Comic-Con 2019 JULY 23: various reports

https://trekmovie.com/2019/07/22/sdcc19-lower-decks-panel-unveils-an-animated-comedy-by-and-for-star-trek-fans/

Mike McMahan also took some time to describe the ship itself:

> You guys all know that one of the most important characters on one of these shows is the ship. We have a brand new ship design and class, it is called the California Class. [shows image of standard TNG-style holodeck] This holodeck breaks all the time. It never works right. We are not going to show you the ship today, but I wanted to tell you it is California Class. We have a whole class of ship that operates at the same time as the larger classes of ship, but they do kind of like support work. So, we are going to be exploring. And the show takes place on a ship named [USS

He gave a quick summary of the senior officers for the USS Cerritos:

> We have Lt. Shaxs (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), a big, muscly Bajoran who wants to eject the warp core all the time. We have Dawnn Lewis as Captain Freeman who is a stoic, ethically-bound, classic Starfleet captain. And then we got Commander Jack Ransom, who is sort of a hunky guy, played by this goofball [Jerry O’Connell]. He is kind of like Riker if you gave him a little bit of speed and a little less shame. And then Gillian Vigman plays Dr. T’Ana who is a Caitian. Dr. T’Ana is our head of medical. She is really, really bad at talking to people, but really good at solving sci-fi space mysteries.

Two more photos.

Star Trek: Lower Decks might include favorite Next Generation characters https://ew.com/tv/star-trek-lower-decks-next-generation/

So instead of being on the turbolift — the elevators in Trek — our guys are repairing the turbolift. We also spend a lot of time in the bar. You'll also see the Lower Deckers go on away missions doing things that the bridge crew doesn't have to deal with."

While the focus is on the Lower Deckers, the bridge crew isn't kept entirely distant and anonymous. For instance, the crew sometimes interacts with the captain, Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis). "She is sort of trying to do this balancing act that all captains do, where they demand respect and are admired and trusted by the crew, but then they also kind of have to be the bad guy," he says. "And a thing we play with a lot is that the Lower Deckers don't always get all the information they're delegated to, but they don't get to have a voice and they don't get to know the context a lot of the time."

Lower Decks is set during the time period of The Next Generation, and while McMahan can’t outright say familiar faces from the fan-favorite late-’80s, early-’90s series will appear, he sure does hint at it. “There are a lot of recognizable characters in the galaxy at that point," he says. "Next Gen is my favorite era. And as a huge Trek fan, I would definitely want to try to use some of them so that I could not only build out the world, but also work with some of my heroes. But I can't get more specific than that. You'll have to wait and see."

CBS Announces Three Star Trek Universe Panels With Cast And Producers For Comic-Con@Home
https://trekmovie.com/2020/07/09/cbs-announces-three-star-trek-universe-panels-with-cast-and-producers-for-comic-conhome/

Mike McMahan (“Rick and Morty,” “Solar Opposites”), creator, showrunner and executive producer of the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, which premieres on CBS All Access on Thursday, August 6, will debut an exclusive extended first look from the premiere episode. McMahan also moderates a fun discussion with the Starfleet crew residing in the “lower decks” of the U.S.S. Cerritos, including Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome, Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid, Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells, and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero, as well as the ship’s bridge crew including Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O’Connell, Lieutenant Shaxs, voiced by Fred Tatasciore, and Doctor T’Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman.

Thursday!

‘Star Trek’ Unveils Comic-Con@Home Teaser Ahead Of Mega-Panel This Week; ‘Discovery,’ ‘Lower Decks’ & ‘Picard’ Onboard
https://deadline.com/video/star-trek-teaser-comic-con-panel-picard-discovery-lower-decks/

So check out the Trekverse teaser above and see you later this week for Comic-Con@Home, which Deadline will be comprehensively covering.