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Star Trek
r/startrek: The Next Generation
Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...
Maybe a little slash fic.
New to Star Trek and wondering where to start?
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
2 Be welcoming
It is important that everyone from newbies to OG Trekkers feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
3 Be truthful
All posts/comments must be factually accurate and verifiable. We are not a place for gossip, rumors, or manipulative or misleading content.
4 Be nice
If a polite way cannot be found to phrase what it is you want to say, don't say anything at all. Insulting or disparaging remarks about any human being are expressly not allowed.
5 Spoilers
Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episodes, as well as previews for upcoming episodes. There is no formal spoiler protection for episodes/films after they have been available for approximately one week.
6 Keep on-topic
All submissions must be directly about the Star Trek franchise (the shows, movies, books etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/quarks.
7 Meta
Questions and concerns about moderator actions should be brought forward via DM.
Upcoming Episodes
Date | Episode | Title |
---|---|---|
11-07 | LD 5x04 | "A Farewell to Farms" |
11-14 | LD 5x05 | "Starbase 80?!" |
11-21 | LD 5x06 | "Of Gods and Angels" |
11-28 | LD 5x07 | "Fully Dilated" |
12-05 | LD 5x08 | "Upper Decks" |
In Production
Strange New Worlds (2025)
Section 31 (2025-01-24)
Starfleet Academy (TBA)
In Development
Untitled comedy series
Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.
Lower Decks is an animated comedy. It's Star Trek in a new genre. They speak very fast, very loudly, and try to make every line at least a little funny, often sliding in obscure references to Trek lore. Think Futurama or Rick and Morty.
Strange New Worlds is a modern take on classic Star Trek, which is much more buttoned-up. It's true to the more serious tone of previous live-action Trek series.
This is from the crossover episode, where two Lower Decks characters appeared in Strange New Worlds. The contrast between them and the Enterprise crew was a riot, and IMHO they didn't overdo it; they got it just right. It's everything I could have hoped for as a fan of both of these two very different series.
I recommend both shows.
Lower Decks is certainly fast, loud and in-your-face funny. But what I was completely not expecting is for it to be so respectful and adoring of what came before in the franchise. I thought originally, ah yeah one of those “fast edgy animated comedies”, it surely would be derisive and treat Trek like a joke itself, but actually, no it does not. It’s a comedy set in the Trek universe, it’s not a comedy where Trek is the punchline.
Mike McMahan is a lifelong Trekkie and it shows! Whilst I do wish the references to other shows were toned down a smidge in favour of building new lore I always enjoy them hah. "Not the 'Gazer!"
I feel the same way. The writers do such a good job integrating ST lore that it just really displays their knowledge and respect for the universe.
Off the top of my head:
It's a fun show
Weeell, SNW is only on season 2 and we've already had an animated crossover, a musical episode, two characters doing Star Trek mythbusters, a double date sitcom setup with Spock and a renfair episode.
SNW isn't a self-parody, but it's certainly aiming for TOS' blend of camp and speculative sci-fi more than the "serious tone" of 90s Trek, if that's how we want to describe it.
Where did people get the idea that 90s Trek was serious?
Do people not remember Lwaxana Troi? Q being Marvel's Loki?
I think this is because TNG had a very serious tone, and very ridiculous plots. Surface level they spent a lot of time adjusting shirts and trying to act prim and respectful with horns and orchestra in the background, then someone turns into a spider.
I think this causes people to see different things in it.
Ironically, this is pretty much how McMahan got Lower Decks. He used to write the TNG Season 8 Twitter, where he'd post fake synopses for his imagined episodes. It was almost always a fairly serious A-plot and a hilariously bananas B-plot.
Agreed. I'm using serious here to meet the previous poster halfway and... well, because yeah, if you compare it to TOS I guess it's more serious than that.
In any case, TOS and TNG (and especially DS9 and Voyager) are on different tones and SNW is, appropriately, aiming for modern TOS, not modern TNG.