Star Trek: Lower Decks
Genre	Adult animation Adventure Comedy Science fiction
Created by	Mike McMahan
Based on	Star Trek byGene Roddenberry
Showrunner	Mike McMahan
Voices of	Tawny Newsome Jack Quaid Noël Wells Eugene Cordero Dawnn Lewis Jerry O'Connell Fred Tatasciore Gillian Vigman
Composer	Chris Westlake
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	50
Production
Executive producers	Alex Kurtzman Heather Kadin Rod Roddenberry Trevor Roth Katie Krentz Mike McMahan
Running time	23–30 minutes
Production companies	CBS Eye Animation Productions Secret Hideout Important Science Roddenberry Entertainment Titmouse, Inc.
Original release
Network	CBS All Access
Release	August 6 (2020-08-06) – October 8, 2020 (2020-10-08)
Network	Paramount+
Release	August 12, 2021 (2021-08-12) – December 19, 2024 (2024-12-19)
Related
Star Trek TV series

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an Americanadult animatedscience fiction television series created byMike McMahan for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded asParamount+). It is the ninthStar Trek series and debuted in 2020 as part of executive producerAlex Kurtzman's expandedStar Trek Universe. The franchise's first animated series sinceStar Trek: The Animated Series concluded in 1974, and also its first comedy,Lower Decks follows the low-ranking support crew of thestarshipCerritos in the 24th century.

Tawny Newsome,Jack Quaid,Noël Wells, andEugene Cordero voice the lower decks crew members of theCerritos, withDawnn Lewis,Jerry O'Connell,Fred Tatasciore, andGillian Vigman providing voices for the ship's senior officers. Work on an animatedStar Trek series began in June 2018. McMahan joined as creator andshowrunner by that October, whenLower Decks was ordered for two seasons by All Access. The series is produced byCBS Eye Animation Productions in association withSecret Hideout, Important Science,Roddenberry Entertainment, and animation studioTitmouse. The latter began work by February 2019, and the main cast was announced that July. Production on the first two seasons shifted to taking place remotely in March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The series features many connections and references to pastStar Trek series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered on CBS All Access on August 6, 2020, and its 10-episodefirst season was released weekly through October 2020. Thesecond season was released on Paramount+ from August to October 2021, athird season was released from August to October 2022, afourth season was released from September to November 2023, and afifth and final season was released from October to December 2024. The series has received positive reviews and several accolades, including threePrimetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations and aHugo Award.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is set in the late 24th century in theStar Trek universe, where Earth is part of the multi-speciesUnited Federation of Planets. The Federation's military and exploration division,Starfleet, operates a fleet of starships that travel the galaxy establishing contact with alien races;Lower Decks focuses on one of Starfleet's least important starships, the USSCerritos.^[1] Unlike previousStar Trek series, whose principal characters are typically starship captains and other senior officers,Lower Decks focuses on the missions and adventures of the "lower deckers", low-ranking officers with menial jobs, while the captain and other senior staff appear as supporting characters.^[2]

• Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner:
  A human ensign aboard the USSCerritos and the daughter of Captain Freeman.^[1][3] Newsome described Mariner as an irreverent rule-breaker who has been demoted several times, though she is actually "very good at all things Starfleet".^[4] She is promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in the fourth season.^[5] The character is named after showrunnerMike McMahan's sister, Beckett Mariner McMahan.^[6]
• Jack Quaid asBrad Boimler:
  A human ensign aboard theCerritos,^[1] Boimler is a stickler for the rules and will need to learn how to improvise if he is to become a captain one day.^[7] He is promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in the fourth season.^[5] Quaid said the character would "nail the written portion of the driving test with flying colors but once it actually got to him being in the car, it would be a complete and total disaster."^[4]
• Noël Wells asD'Vana Tendi:
  AnOrion ensign in the medical bay aboard theCerritos,^[7][8] Tendi is a big fan of Starfleet,^[7] and is thrilled to be on a starship. She is new to theCerritos at the start of the series, and helps introduce the audience to the setting and characters. McMahan said he would act like Tendi if he ever got to work on a starship.^[4] She is promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in the fourth season.^[5]
• Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford:
  A human ensign aboard theCerritos,^[1][9] Rutherford is adjusting to a new cyborg implant.^[7] McMahan compared Rutherford to theStar Trek: The Next Generation characterGeordi La Forge, saying they are both "amazing at engineering stuff" but Rutherford does not always solve the problem like Geordi because he is still learning.^[4] He is promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in the fourth season.^[5]
• Dawnn Lewis as Carol Freeman:
  The human captain of theCerritos and Mariner's mother.^[1] McMahan described her as a capable Starfleet captain whose starship is not very important.^[10] Freeman initially does not want Mariner to be on theCerritos and is looking for a reason to have her transferred to another ship,^[3] but over the course of the series the pair grow closer as they discover things that they have in common.^[11]
• Jerry O'Connell as Jack Ransom:
  The humanfirst officer of theCerritos whom McMahan compared toNext Generation'sWilliam Riker, if he was onspeed and had less shame.^[1][4]
• Fred Tatasciore as Shaxs:
  ABajoran tactical officer aboard theCerritos.^[1][4] Shaxs dies sacrificing himself for Rutherford at the end of the first season,^[12] but he returns to life in the second season in a storyline that plays on the numerous times and ways that characters have been resurrected in previousStar Trek series.^[13]
• Gillian Vigman as T'Ana:
  A Caitian doctor and head of medical aboard theCerritos.^[1] McMahan described her as a "good doctor, but she's an unpleasant cat". Including a Caitian in the series is a reference toStar Trek: The Animated Series which also features a member of that species, M'Ress.^[10]

In June 2018, after becoming soleshowrunner of the seriesStar Trek: Discovery,Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal withCBS Television Studios to expand theStar Trek franchise beyondDiscovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series.^[14] Aaron Baiers of Kurtzman's production companySecret Hideout broughtMike McMahan—the head writer of popular animated comedyRick and Morty—to a general meeting about animation inStar Trek. Baiers and McMahan had been television assistants together when McMahan was running theTwitter fan account @TNG_S8, suggesting stories for a theoretical eighth season ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. McMahan was asked what his dreamStar Trek series would be,^[15] andpitched a series following "the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end".^[16]

After McMahan won over executives with his initial pitch, Secret Hideout moved forward with the series.^[15] It was marketed to different platforms and networks before being picked up byCBS All Access, the streaming service that was releasingDiscovery, who officially ordered two seasons on October 25, 2018. TitledStar Trek: Lower Decks, it was the service's first original animated series and the first animatedStar Trek series since the 1973–74 seriesStar Trek: The Animated Series. McMahan was set to create, write, and executive produce alongside Kurtzman, Secret Hideout's Heather Kadin,Rod Roddenberry (the son ofStar Trek creatorGene Roddenberry) and Trevor Roth ofRoddenberry Entertainment, and veteran animation executive-turned-producer Katie Krentz of the newly formedCBS Eye Animation Productions.^[16] In January 2019, Kurtzman said the series would not be "Rick and Morty in the world ofStar Trek" and would have its own tone, but would "skew slightly more adult".^[17] In July, McMahan said thefirst season consisted of 10 episodes and would be released in 2020.^[1]

By late March 2020, work on the series was taking place remotely due to theCOVID-19 pandemic forcing staff to work from home.^[18] In May, McMahan said animation was "uniquely suited for this moment" since the series' animators could continue work on the series from home.^[19] In July, All Access scheduled the series to premiere in August 2020.^[20] The streaming service was rebrandedParamount+ in 2021. Athird season was ordered in April ahead of thesecond-season premiere that August.^[21] The third season was confirmed for a late-2022 release when afourth season was ordered in January 2022,^[22][23] and the fourth season was confirmed for a mid-2023 release when afifth season was ordered in March 2023.^[24] That October, McMahan said he wanted to keep making the series but further seasons beyond the fifth were not guaranteed, particularly after Paramount+ cancelled fellow animated seriesStar Trek: Prodigy and confirmed the final seasons ofDiscovery andStar Trek: Picard.^[25] He was open to continuing the series in other media, including films, comics, books, and video games.^[26] In April 2024, Paramount confirmed that the fifth season would be the last for the series. McMahan and Kurtzman expressed their hope that the characters' stories would continue beyond the end of the series.^[27]

The series begins in 2380, one year after the events of the filmStar Trek: Nemesis (2002),^[7] and focuses on the support crew of a starship rather than the main bridge crew like previousStar Trek series did.^[16] McMahan set the series shortly afterNemesis, which was the lastStar Trek film in the era ofThe Next Generation, due to his love ofThe Next Generation.^[4] The series is named after theNext Generation episode "Lower Decks", which also focuses on the lives of lower-ranking starship personnel and which McMahan said was his favorite episode of anyStar Trek series; the episode was the first thing McMahan showed theLower Deckswriters' room when they started work on the series.^[10] McMahan was inspired by the social side-stories in episodes ofThe Next Generation,^[4] and Kurtzman explained that the "A story" of a typicalStar Trek episode would be taking place in the background of eachLower Decks episode, so "huge, crazy, crazy shit is going on in the background and that's super peripheral to the story that you're actually focusing on". Kurtzman felt this made the series a unique addition to the franchise.^[28] Starting in late 2019, astrophysicistErin Macdonald joined theStar Trek franchise as a science advisor.^[29] Macdonald said each series was on a "spectrum of science to fiction" and theLower Decks writers approached science from the perspective of being able to "get away with a lot more" than the live-action series, so her role was mostly to fix dialogue to ensure the correct terms were used rather than strive for complete scientific accuracy.^[30]

The main setting of the series is the starship USSCerritos, a "California-class" ship. Thisship class, created forLower Decks, is a class of support starships that work with larger starships like those seen previously in the franchise,^[4] but are not "important enough" to have appeared on screen before. McMahan described the mission of theCerritos as "Second Contact": after Starfleet has madefirst contact with a new alien civilization and invited it to join the Federation, the crew of support ships like theCerritos arrive to find "all the good places to eat [and set up] the communications stuff".^[10] McMahan wantedCalifornia-class ships to be named after Californian cities, and chose the city ofCerritos because he otherwise only knew it for localCerritos Auto Square car dealership advertisements. He wanted to give the city "one more thing other than just being the home of the Auto Square".^[31]

McMahan did not want the humor to be "punching down onTrek" and focused on tellingStar Trek stories where the characters happen to be funny.^[4] Writers from different comedic backgrounds and with different levels ofStar Trek interest were hired.^[10] Kurtzman describedLower Decks as a love letter toStar Trek,^[28] and it is filled with many references to otherStar Trek series. McMahan said these were there to "create a rich, vibrant, fun expression of the world ofStar Trek in that era" rather than just beEaster eggs for fans to pick through. It was important to the team that these not distract from the emotional storytelling and also fit withinestablished canon,^[32] withStar Trek authorDavid Mack consulting on the series to ensure that it fit into the franchise.^[10][33] McMahan hoped that references toThe Animated Series specifically would honor it as the franchise's first animated series.^[10] The characters often use the real-world titles of pastStar Trek episodes when referencing those events, with McMahan explaining that the personal logs of famous characters are given similar in-universe titles to the episodes they are from. The franchise established that "Star Trek characters watchStar Trek" inthe series finale ofStar Trek: Enterprise, where the events of an earlier mission are recreated with a hologram,^[34][35] and McMahan felt many events from past series would be common knowledge within Starfleet. Acknowledging this allowed the main characters to be "geeks forStar Trek", which letLower Decks be a "Rosetta Stone" connecting all previousStar Trek projects.^[35]

Kurtzman stated in June 2019 that the series would mostly focus on new characters, but there was potential for characters from previousStar Trek series to appear at some point.^[28] The next month, McMahan announced the main cast and characters, including ensigns serving in the "lower decks" of theCerritos—Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner,Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler,Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi, andEugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford—and the ship's bridge crew who believe "the show is about them, but it's not"—Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman,Jerry O'Connell as first officer Commander Jack Ransom,Fred Tatasciore as security chief Lieutenant Shaxs, andGillian Vigman as chief medical officer Dr. T'Ana.^[1][7] Voice-overs for each episode are recorded before any animation work is done, with the recordings edited together into what McMahan described as an "old-timey radio play version of the episode". Initially, actors were recorded together such as Newsome and Quaid, but this stopped during production on the first season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[32][36] This became one of the biggest challenges for the series during the pandemic, with a need to use remote recording equipment in each actor's house.^[19] Newsome used a recording studio that she already had in her home.^[36]

Independent animation studioTitmouse provides the animation for the series.^[20] "Board teams" draw a rough version of the episode in black-and-white based on the initial "radio play" version of the voice actor recordings. These are put together as ananimatic which the animators use as a basis for the final animation with full details and colors.^[32][36] Juno Lee was supervising director for the first season, with first-season episodic director Barry J. Kelly taking over as supervising director with the second season.^[37] Titmouse CCO Antonio Canobbio guided the series' overall visual style.^[38]

McMahan wanted the series' animation style to reflect the look of "prime time animated comedy" series that he grew up with, such asThe Simpsons andFuturama, as well as previous comedy series that he had worked on such asRick and Morty. This included a "prime time look" for the characters based on the "every-man vibe ofThe Simpsons" which meant that even the alien characters felt human and grounded. However, he wanted backgrounds and environments to be more detailed than usual for prime time animation,^[32] reflecting the designs of theNext Generation era ofStar Trek for the series' sets, starships, cinematography, and character movements.^[39] The team tried to follow the same rules that would apply to a live-actionStar Trek series set in 2380,^[32] and used thewiki encyclopediaMemory Alpha and other fan resources to stay accurate to the eras's original designs. The animators also watched episodes ofThe Next Generation while working on the series,^[39] which uses the same blue font asThe Next Generation for its credits.^[32] The opening title sequence features theCerritos flying throughNext Generation-like situations with a sweeping musical score, but with twists such as it being sucked into a vortex and immediately turning around after arriving at a battle.^[40] TheCerritos crew's uniforms are based on unused designs for the filmStar Trek Generations (1994).^[10]

Kelly said theCerritos was designed to compare favorably to the franchise's live-action starships, with adjustments then made to fit the show's animation style.^[39] TheCerritos is aNext Generation version of the USSReliant from the filmStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), McMahan's favoriteStar Trek starship. The California-class starships seen in the series feature the same colors as the uniforms, with yellow for engineering, blue for medical, and red for command (theCerritos is yellow).^[41] Elements of theLCARS computer system fromThe Next Generation were included in theCerritos's design,^[39] with "those swooping shapes [being] part of the overall architecture of the ship" as well as the carpet, walls, and ceiling.^[38] The particles of transporter beams were also drawn to be "little pill-shaped tubes" in the LCARS style,^[40] while actual LCARS displays are featured throughout the ship as well.Michael Okuda, who designed the LCARS system forThe Next Generation, consulted with the animation team on the series' LCARS designs and colors.^[39]

Once the animation is completed, the last element of the series is the final sound design. McMahan noted that the same level of care was applied to the series' sound design as its animation in terms of honoring "legacy" elements from previousStar Trek series. Sounds from earlier in the franchise that were studied and replicated include those for existing technology, such as the noises made by differentphasers, the different sounds made when making or receiving a call using a Starfleet badge, or the sound of the ships' warp core. They also include the general "room tone" of different areas of the ship, such as the bridge, different hallways, and crew quarters.^[39] General sound design was also required, such as for the sound of characters' footsteps. Once the sound design is completed, these sounds are mixed with the voice recordings and score in a final mix for the episodes.^[36]

In January 2020, frequentStar Trek composerJeff Russo said it might not be possible for him to compose the score forLower Decks due to his workload and the large number ofStar Trek series being produced at the same time. He suggested that he could oversee some other composers forLower Decks and the otherStar Trek series if Kurtzman asked him to.^[42] In July, Chris Westlake was revealed to be the composer after working with McMahan onSolar Opposites.^[43] McMahan said Westlake's score sounded like a traditionalStar Trek score that fit within the fast-paced, comedic style ofLower Decks.^[36] Westlake felt it would be funnier if sincere music scored the comedic series, which is why the main theme includes a choir. He wrote six or seven different main theme ideas that were narrowed down to two, one being energetic and the other having a slower, more stately feel; the final theme is "between" these two.^[44] A soundtrack album featuring music from the first two seasons was released byLakeshore Records on October 8, 2021. All music composed by Chris Westlake:^[45][46]

Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered on August 6, 2020, on CBS All Access in the United States.^[1][20] Each episode is broadcast in Canada byBell Media on the same day as the U.S. release, on the specialty channelsCTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) andZ (French) before streaming onCrave.^[59] In September 2020,ViacomCBS announced that CBS All Access would be expanded and rebranded as Paramount+ in March 2021.^[60] After CBS All Access was rebranded Paramount+, the first season remained on the service and future seasons were confirmed to be released on it.^[61]

International distribution was not secured by the series' premiere after negotiations were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[62] In December 2020,Amazon Prime Video was revealed to have the streaming rights in several territories—including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and India—with the first season released on the service on January 22, 2021. The series is distributed worldwide byParamount Global Distribution Group.^[63] In February 2023, Paramount made a new deal with Prime Video for the series' international streaming rights. This allowed all existing seasons to be added to Paramount+ in some other countries in addition to remaining on Prime Video.^[64] In July 2023, Bell Media announced that the series would be leaving Crave over the following month, likely so it could move to Paramount+ in Canada.Lower Decks would continue to be broadcast on CTV Sci-Fi and be available on CTV.ca and the CTV app.^[65]

In August 2023, Paramount and CBS announced that four episodes of the series would be shown during free theatrical fan screenings on September 8, which isStar Trek Day. This was part ofStar Trek: The Animated Celebration, a celebration of the 50th anniversary ofStar Trek: The Animated Series, as well as widerStar Trek Day events. The screenings included "sneak peeks and surprises", and were held in U.S., Canada, and UK cities.^[66]

Star Trek: Lower Decks has a 92% approval rating on thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,^[75] whileMetacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[76]

For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes reported 68% approval with an average rating of 7.20/10 based on 47 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fun, but not very bold,Lower Decks flips the script onStar Trek regulation just enough to stand out in the franchise, if not the greater animation landscape."^[67] Metacritic assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[68]

Rotten Tomatoes reported 100% approval for the second season with an average rating of 8.30/10 based on 12 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Lower Decks rights the ship with a more self-assured sophomore season that strikes an ideal balance between affection and irreverence."^[69] It also reported 100% approval for the third season with an average rating of 8.00/10 based on 6 reviews.^[70]

For the fourth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported 100% approval with an average rating of 8.80/10 based on 18 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mirthful as ever while having grown into a properStar Trek serial in its own right,Lower Decks' fourth season swabs the series' formula into a pristine polish."^[71] Metacritic assigned a score of 83 out of 100 based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[72] Rotten Tomatoes reported 88% approval with an average rating of 8.30/10 based on 8 reviews for the fifth season.^[73] Metacritic assigned a score of 84 out of 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, again indicating "universal acclaim".^[74]

A special episode of the officialStar TrekaftershowThe Ready Room, hosted byStar Trek: The Next Generation actorWil Wheaton, was released following the premiere ofLower Decks.^[39] Wheaton returned for further aftershow episodes, which were released following key episodes of the series.^[36][103]

A free-to-play mobile game based on the series was revealed in February 2022, announced asStar Trek: Lower Decks The Badgey Directive orStar Trek: Lower Decks TBD. Developed by East Side Games and Mighty Kingdom foriOS andAndroid, it was set to feature the series' rogue artificial intelligence Badgey.^[104] It was released later in 2022 with the titleStar Trek Lower Decks Mobile. In April, the mobile strategy gameStar Trek Fleet Command launched aLower Decks-themed expansion, adding theCerritos, Mariner, Boimler, Badgey, and a new function called "Below Decks Abilities" that allows players to select a support crew who give them additional abilities.^[105]

The series' first comic book tie-in, a three-issue miniseries titledStar Trek: Lower Decks, was written byRyan North with art by Chris Fenoglio and released byIDW Publishing in September 2022.^[106] North also wrote aone-shot focused on Shaxs, titledStar Trek: Day of Blood – Shaxs' Best Day, that was released in September 2023 as part of IDW'sDay of Blood crossover event. Derek Charm provided the art for the one-shot, which was pitched to North as "Shaxs [gets] to live his absolute best day and go completely ham on a bunch of fascistKlingons".^[107]Shaxs' Best Day was nominated forBest Single Issue/One-Shot at the 2024Eisner Awards and Best Single Issue or Story at the 2024Ringo Awards.^[108][109] In October 2023,Titan Books released theStar Trek: Lower Decks – Crew Handbook, an in-universe guide to theCerritos written by Chris Farnell.^[110]

North and Fenoglio returned for a 182-pagechoose your own adventure-style graphic novel titledStar Trek: Lower Decks – Warp Your Own Way that IDW released in October 2024.^[111][112]Warp Your Own Way wonBest Graphic Story or Comic at the 2025Hugo Awards andBest Graphic Novel/Comic at the 2025Aurora Awards.^[99][113] Starting in November 2024, IDW began publishing a newStar Trek: Lower Decks comic, the first ongoing comic book tie-in for the series. Again written by North, the comic has episodic storytelling with art by a rotating group of artists, including Charm (for the first issue) andJack Lawrence.^[112] North and Charm also re-teamed for another one-shot focused on Shaxs, titledStar Trek: Lore War – Shaxs' Worst Day, that was released in May 2025 as part of IDW'sLore War crossover event.^[114]

AtSan Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, Kurtzman announced that an episode ofStar Trek: Strange New Worlds'ssecond season would be acrossover withLower Decks, featuring a mixture of live-action and animation. Newsome and Quaid portrayed theirLower Decks characters in live-action as well as animation,^[115] with Wells, Cordero, and O'Connell reprising their voice roles. The episode, "Those Old Scientists", was released in July 2023.^[116][117]

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