'Star Trek: Strange Worlds' & 'Lower Decks' Renewed, New Seasons Debut This Summer

Paramount+ this week confirmed that the hit "Star Trek" shows from the latest era of the franchise, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and the animated "Star Trek: Lower Decks," have been renewed for new seasons. Additionally, both shows will see their latest seasons debut later this summer.

The highly anticipated second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is also scheduled to finally debut later this summer on Thursday, June 15.

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Per Paramount's announcement, "Strange New Worlds" will receive a 10-episode third season, and "Lower Decks" will also have a 10-episode fifth season. The plan for "Strange New Worlds" is to debut new episodes of the series weekly on Paramount+ on Thursdays. The show will also be available on the streamer in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in June. Paramount+ will stream the series in South Korea as well with the premiere date to be announced later on.

Next up on the docket is the fourth season of "Lower Decks," which will debut later this summer on Paramount+. The final release date will be revealed later on, as well as international streaming dates. "Lower Decks" debuted in August 2020 on the streamer and has since run three seasons and 30 episodes.

Another newer "Star Trek" animated series that will be returning later this summer is the animated kids' series, "Star Trek: Prodigy," which will debut its second season in winter 2023. The animated and Family Emmy Award-winning series is produced by Nickelodeon and CBS Studios' Eye Animation Productions.

"Strange New Worlds" is the highest-rated series among the new "Star Trek" shows from CBS and Paramount. The show currently has a 99% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 90% for "Picard" and 85% for "Discovery." "Lower Decks" also has a fairly high critics score at 89%.

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A special episode that will also debut in Season 2 of "Strange New Worlds" will be a crossover episode with "Lower Decks," mixing both live-action and animation. The episode will feature the stars of "Lower Decks," Ensign Beckett (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quad), joining the U.S.S. Enterprise. The episode will be directed by Jonathan Frakes, a veteran of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and a director of the "Picard" series.

Set before the events of the original television series, "Strange New Worlds" features an earlier crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, and Rebecca Romijn as "Number One" Una Chin-Riley. "The Vampire Diaries" alum Paul Wesley also appeared in the first season as Captain James T. Kirk. The first season is available to stream now on Paramount+.

The animated "Lower Decks" explores the lives of the low-ranking crew members aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos in the year 2380. The series stars Newsome as Beckett Mariner, Quad as Brad Boimler, Noel Wells as D'Vana Tendi, and Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford. The first three seasons are also available to stream on the Paramount+ app.