After forty-four years, the Star Trek franchise returns to the animated arena with the just-announced Star Trek: Lower Decks comedy series!

Developed and produced by franchise head Alex Kurtzman and Emmy-winning television writer Mike McMahan of Rick and Morty (as well as Mudd-themed Short Trek “The Escape Artist,” coming in January), the new series will be the first animated entry in the Trek universe since the 1970’s-era Star Trek: The Animated Series went off the air in 1974.

Lower Decks is said to center around “the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships,” and will be a half-hour comedy series for at least two seasons on CBS All Access (in the United States; global release plans are currently unknown).

Interestingly, The Hollywood Reporter notes that the series was “taken to market before landing at CBS All Access” — meaning the network’s streaming service wasn’t the first-planned destination for the show — but with the addition of this and the still-untitled Jean-Luc Picard series added to CAA’s catalog, it’s certainly adding value to the service’s monthly subscription cost with each Trek expansion.

Along with Kurzman and McMahan, current franchise mainstays Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth will be part of the production leadership team, along with newcomer Katie Krentz who will be heading the newly-formed CBS Eye Animation division at the studio.

Here’s the full press release from CBS, which just arrived in our inbox:

“CBS ALL ACCESS” ANNOUNCES SERIES ORDER FOR ANIMATED COMEDY
“STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS”

From Emmy Award Winner Mike McMahan, “Star Trek: Lower Decks”
Marks CBS All Access’ First Animated Series

Oct. 25, 2018 – CBS All Access today announced a two-season order for STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS, a new half-hour animated comedy series developed by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan (“Rick and Morty”).

The series will focus on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships and will be produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions, CBS Television Studios’ new animation arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Secret Hideout’s Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin and Roddenberry Entertainment’s Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth and Katie Krentz will serve as executive producers alongside McMahan. Aaron Baiers, who brought McMahan to the project, will serve as a co-executive producer.

“Mike won our hearts with his first sentence: ‘I want to do a show about the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end.’ His cat’s name is Riker. His son’s name is Sagan. The man is committed,” said executive producer Alex Kurtzman. “He’s brilliantly funny and knows every inch of every ‘Trek’ episode, and that’s his secret sauce: he writes with the pure, joyful heart of a true fan. As we broaden the world of ‘Trek’ to fans of all ages, we’re so excited to include Mike’s extraordinary voice.”

“As a life-long Trekkie, it’s a surreal and wonderful dream come true to be a part of this new era of ‘Star Trek,’” said executive producer Mike McMahan. “While STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is a half-hour, animated show at its core, it’s undeniably ‘Trek’ – and I promise not to add an episode at the very end that reveals the whole thing took place in a training program.”

STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is not McMahan’s first “Star Trek” project. As a long-time fan of the series, in 2011 McMahan started a Twitter account where he posted episode plots to a fake season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” They were such a hit that Simon & Schuster hired him to write a readers’ guide to a fictitious eighth season of “TNG” titled “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season.” For television, McMahan recently served as head writer and executive producer on Adult Swim’s hit animated series “Rick and Morty” and co-created Hulu’s animated alien family show “Solar Opposites.”

“We couldn’t have imagined a better creative team to work with on CBS All Access’ first original animated series than Mike McMahan, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment,” said Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President, Original Content, CBS All Access. “STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is a fantastic complement to our growing lineup of original series and our ongoing expansion of the ‘Star Trek’ universe on CBS All Access.”

Release dates, story information, and artwork for Star Trek: Lower Decks haven’t yet been revealed, but rest assured that TrekCore will bring you all the latest on this new series as soon as we have it.

What do you think about this new addition to the Trek franchise? Sound off in the comments below!