Star Trek: Discovery Producer Alex Kurtzman Reports on Picard TV Series

By David Griffin

While fans are eagerly awaiting Patrick Stewart's return as captain Jean-Luc Picard in the upcoming CBS All Access series, details surrounding the plot are hard to come by. During the 2019 winter news tour of the TCA, Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman spoke to a group of reporters in the general tone of the series.

"Everyone in this [writers] The room loves Jean-Luc Picard very deeply, "said Kurtzman. The advantage we have, is that Jean-Luc Picard is in the room with us. As we create history, we wonder how we live up to the spirit, character and tone that Next Gen brings, while doing something very different. "

The next Picard series will take place about 20 years after Star Trek: Nemesis of 2002. Kurtzman informed us that Picard's character had changed emotionally as a result of the time jump.

"Patrick was very clear with us from the start," said Kurtzman, adding, "He did not want to repeat what he had done, and, by the way, it's been 20 years, so he could not The question becomes to know what happened to him during that time, are there forces that forced him to take into account the choices he made in his life? How do you stand to be that person that everyone loved when the circumstances around you changed dramatically? These are the big questions we ask ourselves. "

With Stewart as executive producer for the project, we were curious about his overall involvement and impact on the story.

"Patrick did not want to handcuff us.He said that he wished we had the freedom to explore this character from a new angle and I (Stewart) will always know in my belly if that's something something that he (Picard), or would not do.We started to internalize his thinking about Picard.Because this conversation is literally daily, whether it's through email or in person, we are confident that we will make choices that will make her happy. "

In terms of building the world, Kurtzman was reluctant to give details, but he badured us that the series would stay true to its TNG roots.

"The first thing we all said is that you have to feel rooted," Kurtzman explained. "Whatever choices we make on how to represent the future, you have to feel grounded." One of the things that pleased Next Gen was that it was acting From an emotional and anchored entertainment.The easy thing to do is to come up With the floating skyscrapers and all the sci-fi clichés we have tried to avoid that.In production design there are small personal and intimate details that you can still connect to now, even if it happens so far into the future. "

While Kurtzman was about to leave, he told us that the series would start shooting in about two and a half months, "we are well advanced," he said. No official release date has been set for the Picard series, but CBS expects an expected arrival in late 2019.

David Griffin always looks at DuckTales in his pajamas with a bowl of cereal in his hand. He is also a television editor for IGN. Say hello Twitter.