Alex Kurtzman says fan feedback is a driving factor in Star Trek

Star Trek: Discovery, the Trek series that opened the door to more Star Trek, is coming to an end after five seasons. Trekmovie had a chance to speak with executive producer Alex Kurtzman briefly at the Star Trek: Discovery season 5 world premiere event at SXSW in Austin, and the subject of fan feedback came up. With people clamoring for more Star Trek, especially, Legacy, Kurtzman had said before that the fans had been heard. He doubled down when asked how important fan feedback was and if it was a driving factor for the changes seen in Discovery every season.

Kurtzman said they "listen to a fans a lot," and they "see what fans are saying online."

"You always know when you when someone makes a point, you kind of feel in your gut. “Oh, that’s, that’s a very fair point.” So we’re always open to feedback. I think it’s actually a really important part of making Trek, Trek."

- Alex Kurtzman

Of course, there's no way for every fan's wish to be granted when it comes to Star Trek, and Kurtzman made a fair point when he said that, in the creation of Discovery, "the idea was never to make one show that pleased everybody. It was to make a lot of shows that please individual segments of the fandom." And Discovery did open that door.

Pleasing every fan is an impossibility. In fact, there are fans that don't like The Original Series at all, but they love Star Trek: The Next Generation. But there are millions of fans that declare The Original Series as the best of all Trek, and they have no interest in watching Captain Picard and his crew. And while Discovery wasn't a top fan favorite to everyone, it does have its group of dedicated viewers and fans just like other Trek series have.

As far as fan feedback goes, we know our voices have been heard before. For instance, fan demand was what brought about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. So even if it seems like the powers that be don't hear us, they do. They just might not be able to do everything we want to be done when we want it done.