the most resounding issue was that the show just did not feel like Star Trek. It was dark, gritty and many of the characters were outright nasty. Not at all Starfleet.

The internet certainly amplified the hatred. Rumours were rife that the show wouldn't make it past the first series. Really though, this should have all been expected. It's a strong tradition, perhaps a franchise curse, that most Star Trek shows get off to a rocky start. It's true of TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise.

History repeats itself and just like in decades past, the studio listened to the vocal and passionate fans. Series two of Discovery acted as a soft reboot which addressed many of the fan's concerns. The tone of the show changed notably and writers went to some effort to offer an in-universe explanation for the previous darker tone.

In series two, Discovery became Star Trek. That's not bad going, it took all the others two seasons.