Enlarge / Sonequa Martin-Green plays protagonist Michael Burnham, first officer of the U.S.S. Shenzhou, on new CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a lot of strict rules for writers on his shows. Some, like the requirement that both female and male officers be called "sir," were thrown out a while ago (Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Kathryn Janeway, wanted to be called "ma'am"). Now, with forthcoming series Star Trek: Discovery, we're about to see one of Roddenberrys most cherished rules bite the dust.

When Roddenberry first framed his ideas for the Star Trek universe, he wanted to be sure that writers would emphasize the Utopian aspects of future life in the Federation. Some of that Utopianism was hardwired into the show's basic premise, in which money, war, and racial discrimination are things of the distant past. But Roddenberry wasn't satisfied with thathe wanted characters whose behavior was exemplary, too.

After decades of complaints about these constraints from producers, Star Trek: Discovery showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg have decided to abandon Utopia for something they consider a little more realistic. On this streaming series, debuting on CBS All Access this September, our protagonists won't always be nice. Their behavior won't be worthy of emulation, and their conflicts will get out of control.

"The thing we're taking from Roddenberry is how we solve those conflicts, Harberts told Entertainment Weekly. "So we do have our characters in conflict, we do have them struggling with each other, but it's about how they find a solution and work through their problems."

Harberts and Berg are also chucking the "planet/alien/giant space object of the week" format that's long been a staple of Star Trek storytelling. Instead, there will be a seasonal arc, with character-driven plotlines. You can expect something like The Expanse or Battlestar Galactica, in which multiple plots play out over the entire season, rather than self-contained adventures each week.

There's risk in doing this, because one of Star Trek's main lures has always been its relentless optimism even when things go pretty dark (see, for example, Deep Space Nine). Plenty of science fiction franchises already deal in gritty realism, and it's possible that audiences won't take to the idea that Star Trek is now one of them. That said, conflict will always be part of human life. What could be more Utopian than telling stories about people overcoming genuine, entrenched conflict rather than avoiding conflict altogether?

Link:

New Star Trek series will abandon Gene Roddenberry's cardinal rule - Ars Technica