Paramount+ has revealed that Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 is coming to the streaming platform this summer and that the series has already been renewed for a fourth season, which will consist of 10 episodes. The animated comedy series focuses on the junior officers of one of the Federation's ships, making fun of all the absurd experiences these semi-discardable people experience due to the decisions of the main crew.
Created by Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites), Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos. While some main characters of the Star Trek franchise – including Captain Kirk and Spock – do the occasional crossover, the series quickly learned to stand on its own feet. After a well-received first season, Lower Decks grew more confident and gave its characters more space, carving out their own corner in the cosmos. While Season 2 is even funnier than the first one, it also proved the series offers much more than jokes and that the animated media allows Star Trek to go boldly where it hasn’t gone before.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ successful reception not only allowed the series to be renewed for a fourth season before the third has even aired, but also opened the doors for other animated Star Trek productions. Last year we had the premiere of Star Trek: Prodigy, an animated show aimed at the younger Trekkers that gave fans the first crew entirely composed of aliens.
Star Trek is helping Paramount+ to fight the streaming wars with both the classic series and new productions. Besides holding the complete library of Star Trek series and films, Paramount+ is also the exclusive home of future seasons of the popular show Star Trek: Discovery. The new generation of Star Trek productions also continues to expand with Star Trek: Picard. Both Discovery and Picard are among the most-watched original series on Paramount+, evidence that the streaming platform is highly dependent on the Star Trek franchise to attract new subscriptions. So it’s no wonder that Paramount+ keeps aggressively expanding its Star Trek programming – for the joy of fans.
This year we’ll get the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, based on the years that Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. There’s also a Starfleet Academy and a Section 31 series in production, expanding the franchise to new and exciting directions.
The third season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will debut exclusively on Paramount+ sometime this summer with a total of 10 episodes. No release window for Season 4 has yet been announced.