Star Trek's first live-action comedy series could feature some 25th Century favorites

Comedy in the 23rd Century with the crew of the USS Enterprise has always been a levity reprieve while exploring and promoting Federation ideals in the Alpha Quadrant. In TOS, most notably with the sparring comedy team of the Vulcan “straight man” in Lieutenant Spock and the “captain sarcasm” in Medical Officer “Bones” McCoy. Star Trek creators were quite smart in balancing the seriousness of first contact missions, alien species conflicts, and the dangers of unknown space anomalies within the light-hearted fun of comedy and laughter at light-speed.

With Star Trek’s first musical episode in SNW (S2, E9 “Subspace Rhapsody”), to the adult animated Star Trek comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks – injections of comedy have always been a part of Star Trek’s appeal, and it is as alive today as it was some sixty years ago from the 1966 iconic TOS that launched a global phenomenon.

During the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, CBR reports that writer/director Justin Simien (Haunted Mansion) announced a live-action Star Trek comedy series is in the works, with actress/writer/producer Tawny Newsome, who voiced Lieutenant Jr. Beckett Mariner in Lower Decks. As a team, Justin is in good hands with Tawny as she is no stranger to live-action comedies with a space theme as she also starred as Captain Angela Ali in Space Force with co-stars Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow and Ben Schwartz. Additionally, Tawny is also a co-writer for the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Tawny recently (in June 2025) stopped by the red carpet for Star Trek: Red Alert (Universal Studios' Star Trek walk-through experience) to talk to TrekMovie.com, and she was excited to share what’s up next for her and Justin on their upcoming Star Trek live-action comedy project – by saying this:

“…the magic of developing something I know so well, like Star Trek – is supposed to find what works best. And so, with Trek, I know it like the back of my hand. I also know comedy like the back of my hand. Figuring out where those two things intersect is like the divine chore, the incredible fun, but also the incredible work of making sure this show is perfect.”

Tawny went on to say that she believes she has found the “sweet spot” where comedy and Star Trek meet. Set on a non-federation leisure planet, the show will explore federation principles and what joining the Federation could look like in a comedy setting while staying true to Star Trek canon.
Hoping to have the series set in the 25th Century, during the Star Trek: Picard era - Tawny is eager to potentially include Picard continuity characters in the series as well by saying:

“Yeah, so anyone who was on Picard could theoretically be, yeah…”

Although, Tawny confirmed that the leisure planet in the series will not be Risa, the most well-known leisure planet in canon having been featured in TNG, DSP, ENT and Lower Decks – I suspect a more likely choice for a leisure planet in the series could be Freecloud - where the crew of Picard rescued Bruce Maddox (aTNG Starfleet cyberneticist and expert in AI, who once attempted to dismantle Data) in Picard (S1, E5 “Stardust City Rag”). Freecloud could also be a viable choice simply because it’s a non-federation planet within the Picard era.

Leisure planets aside, it's exciting news to hear that a live-action-comedy series set in the 25th Century could potentially include crew members from Picard. This would be a “Trek Treat” worth waiting for and here’s to possibly seeing Seven of Nine as the “straight women” in Tawny’s Federation membership-pending live-action romp, set in the 25th Century with rounds of Andorian Ale for everyone!