Star Trek: Discoveryhas been granted a third season at CBS All Access. The next season of the sci-fi drama will debut on the streaming service in 2020. Michelle Paradise, a former executive producer on The CW’sThe Vampire Diariesspin-off,The Originals, will join currentDiscoveryhead Alex Kurtzman as showrunner when the show returns.
“Michelle joined us midway through season 2 and energized the room with her ferocious knowledge ofTrek,” Kurtzman said ina press release. “Her grasp of character and story detail, her drive and her focus have already become essential in ensuring theTreklegacy.”
Paradise will beStar Trek: Discovery‘s fifth showrunner over the course of three seasons. The latest installment in television’s premiere science fiction franchise was developed byHannibalandPushing Daisiescreator Bryan Fuller, who ultimately left the series to work onStarz’sAmerican Gods. Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts oversawStar Trek: Discoveryseason 1, while Kurtzman, who co-wrote J.J. Abrams’ two big-screenStar Trekadventures and helped create Fox’s paranormal dramaFringe, took over for season 2.
Paradise’s promotion doesn’t mean that Kurtzman is leaving the final frontier behind. In addition toDiscovery, the veteran writer and producer is currently overseeing a number ofStar Trekprojects for CBS All Access. Those include aDiscoveryspinoff starring recurringDiscoverycast memberMichelleYeoh(Crazy Rich Asians), an animated comedy calledLower Decks, and aStar Trek: The Next Generationsequel that will see Patrick Stewart return as the former Enterprise captainJean-Luc Picard.
Star Trek: Discovery, which is currently in the middle ofits second season, starsThe Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Michael Burnham, a science officer onboard the titular starship. The show takes place about 10 years before the firstStar Trekseries, which was created by Gene Roddenberry and aired from 1966 to 1969.
Despite the earlier timeline,Discoveryis full of nods to classicTrek.Discovery‘s first season had an extended storyline centered onStar Trek‘s fan-favorite “Mirror Universe,” while season 2 features Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, who captained the USS Enterprise before James T. Kirk. In addition,Discovery‘s second season added Ethan Peck as Spock, the Vulcan science officer originally portrayed by Leonard Nimoy.
