Out of all the announcements for future Star Trek shows, one of the most unusual and surprising was Lower Decks; the animated comedy series written by Rock & Morty’s Mike McMahon.
Between San Diego Comic Con and Star Trek Las Vegas, creator Mike McMahon used the stage to tell the world exactly what the show based aboard the California Class USS Cerritos would be about. “The speciality of the Cerritos is Second Contact, that is their gig.” He explained at STLV, “First Contact is super important, really dangerous. You don’t want to set off any wars, you don’t want to ruin any lives. Second contact, you are showing up to the planet, you are finding all the good places to eat, you setting up the communications stuff…”
Expanding more on the concept, McMahon added, “I wanted to explore how after first contact happens and you are starting to join the Federation and you already have warp capability…but, what is happening next? What is Starfleet doing to back up that offer of joining?”
Explaining his direction, McMahon mused about what he enjoyed most when watching Star Trek as a fan. “I was there for the B-stories. You know.” A revelation that was of no surprise to anyone who’s followed his TNG comedy twitter years ago, “Riker is trapped on a planet with his transporter clone, great, I love that. But, Data and Geordi are writing a play and getting into a fight about it? That is what I want.”
Assuring the approach they’re taking to stories, McMahon added that the core of the comedy was social and emotional tales in a sci fi setting, but the main focus would be the crew’s journey below decks. “Every Star Trek is about a family, and our show is also about a family. It is just not the same kind of family you have seen before.”
THE CREW
If anything could describe this era of Star Trek, it’s that the shows are putting ephasis outwith the captains chair. Discovery’s lead characters were a decommissioned mutineer and barely showed any department heads. Picard will be the first Star Trek series where no one in the cast is even a member of Starfleet.
For Lower Decks they’ll be taking the emphasis entirely off the bridge and fully thrown into the Lower Decks setting with a crew that sounds more Red Dwarf that traditional Star Trek protagonists.
The first introduced was Ensign Beckett Mariner; a tough, rule breaking officer who’s career has seen her rise and fall through the ranks numerous times. Tawny Newsome, who’ll voice the role, described her as a ‘weirdo rock and roll party queen; who just wants to have fun and relax. “She is very good at all things Starfleet.” Newsome explained, “She just doesn’t care.”
Joining Newsome in the cast is Jack Quaid, who stars alongside Trek’s Karl Urban in the Boys who’s taking on the role of Mariner’s opposite, Ensign Brad Boimler. “He is very booksmart but constantly getting in his own way. He gets very in his head.” Quaid said of his character, “I always say he 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.”
Third in the line up is Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. Rutherford is the engineer of the group with a fancy new cybernetic implant to help his work. Except he doesn’t quite know how to use it. “It’s like when you get a new phone and they got rid of the button.” Explained McMahon, who also made a point of Rutherford being a more down to earth engineer. Comparing him to LaForge of the Enterprise-D, McMahon said he was a good engineer, but “…he does not solve the problems by the end of every episode. Because he is learning and sometimes science is about learning stuff and making mistakes.”
Rounding up the main cast is Ensign Tendi. Tendi, who will be voiced by Noël Wells, will be the audience introduction to the Cerritos as a newly assigned rookie taking her first day in Starfleet. “She was a huge a Starfleet fan, even through Starfleet Academy. So being on the ship, every day just blows her mind.” Describing her like a Star Trek fan being on a starship, McMahon called her a ‘source of joy’, someone who can be on an uneventful mission or have a boring day where nothing cool happens and still just overjoyed to be within that world.
While the show will focus on the crew below decks, doing the dirty work no one else wants to, he did note that there was a senior staff who weren’t the focus of the show; but they act as if they are.
Leading the crew above decks are Captain Freeman voiced by Dawnn Lewis; a strong and capable leader, careful, thoughtful and bound by their ethics. The perfect Starfleet captain, just with a less than perfect mission. By her side is Lieutenant Shaxs voiced by Fred Tatasciore, a chisled Bajoran who’s solutions will include ejecting the warp core at any given opportunity; and Gillian Vigman as chief medical officer Dr T’Ana, a Caitian who McMahon described as a “great doctor, but a very bad cat.”
Bridging the gap between decks is the ships first officer, Commander Jack Ransom who McMahon described as “kind of like Riker if you gave him a little bit of speed and a little less shame.” Ransom will be played by veteran actor, and strangely husband of Discovery’s ‘Number One’ off screen, Jerry O’Connell.
“I don’t think professionally I have had as much fun as being in a recording session with Mike McMahan.” O’Connell said of working on the show, describing the improv he and Jack Quaid were able to do while recording, “Occasionally Jack and I get to record together which is so ridiculous. I don’t think we say most of the words that are on your fine script.”
“Who knows what you will use,” O’Connell continued as he addressed McMahon while moderating the Lower Decks panel at SDCC, “but the freedom to do that is as an actor and an improviser, that is such an amazing gift to be trusted with it.”
Star Trek Lower Decks began recording earlier this year with character art being revealed at San Diego Comic Con. Produced by CBS Eye Animations and Secret Hideout Productions, the show will make it’s debut on CBS All Access in the United States with no partner for international distribution announced as of yet. No launch date has been released, though Alex Kurtzman has estimated that the show should launch sometime in 2021 at the earlist.
This article was first published in SFCQ2 Comms ‘Across the Universe’ edition, released in September 2019 as part of the ‘Boldly Go’ section alongside updates & insight into Picard, Discovery and a whole lot more. Find out more about Comms or Enlist Today for access!
About the author
Beta Quarter Plans and Progress..
Since the 50th anniversary of SFC as a whole, we've been on a mission to revitalise and update several elements of Quadrant 2, working on improving services and experience fleet wide for all members. Following some background changes and a lot of work in the Alpha Quarter behind the scenes, we're moving into the next phase with some more visibility in whats coming next! Balancing life and fleet life is always a trial. All too often things can lapse or take time due to finding that right balance; especially as life now is a little more chaotic than it was ten years ago and the things we'd take in our stride tend to take a little bit longer now. That balance has been on my mind a lot in the past year, particularly in how Q2 has changed and grown […]
Who Is…. Montgomery Scott?
Starfleet engineers are known throughout the universe for their innovation and ability to fix absolutely anything. Whether it's connecting all the warp cores or turning rocks into replicators, the legend of the engineer all started with one man: Montgomery Scott. Born in the early 22nd century, Scott was raised in the years of Starfleet's mission that turned a small force into stuff of legend. With a passion for learning Scott was trained in a mix of obsessively learning everything he could to the point of reading technical manuals as a pass time, to hands on experience working on some of the finest and most complex systems in the fleet. Assigned as chief engineer of the Enterprise in the 2260's, Scott saw the prestigious ship as his own; engineering his complete domain where even the captain was merely a guest on […]
Comms/Comms Relay Revisions from Beta Quarter 2025 Onwards
Following our last released issue of Comms as a downloadable publication, we've been moving to an easier and more accessible format by using Q2's website for various articles and updates throughout the year which has included some carry over features from Comms itself. After some trial and error experimentation, our 2025 plan began with some tests through the first quarter and a new comms line up for the site ahead of any plans by our next Fleet Comms Officer. To mirror the old style, reduce workload and offer some variety to our regular posts, we've broken down the year of updates through our operating quarters and scheduled in a rotation of our regular features to keep the fleet updated, entertained with some positive Trek hijinks and more. The current quarter (Beta Quarter: April, May, June) is the first full use […]
[Q2&A] If I Could Get Serial For A Minute…
With a long history and many people coming to SFC over the decades, there can often be a lot of curiosity for members – both old and new – about various subjects. From questions about our base structure, how to get four pips, how Q2 and Q1 diverged many moons ago.... even questions on the curse of the Daring. Sometimes we have questions where the answers are as mundane as the question. One of the most common.... what is my serial number and why do I have it? Like any account number in the known universe – whether it's your broadband provider or local Blockbusters – your service ID is a unique membership number that helps us identify each member whether we're updating a record or assessing a Fleet Support application form. With our structure and organisational systems based on […]
[Retro Review] Latent Image; Voyager S5E11
Running through annual check-ups and playing around with a 24th century version of a digital camera, the Doctor spots some weird scars on Ensign Kim. Scars that could only have come from a surgical procedure he developed, but has no memory of ever performing. The surgery isn't the only gap in the Doctors memory. What else has he forgotten? And how...? No matter the show or the season, Star Trek loves diving into the lives of it's artificial characters. Data explored everything from his basic rights to the meaning of dreams as he developed to become more of a person. For the Doctor, things had always been a bit more complicated. He was a program developed for short term use. A piece of equipment built into sickbay that could be turned off and on at will. While Deep Space Nine's […]
A New Class: Academy Revisions For The Class of 2402
It's only April and the year has been one for us to take a step back and review our operations to do some much overdue maintenance on our overall performance and offerings. One of the major hurdles for the second quarter is one of the tougher parts of Q2: The Academy. Once upon a time the Academy was a core part of the experience in joining SFC. After singing up new members would pass through the Academy, completing a series of tests before becoming an ensign, joining their unit and becoming an active member of the club. Many people over the years enjoyed the more immersive and playful nature of being part of an organisation modelled after Starfleet. Some didn't. As years went by, the franchise itself evolved, opening it's door to new fans who'd want to reach out and […]
Related
The New Next Generation: Lower Decks S5E10 Review
Alerted to the universe destroying rift that's been isolated to their timeline, Boimler and Mariner lead the charge in convincing Captain Freeman of the threat. To their surprise, there's no argument from her as she trusts her 'best officers' and informs command who then deliver the bad news. There's no other ship in range. It's time for Cerritos to step out of their comfort zone and save the galaxy.
Fissure Quest: Lower Decks S5E09 Review
Side stepping the Lower Deckers for the episode, Fissure Quest instead focuses on Boimlers not-so-dead-transporter duplicate William. Following faking his death in season three, Billy Boims is now captain of Section 31 ship the Anaximander. While Cerritos has been sent to close the subspace fissures expoising them to alternate realities, the Anaximander has been sent into that multiverse to find out who's causing them.
Upper Decks: Lower Decks S5E08 Review
This is an odd episode that see's a lot going on, but also feels like nothing of note really happens. It's basically a day in the life of the command crew that makes the job seem more chaotic than the low level tasks of the Lower Deckers while making fun of the idea that only the important command crew have all the fun.
Lower Decks: The Final Season Begins…
Mariner, Boimler and the lower deck crew are back this October as the Second Contact specialists take on a new mission to investigate the mundane for the Cerritos' final flight!
Starfleet Academy Welcomes It’s First Class!
The first batch of cast announcements for Academy focused on veteran actors Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter, the latter in the role of the new Academy Commandant, but now we're getting a full look at the shows first class of cadets as the first five are ready to enlist!
Paul Giamatti joins Holly Hunter for Starfleet Academy!
Looking ahead to the next generation of Star Trek shows, Paramount and Secret Hideout have already began announcing new cast members to lead the Starfleet Academy series coming to the streaming platform in the near future. News of the show has already turned heads with notes that the new academy campus will be the largest seen on TV so far, being filmed in Pinewood';s largest stage in Canada, though in terms of what to fully expect from the young adult drama, things are largely being kept under Red Directive secrecy. However we now at least know who will be leading the new class ahead of the shows production...
