Star Trek: Lower Decks Showrunner Addresses Worries of Series' Future After Season 5

Star Trek: Lower Decks' next season might be its last. That's the reality of the situation according to series creator Mike McMahan. While Star Trek: Lower Decks has already been renewed for another season, and the team behind Star Trek's animated comedy is hard at work on Season 5, McMahan observes, in an interview with CinemaBlend, the seeming contraction of the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+, concurrent with the overall cutting back on content by streaming services, which may end up being the writing on the wall.  McMahan opened up about how that makes him feel about Star Trek: Lower Decks' future, encouraging fans to be vocal about their love of the series before it gets canceled so that maybe it can avoid the situation in which Star Trek: Prodigy now finds itself.

"Yeah, I mean, listen, we're in weird times," McMahan says. "Everything is changing. I think everything's gonna continue to change. I would say nothing is safe. I don't have any bad news for anybody, but also, I think you shouldn't assume that this stuff is gonna stick around unless you vocally and watch it early on. I do not know if we're going to have another season after the season we're working on right now [Season 5]. Lower Decks could very well be a five-season show."

McMahan continued, "So, if you love Lower Decks as much as I do, I would say make sure to watch it and get people to watch it now. A letter writing campaign after a show gets canceled, it's helpful, but what's more helpful is campaigning to get more eyes on the show when it's airing because it gives me the ability to push for more seasons. I would love to finish Lower Decks with the plan that I have for it. I would say, take Prodigy looking for a new [network], and take a look at Picard being wrapped at Season 3, and at Discovery wrapping as well. I would say read those as signs that if you want more Lower Decks, you should be vocal about it now and not wait."

How Star Trek: Lower Decks will end.

ComicBook.com spoke to McMahan recently. In that interview, he touched on how he thinks about and approaches the ending of the series.

"I'm never thinking the series is going to end because I don't want to write and compact," McMahan said. "I would rather feel like the last episode feels like a series resolution once I've found out that that's happening, and then instead, you get a season where you're writing up to these characters who will continue to exist after the series is over."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Cast 

Star Trek: Lower Decks stars "lower decks" crewmembers of the U.S.S. Cerritos Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (Noël Wells), and Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Provisional Ensign T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) joined the crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3. The U.S.S. Cerritos' bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore),  and Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman).

Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) created Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, "an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves – all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

How to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

CBS' Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. Secret Hideout's Alex Kurtzman, Roddenberry Entertainment's Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, and Katie Krentz (219 Productions) are executive producers with showrunner Mike McMahan. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) also serves as an executive producer. Titmouse (Big Mouth) serves as the animation studio for the series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, Star Trek: Lower Decks airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Lower Decks will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.