Did Kelpians being a "prey species" come from an ad lib?

[eschaton]

Wasn't Fuller gone by the time casting begun?

No, he wasn't. We don't know his exact time of exit, but it was some time before July 2017. We know SMG was his choice for the lead, and he clashed with CBS on their choice of a director for the pilot. I believe he was around for most of the filming of the first two episodes at minimum. He had already stepped back from being the showrunner by October of 2016 however, so he wasn't heavily involved in day-to-day production.

 

[Campe]

No, he wasn't. We don't know his exact time of exit, but it was some time before July 2017. We know SMG was his choice for the lead, and he clashed with CBS on their choice of a director for the pilot. I believe he was around for most of the filming of the first two episodes at minimum. He had already stepped back from being the showrunner by October of 2016 however, so he wasn't heavily involved in day-to-day production.

For some odd reason I recalled him departing summer 2016. I stand corrected on the casting , but I don't believe filming started until January 2017. There was a promo video released around that time that showed production had begun. A clapboard shows a 1/25/17 date. Variety reported Fuller left in October 2016 and he wasn't involved in the day-to-day productions, as you say. But Fuller clarified in December 2016 that he was no longer a part of the production in any capacity.

While we don't have a firm date on when filming began, that evidence would seem to indicate that he was gone by the end of October 2016 and filming began sometime in January 2017.

ETA: Changed my thought Fuller left “last summer” to “summer 2016.” Don’t know what I was thinking there.

 

[Cyrus]

So MU Lorca having a kelpian as his first officer is like a PU captain having a cow as their first officer.

 

[Spot261]

So MU Lorca having a kelpian as his first officer is like a PU captain having a cow as their first officer.

Wouldn't that just be a stock character?

 

[Ovation]

Wouldn't that just be a stock character?

A lively one?

 

[F. King Daniel]

So MU Lorca having a kelpian as his first officer is like a PU captain having a cow as their first officer.

Voyager had a cow as their captain.