The newest Star Trek TV show coming our way is Star Trek: Lower Decks, the first Trek animated series since the 1970s and the first ever comedy show set within the franchise. As the title makes clear, Lower Decks will take a break from the bridge and instead follow a bunch of ensigns working on the lower levels of a Starfleet ship. And with the show debuting next month, the promotion for it is heating up now. Hence these two new promo images.
The following two pics feature the whole main gang together as well as putting the spotlight on one of them. In the group image, from left to right, we have Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), Ensign Tendi (Noel Wells), Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid), all goofing around in the rec room. The quartet serve on the U.S.S. Cerritos, one of the least important ships in Starfleet’s armada.
The second of the pics, meanwhile, highlights Rutherford, who’s recognizable for his cybernetic implant that resembles that of Geordi La Forge. This connection reminds us that Lower Decks is set concurrently with The Next Generation in the 24th century. The trailer already teased a few period-appropriate easter eggs, including holodecks and the Borg, but it’s possible that some familiar stars from 90s Trek could even pop up. Or so says showrunner Mike McMahan.
From what we’ve seen so far, Rutherford seems to be the most capable and collected of the ensigns. Tendi is an over-excitable fangirl, while Mariner is a bit of rule-breaker. Boimler, meanwhile, dreams of becoming captain one day, but he seems to be mostly the butt of Mariner’s practical jokes and pranks.
The tricky thing for this show will be in striking a balance between being funny and respecting Trek enough to not put fans off. We’ll see if it manages that when Star Trek: Lower Decks premieres on CBS All Access on August 6th.
