News More on Fuller’s Departure From Discovery

[AutoAdmin]

A new news article has been published at TrekToday:

Bryan Fuller gave a little more insight into why he chose American Gods over Star Trek: Discovery and the departure wasn’t just...

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[Mudd]

So in other words American Gods offers a more direct opportunity for relevant social commentary than does Star Trek.

 

[T'Bonz]

So it would appear. I saw stuff around the 'net in the last week that pretty much said that he wanted to do more social commentary, so this was not a surprise.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think he was saying that Trek can't do social commentary, just that it isn't as good a forum as American Gods for exploring the specific social issues that currently intrigue Fuller the most, i.e. issues involving religion and how it's affecting a lot of stuff in the world today. It's generally hard for ST to explore religion except from the outside (DS9 being somewhat an exception), but a series called American Gods is, naturally, going to be able to explore those issues a lot more directly and intimately. If that was what he most wanted to do, I can understand why he made the choice he did.

 

[RAMA]

Yeah Trek isn't the best forum for religious discussion so if that's the tack he was taking he's better off elsewhere. Trek would've been a great place for political, technological and social discussion and still is.

 

[Mudd]

I don't think he was saying that Trek can't do social commentary...

Yeah, he pretty much is...and it's the honest truth.

Trek had its moment of relevance, decades ago.

 

[Ronald Held]

Who will remember American Gods in 20 years versus Star Trek?

 

[BillJ]

Who will remember American Gods in 20 years versus Star Trek?

Does that really matter to a writer working in the here-and-now?

 

[{ Emilia }]

Who will remember American Gods in 20 years versus Star Trek?

The general public has already forgotten Voyager or DS9 even existed. So I'd say American Gods has better odds (if it's good) than yet another Trek show unless it's a really great one.

 

[galad2003]

The general public forgets a show 5 minutes after it aired. It's the hard core sci fi fans who remember a show. We kept Star Trek alive for 50 years and it will probably go another 50 whereas American Gods will be forgotten in no time. Bone head move on his part.

 

[BillJ]

The general public forgets a show 5 minutes after it aired. It's the hard core sci fi fans who remember a show. We kept Star Trek alive for 50 years and it will probably go another 50 whereas American Gods will be forgotten in no time. Bone head move on his part.

Bullshit. As an artist, he probably wanted to do something where he could take chances. What good does it do him to sell his soul so people can remember him after he's dead?

 

[Christopher]

The general public forgets a show 5 minutes after it aired. It's the hard core sci fi fans who remember a show. We kept Star Trek alive for 50 years and it will probably go another 50 whereas American Gods will be forgotten in no time. Bone head move on his part.

Oh, come on. American Gods is one of Neil Gaiman's most famous and admired novels, a winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and several other major awards. It's been counted as one of the top novels of the 21st century (genre or otherwise) on multiple lists. It came out 15 years ago and it's still important enough to generate a TV adaptation. Nobody's going to forget it anytime soon -- at least nobody who actually reads.

Besides, good writers don't write just for popularity or fame. Heck, most writers will never have those things, so nobody shallow enough to crave only those things would ever have had the patience to become a writer in the first place. Writers write what fascinates them, what inspires them, what gives them the opportunity to express the ideas that are burning holes in their skulls trying to get out. Fuller wanted to write stories about religion, and it's obvious that he can do that better in something with Gods in the title than he can in a franchise as secular as Star Trek. So he went with the option that gave him more creative satisfaction. Heck, he's successful enough by now that he has that luxury.

 

[skip bittman]

Nah. Sounds like he's just putting a brave face on it, a bit of damage control, wanting to stay positive and focused on the future instead of being bitter. Bryan Fuller, basically. The guy who got dumped on and pushed around on Trek for years and still thought it was an honor and privilege to write for.

Always look on the bright side of a life rife with network strife.

 

[Trekkin]

Who will remember American Gods in 20 years versus Star Trek?

American Gods source material is nearly 15 years old.

The last Trek tv series is also 15 years old.

Which one do you think 'people' remember more?

 

[Ronald Held]

I did not expect such a response. In 20 years American Gods will not be on anyone's mind but Star Trek should be.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I did not expect such a response. In 20 years American Gods will not be on anyone's mind but Star Trek should be.

Like I said most people don't even remember Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise existed.

 

[BillJ]

I did not expect such a response. In 20 years American Gods will not be on anyone's mind but Star Trek should be.

Maybe "Star Trek" generally will be a thing. But Discovery? I imagine it will fall out of the public consciousness much the way the rest of the spinoffs have, outside of TNG.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Nobody's going to forget it anytime soon -- at least nobody who actually reads.

There you go. You've answered yourself.

 

[Logopolis]

Overall, I get the impression that he simply wasn't getting the creative freedom out of Discovery that he had envisaged. Were his ideas not mainstream enough? Too adult? Not risque enough? We'll get an idea once the show launches. But I get the feeling that this was a labor of love for Fuller which got to the point of becoming a day job as the process went further forward.

 

[HaplessCrewman]

Waiting to see if Fuller's comments will be ironic in five years time.