10 Star Trek Debates That Tear The Fandom Apart
6. Comedy In Star Trek
San Diego Comic Con 2024 saw the announcement of a new, live-action, comedy series set in the 25th century. The show is being developed by Tawny Newsome and Justin Simien, focussing on a group of Federation outsiders who discover they have been filmed and shown to the wider galaxy, without their knowledge, in an almost reality TV setting.
From the moment the news broke, the typing began. Comedy has a strange history in Star Trek. Clearly, it has been present since the franchise’s earliest days, but this was sometimes more piecemeal than others. Then, of course, there were episodes like The Trouble With Tribbles, Q, Pid, The Magnificent Ferengi, among others. The announcement of Lower Decks, however, was met with trepidation. It had the double whammy - it was a comedy, while also being animated. The first animated Star Trek since the original animated series in the 70s.
What did this mean for the franchise? In Lower Decks’ case, it meant five seasons and a live action crossover. The announcement now of a live action, purely comedic, series has been met with some extreme reactions. Some commenters have come out strongly in favour of it, saying that the franchise has grown sufficiently to make room for a series such as this. Conversely, there are those who have seen the words ‘reality TV’ and felt a sick swoop of worry sinking into their gut.
Are we looking at Star Trek: Below Decks? What would that even look like? The reactions seem to tie back into the question of comedy in Trek. Is the franchise a serious endeavour with moments of levity? Is it a dramedy, marrying both genres in equal measure? If that’s so, where does In The Pale Moonlight fit into that description? This new series is sure to drum up a plethora of reactions while it remains in development - but will any of them answer that age-old question: what does Star Trek need with a comedy(ship)?