Red Alert, Trekkies! We interrupt our regularly scheduled Trek Tuesday for an assessment of the dire situation in which our beloved Star Trek: Lower Decks has found itself.
On Friday, Paramount announced that Lower Decks will be concluding with the upcoming season 5. However, a message from Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman posted to the official Star Trek website does leave some room for hope. Here are four ways that Lower Decks could continue.
Save Star Trek: Lower Decks
Did you know that Star Trek: The Original Series was originally to be canceled after season 2? As Leonard Nimoy wrote in I Am Spock, “The network wisdom held that Star Trek had attracted a ‘cult’ audience, intense and vociferous, but limited in number.” Sound familiar?
Fortunately, this is when Bjo Trimble and her husband, John Trimble, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign. The result? TOS was renewed for a third season. In fact, network executives received so many letters that the renewal of TOS was announced during an episode. This was an attempt to stymie the influx of letters from Trekkies.
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More fortunately still, we have the benefit of the wisdom of Trimble’s successful campaign. This is thanks to “BringBackKirk.com.” There, Bjo’s practical tips for saving Star Trek are all posted, along with the reasoning behind them.
In the best-case scenario, Paramount executives will reconsider the decision to cancel Lower Decks after season 5. And it is worth noting that TOS only received one additional season thanks to this campaign. However, another ten near-perfect episodes of Lower Decks would be worth quite a few executive offices filled with sincere and polite handwritten letters, don’t you think?
A Different Format
A related possibility for the continuation of Lower Decks could be executives greenlighting the next chapter of the show in a different format. This could be a “special event movie” that streams on Paramount+, the same format adopted for the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31.
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Another possibility here is a big-screen movie release. This is especially unlikely, given the additional costs associated with a theatrical movie and release. However, this is how TOS was revived in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Plus, the Lower Decks animation style could look quite breathtaking in a cinematic format.
Picked Up by Netflix (or Another Streaming Service)
This possibility was recently piloted by Star Trek: Prodigy. Initially, Prodigy was renewed for a second season. However, the first season was subsequently removed from Paramount+, and the second season was canceled.
Fortunately, Netflix stepped in to provide a new home for the series. Now, Prodigy season 1 is streaming on Netflix, and season 2 will debut on the platform later this year. On Friday, Prodigy writer and producer Aaron J. Waltke skeeted, “If animated Star Trek is something you love and want to support, watching Star Trek: Prodigy on Netflix is a great thing to do right now.”
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Watching Prodigy on the streamer will send a message to Netflix: we want more animated Star Trek. While there are no guarantees, if Prodigy is successful enough, Netflix might consider renewing Lower Decks to pair with Prodigy.
Star Trek has historically been an extremely popular Franchise on Netflix. Furthermore, the streamer features high-quality original adult animated shows like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and high-quality sci-fi shows like 3 Body Problem. Perhaps Lower Decks would fit in better with the Netflix brand, possibly for multiple seasons to come.
Lower Deckers Stick Together
Finally, it’s possible that all these efforts will come to naught, and Lower Decks will seemingly warp off into the sunset at the conclusion of season 5. But if this is the case, it’s important that we Lower Deckers do not give up hope.
My first animated sci-fi love was Futurama, which I began watching in early 2000, during season 2. In the intervening years, Futurama was canceled multiple times. But now, in the year 2024, I have 30 (or more) additional upcoming episodes to look forward to.
RELATED: Read all of our Star Trek: Lower Decks recaps here.
Even if the fate of Lower Decks seems set in stone, continued outspoken devotion to the series could bring it back from the Black Mountain. To quote the book of Futurama: “All the best shows get canceled. Sometimes, two or three times.” And make no mistake: Lower Decks is among the very best of shows.
Please, Paramount (or any other streaming service), save Star Trek: Lower Decks.
You can watch the first four seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount+ now, which, honestly, might be a good first step in helping the cause.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/star-trek-lower-decks-season-3-commentaries/
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