Star Trek: Discovery showrunners explain show's delays

What was behind the long wait for Star Trek: Discovery?

There were a few factors that pushed the show’s originally announced debut by seven months — including waiting for star Sonequa Martin-Green to become available from her Walking Dead commitments. But a big issue was the sheer challenge of world-building a new sci-fi series to everybody’s satisfaction, showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg exclusively told EW.

“There’s is so much artistry and custom craftsmanship that go into every prop, every costume, every set,” Harberts explained. “These things have to be designed and manufactured. We flew a costume designer to Switzerland to pick up the fabric for the Starfleet uniforms. Several items on our uniforms are 3D printed. Some of our sets can take over six weeks to make. CBS has given us the time and the money to make something the fans will find worthwhile.”

Added Berg: “You can’t cut corners or have 95 percent of what’s on screen be completely original and inspired and then have five percent something you bought at a store. It has to be cohesive — and it is. I’m so proud of what’s on screen, it’s so beautiful and it’s taking world-building to a whole new level.”

For instance: The bridge of the U.S.S. Discovery. Trek fans think they already know what it looks like from the trailer. But that’s not it — the trailer shows the bridge of the U.S.S. Shenzhou — an entirely different (and older) ship than the Discovery that the production also had to build. The actual Discovery bridge has yet to be revealed…

Earlier Monday, CBS announced Star Trek: Discovery will debut Sunday, Sept. 24 (first on CBS, then shifting to CBS All Access streaming service). EW has more scoop to come, follow @jameshibberd for more.