Fifth Season is Final Season

[Tuskin38]

Each season of LDS covers almost half a year of time, with every 13 episodes being half a year.

With every 26 episodes is one year as a reference to most of the TNG seasons being around 26 episodes.

If they stick to that, then Season 5 will end at 50 episodes, 2 episodes short of covering 2 years in-universe.

 

[Qonundrum]

I really don't think it's that deep. While I don't think it's any coincidence that both Lower Decks and Disco are finishing in their 5th seasons, I really doubt it has to do with some executive trying to make a name for themselves. My feeling is that it's just a strategic and creative decision. Picard was set up as a 3 season show, SNW was kinda set up to be a 5 season show, Starfleet Academy will most likely be 4 seasons. I think moving forward Series will have a set number of seasons. More serialised shows might go for 3 or 4 and more episodic will have a max of 5 seasons. Let's face it, the days of 7 seasons of trek are over.

We all love 90's trek, but TNG, DS9 and VOY all saw big dips in quality once they got beyond their 5th seasons. I think it's a good move for the current shows to go out on a high instead of slumping to the end at season 7.

Overall, TNG and VOY had big dips in quality in their latter halves. True, the show might be the most popular at the time, but that just means tone and quality was more liked at that time and may not have dated as well.

IMHO, DS9 was fairly robust, with a number of first-rate episodes, until its final season. Season 6 had few clunkers.

VOY was beginning to waver in its 6th, but still had a decent number of solid episodes along with the not-as-good. Season 7 was way too dull too often.

TNG's format change in season 5 had the biggest ratings, but seasons 1-4 have more stories that have seemed to have aged better. I feel season 7 was an improvement to 5 and 6, but as many writers moved the A-material to DS9, they chose to wrap up TNG (apparently there was to be an eighth season at one point, but with the TOS era ending in 1991 and Trek having DS9 on air and VOY in development, it made more sense to put the TNG crew on the big screen. Why Star Trek: TNG Ended (Was It Canceled?) (cbr.com) )

 

[ToddCam]

Dang.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Any word as to why LD is stopping at 5?


I mean, having it end on a high note is fine, but I'd still like to know.

Paramount seems to have settled on five seasons being the new seven. If it was about uncertainity about the merger, then SNW would not have been renewed to begin with.

It seems ridiculous that LD was cancelled, since it’s the cheapest show to produce by far. And Paramount has been having money issues for years, hence the merger talks.

I was always under assumption that LD would be 4-5 seasons. I mean our folks need to get promoted and move on as characters so this makes sense to me. Sucks but better 5 great seasons than 5 good and 4 terrible.

To be fair, considering that the show is called "Lower Decks", and that the characters are progressing, well, there is a shelf-life built into the concept. My prediction is that Mariner and company will either separate to further their respective careers, or get their own ship, possibly a California-class. Hey, you got to start small, you know.

There were still legs to the idea. Yes, the Warp Core Five are due to be promoted and move on, but that would just mean that a new Warp Core Five could take their place. They could have kept the LD concept going for years, if they wanted to. And have anther animated show in the LD art style along side it too.

If the upcoming season has an episode surrounding ENT, similar to how previous season had episodes based around DS9 and VOY), then logically they could have kept going referencing all the other Trek shows to get all of the Trek movie posters. I envision it as the following.

S6 = the Kelvinverse; it never had a tv show, but is still an important era in Trek, could be considered episodic in its own way, and does have connections to the prime timeline. I think references regarding the Kelvinverse would be limited to Robau, Nero, the Kelvin/Einstein class, the Jellyfish and the Narada).

S7 = DIS/ST (imo opinion, this is when the OG Warp Core Five should have move on to new assignments, and the show switches to new Warp Core Five – the next generation, if you will).

S8 = PIC

S9 = LD

S10= PRO

S11= SNW (third iteration of Warp Core Five)

S12 = VST

S13 = S31

That could have also taken the show right up to the Romulan supernova, and shown the loss of the Ent-E as well.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Which doesn't change the fact that it's a show that almost nobody wants.

‘Nobody’ wanted an animated comedy Trek show.

Look how that turned out.

 

[fireproof78]

‘Nobody’ wanted an animated comedy Trek show.

Look how that turned out.

Indeed. There really is a strange fascination with this idea of, "Well, nobody asked for it?" Can someone please name a show that was asked for and was exactly what people wanted? The Next Generation was certainly not it, given it didn't feature Kirk or Spock. Remember that?

Deep Space 9? Can't have Star Trek on a space station! Who asked for this garbage!

The Motion Picture, with crew members acting extremely different from when we last saw them? Who asked for a Star Trek movie to be so slow, or Kirk to be a jerk?

At this point, the sheer lack of imagination, and the expectation of TV shows to be "Asked for" is galling. We simply do not know what a show will do until it airs. If someone decided they had a Starfleet Academy story they wanted to tell I say bring it on.

 

[Farscape One]

Indeed. There really is a strange fascination with this idea of, "Well, nobody asked for it?" Can someone please name a show that was asked for and was exactly what people wanted? The Next Generation was certainly not it, given it didn't feature Kirk or Spock. Remember that?

Deep Space 9? Can't have Star Trek on a space station! Who asked for this garbage!

The Motion Picture, with crew members acting extremely different from when we last saw them? Who asked for a Star Trek movie to be so slow, or Kirk to be a jerk?

At this point, the sheer lack of imagination, and the expectation of TV shows to be "Asked for" is galling. We simply do not know what a show will do until it airs. If someone decided they had a Starfleet Academy story they wanted to tell I say bring it on.

I guess you're really asking for it now...

 

[Uhura's Song]

Overall, TNG and VOY had big dips in quality in their latter halves. True, the show might be the most popular at the time, but that just means tone and quality was more liked at that time and may not have dated as well.

IMHO, DS9 was fairly robust, with a number of first-rate episodes, until its final season. Season 6 had few clunkers.

VOY was beginning to waver in its 6th, but still had a decent number of solid episodes along with the not-as-good. Season 7 was way too dull too often.

TNG's format change in season 5 had the biggest ratings, but seasons 1-4 have more stories that have seemed to have aged better. I feel season 7 was an improvement to 5 and 6, but as many writers moved the A-material to DS9, they chose to wrap up TNG (apparently there was to be an eighth season at one point, but with the TOS era ending in 1991 and Trek having DS9 on air and VOY in development, it made more sense to put the TNG crew on the big screen. Why Star Trek: TNG Ended (Was It Canceled?) (cbr.com) )

Gonna disagree strongly in your TNG take. S3-S6 are the best seasons by a good margin. S2 & S7 next. S1 dead last.

S5 has: Darmok, The Inner Light, I Borg, Redemption Pt2, Unification 1&2, Ensign Ro, Cause & Effect, Conundrum, and Time's, Arrow Pt1.

That's 10 I know are excellent without even refreshing my memory The Perfect Mate, The Masterpiece Society, Ethics, The Outcast, and First Duty are in that season as well.

Season 6 isn't quite as strong, but still: Chain of Command 1&2, Ship in a Bottle, Relics, Tapestry, Frame of Mind, The Chase, Birthright 1&2, Face of the Enemy, Time's Arrow 2, A Fistful of Data's.

That's 12 that jump right out at me as strong just skimming the episode titles.

To each his own. And I'll buy your critique for TNG for S7, though All Good Things really hit it out of the park to close, and that helps a ton.

I guess I'd probably go S3, S4, & S5 as the top 3. Then 6. Then 2 or 7. Then 1.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Saw this on Bluesky: An attempt to save the save the show by coordinating a huge stream-a-thon on May 25th.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Hard disagree with TNG and VOY.

I think I can get to 65 pretty easily on TNG and DS9. VOY might be tougher. TOS possible. 65 out of 80 is tough, though.

And no way all 65 are better than any new Trek episode. There are some genuine great eps from every new series.

But 65 very good or better TNG episodes is a layup.

1-2. Best of Both Worlds, I & II
3. The Inner Light
4. Yesterday's Enterprise
5-6. Chain of Command, I & II
7-8. All Good Things, I & II
9. The Measure of a Man
10. Darmok
--------------------
11. Tapestry
12. Family
13. Cause & Effect
14-15. Redemption I & II
16. Relics
17. The Drumhead
18. I, Borg
19. Q Who
20. Ship In A Bottle
21. Lower Decks
22. Frame of Mind
23. Brothers
24. Elementary, Dear Data
25. Parallels
-----------
26. The Pegasus
27. The Offspring
28. Phantasms
29-30. Unification I & II
31. Ensign Ro
32-33. Time's Arrow, I & II
34. Deja Q
35. The Emissary
36. Reunion
37. The Wounded
38. The Next Phase
39. The Defector
40. The First Duty
---------
41. Disaster
42. Timescape
43. The Most Toys
44. Remember Me
45. Attached
46. Sarek
47. Preemtive Strike
48. Q-pid
49. A Fistful of Data's
50. Hollow Pursuits
--------
51. Conspiracy
52. The Perfect Mate
53. Ethics
54. Booby Trap
55. The High Ground
56. The Chase
57. Second Chances
58. Face of the Enemy
59. Conundrum
60. Peak Performance
---------
61. True Q
62. Datalore
63. The Enemy
64. Data's Day
65. The Mind's Eye

YMMV, of course. I think I could get to 100 comfortably.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Do we have a date for S5 yet?

 

[Tosk]

Some of us do, you get your own date.

 

[Dukhat]

Saw this on Bluesky: An attempt to save the save the show by coordinating a huge stream-a-thon on May 25th.

Unfortunately, this will not help.

 

[The Wormhole]

Do we have a date for S5 yet?

If there were, you wouldn't be able to escape the news around here. For example, in the Prodigy forum the news of its coming season premiere was announced in at least three different threads.

 

[Dukhat]

Do we have a date for S5 yet?

I'm assuming it will be after S2 of Prodigy is finished airing on Netflix. But who knows? It's not like CBS/Paramount needs to space out their shows anymore.

 

[90sTrekGuy]

As it's not on the same service, and has a different target audience, I doubt the release dates of Prodigy and Lower Decks have much to do with each other. But wikipedia still says a fall release.

 

[137th Gebirg]

 

[Uhura's Song]

Some of us do, you get your own date.

Touche'.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

I am liking DS9's last season. I think it is stronger than TNG's last season. The only episode I disliked was the one with Ezri Dax visiting her mother. This episode shouted out; we need a story for Ezri Dax. The second one, where she discovers a murderer with help from a past host, is a little better.

As for VOY, I haven't seen much of its last season. I have heard that they should have brought the ship home sooner and have the last season be about them adjusting to life in the AQ.

 

[The Wormhole]

As for VOY, I haven't seen much of its last season. I have heard that they should have brought the ship home sooner and have the last season be about them adjusting to life in the AQ.

That certainly would have been a step in the right direction.