# Star Trek: Discovery

**Star Trek: Discovery** is an American science fiction television series, the sixth live-action series in the [Star Trek](https://www.edgepedia.org/star-trek) franchise, created by [Bryan Fuller](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-fuller) and Alex Kurtzman for CBS All Access. It premiered on September 24, 2017 with a broadcast episode on the CBS Television Network, after which all episodes streamed on CBS All Access, later Paramount+, making it the first Star Trek series released on subscription-only streaming.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/shows/star-trek-discovery/releases/?view=48525-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-discovery-with-the-series-cast-and-creators)</sup> The story begins roughly a decade before Captain Kirk's five-year mission in *Star Trek: The Original Series* and follows the crew of the USS Discovery across five seasons, ending with a ten-episode final season in 2024.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.startrek.com/news/season-5-trailer-star-trek-discovery-final-adventure)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created by | Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman for CBS All Access<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup> |
| Premiere | September 24, 2017, on CBS with subsequent episodes on CBS All Access<sup>[2](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/shows/star-trek-discovery/releases/?view=48525-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-discovery-with-the-series-cast-and-creators)</sup> |
| Setting | Roughly a decade before *The Original Series* (seasons 1–2), then the 32nd century (seasons 3–5)<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/star-trek-timeline/)</sup> |
| Lead | Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, who becomes captain of the Discovery<sup>[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/cast-and-crew)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.startrek.com/news/to-our-dearest-disco-family)</sup> |
| Run | Five seasons; 65 episodes through season 4, plus a 10-episode final season premiering April 4, 2024<sup>[3](https://www.startrek.com/news/season-5-trailer-star-trek-discovery-final-adventure)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.startrek.com/news/to-our-dearest-disco-family)</sup> |
| Season 1 budget | $6–$7 million per episode<sup>[7](https://commarts.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Johnson_CBS-All-Access.pdf)</sup> |
| Reception | 84% average Tomatometer and 34% average Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes across the series<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup> |

## Development and production

CBS announced a new Star Trek television series in November 2015, and Bryan Fuller, a veteran Trek writer who had written for *Deep Space Nine* and *Voyager*, was hired as creator and showrunner.<sup>[8](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33438/7/Fault%20in%20Our%20Star%20Trek.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://time.com/4420736/star-trek-discovery-new-show/)</sup> At a [San Diego Comic-Con](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-diego-comic-con) panel in 2016, Fuller said the series would not be episodic: "We are telling the story in a modern way, which allows us not to try to wrap up the tale in 42 minutes. So we look at each season as one novel."<sup>[9](https://time.com/4420736/star-trek-discovery-new-show/)</sup>

**Showrunner turnover.** Fuller departed before the series launched, and the show went through numerous delays; WIRED reported it had been intended to launch CBS All Access but ceded that ground to *The Good Fight*.<sup>[10](https://www.wired.com/story/star-trek-discovery-cbs-business/)</sup> Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts took over as showrunners for season 1; Fuller had asked them to join the show to do a "character-heavy version of 'Star Trek.'"<sup>[11](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aaron-harberts-star-trek-discovery/)</sup> During season 2 production, both were fired by CBS, leaving [Alex Kurtzman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-kurtzman) as the showrunner, with Heather Kadin as an executive producer rather than a co-showrunner; Michelle Paradise later served as co-showrunner.<sup>[12](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/star-trek-history-always-repeats-itself-discovery)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/releases/?view=58967-paramount-announces-premiere-dates-and-additional-seasons-for-star-trek-universe-series)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[26](https://www.startrek.com/news/kurtzman-kadin-spock-stewart-and-more)</sup> The series is produced by [CBS Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-studios) in association with Kurtzman's Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.<sup>[2](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/shows/star-trek-discovery/releases/?view=48525-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-discovery-with-the-series-cast-and-creators)</sup>

Production takes place primarily on the Pinewood lot in Toronto, on some of the largest sets ever created for a Star Trek series, with location shoots as far afield as Jordan.<sup>[14](https://www.wired.com/story/inside-star-trek-discovery-netflix-uk/)</sup> Season 1's production budget ran $6–$7 million per episode.<sup>[7](https://commarts.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Johnson_CBS-All-Access.pdf)</sup>

## Premise and cast

The series follows the voyages of Starfleet on missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, centered on one Starfleet officer, [Michael Burnham](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-burnham), who learns that to truly understand all things alien, she must first understand herself.<sup>[15](https://www.startrek.com/series/star-trek-discovery)</sup> [Sonequa Martin-Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/sonequa-martin-green) plays Michael Burnham, Doug Jones plays Saru, Anthony Rapp plays [Paul Stamets](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-stamets), Mary Wiseman plays Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz plays Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala plays Cleveland "Book" Booker, and Blu del Barrio plays Adira as series regulars; the cast also features Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca, Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, and Ethan Peck as Spock.<sup>[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/cast-and-crew)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/releases/?view=58967-paramount-announces-premiere-dates-and-additional-seasons-for-star-trek-universe-series)</sup> Fuller had promised a more diverse cast than its recent predecessors, including a female captain in Yeoh's Georgiou and a gay lieutenant in Rapp's Stamets, the first openly gay character in a Star Trek television series.<sup>[16](https://time.com/4585523/new-tv-shows-2017/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.wired.com/story/inside-star-trek-discovery-netflix-uk/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[27](https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/your-guide-to-queer-identity-and-metaphor-in-star-trek)</sup>

## Timeline and story arcs

Seasons 1 and 2 are set in the Prime universe in the mid-23rd century, a decade before Kirk and Spock's tenure on the Enterprise, in the same continuity as the other Star Trek television series rather than the timeline of the rebooted films.<sup>[17](https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-discovery-season-1-cbs-timeline/)</sup> Season 1 centers on the war with the Klingons and includes a Mirror Universe arc beginning with the episode "Despite Yourself," reviving the parallel universe first seen in the original series episode "Mirror Mirror."<sup>[18](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/star-trek-discovery-season-1-episode-10-despite-yourself-review-mirror-universe-parallel-lorca-michael-a8149286.html)</sup> Season 2 brings Pike and Spock aboard, providing backstory that later fed the spinoff *Star Trek: Strange New Worlds*.<sup>[19](https://www.startrek.com/news/so-you-want-start-watching-discovery-youve-never-watched-star-trek)</sup>

**The jump to the 32nd century.** The season 2 ending propels the show into new terrain: the Discovery travels roughly 930 years into the future, arriving in 3189 in a galaxy where the [Federation](https://www.edgepedia.org/federation) has been decimated by the Burn, a catastrophic event in which all active dilithium fractured at a resonant frequency, crippling warp travel.<sup>[20](https://time.com/5877530/fall-tv-2020/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/star-trek-timeline/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[21](https://www.startrek.com/news/the-science-behind-discoverys-burn)</sup> Season 3 follows the crew as they discover the cause of the Burn and work to restore the Federation, with the Emerald Chain criminal syndicate as the era's dominant power; season 4 centers on a mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly threatening the Alpha Quadrant; and season 5 sends Burnham's crew on a hunt for the Progenitor technology that started humanoid evolution in the galaxy.<sup>[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/star-trek-timeline/)</sup>

## Canon and fan response

As a prequel set close to *The Original Series*, Discovery drew sustained scrutiny from fans over potential breaches in canon, a dynamic scholars have described as "textual conservationism," in which fan audiences police adherence to established imaginary history.<sup>[8](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33438/7/Fault%20in%20Our%20Star%20Trek.pdf)</sup> Showrunner Alex Kurtzman publicly addressed the show's approach to canon, and the producers insisted the series is set in the Prime universe rather than the Kelvin Timeline of the [J. J. Abrams](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-j-abrams) films.<sup>[22](https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-discovery-canon-alex-kurtzman/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33438/7/Fault%20in%20Our%20Star%20Trek.pdf)</sup> [Jonathan Frakes](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-frakes), director of *Star Trek: First Contact*, observed in 2018 that the backlash Discovery faced resembled what the cast and crew of *The Next Generation* had encountered in 1987.<sup>[12](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/star-trek-history-always-repeats-itself-discovery)</sup>

## Reception

Critical and audience responses diverged widely. On Rotten Tomatoes the series holds an 84% average Tomatometer against a 34% average Popcornmeter; season 1 scored 82% with critics while Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 73 based on 44 critic reviews and a user score of 4.2 based on 2,440 ratings.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[23](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/star-trek-discovery/)</sup> Early reviews praised Martin-Green's lead performance and the show's production values, with IndieWire calling it "the most exciting and daring take on the franchise"; later commentary often highlighted the season 3 time-jump as briefly reenergizing a show that had been constrained by Star Trek's well-charted 23rd century.<sup>[24](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/star-trek-discovery-reviews-netflix-cbs-access-all-areas-sonequa-martin-green-reviews-trailer-a7965286.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[23](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/star-trek-discovery/)</sup>

## Distribution and legacy

Discovery was the flagship series of CBS All Access, and its distribution model was unusual for the franchise: the premiere aired on broadcast CBS, subsequent episodes streamed on All Access in the United States, and CBS Studios International distributed the series on Netflix in 188 countries, with [Bell Media](https://www.edgepedia.org/bell-media) carrying it in Canada.<sup>[2](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/shows/star-trek-discovery/releases/?view=48525-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-discovery-with-the-series-cast-and-creators)</sup> After Paramount folded its streaming strategy around Paramount+, the series moved to that service, and later seasons also reached [Pluto TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluto-tv) channels, [SkyShowtime](https://www.edgepedia.org/skyshowtime) in parts of Europe, Super Drama in Japan, and TVNZ in New Zealand.<sup>[15](https://www.startrek.com/series/star-trek-discovery)</sup>

The series relaunched Star Trek on television after a 12-year gap since the cancellation of *Enterprise* in 2005, and it seeded a wave of follow-up series on Paramount+, including *Strange New Worlds*, a Pike and Spock spinoff, and *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy*, a Discovery spinoff set in 3191 that debuted on January 15, 2026.<sup>[8](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33438/7/Fault%20in%20Our%20Star%20Trek.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[25](https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/star-trek-starfleet-academy-showrunners-alex-kurtzman-and-noga-landau-explain-why-this-is-the-perfect-series-for-treks-60th-anniversary-interview)</sup> The final season premiered on April 4, 2024, with the first two of its ten episodes available at launch and new episodes dropping weekly on Thursdays.<sup>[3](https://www.startrek.com/news/season-5-trailer-star-trek-discovery-final-adventure)</sup>

## References

1. [Star Trek: Discovery, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery)
2. [Behind the Scenes of Star Trek: Discovery with the Series' Cast and Creators, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/shows/star-trek-discovery/releases/?view=48525-behind-the-scenes-of-star-trek-discovery-with-the-series-cast-and-creators)
3. [Join the Crew of the U.S.S. Discovery on Their Final Adventure, StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/news/season-5-trailer-star-trek-discovery-final-adventure)
4. [Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/star-trek-timeline/)
5. [Star Trek: Discovery Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/cast-and-crew)
6. [To Our Dearest Disco Family, StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/news/to-our-dearest-disco-family)
7. [CBS All Access (Johnson, University of Wisconsin)](https://commarts.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Johnson_CBS-All-Access.pdf)
8. [The Fault in Our Star Trek: (Dis)Continuity Mapping, Textual Conservationism, and the Perils of Prequelization (Proctor), Bournemouth University](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33438/7/Fault%20in%20Our%20Star%20Trek.pdf)
9. [Here's the Major Way the New Star Trek Series Will Differ From the Original, TIME](https://time.com/4420736/star-trek-discovery-new-show/)
10. [With 'Star Trek: Discovery,' CBS Discovers That TV Ain't Easy Anymore, WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/star-trek-discovery-cbs-business/)
11. [Aaron Harberts on leading "Star Trek: Discovery," CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aaron-harberts-star-trek-discovery/)
12. [Star Trek history always repeats itself, even with Discovery, Syfy Wire](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/star-trek-history-always-repeats-itself-discovery)
13. [Paramount+ Announces Premiere Dates and Additional Seasons for "Star Trek" Universe Series, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-studios/releases/?view=58967-paramount-announces-premiere-dates-and-additional-seasons-for-star-trek-universe-series)
14. [Inside Star Trek Discovery's mission to bring hope back to TV, WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/inside-star-trek-discovery-netflix-uk/)
15. [Star Trek: Discovery, StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/series/star-trek-discovery)
16. [22 New TV Shows You Should Watch in 2017, TIME](https://time.com/4585523/new-tv-shows-2017/)
17. [Star Trek: Discovery: When Does Season 1 Take Place?, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-discovery-season-1-cbs-timeline/)
18. [Star Trek Discovery season 1 episode 10 'Despite Yourself' review, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/star-trek-discovery-season-1-episode-10-despite-yourself-review-mirror-universe-parallel-lorca-michael-a8149286.html)
19. [So You Want to Start Watching 'Discovery,' but You've Never Watched 'Star Trek?', StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/news/so-you-want-start-watching-discovery-youve-never-watched-star-trek)
20. [The 31 Most Anticipated TV Shows of Fall 2020, TIME](https://time.com/5877530/fall-tv-2020/)
21. [The Science Behind Discovery's Burn, StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/news/the-science-behind-discoverys-burn)
22. ['Star Trek: Discovery' Showrunner Explains the Show's Approach to Canon, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-discovery-canon-alex-kurtzman/)
23. [Star Trek: Discovery Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/star-trek-discovery/)
24. [Star Trek: Discovery review round-up: What the critics are saying, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/star-trek-discovery-reviews-netflix-cbs-access-all-areas-sonequa-martin-green-reviews-trailer-a7965286.html)
25. ['Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' showrunners explain why this is the perfect series for Trek's 60th anniversary, Space.com](https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/star-trek-starfleet-academy-showrunners-alex-kurtzman-and-noga-landau-explain-why-this-is-the-perfect-series-for-treks-60th-anniversary-interview)
26. [Kurtzman Kadin Spock Stewart and More, startrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/news/kurtzman-kadin-spock-stewart-and-more)
27. [Your Guide to Queer Identity and Metaphor in Star Trek](https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/your-guide-to-queer-identity-and-metaphor-in-star-trek)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Fictional worlds and series reference apparatus › Fictional universes, characters, and attribute reference › Star Trek universe lore*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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