Star Trek: 10 Controversies Behind Discovery’s Troubled Early Seasons

Among the litany of issues that led to Bryan Fuller's firing from Star Trek: Discovery was CBS' dwindling patience with the show's continual delays.

Having slated Discovery for an early 2017 launch, CBS executives were displeased when Fuller failed to deliver scripts on time and the domino effect that had on the rest of the show's production and on the network. With its flagship Star Trek series bogged down by internal conflict and setbacks, CBS was unable to launch its upcoming streaming service, CBS All Access.

After months of delays, Fuller and Alex Kurtzman met with CBS chief Les Moonves to inform him that the January 2017 premiere Moonves had announced would not happen. According to Variety:

Moonves accepted the delay, though not happily.

Having pushed the series premiere from January 2017 to May, CBS was yet again forced to delay Star Trek: Discovery's big debut when AMC refused to release Sonequa Martin-Green from her contract on "The Walking Dead" – despite her character having already been killed.

Ultimately both Star Trek: Discovery and CBS All Access launched on September 24, 2017 with Martin-Green in the starring role as Commander Michael Burnham, but that wasn't the end of the show's troubles.