'Star Trek: Lower Decks' VA Tawny Newsome Explains Why An Animated Film Makes Sense: "We're Cheap, We’re Available"

Star Trek: Lower Decks voice actress and writer on Starfleet Academy Tawny Newsome shared why she believes an animated Lower Decks film makes sense.

During the Star Trek: Lower Decks panel on the Star Trek: The Cruise IX, Newsome explained why she believes the new management at Skydance Paramount should pursue a Lower Decks animated film.

“I really think, like I truly think, I think an animated movie is not that hard a sell,” she said. “Now, I know how much [expletive] costs and I’m just like, ‘Oh, we could make a movie so easy. I would make fans so happy and it would bring even more new viewers.”

“Lower Decks brought in so many new folks to the franchise and I feel that even going to the Cons. When I started going to the Cons ‘til now, like there’s so many people that come up to me and are like, ‘My mom, my boyfriend, whoever was always trying to get me into Star Trek and it wasn’t until Lower Decks. And, now, I’ve gone back and watched everything.’ I always call us the gateway Trek,” she said.

“So, I’m just like, ‘Look, the industry is in a wild place, but for a franchise that is trying to grow and a new corporation that’s trying to see how to keep bringing people in, it’s like we’re cheap, we’re available.”

Paramount announced Lower Decks’ cancellation back in April 2024. In a blog post, the company stated, “Star Trek: Lower Decks will conclude later this fall with its fifth and final season.”

There was no explanation for why the show was canceled following its fifth season. However, showrunner Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman stated in a letter, “We remain hopeful that even beyond Season 5, Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and the whole Cerritos crew will live on with new adventures.”

As for the show’s viewership, it never once made it into Nielsen’s top 10 during its five season run that began in 2020.

IMDb reviews indicate that the show had paltry viewership from the beginning. The premiere episode only attracted 2,500 total reviews. The penultimate season only has 1,700 and the finale only managed to attract 1,900.

The fifth season’s premiere did not even crack 1,000 total reviews. It has just 769. The finale did slightly better with 855. The only episode of the entire fifth season to crack 1,000 reviews was the penultimate. It did 1,100.

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