GUEST POST: Tony Tellado Explains "How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS"
Star Trek had one animated series in the 1970’s and now has two going. Star Trek: Prodigy is great for kids of all ages. Then there is Star Trek: Lower Decks. I wondered about that one.
Do they drink way too much coffee? Their dialogue is delivered at warp speed. How does this ship get to be a part of Starfleet with all the screw ups ?
These were some of the reservations I had when Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered. But a funny thing happened as I watched more and more of the episodes: I appreciated the humor poking fun at times at Star Trek but still holding a respect for all the series and characters. The Easter eggs are my favorite part. I learned about Romulan Whiskey. Hey, It’s blue too. Mariner drives the Argo as well as we saw in Star Trek: Nemesis. Mariner’s embrace of Klingon culture is fun even using phrases and a Bat’leth here and there.
It was cool to see the Mugato again. On any given episode, the crew might wander into a cargo bay and we notice what looks to be Nomad. Hey, Tom Paris and Nicholas Locarno came back too with Robert Duncan McNeil to voice both. Along those lines, the guest starring voices were fun. Jonathan Frakes returned but as captain of Titan. We even visited Deep Space Nine to see Quark and Kira Nerys. Not to mention Nagus Rom and Leeta return to negotiate a new treaty. Rom’s obsession with baseball was keeping with continuity as he bunted for a base hit in the infamous game with the Vulcans. Even General Martok had a video game with J. G. Hertzler voicing him. Lea Brahms came back too. Thanks Susan Gibney.
Even the culinarily famous Sisko’s Creole Kitchen got it’s fare share of mentions.
Boimler’s raisin farm was a nod to Jean Luc Picard’s winery in France. I loved all the women coming on to him as he is was oblivious to their advances.
My favorite Easter egg is the Ketracel White Hot Sauce, of which Paramount sent me a bottle.
There were places that were part of Trek history besides DS9, like In a nod to Star Trek: First Contact, when they visited Bozeman Montana and we finally get to see the statue of Zephram Cochrane. A bonus was having James Cromwell return to voice the holo-Cochrane
Speaking of statues, you gotta love the Miles Obrien statue. Even Ronny Cox voiced Captain Jellico (Lose the Fish) who has gotten his fair share of mentions in the series.
The series even addressed Gene Roddenberry’s penchant for creating omnipotent beings in a fun, but pointed way. I never understood that, but we did get Q , Trelaine, and Apollo with Gary Mitchell too.
The Easter eggs are a fun part of the series. But the writing is funny and the characters are written well and acted accordingly.
My point is that this series has fun with Star Trek and its many series. The people that make this starting with Mike McMahan are fans of the show. It must be fun in the writer’s room. Star Trek is big enough to take some good natured shots and that is why I came to love Star Trek: Lower Decks.
You can follow Tony by visiting his SciFi Talk website or listening to his podcast, available in all the major podcatchers.
In 1994, Tony had an idea for a sci-fi radio talk show, dreaming of national syndication. He found a small station in New Jersey and a sympathetic co-host who helped get to the General Manager. The first shows were a bunch of guys (too many) talking about genre and pop culture but Tony wanted much more.
After a few years, he decided to buy air time on a New York station in 1996 and, with Ernest Lilley, launched the show on a 50,000-watt radio station, with guests like George R.R. Martin and Joss Whedon.
In 2005, on Lilley’s recommendation, Tony signed on with podcast host pioneer Libsyn and the show was reborn as a podcast. Over 1,000,000 downloads later the show had found an international audience, with guests that include composers, writers, and other key contributors to genre entertainment. After podcasting a few years Tony created Time Capsule, a magazine interview-driven podcast series.
Tony has also attended and covered The Tribeca Film Festival, San Diego Comic-Con, and New York Comic-Con.
