Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: alex kurtzman, star trek

Star Trek Franchise Has Room to "Broaden" Even Further: EP Kurtzman

Star Trek EP Alex Kurtzman on balancing the different ways fans can experience the franchise while maintaining Gene Roddenberry's vision.

As Star Trek gatekeeper Alex Kurtzman is aware, you don't get as far as you do as a franchise without taking risks. With the first wave of shows ending their runs on Paramount+, the executive producer is figuring out new ways to retain original creator Gene Roddenberry's vision while expanding to new audiences. Kurtzman's current field includes the Discovery spinoff film Section 31, the upcoming season three of Strange New Worlds, the upcoming Discovery spinoff series Starfleet Academy, and the untitled live-action comedy series from Justin Simien and Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome.

Alex Kurtzman on Broadening Star Trek While Respecting Roddenberry's Original Vision

"I think that obviously 'Lower Decks' and 'Prodigy' and a lot of the comedy that we've touched on in 'Strange [New Worlds]' and in different shows proves that Star Trek can broaden," Kurtzman told TrekMovie.com. "As long as you're maintaining the essential vision of Star Trek, Roddenberry's essential vision of that optimistic future and that hope, then it actually allows you to go into a lot of different territory, and you know, that's a new area we're going to explore."

Following Michelle Yeoh's exit from Discovery in season three, production on Section 31 remained stagnant as production shifted from a dedicated TV series to a TV streamer-exclusive film and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. Among the bold decisions of the film was revisiting a "Lost" era character in Rachel Garrett, originally played by Tricia O'Neil in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season three episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", and now played by Kacey Rohl as her younger lieutenant counterpart.

"In a funny way, it was a blessing in disguise because we always wanted to tell the story of Georgiou's redemption, right? It was like she was Clint Eastwood in a Star Trek story. She had the sins of her past that come back to haunt her, and then she must decide whether she's going to redeem herself," Kurtzman told Bleeding Cool. "What you're seeing over the course of the movie was originally planned for probably the first season arc for the character. The truth is that there's something wonderful about being able to tell it in a more compressed period because you get to the point a lot faster. I don't think we made big sacrifices. Things ultimately worked out the way they worked out, and we were happy at the end of the day that we were able to tell the story the way we told it."

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