Star Trek: Lower Decks is a flawed series that has survived this long by embracing decades-old characters, storylines, concepts, and just about every bit of nostalgia it could add to its Rick and Morty-style comedic adventures. The animated series is bowing out after five seasons without having made much of an impression on the larger Star Trek universe.
Lower Decks was a series that had its fans but was never a ratings hit for Paramount+. It was an expensive venture for a niche audience and had it been greenlit in 2023, it would have only had one season. Lower Decks survived because it came out at a time when streaming services and their banks were less interested in making money and more interested in expanding their libraries.
So Lower Decks got more and more seasons than it probably deserved, but as banks expected a return on their loans, we saw shows like Lower Decks have a shorter and shorter shelf life. It was a niche show for a niche audience, which further diminished its broad appeal by making it a very bloody and chaotic outing. It reveled in being closer to Rick and Morty than Star Trek: Prodigy, and that’s why its fanbase liked it so much.
Ultimately, though, it was a comedy built around a single Star Trek episode. The idea of the show, even the title of the show, came from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Lower Decks,” which focused on some of the younger, non-bridge crew members of the USS Enterprise-D. The concept of the episode was interesting, but as it aired over dozens of episodes, it lost some of its appeal.
The series knew that they couldn’t sustain their concept of focusing only on the “lower decks” crew by making the daughter of the series’ captains the main character. Most of the bridge crew were regular or recurring characters, which defeated the idea of a series about the lesser-known members of a starship.
That’s one reason the series didn’t last long. And it’s also why we should be worried about the new live-action comedy Star Trek is producing. According to co-series creator Justin Simien (via TV Line), the show’s concept borrows heavily from episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine in which “nothing happens.”
Since the series is about aliens working on a pleasure planet, the connection to Risa and the episodes surrounding it has been mentioned. Although it is not mentioned directly, it is believed that the series will use many episodes such as “Let He Who Is Without Sin…”, an episode in which the crew of Deep Space Nine takes some time to relax on the pleasure planet Risa.
It was a silly episode that holds a special place in the hearts of many Star Trek fans. Yet if we’ve learned anything from Lower Deck’s lack of appeal, it’s that this may be a doomed concept. Trying to build a Star Trek show around a concept and idea that is decidedly not Star Trek is a bad idea. Lower Decks only survived as long as it did because of the era it was created in.
Now return on investment will be a requirement. You will need to prove that you can either gain new subscribers or increase profits through hours watched. If you can’t do that, you won’t last long.
Given concerns about the decidedly atypical Star Trek concepts of recent weeks, it’s fair to wonder whether this new live-action comedy series will resemble Star Trek enough to retain its core audience, or whether it will be so different that it won’t appeal to diehard Trek fans.
If that’s the case, can the book appeal to a new type of fan? If Lower Decks is anything to go by, that probably won’t be the case.
