Star Trek is back
with the premiere of Lower Deck Season 3,
and I've got Creator/Showrunner Mike McMahan
and Dawnnn Lewis in The Ready Room to discuss.
But first, since I interviewed Mike and Dawnn,
the Star Trek family and Star Trek community
lost one of our brightest stars.
And before we report to the Ready Room,
I want to take a moment to honor
and remember Nichelle Nichols.
In the role of Lieutenant Uhura,
Nichelle not only helped establish Star Trek
as an optimistic vision of what could be,
but also inspired generations of Black performers,
scientists, and leaders in all fields
through her onscreen representation.
On behalf of all of us in the Star Trek family,
we in The Ready Room celebrate her,
not only for her contributions to our beloved
Star Trek Universe, but especially for her influence
on the world we currently live in.
On a personal level, from the moment we met her in 1987,
Nichelle was one of the Original Series cast members
who welcomed all of us on The Next Generation
into the Star Trek family with open arms.
She wasn't just nice.
She was kind. She didn't have to be, but she was.
I never got to spend much time with her,
but whenever I was around her, she was such a lovely human,
always joyful and never more than a couple of seconds
away from a song.
She brightened every room she was in,
and it is such a privilege to be a very, very small part
of her legacy.
Please join me in a moment of silence and reflection.
May her memory be a blessing.
Thank you.
Let's get started.
Hey nerds, I'm Wil Wheaton and this is The Ready Room,
your official behind-the-scenes hub
for all things Star Trek Universe.
Here we are back in action and reporting for duty
after a luxurious few weeks of shore leave.
Season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks is here
and I can't wait to dive into the hilariously nerdy ways
this was a perfect first episode.
But first, considering we're diving into an all-new season,
picking up after a Season 2 cliffhanger,
I would be remiss if I did not declare a red alert.
If you haven't watched the Season 3 premiere, "Grounded,"
you're going to want to ground yourself to the couch,
stream it first, and then report for duty to The Ready Room.
We'll be going maximum warped to the spoiler zone
and you do not wanna be caught unawares.
So we're picking up after last season's cliffhanger
with Captain Freeman arrested for the attack
on Pakled Planet.
Which is why we had to invite Dawnn Lewis and Mike McMahan
to discuss all that played out in this first episode.
I also very much need to personally know
what it is going to take to make
a First Contact amusement theme park
in Bozeman, Montana a reality.
Are you listening powers that be?
I mean, worse ideas have been fully funded.
Later, we'll get to hear from one of the series animators,
as they describe the creative process
and give us a tutorial on how to draw for Lower Decks.
I have had the privilege of being animated in this style
and now I get to say that I share that honor
with James Cromwell.
But first, of all the ways the Lower Deckers
could get themselves to the Cerritos from Earth,
hijacking a ride at historic Bozeman was by far
the funniest way to go.
I know I'm not the only one who would go to serious extremes
for a ride on the Phoenix,
piloted by Holo Zefram Cochrane, right?
Speaking of, we will take any excuse to celebrate
the advent of warp travel and that historic launch
and I know the creators and Lower Decks cast members
feel the same way.
So here's what they had to say, when we asked them about it.
Control room, engage.
First stage separation, complete.
Let's bring what I like to call the warp core online.
I mean, James Cromwell is back. Guys, he's back.
I can't believe that we actually got him
to get in the booth and say the silliest things possible.
I am so touched that he would come back
and reprise his role in this way.
Like what a cute, cool thing.
Cromwell's amazing, and he's Star Trek royalty
and I can't believe we got him.
Let's rock and roll.
Hello, explorers, and welcome to the 21st century.
I love 301 for all of the Bozeman stuff.
I loved having a revisit of First Contact
and I love that they made it kind of a
cheesy theme park, but that you still love.
It kind of reminded me of Dollywood.
The Vulcan ship is just a slide now, like--
they're like, oh, there's the ship the Vulcans landed on.
The kid's just like, "Wheee."
The fun thing about Lower Decks is that
the writers are always really playing
within the Star Trek Universe in a very inventive
and clever and funny way.
And the fact that they got Mr. Cromwell to come back
and recreate his role, as the inventor of the warp drive,
I think is just absolutely brilliant.
And of course the Phoenix is a ride now,
that makes absolute sense.
It warms my heart to hear him instruct everybody
as to what to do and keep their hands inside the vehicle,
that kind of thing.
Oh, hi, I'm just finishing up some repairs,
and you should finish up any snacks.
My reaction to seeing myself animated is sort of the same
as seeing yourself as a plastic doll.
It's very strange.
Working in animation is a blessing.
I have the opportunity to do practically anything I want
because you're going to be recreated.
Any mistake you make can be modified by the animators,
bless their hearts, and it can be changed.
So I feel most comfortable doing that.
My character was a lot of fun.
Thanks for riding with me, explorers.
It's rare to have nostalgia and feel really touched,
'cause you're like, "Oh, I miss this thing."
And to also be laughing so hard kind of at and with it.
I think Mike and the writers really
walked that line beautifully.
The thing about First Contact is,
it's just a fricking amazing movie. Like, you could have--
I remember seeing it with friends who had never seen
Star Trek, had no context and it's just--
the Borg are an amazing threat in it.
It's got comedy, it's got action, it's got time travel.
It's got a Borg Queen.
Every movie should have a Borg Queen.
I don't know, I'm a huge fan of that movie.
I could go on and on about it forever.
And it's up there with the best Star Trek movies, easily.
It's so fun to see, you know, an Earth--
a pre-Starfleet Earth and it's also really fun to see
these kind of horror movie aspects to the movie.
I mean everything with Picard and the Borg,
is kind of terrifying.
I don't know.
It's just got like a real homespun hero kind of energy.
It's an adventure.
It's got all those fun classic sci-fi elements.
I think First Contact is a popular Star Trek film
because it gives us a sense of beginning.
Well, without First Contact, Star Trek wouldn't exist.
It's really a bridging of the Trek that we know
and the sort of pre-history of Trek.
And you know, the moment that the Vulcans first arrive
on Earth and, you know, everything about it is the,
the Book of Genesis of Star Trek.
It had a relationship to the entirety of the series
because it was first content.
It was a visualization of what happened
that started the whole thing, from nothing
to this incredible journey.
Prepare to make history.
Here we go.
To dive into the Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 3 premiere, I can't think of anyone else
I would want to talk to more than Creator and Showrunner
Mike McMahan and, of course, the falsely accused captain
of the Cerritos, Dawnn Lewis a.k.a Captain Freeman.
Welcome, I am so happy that you are here in person.
I'm thrilled to be here in person.
I think it's okay, I like being online more,
but as long as I'm with you guys, I'll do it in person.
Well, we appreciate you coming all the way here
to the studio.
Let's start out at the beginning of Season 3.
We have Captain Freeman, wrongly imprisoned
-and charged with conspiracy. -Correct.
And we have our Lower Deckers just killing themselves,
trying to secure her freedom, prove that she's innocent.
-Why would Freeman do this? -No comment.
-What did you hear? -I said no comment, please.
A little respect, please.
Will you get the f*** out of our way?!
And then she shows up at the end,
like the entire trial happened off camera.
-[Dawnn] Off camera. -[Mike] Yeah.
And it's so funny and that is so hilariously A-story
of her to happen.
You talked about this being about the B-story.
So of course, we don't see the A-story.
Well, you know, first off,
we left with this big cliffhanger.
Everybody's upset, Captain Freeman, Dawnn Lewis, taken away.
Mariner's especially upset.
That's her mom, that's her captain, right?
And then, in Lower Decks fashion--look,
we've only got 10 episodes.
They're only a half hour each.
How long are we not gonna have the captain
-of the ship on it, right? -Let's get to it.
So like, one full episode is a tenth of our entire season.
So I felt like, that would be enough.
You know, like, let's miss the captain for one whole episode
and then we're gonna get her back in the mix. Right?
And so at the same time, we've seen some pretty amazing
Star Trek court procedurals.
-Right? -Yes we have.
But our guys aren't important enough to be in that,
-the Lower Deckers. -[Wil] Right.
So, while Mariner's trying to steal the ship
and she's, you know, rallying the crew,
of course, Captain Freeman is having a
proper, A-story, big--
A whole "Measure of a Man," like, absolute--
-Hourlong, prestige-- -Like, "The Cage" trial.
-Yeah. -Yes, yes.
Your honor, a courtroom is a crucible.
In it we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with
a pure product, the truth, for all time.
When she comes swooping in, it's like,
"We've told you a million times that that's happening."
-And even her dad, you know-- -[Dawnn] Trust the process.
Trust in Starfleet, trust the Starfleet process.
And, Mariner at the end is like, "Ugh.
You know, I may have been Kirking a little too hard here,
a little too fast."
I love that she actually calls that out.
The Kirking, you are not Kirking.
You are not Kirking.
Okay. Kirk is cool. Kirk is on point.
You are just like all over the place.
Mariner is cool too, but I think Kirk maybe
has a couple more Starfleet miles under his belt, too.
He does, Mariner is so impetuous.
She really is and she hears you,
but doesn't really hear you.
You think Mariner and Ensign Kirk would share
a lot of qualities.
Oh, I think they'd get into some real trouble.
They'd get into some real trouble, together.
Do they like each other, or are they so similar,
they're just constantly butting heads?
You know in Starfleet, I think you see
the best in each other, right?
-Yeah, yeah. -Yeah.
I really enjoyed that, actually. Just, like--to be serious
for a moment as a Star Trek fan,
the message of Starfleet is an organization for good.
Starfleet is an organization where truth matters.
Starfleet is an organization where the right thing
is the best thing.
And of course that's what happened, right?
Of course, we were supposed to trust the process.
Dawnn, tell me about the Season 2 cliffhanger.
Did you know how this was going to be resolved?
[Dawnn] I never know.
[Wil] So like the rest of us,
you sat around wondering what was gonna happen.
-Mike, how dare you. -Mike McMahan makes it
a point to not share information.
I'm really glad they gave me the whole script.
-And not just my pages. -[Wil] Your pages, yeah.
No, no. We did not know how it was gonna flesh out.
But what we do know is that all of these specific people
are integral, to the telling of the story
and the journey of the story.
So if he got me into a jam, I knew one way or another,
I was gonna get out of a jam.
The question was, do we see being released from,
from the jam?
Or do we trust that it's happening to get me back
in the mix and what did I learn from being in the jam?
Where, where does that propel me and my crew to go next?
You know, two-parters are so hard
because the first part is a blast and the second part,
how do you make, like--it just is gonna end up feeling
like the second half of a better episode.
And how do you do it without cheating the audience?
You have to earn it.
You have to earn that anticipation of the entire off season.
And for us it was like, okay, it's been a long time.
Animation takes a long time to make.
We wanted to do an episode that felt big.
We go to a place we've never been in the show before.
We go to Earth.
We're stealing the Cerritos, we're doing big stuff.
But then on top of that, if anybody in the audience
feels like, oh, they wanted a bunch of this plot
across the season.
The choices that Mariner makes in that episode,
with the captain, echoes across the season.
It's not like we erase it.
-Yes. -[Dawnn] Right, right.
Yeah, which actually tees up my next question.
Mariner and Freeman's relationship really changes.
It does.
In this episode, particularly.
Talk about the character development between the two of them
as captain and junior officer
and also as mother and daughter.
What I love about, like what Mike was just saying,
there's so many aspects of us
as humans or as beings in this show, that are maintained.
There's still the bumping heads.
There's still the, I wish you could do something better
and differently, but at the same time in this coming season,
you realize that there are things that we do recognize
and appreciate in each other.
So it's not just based on, we're just at odds all the time.
It's at odds with love.
And with concern and with appreciation.
And I'm only saying what I'm saying
because I see you and I appreciate you
and I expect you to do better.
Now that I know, and the same thing from her.
We're not always successful at it, but you know,
we're taking baby steps.
I love that relationship that exists
-between the two of them. -Me too.
It's really interesting to me,
and I just--having been a kid on a spaceship,
it's always really cool to me to see how the parent
and child, even if the child is an adult.
How the parent and child relationship plays out.
It's actually very similar to my relationship
-with my mom, -[Wil] Yeah.
when I was growing up. As a teenager,
my mom could just say my name and it would be like,
ah, and then it was like, I was like, "What,
what do you want?"
But as you get older and you grow, you mature,
you put some distance between you
and then put us back together,
you see each other other differently,
and you respond to each other differently.
And every now and then, you hear yourself responding
the way you did when you were 14
and go, "Yeah, let me not do that."
-Like, wait a minute. -That's not cool.
I remember when I was you.
So we're gonna make a different choice here
and that's what I see happening with Beckett and Freeman.
Did you and Tawny get to spend any time together
in the same location?
Were you in the booth together at all this season?
-Very early on. -Oh, that's great.
In Season 1, we were,
and then I left to work on a different gig.
Then everything became remote and the pandemic.
-You were on Broadway. -I was on Broadway.
Yeah, I mean, "I'm on Broadway, carries a bit more weight
than "I was doing a different gig."
[Wil] Like I think maybe you should--
Listen, I'm not the boss of you, Dawnn Lewis,
but I feel like maybe lean into that a little bit.
When I'm on a different gig, I work at In-N-Out.
In the first season, there was this amazing moment
where Dawnn and Tawny were in the booth together.
It's in the episode where the ship gets terraformed.
And they're stuck digging through it together,
and they're arguing, and they're arguing over each other.
Oh my God. Why do you have to second-guess every choice--
I'm trying to help you, Beckett.
What am I supposed to do?
What I would prefer is if you would let me do me.
And that's one of the few times where they're literally
in the booth, arguing over each other,
but honestly, I could never even tell, you guys are so good.
-Thank you. -That like,
it's almost like you're talking to Tawny
when you're performing it,
even when she's not in the room with you.
And the thing is, I was just saying earlier,
that we established that kind of rhythm
and that communication very early on.
So I'm really grateful, that we got to have that,
those couple of times together.
Because having a story about an adult daughter.
Yes.
And her mom is different from a kid daughter and a mom,
-Yes. -Yeah. Yes.
And that she is an ensign in your crew
because you're her boss, too.
And that, all of that stuff mixed,
the tone that you hit with her,
as employee and subordinate to mom and boss,
like I think that carried through from there on out.
It's been great, and to be honest with you,
when we're working, I get to hear--I hear Tawney's voice,
in my head.
So I get a sense--first of all, she doesn't breathe.
So it's just like one--
That's not true, I've seen her breathe!
One long run-on sentence, it's like,
how do you say all of what you say in one breath?
I just stand there, like...?
Captain Freeman, come on, let's be nice.
Oh, my gosh.
But literally when I'm in the booth working on it now,
whether she's with me or not, I really do hear her voice
and her cadence in my ear.
And I've asked her about that,
she says, "Dawnn, I feel the same way."
I was like, "I know, I hear it in my head.
How you would deliver this line," and it causes us
to bring this energy to it and then the mastery
of the editors that we work with and the voice directors.
Because they hear our characters in their heads, as well.
They hear Eugene, they hear Noël, they hear Jack,
and they know our cadences now
and they direct us accordingly.
And when they bring it all together,
it really is remarkable.
You would really think that we're all in the room together.
It's really, really great.
I can hear Jerry O'Connell right now.
As can I.
He says we're doing great.
This episode brings in James Cromwell.
All right, buckos, prepare for your trek amongst the stars.
Ugh!
-I love him. -[Wil] I mean, come on.
The king!
-[Wil] So like, -I love him.
you bring in James Cromwell to be Zefram Cochrane.
So many amazing, just sublime
First Contact references.
Having Mr. Cromwell in there, it's like,
not only is it having James Cromwell,
but it's also having
-Zefram Cochrane, like. -[Dawnn] Yes.
-Kind of a big deal. -[Mike] That's crazy.
It's pedigree from TOS, it's pedigree from First Contact.
And it's kind of that amazing Enterprise episode
where they did the alt history opening.
You know, where it goes wrong, right?
Like we finally get to be in on that party, too.
And having Cromwell in there is just--
it's such a silly carnival version of Bozeman
that it adds this like layer of legitimacy
that we don't deserve.
It's so funny and fun.
I actually really love--I have,
I have publicly said, I feel like Lower Decks
is a love letter to Next Generation
and the Next Generation universe,
Deep Space Nine, Enterprise,
Voyager, like, it is a love letter to that
part of Star Trek.
And I think about--the moments where I feel like
that love letter just jumps up
and does the Say Anything boombox
is in moments like this,
where we see these things that--yeah, of course
there would be an amusement park in Bozeman.
And of course it would be a a tacky, touristy thing.
We just take it for granted.
Like, I mean, it's Gatorland, right, but in the future.
I mean, it's a post-scarcity future.
Nobody's buying anything at the carnival, right?
But I do love in Star Trek that like,
the Borg strip you of your individualism and your humanity.
And that you always celebrate human nature in Star Trek.
And so it's human nature to take things that were important
and make it accessible for kids like that.
[Wil] Absolutely, we gotta train the Mariners of tomorrow.
We gotta inspire the next generation of Rutherfords
to get out there.
It was just so, so very cool.
And then the bar, with the one song
-in the jukebox. -Oh, the one-song
jukebox, baby!
That killed me.
There are moments like that where I feel like
Lower Decks is going, "We see you, audience."
-That's the balance. -Exactly.
That's where I feel like you,
like, kind of like lean in and go,
like, "What's up, fellow nerds, I see you."
That's like, "What's up, fellow nerds" is like,
"We see you, but we also love the thing you love."
Yeah, totally.
We went to Sisko's and we didn't make Sisko's into
a TGI Friday, do you know what I mean?
Like Sisko's has to be like Sisko's.
We'll add a little, you know, Ketracel White
Hot Sauce joke.
But like, if we had changed Sisko's,
I feel like that would've been saying--
it would've been doing a disservice to a thing we love,
but then Bozeman is like...
Bozeman is awesome in First Contact.
It has its huge moment.
-It's already a place. -It's a place. Yeah.
It's already a place.
And then taking our characters there,
that's why I think it's a little--
we're allowed to have a little bit more fun with it,
in a sillier way,
but we never would've done that to Sisko's.
I appreciate you not turning Sisko's
into a Rainforest Cafe.
I would've been really bummed out.
It would've been a bummer
to have franchised Sisko's, I think.
Dawnn, you have been captain on the Cerritos
-for three seasons now. -Yes.
And your legacy, as a Starfleet captain,
is well underway.
I would love to hear you talk about
being this non-traditional, comedic, animated captain
in the Star Trek universe and like, what does that--
What does that mean?
First of all, just being a part of this Star Trek world
is everything.
I have been a Trekkie since the very first episode
of Star Trek back in the day.
I used to risk getting whippings for watching Star Trek,
'cause we were supposed to be in bed, my brothers and I.
We were so young, and my mom would be at school
or she'd be working and leave the woman upstairs
to watch us, to make sure we were in bed.
So my brothers and I would put blankets over our heads
and stand as close to the TV as we could
and keep the volume down, so we could watch it.
And we knew every line, every episode.
Was the blanket to muffle the sound?
The blanket was to
-muffle the sound. -Smart.
But it didn't work because we could hear from upstairs
the banging on the, boom, boom, turn that TV off.
So yeah, we would risk getting in trouble.
So I'd always wanted to be some kind of alien,
some kind of warrior, Klingon, Romulan, somebody...
You were an alien once, weren't you?
No, that's my dream to be, but this was before animation.
I wanted to be some kind of alien somebody.
So when they were auditioning for Star Trek,
they gave us sides,
had to sign an NDA, and we were all animals or something.
Yeah, we were so afraid people would find out
we were making the show, we changed everything on it.
Yes. They changed everything.
So I had no idea what I was actually auditioning for.
So when they were directing me, saying, "Okay, yeah.
All right, we're gonna--okay, great."
And you go to the audition and you're done
and you walk away.
And next thing you know, you get a call saying,
"You're gonna be Captain Freeman
on the next Star Trek series."
That was the look that I had.
I was like, "No, no, you're--no, you're kidding. Right? No."
So that journey after that has just been such a blessing
to me, to all of the first time non-traditional captains
that we got to see, from Madge Sinclair to Sisko.
I mean, all of these different people
and a woman in charge,
it just meant the world to me
because Nichelle Nichols was my absolute hero growing up.
To see this African American woman, she was a badass.
She would go on away trips.
She would fight with--she could handle her own.
And she was gorgeous.
I swear--and I told them this--when they first showed me
the rendering of Captain Freeman,
I said, "Oh my God, she looks just like Nancy Wilson"
because--with the white streak in her hair,
I said, and Nancy is like a goddess.
She's just amazing singer.
I mean, so being a part of that legacy
and being this person who is capable,
who is in charge, yet very human,
which is what I love about our show.
On all of the other Star Trek manifestations,
everybody's at their best game, just about all the time.
Or working through to their best game.
Lower Decks pulls back the cover
and shows us how often none of us are on our best game.
We have best intentions,
but the game is a little shaky from time to time.
So you can see yourself and relate
to this non-perfect person trying to do an amazing,
helpful, creative, collaborative thing.
And that's who Captain Freeman is.
She's gonna get an ulcer, I'm sure.
I will say, the way you perform
Captain Freeman, though, it's her show.
-Like she's the captain. -There you go.
She is a, as much of a Starfleet captain,
-as anybody ever has been. -Thank you.
You're doing an amazing, amazing job.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
-It is just a great season. -Thank you.
I'm incredibly excited for the audience to see all of it.
And I'm grateful to both of you for making time
to come and talk with me.
I know the audience appreciates it.
I appreciate it, thanks so much for being here today.
-Of course, anytime. -Absolutely.
We love The Ready Room, we love talking about Star Trek
and about Lower Decks, and it's such an amazing time
to be making these shows.
Last season of Star Trek: Lower Decks,
we got to learn first-hand from Robby Cook,
one of the series animators,
how to draw Ensign D'Vana Tendi, and it was delightful.
It was especially delightful for me,
when he threw in a bonus animation of me
as a Starfleet officer.
We in The Ready Room love the hand-drawn style
of the show and how it lends itself so well to both
the comedy in the series and the Star Trek stories
at play in the series.
So of course, we had to go back and get some more time
with these talented animators.
Now you might want to take some notes, if you too
want to draw yourself into the Star Trek Universe.
And if you do, I'd love to see it.
Take a look.
Hi, my name is Marisa Livingston.
I'm the character design lead on Star Trek: Lower Decks.
And today I'm gonna show you how to draw
one of my favorite characters from the show, Dr. T'Ana.
You want me to see a doctor? I am the doctor.
We're gonna get started with an under drawing
to kind of lay out our design.
So just start with a big circle for her head.
All right. Let's just get this over with.
[T'Ana screeches]
Now, I'm gonna add some smaller circles.
These are going to represent her muzzle and her big eyes.
The characters on Lower Decks have pretty big eyes.
They're wide and circular and expressive.
Oh, s***.
So now that we kind of have our under drawing very light,
but we're gonna go over it darker.
I'm gonna start by putting kind of like a pause symbol,
in between her eyes here.
And these are gonna be her furrowed brows.
She's pretty grumpy.
So from here, just big, straight, heavy lines
for her dark heavy expressive eyebrows.
And I might even fill them in a little bit,
even though we're just getting started,
just helps the character come out faster.
And from here, we're gonna go into those expressive eyes.
Dr. T'Ana kind of expresses a cool aloofness.
She's been around the block.
You really showed me something today, kid.
Thank you, doctor.
But this isn't your patient,
so get the f*** out of our way.
And then we'll lay in her pupils, which are slit pupils
because she is a Caitian.
So unlike our other characters on Star Trek: Lower Decks,
she does not have the cute little circular pupils,
hers are unique.
From here, three ridges in between her eyes.
This is just kinda like the top of her little,
her little muzzle, where the color of her fur is different.
Draw her muzzle out, big circle, about the size of her eyes.
And then we'll lay in her cute little triangle nose.
And from here, we'll put in her--
she's got kind of a grimace.
She's got a little snaggle tooth in here,
so we've got her face kind of in here now.
And we're gonna start building out her head.
Here comes the messy part, any slight error here
can result in instant death.
We're gonna put two tufts of fur
on each of her cheeks, just like that.
And then she also has a cute little tuft of kinda like
platinum blonde hair on her orange fur.
And that's going to have three tufts of fur on top.
But you know, if you're drawing Dr. T'Ana,
maybe she's real frazzled and, like, her hair
is really all over the place.
She doesn't have perfectly pointed triangle cat ears.
Hers are a little more down turned to kind of suit
that weariness that she exudes.
That just tough, confident,
but also, like, a lot of rage underneath.
She can hiss at people, freak out,
cuss a lot.
F*** you, you big ****. F***.
Out of this ear, she's got kind of like two semicircles,
maybe like somebody took a bite out of that ear, who knows.
And then she's got really cool kinda crooked zigzag,
three whiskers coming off each side.
They were probably straight at one point,
but now they've been through it.
Godspeed, you crazy f****.
We wanna make sure that Dr. T'Ana exudes knowledge.
But with all that knowledge and experience,
you get a little tired.
So your shoulders droop, her posture is a little grouchy,
a little droopy.
And we'll draw two lines straight down
for the sides of her doctor coat.
Her lapels are just kind of simple triangle shape.
And then she's got just the edge of a comm badge
sticking out underneath.
You know, she's ready whenever.
And then we'll draw in the lines of the super cool
California class uniform,
which has got these cool angles that closes over
on the side.
Pop on the collar and then,
because she is the Chief Medical Officer on the Cerritos,
she's got three pips.
At least someone around here appreciates rank.
And that is how I would draw Dr. T'Ana
from Star Trek: Lower Decks
and now you can, too.
Congratulations, you look like a f****** scratching post.
Season 3 of Lower Decks is just beginning.
Part of my job here means I have already gotten to see
all of it.
So I am telling you right now, this season is amazing
and I wish I could show you all of it,
but that's not the way TV works.
I can only show you an exclusive clip
of next week's episode.
So here it comes.
Control room, give them a peek.
-Oh hey. -Hey.
What's with all the new faces?
We're hosting everyone that got stranded on the orbital
lift while it gets repaired.
That's cool.
Listen, you were totally right earlier.
I've been saying yes to everything today,
going way outside my comfort zone,
and so far, Shax says he owes me a favor.
I'm not afraid of Chief Lundy anymore.
It's just been a really great day.
Ah, I love that for you Boims.
See, when you get rid of the plan,
you leave room for good things.
From now on, the new plan is say yes to everything.
But, that's still a plan.
How about just no plan?
Nope. Today I am a new Boimler, a bold Boimler.
And the next person who asks me to do something,
I'm saying, yes, no matter what.
Excuse me, I am Kranch.
I was supposed to be on the planet by now,
but the space elevator is broken.
Hi Kranch, welcome to the Cerritos.
I'm Tendi and this is Boimler.
My species has an undeniable natural urge to hunt.
This delay to the planet has been weighing on me.
Would either of you be willing to--
be willing to be hunted?
Aw, no, thank you.
Maybe you should see if Dr. T'Ana can help you out
in sick bay.
Wait, Mr. Kranch, I'm gonna say yes to the hunted--
to, to being hunted.
Just because you said you were going to say yes
to the next person who asked you to do something,
doesn't mean you have to do this.
You can do the next one.
You're right, is what the old Boimler would've said.
It would be an honor if you hunted me, sir. Let's do it.
[roaring]
Clearly, we're in for a very funny
and very exciting season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
It is so good to be back watching Star Trek with you all.
Thank you for joining me today.
I'll be back in a few weeks,
when we get midway through the season.
Tawny Newsome will be joining me right here
in The Ready Room to discuss all the things
that happened between now and Episode 5.
Which is to say, I will have no shortage of questions.
And finally, not that you need a reminder,
but Star Trek Day is fast approaching,
on Thursday, Sept. 8, and you won't want to
miss this year's celebration
of all things Star Trek Universe.
There will be plenty of ways to watch the event,
both live and on demand.
So mark your calendars and stay tuned to Paramount+
for details. Until next time, I'm Wil Wheaton.
Live long and prosper.