Mike McMahan is optimistic that Star Trek: Lower Decks will get a fifth season, so much so he’s writing for it already.
What will come next for the Star Trek franchise is anyone’s guess. Paramount+ seems to be streamlining its offerings, cutting copious amounts of shows, and limiting how much funding franchises like Star Trek get. It seems to be the new long-term model, and that means cutting shows that haven’t attracted enough of an audience. And according to Mike McMahan himself, that may include Lower Decks.
Essentially encouraging fans to watch the show when it airs to help stave off cancelation, McMahan is seemingly telling fans that his show is not safe. There’s no guarantee that the fourth and current season is its last, but with the way other Star Trek shows have been treated by Paramount+, there’s no reason to believe that it isn’t, either.
Just because Lower Decks has a fifth season order, doesn’t mean that it won’t be canceled regardless. Just look at Prodigy, they were working on season two.
Now, should Lower Decks get canceled by Paramount+, which is possible, if not likely, there could be salvation for the franchise. Netflix already picked up one canceled show; Star Trek: Prodigy, so it’s very possible that another show could end up on the streaming service.
But whether it’s on Paramount+ or elsewhere, McMahan is writing season five during all the uncertainty.McMahon told the fans at the New York Comic Con (viaTrekMovie.com) that he intends to make the fifth season awesome, saying;
"I’m writing the finale of season five right now. And next year is going to be awesome."
Paramout+ has removed the certainty that comes with renewals
Some may be a bit miffed that we’re talking about Lower Deck’s fifth-season order with such uncertainty, but remember, they’ve done this before. They’ve ruined the pact between fan and service, making things like renewals meaningless.
Even sayings like “I won’t believe there’s a new show/movie/whatever until they start recording” are out the window now. Prodigy was deep into filming when it was canceled. Now we’re supposed to believe that a show like Lower Decks is safe?
Please. Until a show is done airing, no fan should believe anything a major corporation like Paramount says. They’ve proven to be untrustworthy.