Redshirts, your time has come at last.
CBS All Access has announced a two-season order for Star Trek: Lower Decks, an upcoming half-hour adult animated comedy series that will "focus on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships."
The animated series is from Rick and Morty head writer and executive producer Mike McMahan. Star Trek: Lower Decks will be CBS All Access’ first original animated series and the first project to be produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions, a new animation arm of CBS Television Studios. Secret Hideout’s Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin and Roddenberry Entertainment’s Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth and Katie Krentz will serve as Executive Producers alongside McMahan. Aaron Baiers, who brought McMahan to the project, will serve as a Co-Executive Producer.
McMahan said, "As a life-long Trekkie, it’s a surreal and wonderful dream come true to be a part of this new era of Star Trek. While Star Trek: Lower Decks is a half-hour, animated show at its core, it’s undeniably Trek — and I promise not to add an episode at the very end that reveals the whole thing took place in a training program." McMahan's remark, as Trek fans probably know, was a sly reference to "These Are the Voyages...", the controversial 2005 final episode of the UPN series Star Trek: Enterprise.
Reportedly a longtime Star Trek fan, McMahan started a Twitter account in 2011 where he posted episode plots to a fake season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. They were such a hit that Simon & Schuster hired him to write a readers’ guide to a fictitious eighth season of TNG titled Star Trek: The Next Generation: Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season. McMahan has also written "The Escape Artist", an upcoming episode of Star Trek: Short Treks, the CBS All Access series of live-action Star Trek shorts.
Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman remarked, "Mike won our hearts with his first sentence --'I want to do a show about the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end.’ His cat’s name is Riker. His son’s name is Sagan. The man is committed. He’s brilliantly funny and knows every inch of every Trek episode, and that’s his secret sauce -- he writes with the pure, joyful heart of a true fan. As we broaden the world of Trek to fans of all ages, we’re so excited to include Mike’s extraordinary voice."
Star Trek: Lower Decks will be the first official Star Trek animated program since Star Trek: The Animated Series, which aired on NBC from 1973-74. The new series will be the fourth Star Trek series on CBS All Access, after Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, and the upcoming untitled Star Trek series featuring Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard.
