This interview is a great read. I like what I see of Mike McMahan's thought processes. I'm fine with "the snub" (LD s3e10) as an end to the Mariner/Jennifer arc. Lower Decks is in good hands. Long may it run. With longer seasons! (you listening Paramount?)

Good news. Both that Starfleet Academy is greenlit, and that Tawny Newsome is one of the writers. The part of the DSC episode teasing a Starfleet Academy (DSC s4e4) came across to me as having an ABC Afterschool Special vibe. It didn't strike me as being sustainable as a series. But, with this new information, I'm curious and hopeful about Starfleet Academy. I'm also very happy that it will be set in the 32nd century. Making room for new characters and possibilities.

"I’m also pleading 🙏 let David Cronenberg’s Kovich be involved."

Yes! As well as Admiral Vance and Tilly as series regulars.

Go team Star Trek fans and Prodigy team! I don't have Netflix, and have no plan to get it. However, I still got your back, Prodigy fans. I'll keep an eye out for the release of Prodigy season 2 physical media and get that when it's released. And, promote Prodigy to others.

That's a cute and colorful dessert spread. As far as Paramount Home Entertainment sponsoring the post, I immediately thought of a quote from Captain Rios (PIC s2e1),

"Confused. 'Never talk to me again' was literally the last thing you ever said to me."

Yay for the effort to promote Prodigy's season 1, episodes 11 - 20, Blu-ray/DVD release, though.

I think of the originally proposed Section 31 series is a classic case of you snooze, you lose. Too much time was spent hemming and hawing about the series, rather than getting to making it. Resulting in Michelle Yeoh's well earned popularity, and as an effect, lack of availability. I agree that the success of that movie will affect the immediate future of more Star Trek, made for streaming, movies.

Paramount's treatment of Star Trek is so many mixed messages. One moment it seems to get just how popular Star Trek is and the potential for new stories and characters . Then, it seems timid, re-casting long time characters rather than bringing new faces to the table. Then, it seems surprised by Star Trek's popularity, that there are still a lot of Star Trek fans. That's just my impressions.

" ... Matalas pushing his own Titanprise nepotistic nostalgia tour for an early 25th century show," is such a concise and accurate statement, all I can do is agree with it.

I find myself getting frustrated with Paramount+. Paramount has the money losing Paramount+ and the profitable (although not enough to fully offset Paramount+'s losses) Pluto TV. Yet, they seem to see no way to be profitable with streaming. I'm also getting frustrated with Pluto TV. With each change (update?) to Pluto TV, the platform is becoming more problematic to use. Freezing, dropping out of an episode or film in the middle of it, and constantly resizing the screen down from full screen. I'm also not impressed with the recent "sub to Paramount+ and stream Star Trek or else we'll cancel (whichever show)" messaging. I get that doing this is important. I find the wording to be brutish. If my $6 or $12 a month can make or break Star Trek shows, I think the problem is on the corporate side, not with consumers shouldering responsibility.

The Star Trek franchise's history has left fans wondering what, if anything, is next before. I'm going with who knows? out of hope, not expectation. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for posting this. I'm glad that the powers that be continue to use Mr. Horak's talents in Star Trek. I would like to see a stand-alone Hemmer film, detailing his life before Starfleet, and how he came to join the organization. Is that likely? Who knows. Doesn't stop me from wishing for it.

I enjoy the exploration of Ferengi society under Grand Nagus Rom, and visiting some of Ferenginar's hot spots. I also enjoy seeing Rom and Leeta again. I love the subversion of Rom's doofiness, and how well Leeta adapted to Ferengi society. First Clerk, indeed. Freeman's frustration was my frustration, but it had a satisfying ending.

I didn't enjoy the lower deck gang's shenanigans as much. There were fun moments, but it felt like a drag on the characters. Mariner's fighting just to be fighting. She has grown a lot over the past seasons. Her undefined angry outburst in this episode seemed pointless. There's nothing keeping JG Lieutenant Mariner from her Ensign Mariner renegade behavior and schemes. Boimler has completely backslid into the previously uncertain, twitchy, insecure Boimler. There's no sign of "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus'" (s3e8) "I want to be a captain" Tendi.

Rutherford and Tendi's discomfort pretending to be a couple made me uncomfortable. They've clearly been sweet on each other for a while. I could have done without forcing them into this pretend couple scenario, and let their relationship develop at its previous pace. I think Mariner and Boimler being the pretend couple had the potential to be hilarious. And, what the heck. No T'Lyn? Much disappointment.

I think Ransom is the standout in this episode.

The destroyed (maybe? maybe not?) ship of the week is a Ferenghi one. There was the tiniest hint, that one of the crew had been in contact with who or whatever is on that flying ship of destruction. With only 4 episodes left, I hope that ship has a huge payoff after being teased for so long.

I still love Lower Decks. This episode is a mixed bag for me.

This was why I switched from Google to DuckDuckGo as my go-to search engine a few years ago. My searches tend to be for falling down Internet rabbit holes in search of information on something of interest, not shopping. With Google, it had gotten to the point where searches gave me nothing but web site after web site with the same text copy/pasted, and a lot of Pintrest links. DuckDuckGo gives me a wider variety of web sites when I do a search, without needing to go through hundreds of links to the same text copy/pasted as the result.

I've heard of Kid Cudi, but I'm not familiar with his music. That's not a reflection on Kid Cudi. I'm not familiar with anyone's music, as I stopped keeping up with music some time ago. It's good that Paramount is trying something else to bring in new Star Trek fans. Most of Paramount's promotion of Star Trek seemed to be preaching to the choir (promoting Star Trek to existing fans of Star Trek). This doesn't set my heart aflutter like an announcement of a Moopsy plush would, but as a long time Star Trek fan I don't think I'm the target of this promotion.

I'm surprised by this one. I think it is amusing. And, not offensive. This episode seems to actually get Star Trek, while gently poking fun. After the first two Very Short Treks, I wasn't going to watch anymore of them. Didn't watch the third one, and I don't plan to do so. I'm glad I saw this one.

I was hoping the little ship of doom is using unfamiliar tech to transport the people on the destroyed ships somewhere. Mainly because of Ma’ah and the Che’Ta’, and now the Orions. But, I'm leaning more towards destruction, than transporting. On the plus side, I have an astonishingly consistent track record of being wrong when guessing story points. Fingers crossed that my streak continues.

Lower Decks continues to shine. I enjoy finally being shown aspects Orion culture, beyond being considered, " ... delinquents, pirates, slave traders." (DSC s1e15, although the same perception about Orions is held throughout Star Trek). The expansion of Tendi's background is great. I'm hoping for more on Orion in Star Trek's future. Poor Mariner, lol.

Getting to see Boimler and Rutherford settle in as roommates made for a nice B story. That got me wondering again about Mariner and Tendi's new quarters since their promotions. And, T'Lyn's.

The mysterious ship of destruction is getting old for me. When only ten, twenty-five minutes each, episodes are considered a season, there's little time to dilly-dally around with story telling. I'm just hoping this tease doesn't continue to be unexplained until another season.

To bad there wasn't time in "wej Duj" (LD s2e9) for an Orion Lower Decks segment. Now, I'm just waiting for an appropriate situation to say, " ... that makes you more of an Orion plagiarist."

Thank you! I will. And, I'm happy to report that I had no JSON screen just now. 🖖🏾

I apologize for hijacking your post.

I'll screenshot the next time it happens. I did copy the text from the last time I had a JSON screen and pasted that text to Notepad. I have pasted that info in a PM to you. All that text, with the JSON bar at the top, is what I get at times instead of the startrek.website page I'm trying for.

It's not just you. I'm only on the startrek.website instance and more often than not I have to reload the page 2 to 4 times to not get the JSON stuff. I'm on a laptop, and it happens on both Firefox and Chrome. Ever since the migrating of hosts. I thought it was related to wonkiness/slowness that would go away with time. No one else mentioned it before, so I thought is was something about my equipment or connection.

" ... the story for "Unification" is jam-packed with exactly the kind of dry, political, diplomatic talk that sets Trekkies' hearts aflutter."

Hey, I like action, too. But, they aren't wrong. I do like "Unification's" premise and execution.

I think attempting the reunification of Vulcan and Romulus is pretty epic. Because the two are major players in Star Trek. A diplomacy mission between two planets/species of the week wouldn't hold as much drama to me. No way to know what might have been without something beyond "less talky, more action" about the idea. Learning about the thoughts and concerns at the time is interesting.

I enjoyed the surprise of seeing Dr. McCoy with Data, and I wanted more along those lines at the start of TNG. I was still craving more of the TOS cast, in addition to the films, at TNG's start. By TNG's third season I thought the show stood firmly on its own.

I'm not an accountant. My understanding is that streaming companies are using accounting alchemy with write-downs to bump up what's in the profit category for a quarter. A streaming program getting this treatment disappears from the streaming platform. The studio chooses to take a quick on paper profit now, rather than continue to carry a show for a possible profit later. Viewers are left in the lurch -- the show(s) they enjoyed or intended to watch are gone. And creators are hung out to dry, as the programs they created and worked on are not only gone from the streaming service, but may never be seen again. Prodigy has the advantage of a vocal fan base. Many shows might never gain an audience because there is no longer any way to see them.

Prodigy isn't the only program Paramount+ disappeared. Paramount+ isn't the only company doing this. Disney Plus removed a lot content earlier this year.

It’s convoluted and stupid, but running your streaming service as a separate entity is how all the studios have it rigged up. Accounting ftw

Convoluted, indeed. At this point, Paramount+ has zero say in Prodigy. Maybe Paramount+ even mentioning the existence of Prodigy might mess up their write-off (I'm saying this with zero sympathy for the "creative" accounting, just to be clear). I have no idea where Nickelodeon even factors in the Prodigy rights situation. Paramount allowed a sneak peek at Prodigy season 2, episode 1 before, WOW - Prodigy Second Season Sneak Peek!. All in all, a very frustrating situation. It seems the best we can do is keep Prodigy's name alive online and in letters.