“Stark Trek” fans who tune in for CBS All Access’ addition to the popular franchise can expect science fiction fare inspired by the election of President Trump.
A new band of heroes will tackle the “final frontier” this month when “Star Trek: Discovery” premiers, but the show’s executives said the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire will tie into commentary on the Trump administration.
“The allegory is that we really started working on the show in earnest around the time the election was happening,” showrunner Aaron Harberts told EW for an interview published Thursday. “The Klingons are going to help us really look at certain sides of ourselves and our country. Isolationism is a big theme. Racial purity is a big theme. The Klingons are not the enemy, but they do have a different view on things. It raises big questions: Should we let people in? Do we want to change? There’s also the question of just because you reach your hand out to someone, do they have to take it? Sometimes, they don’t want to take it. It’s been interesting to see how the times have become more of a mirror than we even thought they were going to be.”
“North Korea is in our thoughts as we finish the series,” he added. “What began as a commentary on our own divided nation — in terms of Trump supporters and non-Trump supporters — has blown out to North Korea and how we’re right on the brink. [The U.S. is] actually right at the place where Starfleet finds itself in episode one and we couldn’t have anticipated that happening. But how do you end conflict when both sides have such strong opinions?”
Mr. Harberts’ comments echo sentiments made by producers for the CW’s popular series “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” in early August. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim told an audience a Television Critics Association audience in Beverly Hills that a Muslim character named Isis was injected into the show because of Mr. Trump’s election.
The first episode of “Star Trek: Discovery” will air Sept. 24 on CBS before switching over to the network’s All Access platform.
SEE ALSO: ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’ producer admits Muslim character ‘Isis’ a response to Trump
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.