The details of the first animated Star Trek series since 1976 have been revealed. And, it looks like the new series — Star Trek: Lower Decks — will have a very Rick and Morty-feeling, and the showrunner even casually compared Data and Geordi to the popular duo.
On Saturday at the Star Trek Universe Panel at San Diego Comic-Con fans got the first glimpse of the humorous animated Trek series from Short Treks and Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan — Star Trek: Lower Decks. Most of these glimpses took the form of several images of the new characters, as well as a description of when the show takes place in the Trek timeline and what it’s about.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of Lower Decks show, these characters think this is their show, but they just don’t know… according to McMahan. pic.twitter.com/FOkh3gqDcz
— TrekCore.com
(@TrekCore) July 20, 2019
Though there was no trailer, showrunner Mike McMahan wanted to make clear that the new Trek series was going to be light in tone, and yes, it would probably remind you a little of his previous work on Rick and Morty, saying on script ins “approaching a Rick and Morty” level.
Mike McMahan then said the script is approaching Rick and Morty level, he loves when Geordi and Data writing a script and fight about it. He loves the comedy in Trek and wants to make it the main thing.
— TrekCore.com
"I want to do a show about people that bring the yellow cartridge to the replicator so a banana comes out." – @Alex_Kurtzman recalls @MikeMcMahanTM's pitch for #StarTrekLowerDecks
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) July 20, 2019
The series is mostly about a group of misfits on a ship that McMahan describes as “not important.” The timeline of the series also takes place after the events of Star Trek Nemesis. McMahan also notes that “Voyager is back.”
Eugene Cordero plays Ensign Rutherford, who just got a new cyborg plant and he’s getting used to it. He’s an engineer, but unlike Geordi, he doesn’t not solve the problems in the end. pic.twitter.com/inqV40V2nz
— TrekCore.com
All of this implies that despite its joke-oriented tone, Lower Decks will 100 percent be Trek canon.
Here’s the full cast:
The ship’s bridge crew include “Captain Carol Freeman,” voiced by @dawnn_lewis, “Commander Jack Ransom,” voiced by @MrJerryOC, “Lieutenant Shaxs,” voiced by Fred Tatasciore and “Doctor T’Ana,” voiced by Gillian Vigman. pic.twitter.com/2K3fxwbUH8
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) July 20, 2019
This story is developing and will be updated as new information is made available.
Wait, isn’t Rick and Morty that show where one of the main character slobbers all the time and everybody is awful to everybody else? Pass.
i’ll have to watch this before I have an opinion![.](//s04.flagcounter.com/mini/Jkzv/bg_FFFFFF/txt_DEDEDE/border_FFFFFF/flags_0/" width="1"/>)
#2: Agreed, albeit with reservations. I will absolutely agree that there ought to be humor in the Star Trek universe, and even allow for some of it being highly irreverent humor. But to the extent that a Trek series crosses into satire, I think that’s a risk — satire usually serves as a reflection of the thing being satirized, not a component of it. (That said, I am extremely curious about the context of the remarks about Geordi and Data writing scripts — if that’s a hint that Lower Decks is being presented as a “meta” exercise in which existing Trek characters are essentially writing/filming in-universe fanfiction, all bets may very well be off.)
I’m really looking forward to this, love the designs, although I would have preferred if they had some non-humanoid main characters.
Also, Dr T’ana looks like McCoy reincarnated as Grumpy Cat.
@1/Jenny Islander:
You needn’t pass quite yet — the headline is clickbait (shame on you, Tor.com!). SDCC provided just a few still images, which is barely enough to establish the “look” of an animated show, which depends very much on character movement, let alone the feel of a show, which is the writing. FWIW and IMHO, even these static character designs aren’t much like Rick & Morty — they’re closer to Final Space (TBS) or Total Drama Island (Cartoon Network).
Yes, that’s Rick & Morty — specifically, titular supergenius and alcoholic Rick Sanchez is the one who slobbers and is the interdimensional misanthrope; the remaining awfulness is standard sitcom family-level fare. And aliens. The show is definitely an acquired taste, but it’s slightly less nihilistic than, say, Lexx.
If Doctor T’Ana is meant to be a Caitian, she’s missing her tail. See: entry for M’Ress at Memory Alpha, second image.
You just can’t see her tail in this picture, or she lost it at some point and didn’t want a replacement.
And yeah, these character designs don’t look THAT Rick & Morty. They look like they follow certain trends in certain kinds of current adult animation, which include R&M, but that’s all.
Looks more like Final Space than R&M