Star Trek: Discovery Fires Showrunners Midway Through Season 2 Production

Star Trek: Discovery has landed in troubled waters.

Showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg have been fired from the CBS All Access series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The pair was let go after allegations of abuse in the writers room came up, combined with a ballooned budget for the sophomore season. The show is currently filming Episode 5 of Season 2, which Harberts and Berg are expected to finish before executive producer Alex Kurtzman takes over for the remainder of the series.

The THR story also reveals that Season 1 executive producer Akiva Goldsman did not return for Season 2 reportedly because his management style clashed with the writers room.

We Have Our First Look at Star Trek: Discovery Season 2

This is the second top level shake-up on Star Trek: Discovery after Bryan Fuller left early in the production in Season 1 after many disagreements with CBS over casting, budget and premiere timing. Fuller eventually left to focus on his adaptation of American Gods for Starz (which he also later left over budget issues).

Luckily, Kurtzman is not an outsider. He developed the series with Fuller and directed the pilot episode. He's been an executive producer the entire time through. The show is scheduled to take a production break after Episode 5 to allow him time to take over and the shake-up is not expected to delay the premiere of Season 2.

Star Trek: Discovery is expected to return in 2019 on CBS All Access.

(Full disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, the parent company of CBS All Access)

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