Despite being a long-anticipated return to television of the venerable “Star Trek” sci-fi franchise, “Star Trek: Discovery” has been in production limbo for way too long. Thrice delayed in its premiere at CBS All Access, it wasn’t until very recently that the network was able to narrow down when it may start airing. The premise of being a prequel to the original 1960s series was interesting enough to maintain excitement however, along with the idea of the main character not being the titular starship's captain but his first officer instead. Still, just because the second-in-command of the Discovery is the lead doesn’t mean the actual captain is relegated to almost a non-entity.
This is reflected on who they have cast to be the skipper of the show's starship.
Heavyweight actor
To play the role of Captain Lorca of the USS Discovery, CBS has cast veteran English actor Jason Isaacs, something of a familiar name to a lot of moviegoers. In the early 2000s he could be recognized as either the vile British officer Lord Tavington in Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot”, or perhaps as an American Army Ranger in Mogadishu on “Black Hawk Down”. But children would most definitely be acclaimed him as the sinister racist wizard Lucius Malfoy from the “Harry Potter” film series, or the voice of Admiral Zhao from “Avatar: the Last Airbender”. No further information has been provided on his character’s personality, his overall role on "Star Trek Discovery" or his working relationship with his XO, Lt.
Cmdr. Rainsford (Sonequa Martin-Green).
“Star Trek Discovery” also stars Doug Jones as Science Officer Saru, James Frain as Sarek of Vulcan (father of original series character Mr. Spock), Maulik Pancholy as Dr. Nambue, and Sam Vartholomeos as junior Starfleet officer Connor. Also starring in recurring roles are Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georgiou of the starship USS Shenzhou, Chris Obi as Klingon commander T’Kuvma, and Shazad Latif as Klingon captain Kol.
Rough waters
The series is scheduled to run 13 episodes on its debut season at the All Access premium service of CBS, but so many mishaps and hurdles have pushed it far beyond its original January 2017 premiere. The latest word from CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves is that “Discovery” will most certainly air anytime this late summer or early fall. The delays are likely linked to the bowing out of Bryan Fuller as the series show-runner in October last year, with Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts having been named to take his place.
