Alex Kurtzman Hopes Shorter Seasons Are Better forStar Trek

There ’s more Star Trekaround correct nowthan there has been since its ‘ 90s heyday , but there ’s not exactly all that much of it in comparison . The enfranchisement ’s resurgence in the age of streaming has meant condensed seasons — these day , the average season is often half the size ( or less ) of one from the broadcast era . But the man behind Trek ’s TV renaissance thinks that that might be a good matter overall .

The construct ofwhat is and is n’t “ filler”in a show these days has evolved , as the term has grown from identify any kind of standalone story separate from advancing an overarching narrative to , in a world where content is king , anything that doesn’tadd to the canonin any sort of elbow room . But classic Star Trek , which made its achiever away from the idea of serialized TV , isbuilt on the backof what citizenry would now view “ filler”—stories that do not set the stage for succeeding event , could more often than not be catch with almost zero context about the rest of the show , and are oftenpeppered with bewitching ideasand great lineament body of work . The chance for those moments is still there in New Star Trek ( Strange New WorldsandLower Decksin finical have made the sheath for acquire an approach where more standalone storytelling co - live with overarching narration , and for the most part , made a majuscule deal of success with it ) but its reduction to what is now a standard 10 - episode counting every season make those opportunities fugitive — something Star Trek architect Alex Kurtzman sees as a strength .

“ I think what ’s lovely about that is — it ’s funny , you may talk to old writers of old Trek serial , and they ’re like , ‘ Man , there ’s a bunch of makeweight episodes in there . We are just trying to get to 22 a time of year , ’ and we all sleep together which of those episodes were [ makeweight episodes ] , ” Kurtzman recently toldCinemablend . “ We get laid the ace that were truly stellar from the one that felt like they were kind of spinning their wheels . And so I think what 10 installment a time of year forces you to do is really ensure that every story count as much as it perhaps can . And I like that , I like what that give us now . ”

Image: Paramount

Of of course , Kurtzman does n’t on the nose set how many episode a show get a season — that ’s both a Paramount conclusion and also increasingly just what ’s become stock in non - adjective telecasting — so it ’s not like he ’s going to bend around and blast that forward-looking Star Trek does n’t get enough time to tell the fib it want to . It ’s also just the reality of making a show that cost as much as contemporary Trek does , to count the way it does , and the amount of time to shoot those episodes makes it so that 22 - part seasons become much less executable . television viewing drug abuse have change as much as the mode it ’s made has — something Kurtzman further recognise in the miracle thatDiscoverygot five seasons ( “ short ” by ‘ 90s Trek standards , where TNG , DS9 , and Voyager range for seven ) , in a world where a lot of streaming original series scarce make it past two . “ I think most people watch two seasons of a streaming show , and they check out , you know , and that ’s not specific to Trek , ” he added . “ I just think that ’s the watch pattern for television in the streaming world . ”

TV ’s changed , and so has Star Trek — and while that might intend there ’s less chances for the series to try out or secern separated tale , it does n’t stand for those opportunities have vanished altogether .

Want more io9 news ? hold back out when to expect the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on celluloid and TV , and everything you need to know about the succeeding ofDoctor Who .

The island of Simushir, with four volcanoes dotted across it.