Latest news with #LowerDecks
Geek Girl Authority
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES: 5 Characters and Species Introduced by the Show
For many years, Star Trek: The Animated Series was overlooked by many Trekkies. However, in more recent years, interest in the show has been renewed. This is thanks in part to Star Trek: Lower Decks, which has included many characters and species originally introduced by The Animated Series in modern continuity. For this week's Trek Tuesday, we're sharing five characters and species that were originally introduced by The Animated Series. Did we include your favorite? Caitians Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Perhaps the most well-known of the species introduced by Star Trek: The Animated Series is the Caitians. Originally, these catlike people were introduced through The Animated Series' M'Ress (Majel Barrett Roddenberry). While M'Ress spoke in a soft and purring voice, later examples proved that this was not the only demeanor possessed by Caitians. RELATED: Star Trek : Answering Your Questions About Caitians In the intervening years, many Caitians have appeared onscreen. First, we saw a few in the background in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. And then in Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, a young Caitian character appeared multiple times in the first half of the season. But perhaps the biggest role for a Caitian yet is Doctor T'Ana (Gillian Vigman), the Chief Medical Officer of the U.S.S. Cerritos on Lower Decks. Plus, Caitians have also appeared in Star Trek Into Darkness and were mentioned in dialogue in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2. Edosians Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2022 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Edosians are a three-armed species of aliens. They were first introduced through Arex (James Doohan). In The Animated Series, Arex is a helmsman for the U.S.S. Enterprise. This seems like a suitable role, since a third arm is probably helpful for steering a starship. And as you'll see, many Edosians have jobs that make sense with their third limb. Since Arex, several Edosians have appeared on Lower Decks. In Season 1's 'Much Ado About Boimler,' we meet an Edosian medical specialist (Fred Tatasciore). He is the commanding officer of the Division 14 ship the U.S.S. Osler. And in Lower Decks Season 3's 'Room for Growth,' we meet Toz (Mary Holland). She is the commanding officer of the 'spa ship' the Dove. Finally, the trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 suggests we'll get to see an Edosian bartender in live action in the show's third season. Kzinti Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2021 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved Another particularly interesting species introduction from The Animated Series is the Kzinti. Notably, these catlike creatures are unique because they originally came from outside Star Trek. As far as the Franchise goes, they first appeared in The Animated Series episode 'The Slaver Weapon,' written by Larry Niven. But the Kzinti had previously appeared in Niven's non-franchise sci-fi prose stories. RELATED: Star Trek : The Curious Case of the Kzinti However, for many years, the Kzinti were discussed, but not utilized. In fact one writer, Jimmy Diggs, repeatedly lobbied for their return. But the Kizinti never appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: Enterprise . Plus, the movie Diggs pitched featuring the Kzinti sadly never took off. Finally, in Star Trek: Picard Season 1's 'Nepenthe,' the Kzinti are briefly mentioned in dialogue. And on Lower Decks, a recurring crewmember, Ensign Taylor (Tatasciore), is Kzinti. Robert April Photo Cr: Marni Grossman/Paramount+ Robert April has a long history with the Franchise, his name having been taken from the original pitch for Star Trek. And in keeping with that pitch, April is recognized as the previous captain of the Enterprise before Christopher Pike. But he made his first onscreen appearance in The Animated Series' final episode, 'The Counter-Clock Incident.' Like many other characters on the show, in that episode, he was voiced by Doohan. In recent years, April became a live-action recurring character on Strange New Worlds. In this ongoing series, he is portrayed by Adrian Holmes. Pandronians Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2021 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved **Best Possible Screen Grab** The Pandronians are a species of humanoid colony creatures. And thanks to this biological characteristic, they can effortlessly divide their bodies into multiple pieces. On The Animated Series, they were first introduced in the episode 'Bem,' through the titular Ari bn Bem (Doohan). Bem was an 'independent observer' aboard the Enterprise. However, he clandestinely made the situation harder for the Starfleet crew in order to observe how they coped. RELATED: Watchlist: Celebrating 50 Years of Star Trek: The Animated Series And then, decades later, a Pandronian drill instructor visited the Cerritos in the Season 2 episode 'I, Excretus.' Shari yn Yem (Lennon Parham) was a Starfleet drill instructor sent to test the mettle of the California class crew. However, just like Bem, Shari rigged the tests to make them harder for the crew than they might have been otherwise. But Shari got her comeuppance when the Cerritos crew figured out her plan and thwarted it. Most of the Star Trek episodes discussed above are currently available for streaming on Paramount+. However, Star Trek: Prodigy is currently available for streaming on Netflix. 5 STAR TREK Meme Source Episodes Avery Kaplan is the author of several books and the Features Editor at Comics Beat. She was honored to serve as a judge for the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize Award and the 2021 Prism Awards. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her partner and a pile of cats, and her favorite place to visit is the cemetery. You can also find her writing on Comics Bookcase, NeoText, Shelfdust, the Mary Sue, in many issues of PanelxPanel, and in the margins of the books in her personal library.
Geek Girl Authority
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS: 16 Returning Franchise Characters
In many ways, Star Trek: Lower Decks was built on the Franchise shows that preceded it. True, the show did break new ground by showing us a new side of Starfleet. But it also brought back many characters who had previously appeared in other shows and movies. For this week's Trek Tuesday, we're sharing X Star Trek characters who debuted elsewhere in the Franchise and returned on Lower Decks. Did we include your favorite? Riker and Troi Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The first major returning Franchise character appeared in the Lower Decks Season 1 finale, 'No Small Parts.' In this episode, the U.S.S. Cerritos came under attack by the Pakleds in the Kalla system. But just when the California class ship is about to succumb to the Pakled party, some familiar heroes show up to lend a hand. RELATED: Unpacking Star Trek: Lower Decks Opening Battle Scene Through the Seasons These are William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Both characters were originally introduced in the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 'Encounter at Farpoint.' Riker (or at least his transporter clone) would later appear on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, while both Riker and Troi appeared on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard. And both characters appeared in all four The Next Generation era Star Trek movies. Tom Paris Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2021 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved One of the great things about Lower Decks is that it takes place after the final The Next Generation era movie, Star Trek: Nemesis. This means that it is also set after the Voyager finale, which means that it takes place after the U.S.S. Voyager has returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Lower Decks took advantage of this chronology in Season 2's 'We'll Always Have Tom Paris.' In this episode, Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) from Voyager visits the Cerritos. This is a during a handshake tour which Paris is undertaking in the wake of Voyager's return to Earth. Sonya Gomez Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2021 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved In the Lower Decks Season 2 finale, 'First First Contact,' Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) reunites with one of her old friends, Sonya Gomez (Lycia Naff). Now, Gomez is the captain of the U.S.S. Archimedes. RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks : 8 Big Bradward Boimler Episodes But when we first met Gomez, she was just an ensign aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. She appeared in The Next Generation Season 2 episodes 'Q Who' And 'Samaritan Snare.' But in those episodes, Gomez held the rank of ensign. The character's appearance as a captain in Lower Decks emphasizes that even the higher ranking officers originally start off on the lower decks. Quark and Kira Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2022 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Lower Decks Season 3 episode 'Hear All, Trust Nothing' sees the Cerritos visiting Deep Space 9. Since Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) previously served on the station, she's less enthusiastic than the other beta shifters. However, the rest of the Cerritos crew encounters Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Both characters originally debuted in the Deep Space Nine series premiere, 'The Emissary.' According to the commentary track for the episode, Shimerman found it necessary to wear his prosthetic Ferengi teeth while recording his voice over lines. Leeta and Rom Photo Credit: Paramount+ In Lower Decks Season 4's 'Parth Ferengi's Heart Place,' the Cerritos visits Ferenginar. Once again, the visit opens the door for several Deep Space Nine alums to make an appearance on the animated show. RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks : 9 Essential D'Vana Tendi Episodes Due to the nature of their mission, this brings Freeman in contact with the leaders of Ferenginar. Thanks to a narrative development from the climax of Deep Space Nine, there are now Grand Nagus Rom (Max Grodénchik) and his wife, Leeta (Chase Masterson). Nova Squadron Photo Credit: Paramount+ Over the course of Lower Decks Season 4, ships throughout the quadrant have been disappearing. In the penultimate episode of the season, 'The Inner Fight,' the person behind these disappearances is revealed. It's Nick Locarno (McNeill). Locarno originally appeared in The Next Generation Season 5's 'The First Duty.' That episode also introduced the rest of Nova Squadron, which includes Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). Several other members of the squadron appear in a flashback in the Lower Decks Season 4 finale, 'Old Friends, New Planets.' These are Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) and Crusher. The Anaximander Crew Photo credit: Paramount+. In the penultimate episode of Lower Decks fifth and final season, several legacy characters return. These characters comprise the crew of the U.S.S. Anaximander, under the command of William Boimler (Jack Quaid). These include T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) from Star Trek: Enterprise , Garak (Alexander Robinson) and Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) from Deep Space Nine and a plethora of Harry Kims (Garrett Wang) from Voyager . Later, the crew meets a variant of Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) from RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks : Who's Who on the Anaximander 's Bridge Crew Technically, these characters aren't returning characters. Instead, they are multiversal variants of characters we've met in Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: First Contact. But it is never the less exciting to see these familiar faces return, even if they are coming from another timeline. These Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes are currently available for streaming on Paramount+. STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS: 5 Merchandising Ideas for Paramount's Profit Avery Kaplan is the author of several books and the Features Editor at Comics Beat. She was honored to serve as a judge for the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize Award and the 2021 Prism Awards. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her partner and a pile of cats, and her favorite place to visit is the cemetery. You can also find her writing on Comics Bookcase, NeoText, Shelfdust, the Mary Sue, in many issues of PanelxPanel, and in the margins of the books in her personal library.
