Everything we know about the new ‘Star Trek’ animated comedy from the head writer of ‘Rick and Morty’
If even you're not a Trekkie, this looks cool
If you’ve watched and re-watched every episode of Rick and Morty at least a dozen times and are now looking for some other source of filthy, space-age hijinks then you’re in luck: a new comedy series, Star Trek: Lower Deck, from the head writer of Rick and Morty has just been announced.
CBS All Access has given a two-season commitment to the show, an animated comedy from Emmy Award-winner Mike McMahan.
“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,” executive producer Alex Kurtzman said. “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.”
“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,” executive producer Mike McMahan said. “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.”
Trek fans might recall that in 2011 McMahan launched a Twitter account where he posted episode plots to a fake season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Simon & Schuster subsequently 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.
Beyond his Trek credentials, McMahan recently served as head writer and executive producer on Adult Swim’s hit animated series, Rick and Morty, and co-created Hulu’s animated alien family show, Solar Opposites.
No UK broadcaster has been announced yet but other CBS All Access shows such as The Good Fight and Star Trek: Discovery have aired on More4, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix over here so there will almost definitely be a British home for the series.
According to /Film, Star Trek: Lower Deck will be an intentionally funny approach to the franchise, unlike the original Star Trek animated series that ran for 22 episodes between 1973 and 1974, which featured the voice of the original cast.
(Image: Getty / Sunset Boulevard)
