HARDY HAR HAR TREK
Going where only one animated series has gone before
Star Trek is warping its way back to the world of animation for the first time since the 1970s.
But this time, it’s photon torpedoes are locked on humor.
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” is the newest Trek series to launch on CBS All Access. The animated show, which mixes in classic Star Trek-style stories with “Rick & Morty”esque laughs, debuts on the streaming service Aug. 6.
This marks the eighth spinoff show since the original beamed onto the small screen in 1966. It’s also the first animated one since “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” which ran for two seasons and 22 episodes from 1973 to 1974.
Unlike previous Trek incarnations like “Deep Space Nine” and even “Discovery,” which focused primarily on command-level or bridge officers, “Lower Decks” shines a light on a group of ensigns serving on the USS Cerritos.
Eugene Cordero plays Ensign Rutherford, an engineer on the starship who has a Vulcan cybernetic implant in his head. This sometimes has him struggle with his emotions and the logical-influences of the computer plugged into his brain, drawing comparisons to classic Trek characters Spock and Data.
“But the cool thing about it is that he’s a lot more natural than those two characters,” Cordero, who also stars in “Tacoma FD” and had a recurring role in “The Good Place,” told the Daily News. “He’s allowed a little bit more emotion, and allowed to get more unhinged than those two.”
Noël Wells, who spent a season on “Saturday Night Live” and co-starred in the popular Netflix comedy, “Master of None,” plays the eternally optimistic Orion science officer, Ensign Tendi.
“Tendi is way more optimistic than I, she’s that character trait to the extreme,” Wells said. “That would be me at my absolute best without reality hitting me.”
Both she and Cordero have deep roots in the comedy world. Cordero spent time working with the Upright Citizens Brigade and appeared in several “Funny or Die” productions. Wells appeared in multiple episodes of “College Humor,” and wrote, directed and starred in the feature film, “Mr. Roosevelt.”
The actors also freely admit they were not Star Trek fanatics at first.
“I’ve seen the movies, I’ve watched the television show, but I wouldn’t consider myself a Trekkie,” Wells explained.
“I had some experience as far as watching the original series with my pops, and growing up, and watching the movnever ies,” Cordero said. “But I was so focused on it being a part of my world.”
In fact, when they first started the audition process for “Lower Decks,” neither knew it was for the nearly 60year-old franchise.
“It was totally a secret thing, I had no idea,” Cordero told The News.
But when they were finally made aware of what they were getting involved with, both felt the weight of Trek history on their shoulders.
“When I found out it was Star Trek, I was a little nervous, because I knew what it meant, I knew it was a big deal,” Wells said.
That secrecy continues even now.
“I have this piece of paper in front of me that just says, ‘Be vague,’ so I’m trying to be vague,” Cordero laughs.
The bulk of their performances were wrapped up before coronavirus shut everything down, but some voice work was done during quarantine as episodes underwent rewrites.
“Somebody came to my house with equipment and we had this whole setup in my closet,” Wells explained. “There was a monitor and I had the mic set up, and my clothes (we used) for sound proofing.”
With COVID-19 effectively stalling all of Hollywood, Wells and Cordero are anxious to get back to work again and are looking forward to being a part of a science fiction franchise that has endured for decades.
“The fanbase of Star Trek is just next level,” said Cordero, who also had a small role in an episode of the Disney+ Star Wars series, “The Mandalorian.”