Just a day after official news about Star Trek on the big screen comes official news about the future of Trek on television. One show is getting another season while another is coming to an end.
The Enterprise lives on but the Cerritos is returning to dock
Paramount+ has officially announced the live-action series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for a fourth season. The series set on board the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is currently in production on its third season, which is set to debut in 2025. This move is not a surprise as the series has been a hit for the streaming service and a critical success.
L-R Ethan Peck as Spock and Anson Mount as Capt. Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+
The streaming service also confirmed that the previously announced fifth season of the animated adult comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks will be its last season. The fifth season is currently in production and will premiere on Paramount+ this Fall. The series set on the USS Cerritos with a mission focused on “second contacts” has been popular with fans and it also had its share of critical and awards attention. However, it isn’t a surprise that it will end with the fifth season. Last fall series creator Mike McMahan indicated the show may not get a sixth season, later clarifying he was always worried about additional season pickups.
L-R Gabrielle Ruiz as T’Lyn, Noël Wells as D’Vana Tendi, Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner, Eugene Cordero as Rutherford and Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler in episode 10, season 4 of Lower Decks Photo Credit: Paramount+
EPs react
Executive producer Alex Kurtzman along with the showrunners for both series have also made statements regarding the big news, for which Paramount+ has released as social media graphics.
For Strange New Worlds…
And Lower Decks…
… and from the corporate execs…
The official announcement also included comments from the head of programming at Paramount+ as well as the president of CBS Studios, which produces all Star Trek programming.
“It has been incredibly rewarding to continue to build the Star Trek universe, and we’re so grateful to Secret Hideout and our immensely talented casts and producers,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has found the perfect blend of action, adventure and humor, and we’re elated to announce another season ahead of our season three premiere. Similarly, Star Trek: Lower Decks has brought the laughs with an ample amount of heart to the franchise across its four seasons. We can’t wait for audiences to see what is in store for the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos in this final season.”
“Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are integral to the Star Trek franchise, expanding the boundaries of the universe and exploring new and exciting worlds,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Studios. “We are extraordinarily proud of both series as they honor the legacy of what Gene Roddenberry created almost 60 years ago. We are so grateful to work with Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers and the cast, crews and artists who craft these important and entertaining stories for fans around the world.”
Star Trek’s TV future
The future of Star Trek on Paramount+ is starting to take shape. Discovery will wrap up its fifth and final season in May, with Lower Decks following later this year. Production on the Section 31 streaming movie starring Michelle Yeoh was completed last month, and in theory that could show up by the end of the year, but the service may prefer to hold it until 2025. It’s now confirmed that season 3 of Strange New Worlds wont arrive until 2025 and so far it is the only Star Trek release confirmed for next year.
The YA-focused Starfleet Academy series goes into production at the end of the summer but executive producer Alex Kurtzman has said it may not arrive until 2026. Today’s official announcement made no mention of when the 4th season of Strange New Worlds is expected to go into production, but it’s reasonable to assume that it could be ready to stream by 2026.
The animated series Star Trek: Prodigy series exited Paramount+ for Netflix last year. The second season of that show is set to arrive on Netflix sometime this year. It is possible Netflix could order additional seasons but if they did so, they would likely not be ready until 2026 or even 2027.
Alex Kurtzman and Paramount have also indicated they are looking at more streaming movies, but so far nothing has been confirmed. Kurtzman has also recently hinted there are more “surprises” coming.
Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou and Joe Pingue as Dada Noe in Star Trek: Section 31 Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Just what I thought. 5 seasons is the limit. Thank Buddha 🙏 Lower Decks is ending. It jumped the shark two seasons ago.
I liked the show, and would agree it got significantly less fun and interesting after season two.
I lost interest in the show. Its reliance on nostalgia p@rn just doesn’t do it for me. I still haven’t finished watching last season. I’ll get to it at some point, but right now I don’t really care about it.
Forced to agree. The show relies very heavily on nostalgia. Which in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What makes it not work here is the creatives seem to think that nostalgia is funny. That making an old show reference is a gag. I was actually looking forward to a comedy Trek show. But this show is just far to scared to poke fun at Trek. For a Trek comedy to work it needs writers who are not so in awe of Trek that they can’t see comedy in it.
The LD writers just aren’t as funny as they think they are and spend way too much time trying to stroke the egos of a fandom that’s already full of themselves.
I don’t think they could ever really make fun of trek unless they want to suffer the wrath of the fans. To this day they are still fans angry about that famous SNL skit Shatner did.
Really? All the hard-core TOS fans I know love that skit.
Oh, I’ve known just a few folks who admitted hated the SNL bit, and one who said he laughed the first time, but felt bad for laughing, like he was betraying a confidence.
I remember my girlfriend looking over at me when it got going, and she seemed surprised that I was laughing so hard (we had met a little over a year earlier and I had hooked her on the series by loaning her a tape of ERRAND OF MERCY.) After the skit was over, she said she thought I’d get my nose out of joint over being made fun of, but I said I didn’t take it all that personally, and something like, ‘I get my nose out of joint over the Enterprise being blown up badly and Spock coming back from the dead … whereas this — this isn’t just funny, it is true and funny!’
But I do remember hearing people saying that they were going to boycott a Shatner-directed Trek movie after they saw that skit, so maybe Trek fans have memories like SMERSH and the Vatican, and they avenged themselves on Shat in 89?
I truly Pity da Fools who are incapable at having a good laugh at their own expense. I consider it one of life’s great joys, personally.
I think most of the SNL Trek skits through the years, and other parodies as well, are done out love by people who are fans. You gotta be able to laugh at yourself.
“I get my nose out of joint over the Enterprise being blown up badly…”
Ha ha, that is so true!
Totally agree unless you find countless bleeped out expletives as good comedy.
This show is not reliant on nostalgia it is reliant on good comedy writing and unfortunately it is lacking in that department.
I thought the skit was fine. Didn’t find it overly funny but no offense was taken by it whatsoever.
In fact, one gag I recall from that Shatner host show was when they did Star Trek V: The Restaurant Enterprise. Krik and crew were running a restaurant on the ship. I diner started choking and Kirk said, “Bones, this man is choking!” McCoy responds with, “Dammit Jim I’m a doctor not a…. Oh.”
Still chuckle when I think of that gag today.
BTW… Many of the gags on the first season of The Orville could have easily translated to a Trek comedy. And most of those landed.
From the little I’ve seen of LD, that’s the impression I got too, that a lot of it involved call-backs to other ST shows and mocking it.
I just was never really interested in that. I saw the first season of Prodigy and that was ok. I’ve seen Discovery and like the production and stories but, other than Empress Georgiou, I’m not really wild about the other characters or the crew dynamic. Oh, I like Reno too, she’s awesome.
I really liked Picard Season 1. Haven’t watched seasons 2 and 3 yet or Strange New Worlds.
I didn’t think they were mocking the nostalgia. I think they were overly reverential towards it. I mean, they literally had characters who were Star Trek fans!
I enjoy watching Lower Decks for the love letter to the era of Trek that I love and miss.
However, I never found myself laughing out loud, it would be a chuckle here and there and there was pleasure at seeing a fun Easter Egg.
Then again I never found Rick And Morty laugh out loud funny either. Whereas Simpsons and Family Guy at their peaks has me in hysterics.
Also I think Trek has lost some of its aspirational aspect. Instead of seeing people we aspire to and who inspire us, people are wanting to see themselves.
Uhura was aspirational because she was in a position on the flagship that showed viewers that they can achieve anything and it doesn’t matter on your gender or race
Mariner by comparison is not aspirational, she is constantly coming across as aggressive and arrogant and she sets a bad example. She can be fun on occasion and the character is clearly using these to cover how she truly wants.
Mariner is not aspirational but clearly is a chart who had Uhura inspire her, how she inspired fans
not a fan of mariner either, and it makes no sense that uhura inspired her although SNW has not really handle uhura well either. No one can be nichols not even zoe saldana but its like the new streaming show of snw and lower decks seem to have no idea what made uhura insioriatonal. they just threw anything at the wall to see if it stuck even if it using the name without really understanding the character.
I would also add that SNW is not serving Spock well either.
I think the SNW pat themselves on the back when they feel like they have an episode which either feels gimmicky or ‘deconstructing’ a character.
Hence more episodes such as the Musical episode or Charades which I felt was an insult to Spock
Also I don’t know if it’s a result of the current Hollywood trend but I do feel Pike is made to come across as a bit weak and less authoritive as the Captain. Sometimes he can be too casual and ineffective when it comes to some decisions. He seems to want to talk rather than discipline an officer who is out of line. Just what I see.
I agree that 5 seasons is the way to go. Bet on SNW to have its final season next year or two.
Yes I totally agree. It’s much more economical to end it and start over with a new Trek show. Maybe S31 with or without Michelle Yeoh.
A Section 31 tv series? No thanks.
Cool story bro
I think a lot of that will depend on how well Star Trek Academy performs.
Absolutely no sharks were jumped when Boims almost drowned in Cetacean Ops!
Oh it definitely did.
It’s breaks my heart that I agree with this.
It’s just a tv show. No need to get emotional.
A strange comment on this type of forum.
LD was a good show for what it wanted to be. SNW is “meh”, the Academy series is a show no one wants, & still no “Legacy.”
In general, I agree. I was hoping it would be something like a Trek version of McHales Navy or F-Troop in space. A bunch of screw ups whose heart was in the right place and managed to get the job done in spite of themselves. That’s not what it was.
To me LD straddled the line between clever and stupid and all too often became “Ow, my balls!”
It has passionate fans. But how many? Really?
Lower Decks seems to appeal to non diehard Trek fans and casual viewers.
For example my wife is essentially Penny from The Big Bang Theory. She loves Lower Decks and The Orville (she actually was upset when I told her this was the final season). She can’t stand other Trek shows. She tolerates them for me, but is most likely playing on her phone while I’m watching.
I was able to get 4 people in my office who liked The Orville to watch Lower Decks and they also loved it and still tune in. They can’t stand the other shows.
So, essentially, Lower Decks seemed to be popular with casual viewers and casual fans (I however am a Trek die hard and watch all of them).
I’m a die hard trek fan in my 40s and I love lower decks. It is also possible that different people just like different things.
Glad to meet another die hard Trekkie that likes Lower Decks.
That’s weird as I thought the references and the humour relied on your knowledge and love of Trek lore.
Those are interesting analogies, as I remember loving both of those shows as a little kid, but then one and two decades later, I couldn’t bring myself to watch even one whole episode of either in syndication. And that was even after learning Gene Coon was the guy who came in on MCHALE and righted the ship when they had early problems.
Same thing happened with GET SMART! now that I think about it, though I did enjoy THE NUDE BOMB and GET SMART AGAIN! (mainly just for some clever moments, like the car-desk in the former and the WHO CENSORED ROGER RABBIT?-like speech bubbles in the latter’s update of their cone-of-silence scene.)
Okay, dude, I can grok the TREK 5 love — it does indeed have its moments, even if I can’t really share it. And at its best “Get Smart” was as smart as Smart was dumb. But, THE NUDE BOMB, really!? Now I think you’re just trolling us for fun.
Special context, was1st time I was ever at a screening preview where bigwigs were in roped off area. Movie was considerably longer than release version, too, with character scenes for agent 22, played by Andrea howard who looked a whole lot like Karol j. Bell, a girl I appreciated from afar in high school. We heard what I guess was a theatre owner afterwards who said to one tuxedo ‘I’m so glad we got to see this first instead of bidding blind for it.’
I really did like the desk car, tho the rest was pretty godawful. It had a lalo schifrin score that at times seemed to want to be in a better flick!
I remember when TNG was a show nobody wanted. I don’t think you guys know what you want.
Nooo! Lower Decks is some of the best that modern trek has to offer, it should continue!!
There’s something to be said for going out on top! Not surprised by the news, and not devastated. It’s enjoyed a good run.
Strange New Worlds is the strongest show they have. It is really good and I hope it gets better. I think Paramount is going to take the less is better approach and unfortuantely these cancellations are a by product of the strike. You go with your strongest most dominant player and thats SNW right now.
In this cluttered streaming landscape, it is hard to be in the top ten when it comes to streaming. For a Trek show to do that it says a lot. Sure, the show has its detractors but they are just being negative for clicks and views. Its what I always wanted from Trek. A modern reimanging of the original series. That’s it. I hope it endures.
SNW will end at 5 seasons. We should start hearing about its replacement next year.
Probably to be succeeded by Star Trek Those Old Scientists with Wesley, Peck and Gooding returning
Though I suspect you’re right that SNW will end after 5 also… I have hope that’s not the case. Why? I’ll explain.
First off, Discovery was never the hit that SNW is even if it was successful. SNW’s hit status made discovery kind of obsolete, as they both had the same audience.
As for Lower Decks, it’s a one note concept that just got tired. I’ve definitely enjoyed it at times but im frankly impressed that they got 5 seasons out of the premise.
So back to SNW — because it’s not facing the same challenges as DSC and LDS, and is a bonafide streaming hit, I can envision a scenario where they continue it past five seasons.
That said, they could just as easily end it and launch an immediate sequel to it with Wesley’s Kirk in command and a lot of the same cast (Spock, Uhura, obviously, but also could keep Ortegas and La’An for a few seasons, mainly ditching Pike, Number One, etc.
If Disco wasn’t a hit, Star Trek wouldn’t exist as it is right now. It probably wouldn’t exist at all if Discovery wasn’t a hit.
I wouldn’t base my opinions on the hivemind of a small minority of a few crusty old fans.
“If Disco wasn’t a hit, Star Trek wouldn’t exist as it is right now. It probably wouldn’t exist at all if Discovery wasn’t a hit.”
That’s not true. Discovery didn’t pave the way for anything. These shows would still exist without Discovery. Discovery wasn’t the only idea in the heads of the writers. These writers act like Discovery was the first Star Trek show and nothing came before. They think they created the STU. They seem to be re-writing history. Discovery isn’t even Alex’s creation, but he takes credit for it.
The group think lies are strong in you. Don’t get offended because I stopped reading after the first sentence.
Pretty much this. I remember the huge fanfare that Patrick Stewart got when he walked out on that convention stage to announce he was coming back as Picard.
That had zip to do with how people felt about Discovery good or bad. I actually argue people were more excited over it than Discovery for a lithany of reasons.
In other words if Picard was the first show it probably would’ve been a much bigger hit and with more fanfare than Discovery ever was. Discovery simply came first. This idea it paved the way for more shows when fans were desperate to have more Star Trek around (and many wanted a post Nemesis show as well) is a misnomer.
I never said disco wasn’t a hit. It was. I said that it wasn’t the hit that SNW was and by all analytics we’ve seen, that’s a factual statement, not an opinion.
Please work in your reading comprehension.
This has less to do with the strike and more to do with the series having run its course.
If Section 31 is a success, I hope there will be streaming movies focusing on other aspects of the Star Trek universe.
I’m not surprised by LDS ending and been saying for months fifth season is most likely its last but it still hurts!
I have become completely enamored with this show and was hoping it could live on to do at least seven seasons…and a movie! But that’s life.
And I think most people assumed the show probably wouldn’t have made it past season 2 when that first trailer hit lol
I can’t wait for the final season now!
And congrats to SNW although that wasn’t remotely a surprise either. But now that means this will be the only Trek show running in 2025 unless they get SFA on the air sooner. Yeah that’s a bit depressing.
If my own kid is any indication, Lower Decks did succeed in attracting new viewers and a younger audience. Her introduction to Star Trek was Lower Decks, then she got hooked on SNW and started watching TOS and the films so we’re talking middle school through high school.
She’s going to be bummed when she finds out Lower Decks has been cancelled.
Wow so happy to hear your daughter became a fan due to this show!
Yeah I do think the show has captured new audiences, the question is how much? We’ll probably never know but of course it will still bring in new people as it ages and others find it like a lot of the classic shows did.
Lower Decks exceeded all my expectations! I would have wanted to see six seasons just to get a full set of Original Movie homage posters ;-)
Hopefully, it’s not the last we see of these characters or format.
Wow I forgot about the poster thing. Yeah you’re right sadly.
And I think we’ll see the characters again. And TOS proved they can work as live action characters as well.
I’m sad. Lower Decks should get at least seven seasons (and a movie). It’s real Star Trek.
Hope we’ll see The Mistress of the Winter Constellations pirating a lot (pun intended) in S5!
\\\//
I know the LD news is going to bum a lot of folks out. I’m sorry to see it go too, though not my favorite I was hoping it would go longer. Maybe not The Simpsons or Family Guy longer, but longer. Perhaps they’ll get the opportunity to do a film (?).
As for SNW, good news but I hope the writing shapes up a bit. I found S2 to be kind of disappointing compared to S1, especially with regard to the way Pike and Spock have been written. And please, no Muppets. :)
LLAP.
Pretty much sums up my feeling about both shows at this point.
Regarding Muppets, I think that one is actually going to be happening. It hurts at the thought of it
The musical was tough enough. These are the episodes that make me fall out with SNW.
The thing that helps is that I don’t see it as canon. SNW does good stuff but it’s focusing on the aspects that make me cringe and the stories feel uninspired and sometimes doing stuff I feel was done better before.
Musical and Muppets make it seem the writers want to do Buffy rather than Trek.
Cool that SNW has been renewed.
I do find the show to be the weakest of the modern shows though while the cast is great (La’an is my favorite character on the show). I feel the writing/stories in S1/S2 weren’t great and there is huge room for improvement so hopefully S3/S4 will be better.
I’m not surprised that Lower Decks is ending after 5 seasons as with Discovery 5 seasons seems to be the max a modern Trek show will last and i expect SNW to end after it’s 5th season too.
I enjoyed Lower Decks but the last season i felt the quality in humor dropped compared to previous seasons. Still i hope they end the show with a proper ending and hopefully we will see these characters again in the future.
Wow, I know opinions can differ widely and all, but the weakest of the modern shows? Weaker than PIC (with seasons 1 and 2) or Discovery which has limped to a finale season? I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.
Actually i enjoyed Picard S1 while i didn’t enjoy S2 as much and i felt it was the weakest of the 3 seasons. For S3 i really disliked the story-line and it had so many plot hole’s the entire season felt like it was being held together with string.
The only saving grace for PIC S3 was the TNG cast and seeing the Enterprise D again.
As for SNW i enjoy the show but the show to me feels like the writers don’t know what they want the it to be and keep aiming for a certain level of story quality that the writers fails to reach imo.
Hmm, for me the whole “reaching for quality and failing” is the definition of PIC (S1 and 2) and DIS. They try so hard with their interwoven plots and prestige-ish character arcs, but neither show can write a coherent season arc with reliable pacing. And their attempts at sci-fi storylines fail in almost all instances (there are some singular moments). PIC S3 was a huge improvement despite its own shortcomings. But SNW, even with it’s occasional poorer episodes, is entertaining and has actual stories.
I’m also not much for SNW. I just find it bland and soulless. Season 2 was all over the place quality-wise (imo). For every great episode (Ad Astra Per Aspera, Those Old Scientists) there were some real howlers (The Broken Circle, Under The Cloak of War, Hegemony) and the rest were… meh.
I’m not a big fan either. I haven’t even seen the second season yet.
It’s good to have on in the background, but if I sit down and try to actively watch it, most of the time my attention starts to drift.
It doesn’t stay with you, in the way the previous shows do
I think of SNW as a big Mac, compared to TOS and Berman era which is like a juicy medium Steak by comparison.
A big mac is tasty and enjoyable but leave you feel not too totally filled. A great steak stays with, a big Mac is what you expect and not as memorable.
Whereas the quality of previous shows is like watching good theatre and great stories, something I miss today. So much is given to the scale and the effects that good story telling seems to elude much of the Kurtzman era.
It surprises me how high some people put SNW. It’s enjoyable but it’s doing things that I feel where done better in previous shows
The dialogue is cringey at times. The episodes that seems to be something different seem out of place in Trek, ahem the musical episode. I am also not a fan of what they are doing with Spock and Chapel.
I think it’s frustrating that Spock has the humans teaching him, and making a fool out of him at times.
Pike sometimes seems too soft, abd I think this can make seem ineffective as a captain, this seems like a symptom of the current Hollywood trend.
Having the different shows spaced out so much would be easier to wait for if they made traditionally sized seasons.
Thankfully that tradition isn’t coming back.
I agree that short mini-seasons suck.
The money isn’t there. They budget enough cash for 20 episodes of live action Star Trek and split it between two seasons.
Yeah I don’t think people realize A. How much these shows truly cost so probably getting 10 episodes is a godsend and B. They just don’t have the level of ROI the older shows did because streaming just doesn’t have the same factors and a big reason the Hollywood strikes happened in the first place.
I’m surprised they aren’t making less episodes per season.
I am thinking now that LDS is cancelled they should make the new season of SNW at least 13 episodes.
The only way we would get 20 episodes a season is if it came back to network TV, and it isn’t. There are not enough viewers. The other issue is that is takes 2+ times as long for one episode now than the pre-2000 Trek shows. These actors will never agree to 40+ workweeks a year. Mount was specific about that, I would expect that we would have been getting 12 to 15 shows a year if he wasn’t limiting his time.
All of this!
Glad to hear about SNW, but sad to hear about Lower Decks. That was my 2nd favorite modern Trek (after Prodigy). I do think streaming movies would be a good way to continue their adventures, even if the series itself is ending.
Also, hopefully it won’t be too long before we hear about more animated projects. This and Prodigy showed how well it can fit Star Trek, and there’s still plenty of potential in that regard.
Nooo. Lower Decks is a total success. Can’t believe 5 is the limit in these days.
Gutted.
A massive shame about Lower Decks. It had people that genuinely cared about the franchise. With great stories/arcs, fun characters and respect for both visual/narrative canon. Why can’t we allow shows to go on for 7 seasons like the good ol’ days?
I only hope they (Paramount… Skydance?) are saving pennies for a new live action 25th century TV show aka the present within the timeline.
No more bloody prequels and please, do keep the creatives from Lower Decks like Mike McMahan involved in some capacity with new Trek. They get it, like Team Matalas. That is, if you like both success and profit.
What is certain, we are heading into interesting, be it, uncertain times. Steady as she goes.
Matalas and McMahan “get it” because they rely on nostalgia.
Relying on nostalgia because they don’t have an original thought in their head isn’t a good thing.
Just shows you haven’t watched them then.
Respecting visual/narrative canon isn’t relying on “nostalgia”. The story arcs have been far better in a cartoon then the big budget live action Treks of PIC S1&2, DIS etc. Maybe you Kurtzman/Goldsman apologists can get that through your blinkered heads sometime?
She just has a very narrow perspective on how the franchise should be run, with callbacks/references/nostalgia being her pet issue to rail against. It’s obtuse gatekeeping, but she’s not an apologist.
i love all trek but It’s funny how they keep saying everything is great and they love trek too, but they’ve canceled four of five shows in the last two years.
i believe what i see not what they say.
maybe 5 is the new 7
hulu should pick it up. they’ve been ramping up their animation slate and would go well with futurama and solar opposites
Four shows? PIC wasn’t cancelled, it was always slated for three seasons.
I think the modern era of Trek is definitely a victim of bad timing as far as production goes. First a pandemic, then two strikes. If it weren’t for those occurrences, I’d wager both DSC and LDS would be ending with a sixth season.
Of course there might be a bit more money for Trek in the budget if Paramount+ hadn’t pulled the international streaming rights for DSC away from Netflix.
The only show they have canceled was Prodigy. All the other shows have ended. Shows end. They don’t last forever.
Disco was axed after Season 5 finished production. It was never slated to be the final season until P+ pulled the plug.
I feel sorry for you.
Yep. Those are the facts. The show runner said it many times in interviews and they were even starting to prep for a season 6 before they got word it was cancelled.
And it remains to be seen if Prodigy has been cancelled. Netflix may decide to revive it. For that matter, they might get the option to revive Lower Decks.
Pipe dream. Why would Netflix spend money on a property they don’t own? It would be cheaper for Netflix to make their own sci-fi cartoons.
Even 7 isn’t the new 7 these days. 7 seasons used to mean 175+/- episodes. Now it means 70.
Or 56 with all these 8 episodes series! It’s pathetic.
RIP Lower Decks :(
Cheer up
Yay Strange New Worlds? :)
Seems like a missed opportunity to not continue a well-liked and relatively less-expensive show (based on general reports) at a time when SNW is going to be the only new content (once DIS wraps up) until Academy in maybe 2026.
It’s starting to look like Playmates Toys isn’t alone. Paramount appears to also be stricken with premature en-cancellation!
Really bummed about lower decks
💃🪦🕺 RIP Lower Decks
It’s weird to celebrate the cancellation of a show.
Everything dies.
So? It’s still bizarre to post emojis of dancing on someone’s grave.
Embrace the bizarre.
Nah, I don’t like condoning jerkish behavior. Use your time here wisely, all this gleeful ankle-biting you’re engaged in won’t last forever.
“Speak for yourself sir, I plan to live forever.”
– William T. Riker
🕺💃
The show isn’t being canceled. It’s ending.
You don’t understand the distinction, which is fine. Not my place to educate you.
You’re just salty.
Sorry to see Lower Decks go. It’s likely a safe bet that SNW’s is done at five seasons, too. After 2026, it looks like all we’ll have is the Academy show.
Well, for all you guys who did nothing but bitch about streaming Trek, congratulations. It’s about over.
I would be surprised if SNW is cancelled after five seasons like Discovery and Lower Decks. Strange New Worlds has been very popular, arguably the most popular new Star Trek since Enterprise. I think SNW will continue beyond a fifth season but that depends on how good and well received seasons 3 and 4 will be.
If the powers that be actually went with Trek that was liked/well-received, we would get 7 seasons of SNW, LDS, and Legacy, and maybe even more Prodigy. But instead we get very questionable S31 movie, Academy set in the probably least-liked and least-developed time frame, a casting-off Prodigy, and the cancellation/ending of all but 1 Trek show.
I shudder to think what new “surprises” Kurtzman has in store for us loyal fans. I hope it’s not another “Valentine to the fans”.
The economics of streaming make older original shows less valuable as there’s no syndication windfall for them after they hit a certain number of episodes and exclusivity precludes selling popular shows to rivals anyway. The value of a new show that will get more press and potentially new viewers is just higher than that of a 4+ year old series which has higher production costs looming the longer it goes on.
The calculus is that existing people who decry a cancellation still probably won’t unsubscribe because something new will be on to distract them.
That makes no sense. That’s the mindset NBC had when they wanted Seinfeld to continue pass its prime for more profit.
I would rather rewatch These Are the Voyages over some of those ‘surprises’
Hell “Threshold” doesn’t seem so bad now, lol.
I am thinking that after season 5 of SNW I think they are gonna segue into a new TOS series.
I doubt it. What would be the point?
Because Paramount seems to be angling for a reboot? There are a lot of indicators that’s where they’re heading.
If they wanted a reboot then they would have made a reboot. Some would say SNW is already a reboot of TOS. I don’t even consider 60’s TOS to be canon anymore. They won’t want to step on the toes of the movie franchise and will leave future TOS based movies to the big screen. SNW is the closest they will get to TOS on the small screen.
I guess it’s always possible for Lower Decks Characters to show up in Star Trek Legacy if it ever gets a green light.
That would be great. I truly do love Lower Decks (and I was not a fan of the idea at all until it actually came out.)
Definitely a good-news/bad-news situation here. I’ll miss Lower Decks and hold out hope that they do a movie every few years for the next several decades.
While I’m happy to get Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3 and Star Trek Lower Decks Season 5… IM OUTRAGED THAT IT WILL BE THE FINAL SEASON!
This along with Paramount not approving Legacy and shutting down the game Star Trek Infinite. I HATE Paramount and everything it stands for. One day Star Trek will be without copyright and I can’t wait for that day cause what Paramount is doing is evil and their evil for doing it
what do you mean re: shutting down Star Trek Infinite?
edit: oh…https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/star-trek-infinite-dev-log-13-what-you-leave-behind.1629503/
It’s been a couple months since I last played so I’m not surprised that I missed this.
Will stick w/ Stellaris I guess.
Was hopefully that Infinite would serve as a decent digital version of Star Trek Ascendency board game. Alas it wasn’t that either
I don’t think that’s on Paramount. Paradox has had bomb after bomb lately, and relatively few successes. My guess is that ST: Infinite just didn’t make enough money for them to bother fixing all the launch bugs, let alone continue support.
Episodes of the original series of Star Trek won’t enter the public domain until after 2060, and even then only the elements from those episodes will be in the public domain it will be even longer before episodes and elements of TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and especially Picard season 3 go into the public domain.
Settle down Beavis.
So just a little overly dramatic, then…
Well, you ARE on a Star Trek message board, after all… :P
True, true.
I have no idea why Paramount+ would not make Lower Decks “The Simpsons” of the Star Trek universe. It literally could run forever. Is it an expensive show to produce? Are the cast salaries getting out of hand? My guess is no to both…
Ask for the show itself, it is definitely drifted from its original shock comedy roots to being something more like a comedic drama, with actual stakes that we actually care about; not at all a path I would have predicted, having been a little put off by the first season. But it quickly become one of my favorite modern Trek shows. And I will be very sorry to see it go.
Strange New Worlds is indeed the best Star Trek series since Star Trek: Enterprise was wrongly cancelled in 2005. Although, Strange New Worlds has a lot room for growth to be even better and a truly great Star Trek series. Overall, I thought Season One of SNW was better than the second. My problem with Lower Decks is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. It feels more like a show about Star Trek then an actual Star Trek show, almost like Big Bang Theory except animated and taking place within the Star Trek world and all the characters are Trekkies. Also, personally I cannot take the profanity in the show hence why I stopped watching it.
https://chng.it/LnHkyCWTSM
Save lower decks petition.
Why can’t we just appreciate five solid seasons and move on? Do we really want it to die a lingering death like other Treks out there?
I signed a change.org petition once, never again. It doesn’t accomplish anything and guarantees your burner email will get flooded with spam.
The fifth season is already written; does this mean the season finale will remain as is(unlike with Disco where they let them go back and film a series ending)
I struggle to think of many animated series which had finales with real closure in their original runs when their endings weren’t explicitly planned. Some shows like Futurama had ones that served that function, probably because they had an inkling they might not be renewed, but usually it’s just not enough warning to do it. McMahan hopefully built in a potential ending.
While I don’t begrudge SNW its success, I’m overall much more disheartened and disappointed (if not exactly surprised) by this news than I am glad. Lower Decks is one of my two favorites of the current Star Trek shows (with Prodigy being the other), and if I personally could save only one of the two shows in this announcement, it’d be Lower Decks rather than SNW.
Coming less than a year after Paramount+ not only canceled but completely dumped Prodigy and isolated it from the rest of the franchise, and not so many months after “commemorating” the original animated Star Trek with a series of very short shorts that had two decent segments after three truly wretched misfires, this announcement feels like the finishing touch on a decidedly-less-than-great 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek animation. At least it can’t get much worse…
I’m fine with season five of Lower Decks being its final one, to be honest. The series remains my #2 current Star Trek show between Prodigy and Strange New Worlds. What an adventure! Yet, I’m ready for another new Star Trek show: one under the stewardship of anyone who understands Star Trek and being the first since the original animated series to air on NBC and the next CBS Studios production for NBC.
Lower Decks is my go-to feel good content. I’ve just started a rewatch from S01E01 onwards a few weeks ago. I love these characters and their crazy adventures.
My hope is that Mike McMahan gets to do another project, like an animated “Star Trek: Admirals” so we finally learn why Starfleet has so many Badmirals :) Or whatever else he wants to do.
Of all the new shows, Lower Decks is the only one that I easily rewatch.
Same. It’s the show I can just throw on any episode and just smile for 25 minutes. It really is a joy to watch.
And I’m sure McMahan will do more Star Trek in the future.
The most anticipated episode of Strange New Worlds was the crossover with Lower Decks. So they cancel it. Highly illogical.
5 seasons is a long time for most streaming series. But I will miss Lower Decks – fiercely original, funny, and clever, with real heart and memorable characters.
SNW renewal is great, but I’m gutted Lower Decks is ending, even if the writing was on the wall based on McMahan’s comments of late. LD is my favorite Trek show since DS9 and is in my top 5 all-time.
A renewal and a farewell, but all-in-all I’m pleased by the news. We’ve had a good run with Lower Decks and the journey continues for SNW. I appreciate the clarity on where Star Trek will be over the next 2 years. Obviously Star Trek is resizing its slate, and I’d say we have enough new things in the pipeline to keep us interested. I am sad that we are leaving all of the 24th/25th century shows behind us, but I feel satiated by what we got with Picard and Lower Decks. And if there is anything season 5 of Discovery has taught me is that we can still tell TNG-era stories deep into the future.
If economics is behind Paramount cutting back on Trek series, then I’m a little surprised that they’re ending LD after 5 seasons. My understanding was that animated shows are a lot less expense to produce than the live action series, with their effects; more bang for the buck.
prices increase each season. paramount + is dwindling. they arent even able to give an acceptable stream quality in th egerman market relying on technology of some tv stations streaming service.
so they are in several senses of the word cheap.
or they could be saving towards something, enterprise season 5? the picard movie, some sort of legacy tv show? i guess unlikely.but not impossible. im looking forward to be surprised in any way. big movie origin story? Enterprise!
Yay for SWN!
Aww man for LWD…
Very happy SNW renewed for a 4th season. Hopeful that they get word on a 5th season while filming season 4, so IF season 4 is it, we get a good finale.
Sad to hear that Lower Decks is ending with Season 5; I LOVE Lower Decks and it has so much HEART and it is, for me, joyous. But we get five seasons and that’s pretty cool!
Mariner: LOWER DECKS! LOWER DECKS!
What a travesty! Lower Decks can’t be that expensive to produce. It should be running for many more years. Shame on Paramount+. I’ll certainly be giving them less of my $ when my current annual subscription runs out.
VERY glad to hear that Strange New Worlds will be continuing!
I’m not surprised that Lower Decks is ending, since Mariner resolved a big part of what made her such a rebel at the end of last season. I hope we’ll get some closure for the other three main characters this season.
Same. I love Lower Decks, but Mariner’s rebel arc is mostly resolved. I would love to see big adventures and everyone moving on to new assignments.
Lasted as long as DSC.
WHOO HOO!!
With Discovery ending, and SNW having another season, I wonder if Paramount is looking at a transition year for SNW, and have a season 1 of Legacy overlap with a 4th (or 5th) season.
*Just being an overtly optimist here. :-)
Lower Decks has been decent. Not great, not bad, just a decent show.
The Boimler & Mariner live-action crossover to Strange New Worlds though, that was impeccable and hilarious.
Once LD and Prodigy finish, I’m out. It’s the only two Star Trek shows left I get excited about.
Its a shame about Lower Decks. LD and Picard S3 were the only decent Trek shows. Everything else has been mediocre or downright garbage. I shudder to think what “surprises” Kurtzman is going to bless us with.
“I shudder to think what “surprises” Kurtzman is going to bless us with.”
As do I.
We wouldn’t have any of the shows which followed Discovery, without Alex Kurtzman. Dude gets shit done.
We would have better shows, helmed by competent people.
+ 1. This ^
Totally agree
Nobody cares about Starfleet Academy. Legacy needs to get green lit asap!
I care. I can’t wait to watch.
Like A34, I also care about Starfleet Academy.
Also, your “logic” might have applied to a Star Trek limited to a space station (limiting the actual trekking it could do), and an adult animated comedy, and yet both DS9 and Lower Decks are both well liked among the fandom. Likewise, I would never have guessed Prodigy would be as good and loved by as many people as it is (myself included). Just goes to show you shouldn’t presume anything until you actually see it.
Excellent final point. When Lower Decks was first announced I was pretty negative about the whole concept. Season after season it has surprised me and I’m bummed it’s ending. After falling in love with that show, and then Prodigy, all I can say is bring on Academy. There’s so much potential.
I’m sure many people said that “No one cares about DS9” and that “No one asked for DS9” when it was announced.
Your opinion is meaningless.
The difference is that (1) in 1992, the producers had a track record of success with TNG, not one if mediocrity, and (2) there were “only” two shows produced at once, which is somewhat more manageable than what we have today. Even back then, I think there’s evidence that they bit off a bit more than they could chew.
When TNG was first announced the first reaction by fans was to protest. I’m sure many of them said TNG was a show no one wanted also.
No need to be so negative about something that’s not even aired yet, or to speak for the masses. Ratings metrics and revenue will speak for them well enough in due course.
I care, and one season of pandering fan service was plenty. I’ve no idea what “Legacy” would look like, outside of a deep dive into Starfleet nepotism….
Yep, I don’t care about Academy at all. I don’t worry about growing the Trek audience because its being going for 60 years now without a show for teens, so I don’t buy the argument Academy will grow the audience. In fact, I think it will be Trek’s first major bomb.
It’s going to be like Discovery but even worse aka a teen show with Tilly. I can hear the cringe dialogue already.
Q help us.
As far as SNW is concerned: YAY!!!!!!!!!!
As far as LDS is concerned: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the one hand it is sad to see Lower Decks ending but on the other hand I can kind of see the logic in it as crew members can’t forever stay as lower deckers. I think they could still continue the adventures through animated movies or maybe some of the characters can still appear in live action shows down the line. Mariner could be a holographic assistant or teacher in the Academy show for example since Tawny Newsome is already a writer on the show. For SNW I can see it continuing until season 5 and after that maybe segue into a TOS show. They should also make the new season of SNW have at least 13 episodes now.
I would love for SNW to have thirteen episodes per season going forward. IIRC though, the news that DSC was dropping its episode count to ten coincided with the news that Paramount was taking international distribution rights for DSC back from Netflix. I think the thirteen (sometimes more) episode count had something to do with the Paramount/Netflix agreement.
F-word
I Like lds a lot
Lower Decks has so much potential. It’s sad that half of its run so far is just nostalgia p0rn. Hopefully S5 will cut back on the nostalgia and tell stories on its own terms. But what am I saying, McMahan will probably drive the nostalgia to a million. Expect a series a finale to rip off All Good Things and the last shot to be a poker scene.
LOL so true.
Strip poker, though. Calling it now.
So the only good news is that we will have at least two more seasons of SNW. We will need a new show in TNG era soon, because the 32nd century it’s more about magic tech and feelings than Star Trek, I have no anticipations for Academy.
Psst… Star Trek has always been about magic tech.
Basically, you just want nostalgia. That’s what CBS Trek has trained fans to look for and want.
Nope, there is Science Fiction tech and there is Magic tech
But Star Trek has always had both. In TOS they went to a planet where any thoughts they had became real in Shore Leave. They tried to ‘science’ it away saying something about all these people and objects being built underground etc but it’s utterly ridiculous of course. They essentially had the power of a Q with also the ability to mind read the way things could be conjured up. That’s magical tech on a profound level and it happened many times over on TOS and the other shows.
That’s why every time I would hear this ridiculous argument that people didn’t want Star Trek to go past the TOS era because they wanted to keep it more ‘grounded’ I would think what show are they watching???
It certainly wasn’t Star Trek lol because there was very little about it that was ‘grounded’.
And then we get stuff like the Kelvin movies and Discovery that made that abundantly clear.
Agreed – 25th Century should be the main focus as that is the present within the timeline IMO.
Yep I consider 25th century is present day Star Trek as well.
Definitely not just the golden age of a new Trek episode every week of the whole year is far gone, but also the time of “super-charging the Trek audience” after that has ended before it even started.