I honestly think that Lower Decks has the potential to be the longest running Star Trek show.

I assume they are cheaper to produce than the live action shows so less risk for the executives but still decent return on investment.

Also relevant: When Kate Mulgrew surprised everyone at an AOC campaign speech before she got elected.

I have a Volante Next Gen-style Trek jacket. It's awesome, high quality. It's subtle enough that non-Trekkies don't notice other than it being nice-looking, but Trekkies will recognize its homage to TNG. I've been stopped on the street multiple times already by random Trekkies asking me where I got it, lol.

It's really expensive though (315 USD)

She has written a heart-wrenched, tragic letter about this experience and grief. It was very moving/difficult to read and gained me a lot of respect for her:

https://www.talkhouse.com/an-actor-a-helmsman-and-my-brian-boldly-going-where-no-widow-has-gone-before/

Aka the Picard maneuver

When I drive and the missus is in the passenger seat and I have to break harder than usual because an idiot in front of me, I sometimes yell "Brace for impact!"

One time the company I worked at, they were expanding life insurance benefits for all employees, and I sent out a meme with Worf and the words "TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE" on an internal fun forum. It was highly upvoted, lol.

Some of the lyrics were really clever and fun:

Spock: "I solved for the Y in my computation ... but the variable so devastating: I'm the ex / X".

At the same time: "When we gain control again, I confess"

• La'an / Pelia: "I'll miss the singing"
• Spock: "I won't miss singing"

I feel like poor La'an is in a worse place now. She just doesn't get a break. :(

SNW continues to break new ground really well. This was a really refreshing episode and very well done. I for one loooved this episode.

Alright, I get that musicals are not everyone's cup of tea, but as a person who watched multiple dozens of Broadway musicals, I must say that the songs were really on par with actual musicals. The cast can really sing well -- I expected many great things from Cecile Rose Gooding and wow she did not disappoint. I was very pleasantly impressed by Christina Chong, Rebecca Romijin, Ethan Peck's performances as well.

I think the director made sure to highlight those actors that can sing well and put those that can't sing into secondary positions. Clearly Grammy-Award winning/Tony Award-nominated Gooding was at the center of the story, and they cut off Anson Mount's song, because well, he isn't the greatest singer. They even fully acknowledged that Babs Olusanmokun can't sing in universe as well. :) The ensemble pieces in the teaser and the finale were superb though and was a lot more entertaining than the solo pieces (which I get is probably much easier to rehearse/record and produce).

I loved that the episode intertwined music as a piece of the story, pushed the character arc forward between Spock/Chapel and La'an/Kirk. I am not so much of a sucker for La'an/Kirk but the alternative universe scenes were really a nice touch. The only cringey part was the Klingon K-pop/rap, but I suppose it was intentionally cringey/funny.

Whether you like this musical episode or not, you gotta admit that SNW really boldly goes where no one has gone before.

At the risk of sounding hypocritical since I posted the question about why Vic Fontaine sang so much in DS9, I do think that Subspace Rhapsody could do well, and I look forward to it. Unlike the Vic Fontaine songs that are one offs short pieces in a non-musical story, Subspace Rhapsody is intentionally a musical and it seems it comes along with some choreographed dancing.

I do like musicals, and I do like Sci-Fi but I get the combination of both is gonna be really tough and not everyone's cup of tea, but I love that SNW is bold and secure enough to give this a try. From all Sci-Fi shows out there, SNW is probably the best series to give this a shot.

Note that Celia Rose Gooding was a Tony Award-nominated, Grammy Award-winning Broadway singer before they joined Star Trek. The other cast members, not so much singing experience, but we shall see. Whatever happens this Thursday, can't say it won't be interesting to see.

I believe they only showed up after the later seasons when they refreshed the intro