Tony and Laurie are joined by the Shuttle Pod‘s Matt Wright this week. They kick off with the latest news including a wrestler added to the cast of Starfleet Academy, more details about the Section 31 movie, and the addition of The Wrath of Khan to the National Film Registry. The trio then digs into their review of the Lower Decks series finale, “The New Next Generation,” and say a sad farewell to the show. Everyone loved the finale , had very few nits to pick, and celebrated all the great moments that tied together the final season and the series as a whole. They wrap up with a look at TNG’s Tamarian language, the history of the Klingon Bird of Prey, and a special about Christmas movies featuring Star Trek celebs.
That’s the end of Lower Decks?
Paramount doesn’t know how to handle the wonderful IP they own…
That’s tough. It can’t go forever.
I hope they take the things people loved about it and do more.
The stuff coming out in the pipeline just seems kinda… well, Strange New Worlds was pretty good, I’m looking forward to more of that.
It could have gone on for longer though. They had more plans. The finale shows they had tons of options.
I loved Lower Decks, and I hope somehow those stories continue. Did people who are new to Star Trek enjoy it, too?
As an aside, I think that was something that made Prodigy fantastic: it was a serialized program with episodic stories that didn’t require any understanding of Star Trek beforehand. The main characters weren’t part of the Federation, so the audience got to learn alongside them.
I had never watched startreck and i loved lower decks. I did know enough to get some of the basic references, but im sure some went over my head.
In all i think LD was a good starting point for me. I enjoyed the humor and how it didn’t take itself too seriously.
I’ve since tried another series (enterprise since it’s the first chronologically) and its fine though i do wish it was a bit more fun. I’m hoping I’ll enjoy some of the other iterations a bit more, and am looking forward to rewatching lower decks once I get back to where it’s at in the chronology.
Definitely don’t watch chronologically. Enterprise is the last show I would use to get anyone into Star Trek. Even the original animated series would probably be better lol
Lol okay that makes sense. Maybe I’ll try jumping around a little more instead of powering through enterprise. Any recs on which to start with?
Strange New Worlds, despite being a prequel, is a great place to start. Deep Space 9 is also really good for learning about Star Trek, and it’s probably the best written overall. You could also watch a Best of the Next Generation marathon. I’d recommend that over watching the whole thing, because TNG really shows it’s age sometimes.
The most important thing to remember is that most Star Trek shows take a little while to get off the ground. They usually find their feet around season 3 (that’s when Riker grew his beard).
Okay cool, i appriciate the recs :) its kind of fun knowing there’s so much content to go through & such a huge base of fans
I started watching Enterprise recently feeling the same way you do, and it’s honestly not that bad. The way they talk to each other and the overall vibe is VERY Next Gen, and it’s interesting how they’re 100ish years in the future while TOS is 200 years in the future, so their technology and even uniforms look almost exactly halfway between our tech and stuff and what we see in “traditional” Trek. The theme song though is definitely whack
You misundstand me. I’m probably one of Enterprise’s biggest fans. It’s just not what I’d recommend for someone getting into Star Trek. It’s tone is different, and the roots of the franchise aren’t easy to see if you don’t know to look for them. I wouldn’t recommend Discovery as a first show for the same reason. Strange New Worlds though is an excellent option.
I’ve actually personally been getting a friend into Star Trek through Lower Decks and DS9. Once she was hooked, telling her there was a Lower Decks crossover in SNW got her onboard there as well. Now we’re kind of watching everything simultaneously lol
You might like The Orville, too.
I did really like it :) the first 2 seasons were great, & i thought the 3rd was a bit overly serious but still enjoyable.
Yay to season 4.
I met someone who actually got into TNG because of Lower Decks.
@cybervseas @TheAlbatross LD might be harder for new people because there are so many call backs to other series and storylines. This stuff delights us trekkies but might be as great for new folks. @allstartrek #allStarTrek
Except Moopsy. Everyone loves Moopsy.