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[ARTICLE] "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Is a Lot Better Than You'd Expect

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Jan 29, 2021, 9:48:17 PM1/29/21
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From Wired.com ...


'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Is a Lot Better Than You'd Expect
----------------------------------------------------------
When it comes to ideas for a TV show, a humorous Star Trek cartoon
doesn't necessarily seem like a winner. But screenwriter Rafael
Jordan says that the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks
compares favorably to live action shows such as Picard and
Discovery.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I was really won
over by the third or the fourth episode," Jordan says in
Episode 451 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "I know it
might be sacrilege to say, but it might be my favorite Star Trek
thing right now. I think I would take this show over any future
show. I need more of Lower Decks."

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy host David Barr Kirtley was also
skeptical of Lower Decks, but got more interested when he learned
that it was created by former Rick and Morty showrunner Mike
McMahan. "I saw that the creator of it is the guy who was sort of
the big 'sci-fi guy' on Rick and Morty, the one who was most
deeply familiar with the genre," Kirtley says. "If I had known
that I would have checked the show out a lot sooner."

Fantasy author Christopher M. Cevasco likes that Lower Decks pokes
fun at Star Trek while still maintaining a sense of reality. "It
feels like a Star Trek show, even though it's animated, even though
it's got way more humor than any of the other shows," he says. "But
it still remains true to the canon, and to the rules that have been
established in the Star Trek world."

The sheer volume of in-jokes and obscure references in Lower Decks
will challenge even the most hardcore Trekkie. Writer Sara Lynn
Michener says it's clear that the show's writers have deeply
immersed themselves in Star Trek fandom.

"A lot of the jokes come directly from Star Trek Shitposting, and
the members of the group were very proud of that," she says. "We
spent about two weeks trying to figure out, 'OK, who in the group
are the secret spies who actually work for this writing staff?'
Because we know that they are in this group."

Listen to the complete interview with Rafael Jordan, Sara Lynn
Michener, and Christopher M. Cevasco in Episode 451 of Geek's Guide
to the Galaxy.

MP3:

<https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/geeksguide451final.mp3>


And check out some highlights from the discussion below.


Rafael Jordan on casual viewers:
"I watched [Lower Decks] with my girlfriend, who is not a Trekkie.
She just kind of casually watches the modern movies and whatever
I force her to watch. But she really enjoyed it. She really liked it
a lot, but admittedly I was pausing it every two minutes to say, 'Oh,
let me explain this. To really appreciate what's going on here you
have to know what they're calling back to.' And I think eventually
she got irritated with me. She's like, 'Just play it already. I'm
enjoying it fine.' ... They did such a great job of balancing
obvious, overt callbacks to previous episodes with hidden little
Easter eggs that were just a delight for the old school fans."


Christopher M. Cevasco on characterization:
"At first the relationship between Mariner and Boimler was so frantic
and adversarial and in-your-face-almost like Three Stooges routines,
with them poking each other in the eye all the time-that it was maybe
a little grating. But I think they pulled back from that level of
antics and it became a more mature relationship. But yeah, I think
they're great characters. I'm really happy that they chose to make
the Orion character be a very earnest scientist, rather than falling
back on the typical Orion characters-like they didn't make her some
sort of dancing bar girl. And Rutherford is just amazing too. ... So
yeah, I think it's a great bunch. I like all four of those main
characters."


David Barr Kirtley on humor:
"Star Trek 4 is one of my favorite Star Trek movies, but thinking
back on it now it's really a comedy. It's as much a comedy as
anything else, and more so than any of the other Star Trek movies.
But I feel like Star Trek 4 is a comedy that works, and maybe part of
the reason I was so apprehensive about this show is I feel like
there's been a lot of Star Trek humor that has not worked,
particularly the later Next Generation movies. There's a line - I
actually wrote it down it's so bad-in First Contact, where they're
talking to Zefram Cochrane, and he says something like, 'So you're
all astronauts ... on some kind of star trek?' It's one of the worst
jokes in any movie I've ever seen."


Sara Lynn Michener on redshirts:
"When somebody makes a redshirt joke in Star Trek Shitposting,
everybody kind of piles on and makes jokes like, 'Welcome, new
member!' Because it's just been played out to death. [Lower Decks] is
a very sophisticated show, where they did their research-or are just
a part of these subcultures anyway, to start with-so they know that
these things have already been done. People send me memes all the
time that originated in Star Trek Shitposting three years ago -
people who are not Trekkies-and they send it to me because they know
I like Star Trek, and they have no idea that not only did I see that
meme three years ago, but I've seen all 10 memes that reference it
ever since. You just have to be like, 'Thanks for sending me that,
grandma!' and move along."


<https://www.wired.com/2021/01/geeks-guide-star-trek-lower-decks/>



Ant

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Jan 31, 2021, 1:22:55 AM1/31/21
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I didn't laugh at with its first episode. Did it get better?
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Kade Green

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Jan 31, 2021, 5:20:04 PM1/31/21
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a...@zimage.comANT says...
> I didn't laugh at with its first episode. Did it get better?

Yes. Like The Orville, it mellowed after a few episodes. Don't view it
as a comedy, but just as a regular Star Trek show, just with the weird
bits cranked up, and loads of references to other Trek episodes piled
on.

Ant

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Jan 31, 2021, 9:05:46 PM1/31/21
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I loved The Orville! I hope it returns soon. It was totally TNG to me.
So, LD got better. Were they stand alone episodes or do I need to watch
in order?

Dave Van Domelen

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Feb 1, 2021, 8:48:40 AM2/1/21
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In article <Y6CdnT0I7KFp_Ir9...@earthlink.com>,
Ant <a...@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>In rec.arts.startrek.current Kade Green <ka...@green.us> wrote:
>> a...@zimage.comANT says...
>> > I didn't laugh at with its first episode. Did it get better?
>
>> Yes. Like The Orville, it mellowed after a few episodes. Don't view it
>> as a comedy, but just as a regular Star Trek show, just with the weird
>> bits cranked up, and loads of references to other Trek episodes piled
>> on.
>
>I loved The Orville! I hope it returns soon. It was totally TNG to me.
>So, LD got better. Were they stand alone episodes or do I need to watch
>in order?

Mostly standalone, but the last episode is definitely a series finale,
and there's some sensitivity to order in terms of character introduction.
There are some character arcs going on, and the last two or three eps do link
together in terms of Mariner's arc.

Dave Van Domelen, figures it would probably be best to watch in order
even if the Main Plots are largely standalone.
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