Bryan Fuller is stepping down as the showrunner for "Star Trek: Discovery." The announcement came as a surprise since he had been a passionate hands-on advocate for the show since its conception.
The showrunning duties are now delegated to producers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Pushing Daisies"). Fuller will still be deeply involved in the project albeit in a bit lesser capacity as the executive producer, Variety reported.
Fuller reportedly backed away from the project because of other commitments. He wrote the script for the first two episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery" and CBS is reportedly very pleased with the material that he produced, Screen Rant reported.
"Due to Bryan's other projects, he is no longer able to oversee the day-to-day of Star Trek, but he remains an executive producer, and will continue to map out the story arc for the entire season. Alex Kurtzman, co-creator and executive producer, along with Fuller's producing partners and longtime collaborators, Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, will also continue to oversee the show with the existing writing and producing team," CBS studio explained in a statement.
Elsewhere, Fuller gave his support Berg and Herberts. He likened the two to Riker who spent seven years as a first officer before eventually accepting captainship of the USS Titan.
Riker spent 7 years of TNG unready for Captaincy, @GretchenJBerg @AaronHarberts are ready. Thrilled to see them in command of the Bridge.
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) October 27, 2016
Outside "Star Trek: Discovery," Fuller is also busy with his Starz series "American Gods." He is also preparing for the reboot of "Amazing Stories" for NBC.
Other news for the franchise includes the hiring of Akiva Goldsman in a top creative post, presumably as a support producer. Goldsman had small cameos in "Star Trek" 2009 and "Into Darkness."
"Star Trek: Discovery" premieres sometime on May 2017 under CBS All Access.
To know more about "Star Trek: Discovery," watch the clip below:
