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Star Trek: Lower Decks

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi an... Read all The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

• Mike McMahan
• Tawny Newsome
• 652 User reviews
• 48 Critic reviews
• 4 wins & 28 nominations total

Episodes 50

Top cast 99+

• Ensign Beckett Mariner …

• Ensign Brad Boimler …

• Ensign D'Vana Tendi …

• Ensign Samanthan Rutherford …

• Captain Carol Freeman …

• Commander Jack Ransom …

• Lieutenant Shaxs …

• Dr. T'Ana …

• Lieutenant Commander Andy Billups …

• Ensign Barnes …

• Command Ensign with Accelerated Growth and Reverse Aging …

• Admiral Freeman …

• Lieutenant Kayshon …

• Key'lor …

• Dr. Migleemo …

• T'Lyn …

• Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan …

• Lieutenant Commander Stevens …
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• Trivia Tawny Newsome said in an interview with Wil Wheaton that one of the few things her parents had in common was Star Trek and because of her childhood experiences with the series, there was no other franchise she'd rather be a part of. She was also influenced by the positive portrayal of the black father and son on screen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) .
• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Crazy Comic Con Coverages (2022)

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• Runtime 25 minutes
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Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Lower Decks is the ninth main series set in the Star Trek universe, the tenth including the companion series Star Trek: Short Treks , and the twelfth Star Trek series overall. It is the second series to be entirely animated, after Star Trek: The Animated Series , with episodes running half an hour, and the third series to have animated episodes, after Short Treks . Lower Decks is the first original animated series commissioned by CBS All Access, as well as the first produced by the new CBS animation arm, CBS Eye Animation Productions , and was announced in October 2018 , with All Access committing to a two-season order. [1]

Created by Mike McMahan , the series is an adult animation comedy produced in association with Titmouse, Inc. and forms part of Alex Kurtzman 's five-year deal with CBS to expand the Star Trek franchise. Lower Decks focuses on " the support crew serving on one of Starfleet 's least important ships. " [2]

The show takes place aboard the California -class USS Cerritos on the "lower decks". [3] The show's time period is described as the Star Trek: The Next Generation -era, more specifically 2380 , after Star Trek Nemesis . [4] [5]

A full-length trailer was released on 12 July 2020. [6]

The first season was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Animated Series. [7]

In April 2021 , it was announced that Lower Decks had been renewed for a third season. [8]

McMahan has acknowledged that some fans have referred to the four leading characters as "the warp core four," though the production team's shorthand for them is "The Lower Deckers." [9]

↑ John Van Citters has chosen "LDS" as the series' official abbreviation, while also alluding to it being a reference to Kirk 's line about LSD in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . [10] This is consistent with the three letter abbreviations for other series, though no "official" abbreviations have been given for Star Trek: Short Treks , After Trek , or The Ready Room . MA will use the abbreviation "LD" for Lower Decks to remain consistent with using the first letter in titles with more than one word after Star Trek .

On 18 January 2022 , it was announced that Lower Decks had been renewed for a fourth season , followed a year later by a fifth season renewal announcement on 28 March 2023 . The series was canceled on 12 April 2024 and will end with the fifth season.

• 1.1 Starring
• 1.2 Special guest stars
• 1.3 Additional recurring characters
• 2 Opening credits
• 3.1 Season 1
• 3.2 Season 2
• 3.3 Season 3
• 3.4 Season 4
• 3.5 Season 5
• 5 Production companies
• 6.1 Season 1
• 6.2 Season 2
• 6.3 Season 3
• 6.4 Season 4
• 6.5 Development
• 6.6.1 Products
• 6.7 Cancellation
• 7 Reception
• 8 Related topics
• 10 External links

Cast of characters [ ]

The ensigns of Lower Decks

The command crew of the USS Cerritos

Starring [ ]

• Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner
• Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler
• Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi
• Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford
• Dawnn Lewis as Freeman
• Jerry O'Connell as Ransom
• Fred Tatasciore as Shaxs
• Gillian Vigman as T'Ana

Special guest stars [ ]

• James Cromwell as Dr. Zefram Cochrane
• Jeffrey Combs as AGIMUS
• John de Lancie as Q
• Shannon Fill as Sito Jaxa
• Jonathan Frakes as Capt. William T. Riker
• Susan Gibney as Dr. Leah Brahms
• Max Grodénchik as Rom
• Drookmani Captain
• Alice Krige as Borg Queen
• Chase Masterson as Leeta
• Nick Locarno
• Lycia Naff as Sonya Gomez
• Armin Shimerman as Quark
• Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
• George Takei as Hikaru Sulu
• Nana Visitor as Col. Kira Nerys
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Additional recurring characters [ ]

• Carlos Alazraqui as Les Buenamigo
• Eugene Cordero as Winger Bingston, Jr.
• Kether Donohue as Peanut Hamper
• Phil LaMarr as Alonzo Freeman
• Lauren Lapkus as Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan
• Jack McBrayer as Badgey
• Cerritos Computer
• Ben Rodgers as Steve Stevens
• Paul Scheer as Andy Billups
• Carl Tart as Kayshon
• Fred Tatasciore as Vassery
• Paul F. Tompkins as Migleemo
• Gillian Vigman as Dayton
• Ariel Winter as D'Erika Tendi

Opening credits [ ]

The opening credits for Star Trek: Lower Decks contain imagery of the USS Cerritos passing near various spatial phenomena, often with deleterious effects.

Episode list [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

LD Season 1 , 10 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

LD Season 2 , 10 episodes:

Season 3 [ ]

LD Season 3 , 10 episodes:

Season 4 [ ]

LD Season 4 , 10 episodes:

Season 5 [ ]

LD Season 5 , 10 episodes:

• Ruth Lambert
• Robert McGee
• April Caputi
• Robert Lee Terry
• Aaron Baiers
• Robyn Johnson
• Brad Winters
• Heather Kadin
• Katie Krentz
• Alex Kurtzman
• Mike McMahan – head writer
• Rod Roddenberry
• Trevor Roth
• Mike McMahan – executive producer
• Garrick Bernard
• John Cochran
• Dave Ihlenfeld
• Ben Rodgers
• Dave Wright
• Chris Prynoski
• Shannon Prynoski
• David Wright

Production companies [ ]

• CBS Eye Animation Productions
• Roddenberry Entertainment
• Secret Hideout
• Important Science
• Titmouse, Inc.

Development [ ]

In 2018, Mike McMahan, then head writer of the animated comedy Rick and Morty , was brought in to pitch an idea for his ideal Star Trek series to production company Secret Hideout. Won over by his pitch of a series following "the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end", Secret Hideout moved forward and eventually sold the series to CBS All Access, the streaming service airing Star Trek: Discovery . On 25 October 2018, they announced that Star Trek: Lower Decks , named after an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , was picked up for two seasons.

Promotion [ ]

Products [ ]

Eaglemoss/Hero Collector introductory XL Edition USS Cerritos

Eaglemoss/Hero Collector revealed that the USS Cerritos , USS Titan , and USS Vancouver have been manufactured as starship miniatures and confirmed that its Lower Decks ships line would debut at retail in January 2022 . [12] [13] After an introductory XL January outing in the main Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , a separate Star Trek: Lower Decks The Official Starships Collection was indeed launched in April 2022, but was cut short however due to the August 2022 Eaglemoss bankruptcy.

These three starships are also explored in the second edition of the company's Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book , which was released in August 2021 . [14]

On 13 July 2021 , ViacomCBS Consumer Products and Playmates Toys jointly announced that the latter had acquired new licensing for " action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories ", and slated the first of these products for retail release in 2022. Among other Star Trek series and films, this licensing encompasses Lower Decks , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard , and Star Trek: Prodigy . [15]

Cancellation [ ]

On 12 April 2024 The fifth season announcement in March 2023 was followed by an announcement on 12 April 2024 that the series was canceled and would end following that season. No explanation was given for the cancellation, but unlike franchise sibling Star Trek: Prodigy , it was not slated for removal from Paramount+. [16] [17] Yet, while discussing cancellation of Star Trek: Discovery , also a post-season five termination, with CinemaBlend.com, franchise head Alex Kurtzman expressed his thoughts on how he considered ostensibly premature cancellations a recent symptom of a very changed television landscape: " I don't know, it's very hard. I mean, the fact that [Discovery went to] go on five seasons is sort of a miracle. I think most people watch two seasons of a streaming show, and they check out, you know, and that's not specific to Trek. I just think that's the watch pattern for television in the streaming world. It's hard to know. " [18]

25 May 2024 was declared to be the "All Hands On Decks Streamathon" on which fans of the show were encouraged to binge-watch the program to show support for it. [19]

Reception [ ]

Star Trek: Lower Decks has been nominated for one Emmy Award , in the category of "Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation".

Related topics [ ]

• LD directors
• LD performers
• LD recurring characters
• LD studio models
• Star Trek: Lower Decks comics
• Star Trek: Lower Decks on Blu-ray
• Star Trek: Lower Decks on DVD

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: Lower Decks at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Lower Decks at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: Lower Decks at the Internet Movie Database
• 1 Bell Riots
• 2 Christopher Russell

'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 5 trailer launches the crew on one last wacky mission (video)

Paramount+'s animated series is ending, but there's time for a final lap around the galaxy.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, and that'll certainly be the case when Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Lower Decks " rolls out its fifth and final season starting on Oct. 24, 2024. We'll totally miss "Lower Decks'" zany outer space hilarity enjoyed for the past four seasons and its colorful cast of low-ranking ensigns aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos. 

This past weekend during Paramount's informative "Star Trek" Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the streaming service not only revealed an extended clip for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 3 and a teaser for the "Star Trek" TV movie, " Section 31 ," but also shared the first trailer for "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 5. 

In attendance for the SDCC Q&A were vocal cast members Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Jerry O'Connell alongside " Star Trek: Lower Decks "' executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Mike McMahan. 

Watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount Plus: Get a one month free trial  

Get all the Star Trek content you can possibly handle with this free trial of Paramount Plus. Watch new shows like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and all the classic Trek movies and T.V. shows too. Plans start from $4.99/month after the trial ends.

Last season began with Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, and their new Vulcan pal T'Lyn being awarded a much-deserved promotion to Lieutenants Junior Grade and finished up with them being hailed as heroes for thwarting Nick Locarno's rogue "Nova Fleet" plans. However, part of the gang is gone as Tendi decided to leave Starfleet and return home to Orion to lord over her family's crime syndicate, but it appears that there's a reunion afoot according to this initial series-ending trailer.

Here's the official synopsis:

"In season five of 'Star Trek: Lower Decks,' the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with closing 'space potholes' – subspace rifts which are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Jr. Officers Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford...if they didn't also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries and scariest of all: their own career aspirations. This upcoming season on Paramount+ is a celebration of this underdog crew who are dangerously close to being promoted out of the lower decks and into strange new Starfleet roles."

This trailer's bittersweet farewell starts with a tribute to the last four seasons before delivering glimpses of Tendi's lawless life as a cosmic pirate, the U.S.S. Cerritos stumbling across an inter-dimensional portal (again!) complete with an alt-universe version of their ship and crew, a Post-scarce society tossing away valuables, shrimp cocktails, and an electrifying Klingon encounter.

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In related "Star Trek" news also shared with Hall H attendees at SDCC, "Lower Decks'" Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome are developing a live-action "Star Trek" comedy, the first of its kind. So far, what's known is that the Paramount+ project will be a 30-minute show set in the 25th century where "Federation outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant." No casting or release dates were revealed, but stay tuned!

If you're in need of a refresher course, visit our guide to last April's " Star Trek: Lower Decks " Season 4 Blu-ray release. Our " Star Trek " streaming guide can help you catch up on all the other "Trek" shows leading up to "Lower Decks'" final season this fall.

Animated by Titmouse, "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is produced by CBS’ Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers aboard this final outing include Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth.

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" returns to Paramount+ for one last 10-episode season on Oct. 24. with a double chapter kickoff followed by weekly Thursday installments.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

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Season 1 – Star Trek: Lower Decks

Where to watch, star trek: lower decks — season 1.

Watch Star Trek: Lower Decks — Season 1 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Fun, but not very bold, Lower Decks flips the script on Star Trek regulation just enough to stand out in the franchise, if not the greater animation landscape.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Tawny Newsome

Ensign Beckett Mariner

Ensign Brad Boimler

Ensign Tendi

Eugene Cordero

Ensign Rutherford

Dawnn Lewis

Captain Carol Freeman

Jerry O'Connell

Commander Jack Ransom

More Like This

Related tv news, season info.

Star Trek: Lower Decks promise major final episode

T he crew of the USS Cerritos is ready to call it a day. Canceled by Paramount+, Star Trek: Lower Decks will end its run after five seasons with the upcoming fifth and final season this year. Set for an October 24, 2024 premier, Lower Decks will bring the show to a close this fall. Some from the cast have already moved on, namely, Tawny Newsome launching a new Star Trek comedic show, but series creator Mike McMahon hasn't.

At least not yet. He's still doing the press tour for the upcoming final season and recently spoke to Collider about the upcoming final season (via TrekMovie ). Sitting down and talking to the outlet, McMahon gave fans a brief look into what to expect for the final season.

With the show known for its cameos, callbacks, and classic character returns, fans are admittedly excited over the possibility that the series finale could be a massive love letter to Star Trek as a whole. An idea that McMahon doesn't reject, saying;

"We kept adding and adding and adding to the finale because nothing was ever satisfying enough, and there weren’t enough goodbyes to tell in a funny way. Ultimately, what we ended up with was a gigantic episode that’s really fun."

With the hype machine now in full swing for the finale, fans will no doubt start debating who will return to the series for one more run. Could we get William Shatner? Scott Bakula? Patrick Stewart? Unlikely, that isn't McMahon's style. It'll likely be some obscure character, once again played by the same actor or actress who played them 30 years ago, but has since left Hollywood to become a dentist. Or something equally as convoluted.

Luckily for Lower Decks and its fans, its last season will happen on Paramount+, and so the goodbye will be dolled out in a weekly installment, allowing for proper hype and conversations to surround the series as it ventures off to the great unknown.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Star Trek: Lower Decks promise major final episode .

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Section 31: Release Window, Cast, Story & Everything We Know About Star Trek’s First Streaming Movie

Where you've seen star trek: starfleet academy's cast before, tawny newsome defends starfleet academy as “real star trek”, says new half-hour comedy is “my dream of dreams”.

• Star Trek on Paramount+'s Discovery and Lower Decks are both ending in 2024 with each show's season 5.
• Paramount+ is rethinking its Star Trek strategy, focusing on made-for-streaming movies and only two live-action series.
• The future still looks bright for Star Trek despite these changes, with new Star Trek theatrical movies in development.

Star Trek is still going strong, but the 58-year-old franchise's upcoming TV and movie slate will have fewer series and new theatrical and made-for-streaming movies. 2022 was a remarkable year that saw a new episode from 5 new Star Trek series streaming on Paramount+ nearly every Thursday of the year. 2023 saw the critically acclaimed ending of Star Trek: Picard, the lauded Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, and Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, perhaps the best run of the animated comedy yet.

Star Trek is in a transitional period in 2024. Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks end with their respective season 5s , while Star Trek: Prodigy moved to Netflix and delivered an acclaimed season 2. Reflecting industry-wide changes in streaming content as well as the sale of Paramount to Skydance, Paramount+ is rethinking its Star Trek strategy , starting with an expansion into made-for-streaming movies that are designed to feel like blockbuster events. Paramount Pictures' Star Trek movies are also showing signs of life, at last. While more change is imminent for the franchise, the future still looks bright for Star Trek .

Star Trek: Picard season 3's proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy , seems halted as showrunner Terry Matalas has moved to Marvel Studios and 20th Century films.

Star Trek Is Spread Out Across 3 Streaming Services Now - Where To Watch

The Star Trek franchise is split across three different streaming services in 2024. Here's where to watch your favorite Star Trek movies and shows.

7 Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5

The final season premieres october 2024 on paramount+..

Star Trek: Lower Decks is the last Star Trek series on Paramount+'s 2024 schedule, and it's also delivering its fifth and final season. Mike McMahan's animated comedy was creatively firing full phaser banks in Lower Decks season 4, promoting the Lower Deckers of the USS Cerritos to junior grade Lieutenants, homaging Star Trek: Voyager' s "Tuvix," visiting Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's new Ferengi Grand Nagus, and tying Lt. Beckett Mariner's (Tawny Newsome) backstory to the animated show's namesake, the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Lower Decks". Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's teaser trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con:

Unfortunately, Paramount+ has opted to end Star Trek: Lower Decks with season 5, which premieres October 24, 2024 . This comes as a huge disappointment, especially considering how relatively inexpensive Lower Decks is to produce compared to Paramount+'s live-action Star Trek series. While a fan campaign has begun to save Star Trek: Lower Deck s, and there is preliminary talk of finding the animated comedy a new steaming home, the best way to boost Star Trek: Lower Decks' profile is to stream the previous four seasons and season 5 when it premieres in great numbers.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 - Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Story & Everything We Know

Great news: Star Trek: Lower Decks is coming back for season 5. Bad news: It's the final season of Lower Decks on Paramount+.

6 Star Trek: Section 31

The first made-for-streaming paramount+ movie premieres in 2025.

Originally planned as an ongoing series, Star Trek: Section 31 is now the first Star Trek original movie for Paramount+ . Star Trek : Section 31 is said to delve into the origin and secrets of Starfleet's insidious black ops agency. Star Trek: Section 31 will star Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh reprising her anti-heroine Emperor Philippa Georgiou, the former ruler of the Mirror Universe. Georgiou's new adventure places her in Star Trek 's 24th-century "lost era" and surrounds the Emperor with an eclectic new cast. Star Trek: Section 31's teaser trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con:

Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere in 2025 on Paramount+. Section 31 is directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi from a screenplay by Craig Sweeny, and, if it's successful, could spawn sequels and a new wave of made-for-streaming Star Trek movies. Also starring Sam Richardson, Kacey Rohl, Humberly Gonzalez, and Miku Martineau, Star Trek: Section 31 promises an action-packed and "messy" adventure that will see classic Star Trek aliens the Chameloids and Deltans return.

Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh headlines Star Trek: Section 31, and here's what we know about Paramount+'s first Star Trek streaming movie.

5 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

The next star trek series is set in the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the next Star Trek series on Paramount+, with production beginning in late 2024 for a targeted 2026 premiere. Created by Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, who serve as co-showrunners, Starfleet Academy introduces a new group of cadets learning under the series' star and Academy Chancellor, played by Oscar-winner Holly Hunter. Paul Giamatti has also signed on in a recurring role as Starfleet Academy's main villain. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduced its young cast at San Diego Comic-Con:

Starfleet Academy will film on the largest set ever built for Star Trek , and will return the school to its original Earth location of San Francisco after the Academy reopened in outer space in Star Trek: Discovery season 3. Kurtzman has also hinted at Starfleet Academy 's young characters questioning the decisions and even fixing the mistakes of past Starfleet Officers. Star Trek: Lower Decks' Tawny Newsome is also part of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's writer's room.

Star Trek's next series, Starfleet Academy, counts Academy Award-caliber actors and a crew of new faces in its growing cast.

4 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 & 4

Strange new worlds gets 2 more seasons.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 wrapped production in May 2024 with an expected 2025 premiere on Paramount+. While Strange New Worlds season 3's premiere will pick up and resolve the Gorn cliffhanger of Strange New Worlds season 2 finale , season 3's episodes will see the return of directors Chris Fisher, Valerie Weiss, Dan Liu, and Jonathan Frakes, who is directing a Hollywood noir episode. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered a 5-minute clip of a season 3 episode directed by Jordan Canning at San Diego Comic-Con:

Excitingly, Paramount+ gave Star Trek: Strange New Worlds an early season 4 renewal , which essentially makes the series the new flagship of Star Trek on Paramount+ now that Star Trek: Discovery is over. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 will begin filming in Spring 2025, and that batch of 10 episodes will let Strange New Worlds help commemorate Star Trek' s 60th anniversary in 2026.

3 Untitled Star Trek Live-Action Comedy

Tawny newsome and justin simien are creating a new star trek show.

Also announced at San Diego Comic-Con is Star Trek' s first live-action comedy series. Created by Tawny Newsome and Justin Simien, their upcoming Star Trek show is a half-hour workplace comedy set on a pleasure planet somewhere in the galaxy. Newsome was inspired by her lifelong Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fandom, and standalone Star Trek episodes of the past. While little is known about the series, a live-action comedy is a bold frontier for Star Trek.

Tawny Newsome talks about her work as a writer on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and hints at her dream job, Star Trek's first live-action comedy.

2 Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie

Premiering in theaters in 2025.

Paramount Pictures officially announced an Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie for a targeted 2025 premiere in theaters. Directed by Toby Haynes, who directed Star Wars: Andor and the "USS Callister" episode of Black Mirror, the Star Trek Origin movie is written by Seth Grahame-Smith ( Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) . The Star Trek Origin Movie is produced by J.J. Abrams and is set "decades before" Abrams' Star Trek (2009) . When, exactly, in the Star Trek timeline the origin movie is set, and what characters or starship it will be about, is all under wraps, although the film is reportedly set mostly on Earth and will deal with the founding of the Federation.

1 Star Trek 4

The final chapter of chris pine's starship enterprise crew is in development..

Reportedly still in development is Star Trek 4 , the long-delayed fourth Star Trek movie produced by J.J. Abrams starring the USS Enterprise crew led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Star Trek 4 has a new screenwriter, Steve Yockey, attempting to craft an adventure worthy of bringing Pine's cast back to the big screen after numerous failed attempts. Star Trek' s cast are all willing to beam back aboard the Starship Enterprise for their "final chapter", but the long wait for Star Trek 4 - which now stands at 8 years and counting - continues.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Not available

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star trek: strange new worlds.

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Watch the First Ever ‘Strange New Worlds’ and ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Cast Crossover

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The Big Picture

• The final season of Lower Decks features an extended finale episode, promising an exciting conclusion and growth for the characters.
• Season 3 of Strange New Worlds will feature a Vulcan episode and a Hollywood murder mystery.
• Despite challenges, the crossover episode between the two shows was a success, with a unique blend of tones and fun experiences for the cast.

Last year, two of the best Star Trek shows came together to maximize their joint sci-fi slay with an epic crossover episode between the adult animated series Lower Decks and the episodic prequel series Strange New Worlds . However, because that episode dropped during the industry-wide writers and actors strikes, press for such a momentous fandom occasion was sadly limited. Now, by a stroke of luck and timing, Collider can bring you the first shared interview between these two casts. Last week at San Diego Comic-Con, Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub was chatting with the Lower Decks crew ahead of their final season, when their live-action pals from the Enterprise decided to crash the party for an epic joint interview.

During their 30-minute conversation, Weintraub spoke to both casts about filming the crossover episode, working with Jonathan Frakes , and how Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid were largely responsible for bridging the tone between the two shows . They also discussed the final season of Lower Decks , which will feature an extended finale episode , and what changes they had to make when they learned Season 5 would be the show's last. Season 3 of Strange New Worlds was also a hot point of conversation as Weintraub asked how they plan to top a crossover and a musical in the coming episodes.

The cast also teased Frakes’ highly anticipated return to the director's chair, which he has called the best episode he’s ever directed, as well as the teaser footage which sees five crew members turned into Vulcans . You can read the full conversation with Strange New Worlds ’ Ethan Peck , Rebecca Romijn , showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers , and Lower Decks ' Tawny Newsome , Jerry O’Connell , Noel Wells , and creator Mike McMahan in the transcript below or watch it in the video player above!

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Behind every great captain, is a crew keeping the ship from falling to pieces. These are the hilarious stories of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

COLLIDER: I am a huge fan of your series, and I'm really bummed that it's ending, but I'm also grateful that you guys got to make five seasons. It's like winning a lottery to make any show. Everyone watching this knows the show by now, but what can you tease about Season 5?

MIKE MCMAHAN: We've got some amazing Orion episodes. Noël, as Tendi, goes back to Orion for a little while, and you learn a lot more about Orion culture.

TAWNY NEWSOME: What do I do?

MCMAHAN: You do a lot of growing. You actually did a lot of growing last season.

NEWSOME: Growth and grappling.

MCMAHAN: Then Ransom is actually both equal parts dumbass and beloved commander, so as he's always been, but maybe more than ever before. We knew this was gonna be our last season pretty early, so instead of going out feeling final, it feels more like a fireworks show when they blast everything off at the very end. So it's like a huge celebration with everything I've been planning on doing put into one big party all season.

I’m so happy that you knew going in that this was going to be the end. How much did that allow for exponential character growth and lead everyone toward where they're ultimately going to go in the future?

MCMAHAN: We did not jump them ahead of where they are in the story. Instead, it feels like the end of a chapter. It feels like we're in chapter one of the story of Lower Decks. So it still feels like Lower Decks . It's still funny, it's exciting, it feels like it fits into canon, but it does feel like we've said something by the end of it. So, you could take the first five seasons and be like, “This is a full idea,” but it does not feel final , which I think is the best way for a comedy to be.

JERRY O’CONNELL: Wow, that was so well-put, Mike.

MCMAHAN: Thanks, guys.

O’CONNELL: He's a smart guy, our boss. He worded that perfectly.

NEWSOME: It’s like when you make a cheesecake, and then you put it in the fridge to chill. It firms, but it's not solid. You can still puncture it.

O’CONNELL: You can still puncture us!

NEWSOME: You can still puncture us.

O’CONNELL: It's funny, being a performer on it, I felt very satisfied with this season. I felt Mike did a great job.

How much does it cost for him to say that?

MCMAHAN: Too much.

O’CONNELL: It doesn't at all, really. To quote Tawny, “If I didn't have a good time, I would just be quiet.”

NEWSOME: [Laughs] That’s true.

O’CONNELL: It's really funny, I'm very proud as a performer, I'm very proud as an employee, but also, I'm really proud of my Lower Deck ers. I'm really proud of them.

NEWSOME: I’m proud, too.

Without spoilers, have you recorded all of Season 5? You're done?

NEWSOME: Yeah.

'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 5 Will End With an Extended Finale

What was it like reading that last script and seeing ultimately where it was all going to be going?

NEWSOME: I refused at first. I said, “If I don't end it, it won't end, and we can just live here forever.” Then they tackled me in my home and asked me to come down to the studio to do it, so eventually we did it. It was bittersweet but lovely.

MCMAHAN: You joke, but we did keep adding and adding and adding to the finale because nothing was ever satisfying enough and there weren't enough goodbyes to tell in a funny way. Ultimately, what we ended up with is a gigantic episode that's really fun.

Is it longer than a typical episode?

MCMAHAN: Oh yeah.

MCMAHAN: I think a lot of the season actually is. It's a big season.

NEWSOME: It's a double-stuffed Oreo of an episode, for sure.

O’CONNELL: It was really interesting working on the finale of a series and watching Mike's process because you did a version, you honed it, you did a version, you honed it. It's funny, by the time that I did my last recording, you really did a great job, Mike.

NOËL WELLS: I feel like when I first recorded the episode, we didn't know that it was the final episode, but then when we had to make some changes…

NEWSOME: We're reading it, going like, “Well, this sure sounds like the end.”

WELLS: We had to make changes to some things just to adjust to that.

MCMAHAN: Comedies that end, comedies that have a final episode, that's usually not anybody's favorite episode. On a serious level, on this , we may have broken that. This might be somebody's favorite episode. A lot of people's.

A lot of the episodes are like 25 to 30 minutes?

MCMAHAN: They want them at 22, but because we're on Paramount+, we can rob from some episodes and add to the others and be a little more flexible.

Do you know the running time of the last episode? Is it like 35?

MCMAHAN: We're still working on it. The last I saw—my editor and line producer would kill me—right now, we're, like, eight minutes longer than an episode usually is, which is like an entire other act, basically.

NEWSOME: That's gargantuan at a half hour.

MCMAHAN: It’s really big, and we're not done with it. So, I don't know. We'll see.

I have so many follow-ups to that. Was it hard coming up with the last shot? The last thing?

MCMAHAN: No, that was the easiest part.

NEWSOME: No, at first you didn’t have…

MCMAHAN: The last shot . The very last shot.

NEWSOME: Oh, I'm talking about the last scene . At first, you didn't have that. I remember, I was like, “I can’t believe we're not doing blah, blah, blah. Doing et cetera, et cetera.” And then you did it.

MCMAHAN: We added a couple of things at the very end, and… Oh, man.

WELLS: Our fans are here!

MCMAHAN: The Strange New Worlds gang banging on the window.

NEWSOME: Akiva Goldsman is banging on the window like one of his monsters in I Am Legend .

'Strange New Worlds' and 'Lower Decks' Cast Finally Reunite to Talk About the Crossover Episode

I loved, loved the crossover episode. So let's talk a little bit about that because I don't know if you guys have ever done an interview together.

ETHAN PECK: No, we haven’t.

REBECCA ROMIJN: We barely got to talk about it because of the strikes. We wanted to talk about it from the mountaintops, and we couldn't.

NEWSOME: We just talked to each other about it. We were like, “Pretty cool, right?”

HENRY ALONSO MYERS: Mike and I were on the phone a lot .

Fans loved the episode, I loved the episode. Let's talk a little bit about the planning stages. Was it difficult to do? What was it like for the cast? Let's get into it.

MYERS: We didn't know what we signed up for. We wanted to do something that was a merge. A crossover episode is a classic Star Trek element and we really wanted to do that, and we love their show so much. We thought this would be one that no one would expect. We knew it was also a challenge because we had to animate a huge section of it, and then we knew we were gonna have to work with all of the folks that we could bring over into our world. Honestly, we wanted to get everyone in it. We had time for about two of them to do live-action, but we really wished we could have found a way to absolutely have everyone there.

AKIVA GOLDSMAN: Here's the thing that nobody will tell you: it was really hard . Fundamentally, it seemed like, “Well, they'll just come over.” But it turns out that they're animated, and we're real, and we have different tones in our show. The integration of their tone and our tone was a full-on job.

MCMAHAN: But you know what? Everything I heard from both casts was, “This is the most fun we've had.” It was a synergistic effect. It was hard, but it was getting to have the most fun doing both shows at once that we couldn't have gotten separately, which I thought was really cool.

GOLDSMAN: Real costumes. They like that.

MCMAHAN: No, we have them recording costumes!

NEWSOME: And we got paid more, so that was fun.

WELLS: You got paid more?

GOLDSMAN: That was a secret. That part was quiet.

ROMIJN: It was really fun watching Jack and Tawny make these minute adjustments to fix tonally what was the divide between animation and real. It was really fun watching you guys.

NEWSOME: Thank you. All props also go to Jonathan Frakes for helping guide that so expertly.

ROMIJN: He massaged that a lot.

NEWSOME: I don't mind being told to tone it down when it's Jonathan Frakes. Most people, I’m like, “Mmm, disagree.”

MCMAHAN: Did he ever tell you to?

NEWSOME: No. [Laughs] He did say, “Go harder.” At one point, he said, “Please say the script.” He said, “The writers would really like for you to say the words on the page.”

MYERS: I gotta say there were a bunch of ones that we were like, “We're gonna use this one,” because it was fun and funny. There were things that we didn't expect. The way that Boimler walked? When Jack did that, we were like, “Well, we have to use that shot because he's actually doing the walk,” which he's never gotten to do in real life before, so I think it excited him.

NEWSOME: I've seen him do it. That's just how he walks.

The thing about that crossover episode is it's so nice when everyone loves something, and rather than tearing things down online, it's all like, “Oh, that's great.”

'Strange New Worlds' Season 3 Turns the Crew Vulcan

With Strange New Worlds and the upcoming season, you did a musical episode, which was phenomenal, and you did this crossover episode. What can you tease about the upcoming season?

GOLDSMAN: We’re doing Vulcans.

MYERS: In addition to seeing a lot of people become Vulcans who you wouldn't expect, we get to see other people on the ship behave in ways—some of them who might actually be present today—that you've never seen them do before.

GOLDSMAN: That's mostly Jerry.

I saw the five-minute clip of the cast getting turned into Vulcans and not being able to get back, and it was fantastic. What's interesting for the cast is that you are having to act like a Vulcan and you're not used to doing something like that. What was it like for you having your fellow castmates acting as Vulcans? Are they talking to you about, “How should I do this?”

ETHAN PECK: Well, I didn't appreciate being the half-Vulcan and being ostracized and criticized for that. But they did seek my advice a little bit, the actors. I spoke probably most thoroughly to Celia [Rose Gooding], who plays Uhura. It was really fun to see everyone turn into Vulcans. It was kind of shocking, too. And funnily enough, it made me feel like I belonged more to see more pointed ears. But then, of course, they were very offensive.

MYERS: Weirdly, the hardest part wasn't the performance—performance came very easily to them—it was the hair. The hair was the hardest part, but also to give each of them their own specific feel and look. Yes, they are Vulcans, but that doesn't mean they all act the same.

NEWSOME: Vulcans are not a monolith.

ROMIJN: They all have their own brand of Vulcan. That was pretty surprising and fun to play off of.

Where is that in the season?

MYERS: It's Episode 8.

Is it really? Oh, wow. When you're in the writers’ room, you're coming up with pie-in-the-sky ideas, and then it's about, “How do we get this on the page? How do we get this to be filmed?” Are there certain things in animation that are more expensive than others? And how much does that dictate how much you can do in an episode? With Strange New Worlds , you obviously have a budget for the season. Can you talk about where and when you want to deploy the big resources in an episode, and how much does that impact two other episodes when you go big in Episode 6?

MCMAHAN: Mine is easy because red costs a lot more. If you use red on screen, it costs twice as much. The ink is just really expensive. For us, it's just, “How many voices do we have in the episode? How many minutes do we have?” Every minute is just compounding for us, and every voice, we only have a certain amount of people we can have on the show. So, we use every penny.

WELLS: But the great thing about animation is that you can invent anything and go anywhere, and there is no cap on what your imagination can be.

MCMAHAN: We can put in a lot more aliens, we're not paying for prosthetics, and we can do a lot more ships. We're not building new sets. We're drawing all that stuff.

MYERS: We did spend a bit of time beforehand talking about what were the existing sets from Lower Decks that we could use. I remember having a long conversation with you about, “What angles on the ship already exist? Which ones can we use? If they go in this direction, can we see this? Can we see that?” And then there was a whole thing where the set that we built on the AR wall, which existed both digitally, practically, and also in an animated style, was probably the most interesting one because these are divisions that probably never have to work together and we had to get them all in line. So, that was challenging.

We spent a lot of time beforehand trying to decide where the money's gonna go big and where the money is gonna go small. It's more like we're gonna spend a lot on this episode for TBD reason like we have a creature effect that's really expensive, we have a visual effect that is gonna cost a lot of money because we're gonna be out in space for a while. That's one thing. If we are gonna take that away, we have to give something else, like maybe turn a lot of people into Vulcans, for instance.

O’CONNELL: This is crazy too. Ethan’s body makeup is…

GOLDSMAN: And the CG that we have to do afterwards.

O’CONNELL: I've seen the cost, and it's astronomical.

MYERS: That was all set up for the original deal that he made on the show, and we're not actually allowed to change it.

GOLDSMAN: We're doing it in real-time right now, which is really pricey.

NEWSOME: You look great.

MYERS: You wouldn’t believe the effects that this has.

When you think about the episodes you've done thus far in Strange New Worlds , what scene or sequence do you consider the toughest one to have pulled off?

ROMIJN: Personally, I think the most work I put in was a scene that you and I had in the third season. It's a sequence of scenes that we got to do together.

PECK: Oh, I remember.

O’CONNELL: You guys are being so shady.

ROMIJN: In Episode 8.

PECK: Mine might have been the sequence in which Spock has an anxiety dream and fights himself. I had to play both sides of the fight, obviously. That was pretty complicated.

Obviously, you can read something on the page, and you could be like, “Oh, this is really good.” Sometimes it turns out better than you expected, and sometimes not so much. For all of you guys, what is an episode that you are just so happy with the way it turned out in terms of it being better than you imagined and it’s one of your favorite episodes of Star Trek?

O’CONNELL: The crossover episode that we all did. I don't recall in recent memory anyone else doing that, and the tone was perfect. They really pulled it off. I gotta say, I was extremely doubtful when it was announced.

ROMIJN: When they pitched it, I couldn't understand how they could possibly make it work, and it totally worked. I'm gonna go with the crossover episode, as well.

NEWSOME: I wanna shoot some love your way, Rebecca. The trial episode.

ROMIJN: “Ad Astra per Aspera.”

NEWSOME: When that episode came on, I don't think I read it ahead of time or anything. I think I just heard, “Oh, they're doing a trial episode,” and as a lifelong Trek fan, we've seen a lot of trial episodes, and so I was like, “Sure. This will be good and fine and whatever.” I was really blown away because of the portrayal that you brought to it. Also, it's really hard to do trial episodes in Star Trek that still feel like there's something new to say or to discuss in that way, and I thought you guys really nailed it.

ROMIJN: Thank you. It was a beautifully written episode.

MCMAHAN: I think to some extent, every single episode goes through this process of, “I like this– Oh no, it's a disaster. Wait, an army of talented, amazing, passionate artists are making it better and better and better.” For me, once you get music into an episode, it's such a relief because that's where the heart comes from. You've edited it, and you've lived with all these lines. So, I can't think of a single episode where you don't go through waves of joy and panic and then ultimately are just so relieved that it's good and that you're telling a story and making people laugh, and being in space together. I don't know. It's great. Star Trek's great.

I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is Strange New Worlds , you’re going to stay with me, but Lower Decks , you need to leave and do another interview.

Your show is one of my favorite things to watch. I love it so much. I'm so excited for Season 3. The thing a lot of people don't realize is that you were originally going to film Season 3, and then the strike happened. How did the scripts for Season 3 possibly change because of the extra time, or were they just locked?

GOLDSMAN: It's not quite as simple as it sounds because we were down, so we didn't actually have a lot of time. We had the time we had, then we stopped. Everything ground to a halt, and then we picked up again six weeks out of production. Really, what was problematic, or at least was unique, is the machine is typically really running six weeks out. When you're just six weeks out, everybody's getting it, and now we were starting all over again in terms of momentum six weeks out. So, it was energetically complicated, creatively annoying, but fundamentally, we made the episodes we planned to make.

One of the things about Season 2 is you really did it—the musical episode, the crossover. You were very ambitious. How ambitious is Season 3 compared to Seasons 1 and 2?

ROMIJN: Surprisingly ambitious. We didn't know how they were gonna push the envelope, and they did! We're really proud of some things in Season 3.

GOLDSMAN: It is amazing what you can do if you get polaroids of your cast and then offer not to put them on the internet. They will do things that are extraordinary.

PECK: Things you won't believe.

What can you tease without spoiling about Season 3?

PECK: The Robocop episode.

GOLDSMAN: The Star Wars crossover.

ROMIJN: The all the all-nude episode.

GOLDSMAN: I love that one.

PECK: The Godzilla episode’s gonna be great.

'Strange New Worlds' Season 3 Picks Up Immediately After Season 2

So Season 3, Episode 1, is there a big time jump from the last episode?

MYERS: No time jump at all. So, just almost an instantaneous pickup.

ROMIJN: Mid-battle.

Jonathan Frakes has said that he directed something in Season 3 that he considers his favorite thing that he's directed. I don't know if he's directed more than one episode.

MYERS: He directed one this season and one last season.

Can you say what episode number he directed?

MYERS: Episode 4.

When he said that out loud and announced that it was his favorite thing he's ever directed, were you like, “Yeah, he's probably right.” Because there must be something to this episode.

MYERS: That is a spectacular episode. I'm delighted with it.

ROMIJN: It was a really special experience. When he wrapped that episode, he and I were on the same flight going home that weekend, so we were at the airport, which was delayed by three hours, so I got to listen to him talk about, for three hours, how it was his favorite hour of television that he's ever directed.

What can you tease?

MYERS: It’s a very unique version of Kirk, one that we have not seen on the show before. All of our actors get to do things that we've never seen them do before.

GOLDSMAN: It's a Hollywood murder mystery. I think he’s said that, and if he hasn't, let us say it officially now. We are, as always, striving to create a different genre within ours, so there's a reason for it. It's not somebody having a dream, although we did once in the room have a thing about a dream and many Unas.

MYERS: That was the Godzilla episode.

GOLDSMAN: So, because of that, our actors get to do things that they haven't gotten to do previously. As you've been asking, and as Rebecca was saying, we do keep trying to push, because we were so delighted ourselves with the musical episode that we kind of were like, “Oh, fuck, what are we gonna do now?”

MYERS: It is like a genuine Star Trek episode. No one who knows and is familiar with Star Trek will say, “Oh, that doesn't feel like a normal episode.” They will be like, “Oh, I get it.” But it will surprise them.

How quickly during shooting are you able to let go and then turn it back on in the morning and how much is a piece staying with you the entire time?

ROMIJN: I'm able to let it go really quickly because I have kids who are there with me sometimes, and I gotta get home and make sure they're okay and make sure they're fed. You gotta be able to turn it off and on. But I think it's different for Ethan.

PECK: Well, I spend probably more hours as this character than I do as Ethan during the season, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't altered a little bit. I do take a little bit of it home with me, which isn't so bad because he's a great guy, a person of integrity, a half-man of integrity. He's very aspirational and wants to be something pure, and I think that's beautiful. So, I'll take that home.

How much do you want to leave set wearing the uniforms and just go to Starbucks?

PECK: I would love to. All the time.

ROMIJN: I remember one time Melissa Navia’s family, her sister and brother-in-law and their kids came to visit us, and it was also during COVID, so we weren't really allowed to see anybody, but we all stepped outside on the street to go take a picture with them. We were just walking down the street in Mississauga in our uniforms. We were like, “This is weird.” It was awesome, though.

PECK: I would love to just go on a Starfleet field trip.

I personally think some viral stuff when you're filming Season 4 is just for all of you guys to go to the local supermarket in costume and just act like you're on an away mission, and just don’t acknowledge anybody, and let them film it.

MYERS: The problem is they wouldn't have money.

With currency, but in full costume.

GOLDSMAN: Do we own the idea? I'm just checking.

You can have it for free.

MYERS: That's very kind of you. Thank you.

When do you start filming Season 4?

MYERS: We start next year.

'Strange New Worlds' Season 4 Is Already In Development

Already knowing that Season 4 is coming up, are you writing on Season 4 already?

MYERS: We're in the room. We have the cards with the episodes, we know what they are, we know what the 10 episodes are going to be about. The network doesn't yet, but they will soon.

MYERS: We're excited for them to find out.

What is it like when you're in that blue sky in the writers’ room when anything is possible? Do you think about, “We want Episode 8 to go fucking big, so how do we save on these other three?”

MYERS: Yes. That is the conversation we have, but we don't look at it that way. We don't want every giant-budget episode to be back-to-back. We want to separate them because it takes some recovery time. Also, there are other things we can do in the meantime that also require a different kind of work. If there's one that is a romantic episode, we'll have that in one place and then we'll have a comedy and then we'll have a horror movie or a big space battle. We'll try to separate these with some space so that we're not doing everything hard altogether.

GOLDSMAN: Within reason, we start with all the kids being equal. So, we don't actually build with the idea of size as an organizing principle. Because remember, our show is a little different in that we rotate characters. We're an ensemble piece, but our lensing changes. Most typically, you hear it in the captain's log or the first officer's log, so you know who's walking you through the show, right? So fundamentally, in that way, just as we try to keep all the actors getting a shot, all the episodes get the same shot, and then as we lay them out creatively, some sort of go, “Oh, I could be big or small. Oh, I could only be big. Oh, I really need to be small.” Then we sort of move it around like that. But our show is pretty, again, within reason, evenly distributed where there's not a terrible swing between our most expensive episode and our least. They’re all right in the same strike zone.

At the beginning of Season 3, when you're in the writers’ room and you're figuring out the arcs, are you coming up with where Spock is in Episode 1 and where Spock is in Episode 10?

MYERS: Yes.

What can you tease about your character's journey in Season 3, from where it starts to where it goes?

ROMIJN: You get to see a lighter side of Una now that she no longer is hiding behind her shame of the Illyrian side of her character. You get to see a lighter side of Una.

PECK: At the beginning of Season 3, Spock is alive, and then he’s still alive at the end.

MYERS: Spoiler alert.

How much are you thinking in terms of, “We have a five-year plan, we have a seven-year plan,” or how much is it, because of the freedom of this show being able to do so many different things, just episode by episode and season by season?

MYERS: Episode by episode and season by season. We really try to treat everything like, “If this was our last episode, what would it be like?” We want to do the best version of everything. If this was all we got to do, what are the cool things that we will be really upset that we never got to do? We look at every season like that.

GOLDSMAN: And left to our own devices—which really means if Paramount will—we'll keep going into the TOS era, and we know how. That's the hope. But as Henry said, nothing is assured, so we come from a conservative place with great aspirations.

Both Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy in the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

Watch on Paramount+

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Live-Action Star Trek Comedy Inspired By Standalone Character Episodes, Especially From DS9

| August 15, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 54 comments so far

The biggest surprise coming out of the San Diego Comic-Con Hall H Star Trek Universe panel was the announcement that a live-action Star Trek comedy was in development . The project is being spearheaded by Lower Decks star and Starfleet Academy writer Tawny Newsome working with Dear White People producer/director Justin Simien. There are some new comments from Simien offering insights into their approach for what would be a totally new kind of show for Trek.

Live-action comedy inspired by DS9 (and TNG)

In a just released SDCC video, Simien tells TVLine he and Newsome are still in a “very early stage” of development on the show which doesn’t even have a title, but he is “feeling really good” about the project. He talked about how he and Newsome first connected when he was a guest on the official Star Trek podcast ( the Pod Directive in 2021 ), which Newsome hosts. And these discussions developed into a pitch they made to Alex Kurtzman. Simien talked up how Star Trek was his first fandom and he explained what inspired him and Newsome:

“[The] comedy pitch for Star Trek really kind of grew out of our organic love for those bottle episodes, particularly on DS9, where no adventure would happen, it was mostly like a character drama/comedy.”

Simien added:

“I think DS9 is a big, big inspiration. But also… those episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation where it wasn’t plot heavy. Where it was more like you were with a character for a day, and you got to see their perspective on a bigger thing. Those were always my favorite episodes and so we just decided to make a show that was made out of our favorite parts.”

Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome (Sarah Coulter/Paramount+)

Simien agreed with the interviewer how he and Newsome are looking back to Trek’s tradition of standalone episodes in contrast to the modern more serialized era:

“Yes, because [on modern shows] you’ve got 13 episodes and you you have to  keep that scripted arc going. But yeah, we kind of longed for those episodes that kind of exist inside of a 39-episode season, where you had time to sort of just hang out with Quark for a second. So we sort of came up with a pitch out of that space.”

The new show is in development by CBS Studios for Paramount+. At SDCC CBS provided us with this official logline for the project:

Federation outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant.

During the SDCC panel Simien and Newsome indicated it would be set in the 25th century, last seen in Star Trek: Picard . It has also been suggested the “gleaming resort” is Risa , the tropical vacation planet featured on several Star Trek shows. The show has been described as a workplace comedy in the style of The Office  and  Parks and Recreation .  It makes sense that the potential series draws from DS9 as that is Tawny Newsome’s avowed favorite series. Perhaps we could see some legacy DS9 characters and actors on the new show, if it ever gets a greenlight.

Picard relaxes on Risa in the TNG episode “Captain’s Holiday”

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Wow, take the worst episode of DS9 (“Let He Who Is Without Sin”) as inspiration, stir in a dash of Wacky Ferengi Episodes (TM), and presto, instant success. No underpants gnomes needed.

Tawny Awesome will do for NuTrek what Fred Freiberger did for old!

Except that if you’ve listened to any of her podcasts, you can plainly see that Tawny knows Trek better than just about anyone. If you only like dour episodes, that’s on you.

“Knowing Trek better than anyone” does not inherently mean that you can produce great Star Trek. At best, it means that you’re good at winning pub quizzes. Nick Meyer was no Trekspert when he directed TWOK; indeed, he made some changes that Roddenberry disapproved of.

Moreover, I judge the quality of Star Trek — or anything, really — on the product itself, not whether the artiste produces a podcast.

You -just- judged what she hasn’t even made yet.

LOL it’s funny right, when you can turn their own ‘arguments’ back on them.

lol, exactly, Ian!

River, of course it doesn’t guarantee the show will be good. But you’re not characterizing her accurately—was Fred Freiberger’s problem that he was too much of a fan?

You’re both making up a guy to be mad at and making up a show to be mad at.

She’s made four seasons of ZanyTrek (TM), including one live-action appearance. She’s also been gushing about how much trivia the Academy writers’ room gets, which bodes very ill.

I get that the kind of fans obsessed with the combination to Kirk’s safe may like this. Problem is, there aren’t enough of them, and live-action is more expensive than animation.

At any rate, this argument is silly. Hollywood produces thousands of hours of product every year — far more than anyone, even professional critics, can watch. That’s why audiences ultimately rely on reviews, previous work/track record, and other “thin slicing” techniques (to borrow Malcolm Gladwell’s phrase) to decide what to actually watch. That’s precisely what I’m doing.

 Or perhaps you think we need to experience a nuclear war to say that nuclear war is a Bad Thing?

She at best gave suggestions to writers but she doesnt write for or produce Lower Decks, she’s just a voice. You cant really judge until you see her Starfleet Academy episodes. Also, old episodic comedies are the most watched things on streaming, there is probably more of a market for this than there is every other Trek show

Then maybe P+ should make a comedy show based on one of those old episodic comedies (Frasier 2.0 is a thing) instead of trying to force Star Trek, a science fiction show, into the comedy category. Star Trek was my viewing choice for smart (much of the time) sci-fi. Certainly not for cheap comedy.

It’s one thing to have lighthearted and comedic moments in an episode, but now I’m really beginning to feel like the people currently in charge think Star Trek is just a joke. Enough with the comedy already. I want to return to space exploration and moral dilemmas. There is currently no Star Trek in production now that is delivering that.

Nice try, but your hypocritical argument does not fly.

not the best DS9 ep but a nice snapshot of worf and dax’s relationship at that time as well as revealing some of his personal issues. that had inhibited him for so long.

also not really a comedy if you dig past a couple of scenes. Their understanding of that episode seems to go no further than an opportunity to dedicate an entire series to sex jokes and unclothed people. …. yippeee (sarcasm) – nudity and crudity – the crutch of the weak writer (and yes, I include GRRM in that group)

Wait… who mentioned “Let He Who Is Without Sin”?. I watched the interview on TV line, and I didn’t hear anything about that episode.

Exactly. This site made that direct connection via the thumbnail…

Funny; I like the DS9 episode in question A LOT. And I actually like Freiberger’s work on both TOS and Space 1999… I know I’m probably alone on that… But I still dare to speak my mind…

And the Children Shall Lead

I’d be okay with this if it meant they were going to dial back the comedy with everything else. SNW is beginning to look like a parody.

Beginning? I’d say it’s been well along…

I was being generous, I guess. The season 3 clip they chose to show at SDCC was a complete parody of TOS right down to the Shatner style overacting when they received the serum. Will the rest of that episode be more of the same or is Spock having a fever dream?

There’s only 10 episodes in the season.

But isn’t Galaxy Quest the best Star Trek movie? What’s wrong with a parody? You are so uptight.

OK, this sounds like it could be either very funny OR completely terrible! But in either case, Paramount needs to green light Legacy way before this!

As I stated in my OP I completely support this idea but I can’t for the life of me see this show being a better idea than Legacy either.

It would jist seem smarter to do Legacy first since that’s clearly the show most fans are begging for and this comes after that.

TBH I think they need the next Picard or SNW announcement, ie, that show or movie that can really excite the base and get most people on board. SFA, Section 31 and this comedy show may all be amazing in the end but none of it seems to be exciting a huge part of the fanbsse, it just isn’t.

But if they announced the Legacy show tomorrow, the reaction would be overwhelmingly positive.

This is comparing apples to oranges. You can’t compare and expensive show like Legacy with a bottle-show sitcom like this is going to be.

I am into this idea. It kind of sounds like how LDS was pitched and that show focused on the B stories Trek did a lot.

This one sounds more like the slice of life type stories like Data’s Day, Fascination or Explorers which are TNG and DS9 episodes.

And I think it would be a good idea to have a DS9 character aa part of the cast. VOY, TOS AND TNG are getting a lot of appearances these days. It’s time for a DS9 lead if a Legacy character is involved.

But does seem very divided in the fanbsse so far though but what isn’tthese days lol. And I’ll be very honest I just don’t know how they think something like this would be more appealing or popular than Legacy? To me it sounds too niche and will only appeal to old fans.

But I personally have said while I want Legacy I will support ANY idea that at least continues in the 25th century. Certainly not my first choice lol but willing to see where it goes!

It probably won’t get to air until 2027 though if it even gets a greenlight.

I don’t mind Star Trek’s first-ever live-action sitcom, to be honest. Yet, I’m down for Legacy.

Same man, same!

I actually kind of like the idea. It’s a novelty and it’s funny how we all have our favorite aspects of Star Trek – Data’s Day for example is not one of my favorites. Personally, this sounds better suited as a short form web series to me. But if this gets greenlit and no Legacy series — that will be hard to stomach.

I think this would work best if produced like the Short Treks and released each week after a new episode of an actual Star Trek show like Legacy. Each short could have the Federation outsiders finding themselves in a new wacky and zany situation at the resort.

Hated that episode in the thumbnail.

Please just… stop. No. No to all of this.

I hope they get Dorn to guest star. It would be hilarious to see Worf return to Risa.

lol. Word should have been in the brig for that ep!!!

There are plenty of episodes Worf should have been in the brig for….

True enough. Both Worf and Data got away with too much at times.

He would be perfect for this. The whole premiss is perfect to have anyone pop in. There are a lot of talented Trek actors who are great comedians.

Please please please do not try to kidnap an ambassador and try and force her to marry you!!! DS9 did these great. TNG… meh….

I don’t have high hopes for this. That’s all we need is more cross-dressing ferengi’s(lets be honest, those are the types of things they would be doing). After the Skydance merger gets cleared I truly hope this project is one of the casualties. And don’t forget Simien brought us the God awful Haunted Mansion last year. Yikes.

Hopefully the post-merger management will filter out some of these ideas.

Let He Who Is Without Sin is one of DS9’s worst episodes, but that’s mostly down to the painfully artificial drama the story felt it needed to inject for Worf and the bland villains. What remains after that’s gone isn’t amazing, but if the writers had gone into the story with the idea that it would be a 100% comedy, then we’d probably have been better off.

“Captain’s Holiday” is still a treat. I am totally up for a holiday planet comedy. “Profit and Lace” aside, DS9 did some stellar comedy episodes.

Little Green Men and The Magnificent Ferengi are the only truly good Ferengi episodes in DS9 for me. There are good ideas in the Moogie arc episodes, but the characterizations of both Zek (as good as Wallace Shawn is at what he is being asked to do) and the Andrea Martin impersonator later on – they are just rough overall.

I enjoyed almost every Ferengi episode. Business as Usual is stellar, Bar Association is also fantastic. Body Parts, Who Mourns for Mourn, also really fun episodes.

I rather enjoyed Quark and Grilka’s episodes as well. But honestly I have a soft spot for Moogie and the Nagus.

But there are other comedy episodes. His Way, Take Me Out to the Holosuite, In the Cards, Badda Bing Badda Bang, You Are Cordially Invited etc. When they needed to let off steam the writers really did have some great inspirations at times, and this cast was so game.

I loved those but also House of Quark, Who Morns for Mourn and Body Parts. I always get a bit choked up at the end of Body Parts.

Star Trek meets Club Las Piranjas.

“Tu ma de Omma nen Kardashian Milchreis” “Do you mean Cardassian sunrise?!?” “Sach ich doch!!!”

Star Trek LOLegacy

I would like a live-action regular Star Trek inspired by standalone character episodes, especially from DS9

For a “live action Star Trek comedy,” I really think Mr. Simien is saying all of the right things. I think our interpretations of Star Trek gel with each other.

So down for this. I’m on a DS9 rewatch right now and its a part of Star Trek that Nu Trek is missing. The Friengi episodes are some of the best at really exploring the cultures of Trek. House of Quark and par’Mach are really good at showing the comical Klingon/Friengi interactions.

For all those demanding a ST: Legacy series first, I am curious what has been confirmed? Has anyone indicated they are actively working on a script for such a series or suggested any firm ideas about which characters it would include? So far it seems like what most people have in mind is something like a Picard season 4, just without Picard himself. As much as I like the concept of Legacy I think this show will see the light of day first because it has an actual plan and because it won’t cost as much.

There is no script. In fact, it has been repeated over and over by both Matalas and the powers at the studio that nothing is being worked on. Terry probably has an idea for a show. How detailed that idea actually is is anybody’s guess. Fans also seem to have very different expectations for the show. Some expect a revolving door of guest appearances by Berman-era legacy actors while others say it would just be the junior bridge crew we saw in season 3 under the command of Seven of Nine.

To me Matalas himself has made it pretty clear if it ever happens it would be the latter. And most people seem to understand and want that. It’s mostly people who don’t want it who keeps saying it’s going to be a TNG redux.

To me Legacy ironically will probably be like the first two seasons of Picard where Seven will be the main legacy character but everyone else around her will be mostly new. They may add another legacy character to the cast as a main or supporting character as she became herself on Picard but it will moserly be about the new and younger characters.

It would be hilarious if the Doctor joined Seven though on the Enterprise. He’s now popping up quite a bit these days. ;)

I am surprisingly into this idea. I hope it turns out great.

Sounds like Star Trek: White Lotus/Truman Show

Like DS9, I like the idea of a show set in a stationary location, with the problems and conflicts coming to them.

Of course, if i’m honest, i’d have centered a Trek workplace comedy on the Department of Temporal Investigations. Would give the show access to literally any time and place in the franchise while also being set in an office, giving us some insight — and the chance to poke fun at — the banal bureaucracy of Starfleet.

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Official Trailer | Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 1

Star Trek's first animated series in 46 years has officially arrived.

Ahead of its American premiere, the Star Trek: Lower Decks trailer has finally arrived, along with the your first looks from the show itself! Lower Decks will premiere on Thursday, August 6. Following the premiere, new episodes of the series’ 10-episode first season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays.

Developed by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites), Star Trek: Lower Decks focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The Starfleet crew residing in the “lower decks” of the U.S.S. Cerritos, includes Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome, Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid, Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. The Starfleet characters that comprise the ship’s bridge crew include Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O’Connell, Lieutenant Shaxs, voiced by Fred Tatasciore and Doctor T’Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.