'Star Trek Discovery' release date: Series premiere delayed to May 2017

Promotional image for the upcoming series "Start Trek Discovery"CBS

"Star Trek Discovery" has been pushed back from January to May 2017. Showrunner Bryan Fuller and executive producer Alex Kurtzman explained that the decision was to allow the creative team to fine tune many elements of the show, particularly the special effects to ensure that the series lives up to the expectations and legacy that comes with the brand.

It is also noted that because of the delay, CBS has moved up the schedule of the spin-off series for "The Good Wife" up to February 2017.

"Bringing 'Star Trek' back to television carries a responsibility and mission: to connect fans and newcomers alike to the series that has fed our imaginations since childhood. We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don't result in compromised quality," Fuller said in the official statement (via Variety).

Fuller continues to explain that they had discussed the delay with the executives at CBS who agreed that "Star Trek" deserved the best presentation possible, particularly since this will be the first "Star Trek" show back on television ever since "Star Trek Enterprise" ended in 2005.

CBS President David Stapf further stated, as per a report from Collider, that the series Fuller and Kurtzman have been working on is both compelling and vivid, indicating that the series will usher in a new wave of "Star Trek" popularity, particularly now that there are no official confirmations of a fourth theatrical film in the rebooted series.

"Star Trek Discovery" will be set between "Star Trek: The Original Series" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The series will also have a female lead who, for the first time in the franchise's history, is not the captain but the second-in-command known as Number One. The show will also introduce new alien races and new kinds of ships.