Spurred by the continued success of Discovery, as well as Patrick Stewart’s decision to reprise the role of Jean-Luc Picard, CBS TV Studios president David Stapf has made clear his hopes to double down on the Star Trek universe moving forward.
As a matter of fact, while chatting to Deadline back in the summer, Stapf explained that his goal is to have something from the Trek universe playing on CBS All Access at all times – be it an episode of Discovery or the newfangled continuation of Picard’s intergalactic story, the network president wants fans to be able to enjoy Star Trek round the clock… 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And now, CBS has revealed the next step in this plan by announcing Star Trek: Lower Decks, a half-hour adult animated comedy series that comes from Rick and Morty head writer and executive producer Mike McMahan. Plot details remain scarce, but Deadline reports that it’ll “focus on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships.”
“Mike won our hearts with his first sentence: ‘I want to do a show about the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end.’ His cat’s name is Riker. His son’s name is Sagan. The man is committed,” producer Alex Kurtzman said. “He’s brilliantly funny and knows every inch of every Trek episode, and that’s his secret sauce: he writes with the pure, joyful heart of a true fan. As we broaden the world of ‘Trek’ to fans of all ages, we’re so excited to include Mike’s extraordinary voice.”
Speaking about the new project, McMahan revealed that he’s been a life-long fan of the show and promises that Lower Decks will be “undeniably Trek.”
“As a life-long Trekkie, it’s a surreal and wonderful dream come true to be a part of this new era of Star Trek. While Star Trek: Lower Decks is a half-hour, animated show at its core, it’s undeniably Trek – and I promise not to add an episode at the very end that reveals the whole thing took place in a training program.”
No word yet on when the show may premiere or who’ll star in it, but it certainly sounds exciting and only adds to CBS’ ever-growing portfolio of Star Trek content. From Lower Decks to season 2 of Discovery and, of course, the aforementioned Patrick Stewart series, there’s lots for Trekkies to look forward to in the near future and as soon as we learn more about what the network has planned for this new animated show, we’ll be sure to let you know.