‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Had An Important Mission: Making the Galaxy Safe for Comedy

Nearly 70 years since the original series debuted, Star Trek remains one of the most durable franchises in pop culture, encompassing movies, books, comics, video games — and, of course, multiple TV spin-offs. Lately, Paramount+ has made it possible for Trek creators to try things out across timelines and phases. Bring back Picard for his own show? Why not? Reimagine a Starfleet captain as a parallel-universe villain, and cast Michelle Yeoh? Sure! Make a starship the backdrop for an animated workplace sitcom that honors Trek canon without being totally humorless about it? YES.

Star Trek: Lower Decks, which premiered in August 2020, has a delightfully simple premise: The bridge crew of Starfleet’s USS Cerritos couldn’t get through their various medium-stakes adventures (they’re usually on “second contact” missions) if not for the unsung work of their dedicated ensigns; they’re known as “lower deckers” for the location of their quarters. In co-lead roles are Beckett Mariner (voice of Tawny Newsome), a lightly insubordinate mischief-maker, and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), an uptight grade-grubbing type determined to work his way up to captain. They’re joined by D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), whose choice to enter Starfleet represents a rejection of her Orion background generally, and her family’s pursuit of galactic piracy in particular; and Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), a human engineer with a cybernetic eye implant. Vulcan T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) gets a larger role later in the series run, as a science officer with whom Tendi sometimes has competitive conflict. The ship’s captain, first officer, chief medical officer and head of security are around — particularly Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Mariner’s mother — but their calm competence aren’t what the show is about.

What the show is about: the impetuousness of youth — or, as much youthful impetuousness as is possible within Starfleet. Though Mariner is the kind of ensign who actively looks for opportunities to stray from official procedure (frequently getting caught doing so and ordered to the brig… by her mom), and the kind who only bothers with underwear on special occasions, she has true reverence for Starfleet and its mission. 

Mariner’s attitude is a microcosm of the show’s: You can’t goof on something if you don’t know and love it deeply. Lower Decks does display deep-cut knowledge of the franchise, but — like DC’s adult animated shows — such gags are fun Easter eggs for those in the know, not load-bearing jokes essential for understanding the plot. For example, yes, an episode featuring a visit from Voyager’s Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) has Mariner asking if he’s “still a salamander”; it would be weird if it didn’t. But the script just makes the reference and moves on with all-new insanity. If you want more of the backstory, that’s what nerdy podcasts are for. Lower Decks probably isn’t going to be very compelling for anyone who doesn’t have at least a working knowledge of the Star Trek universe, but this Trek dabbler can report that when a joke flies over your head, another one you will get is close behind. 

The larger Trek project is, as it’s always been, social commentary through futurist speculation. Other sci-fi franchises can have a pessimistic vibe. Everyone in Star Wars always has to be on guard against attacks from the Dark Side of the Force; Marvel assumes most superpowered individuals or entities want to take over (or destroy) the universe; crime in Gotham City seems like a problem so intractable that even a billionaire playboy’s vigilante alter ego can barely make a dent. Star Trek takes place in a post-scarcity economy. Many forms of injustice still exist, but obviating want and greed has eradicated some of them. And, as in all Trek media, Starfleet is a thrilling mosaic of sapient species getting along swimmingly — literally, in the case of the beluga whales who serve on the Cerritos on Lower Decks. (By the way, the cetacean navigators are one of many instances in which Lower Decks takes advantage of all the possibilities the medium of animation makes possible, whereas having seen them in live-action form when they’re mentioned in Star Trek: The Next Generation would probably not have been as effective.)

Lower Decks was a risk for Star Trek. While it has featured plenty of funny moments over the decades, using the franchise’s setting for a full-on comedy was new. But whereas this could have been a one-and-done experiment, another sitcom is coming. Tawny Newsome, the voice of Mariner, is developing a sitcom with Justin Simien (Dear White People), set at a resort planet where staffers find out their exploits are being broadcast through the galactic quadrant. Vanderpump Rules, but make it space, and also intentionally funny? That all sounds like exactly what this franchise should be doing to stay relevant and fresh. Without the Lower Decks proof of concept, it probably never could have happened. 

Thank you to the crew of the Cerritos for making this second contact into comedy possible.